Manhattan Reborn 1978

new York.

At noon~

Manhattan, upstairs at Wildfire Bar on 42nd Street.

top layer.

The living room originally decorated by the butler Acklade was temporarily converted into a small dining room today.

Sitting around a round dining table that had been moved from the Wildfire Restaurant were Odis Parker, Mag Ludwig, Sam Rogers, Mu Brandes, Pine, and Lilith.

David held the wine glass in his hand and smiled at everyone present: "Today, I would like to express my special thanks to Mag for bringing me the good news!"

"Here's to Mag!"

"Cheers~"

"cheers!"

David looked extremely happy and raised his neck and drank the drink.

Everyone also took a sip of wine with smiles on their faces.

Lilith, who was sitting next to David, put down her cup, tilted her head to look at his happy face, and couldn't help but become happy along with him. .

Pine, who was sitting next to Lilith, put down his cup, glanced at Mag Ludwig, and landed on Odis Parker. He paused and smiled at David.

"Do you have any other good news today that you want to share with us?"

"Yes~"

David happily made a welcome gesture to everyone and said with a smile: "Everyone eat first, and then I will talk~"

"it is good!"

Mag Ludwig, who had long felt hungry, agreed happily, picked up the tableware and started eating.

Sam and Brandes waited for a while in unison. .

After everyone picked up the tableware, he slowly unfolded the napkin and picked up the tableware. .

Odis Parker, with a smile on his face, like an old-school British gentleman, slowly unfolded his napkin, scanned all the tableware in front of him, and selected one with his left hand. .

David, who picked up the tableware in his hand, seemed to feel Lilith's gaze beside him. He tilted his head to look at her, raised his eyebrows, and smiled.

"Are you thinking...how to reward me tonight?"

"..Bah~!"

"Hahahaha~"

"Okay~"

"Since you don't want to... then I will... tonight."

Lilith raised the fork in her left hand with a smile: "What do you want to do?"

"Um...cough~"

"Well... Brother Biao's cooking skills have improved again!" David put a piece of fragrant fried fish into his mouth and praised. .

"Hahaha~"

Everyone was amused by this boy's "boring"~

. . .

Not long after the meal officially started, there was a sound of women's high heels coming from the stairwell.

Polly Sidrich walked in with an apologetic smile and apologized to everyone.

David stood up with a smile and pulled her to his side, asking her to sit down: "We'll be waiting for you!"

"is it?"

"Sorry~ The company is temporarily out of business..."

"Haha~ I know, we all know~"

"Take a breath first, eat something, and listen to me slowly~"

"Ok!"

Polly smiled and took the hot towel handed by the housekeeper Aclade. After wiping her hands clean, she raised her glass and explained a few more words to everyone apologetically before slowly becoming quiet.

David scratched his cheek with his fingers, leaned back in his chair, and smiled at everyone: "Okay! Everyone is here~"

"Then let's talk briefly first ~ you can listen while you eat."

"Pine, do you remember what we talked about last time...clothing, food, shelter, and transportation?"

"Yeah!" Pine wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin and nodded.

"Hehe~"

"Actually, the plans I talked about before about food, clothing, housing and transportation were all focused on the near future."

"In other words, it is to ensure that the country will not be hit hard again by the upcoming oil crisis."

"But looking at it now, King Pahlavi should be at the end of his rope..."

"So, we need to make some fine adjustments to the original plans~"

“Fine-tuning??”

"Which aspect are you referring to?"

"Everything!"

David raised his hand and reached behind Lilith, put it on her shoulders, and smiled: "We all know that plans... can never catch up with changes!"

"Even if I make corresponding adjustments to all my plans in a few days, I can't completely guarantee that I can catch up... The times are changing~"

David rubbed the broken hair on the back of Lilith's neck with some emotion, and whispered: "So, we can only make the best and most thorough development plan, and adapt to circumstances when executing it, in order to... catch up. Its footsteps~”

"It?" Lilith felt a little itchy and took David's hand, asking curiously.

"Yup!"

"it!"

With a complex mixture of self-deprecation and relief on his face, David explained: "Up to now, almost all my plans have been made around...the second oil crisis!"

"Now it's coming, but I don't feel too proud. Instead, I feel a little disappointed~"

"..." Everyone was at a loss for what to say about David's "showing off".

Polly, who was sitting on the other side of him, put down the tableware in her hand, swallowed the food in her mouth, and said with a smile: "You'd better tell us the plan first, and then go...enjoy the loneliness of victory alone~"

"...Hahahaha~"

Amid everyone's laughter, David rolled his eyes at Polly angrily, nodded and said, "Okay~ No more kidding."

He looked at Odis Parker and asked seriously: "Do you remember what I said about Maslow's theory of spiritual needs?"

"Haha~?"

"Of course I remember!" Odis Parker replied enthusiastically.

David nodded slowly and said, "That's right!"

“The basic necessities, food, housing, and transportation I’m talking about are based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, analyzed and summarized~”

“Simply put, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a motivational theory in psychology, which includes a five-level need model for human existence.”

“That is: physiological (food and clothing), safety (job security), social needs (friendships), respect and self-actualization.”

"Except for the last model, self-actualization, which belongs to the growth spiritual needs..."

“The remaining top four needs in the model: physiological, safety, social needs, and esteem are all deficient needs.”

"In other words, people rarely have strong needs for safety, social interaction, friendship, love and respect before they have enough food!"

"Not to mention, to find the realization of self-worth..."

"That's why I put the major needs in people's lives into the plan first."

"That is: food, clothing, housing and transportation!"

David let out a breath, sat back in the chair more relaxedly, his eyes fell on Pine, and continued.

“According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, lower-level needs must be satisfied before higher-level needs can emerge.”

“Although the most basic physiological needs are at the bottom of the hierarchy of all needs, they are also the needs with the greatest power and potential.”

"And as the level of people's needs rises, the power of needs will gradually weaken accordingly."

"Until people are very satisfied with their current lives and no longer have the motivation to continue struggling, they choose to just lie down and are unwilling to step on thorns to move forward..."

"It's like...the same thing I said to Leslie when I was chatting with him yesterday."

"He was born in Rome, but I wasn't!"

David turned his head, his eyes drifted to Polly beside him, smoothed the broken hair around her ears with his hands, and said: "A few months ago, Polly was a full-time housewife who took care of the children at home every day~ "

"Auston, what about you?"

"Choose to return to New York in order to gain more social needs and respect, as well as self-realization...right?"

"Mag!"

"If Otis doesn't appear in front of you, you..."

Mag glanced at Otis beside him and saw the smile on his face slowly disappearing. .He nodded with a wry smile.

"I...may die on a street somewhere this winter..."

"Um.."

"Sam!?"

"I..." Sam Rogers hesitated for a moment, pursed his lips and nodded.

"I will still continue to work at Goldman Sachs..."

"ok~"

"Mu Brandes?"

"I might choose to go back to my hometown, find a job, and enjoy the life before retirement." Mu Brandes shrugged calmly and said with a smile.

"Haha~" David smiled and shook his head noncommittally, looking at Pine again.

Pine pondered calmly for a few seconds, then asked: "Do you think... I was also born in Rome?"

"No!"

"...Hmm!" Pine said nothing.

David looked at him quietly for a few seconds, smiled, squeezed Lilith's little hand, and asked her: "What about you? Do you want to say something?"

"I..." Lilith lowered her head, looked at the hands held by the two of them, and whispered.

"Me too."

"Then you want to be me too?"

"..why not?"

"Hahahaha~"

David leaned towards Lilith's ear with great interest and whispered: "It...but it is difficult to tame!"

"..Um!"

"ok~"

"I'll help you!"

"..." Lilith bit her lip, looked at David with shining eyes, and kissed him gently on the lips.

David's eyes widened in surprise. After kissing her for two seconds, he turned away and said in shameless surprise.

"You...even if you are my fiancée, you can't occupy me alone!"

"I already have a girlfriend!"

"... Bastard!" Polly, who was sitting behind David, gave the shameless guy a hard blow with her small fist. .

Lilith's cheeks turned red with embarrassment and she gritted her teeth tightly before resisting the urge to take action.

Everyone couldn't help laughing. .

"Hahahaha~"

. . .

"Wow~ wow!"

"Okay, okay~"

David put his other arm around Polly, coughed slightly and smiled at everyone.

"cough~"

"Let's get back to the point!"

“I’m a baby boomer who was born and raised in the small town of Morrison and works in New York.”

"I know very well that many young people around me have most of the requirements for the physiological needs stage."

"For example: we need more convenient and delicious food, a cleaner environment and fresh air, safer drinking water, less work, more sleep, etc."

"These are the lowest needs that young people of our generation have for themselves."

"In other words, this is what we most urgently want to get rid of...demand~"

"Because only when we achieve freedom of income can we ensure the safety needs of the second stage~"

"That is, get rid of the life of no fixed place and wandering around~"

“Buy a house and own your own home!”

David raised his finger and pointed to the roof, smiled at Pine and said, "You lent me the money I paid to buy this building."

"So from that moment on, I decided that I must let you feel it once in my life... the way I felt when I took that check from you!"

Pine smiled and shrugged: "Is this what you want to say...the real question?"

"Hahaha~ Don't worry, man!"

David raised his third finger to everyone and said with a smile: "After we have a stable income and a warm home..."

"We will be more active in socializing + making friends + pursuing love~"

"Belonging and love... are inseparable twins!"

"and then?"

“We naturally expect recognition and respect from others.”

"And if you want to gain the respect of others, you must first make yourself more capable, more creative, more confident, and better able to help others deal with various difficult problems."

"So, after gradually changing myself, I slowly found the value and goal of my existence~"

"What is coming at any time is that I will carry out a method of self-realization that no one has ever taught me on the road of life~"

"For example...I am telling you these...the things from my heart before I explain my plan to you~"

"I'm very lazy, I prefer to be lazy at any time~"

"I love new things, and I also love the surprises that time brings to me!"

David turned to look at Polly, tapped her nose gently with his finger, and said with a smile: "When I was working in the Wildfire Bar, I was hungry and ate terrible food. When I was eating apple pie, I always... It reminds me of the time when you smashed a piece of pie in my face when I was a kid..."

"Haha~" Polly seemed to follow David's words and "saw" little David crying loudly. .

David pinched her earlobe with his fingers and said with a smile: "So~ the first idea I thought of was a fair price store!"

"It can provide an ordinary migrant worker like me with a delicious breakfast that is very affordable and high-quality, and can meet my simple needs at the lowest level!"

"And after that.."

"I thought of the nightclub idea and the security company idea again."

“They can provide me with a new job and more security!”

"After that, I thought of the idea of ​​a soda factory and a service training company at home..."

"They can..."

. . .

David introduced all the ideas and plans he had come up with and their origins to everyone~

Everyone also followed David's introduction, slowly connected themselves, and tried to get involved. .

result. .After David finished speaking, Mag Ludwig took the lead and said with a wry smile: "No one else can replicate your experience!"

"Hahahaha~ Of course!"

“No one’s success experience can be replicated!”

"Even if we have read countless people's successful memoirs, we cannot compare his successful experiences with the difficulties in our real life."

"Times are different, people are different, problems are different, and the solutions or methods will naturally be different!"

"So, I'm going to speed up a little bit and try not to waste everyone's time..."

David withdrew his hands from Polly and Lilith and said seriously: "Da Affordable Store, the advanced and upgraded version I was looking for in the first place is the 7-11 convenience store chain model owned by Southern Company."

“However, the development of this model in the United States is far from ideal~”

"And there are many hidden dangers!"

"So, I decided to change my previous plan and continue to implement it according to the current development model of da affordable store."

David turned to look at Polly and said, "But the follow-up... agricultural product purchasing plan needs to be completely changed."

"We want to build our own agricultural product production base and a complete set of semi-finished product processing workshops so that they can provide us with more value-added profit margins while ensuring the quality of food in affordable stores."

"Value added?"

"Correct!"

David turned to look at the crowd and said: "According to this year's United Nations census data, the world's population has increased by nearly 8000 million, and the world's total population has reached 42 billion!"

"And, according to their estimates, the average annual growth rate of the world's total population in the future will not be less than 6000 million!"

"That is to say: in ten years, the world's population will increase by at least 6 million people! In 20 years, it will be 12 billion people!"

"By analogy..."

“In 30 years’ time, in 2008, the world’s total population will exceed the 60 billion mark.”

"The era of population explosion is coming!"

"And on our planet, besides water and air, what else do people need?"

"Land and food!"

"This also reflects the elaboration of Malos' demand theory, that is: the lower the need, the greater the power and potential!"

When David talked about this, he looked at Pine and asked: "What was the total domestic grain production last year? What was the world's total grain production?"

"What if: Ten years later, the world's total food production cannot keep up with the increase in population... What will happen?"

"What if: Someone controls more than half of the production of the world's major grain exporting countries...?"

"In a peaceful era without swords and shields, guns and cannons, airplanes and tanks, aircraft carriers and nuclear bombs..."

"How do you think the way countries compete will change?"

"What if I told you that these are just a small part of the mid- to long-term plans derived from food, clothing, housing and transportation... Can you expand them all?"

"Where are your clothes? Where's your accommodation? Are you okay?"

"They can each be derived...or differentiate into new needs that are more in line with the development of the times?"

"Safety, sense of belonging, social interaction, respect and self-actualization~"

"Do you think they are closely connected to new things that we can't imagine now?"

David looked at Pine's originally calm face, and after his expression gradually became complicated, he turned to everyone and asked: "You said, as people's demands for various materials, bodies, and spirits continue to increase, what else do they need? It’s something we can seize... Where are the opportunities?”

"You can think back on the plans I have come up with. Which of them will lead to domination of the world in the next few decades?"

"Which ones will gradually decline, enter the trough of the industry, and be slowly forgotten by people?"

"Knowledge, experience, resources, technology, vision and ideas all determine our choices for the future~"

"So, what I said is that we need to fine-tune the plan... It's not up to me, it's up to you all~"

"But let you think about it, make plans, and set goals. I will check it for you, and I will tell you why I made this choice~!"

David looked at Odis Parker and said, "You have gained my friendship and recognition!"

"But you haven't gained enough respect and achievements in New York, in front of all the people you once knew!"

"So, you have to stand up bolder and let people see you...Otis Parker is back!"

"I know~ You didn't come back to gain other people's approval..."

"You just want to prove to yourself that what you once lost can now be taken back with your own hands~"

Otis Parker sat steadily, raised his head, looked at David for a while, and whispered: "Okay!"

"I will!"

"Ok!"