Manhattan Reborn 1978

Texas, Houston.

The Tanglewood community, adjacent to Ring Road 610 in the eastern suburbs of the city, is a well-known wealthy area.

It was built in the 30s and has only 1200 residents. Most of the houses are large houses with mixed brick and wood structures and two very spacious yards at the front and back.

Moreover, the exteriors of most houses are brightly colored white with red roofs, giving the entire community an inexplicable sense of style and uniqueness. .

Different from the Tanglewood community, the overall house layout, exterior design and exterior color of the River Oaks community on the other side of Ring Road 610 are much more unique and colorful.

Therefore, just like the color of the exterior of many houses, the personality and hobbies of the owner of the house can always be easily distinguished.

. . .

In a barber shop in the southern part of the River Oaks community.

David sat in front of the mirror, looking at his hair as if it had been licked by a cow, and smiled bitterly.

"Is this... the favorite hairstyle among young elites?"

"Yes, sir." A middle-aged teacher Tony with bright makeup looked at the "work" in the mirror with satisfaction and nodded with a smile.

"Uh..." David was speechless~

Lilith, who was standing not far away, put down the magazine in her hand, walked to David and looked at his new image in the mirror, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Why do you look... like a young boy, pretending to be mature?"

"Tsk, tsk~" David smacked his mouth a few times, shook his head from side to side and looked at the shiny three-part hairstyle on his head, and said decisively.

"Wash it!"

"...What?"

"I said: Please help me wash off all the hair oil. I don't like this."

"...Okay" Teacher Tony, who was holding a wooden comb in his hand, shrugged with some regret and sighed.

"Hahahaha~" Seeing his funny look, Lilith couldn't help covering her mouth and walked to the side and laughed.

. . .

David, who had finally fixed his new hairstyle, pulled Lilith and quickly "escaped" from the barber shop as if he had just endured torture~

Otis Parker, who had been waiting at the door for a long time, saw the two people running out and asked with a smile.

"nailed it?"

"Hey~ don't mention it!" David opened the door and sat in the back seat, raised his hand to ruffle his wet hair a few times, and sighed.

"I really can't stand the unique aesthetics of young people nowadays..."

"Hahaha~"

"Aren't you a young man? Why can't you bear it?"

"I... am getting old!"

"Hahaha~" Mr. Parker patted the roof of the car, laughed and bent down, as if he could hardly stand. .

Lilith was also amused and held the car door a little awkwardly: "Excuse me, are you 60 years old this year?"

After hearing this, David was stunned for a few seconds. He tilted his head and calculated it seriously. He nodded and said, "Sixty years old must not be reached yet~"

"I'm 53 this year!"

"5..Hahaha~"

"Tsk~ Look!"

"This is: I tell the truth, but you make fun of it~"

"Hahaha~"

Lilith bent down and fell directly on him, covering her face and laughing: "You big liar! How can you be 53 years old?!"

"Forehead.."

David blinked a few times, patted Lilith on the back, and turned to Otis Parker "wittily" and asked.

"Did you call New York?"

"Hahaha~ah~huhu!"

"Hit, beaten...hahaha~"

"..."

David curled his lips helplessly, waited for a while, and asked: "Sam, what's the latest news?"

"Whoo~"

Mr. Parker helped Lilith put her legs into the car, walked around from the back of the car to the driver's seat, and smiled while starting the car.

"It's pretty much what I guessed before I left New York."

“Someone took advantage of the news that Brazilian oranges and sugarcane production were affected by the disaster and started to take action in the futures market!”

"Oh~"

David's face also showed a look that was indeed the case, and after thinking for a while he asked: "What is the specific situation?"

"Specific...Sam and I didn't go into details."

"It's just that he left a little long position in sugar futures and orange juice futures."

“When the market opened this morning, the frozen concentrated orange juice futures contract led all futures contracts on the Commodity Exchange and hit the daily limit for the first time in more than a year~”

"Subsequently, the sugar futures contract in June and July this year also rose by about 6%, which shocked everyone."

"Sam took a long position of 100 million yuan on the sugar contract and made nearly 30 yuan in one morning."

"However, he did not leave you a long position in the frozen concentrated orange juice contract. Only Bernard Madoff transferred 20 yuan from his company account, which was counted as your long contract."

David scratched his cheek a few times with his hand, tilted his head and glanced at Lilith, who had not yet calmed down, and said with a smile: "Madoff...that guy!"

"Is he trying to give me money? Or is he trying to give me trouble?"

"Hehe~"

Mr. Parker slowed down the car a little, stopped at an intersection, looked at the red light in the distance, and continued.

"Sam said that I don't know who spread some rumors on Wall Street these days. Companies that originally specialized in gold futures business all followed the practices of the City of London and refused investors to buy gold futures for various reasons. request~"

"Oh?"

"So... what about the Chicago Exchange? Has the spot price of gold increased again?"

"Up!"

"The current price is 232 meters per ounce!"

"Wow~"

David squinted his eyes and exclaimed, shook his head slightly and smiled: "Actually, since 75, the New York Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange have launched gold futures contracts after gold spot listings."

"However, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which was just established in 74, has not officially approved these gold futures contracts."

"Most of these gold futures contracts that ordinary investors cannot purchase are market makers with trading seats, helping customers to invest and purchase in a hedging manner. There are very few orders for actual delivery of physical gold."

"For example, among the market makers at the Chicago Exchange, almost no one dares to take orders for speculative gold futures."

"so.."

"So, you just found a way to buy gold spot worth [-] million yuan?!"

"Yes."

"Hehe~"

Mr. Parker looked at the green light in front of him and smiled: "What I don't know is...since you bought the gold, many people have started to pay attention to you!"

"Target? What do you mean?"

"literal meaning."

"..."

David looked at Otis Parker in the rearview mirror, keeping his mouth shut and not asking any questions.

Lilith sat next to him and said with a hint of worry in her eyes: "How about... we shouldn't go today?"

"Go! Of course I want to go."

"But you..."

David smiled and hugged Lilith: "Didn't Elder make it very clear when we had dinner yesterday?"

"The Houston city area is very large, much larger than New York~"

"But the social circle in Houston is very small, much smaller than in New York!"

"Since we are engaged, I should show up in front of your friends and communicate with each other~"

"We are all young people!"

"What can't you say?"

"..." Lilith wiped the green stubble on David's lips with her hand and whispered with complicated eyes.

"Then let me introduce to you first... the friends you may meet later?"

"Okay!"

"Otis, drive slower."

"ok~"

Otis Parker slowed down the speed of the car, rolled down the window and looked at a little boy lying on the grass playing outside, laughing silently.

----

new York.

Afternoon~

Manhattan, New York Grand Central Station.

This train station is located in the center of Manhattan. It was built and funded by the Vanderbilt family, the king of the railroads, and was built in 1903. It was officially opened on February 1913, 2.

It is a famous landmark building in New York and the largest train station in the world and the busiest in the United States.

At the same time, it is also the transportation hub of New York's railways and subways, a "public history and art museum" full of the atmosphere of the golden age.

In 1968, Penn Central planned to demolish part of the waiting room on 42nd Street at Grand Central Station to build an office building.

This move was strongly opposed by the then president's wife Jacqueline Kennedy. As a result, Central Station escaped the fate of being rebuilt.

. . .

New York Grand Central Station, a passenger exit at 42nd Street.

Black Mike wore a pair of brown glasses and looked at the exit where people were coming and going, feeling very strange. .

Yesterday morning.

When he had eaten the breakfast bag from the cheap store in the Wildfire Bar and was about to send Polly to work, a phone call made him suddenly confused~

The caller's name was Carmen Hennig. (Carmen Hennig, appearing in Chapter 612)

She was Black Mike's childhood playmate in his hometown of Butte. The two met again in a bar in the town about half a month ago, and she was working as a part-time waitress at the time.

Before Black Mike left, he quietly left her a "tip" and a phone number for the Wildfire Bar.

But he really didn't expect that Carmen would contact him so soon and bluntly said that she wanted to come to New York to join him. .

. . .

ten minutes later.

Black Mike finally saw Carmen Hennig carrying two large travel bags.

At this time, Carmen's clothes were wrinkled and her face was red. She was struggling to drag her oversized travel bag, and she was looking around anxiously for that familiar "figure".

"Hey! Carmen!"

"...Mike!?"

"it's me.."

"Wow~!!"

"Hahaha~"

When Carmen saw Black Mike striding over, she jumped a few times in excitement, threw away the two large travel bags, and hugged him in one sprint, feeling a little overwhelmed + smiling relaxedly.

"I searched for a long time before walking out of the station..."

"It's so great to see you again!"

"..." Black Mike shook his head with a silent smile, put down Carmen the "koala" gently, and asked.

"Just you?"

"Yes!"

"But you didn't mean..."

Carmen, who had calmed down a little, hugged Black Mike's arm and said with a smile: "The child I mentioned on the phone asked me to temporarily arrange it at my parents' house."

"When my side settles down, I can take them over~"

"..OK."

Black Mike took off his glasses, looked at Carmen whose breathing had calmed down, and asked tentatively: "What about the father of the children?"

"He... doesn't have any problem with you coming to New York?"

"You mean my husband?"

"Uh...yeah!"

"We divorced two weeks ago."

Carmen let go of Black Mike and shrugged nonchalantly: "He always complained: Enough of the boring life in the small town, enough of my constant nagging all day long, and enough of having to do it every day. You have to take care of the children..."

"I've had enough of his complaints!"

"..." Black Mike was speechless.

Carmen walked to the travel bag, lowered her head and took a few deep breaths, forced a smile to Black Mike and spread her hands.

"So, I thought of the phone number you left..."

"This trip to New York cost me half of my savings..."

"If you don't welcome me, then I will spend a few days in New York, then take the car back, and treat it as a holiday for myself~"

Black Mike stood there, staring at Carmen for a while, then walked up to her and asked, "Are you going to stay in New York?"

"Of course!"

Carmen looked a little lonely and smiled: "That bastard is right, Butte is too small."

“The United States is such a big country, but I’ve only been to St. Louis and Denver.”

"If it weren't for the phone number you left when you went back, I might have chosen to go to Los Angeles to have a look."

"I heard that you can see Hollywood stars all over the streets there, including the beach..."

Black Mike quietly listened to Carmen's "nagging", feeling that this 30-year-old man was already here. .A single mother still harbors the innocent fantasies of a teenage girl, and I don’t know how to evaluate her. .

"Let's go first."

"Um...ok!"

"where are we going?"

"I have temporarily arranged a place for you. When you find a house, I will help you move."

"Oh~"

Carmen watched Black Mike lift two oversized travel bags, quickly asked him for one, held it in her arms and smiled.

"Are you taking me to my new home in New York?"

"..No!"

"That's the house my friend used to rent."

"Uh~ What about you?"

"Is your place far from there?"

"Not too far."

"Do you still have work to do today?"

"Yes."

"Then can I walk around the area where I live?"

Black Mike walked to the back of the car, opened the trunk and said, "You'd better not walk around alone!"

"Everyone is there on the streets of New York."

"If you come across..."

"Ok!"

Before Black Mike could finish speaking, Carmen immediately nodded obediently and said: "I will listen to you..."

"I just happened to be exhausted from taking the train. I'll rest at my place first and then follow you around~"

"Um.."

Black Mike took the travel bag from her hand and weighed it twice curiously: "What did you bring? Is it so heavy?!"

"Hehe~"

Carmen looked around mysteriously and found that except for the garbage on the ground, almost no one paid attention to them. .

"These are all gifts I brought to you!"

"Didn't you like beef very much when you were a kid?"

"I brought you the best air-dried beef jerky in my hometown!"

"Air-dried...beef jerky?!"

"Yup!"

"In these two bags, there is a total of 120 pounds!"

"It's them that cost half of my savings..."

"They said this kind of beef jerky sells for 39 dollars a pound in Chicago..."

“But I bought these from my farm neighbor and it cost less than 800 yuan.”

"Do you think it can be sold for 39 yuan a pound in New York?"

"Forehead.."

Black Mike casually unzipped a travel bag and nodded speechlessly when he saw the beef jerky stuffed inside.

"I can help you ask..."

"Hahahaha~ Then we have an agreement!"

"However, these are gifts from me to you, not goods that I want to resell!"

"If you can really help me contact the buyer and we negotiate a deal, I will give you a commission!"

"35%, how about that?"

"No more!"

"I still have to give my share..."

"Okay! ok! No problem!"

Black Mike nodded quickly, patted Carmen on the shoulder with certainty, and said, "You can take a shower and rest later."

"During dinner, I may have to come over to you later."

"Then we go..."

"Ok!"

Carmen readily helped to cover the trunk, stood on tiptoes and kissed Black Mike on the cheek, smiling.

"Go, go, go!"

"Let's go!"

"New York! The Statue of Liberty! The Empire State Building! I'm coming~"

"Hahaha~"

"..." Black Mike stood there and scratched his head, watching Carmen running around the car like an excited little girl, and he couldn't help laughing.

----

The other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

Europe.

London, England.

The setting sun in the evening was obscured by several large groups of thick dark clouds.

Four Seasons Hotel London Park Lane, fifth floor.

in the living room.

Xina Osevia and Elena Mesa each held two folders in their hands, frowning and thinking.

Toby Olga raised the tea cup in his hand, took a sip, and said relaxedly.

"This is all I got from going to the Financial City today~"

"Do you have any questions?"

"Um.."

Elena was wearing a set of water pink dark floral silk nightgown. She looked through the information in her hand, tapped her fingertips a few times, and asked.

"What's going on with that rumor you mentioned?"

"Oh~"

Toby tilted his head, thought for a while, and explained.

"Someone quietly spread the news in restaurants and bars near the Financial City: the Federal Reserve will definitely raise interest rates again next month + the rice dollar will definitely appreciate + the foreign exchange market and futures market will usher in another price turmoil."

"The Bank of England has not made a decision on whether to raise interest rates to control soaring inflation."

"So today, people in the Financial City have begun to sell some of their stocks, bonds and funds at market prices, hoping to keep a large amount of cash in their hands to deal with what may come..."

"..."

Elena closed the folder in her hand, tilted her head and glanced at Zina, pondered for a moment and asked again.

"What about you?"

"What is your judgment?"

"I.."

Toby crossed his legs and crossed his arms in front of his chest: "In the past few years I have worked in the Financial City, I have found that rumors are never groundless."

"Because many people working in the Financial City have access to gossip and inside information from various channels."

"If they all believe the rumors, it is most likely that the rumors are true!"

"..." Elena squinted her eyes, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth that made Toby feel amazing.

"When a rumor becomes reality, people will form a psychological potential to accept it~"

"When another rumor is verified, people will form a psychological inertia about it and think that it is very true."

"What about the third rumor?"

"What about the nth rumor?"

"Hehe~"

"..."

Toby looked at Elena with a somewhat embarrassed expression, not quite understanding what she wanted to say.

Xina, who had been silent just now, suddenly closed the folder in her hand and continued in agreement.

"The nth rumor..."

"Isn't the story about President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe becoming more true as rumors spread?"

"It's just that both of them are dead now..."

"The rumors about the two of them have become gossips for people to talk about, and have lost their original lethality!"

"But~"

"What if neither of them died?!"

"What if President Kennedy could be re-elected for two terms?"

“In 1965, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the ridiculous bill that strictly prohibited teaching students to learn the Theory of Evolution in schools.”

"The Bible says God created man."

"The Theory of Evolution says that humans evolved from monkeys~"

"Then which one of these two statements do you think is a rumor or a lie?"

"Hehe~"

Zina opened her arms and stretched her waist, smiled at Elena beside her and asked, "I'm going to take a hot bath, what about you?"

"..certainly!"

Elena happily threw a wink at Toby and said with a smile: "We will stay here for a few more days."

"You should go and rest too~"

"The work is endless..."

"Okay." Toby Olga slowly lowered his head, concealing the fire of gossip in his heart, and said with a crooked smile.

"Hahahaha~" Seeing her like this, Zina and Elena couldn't help but look at each other and laugh.