Manhattan Reborn 1978

new York.

Early morning~

The easternmost end of Queens, on a side street near the border with Flushing.

Alto Sidric walked into an old apartment building built in the 30s and knocked on the door of an apartment on the third floor.

After a few minutes.

The owner of the apartment silently opened the creaking door, looked at the smiling Alto, and asked in a low and hoarse voice.

"Just you?"

Alto looked up and down at the person standing inside the door, slowly unbuttoned his coat with both hands, and smiled.

"Yes! I don't have any weapons."

"..."

"I specially came here before you go to work and wanted to talk to you~"

"Not bothering you?"

"..."

Artaud put down his coat, took off his gloves, shrugged and asked with a smile: "It's very cold outside this morning, won't you invite me in?"

Inside the door, the middle-aged man with a decadent face looked at Alto quietly for a while, then took two steps back and let him into the room.

Alto smiled and nodded slightly. He walked into the living room of this small apartment and found that there was no place for him to "sit". He joked helplessly.

"It seems that your life was not satisfactory after you returned to the police force?"

"..."

"Should I call you Nick? Or Officer Al Ramsey?"

"..casual!"

"Hehe~"

"Then I'll call you Nick!"

"I'm more familiar with this name."

"Al Ramsey is also your name..."

"But you don't really like it, do you?"

"..." Officer Al Ramsey, who had served as an undercover informant for the Sidrich family, acquiesced in Alto's pseudonym Nick. .

He calmed down the nervousness and surprise in his heart, looked at Alto standing in the middle of the living room, and asked.

"What's your business?"

Alto smiled and raised his left index finger, slowly took out a business card from his inner pocket, handed it to him and said.

"This is my new business card!"

"Do you remember Mario Puzo, the author of the novel "The Godfather"?"

"His novel is going to be adapted into a movie, and I will be the producer."

Nick took the business card, and after listening to Alto's words, the pupils of his eyes instantly tightened, and he frowned and asked.

"The Godfather? Are you kidding me?"

"Of course!"

Of course Alto understood his confusion and surprise. He tilted his head and thought for a while, walked to the side and found a passable single sofa to sit down on, and said.

"I remember Ludy once said that after you met Mario Puzo a few times, you got along very well?"

"I came here specially this time to ask you to serve as a script consultant for the movie. Help me keep an eye on Mario Puzo and director Coppola so that they don't keep arguing about a certain script section all day long. Gives me a headache..."

"..." Nick lowered his head in silence, but looked at the police uniform and gun that were casually thrown in the corner of the sofa not far away.

Alto seemed to "just" see all this, spread his right hand and smiled.

"I have an appointment with my old friend Matthews Denipero for dinner today."

“I’m so ashamed~”

"Since he took over as New York Police Commissioner, we haven't had the opportunity to sit down and talk."

"Just last night, a friend of mine introduced me to Mr. Linde Vercello, the head of the FBI's New York Anti-Gangster Unit."

"He just wanted to talk to Chief Matthews, the head of the New York Police Department, about work matters."

"So, I thought of you..."

Alto saw Nick standing there in silence and felt that his goal had been achieved. He stood up and walked towards the door and said.

"According to the provisions of the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a defendant shall not be compelled in any criminal case to incriminate himself."

"You have been working for the family for several years. If you really have some strong evidence that can be brought to court, we won't blame you!"

"But you know it in your heart~"

"Even if you have enough evidence to bring someone to court or even jail time..."

"You are just a tool to be used, the kind that can be thrown away after use..."

Alto put on his gloves, held the door open, turned to Nick and smiled: "Sidric, you are changing!"

"What about you?"

"After experiencing many disappointments and helplessness today, do you still have some unrealistic fantasies in your heart?"

"Oh~ that's right!"

Aalto looked at the mess in the apartment, walked out the door, shook his head and smiled: "Old Malkin often said ~ Work is work, life is life!"

"Nick! You need a woman and a family!"

"Before three o'clock in the afternoon, I'll wait for your call!"

"Goodbye, my friend~"

. . .

Alto is gone.

Nick. .

Do not!

Officer Al Ramsey held the business card in his hand and looked around with extremely complicated eyes. He had mixed feelings in his heart, which finally turned into a helpless sigh. .

"shxx!!"

----

Texas.

Early morning~

Northwest of Houston, eastern suburbs of the small city of Hempstead.

David woke up from his sleep in confusion and found Elena sitting beside the bed in the morning light, knitting quietly.

He smiled and got up and smelled her scent: "I had a dream last night."

"is it?"

"What did you dream about?" Elena put the needle and thread in her hand aside, kissed David affectionately, and asked.

"Um.."

David looked at the window and tilted his head, thought for a while, curled his lips and said, "I can't remember some of it~"

"However, there is a scene that seems to be when we were in London, I was taking a shower in the bathroom, and you asked me a question outside the door..."

"Do you remember?"

Elena was a little surprised, holding back her laughter, and shook her head repeatedly: "Yes? No!"

"Hehe~"

David hugged her waist, sat on the edge of the bed with a smirk, raised his eyebrows and asked, "No?"

"It's ok!"

"How about we do it again?"

"Okay~" Elena raised her head deliberately, looked at him with a downward look, and smiled.

"Will you still pretend to be stupid this time?"

"What are you pretending to be stupid for?"

"I'm so stupid!!"

"Hahaha~"

. . .

Breakfast hour.

While David was eating breakfast, he chatted with Sierra's mother and sisters about home affairs.

Sera's mother looked at her son who was "wolfing down", pretended to sigh helplessly, and whispered.

"Your father got up before dawn this morning to see those horses."

"Forehead.."

"Is he obsessed with horse riding?"

"Yes!"

David was not too surprised, he just looked at his sisters Salonia and Loisa curiously and asked.

"what about you?"

"I saw that two ponies were brought in yesterday. Have you tried riding them?"

"My sister didn't dare to ride, but I have ridden before!" Little sister Loisa rushed to raise her hand and replied.

David swallowed the food in his mouth and asked, "How does it feel to ride a horse? Are you not afraid?"

"of course not!"

Loisa shook her head excitedly: "The little mare I rode was very well-behaved. We ran around the pasture for more than ten times and she didn't lose her temper~"

"Wow! Hahaha~"

"You like riding horses so much, we can try to raise a few."

"Really? That's great!" Loisa asked happily.

"Then can I have...the little mare I rode?"

"I already have a name for it!"

"sure!"

David looked at his sister Salonia and tried hard to control his little sister Loisa from jumping up completely. He shook his head and asked Sera's mother.

"I'd like to buy a small farm near here, what do you think?"

"..." Sierra's mother blinked in surprise and asked subconsciously.

"Would you like this as a birthday present?"

"Birthday?" David scratched his head with his hand.

"Who's having a birthday?"

"..." Sera's mother stared at her confused son. Seeing that he had really forgotten, she shook her head and smiled.

"Today is your dad's birthday!"

"what?"

"Sorry, Mom!"

"I...I was busy and forgot..." David struggled to search for memories in his mind, hesitating with embarrassment.

"It's okay~"

Sierra’s mother reached out and patted her son’s arm: “Your father thought the horses that Old Cui En sent yesterday were gifts from you to him.”

"Forehead.."

David sighed feeling even more embarrassed, thought about it seriously and nodded, "I'll go find Old Cui En to discuss this matter. Let's make mistakes first."

"Mom, don't tell dad about buying the farm yet."

"correct!"

"How about we hold a small birthday party for him for dinner?"

"Okay~" Sierra's mother raised her finger and pointed to the kitchen, smiling.

"Chasida and I went to buy a lot of cake-making materials yesterday and planned to bake a birthday cake + Italian cheese cake for him at home today."

"ok~"

David put down the tableware in his hand and continued: "Leave the rest to me!"

"Yes." Sierra's mother looked at her son happily and couldn't help but whispered.

"If your mentor, Professor Bartlet, is also willing to come to the birthday party, you must tell me in advance, okay?"

"Ok!"

David gave his mother a thumbs up, wiped his mouth and ran out.

----

On the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii.

Honolulu International Airport.

In the golden-red morning sun, a private plane from Tokyo landed slowly on the runway.

After more than 20 minutes.

Giovanni, the third brother of the three colliding brothers, drove Mag Ludwig, Marat Poyezhnev and Yuri Orlov, who had come from Tokyo, and drove out quickly After leaving the airport, we headed to our holiday home on Corudilla Avenue.

on the way.

Mag, who was sitting in the passenger seat, looked at the car for a while and asked Giovanni: "I didn't see it when I came here a few days ago."

"Did you buy this car new?"

"Yup!"

Giovanni adjusted the rearview mirror, held the brand new steering wheel and smiled: "This is a new car that I followed Polly to pick up yesterday. The license plate procedures have not been completed yet."

"Yes." Mager glanced casually, reached for the window, and let the cool morning breeze blow away the bumps and fatigue on the road, and whispered.

"Find a place to stop ahead, we have something to talk about."

"Oh..." Giovanni glanced at the calm-looking Marat and the frowning Yuri Orlov in the rearview mirror and replied.

"Miss Ava Fangtian is still in the car behind. I'll let them go back first, and I'll stay and wait for you?"

"it is good!"

. . .

ten minutes later.

On a deserted road.

Mag stood by the car and took off his coat, watching Yuri watch his girlfriend Ava Fangtian's car go away, then walked to the lawn not far away and sat down casually.

Marat followed him and took off his coat, spread it on the lawn, looked at Yuri running back, and asked in a low voice.

"There should be no problem here. You've endured it for a long time."

"Can you say it?"

"Hehe~"

Mag Ludwig took out a pack of cigarettes from his coat pocket, gave one to both Marat and Yuri, lit it and whispered.

"Sorry~"

"If you have had the same experience as me, you may be more careful and cautious than me."

"Understood!" Marat looked at Yuri, who was sitting down with his back to the direction where Giovanni was parking, nodded slightly to him, exhaled a puff of smoke and listened silently.

Mag didn't talk too much and said it very directly.

"Today is February [-]th."

"On February 15, Ayatollah Khomeini, the supreme leader of the anti-Shah group in Iran, ended his [-]-year exile and returned to Tehran, the capital of Iran."

"On February [-], the U.S. Ambassador to Tehran requested to visit Khomeini, but was refused."

"Wait a minute!" Marat asked, his brows already furrowed into a knot as he took a long drag on his cigarette.

"Is this the news you got before you left Hawaii for Tokyo?"

"Half and half, what I want to talk about next is the latest news received in Tokyo." Mag looked around, shook his head and continued.

"On February [-], the American ambassador came to visit Khomeini again, and waited for more than four hours to finally see him."

"However, Khomeini met with the ambassadors of the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait before meeting the ambassador of the United States."

"Khomeini said that he gave priority to meeting with representatives of these two OPEC member states just to answer some of their doubts."

"So, the U.S. ambassador and Khomeini talked about matters related to the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and whether Iran can resume oil production and exports as promised."

"But Khomeini's answer..."

"Hehe~"

Mager shook his head sarcastically and said with a smile: "According to the oral report to Washington by the ambassador to Iran, Khomeini assured that Iran will fulfill its December external announcement before the end of this month and resume domestic oil production and crude oil exports."

"However, Khomeini hopes to receive some U.S. aid in food, medicine, and civilian supplies during the gradual restoration of order in Iran."

"He asked the U.S. fleet stationed in the Persian Gulf to revoke maritime control over Iran's export ports and lower its military alert level against Iran."

"Finally, he also strongly demanded that the U.S. government must allow the Panamanian government to repatriate the exiled King Pahlavi II."

"He believes that the incompetent Pahlavi II must be publicly tried by the Iranian people!"

Mag fiddled with the burning cigarette at his fingertips, tilted his head to look at Marat, and asked with a smile.

"What can you tell from this information?"

"..." Marat unbuttoned his collar, raised his head slightly to look at the rising sun in the east, and thought for a moment before saying.

"OPEC, Pahlavi II, the United States, Khomeini, crude oil exports, oil prices!!"

"Khomeini promised that he would fulfill his commitments in the announcement and resume crude oil exports."

"This is to quickly stabilize the domestic unrest and restore the previous order of life and work~"

"With money, people, and a relatively stable social order, he can let go and do what he wants to do."

"And the Iranian government that he overthrew actively joined OPEC, which is obviously not in the interest of the United States and European oil companies!"

"Pahlavi II made a lot of money during the last oil crisis. He seems to have no scruples anymore. He is an uncontrollable chess piece and can be destroyed."

"Khomeini succeeded in taking office at just the right time, but he did not immediately show what he should have done to the United States."

Marat closed his eyes and relaxed, turned to look at Mag, and said seriously: "Europe's history of hundreds of years of turmoil has long told us that any rule that has anything to do with religion will become uncontrollable, even... Very dangerous!"

"Khomeini will not let himself follow the path of Pahlavi II, let alone lose his trust in front of the people."

"If it were me, I wouldn't want to become a puppet leader who can be manipulated at will by greedy Americans."

"So, he is likely to be more uncontrollable than Pahlavi II!"

"Hmm~ Not bad!" Mag nodded slightly surprised and asked again.

"Where's the gas price?"

"What do you think?"

"Gas prices..."

Marat's eyes narrowed, as if he figured something out in an instant, he took a deep breath and said.

"For Iran, being able to resume domestic crude oil exports as soon as possible to earn foreign exchange can provide strong financial support to the government formed by Khomeini."

"For OPEC members, it is best for Iran to maintain a crude oil embargo, or delay the resumption of crude oil production and crude oil exports, so as to keep international oil prices at a relatively high price, so as to maximize everyone's interests~"

"As for the United States, the world's largest crude oil importer..."

"Iran has experienced several years of turmoil and it is impossible to fully resume production immediately!"

"It is obviously unrealistic to ask Iran to immediately resume crude oil exports and fill the demand gap in the world crude oil market."

"So, if someone takes advantage of Khomeini's current attitude to spread the news in the international crude oil market that Iran will resume crude oil exports, and deliberately suppress the increase in oil prices, it will cause a wave of price fluctuations in the crude oil spot market!"

"By then..."

Marat took a few deep breaths, looked at Yuri Orlov who lowered his head and thought silently, and whispered.

"Xiong Daguo is currently one of the world's largest crude oil exporting countries."

"Compared with the spot price of crude oil we purchased from Nakhodka Commercial Port last month, oil prices may see a downward trend in recent days~"

"If we ask Nakhodka Commercial Port to continue trading, they will certainly not accept the sale at a reduced price."

"In order to avoid the risk of oil price fluctuations, we obviously will not spend high prices to hoard this batch of crude oil spot. We can only fulfill our commitments and contact Vitol for negotiations."

"If Vitol is unwilling to continue to buy crude oil spot in large quantities during a period of oil price fluctuations, we will be in a very passive situation!"

"By then, the risks we have to bear as a crude oil trading intermediary will increase exponentially. Only after oil prices stabilize, can we be freed from the market's supply and demand balance."

"Clap clap clap!"

Mager applauded Marat for this very "wonderful" analysis.

He threw the cigarette butt away, took out another cigarette and lit it, puffing out the smoke and laughing.

"There's one thing you haven't said yet..."

"Let me tell you!"

"Mr. Popov, right?"

Marat took a long drag on his cigarette, pressed the cigarette butt on the grass beside him, and nodded slightly.

"Ok!"

"If, as we have analyzed and guessed, there will be a relatively large adjustment and decline in international oil prices, Uncle Popov, as our middleman at the Nakhodka Commercial Port, will definitely be investigated."

"Yes~"

Mag nodded with emotion, looked at Yuri Orlov who "didn't follow" the two people's thoughts, and explained with a smile.

"Popov is an underground black marketeer."

"When we contacted him, we initially just wanted to find a local person to help connect him."

"But judging from your two meetings and conversations with Popov, as well as the strong reaction from the Nakhodka Commercial Port..."

"If we buy a large amount of crude oil spot from Nakhodka at a low price during this period, and the oil price stops falling and rises again in a few days, Popov will definitely be included in the list of key investigations!"

"The charge... is not important!"

"The important thing is that he harmed the interests of the country!"

"On the contrary~ the same is true!"

"If we bought a large amount of crude oil spot at a high price during this period, Popov would not be able to escape the fate of being suspected."

"The crime is also unimportant."

"The important thing is that he may be using transactions to help us transfer benefits to certain people within the Bear Country!"

"The most fundamental reason for all this is that we are still in the Cold War period of bipolar opposition!"

"And the trade channel we established by contacting the underground black market businessman Popov can be regarded as illegal smuggling, even..."

"That's why I deliberately magnified the unfair treatment Ava Fangtian received at the airport to find an excuse in advance for us to leave Tokyo later."

Seeing the confusion on Yuri's face, Mag asked with a satisfied smile: "Is there anything else you don't understand?"

"Forehead.."

Yuri asked, covering his "hot" forehead with his hand, shaking his head with a wry smile.

"If we choose to leave Tokyo at this time, we can also indirectly help Uncle Popov and reduce some risks of being investigated...right?"

"Yeah ~ almost."

Mag stood up from the grass, opened his arms towards the rising sun, and said.

"Have you all met Professor John Nash and his wife?"

"Although he is just a mathematician, the Nash equilibrium theory he published based on his research is very suitable for us to use for reference now."

"In the Nash equilibrium theory, he introduced the difference between cooperative games and non-cooperative games."

"Cooperative game is also called a positive-sum game, which means that the interests of both parties in the game are increased, or at least one party's interests are increased, while the interests of the other party are not harmed."

"Cooperative games also study how people allocate the benefits obtained from cooperation when they reach cooperation, that is, the income distribution problem."

"Cooperative games adopt a cooperative approach, or a compromise."

"Compromise can enhance the interests of both parties because cooperative games can produce a cooperative surplus."

“This surplus arises from and is limited to this relationship and manner.”

"Therefore, compromise must go through bargaining, consensus and cooperation by all parties in the game."

“Here, however, the distribution of the cooperative surplus is both the result and the condition of the compromise.”

"That is: the distribution of the final benefits of cooperation ≈ the result of the compromise ≈ the conditions for reaching the compromise."

Mag lowered his arms and smiled happily: "The game mentioned here does not only include elements of conflict~"

“It tends to include elements of conflict as well as elements of cooperation in many situations.”

"That is: conflict and cooperation overlap!"

"Just as non-cooperative game theory studies how people make decisions to maximize their own benefits in situations where their interests interact with each other~"

“When we make decisions or choices, we must consider other people’s choices!”

“Also be aware of the strategies others will consider our choices before deciding to use them.”

"So our results depend not only on our choices, but also on the strategic choices of others."

Mag suddenly changed the subject, looked at Marat and Yuri who stood up slowly, and smiled.

"David, he always has one thing on his lips."

"Both game theory and economics will assume that people are absolutely rational and selfish when conducting research... rational people."

"The so-called rational person means that his purpose when choosing specific strategies is to maximize his own interests."

"but!!"

"It is impossible for people to remain absolutely rational. They will only follow their own experiences and inner desires~"

"Both of you and me!"

"There are also Hoichiro Yasuda, Toshiki Wada, Galid, Davis Rice, and Popov, who is in an unknown situation at the Nakhodka Commercial Port."

"The result is very important!"

"Conditions are also very important!"

"We are all hesitating between whether to cooperate and not to cooperate~"

"We all have to pay the price for compromising after a conflict of interest."

Mag looked at Marat, who looked much better, and patted him on the shoulder: "I've finished saying what needs to be said~"

"We have done everything we can."

“Leave the rest to God!”

"Come on, let's go have breakfast!"

"Haha~ok!"

"You please?" Marat teased with a smile.

"Hahaha~ I'll treat you!" Mager laughed and walked towards the car in the distance, waving.

Yuri Orlov stood there, watching the two people walking away slowly. The strong sense of urgency and powerlessness in his heart were intertwined, which made him extremely annoyed!