Manhattan Reborn 1978

new day~

new York.

The temperature dropped sharply again, shrouding the entire city in a thick layer of morning fog.

The Queen.

Sam Rogers, amidst his wife's somewhat incomprehensible complaints, said goodbye to his family, got into his car, and headed for Wall Street.

. . .

Wall Street, Stanley [-]th Floor.

Sam sat in his office and looked through his work memo. He felt that most of today's work should be completed before noon, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

Outside the office.

Mu Brandes came in with a pot of coffee and said with a smile: "I thought you wouldn't come today~"

"Hehe~"

Sam shrugged helplessly and said with a smile: "The boss is taking his family on vacation. If we don't take it seriously, will we still have a job?"

"Hahaha~" Mu Brandes laughed and poured coffee for Sam. He saw the memo in his hand and asked.

"What other plans do you have for today...that I can help with?"

"Yeah...yes!"

Sam took a sip of coffee and said with some confusion: "Yesterday, a man named Marat Poyezhnev said that he and Yuri Orlov would come to the company to visit me today."

"Have you ever heard of this man?"

"...No~" When Brandes heard this strange name, he immediately thought of a lot~

He asked rhetorically: "Is this Marat also an immigrant Jew from the Great Bear Country?"

"should be.."

"But that guy Yuri doesn't think he's a Jew~"

"Hahaha~"

Brandes laughed and nodded, then continued: "This Marat may be the investment client Yuri helped us recruit~"

"I'll go outside and wait for them first. You go ahead and do your work~"

"They're here, I'll be with you again."

"ok~"

----

The Queen.

The home of FBI branch chief Harold Stone.

Harris Schultz carefully prepared a breakfast for the two of them, and also placed the divorce agreement on the dining table.

Harold looked blank and finished his breakfast in silence. He wiped the corners of his mouth, picked up a pen and signed his name on the divorce agreement.

"when are you leaving?"

"today."

"do you need my help?"

"Need not."

"Then where are you going?"

Harris Schultz casually took the divorce agreement, looked through it and checked it again, pursed her lips and whispered: "Hawaii~"

"what?"

"What are you doing there?"

"Are you asking questions knowingly?"

"I..." Harold was speechless.

Harris stood up and walked into the bedroom, put the divorce papers away, put on her coat, carried the small bag, returned to Harold, looked down into his eyes, and smiled.

"I never thought I could meet you~"

"If it was a few years ago, I might have stayed to be your real wife, bear children for you, and live an ordinary life with you..."

"But, I'm sorry~"

"In my life, there are not so many ifs..."

"You..." Harold looked up at Harris, his eyes widening in surprise.

Harris smiled softly, bent down and kissed him on the lips, whispering: "Goodbye, Mr. Stone! My husband..."

"..."

. . .

Mrs. Harris Schultz Stone, gone.

Harold felt weak and sat at the dining table, staring blankly at the tableware the two of them had just used. He knew clearly what he should do, but for a moment he didn't know if it was worth doing. .

----

Wall Street, Stanley [-]th Floor.

Yuri Orlov walked into the company with a frown. When he saw Mu Brandes approaching, he slowed down and motioned behind him.

"These two are..."

"I know~"

"Um...you know?"

"Hehe~"

Mu Brandes smiled and patted Yuri on the shoulder, looked at Marat and Agron, and smiled.

"Excuse me, is that Mr. Poyezhnev?"

"it's me."

"Oh~ Nice to meet you!"

"Mr. Rogers, you are already waiting in the office~ Shall we go there now?"

"Ok."

Marat glanced at Yuri who was in a daze, followed Brandes with a polite smile on his lips.

Agron, who was behind him, tilted his head, smiled at Yuri, and whispered, "Look, business is business, it's that simple!"

"Um..." Yuri stood there stupidly, watching Agron, who was very satisfied, walk into Sam's office.

. . .

in the office.

Sam enthusiastically poured coffee for the two visitors and said with an apologetic smile: "Today is the last day before the New Year, and all the employees in the company are on holiday~"

"so.."

"Hahaha ~ I understand!" Marat replied with a smile.

"ok~"

Sam crossed his fingers, rested his elbows on the table, glanced at Marat and the two, and asked with a direct smile: "Are you two coming over today...?"

"Haha~" Marat glanced at Mu Brandes and smiled.

"Cooperation!"

"We want to discuss some cooperative business with your company."

"Oh?"

Sam felt something "special", nodded slightly, and introduced: "We are a fund company that does not raise funds from outside."

“The company’s partners are all friends of our boss~”

"So, I don't know what you mean by cooperation...?"

"Are they all friends?"

"Then we also want to get to know your boss and become his friends!"

"Uh...Sorry~"

"My boss has gone on vacation and won't be back for a few weeks."

"He...isn't in New York?"

"Yes~"

Marat raised his eyebrows, tilted his head and glanced at Agron, pondered for a moment, and then asked: "What have the partners you mentioned invested in you?"

"Hehe~"

Sam raised his eyebrows at the two of them, spread his hands and smiled: "This is Wall Street, of course, investing in stocks, bonds and futures markets."

"Hmm~" Marat's expression did not change after hearing Sam's "nonsense", but his smile turned slightly colder.

Agron, who was sitting next to him, suddenly asked: "I heard that your boss is only in his early twenties this year?"

"He became a multimillionaire in just a few months?"

"Is that right?"

The curvature of Sam’s smiling mouth disappeared~

He looked at Mu Brandes and asked, "Is Yuri here too?"

"Well, he's outside."

"Can I invite him..."

"No need~" Agron interrupted Sam in a domineering manner, and looked at Brandes as he said.

"Many people on Wall Street know this. It's not a secret, right?"

"..." Sam and Brandes looked at each other, nodded slowly, and asked with inquiring eyes.

"you are..?"

"You can call me Agron."

"Okay, Mr. Agron."

"I don't know, what line of work do you do...?"

"Hehe~"

Agron glanced at the frowning Marat next to him and said with a smile: "I opened a club in Brooklyn and overheard a group of guests talking about how the money on Wall Street was particularly easy to make in the past few years. . . ”

“So, we wanted to come over and find some partners we can trust.”

"Understood~"

Sam said he understood, and he understood Agron's words in his heart.

Among the club owners in New York, at least nine out of ten have some unexplained relationship with gangs~

The first oil crisis a few years ago caused another boom in the stock market, bond market and futures market, and also allowed some gangs with a keen sense of smell to see new business opportunities. .

In recent years, many small companies with unknown backgrounds have sprung up out of nowhere, investing large sums of funds from unknown sources into various trading markets. .

But these new companies only see money in the financial trading market, but seem to be completely blind to the risks of trading. .

Just like a guy who just learned to dance but has no sense of rhythm at all, he is always on the cusp of looking for high-yield "opportunities"~

The result is obvious.

It’s still a good thing if stock prices are stuck at high prices~

Those who wave banknotes and rush into the futures market recklessly, chasing highs or buying lows, are miserable. .

. . .

Just when Sam Rogers fell into a brief silence, Mu Brandes, a "veteran" who had been on Wall Street for many years, looked at Margot with a smile and said.

"A few years ago.."

"To be more precise, it started in 71~"

"President Nixon announced on TV that the dollar would be decoupled from gold. The price of gold was rising at such a rate that it was like a wild horse that had escaped the reins, shocking everyone."

"When the price of gold rose to 70 meters per ounce, people felt that the gold market was too crazy~"

"When the price of gold rose to 100 meters per ounce, people thought they were crazy..."

"The decoupling of gold and the rice dollar means a sharp rise in gold prices means a sharp depreciation of the rice dollar~"

"But at that time, the government did not completely deregulate gold trading. Even though everyone knew that the rice dollar was depreciating and the price of gold would continue to rise, they watched helplessly and there was nothing they could do."

"So, they can only turn their attention to the stock market, those listed companies whose stock prices have been significantly undervalued after the devaluation of the dollar, and companies listed on the newly established Nasdaq."

"Hehe~"

Mu Brandes seemed to be completely immersed in the memories. After laughing at himself, he continued.

“In 71, many major events occurred that affected the integrated trading market!”

"For example: the Apollo 15 moon landing; the major earthquake in San Fernando, California; the birth of Silicon Valley next to San Francisco, etc.~"

"Especially the big earthquake that happened in California made many wealthy people living in the San Fernando area feel scared and move away from California."

"The large amount of funds they obtained after selling off all their assets in California were almost invested in the trading market in New York, adding another heavy fuel to the increasingly hot trading market~"

"However, there are also some wealthy people who have seen the development potential of innovative technology companies in Silicon Valley and have invested part of their funds in some venture capital companies on Sand Hill Road in Silicon Valley."

(Sand Hill Road is a common place name in Silicon Valley~ But this road is now known as the Wall Street of the West Coast. Hundreds of well-known venture capital companies gather here. It is said that there is gold everywhere and every inch of land is valuable. Not an exaggeration.)

. . .

in the office.

The "eloquent" Mu Brandes allowed Marat and Agron to fully appreciate one of the basic passive skills of a senior financial practitioner on Wall Street: humorous and full of routine chatting skills .

At the same time, it also gave Sam Rogers ample time to think and respond.

ten minutes later.

Mu Brandes picked up his coffee cup, glanced at Sam who was smiling confidently, and gave him a vague look.

Sam blinked calmly, looked at Agron, and smiled: "Mr. Agron, how much do you know about venture capital?"

"..." Agron, who was a complete novice in financial investment, tilted his head and looked at Marat without saying anything.

Marat smiled and nodded to Mu Brandes, implicitly expressing his polite gratitude and said.

"Venture capital, I know a little bit about it."

"But I think this type of investment is no different than gold mining in the sand~"

"Indeed."

Sam nodded calmly, took out something from the drawer with a wider smile, and asked Agron.

"Have you ever seen this kind of disposable lighter in a nightclub?"

"...I've seen it before~" Agron stared at the lighter, looked at it carefully for a few seconds, and nodded.

"ok~"

"It is the project research and development center that cooperates with our venture capital company, and it is one of the latest projects to be put into production."

"There are many R&D centers similar to this kind of investment projects."

"If you are interested, I can ask the person in charge of the R&D center to introduce some good projects to you in a few days."

Agron didn't look at the color that Marat threw at him. He looked directly at Sam and asked, "Are you trying to deal with me?"

"Haha~ No, Mr. Agron."

Sam stood up, walked to Agron, handed him the lighter, and said with a smile: "The production cost of disposable lighters like this can be continuously reduced with the upgrading of technology and materials~"

"For lighters that cost less than one meter each, the profit can reach more than 15%."

“And as people’s recognition and purchasing habits continue to increase, its sales will also increase year by year~”

"But its initial investment cost was only about 20 yuan."

"What do you think the annual sales volume of this type of disposable lighter will be in New York?"

Agron lowered his head and fiddled with the disposable lighter a few times, pondered for a while, and asked: "I have 100 million, can I invest in this type of project?"

"...Haha~" Sam resisted the urge to laugh, turned to look at Marat, and asked.

"What do you say?"

"..." Marat smiled and shook his head without saying anything.

Mu Brandes, who was sitting next to him, responded in a timely manner: "Today is the first time we meet, and investment matters are okay..."

At this time, Agron interrupted Brandes again, stared at Sam and asked: "Where is the project research and development center you mentioned?"

"Uh...in Queens."

"Ok!"

"Let's make another appointment and let's go over and take a look!"

"Okay~" Sam smiled, took half a step back, and stretched out his right hand.

Agron put the lighter into his pocket, shook hands with Sam symbolically, scratched his head and said to Brandes.

“Club Caribbean!”

"If you have time, you can come over and have fun~"

"I will." Brandes responded with a smile and nodded, watching Agron leave the office.

Marat kept a polite smile, said a few more polite words to Sam and Sam, and followed Agron's footsteps.

. . .

outside the office.

Yuri Orlov, like an ant on a hot pot, is regretting his "dementia" behavior. .

When he saw Marat and Agron leaving, he immediately ran outside the office door, knocked nervously and apologetically, and asked.

"May I come in?"

"I can explain!"

"Haha~ Come in." Mu Brandes waved to him, turned to Sam and smiled.

"You also want to know the situation...right?"

"Of course!" Sam asked Yuri to sit down, poured him a cup of coffee, smiled and comforted him, and then asked Agron about their origins.

Yuri, who felt his mouth was dry, took a big sip of coffee, calmed down, and told the whole thing to the two of them with a wry smile.

. . .

After listening to Yuri's explanation, Mu Brandes smiled and shook his head. The whole thing was not much different from his guess. .

He thought for a while and asked Sam, "How are you going to solve this matter?"

Sam glanced at the nervous Yuri, spread his hands and said with a smile: "Since they love acting so much, we can continue to act with them~"

"Hahaha~" Brandes and Sam's laughter made Yuri feel inexplicably scratching his head again. .

----

On the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii.

Breakfast time~

On the lawn of the Royal Hawaiian Hotel in Honolulu.

Same table, same people.

David and his family had breakfast and left the hotel in batches according to the travel plan they agreed on last night.

Old David and Old Malkin are not suitable for mountain climbing or hiking due to old leg injuries.

Therefore, the two of them can only serve as the "main force" to take care of the children, leading the children to the beach at the seaside to play in the sand. .

Ludy was also dragged over by two old men with handicapped legs and feet to serve as "strong labor force" and "child caretaker". .

As for the "liberated" women, more or less their skin was sunburned yesterday, and they urgently need to give it time to repair.

Therefore, the "travel shopping group" led by Sena's mother and Sierra's mother left behind the "stinky men" such as David and Kanes who were in the way, and headed for the "shopping battlefield" in the commercial street~

. . .

David felt a small spoon in his hand, tilted his head and looked at Alto and Ludi's eldest son Asti, who was approaching, and asked in surprise.

"What are you going to do?"

“Look at the sharks!”

"Um...are you sure you don't want to feed the sharks?"

"Hahahaha~"

Alto put his arm around "little brother" Asti's shoulders and explained: "Didn't you hear last night?"

"Those people at the next table went to the pier on the northwest corner of the island to participate in an event to watch man-eating sharks up close."

"They said that since the movie "Jaws" became a hit at the box office a few years ago, the sharks that often appear in the waters to the west of the island have become the latest tourist attraction~"

"For this reason, the cruise ship on the pier also specially ordered several very strong large iron cages to protect the safety of tourists who go to the sea to watch sharks."

"Tsk tsk~"

David curled his lips, looked at the two very excited brothers, and asked in confusion: "Watching sharks...is that so interesting?"

"Yes, I have!"

"...Okay~"

"But you can't go by yourself, let...the jackal go with you~"

"Ok!"

Alto gave David a thumbs up, hugged his "little brother" Asti, and ran off to find the "unlucky guy" Jackal~

Kanes, the "spectator" who had been sitting next to David, lazily took a sip of juice, made a gesture with his fingers, and joked to David.

"Should we make some small wounds on their bodies?"

"With the smell of blood, it will be more exciting to go to the sea and see sharks, right?"

"roll!"

"Hahahaha~"

. . .

In the sky.

A few clouds drifting in the wind blocked the "selfless" sun.

Mr. Gardener held several sets of room keys in his hand, walked to the side of the "Lieping" duo, and said with a smile.

"The room has been reserved. Can I leave the key with you first?"

David took off the hat on his head, glanced at the handed key, shook his head and said, "Leave it where you are. We will pick them up at the airport later, so just give them to them~"

"Ok!"

The gardener put away all the keys, glanced at the sky, and said with some emotion: "Wait a minute, it might rain!"

"Oh?"

"You...can you see that too?"

"Haha~ I was just guessing too."

"By the way, we just have some time now. Let's go look at the house?"

"Um...have you contacted me yet?"

"Yes~ Real estate agency is the most popular profession on the island in recent years."

“Many people who invested in real estate here in the past few years are thinking of selling their houses to cash out!”

"Oh~"

David tilted his head and glanced at "Salted Fish" Carnes, and asked, "Are you going together?"

"Don't go!"

"I have no money.."

"Tch~" David raised a middle finger to Carnes, expressing his contempt~

"Haha~" Kanes didn't even open his eyes, and gave a middle finger backhand, also expressing his contempt. .

. . .

At the foot of the mountain only a few kilometers away from Waikiki Beach, David was stunned by the rows of brand-new vacation homes. .

The local real estate agent hired by the gardener parked the car in front of a holiday home with a courtyard.

After about half an hour.

David asked with his hands on his hips, standing in the courtyard of the holiday home, looking up at the blue "horizon" in the distance.

“Have housing prices here increased so much?”

"Hmm~" The gardener standing behind him responded.

He turned around and pushed away the real estate agent, walked to a position side by side with David, looked at the sea level in the distance, and smiled.

“The terrain here is higher, the view is wider, and the scenery is the best~”

"The price will naturally be the highest in this area."

"Ok."

David raised his hand and took off his hat, looked around at the surrounding holiday homes, and asked, "Where are these ones next to them? Are they also for sale?"

"It should be, let me ask?"

"Ask."

"If they are all for sale and the price is right, I will buy them all."

"Um..?"

The gardener turned his head in surprise and looked at David, who exuded a "rich" aura, and was speechless for a moment.

David put on his hat with a smile, pointed to the distant mountain top behind the holiday home, and said with a smile: "This place is backed by a mountain, facing north and south, with a wide view, and the interior design of the courtyard and house is also great~"

"Buying it now will not only allow us to stay here anytime, but it will also preserve and appreciate its value."

"Say, why don't you buy it?"

"...ok~" After hearing this explanation, what else could the gardener say?

He glanced in the direction of the sea again, shook his head, and turned to find a real estate agent.

David walked to the courtyard wall, looked at the three-story holiday house from a distance, and smiled with great satisfaction.

The first rabbit hole, this is it!