Manhattan Reborn 1978

Southeast Texas, Houston.

West of downtown, 19 Piney Point Village, Memorial District, Piney Point Village.

The sun sets~

in the study.

Professor Bartlet put down the microphone with a smile and said to David, whose fingers were "flying" on the typewriter.

"Wait a minute, an old friend is coming over."

"Come here first today!"

"Okay, right away~"

David, who was only wearing a thickened shirt, stared at the last line of words on the printer, thought for a moment, and finished it quickly.

Toby Olga, who was next to him, heard that David finally decided to "call it a day" and immediately felt extremely relaxed and fell down on the sofa, not even wanting to move his fingers. .

David saw her "lying flat", smiled and shook his head, handed the last few typed pages to his tutor, Professor Bartley, and asked.

"I'm coming to visit your old friend later. Do you want to stay with him for dinner?"

"Hmm~" Professor Bartlet turned his head and glanced out the window, nodding slightly.

"As the master, of course we have to stay with him for dinner~"

"But.."

"Hehe~"

David held back his laughter and consoled him: "Don't worry, Laura won't be allowed to show off her embarrassment at dinner. Lilith and I can take care of it."

"you?"

"You still cook?"

"Of course!"

"I learned some simple home-cooked dishes from my mother, and they taste pretty good. I'll let you try them later!"

"Okay..." Professor Bartlet shook the manuscript in his hand and smiled.

"Elder sent me a few bottles of red wine a few days ago, which was just enough to serve the guests."

"Ok!"

"By the way~ What's your guest's name?"

"His name is John Nesbitt!"

"Do you know him?"

"I don't know..." David scratched his head with his hand, feeling that the name was unfamiliar.

Professor Bartley smiled and asked him to sit down first and explained: "John Naisbitt, who is just 50 years old this year, has studied at Utah State University, Harvard University and Cornell University."

"In 1963, he was appointed assistant secretary of education by President Kennedy and later hired as special assistant to President Lyndon Johnson."

"But the few years he worked in Washington happened to be the most active period of various civil movements, and his efforts and political achievements were not recognized by people."

"So in 1969, at the age of 40, John Nesbitt decided to leave Washington and go work for IBM."

"Later, after working at IBM for five years, he decided to start his own business. He established an urban research company that specializes in collecting, organizing, and analyzing public media information and data from all over the country, and then regularly produces various research reports and sells them to some large companies or companies. Library, etc.”

Professor Bartley looked at David who was lost in thought, squinted his eyes and smiled: "His original content analysis method is actually to collect newspapers from various places extensively, classify and organize the contents of these newspapers every day, establish indexes, and analyze and compare."

"He believes that major social changes start from the bottom up, from the local level..."

“Therefore, through research and analysis of urban and rural changes, he can judge some future development trends.”

"He once said in a research report published during the last oil crisis: Many things have changed, but most things have not changed~"

"Including, oil still occupies an important position as the world's core strategic resource in the post-industrial era, and it has never changed~"

"The world's oil supply, production and consumption systems and traditional supply and demand relationships will undergo a major disruptive change!"

"After this change, the United States, the world's largest oil importer, will fall into a more serious economic crisis."

"If the U.S. government and the Federal Reserve cannot come up with a more effective response plan, the United States will enter a recession that will last five to ten years until it hits the bottom."

Professor Bartlet glanced at Toby, who was looking up at the ceiling with a somewhat empty gaze, looked at David seriously, and whispered.

“John Nesbitt’s performance in politics was mediocre~”

"But after researching and analyzing various public information, he produced predictive research reports on future national and economic development trends. In recent years, he has attracted more and more attention from people!"

"Especially large companies such as IBM, General Motors, and General Electric regard his research reports and future predictions as important reference data for the company to formulate future development plans."

"so.."

David suddenly let out a sigh of relief, smiled and shrugged, and continued: "That's why I suddenly came out and made some predictions about the future, and received the attention and investment of old Morgan's dad...right?"

"Hmm~"

Professor Bartlet nodded slightly, stood up slowly while holding the wheelchair, looked at young David and smiled.

"He came to Texas this time for research mainly because this is the largest oil producing area in the country!"

"Last month, Iran publicly announced that it would stop exporting oil trade. How much negative impact it will have on the U.S. economy is one of the themes of his latest research report."

"And another important theme is how to find new opportunities in the new round of oil crisis!"

"In this regard, I think you should be able to have a lot in common with him!"

"Well... thank you!" David thanked him very sincerely and with gratitude.

Professor Bartlet reached out and patted his shoulder, teasing: "Go ahead~ As long as you don't let me eat any more cinnamon and fennel cookies... I'll do whatever you want!"

"Hahaha~" David was amused and laughed.

----

the other side of the Pacific Ocean.

Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, in the central and western part of the island country.

Early morning ~ a quarter past six.

The oil tanker berths fifteen nautical miles outside the port, and a small boat is temporarily moored on the seaside next to it.

Marat, Yuri Orlov and Nobunari Kihara, braved the biting cold wind, watched the oil tanker slowly set sail in the dark, heading north~

Two 10 minutes later.

The three Marlats returned to the cockpit of the boat.

The boat driver consciously took out his cigarette and walked out, leaving space for the three of them.

Yuri rubbed his frozen cheeks, frowned and looked at Marat and asked.

"Isn't what Popov mentioned so different from the information we got?"

"Um.."

Marat took off his gloves, wiped the cold water droplets on his beard with his hand, sighed, and explained.

"In my memory, for a long time the people of Xiong Daguo suffered from the shortage of meat..."

“Ordinary grocery stores will sell fresh vegetables, butter, bread, sugar, etc., but for animal protein, they only have doctor sausage or other similar sausages, canned seafood, and various fresh meat products are often in short supply. goods."

"But as early as 1965, after Brezhnev came to power, ordinary people began to have the opportunity to enter the Little White Birch Store with the elites to buy some imported goods and food."

"But the goods sold in these small birch shops only accept foreign trade ruble checks (Вhewпocылtopг) printed uniformly by the government."

"In 1958, the Xiong Daguo government introduced this type of foreign trade checks because the original ordering catalog was very inconvenient and would cause some problems."

"For example: If the imported shoes or clothes delivered by foreign trade are not suitable, the ordered goods cannot be returned or exchanged."

"In order to resolve these contradictions, enrich the payment methods of diplomats, increase their work benefits, and provide more convenience for foreign friends to visit, the Xiongguo government began to issue these external checks based on the fixed exchange rate of the rice dollar as a means of purchasing small items. The White Birch Store specializes in vouchers for imported goods.”

"As the common currency in the international commodity market, the rice dollar is very valuable to every country."

“Before I immigrated to the United States, I had seen some people reselling foreign exchange checks and exchanging foreign exchange in rice dollars in front of the Little Baihua Store.”

"But as long as these people are caught by the police, they will be sentenced to 5-8 years in prison for business speculation."

"If the amount is huge, you may be sentenced to 10-15 years, or even the death penalty."

"Therefore, salespersons in Xiaobaihua stores rarely take the initiative to ask civilian shoppers for relevant legal certificates of foreign exchange checks, or ask about the source of these rice-dollar foreign exchange."

"Hmm~ Is this it?" Yuri took out a few colorful bills from his pocket and handed them to Marat.

Marat took them, shook his head with a sigh, and said with a smile: "Yes, that's it!"

"However, this is the latest version of foreign exchange checks printed in 76, with denominations ranging from 1 kopeck to 100 rubles."

"The exchange rate on the underground black market outside Little Baihua Store has reached 1:1.5 to 1:3 as early as more than ten years ago."

"In recent years, due to the increasing demand from ordinary people for various imported goods, the goods sold in the Little White Birch Store are often out of stock."

"So, now, as Popov said, on the underground black market at Nakhodka Commercial Port, foreign exchange checks can usually be exchanged for more than three times their face value in rubles."

"And in the past month, this staggeringly exaggerated exchange ratio has continued to rise~"

Marat handed these foreign exchange checks to Kihara Nobunari and said with a wry smile: "In other words, the foreign exchange exchange ratio given by the Xiong Daguo government is 2 meters yuan: 1 ruble."

"In the underground black market foreign exchange check market, it's just the opposite - 1 meter of foreign exchange check: 3 rubles, or even more..."

“But the ratio of rice dollar cash to rubles in the underground black market is far from that exaggerated~”

"Because foreign exchange checks are unified payment bills issued by the government, rice dollars flow into the market through various unofficial underground channels."

"If a large amount of rice dollars appears in the market, it will cause the goods in the special stores to continue to be out of stock, which will directly lead to major troubles such as price disorder and imbalance of supply and demand in the commodity market."

"This is also the first time that Popov has led an oil tanker to trade, and he specifically stated that he wanted a batch of 80-meter goods as one of the important reasons for this transaction."

“These products can be bought at very low prices from us~”

"After they return to the Nakhodka Commercial Port with the ship, they will be loaded onto Siberian trains and transported to the west near big cities such as Moscow."

"Their value must be at least several times, even ten times!"

"For example, the nail clippers that Popov asked the crew to buy in a street store are sold at the Little White Birch store for about the same price as a kilogram of imported fresh beef!"

"But here, more than twenty good-quality nail clippers can be exchanged for one kilogram of imported fresh beef."

Marat deliberately raised his hands to Yuri and Kihara Nobunari, and exclaimed with a strange expression: "Several times, even ten times more profits!"

"They only need to break the contract once and they can easily make money..."

"If it were you, would you choose to risk your life for once?"

"Also...maybe!" Yuri curled his lips and raised his eyebrows.

Kihara Nobunari looked down at the foreign exchange check in his hand, frowned, and asked in a low voice: "Then the position we are in now is equivalent to replacing Vitol Company and taking the lead...?"

"That's right!"

Marat glanced at Yuri, who looked worried, and said with a smile: "Before, Vitol only reached cooperation with a group of underground black market merchants to purchase spot crude oil."

"Our existence allows them to spend a small price and no longer have to face all kinds of troubles that may cause, as well as the constraints or sanctions from the big government."

"And the people in Xiong Daguo who are leading these transactions can also regard us as temporary workers for mutual benefit~"

“We can all make money when we want to use it.”

"When they don't want to use it, they can always throw a few big hats at us to make us suffer."

"That's why Uncle Popov advocates cash transactions and full payment upon delivery!"

"..." Yuri and Kihara Nobunari looked at each other and nodded silently.

Marat didn't seem to have too much worry about the current situation, and said with a relaxed smile: "But don't forget it~"

"We are just a middleman!"

"Judging from the various details Uncle Popov told us, the most profitable thing for us as middlemen is not the crude oil spot business at all, but the buying and selling of various high-profit, in-demand commodities!"

"For example: a pair of brand jeans produced in the United States is priced at 40 + foreign exchange check in Xiaobaihua store, and they are often out of stock and out of stock~"

"And the ck brand jeans we purchase in bulk from New York cost less than 11 meters per pair."

"If you add in the overall transportation and other costs, the final price delivered to Uncle Popov's hands will be at least 18-20 meters."

"This kind of business, with a profit of close to 50%, only takes a few days to complete."

"Where else can we find such a good deal?"

"Gone!"

"Nothing in the whole world!"

"Hahaha~"

"..." Yuri looked at Marat who was laughing heartily, and suddenly thought of his girlfriend Ava Fangtian, and murmured softly.

"We are here...why have we turned into buying and selling jeans again?"

"Haha~"

Marat waved his hand nonchalantly: "Then we can sell Martinibianco."

"A 1-liter bottle of Piedmont Martini White Vermouth costs at least 110+ rubles in the Little White Birch store!"

"But if we order directly from Italy, including shipping costs, it will only cost more than 30 yuan at most."

"Also, for the goods shipped from Italy, we can directly contact Uncle Popov and ask them to send a ship to trade on the high seas~"

“This also saves an additional cost of customs clearance and tax filing, and we can earn more!”

"But... isn't this smuggling?" Yuri asked, seemingly unwillingly.

Marat shrugged and said with a smile: "You are not willing to do the legal jeans business...and you are not willing to do the illegal smuggling business?"

"You two only need to complete the boss's instructions, and let me do all this alone, how about that?"

"Uh..." Yuri was speechless.

Kihara Nobunari pushed the foreign exchange check in his hand to Yuri and looked at Marat and nodded: "I think no matter what decision we make, it's best to ask for permission first."

"To avoid situations that we can't solve and make the boss feel unprepared..."

"Okay!" Marat nodded in agreement, turned around and waved to the boat driver outside, smiling.

"There has been no business in the past few days, which just allows us to relax and explore the exotic customs of the island country~"

"Yuri, go ask the boss for instructions."

"No matter what the outcome is, I don't have a problem with it."

"Okay~" Yuri looked at the two of them and nodded, walked to the side and sat down, lost in thought.

----

Southeast Texas, Houston.

West of downtown, 19 Piney Point Village, Memorial District, Piney Point Village.

Dinner time!

Today's dinner main course is not the apple pie made by Lilith, nor is it the cherry chicken steak that David made with his help. .

Instead, Polly brought several large pieces of secret pastrami and more than a dozen pounds of Gulf pink shrimp.

Today, because David was coming over to continue writing a book, Polly took the initiative to invite old David and Sera's mother to go shopping on the most prosperous shopping street in Houston. Along the way, she bought a lot of things that she would take with her to Hawaii tomorrow to visit Sera's mother and her children. Specialties and gifts.

However, the beef and red shrimp she delivered before dinner were not bought by them from shopping, but were specially delivered by Old Cui En's daughter Mary Sue Cui En from Austin, which is more than 100 kilometers away. .

After David learned about this, he was surprised and asked Polly about Mary Sue's condition.

Polly shrugged and smiled and only said: "She seems to have suddenly become a lot more mature~"

Emm. .

On the dining room table!

Professor Bartlet left his wheelchair, sat in the director's position on one side of the long table, and raised his glass to everyone~

To his left are: John Housebitt, David, Polly and Toby Olga.

On his right side are: Lilith, Leslie, Livlin and Laura.

Laura was sitting at the end of the table, not because of anyone's deliberate arrangement, but because she knew in her heart that it would be better to stay calm in this kind of situation, so she found a "transparent" position for herself.

Leslie and Livlin regained their energy after catching up on sleep throughout the day.

The two of them were already very familiar with Professor Bartley, so they raised their glasses to the professor and smiled.

"Cheers~"

"cheers!"