Manhattan Reborn 1978

new York.

It's approaching midnight~

Wildfire Bar, 42nd Street, Manhattan.

The big man Dipper stood at the bar and put down the microphone. He smiled and nodded to the bartender Erica and thanked her. He turned back and sat down at the small table near the window. He glanced out the window and asked.

"Aren't they down yet?"

"No.."

"However, Mr. Guy Luther, the president of Princeton University, has left just now."

"They should be soon..." Chester, who had been sitting by the window responsible for "spotting", replied as he looked out the window with wandering eyes.

Ike Bastos, who had a stern expression, tapped his wine glass with his finger, as silent as a marble sculpture. .

Benito, who claims to be a master of picking up girls, has worries written all over his face at this moment. .

He leaned against the wall, looking at the occasional passers-by outside, his mind already going to nowhere~

The big man Dipper took a sip of beer and couldn't help but sigh when he saw his three friends looking like this.

"I shouldn't have made the call just now, I just left you and went back."

"..hehe~"

"Can you go back alone?" Chester asked quietly.

"It's better to do anything than sit here and wait, right?"

"No!"

"You are wrong!" Ike Bastos suddenly looked at the big man Dipper and said.

"If Jos and the three of them can get a satisfactory answer from David today, their lives will usher in a major turning point, and so will we!"

"us?"

The big man Dipper looked at the expressionless Ike and asked, "You don't want to be..."

"My current job makes me feel very tired."

"Can't I change jobs?"

"Uh..." Dipper, the big man, was speechless.

Benito, a master of picking up girls, glanced at Ike beside him in surprise and asked.

“I work like a robot every day at the insurance company, and I don’t even dare to cry out that I’m tired.”

"You still complain that you are tired...?"

"how?"

Yike's performance was a bit "abnormal" and said: "Your annual income is almost three times mine."

"I want to make more money, any questions?"

"..." Benito, who usually spends money lavishly, was speechless.

Big Dipper, seeing his "deflated" look, asked Ike with a smile.

"Are you short of money recently?"

"I happen to have some money on hand, if you need it urgently..."

"No, thank you!" Ike looked at his good friend Dipper and nodded his thanks very seriously.

There was a trace of loneliness in his expression, but he hid it for a moment, shook his head slightly and asked.

"Is your wife pregnant with your third child?"

"Yeah~" Big Dipper said with a happy smile on his face.

"She has been getting tired easily every day lately, maybe because..."

Yike is a very qualified listener.

He listened carefully to his friend Dipper, telling him about the fragments of his happy life, and even made some jokes from time to time~

The big man Dipper became more and more relaxed as he talked, and he started chatting about common topics that interested Ike very much, and smiled.

"Do you remember the girlfriend Zod had when he was in school?"

"Um...her name is...Daisy?" Ike replied with some uncertainty.

"Yes, that's him!"

The big man Dipper approached Ike mischievously, bared his white teeth and whispered with a face full of gossip.

"I bumped into that Daisy last month in Los Angeles and she's now a mother of two!"

"She was very surprised when she saw me appearing~"

"I deliberately didn't ask her about the child, but talked about Zod's current situation..."

"But she felt embarrassed and avoided the topic of Zod, and took the initiative to talk about moving to Los Angeles with her husband after getting married."

"Her husband joined a medical device company as a middle-level manager and earned a very good income..."

"Then I asked her if she could attend the class reunion this summer..."

"reunion?"

Chester, who was responsible for "spotting", suddenly asked.

"Why didn't I know there was a class reunion this summer?"

"Nonsense~"

"We called you, did you call back?"

"Uh..." Chester was speechless.

The big man glared at Chester with disdain, and just as he was about to say something to him, he saw the three figures of Joss and the others appearing from the corner of his eye.

"Let's go~" The big man Dipper raised his neck and drank the beer, took out a few coins and threw them on the table, waving to the three of them.

Ike glanced out the window, kicked the dazed Benito, and followed the big man Dipper away.

Chester leaned closer to the glass and watched David and Jos shaking hands and talking and laughing. He frowned and thought for a while, then followed out.

Only Benito, who had been in a daze just now, was left looking at Chester's back in confusion and asked loudly.

"Hey~ where are you going?"

"Stop asking, just follow me!"

"Oh..." Benito rubbed his forehead with his hands, feeling a little confused and hurriedly chased Chester and ran out of the bar.

. . .

Outside the bar.

David didn't seem to feel the "power" of the cold wind in the winter night at all. He enthusiastically pulled Joss Aaron, looked at the big guys Dipper and Ike coming out of the bar, and smiled.

"I don't have four pairs of eyes or eight arms, and I'm not a superman who likes to go everywhere to seek justice."

"I only have one pair of eyes, and I'm used to using them to see people equally~"

"I only have two ears, and I won't use them to hear only one side of the story..."

"I only have one mouth, I can't tell two sides!"

"I can also be selfish when my bottom line is reached, and I can do some outrageous things."

"But I will never... let gasoline cars add diesel, so that good people have to be bad people, or bad people learn to be good..."

David glanced at Chester and Benito who stumbled out of the bar with a smile, and smiled at Jos, Manfred and Zedd.

"Like you, I believe that hard work will eventually pay off!"

"I feel that if they work for me and get a satisfactory income, and gain an identity, status and treatment they have never had before, they don't need to thank me or the company in particular..."

"They should thank themselves more!"

"Thank you for your efforts, thank you for your persistence in learning and moving forward~"

"Because I am a businessman."

"The company wants to make money, it is not a public welfare institution."

"They deserve a satisfactory return for their contributions to the company."

David stood on the street, quickly scanned the faces of several people in the "Seven People", took in the different micro-expressions they showed, took half a step forward, and smiled at Joss Aaron.

"Okay~"

"These words sound very cliché, and I don't say them often. It feels a bit weird."

"But I very much agree with what you just said to Principal Luther."

"If a person does not have the power to drive himself forward from the bottom of his heart, he will not be able to free himself from the constraints and difficulties of life!"

"Countless people with the same strong self-motivation as you will form a team with unlimited potential~"

"This kind of self-motivation that comes from everyone's heart is the most important factor that determines our attitude towards life."

"Also~"

"I think that only if we truly find a life goal that we like and love, and can persevere to achieve it to the extreme, will we continue to feel satisfied and go further~"

"...Okay!" Jos looked into David's sincere eyes, nodded slightly and smiled.

Mag Ludwig, who had been standing silently behind David, looked at the group of young people in front of him, turned to look at "third brother" Giovanni, and smiled.

"If they want to change places for another drink, you can take them to a nightclub."

"Okay~" Giovanni yawned, took out his car keys and smiled at Jos and the others.

"Sorry, my car can only carry four people."

"Which of you drove the car?"

"Me!" Zod Jimenez, a New Yorker, took out his car keys and smiled at David.

"Shall we meet at the company tomorrow morning?"

"Ok, see you tomorrow!"

. . .

After saying goodbye to the "seven people" with a smile.

David stood on the street, looked up at the "narrow" night sky, and let out a long breath.

Mag, who had not left yet, walked up to him and took out a cigarette, smelled it, and said with a smile: "That boy named Zod was put in your fund company, which is a bit of a waste~"

"Oh?"

"You want him?"

"Hmm!" Mag asked with a confused expression on the cigarette, but did not light it and explained.

"When you were chatting with Principal Luther just now, I had a great time chatting with Kid Zod."

"He is very eloquent and clever. He can quickly find the entry point to close the distance from my few words, thereby gaining my favor and affirmation."

“These are all essential qualities for a lobbyist or politician!”

"Ah~oh!" David deliberately made a long sound and laughed.

"Did you ask him? What did he think?"

"he.."

"Haha~" Mag took two puffs of the cigarette, put it back into the cigarette case, and said with a smile.

"When he heard that you were working as an observer at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and were also included in the list of candidate members of the Council on Foreign Relations, his eyes almost lit up~"

David nodded with great interest and said with a smile: "I didn't see it~ He is still a fan of officialdom?"

"nonsense!"

"Who doesn't want to have power besides you?"

"Didn't you see the surprise and envy on the face of Alan Blinder, who came with Principal Luther, when he found out that you were an observer at the New York Fed?"

"Um... I was chatting with Principal Luther at the time and didn't pay attention to him."

"By the way, that Professor Alan Blinder served as deputy assistant director of the Congressional Budget Office in 75?"

"What department is this?"

“Did the position he held matter?”

"It's so important~" Mag gave a disdainful sneer, tightened the collar of his coat, glanced around, and whispered.

"I have come into contact with many economics research experts like Alan Blinder. Their upward path is very narrow, and there are only three paths that they can choose to have broader development space."

"First of all, it is to join a famous domestic university, a research institute or an academic institution, and become a scholar who constantly puts forward constructive remarks in the economic field."

"For example, entering an Ivy League school to teach, entering institutions such as the RAND Corporation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Association for Business Economics, and the Econometric Society."

“This type of experts and scholars have a relatively generous personal income, and they can often appear in various media, make some professional comments on the economic situation at home and abroad, and take some public lectures in schools, companies, and institutions to earn some extra money~ "

“Secondly, relying on one’s rich economic theories and insightful and keen judgment, one can join a certain government department, or be favored by a certain congressman or a certain governor, and gradually enter the government department as an administrative official responsible for the economic field. .”

"For example: joining the economic advisory committee or economic advisory group of a certain state, a certain president, or even Congress..."

"Or enter higher-level institutions such as the Federal Reserve Bank, World Bank, World Monetary Fund, etc., as researchers, project leaders, etc."

"Finally..."

Mag turned to look at David who was lost in thought, shrugged and smiled.

"The last way is also the fastest way to get promotion opportunities... is to be recommended to join a government peripheral organization controlled by some deep-seated forces in the country!"

"For example: foundations established by major families, or the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), etc."

"Of course~"

"If someone wants to take this last route, not everyone is qualified!"

"Like you!"

"If it weren't for the predictions you made come true time and time again, you gain trust little by little, and you go through tests again and again, and you continue to show your abilities..."

"It's impossible for you to achieve your current identity, status and attention!"

Mag saw the wry smile on David's lips, shook his head slightly and sighed.

"Even if you don't tell me, I can still guess something."

"The path you have taken cannot be replicated by anyone."

"Because if they are wrong once, their trust will be halved."

"If they make two mistakes, they will be left out in the cold and even deprived of everything they have."

"And you won't!"

"Your personality and social style give you a very unique personality!"

"The theoretical knowledge in your mind that you don't know where it comes from + a career that is broader than others + a very large and complex but very feasible business development plan make you more susceptible to their attention and attention than your peers. trust!"

"but.."

"Haha~"

"look!"

"The way I speak now has been gradually influenced by you. I always like to use but and other transition words to say... maybe what you want to hear the most or what you don't want to hear the least..."

"Hahaha~ Isn't this good?" David smiled and hugged Mag, looked into his eyes up close and smiled.

"If you don't dare to tell me the truth, then do I still need to go through this?"

"toss?"

"Hahaha~"

"This word is so appropriate to describe you!"

"Hahaha~" David nodded with the same smile.

“I used to think that if I wanted to achieve amazing or even envious success, I had to be an opportunist, always paying attention and trying to seize all kinds of opportunities that would allow me to take a step forward.”

“But then I slowly understood that anyone’s success must be paid in silence at an unimaginable price.”

"No successful person does not have to pay any price..."

"I can't always focus on its bright side and deliberately ignore its dark side..."

"This is just like the crisis I once explained to you!"

"Crisis is a complex mixture of danger + opportunity."

"In the current economic crisis that is breaking out around the world, huge risks and huge opportunities coexist. Anyone who wants to seize the opportunity must be mentally prepared to take huge risks."

"So, I compare this opportunity to... a narrow window of development in an era~"

"Every adventurer who is at the forefront of the times and wants to seize opportunities can't help but reveal the greedy look of a hunter looking at his prey when he looks at other adventurers!"

"But when there are more and more prey in their eyes, the boundaries between hunters and prey will gradually become blurred~"

“Who is the hunter and who is the prey?”

"Who can stand at the forefront of the times, seize the huge opportunity that will disappear in the blink of an eye, and soar into the sky?"

"Mag!"

"Say, if a pig accidentally breaks into the wind of the times, and is lucky enough to seize the opportunity, it will fly into the sky with the wind..."

"Is it still a pig?"

"Pig?" Mag sneered with a strange expression.

"A pig that flies into the sky can at best be regarded as a... flying pig!"

"Hahaha~ That's right!"

"It's just a flying pig!"

David smiled and waved his arms to Mag a few times, raised his head to look at the twinkling stars in the night sky, and sighed.

"To start a business, you need to be a pig standing on the edge of the wind!"

"If the wind blows, pigs can fly!"

Mager glanced at David with a grin on his face, resisted the urge to complain, and looked up at the starry sky with him. His agitated mood slowly calmed down.