Manhattan Reborn 1978

Tokyo.

night~

Ginza, on the second floor of Mitsukoshi Department Store, in front of McDonald's fast food restaurant.

Todd Covian, who works for a well-known international trading company, looked at Nobunari Kihara who was queuing up to buy burgers in the store, and joked to Marat and Yuri Orlov beside him.

"You haven't had enough McDonald's in New York? Why are you here..."

"Hahaha~" Marat, who was carrying a briefcase and smelling of alcohol, glanced at Nobunari Kihara who was waiting in the queue and smiled at Todd.

"Actually, I don't like burgers either, but I have always had a very strange emotion towards burgers..."

"Some people say that this fast food rumored to have originated from Hamburg, Germany, was widely welcomed by Americans because it met most of the food needs of immigrants at that time~"

"It was cheap. You could buy a beef burger with ground beef for 5 cents at the time."

"It's convenient. Buyers can buy burgers anytime, anywhere and eat them with their hands while standing anywhere."

When Marat said this, he saw Todd's strange expression and continued with a smile.

"Of course, the most important thing is that it allowed the poor immigrants at that time to spend very little money to get a meal to fill their stomachs."

"As time goes by, burgers have gradually become one of the symbols of American culture and lifestyle."

“And for us, the most important function of food is to fill our stomachs!”

“If a food cannot satisfy our hunger but is delicious, it will become an expensive luxury product that only satisfies the appetites of a very small number of people.”

“So, now I feel like crude oil is very much like a hamburger!”

"What about you? What do you think?"

"...?" Todd frowned and looked at the smiling Marat, feeling that this guy was hinting at something to him.

Seeing that he didn't answer immediately, Marat patted young Yuri with a smile and teased.

“I found a great place the other day!”

"Do you want to come with me again?"

"What a good place?"

Yuri saw the trace of "obscenity" in Marat's smile, immediately understood what he meant, and smiled bitterly.

"I have to talk to my girlfriend on the phone later, so you can go alone."

"Haha~" Marat had a sympathetic smile on his face, turned to look at Todd and asked.

"At this time, Jeffrey should not be sleeping yet..."

"Go ahead and make a call and ask him to hang out with you~"

"Are you coming too?"

"Jeffrey, is...?" Todd asked hesitantly when he heard this familiar name.

Marat's eyes turned into slits with laughter, and he whispered a few words into Todd's ear.

Todd's eyes slowly lit up, he smiled and nodded, "Okay!"

"How could I miss this opportunity to explain...?"

"Hahaha~"

Marat showed a "like-minded" expression, and whispered a few words into Todd's ear, which made the distance between the two people much closer.

Yuri, who was standing next to him, saw the two of them sharing a tacit smile of "meeting good friends" and felt that he seemed to have learned a lot.

----

new York.

Manhattan, Wall Street.

Stanley's fourth floor, in David's office.

Maggie, the little secretary, put a pot of hot coffee on the desk, looked at David who looked a little haggard, and asked with concern in her eyes.

"I have made all the appointments for you on your schedule this morning."

"Do you need me to help you inform them and come back at another time? Have a good rest first."

"No need~" David rubbed his cheeks vigorously, took a sip from the coffee cup, and smiled at Maggie.

"I've already booked a flight to Houston tonight, and I'll have plenty of time to rest when I get there."

"Okay..." Maggie looked at David deeply for a few seconds, took out a memo from her pocket, and whispered.

"Your accountant, Ms. Olena, is currently in the office with Erwin, the company's financial director. They will come to see you in ten minutes."

"Mr. Bernard Madoff and Mr. Gaydon Milken have both called personally and will come to see them on time."

"Mr. Pine called specifically just now and said that he had made an appointment with you to have lunch with Professor Bartley."

"Professor Bartlet's students José Aaron, Manfred and Zod Jimenez will also go together."

"At two o'clock in the afternoon, you made an appointment with Bob Rockefeller to visit Mr. David Rockefeller."

"I have already confirmed the time for you with old Mr. David's personal secretary. You have about twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes? That's enough!" David frowned and murmured.

Maggie quietly observed David and continued: "Mr. Donald D. Crane in San Francisco called and wanted you to call him at your convenience."

"Oh?"

"What else did Klein say?" David asked.

"He said that Mr. Davis D. Leahy has negotiated cooperation according to the agreement with you and wants to see you again..." Maggie looked at the notepad and replied.

"Davis~ I understand." David remembered his agreement with the descendant of General Leahy, nodded slowly, and wrote it down in his notebook.

After waiting for a moment, Maggie said: "And yesterday evening, I received a call from a man who claimed to be Mr. Caverin Simon."

"He said he is from the Vincent Astor Foundation and hopes to find a time to meet and chat with you."

"Simon?"

David recalled it for a while and said with an interesting smile: "The Astor Foundation he manages owns many properties and land in various areas of New York."

"He asked me to meet. He just said he wanted to meet and chat. Didn't he leave any other messages?"

"No."

"Okay~"

"You can call him back later as he left and tell me that I am leaving New York for Texas tonight and it may take a month or even longer to come back. Ask him if he can be free before evening."

"Okay!" Maggie wrote this down, held the pen firmly with her fingertips, and whispered to David.

"Are you going to go for so long this time?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" David asked while writing and drawing on the memo.

"I..." Maggie bit her lip, looked at David's profile, and mustered up the courage to say.

"Can you take me with you this time?"

"Take you with me?" David looked up at Maggie, thought for a while and asked.

"You don't like being in the company? Or"

"No~ I like it."

"I just don't like this idle job every day. I want to make myself busier and share more with you."

"Forehead.."

After hearing Maggie's "desperate" spirit as a working man, David felt himself speechless and laughed.

"Since you want to be busier, come with me."

"However, this time you went to Texas with me to take over Toby Olga's job."

"So you have to inform her later that during your stay in New York, you can go to my mentor, Professor Bartley, to help him organize the manuscripts I sent back, and also do the preparations for the translation of the entire book."

"Translation? Okay!" Maggie nodded happily and walked briskly to the door, wanting to tell Toby the good news.

But when she walked outside the door and wanted to close the door, she suddenly remembered something, looked at David and said.

"By the way, Mr. Wood, the candidate who is running for the presidential election, called you the day before yesterday to invite you to attend the campaign speeches he and Congressman Pushk will hold in New York next week."

"Oh... next week?" David scratched his forehead with his hand and sighed helplessly.

"You inform Mag Ludwig about this and ask him to participate on my behalf."

"Ok."

"And one more thing!"

"A gentleman named Carl J. Mellon called and wants to make an appointment with you..."

When David heard the name, he held his chin and looked at Maggie, who was a little guilty, and asked with a smile: "This Karl is not unfamiliar to you, right?"

"...Yes!" Maggie put her hands on the door frame and whispered with an unnatural expression.

"When I was working next to Lilith, I heard her mention this Mr. Karl by chance... He seemed to be one of her friends."

"only friends?"

"...Yes, just friends!"

"Hahaha~" David knew in his heart that Maggie was not telling the truth and wanted to use a "white lie" to get over the matter, so he simply nodded pretending to be confused.

"Any more?"

"Yes..." Maggie began to grasp the door frame with both hands, biting her lip and continued.

"Mr. Odis Parker said that five of the latest Rolls-Royce sedans will be shipped to New York Port in the next few days as your daily travel vehicles."

"...!" When David heard Maggie mention this, he immediately remembered the serious expression he saw on that "crazy guy" last night and smacked his lips as he felt a little headache.

"He went to Europe this time and helped me buy more than half of the shares of Rolls-Royce and Bentley Car Companies for more than 10 million yuan."

"From now on, I will be the largest shareholder of these two luxury brand car companies..."

"what?"

"This..." Maggie, who didn't know about this yet, was so shocked by the news that her eyes widened, her mouth opened, and she felt that there was a brief blank in her head.

David sat back in his chair, covered his forehead with his hands, and sighed: "I haven't had time to tell Erwin and Olena about this..."

"You go contact Otis Parker and ask him to finalize the equity transaction agreement and give a copy to Erwin as additional information for my personal tax return~"

"...Okay!" Maggie carefully stuck out her tongue, closed the door and left.

After David leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment, he tried to get his chaotic thoughts back on track. He picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on his notepad.

[About formulating specific plans for high-end luxury car sales and service 4S stores]

[It should include vehicle sales (Sale), spare parts (Sparepart), after-sales service (Service), information feedback (Survey), etc., a new business model for automobile franchises with the "four-in-one" as the core]

[Which one should I buy, the right one, or the more expensive one? 】

When David saw the question he had written and recalled the first time he walked into a 4S store to buy a car in his previous life, he suddenly felt like he was in another world. .

----

Manhattan.

At the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 60th Street, the Metropolitan Club is on the fourth floor.

"Mediterranean bad old man" Julie returned to her seat with a cigar cutter in her hand, looked at the old Morgan who was frowning and thinking, and asked with a fake smile.

"Are you not going to attend today's meeting?"

"Well, I asked Panaris and Elder to go for me."

"Haha~" Julie lowered her head, cut the cigar skillfully, picked up a box of matches, thought about it, and said.

"You don't think you're really old just because of that kid David's joke, do you?"

Old Morgan tilted his head and looked sideways at Julie, gently twisted the information in his hand, and changed the topic.

"He met with some people last night and prepared to send them to Canada, Australia, Argentina, Afghanistan, Turkey and India."

"...India?" "Why did he send people to India?"

The same doubt flashed in Old Morgan's eyes: "Can't you guess it either?"

"...Yes!" Julie exhaled a cloud of smoke in surprise and raised her eyebrows.

"There are always some thoughts popping up in that kid's head that confuse us..."

"Is he planning ahead for... again?"

"possible."

Old Morgan looked down at the information in his hand and murmured.

"What do these countries have in common...?"

"Hiss~" Julie stared at a painting on the far wall, feeling a flash of "aura" suddenly in front of her eyes, and continued.

"food?"

"...That's right!" Old Morgan put down the information in his hand and said with a frown.

"Canada and Australia are among the top five wheat exporting countries in the world."

“Afghanistan, Turkey and India are the world’s top wheat importing countries!”

"wrong!"

Julie retorted: "Turkey imports wheat mainly to make it into wheat flour and export it to surrounding Middle Eastern countries."

"Afghanistan wants to import wheat, mainly from the bear country."

"There isn't much connection between them!"

"unless.."

Old Morgan continued to think along this new idea proposed by Julie, and soon thought of some of the arrangements David had made in the Chicago commodity futures market, and directly reached out to pick up the phone and dialed.

Ten minutes later.

Old Morgan put down the phone, his eyebrows were already twisted into a knot, and he looked at Julie and said.

"Last year was another good harvest year in China. Now the futures prices of agricultural products such as wheat, corn, soybeans and cotton have just bottomed out from the lowest price at the end of last year and are on the rise. But they have been hit by a large number of short orders."

"In this part of the short orders, there is the short position of David!"

Julie gently rotated the cigar in her hand and asked with a smile: "Does he want to speculate on shorting grain futures?"

"No~ he wants to make an arbitrage."

"He was short the front-month contract and long the far-month contract."

"Totsuki? This autumn?"

“Instead of going long this year’s contract, he’s going long all the grain contracts for January and February next year.”

"Next year?" Julie asked, scratching her head as she subconsciously took a puff of her cigar.

"Since two years ago, domestic agricultural product futures prices have been in a volatile downward trend, with very few rises."

"What does that kid want to do again!?"

Old Morgan picked up the pen and glasses from the side, lowered his head and wrote a line of words on the document, and whispered.

"You forgot that he mentioned... El Niño!"

"El Niño?" Julie asked, blowing smoke.

“Will it seriously impact domestic food production?”

"You asked Elder to find experts a few days ago and learned about the research results in this area?"

Old Morgan tilted his head and glanced at Julie, put down his pen and explained: "What Elder learned is that there is an abnormal increase in sea temperature that occurs on the coasts of Peru and Ecuador in the Pacific around Christmas. "

“1972～1973年曾发生过的严重厄尔尼诺现象，使秘鲁渔场鳀鱼的捕获量从1970年的1000万吨，减少到500万吨左右。”

"Also in 72, Xiong Daguo also encountered a rare spring cold wave, which seriously affected spring sowing and farming, causing a large-scale reduction in autumn grain production."

Julie scratched her head and laughed when she heard old Morgan mention this interesting event.

"That time, the Nixon administration expressed its willingness to lend 7.5 million yuan to the Xiongguo government to purchase grain that was severely overproduced in the country. This led to the subsequent outbreak of a major grain robbery that made countless people feel ridiculous and helpless."

"In 77, Xiong Daguo encountered a large-scale reduction in grain production, so he repeated his old tricks~"

"While it was promoting the news of a bumper grain harvest to the outside world, it was quietly purchasing a large amount of grain from countries such as India, Australia, and Canada, stabilizing the decline in domestic grain production."

When Julie said this, she saw the twinkle in old Morgan's eyes and smiled.

"So, that kid is gambling... right?"

"Hmm~"

Old Morgan crossed his legs, the knot between his eyebrows slowly "unfolded", and said thoughtfully.

"According to last year's statistics, half of the bear country's foreign exchange earnings depended on exporting spot crude oil."

"And what it spent the most on import trade last year... was grain!"

"Last year, the total amount of various grains it publicly imported from the United States exceeded 3000 million tons!"

"if.."

Julie continued at this time: "If this spring, this El Niño phenomenon is a coincidence again... it affects the spring sowing and farming in the bear country, causing it to fall into a large-scale reduction in grain production..."

"Will food prices rise sharply because of this?"

“So that guy is short the front-month contract and long the far-month contract?”

"Yeah." Old Morgan nodded, agreed with Julie's analysis, and asked.

"Are you going to Chicago?"

"Yeah, I'll leave tomorrow night."

"Then keep this in mind and let's contact you again when we get to Chicago."

"Okay~" Julie nodded slightly, put the cigar in her hand in the ashtray, smoothed her "Mediterranean" hairstyle, and smiled.

"I heard that that kid was going to run away just after Laura came back today~"

"You don't plan to see him again...?"

Old Morgan ignored the teasing tone in Julie's tone and whispered: "I made an appointment with Old David to meet in his office in the afternoon, and that kid will also go."

"Oh~" Julie rolled her eyes, walked towards the door, and smiled.

"Since you have already made arrangements, I won't care about him~"

"But I think you should not push that naughty boy too hard this time, lest..."

"I know."

"ok~"

Julie, let's go.

Old Morgan picked up the pen and wrote a few more lines on the information next to him. After thinking for a while, he picked up the phone and dialed.

----

Manhattan.

The intersection of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, 660 Eighth Avenue.

The second floor of Zina Osevia Art Store.

"Wooden Man" Rosenlo Sidrich frowned and asked as he looked at several art auction catalogs handed over by Zina.

"All of these?"

"Yeah!" Zina opened a catalog in her hand, showed it in front of Rosenlow, and explained.

"These are collections that David's friend, Carnes Rothschild, entrusted me to help auction."

"Among them, the ones that I think have the most collection value are all in front of you~"

"But this... is too much?" Rosenlow quickly flipped through the catalog, couldn't help but twitching the corners of his mouth a few times, and whispered.

"Haha~" Zina took out a handwritten list from the catalog in her hand and placed it in front of Rosenlow.

"Kanes is more anxious to spend money, so their prices are slightly lower than the market appraisal~"

"David asked you to choose and buy these works of art so that when Carnes wants to buy back this batch of works of art, everyone can profit from it!"

"Repurchase?" Rosenlow nodded in understanding, closed the catalog and looked at Zina and asked.

"How much do you want these in total?"

When Zina heard Rosenlow's straightforward question, she pointed at the catalog and smiled: "According to their auction low price + 5%, plus I have to charge a 1% handling fee, the total is 3762 million yuan."

"A total of more than 3000 million?"

"No~this is not the price of all the artworks in the catalog."

"It's just the total price of the art pieces that I think have collection value. There are about 210 pieces in total."

"I talked with Kanes, and he said that he invested about 30 million in these works of art, and the investment income in just a few years exceeded %!"

"Oh~" Rosenlow put his hand on the catalog, looked at it and thought for a moment, then nodded slowly and asked.

"I need to go back and raise this money for a few days before I can pay it off, is that okay?"

"Of course~" Zina smiled in admiration at Rosenlow's straightforward performance.

"I promise, they won't make you regret it!"

"Well..." Rosenluo stood up happily, looked at Zina and nodded.

"I will come to you with the check at the latest in a week."

"ok~"