Manhattan Reborn 1978

Austin, the capital of Texas.

In a gas station on the Colorado River, east of downtown.

David leaned against the car in the bright afternoon sun, drinking the ice-cold Coke in his hand with a straw and complaining to Mr. Tianniu and Toby.

"Cohen, that bastard!"

"I really don't know how he managed to get by in the army all these years. He even got the address wrong..."

"Hehe~" Mr. Tianniu held the hood with one hand, shrugged and smiled without saying anything.

Toby held a box of colorful M&Ms he had just bought at the gas station store in one hand, and stood by the car, looking left and right, his eyes full of curiosity, but his mouth never stopped talking.

About twenty minutes later.

An old yellow-green military jeep drove quickly into the gas station and stopped steadily in front of David and the other two.

Cohen, the jeep driver, jumped out of the car wearing a dark green soldier training uniform, walked a few steps to David, smiled and gave him a big hug, and patted his back hard several times.

"Boss, welcome to beautiful Austin!"

"Hey, be gentle! Asshole!" David pushed away the "enthusiastic" Cohen with great resistance. Suddenly, he smelled the dust on him and asked with his head tilted.

"Didn't you say you were moving today?"

"Where did you move to?"

"Western suburbs!" Cohen saw the expression on David's face, raised his hand and pointed to the northwest and explained with a smile.

"The land originally designated for us to build a branch base was too rich in groundwater resources near the Colorado River and was not suitable for us to build an underground semi-permanent oil storage facility."

"So, these days, Old Cui En took me to almost all the suburbs far away from downtown Austin, and finally found an abandoned small airport in the northwest."

"Airport?"

"You want to put a branch base of our DA security company in the airport?"

"Yeah, get in my car first, and we'll talk on the way." Cohen turned sideways and invited David, saying with a smile.

"Tsk... okay." David glared at him helplessly, turned to wave to Tianniu and Toby, and got into the car driven by Cohen.

. . .

on the way.

Cohen explained as he drove the jeep forward at a steady pace.

"Edward B. Tryon has an old friend in the upper echelons of Texas Ranger headquarters named Daniel Bupper."

"He was old Trin's comrade-in-arms and one of his best friends."

"Boop has a son named Matt Boop."

"This guy Matt is a few years older than you. He became obsessed with hippie stuff in high school and even joined a rock band. He dropped out of school and ran to New York and never came back."

"Old Bupper has only one son. Although he is very worried about him, he still can't let go of his pride and go to New York to visit him."

"Later, Old Bupper and his wife quarreled over this matter for several years and almost divorced in the end."

"That's when Old Bupper finally let go of his grudge and went to New York three times to look for his son. He finally found him on the last trip."

"Oh, right!"

"When he found his son, it happened to be 75 when the New York City government was on the verge of bankruptcy. Even the police department was almost unable to pay salaries. The entire New York street was in chaos, which allowed old Bupper to see the truest side of New York."

Cohen said this, stopped the jeep at an intersection, and casually pointed to the building in front of him on the right.

"That is the busiest civic building in Austin City Government."

"The street ahead turns right and is where the Austin City Council, the city police department, and the city tax department all work."

"The state government office building is a few blocks away. Turn left and then right. The Rangers' headquarters is also located inside the state government office building."

After the green light came on ahead, Cohen drove quickly through the intersection, deliberately slowed down at the intersection near the state government, tilted his head to glance at David, and continued.

"The small airport we moved to was rented to us at a low price by Daniel Bupper, who asked his friends in the state government for help."

"It was originally a small backup airport during World War II. After the war, it served as a public backup airport for a period of time. However, the daily maintenance funds it could get from the state government became less and less. Finally, it was taken over by the Texas Ranger Headquarters and used as a backup training base until now."

"In the first week of this month, the state legislature passed a new proposal in a full vote resolution to use money to expropriate a total of 8 acres of land 4200 kilometers southeast of downtown Austin to support the construction of an international airport in Austin."

"But you would never guess that an important reason for the state legislature and the Austin City Council to pass the proposal was that a high-tech company from California established a production base in Austin."

"A high-tech company in California? Which one?" David became interested when he heard this and asked.

Cohen held the steering wheel with both hands and thought for a while, then said uncertainly, "It seems to be called Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD for short)."

"It is said that the company's performance in recent years has been very good, and it is currently preparing for a listing on the New York Stock Exchange."

"Really? It's about to be released on the market!"

"Well, I think it should be..."

David stared ahead, frowned slightly, and nodded slightly, saying, "Please write this down first. When I have time, I will find a chance to meet with the senior management of this AMD company and talk to them about cooperation on the daily security of the production base."

"You...you want our DA to take over the security work?"

"Of course, don't you want to do it?"

"No, that's not what I meant." Cohen seemed to be afraid that David had misunderstood him, so he quickly slowed down the car and wanted to get to know him.

"Haha~ It's okay, I understand." David smiled and waved at him.

"I know that in your eyes I am too young. Maybe I set up the DA security company just because of a momentary impulse or ulterior motives, to win over some veterans who have been traumatized by the war, and to achieve some ulterior goals."

"I said, I don't want to see anyone fighting for the country with scars all over their body, only to be treated unfairly and not understood by their family members after returning."

"I said, I will do my best to help those who can be helped, so that they can get out of trouble, return to normal life as soon as possible, and slowly reintegrate into society and family."

"Yes!"

"These are the words I told you..."

"But don't forget that in addition to studying economics, I am also very interested in psychology."

"I know that a hundred people will have a hundred different ideas..."

"As long as there are a lot of people, all kinds of weird and incredible things will happen."

"Because humans are intelligent creatures that are particularly fickle. Self-defense, fear of death, seeking benefits and avoiding harm, shrinking reflexes, desire expansion, selfishness, etc., these are human instincts, and very few people can completely overcome their control."

"So from my personal perspective, I never like to use tests to determine whether someone is worthy of friendship or to verify some of my assumptions."

"I prefer to be straightforward with friends with whom I have established initial trust. If I have any doubts, I can ask them directly. This can save time and avoid wasting emotions."

"You..." Cohen was speechless after hearing what David said.

David tilted his head to look at her, smiled, shrugged, and spread his hands, saying: "Everything I told you was true."

"I am really timid."

"I am very afraid that one day, somewhere, an accident will suddenly happen and I will die unwillingly."

"But the world itself is made up of countless accidents and coincidences that happen one after another."

"For example, my parents had been married for many years without having any children. I was a surprise to them."

"I decided to help the Sidrich family find another way out. Under Rudy's arrangement, I met Giles, Bloomer, Leslie and other good friends. These were all unexpected surprises for me~"

"You know all this, so you can be considered a witness..."

"So, do you think that words like hypocrisy, greed, cunning, selfishness, lack of self-control, fickleness, and full of lies are appropriate for me?"

"..No!" Cohen shook his head slowly with a grim expression. After the jeep just left the city center, he parked it on the side of the road and turned to look at David seriously.

"Regarding these...rumors inside the training base, believe me!"

"Lawrence and I will deal with those ungrateful bastards as soon as possible and will never leave you with any trouble!"

"OK, I believe it." David stretched out his right hand to Cohen, bumped fists with him, and smiled with a relaxed expression.

"But don't forget that decisions that may affect many people's lives are often made in a matter of a second!"

"It's not surprising that good intentions don't lead to good results."

"I have tried my best and paid my dues. I don't owe anyone anything, and I will never make demands on anyone that they cannot accept."

"I am not used to achieving certain goals by any means necessary, and I have never expected to do so."

"So, as a young person, I should not be considered a successful Wall Street person who has lost his conscience, has no morals, is profit-driven, and is selfish."

"Right?"

"..." Cohen's face became darker and darker, as if covered with a layer of charcoal powder, and his breathing became heavier.

David still had a smile on his face and patted his arm: "Let's go and see our new home here."

"I have two very important appointments tonight, so I have to return home to Pine Avenue early."

"..Yeah!" Cohen gripped the steering wheel with one hand, nodded vigorously and restarted the car.

After the car started, David stretched his hand outside, carefully feeling the "shape" of the wind slipping away from his fingertips, and said casually.

"One-Eyed Andres and the team he leads have been responsible for my daily security in recent months."

“But when he’s at work, it becomes difficult for his two children to see him.”

"So I would like to ask you to discuss among yourselves and select a few new members who are relatively young, have no family burdens, and have certain security experience, as rotation candidates for the security team."

"Okay!" Cohen tightened his hands on the steering wheel unconsciously and drove in silence.

About ten minutes passed.

Cohen's car turned right from the main road into a small road lined with trees on both sides, and he suddenly asked.

"Jerome Burt and Marion Barlow, do you remember them both?"

"Oh, of course!" When David heard the two names, he instantly recalled their very distinctive looks and smiled.

"Last fall, I asked them to find Forrest Gump and Jenny, and they both did a great job on the task."

"Oh, yes!"

"That time we encountered a few bank robbers on the street, and it was you and Barlow who helped us rescue them. That was also the first time we met, right?" David asked with great interest as he recalled this memory.