Volume 1: A sound on Wall Street, Xinxiang City is busy copying books Chapter 162 I'm Rich
Subtitle of this chapter: Masters who spend money are busy
How can a mere mortal resist a game of Mahjong that is as good as the Hera Sutra?
Our Master Yuan suspected that the IQ of these four foreign friends was too low to comprehend the mystery of "the game that contains the ancient wisdom of Seres", so he specially taught them the simplest "Governor (fool in Shanghai dialect) Mahjong".
This kind of mahjong can only win with four types of cards: "Qing (Qing or Feng Yi Se), Hun (Huan Yi Se), Peng (Peng Peng)" and random wind direction (you can win as long as you get fourteen wind cards without looking at the card pattern). Later, the English name of "Qing Hun Peng" mahjong was changed to "Basic Mahjong".
As expected of the name "Governor of Hong Kong Mahjong" and "Basic Mahjong", "Qing Hun Peng" is indeed easy to learn and easy to calculate the number of points. It didn't take long for the four foreigners to play it well. After they learned it, the four foreigners were as excited as children who got a toy for the first time. They played from the afternoon to midnight.
Why is Master Yuan Mahjong so popular in the United States even without us?
This brings us to the most popular poker game in the West, Whist. In fact, the original Whist is very similar to the Chinese game of Forty Points. It also involves four people split into two pairs to compete. Before the game starts, a suit can be designated as the trump card. Any trump card can beat any card of other suits. Both parties aim to win the trick. However, compared to Forty Points, Whist does not have a trump card, and the dealer does not have a trump card to change.
Based on the game of whist, whist bridge, auction bridge and the modern popular contract bridge were developed.
Well, anyone who has played any type of Mahjong and 40 points will understand why Mahjong is more fun. Compared to Mahjong, the rules of this four-player poker game seem too rigid, too much cooperation from the opponent, and of course more brain-intensive.
So, why did the mahjong craze in America and around the world eventually subside in the timeline of our Master Yuan?
The answer is obvious, because World War II is coming.
By the late 1930s, people in Western countries were very busy. Men went to war, women worked in factories, the elderly worked in the fields, and the children either joined the Boy Scouts or the Hitler Youth, or collected scrap metal for the country.
Who in America has time to play mahjong?
After World War II was over, everyone finally had some free time, and television became popular...
But the most critical factor is the lack of promotion. More precisely, mahjong is not commercialized enough.
The mahjong organizations that have emerged in the United States are clubs established by amateur enthusiasts to find partners. These small non-profit clubs do not have the motivation or ability to push the mahjong sport onto a commercial track.
Some countries and regions did hold some competitions, but they were small in scale and had less influence, so the mahjong sport disappeared after this wave of popularity.
However, with the presence of a time traveler named Yuan Yanshu on this timeline, the situation is naturally very different.
Especially for the British people, they should really thank our Master Yuan.
When the Third Reich implemented the "Sea Lion Plan" and the German Eagle flew over London, British gentlemen and ladies were surprised to find that they could still go to mahjong clubs to play mahjong. Because those clubs were built underground. This was of course the idea of a certain "prophet".
In order to inspire the British people's fighting spirit, the British government also held the first "King's Cup" Mahjong Competition in the name of George VI during this period. The "King's Cup" will be renamed the "Queen's Cup" in the future and will become one of the four major Mahjong open tournaments.
In the early hours of the morning, Yuan Yan saw her friends off and took a nap in this luxurious apartment which was fully furnished.
But he got up very early the next day. His 18:00 constitution meant that a nap was enough for him every day, and he still had a lot of things to do.
At 9 o'clock on November 9, 1920, our Master Yuan walked into the study. He carefully closed the door and drew the curtains before sitting down at the desk.
"Master Ball, come out!"
I can finally copy as much as I can ahhhhh!!!
My B-coins are now over 100,000. I have 18 points of physical fitness, so I have no conscience. And I also have a qualifier that can be used unlimited times...
"Sick (Can be used unlimited times, cool-down period is one month.)"
Well, this qualifier is a bit weird, but it’s better than “perverted”.
"Ding ding ding, congratulations to the host for winning George Martin's "Tower of Ashes."
"Ding ding ding, congratulations to the host for winning George Martin's The Cross and the Dragon."
…
"Master Ball, I've already spent 50,000 B coins, do you understand what I mean?"
"Host, I understand... Ding ding ding, congratulations to the host for winning George Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire!"
"Master Ball, print out the first volume first."
Our Master Yuan looked at the manuscript that appeared out of thin air on the table, nodded with great satisfaction, picked up the pen and spread out the letter paper:
Dear Howard,
I'm sure you've seen the news about me in Providence. Just as the newspapers said, I've been acquitted and recovered well. The better news is that the dark forces in New York have been driven out by the forces of justice, although it's only temporary, but we have a perfect window of opportunity.
Then the best news is naturally that our business can begin!
Please come to New York immediately after reading this letter. Below is my new address. I look forward to meeting you.
——Your Neo
Yuan Yan quickly put the message into an envelope, put on her clothes, left her mansion in the Upper East Side, and called a taxi to the center of New York City.
Why didn't he hand the letter to the concierge or put it in the mailbox? That's because in addition to sending letters, he also had to send overseas telegrams.
It is said that our Master Yuan had asked John to send a telegram to his family to report his safety after being reminded by Luo Jiaxiang that day. Now he went to the telegraph office in person and sent another long telegram.
There's no other way. When something serious like this happens, my family must be notified.
Telegraph charges these days, especially for overseas telegrams, are very expensive... still very expensive, most people really can't afford it. Fortunately, he had received the first payment from Miss Brown at this time, otherwise he would not have enough money to send an overseas telegram via the submarine cable.
In 1930, the Shanghai Communications Department International Radio Station was established. In order to compete with foreign-funded telegraph companies, the telegraph rates were slightly lower. For example, the International Radio Station charged 1.95 yuan per word for telegrams sent to San Francisco, 3.50 yuan per word for telegrams sent to New York, and 2.60 yuan per word for telegrams sent to European countries by the Pacific Commercial Line Company of the United States, while the Pacific Commercial Line Company of the United States charged 3.15 yuan per word for telegrams sent to San Francisco and 3.75 yuan per word for telegrams sent to New York. Note that the "yuan" here is the silver dollar that has not yet depreciated.
This is the price after the establishment of the radio station in 1930. Before that, the price of submarine cables was even more outrageous..
But he was rich, and he could get five or six thousand dollars for just ten thousand copies of "Chocolat", so he sent a long telegram without caring much about small amounts of money. The cost of this telegram of dozens of words could at least buy a small apartment in Shanghai in 1920.
Naturally, this telegram first had to explain the circumstances of his imprisonment, then report on his physical condition, and finally of course... continue to ask for money.
Hey, that money will be wasted if it stays in China, so it’s better to let me waste it... No, it’s better to leave a way out for my family.
After mailing the letter and sending the telegram, Yuan Yan suddenly raised her wrist to check her watch; the time was just right.
Two months after crossing over, our Master Yuan finally became rich. So what should a young gentleman who aspires to be a master do first after he has money?
Buying a car and a house? What a crude idea.
You don’t understand, right? Of course it’s not about buying a car or a house, but buying...beep!
Still wrong!
Have you seen the movie "The Million Pound Bank Note" starring Gregory Peck? The first thing is to ask a high-end tailor to make clothes.
A person of his status doesn't have a dozen or twenty suits, nor does he have to wear a tuxedo for formal occasions such as the opera, an evening gown for banquets and cocktail parties, a morning coat for meeting guests and having breakfast in the morning, a smoking jacket even when he is alone at home, a hunting suit for outings and hunting, and sportswear for playing golf and tennis... How can he have the nerve to go out and say hello to others?
It is early winter now, and we must have several coats and windbreakers to keep warm, windproof and rainproof. Is it okay to have these coats without mink or beaver fur collars?
Making clothes is not the end yet. Don’t you have to match different styles of hats, wallets, belts, leather shoes, boots, ties, bow ties, handkerchiefs, gloves, cufflinks... and other accessories to match different clothes?
In fact, the above are just small money. As the saying goes, the poor play with cars, the rich play with watches. Even in a hundred years, watches will be the real big item for men.
This is 1920, and being a Western gentleman is that simple. Just put on a suit and tie and you think you can go out and meet those important people?
Even though the protagonists of those time-travel novels have so much money, they simply don't know how to spend it. They only think about buying houses and setting up factories all day long, just like the losers of later generations.
To be honest, why buy a house? You can carry it around with you. If you want to live, you should stay in a big hotel. Once you become famous, you don't even have to pay for the room.
Besides, why would you buy a house in 1920? When the Great Depression and World War II came, houses all over the world were like free picks. If you really want to invest in real estate, why not wait ten or twenty years?
If he could really become the number one accomplice of American imperialism and become old friends with MacArthur, the Japanese emperor, and build a big villa around the Yasukuni Shrine, the Japanese would smile and provide labor and building materials for free.
What about setting up a factory? That's simply ridiculous.
Do you really think that foreigners won't copy the factories built abroad? Can the patent law stop those big capitalists? Why is Gesun coming out of the West?
Do the factories built in China really think that they will definitely make money in the golden decade? Those who have such thoughts must be very crazy.
What if the Japanese invade us? Some people say that we can move to the inland areas if the Anti-Japanese War breaks out... two words, haha.
To be honest, it would be better to hand the factory over to the Japanese than to the Communists. At least there is still a chance to get it back, which is better than selling it for scrap metal.
If a time traveler wants to make money, he must also engage in finance. Unfortunately, Yuan Yanshu cannot do this because of the existence of that broken system.
In this case, he spent his money where it counts, which is to improve his own quality and level.
So he went to a high-end tailor shop owned by a Jew, which was recommended to him by Mr. Louis Baker. Our Master Yuan really didn't like Jews and was ready to cheat them. However, in the United States in 1920, Jewish tailors still had the best skills.
After getting most of his clothes ready, Master Yuan left the tailor shop and took another taxi straight to the "New York City First People's Hospital".
Well, it seems I still need to buy a car and hire a driver or something...
Of course, he also heard the news that those anarchist fighters had been arrested and released, and now he wanted to go and see with his own eyes the miserable plight of these guys so as to vent his anger.
Seeing these two "ugly aunties"-looking anti-American fighters in the hospital ward, Yuan Yan suddenly felt very happy. I told you to torment me, now this is your retribution, right?
"Ma'am, how are Mr. Linden and Mr. Zhuang doing?"
However, he still put on a very sad expression, and asked Sister Vivian, who looked a little haggard, with great sorrow.
Mother Long glanced at the Chinese man unhappily and replied coldly, "Thank you for your concern, Mr. Yuan. They and my mother and I are not going to die yet."
"Misunderstanding, this is a huge misunderstanding!" The junior investigator of the SCP Foundation said innocently, "I didn't expect that I would implicate you. Madam, don't forget that I was targeted by those damn guys because I was trying to save your daughter."
He took out a thick envelope and said, "To express my apology, I am sending you money in advance. By the way, I personally added 200 US dollars as the nutrition fee for Mr. Linden and Mr. Zhuang."
It's okay to vent anger, and it's okay to give money. But you can't use checks to give money, so use cash.
After hearing this reason, Sister Wei An opened the dollar bill again and looked at it. Her face brightened up and she was about to speak...
"Mom, I'm here...ah, why are you, Ni, Mr. Yuan here?"
Our Master Yuan stood up and looked at the other person affectionately and said, "Miss Rochelle, I am here to visit 'YOU'."
In English, both you and you're both "you", so putting emphasis on this word means... to flirt with girls.
Miss Enyuka's pretty face turned red, and tears seemed to drip from her beautiful eyes.
Yuan Yan suddenly felt overjoyed and could not help but walk forward and said softly, "An, I am..."
"Ah, you are...Mr. Yuan!"
