Volume 4: White Devil Chapter 242: Only read the first half
Veterans Affairs Administration Center in Miami.
It is responsible for handling all administrative affairs involving veterans in the Miami area, and also manages various large and small veterans' nursing homes, veterans' welfare homes, veterans' clinics, veterans' public canteens and other facilities in the Miami area.
Tommy walked out of the main entrance of the management center with some introduction materials and a look of pain on his face. He opened the car door and got back in the car. Then he took out his wallet and counted the money inside. Including his own hundred dollars, it was only five hundred and thirty dollars. Paige saw that he looked a little unhappy and said,
"According to the situation in California, if you donate four hundred dollars to the Retired Police Association, it is enough to receive an invitation to the association's quarterly appreciation dinner. If you think the change looks too shabby, I can help you change it into four hundred-dollar bills."
"I know it's cheaper here than in California. You can get an invitation for three hundred dollars, but I don't need an invitation to the quarterly thank-you dinner. Jeff is not capable of giving a speech at the dinner right now. And for only four hundred dollars, the association won't give him a chance to run for a speech." Tommy took a deep breath and said a little depressed.
"He has no sponsors, no base, nothing, so he can't make a deal with the rich people at the dinner. He can only squeeze the money of a certain group of poor people. Only after turning that group into Jeff's base and ensuring that he is worthy of attention or cooperation from other candidates in the party, will the rich people talk to him. The most important thing is that some politicians have already thought of winning votes from this group. Gerald Richman, the third-ranked candidate of the Democratic Party, donated 20,000 yuan to this place through his political action committee. In other words, unless we pay more money, all the officials or staff here will ignore us, let alone cheer for Jeff."
"Do you need me to drive?" Paige didn't care about this matter and just asked Tommy.
Tommy flipped through the brief introductions to the veterans' welfare organizations in his hand. "Yes, we can only use the stupid method. We have to go to each nursing home one by one to help Jeff raise funds. There are a total of twelve veterans' nursing homes in Miami. We need to get at least 2,000 dollars from each nursing home. Based on the average number of 42 people in each nursing home, each old guy must donate at least 48 dollars to us . We need to package Jeff. Otherwise, with Jeff's stupid behavior now, it's impossible to raise 48 cents, let alone 48 dollars."
"Where are you going?"
Tommy threw the free VA agency fact sheet into the back seat:
"Let's drive. We'll go to the car rental company first, then the clothing store, then the video hall, and then we'll find a haircut... Oh, Martin seems to have worked as a barber."
When Tommy finished everything and returned to Jeff's house, it was already past dinner time. However, Jeff's family did not go to bed early. On the contrary, Jeff's living room was bustling with activity.
Four children were queuing up in front of the phone with great joy, urging their classmates and friends to turn on the TV and watch their father's heroic performance. Sister-in-law Gina was also queuing behind the four children, preparing to call her hometown in the countryside to brag to her relatives that her brother-in-law had become a big shot who .
For many country folk, appearing on television is unimaginable.
Jeff and his wife were snuggling sweetly on the sofa, enjoying the news on TV. Jessica regretted Jeff's image on the news, and thought that she should let Jeff wear the suit he wore when they got married today, so that he would look more handsome. Jeff said that the owner of the hamburger shop called him and said that he sent him a small check for twenty dollars to support his election, and told Jeff that if he appeared on TV next time, he hoped he would continue to hold his signature hamburgers.
As for Martin, he had a serious discussion with Jeff's two smart friends, Zack and Alan, about who was a better actor, him or Jeff.
When Tommy came in, the whole living room suddenly became quiet, with only the voice of the news anchor on TV. After a two-second pause, everyone came back to their senses and went about their own business. Jessica stood up and said that she had saved dinner for Tommy.
"Jeff, I rented a car for you. It's parked outside. Come and try it." Tommy declined Jessica's suggestion to let him taste Chinese food and tilted his head towards Jeff:
"Also, I can hear you guys yelling inside from outside. I thought you won the Nobel Prize in Physics for your flat-Earth theory. Keep a low profile and just appear on a few local TV news programs."
Jeff stood up, confused. "You rented a car for me? But we have three cars at home, why do we need to rent a car?"
His family has three cars. One is a Ford Tempo sedan that he drives, in which he can store various tools for repairing pipes in the trunk. One is a family Ford Mercury that Jessica drives to buy groceries or pick up the children. The other is a Chevrolet family six-seater leisure vehicle, which is convenient for their family of six to go out together on weekends.
The others also heard what Tommy said, and walked out of the house with Jeff curiously, wanting to see what kind of car Tommy helped Jeff rent. But after they came out, everyone seemed to be petrified in an instant and stood there in a daze.
In front of everyone, there was a tattered 1979 Ford F150 pickup truck, and the body was painted with jungle camouflage. On the front hood of the car, there was an American flag and a conspicuous slogan:
"This is America! Say No to Cubans!"
Everyone was so shocked by the appearance of the car that they were speechless. Jeff's smart friend Zack even covered his mouth and cursed in shock: "Shit! Tommy, you drove this car back intact in the 18th District where Cubans make up 45% of the total population? Wasn't it smashed by the Cubans?"
"Go ahead and give it a try. Tomorrow you will drive this pickup truck that has made great contributions to the U.S. military to the veterans' home to comfort the veterans and give a touching speech," Tommy said to Jeff .
Jeff saw this shabby old pickup truck that was not even an ordinary one and said, "I don't understand, Tommy, why do you want to drive this car? My Ford Tempo is in much better condition than this one. It's only three years old. This car has been ravaged in the swamp for at least eight years."
"Ford Tempo? Are you kidding me? Driving that kind of car to a place full of veterans?" Tommy looked at Jeff and cursed, then rolled his eyes and looked at Martin again:
"Martin, help Jeff translate. Why can't he drive his car to that kind of place?"
Martin shrugged and spoke as Tommy's mouthpiece. "Because the veterans will ask Jeff, 'Hey, kid, when you bought that fucking car, did the dealership let you mortgage your balls? So you bought a car that only women can drive?'"
"Very good, good translation, that's what I mean." Tommy opened the door of the pickup truck, took out a large set of clothes and handed them to Jeff's wife: "This is what Jeff will wear tomorrow, a camouflage baseball cap, a camouflage T-shirt, polo pants and boots."
"Also~" Tommy finally took out a videotape and handed it to Jeff: "Learn how to be a tough guy."
Jeff looked down and saw that it was an old movie released in 1978, "Fistful of Fire" starring Sylvester Stallone.
It tells the story of a passionate young worker who leads a workers' strike because he is dissatisfied with the corruption and exploitation of workers by capitalists and politicians, and eventually grows into the chairman of the Truck Drivers Union who colludes with politicians, capitalists and the mafia.
Before Jeff could react to why he wanted to watch the movie, Tommy added, "The most important thing is, you can only watch the first half. The second half is not suitable for you at the moment."
