money player

Little Hell Street, Chicago.

In the dark room of the Little Hell Bar, a card game was going on.

Ava Jana, an actress whose career is on the rise, has become very famous recently and many people are talking about her.

She became famous not because of any hit works, but because of being involved in a sex scandal.

After she ended her marriage with her second husband, jazz singer Artie Shaw, she fell in love with a married man, another jazz singer, Frank Sinatra. Their relationship was exposed some time ago and has become a hot topic among Americans recently.

She sat at the card table, holding two playing cards in her hand, smoking one cigarette after another, and thinking about her betting strategy.

At this time, she only had one opponent left, an Asian woman sitting opposite her, constantly dispelling smoke with one hand. Some people called her Cen, and some people called her Mrs. Adam.

She holds the King of clubs and the King of diamonds. The five public cards are the King of spades, the Ten of spades, the Seven of diamonds, the Nine of spades, and the Seven of hearts, forming a full house. Theoretically, she is only two steps away from the nut hand, losing a pair of the Queen of spades, the Jack of spades, and the Seven.

On the second street, she didn't squat, but placed a heavy bet directly. There were several other people there at the time. If Cen had 7-a-pair, she shouldn't have been able to make it to the third street, so 7-a-pair could be ruled out.

If Cen can follow in, it might be a pair of A, a combination of AK and other colors, or AQ and AJ of the same color, a double draw of the straight suit. If it is QJ of the same color, it should be impossible for him to follow in until now... The biggest possibility is that Cen bought a flush, so I will act first and ask for more value from Cen.

She picked up the wine glass on the table and drank it all. She looked at Cen's face, observing his micro-expressions, and deliberately raised her hips and asked, "Cen, how many chips do you have left?"

"What?" Cen Peipei pretended not to hear clearly.

"How many chips?"

"Oh, wait a minute."

Tseng Pei-pei used her fingers to move the chips in front of her, pretending to count.

In fact, there is no need to click. Since she first came into contact with poker at the Navy Club, she has always played with her brain and is very clear about her code size.

She remembered what her master had said: "Playing cards is just a means of socializing. Don't get too addicted to it, and don't get obsessed with winning or losing."

Her hole cards were the Queen and Jack of Spades, which could form the nut hand. On the first street, she was talking to Sam Giancana, who was sitting diagonally across from her. Her mind was not on the cards, so she just called the bet casually. On the second street, it was a straight, a flush, and a straight flush. She had no reason not to call.

On the third street, Ava Jana made a move on her, and she also checked. She didn't have to pay any chips and went to the fourth street. The river card was the 9 of spades, which meant she bought a straight flush and was the nuts. She just waited for the other party to ask her for value and then play back.

After a while, she said, "I still have 385."

"385?" Ava Jana glanced down at her chips, which looked to be less than $600, and muttered, "Not a lot."

Having a lot of chips doesn't mean she is the winner at the moment. Today's game is a $200 recreational game. Tseng Pei-pei's chips were won through playing, while Ava Jana's chips were made up through making up.

The rule of this table is that you can add more chips as long as it is underwater, with a maximum of 200. Ava Jana has added more chips three times, which is why she has the current amount of chips.

The embarrassing act continued for more than four minutes before Ava Jana raised the chips with great difficulty and shouted, "All in."

Compared to Ava Jana's complicated acting - which appears to be a routine move of a big star, but reveals through micro-movements and micro-expressions that she is trying to steal something - Tseng Pei-pei holding the nut stood still like a mountain, waiting for her opponent to make trouble.

She shouted "Call" and casually spread out her cards.

“What Fuck!”

Seeing Tseng Pei-pei's trump card, Ava Jana instantly became furious and a string of trash words came out of her mouth. She twisted the half-smoked cigarette in half and threw it on the ground, then picked up the wine glass and poured the wine into her stomach.

Tseng Peipei quietly sorted out her chips, then calmly raised her glass in response to Russell Bufalino's congratulations, took a sip of wine, and waited for the next round to begin.

The Little Hell Bar is owned by the Forty-Two Gang. The Forty-Two Gang is not a serious gang, but a pretend gang founded in 1925. The members range from sixteen or seventeen years old to eight or nine years old. The name of the gang comes from the fairy tale "Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves", which means that forty-two is more awesome than forty-one.

However, although the members are young, they are all of Italian descent, and their playing house is not playing house in the usual sense, but house-style crimes, such as petty thefts, car robberies, horse thefts from stables, burglary of cigar shops and armed robberies of famous nightclubs.

Not long after this gang of kids became active, they were noticed by Al Capone of the Chicago Group, who absorbed most of the members of the Forty-Two Gang into the Chicago Group. Sam Giancana was one of them, and the one who did the best. He is now the confidant of Tony Accardo, the second-generation leader of the Chicago Group.

Sam Giancana and several other members of the Forty-Two Gang who joined the Chicago Group continued to maintain the name of the Forty-Two Gang in order to commemorate their childhood. They occupied Little Hell Street, where the Forty-Two Gang started, and arranged some important gatherings and meetings at the Little Hell Bar here.

Sam Giancana and his gang controlled illegal gambling, illegal liquor distribution, and political racketeering in Louisiana, and were involved in the Chicago Group's takeover of the "Black Lottery Payment System" in Chicago.

The black gangs in Chicago run a lottery game similar to Zihua, which is very popular among Chicago blacks. With an investment of tens of cents each time, they have a chance to get tens or even hundreds of dollars in return. The blacks take out money from their teeth to participate in this game.

This game is very profitable and seems easy to imitate, but the Chicago Group cannot handle the payment system, which is the "boat" under the black gang that penetrates deep into the community. Without the "boat", there is no way to handle betting and collect money.

Sam Giancana has spent several years to get the "boat" done, and his friends have slaughtered countless black people to make black fish stew.

Sam Giancana has a capable assistant and partner, Hyman Rana, who is a Jew, a low-key and smart man who makes a living with his brain. He helps Sam Giancana expand the gambling and smuggling business, expanding the smuggling business to Panama and Iran, and secretly helps Mossad smuggle weapons to the Middle East.

If Xian Yaowen were to take Hyman Rana's pulse, he would definitely be able to find out the CIA's situation.

A new hand began. Sam Giancana, who was in the big blind, called the bet of Frank Sinatra, who was in the small blind, and then said to Tsemper, "Mrs. Adam, I have a friend, a very good friend, who wants to be on the cover of Playboy."

When Ava Garner heard the name Playboy, her eyes widened. This magazine has a huge influence in the United States, and being on the cover would be very helpful to her career.

Tseng Peipei responded with a faint smile, "Mr. Giancana, Playboy only features women on its cover. Is your friend a woman?"

"Of course. Phyllis is a female singer who forms the McGuire Sisters with her two sisters. They are very talented, but they lack a chance to become famous."

If Xian Yaowen was there, she would have known who Phyllis McGuire was the moment she heard her name. She was the youngest sister of the McGuire sisters and one of the heroines of the Kennedy brothers' gossip. If they were to line up in order, she would be the predecessor of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, a smart person who took the benefits and got away with it.

Well, she was not the only smart person. Among the women surrounding the Kennedy brothers and the surrounding forces, the only well-known one seemed to be a fool like Marilyn Monroe.

It was precisely because he knew clearly that Marilyn Monroe was a stupid and ignorant woman, that Xian Yaowen had no interest in sleeping with her, even though she was sexy and had a story. Who knows if stupidity can be transmitted through sex.

"Mr. Giancana, I can help you make the contact, but I can't guarantee that it will be successful. The Playboy Club has its own selection criteria for Playboy cover girls. If they want to intervene, Adam needs to speak."

Without waiting for Giancana to respond, Bill Bufalino, who was sitting next to Russell Bufalino, said, "Cen, will Adam be in New York soon?"

"Bill, probably not. Adam is busy with business in Paris recently." Tseng Peipei looked at her own cards and folded them instantly. 2 and 7 were mixed colors, so there was no need to rush in and die.

"We have new business that we would like to discuss with Adam. Please ask him to come back to the United States in the near future."

After a word meaning "return" ran through Cen Peipei's mind for seven or eight times, she nodded and said, "I'll tell Adam."

After saying that, she looked at her watch. It was almost ten o'clock. After sitting for a while, she should go back and rest. She had to attend a laboratory seminar tomorrow. She had made a plan and needed to speak at the meeting.

……

After leaving Tofu Street, Xian Yaowen and his party did not take a car, but walked to the Telok Ayer Street area. Both streets are in Chinatown and not too far to walk.

Telok Ayer Street is the official name, but the Chinese prefer to call it Yuan Shun Street, named after the piggery “Yuan Shun Hao”, or Central Street.

This street is one of the birthplaces of Singapore's commerce. More than a hundred years ago, the "Zhongjie Qijiatou" from Xinhui who advocated the construction of Tongji Hospital monopolized the grocery, grain, oil, and tobacco business here, and for a period of time they "contracted" the judicial power from the East India Company.

The seven heads are Zhu Guanglan, Luo Qisheng, Guangheng, Zhu Youlan, Tongde, Luo Zhisheng and Zhu Fulan, who can also be called the seven giants of Singapore's grocery stores.

Of course, the era of Qijiatou's dominance has passed. Qijiatou has proved the famous saying "Teaching the apprentice will starve the master". The shopkeepers and assistants who once worked for Qijia have jumped out to work on their own, batch after batch, generation after generation, taking away the business model and customer resources, becoming competitors and constantly squeezing Qijia's market space. Qijiatou's life is miserable.

Zhongjie is the place where Qijiatou made its fortune, but they did not prosper here all the time. Instead, they moved to Qimu Street and Hong Kong Street, where grocery stores were concentrated, which were founded by "traitors" and latecomers.

Xian Yaowen stayed for a while at the entrance of the oldest former site of Zhu Guanglan, and then went to a nearby coffee shop, shared a table with an elderly man, invited him to have coffee, and asked him about the old stories of Qijiatou.

By listening to the stories, I got a general understanding that the grocery stores in Singapore are dominated by Fujianese. The Cantonese are in decline and powerless to change the situation. They can only grit their teeth and curse when no one is around. They wish they could catch two Fujianese, one to steam and one to boil.

After hearing the story, Xian Yaowen turned to Qimu Street and strolled around the street, entering each shop to observe the things sold. Then he returned to Zhongjie and came to an old warehouse that was used as a public restaurant.

In May 1946, the colonial authorities set up the "Wage and Living Expenses Review Committee". The committee went among the people and deeply felt the difficulties faced by the people. Before completing the report, it had proposed to the authorities to implement various temporary measures. One of them was to set up public dining rooms in Singapore, just like the British restaurants set up in major towns for refugees during World War II.

The public canteen provides the poor with a balanced diet, ensuring that they have at least one nutritious meal every day that includes rice, meat, vegetables, coffee and tea. The meal standards are designed by nutritionists from the University of Malaya, and each meal costs 35 cents.

The public canteen was run for two years, and was handed over to private management after the supply of materials and prices stabilized.

Today, the first public dining room that opened in the old warehouse still exists and continues to uphold the concept originally designed by the colonial authorities - central kitchen and pre-prepared meals.

Xian Yaowen spent twice the price (50 cents) and bought a few nutritious meals from the dock coolies who bought the meals. He avoided the trouble of queuing and found an empty table to start tasting the pre-prepared dishes.

He tasted very carefully, observing every detail of the dish at a glance. No dirt, rag ends, or even strands of hair could escape his eyes.

Second, smell it and try to find out what spices were used.

Taste it three times, hold it in your mouth and chew it carefully, first come to the conclusion that it is not bad, then chew out the "gold content" bit by bit, and carefully calculate how much a portion of rice costs.

Food is the most important thing for the people, and the people are the foundation of business. From the agricultural planting he wants to enter to the medical industry, they are all related to "food". How to grow vegetables that the people can afford and maximize profits, and the diseases caused by the accumulation of elements contained in the vegetables in the people's bodies are all issues that need to be carefully studied.

Third-rate companies think about what consumers need, second-rate companies guide consumer preferences, and first-rate consortiums set standards for consumers and trigger demand according to a timeline.

If you plan and study thoroughly what to eat, how much to eat, and how to eat, you can naturally predict when you will get sick, what disease you will get, and how serious the disease will be.

In this way, directional errors can be avoided to the greatest extent. As for whether medical technology and medicines can be successfully developed, there is also a guarantee. It is a one-step transition from first having a disease and then developing medicine to first developing medicine and then having a disease, allowing people to get sick with ideals, morals, organization and discipline.

Speaking of which, Xian Yaowen's moral bottom line is still relatively high, otherwise he could have taken the approach of developing an antidote first and then releasing the poison. In this way, the profits in the medical field would be clearer, and he could have formulated more charitable plans to benefit the people.

Take from the people, keep the fat meat for yourself, and give the chicken ribs to the people, and take both.

This is the right way in the world.

Xian Yaowen took a bite of his meal when another person appeared beside him: Li Yueru.

After Li Yueru was seated and took a bite of her meal, two more people came. One was Major Williams, the general manager of People's Convenience, who was selected by Cen Peipei. He was Cen Peipei's immediate superior when she worked at Winlovet, and was poached by her.

The other one was named Luo Tingke, a descendant of Luo Zhisheng and Luo family.

Of the first seven names of the Seven Families, five were founded by the Zhu family, and they were one family two hundred years ago. The two Luo Zhishengs and Luo Qishengs were founded by the Luo family, and they were brothers in their great-grandfather’s generation, and they only separated in their grandfather’s generation.

In 1914, Luo Zhisheng handed over the business to Huang Ahfu, and Luo Zhisheng and Luo left the grocery business.

Poverty has roots and wealth has sources. Poverty can occur in a moment of thought, and wealth must be accumulated. The so-called middle class that changes in one generation is just leeks with a longer growth cycle.

The wealth of a wealthy family may not be inherited, but their vision and thinking are definitely solidified. Luo Tingke was born in a grocery store family. As long as his IQ is not a problem, his understanding of convenience stores is likely to surpass that of the general public. (End of this chapter)