Starting from scratch, Batman crushed my dream of getting rich

Chapter 173 A chance encounter in a bar
My name is Chuck Brown.

I'm an aerodynamicist, of course, and I use that title mainly because it makes people think I'm doing well.

But in fact, I have many other names, but I keep them in my heart and never tell others.

Alcoholic, failed father, unqualified husband, loser with a broken marriage, poor wretch who has accomplished nothing, accomplice of a madman, weirdo who likes to play with kites
I picked up the wine glass in front of me and poured these unspeakable names along with the tequila in the glass into my stomach.

Wine, this thing is really one of the greatest inventions of mankind, isn't it? It can make people forget their worries, sorrows, pains, and their past, present and future.

Sadly, it only lasts for one night.

I often think that if there is a kind of wine that can make people forget everything about themselves forever, I will definitely spend everything, even my pitiful fortune, to exchange for a glass. It is really a great deal for me.

"No, no." Chuck Brown, lying on the bar, muttered to himself, his voice like a dream: "I have to remember the kite and my son."

"Um, boss, do you have any non-alcoholic drinks?"

A voice suddenly sounded beside him. The strange question made the drunk Chuck look to the side. The man was wearing an ordinary short-sleeved shirt and jeans. He looked handsome, but also fierce. He didn't seem like a good person.

Chuck glanced at the other person, but didn't pay much attention. He was very drunk at the moment, and it was already difficult for him to see the other person's appearance clearly. He had no time to think about anything else.

Come to the bar, not drinking?

The owner behind the bar stared at the man after hearing this, seriously suspecting he was out to cause trouble. He couldn't help but glance down at the shotgun hidden under the counter, a staple in East Side bars. Finally, after a moment, he resisted the urge to reach for the gun.

Of course, this is also because the other party does look like a tough guy, and the boss is worried that the other party is a high-ranking member of a gang.

"Boy, this is a bar. If you want to drink milk—"

"No, no, no, just water." The man smiled awkwardly. "My landlady, Mrs. Liles, told me to patronize her husband's bar more often and gave me a discount, so I came here."

Oh, it turns out to be a tenant.

After hearing his words, the boss Liles's expression finally relaxed. He knocked on the bar and said, "This is a bar. We don't have non-alcoholic drinks. If you are allergic to alcohol, you can drink ice water."

"Ice water will be fine, thank you—oh, is there anything to eat? I haven't had dinner yet."

Ma Zhaodi took out the banknotes from his pocket, put them on the counter, and looked around. It was his first time to be in a place like a bar - after all, he was just an ordinary writer and otaku, and he didn't have much money, so even in China, he had never been to a bar or a dance hall. He did go to a video game arcade or an Internet cafe occasionally, and it was quite fun there.

The bar had simple wooden floors and walls. There were photos hanging at the door, posters, and flyers nailed to the door. There were even graffiti and words sprayed on the walls. In the corner were some machines that he couldn't understand, maybe game consoles or song machines.

From the moment you enter the bar, the noisy voices in the bar are mixed with the HOUSE music (a style of music). Fortunately, after the TV news was broadcast, the owner turned down the volume of the music, otherwise the people in the bar would definitely not be able to hear any news.

"This afternoon, the Riddler's iconic symbol appeared in Gotham Square."

Ma Zhaodi glanced at the news and found nothing new, so he continued to eat his burger, French fries and fish fillets while looking at other corners of the bar.

There was a dartboard hanging on the wall with a few darts stuck on it. Next to it was a small table. Several strong men were playing poker around the table, apparently gambling.

Several women wearing relatively simple fabrics and some men with tattoos and strange hairstyles gathered around the gambling table. They all looked like bad people. I mean, they didn't look like people who were easy to mess with.

As for the rest, those who looked disoriented, whether drunk or drugged; those who couldn't help but huddle in a corner; or those who openly negotiated prices; this diverse crowd was the main theme of the bar. In Ma Zhaodi's judgment, most bars in the East District probably had this tone.

In a place like this, the man next to him, wearing a cheap blue suit and just sitting at the bar drinking, seemed quite out of place. Ma Zhaodi saw him drunk at the counter and patted his shoulder.

"You don't seem to like drinking very much, so you should drink less, Mr. Liles, and give him a glass of ice water too."

Liles shrugged and handed over another glass of ice water.

Ma Zhaodi pushed the glass of water to his hand, and no one noticed that a few drops of milk appeared out of thin air under his palm. They dripped into the glass and quickly dissolved in the water as the glass swayed.

"It's your treat, sir."

"Oh, thank you," the man in the blue suit said thank you vaguely, and didn't care what was in his hand, he picked it up and poured it into his mouth.

After a few seconds, he slowly sat up, and although he thought he was still drunk, he was able to have a normal conversation.

Then he spoke his first words.

"Liles, another tequila."

Ma Zhaodi sighed. It would be a waste for him to drink the milk. He should have saved it if he had known this earlier.

"Hey, man, you like kites?"

After taking a few sips of wine, the man took the initiative to talk to Ma Zhaodi. It seemed that only when he was drunk did he dare to chat with strangers: "I like it very much. I am an air, hiccup, dynamicist. I am good at making kites."

Ok?
Ma Zhaodi's heart moved, and he remembered the main mission of this business trip.

[Special Mission Reward: Kite Flyer’s Friendship]

He opened the system panel and confirmed that the client this time should be Charles "Chuck" Brown.

"Making a kite? Shouldn't an aerodynamicist be doing something like designing airplanes or racing cars? Why use the knowledge they learned to make a kite?"

Hearing his words, the expression on the man's face darkened again.

“If it weren’t for my love for kites, I wouldn’t have studied aerodynamics in the first place.”

"So, your job now is to design kites?"

"I"

The man was unable to answer for a moment, as the question seemed to embarrass him.

"Well, sorry, let's change the subject." Seeing this, Ma Zhaodi stopped asking questions and waved to Liles: "Give it to this..."

"Chuck Brown, you can call me Chuck."

Very good, that’s the name.

"My name is Ma Zhaodi-Liles. Pour another glass of wine for Mr. Chuck. It's my treat."

(End of this chapter)