1836: I Became a Literary Giant in Great Britain

Chapter 142 Bankruptcy, Dickens!

"A game about wealth, luck, and wisdom?"

Both Dickens and Michael had puzzled expressions on their faces.

They watched as Michel spread out his drawing paper and picked up his charcoal pencil.

They both found it somewhat amusing that they looked like they were about to create something great.

"Michelle, you didn't lose money and are trying to pay off your debts with paintings, did you?"

"That won't do, unless it's your new work."

""

Michael joked.

"Shh, don't disturb him."

Dickens leaned over and looked with great interest.

"I want to see what new and interesting things will come out of this genius's head."

Michelle ignored her two friends' teasing.

The square chessboard that had accompanied him throughout his childhood was clearly visible in his mind.

The charcoal pencil in my hand moved quickly across the clean white paper.

Soon, a huge square border was drawn.

Next, he used a ruler to draw dividing lines inside the border, dividing the four sides into dozens of small squares.

"Is this someone drawing a map?"

Michael craned his neck to look over curiously.

Michel did not answer. Instead, he wrote the words "Starting Point", "Prison", "Free Carriage Parking", and "Go to Prison" in the four corners of the chessboard.

Then he began to fill in the blank squares.

Michelle wrote two place names in the lower right corner of the chessboard with the tip of her pen.

"Whitechapel district, sixty pounds."

"Cohen Street, sixty pounds."

Dickens' expression changed slightly.

This seems interesting...

He knew those two places all too well; they were among the poorest and most chaotic areas of London.

It is also a place he has depicted in many of his novels.

Michelle's pen did not stop, but continued to move upwards.

Fleet Street, Hyde Park, Regent Street...

Familiar London place names, accompanied by monetary figures, appeared one by one on the chessboard.

Prices have soared from tens of pounds to hundreds of pounds.

When writing down the top-ranking position in the upper left corner of the chessboard, Michelle paused for a moment and wrote down two names.

"Mayfair district, three hundred and fifty pounds."

"St. James' Square, four hundred pounds."

At this point, Dickens and Michael were completely captivated.

Dickens exclaimed in surprise.

Both of them were intelligent and immediately understood the implications.

This is not just a chessboard, it's practically a condensed map of London's wealth!

From the cheapest slums to the most expensive aristocratic neighborhoods.

The class distribution of London was clearly depicted on this canvas.

"This is so interesting!"

Dickens' eyes lit up; he seemed to see countless stories hidden within those simple squares.

Michelle smiled and then finished his work.

He also wants to incorporate the most exciting elements of this era!

Given that Britain was on the eve of "railway mania," steam trains were naturally an unavoidable topic.

In addition, Michel changed the four train stations in later versions to four newly established or planned steam train routes.

For example, the Liverpool-Manchester line.

The hydroelectric power plant was replaced by the more contemporary "Thames River Ferry Company" and "London Gaslight Company".

"Michelle, what are these?"

Michael noticed other details and pointed to two empty areas in the center of the chessboard, asking questions.

"This is called 'opportunity'."

Michelle picked up a card and wrote on it: "Your new play has been accepted by the Royal Theatre. A reward of one hundred pounds."

He picked up another card and continued writing: "You contracted cholera while swimming in the Thames. See a doctor immediately and be suspended for three rounds."

When Dickens saw the card, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"That's so mean! But I love it!"

Then, Michelle started making another pile of cards.

"And this, well, it's called fate."

"The investment in the East India Company's tea trade was a great success, and I received a dividend of fifty pounds."

"He was sent to Marshallsey Debtors' Prison on the Thames for failing to pay rent."

Dickens' laughter abruptly stopped when he saw Michel write down the words "Marshallsey Debtors' Prison".

It hurts! It hurts so much!

His expression became somewhat complicated.

That was the place where his father had lived, and it was also the deepest nightmare of his childhood.

Michel noticed the change in Dickens's expression, but he did not stop.

You laughed at me, now you can't laugh anymore.

In fact, a game that can touch people's hearts must be rooted in the most real social reality, whether it is light or darkness.

Soon, a Monopoly game board with a 19th-century London flair was completed.

That's right, what Michel brought over was the later Monopoly, which was also a memory of his childhood.

Historically, the modern version of Monopoly was not officially released until 1935 by the Parker Brothers in the United States.

In a sense, Michelle's creation could now earn her the title of the pioneer of board games.

Michelle then found several buttons of different colors to use as chess pieces and cut out banknotes of different denominations from pieces of paper.

"The rules are very simple," Michelle explained.

"Each person has a starting capital, and then they take turns rolling dice to advance based on the number rolled."

"If you come across an unclaimed plot of land, you can choose to buy it and own its title. If someone else comes onto your land, they must pay you rent."

At this point, Michelle picked up a land title as an example.

"Of course, you can also build houses, even hotels, on your own land."

"The more houses there are, the higher the rent. If someone can't afford the rent, they go bankrupt and are out of the game."

"We have only one goal."

Michelle glanced at her two eager friends and gave them a "friendly" smile.

"Do everything you can to bankrupt everyone else and become the only millionaire!"

"If you collect all the plots of land of the same color, you can build houses on them, even hotels, and the rent you can collect will increase many times over."

After hearing the rules, Michael and Dickens were initially somewhat dismissive.

Roll the dice, move on the grid, buy land?

That's too easy...

This sounds like a game for kids.

"That's it? This is the game of wealth and wisdom you were talking about?"

Michael pursed his lips.

"Don't worry, you'll see once you play it."

"It'll be fun."

Michelle smiled confidently and distributed starting funds to everyone.

This is a stack of "game tokens" of varying denominations that he cut from ordinary paper.

Trusting Michel, the group started playing games anyway.

The group decided to try out the game Michel had created to see if it was as amazing as he claimed.

The game has officially begun!

The atmosphere was quite relaxed and pleasant during the first few laps of the game.

Everyone rolled the dice, controlling their little buttons to bounce around on the chessboard, and seemed quite casual about buying land.

"Oh, Cohen Street? The place where my dear Michelle used to live, we must buy it as a memento!"

Dickens rolled a good number first and bought the cheapest purple plot without hesitation.

"Fleet Street! The area where newspaper offices are located, I know this place well!"

Michael followed suit and bought his first property.

Michelle, meanwhile, quietly took advantage of her first-mover advantage to purchase another purple plot of land, the "Whitechapel District," which is right next to Cohen Street, as well as an orange plot.

At first, Dickens and Michael thought the game of rolling dice and moving on squares was a bit childish.

But when the first transaction took place, Michael bought "Regent Street" and received rent from Dickens, who happened to be passing by, for the first time.

The atmosphere in the apartment began to subtly change.

"Hey Charles, pay up!"

Michael stretched out his hand triumphantly.

"It's just a few shillings, don't get too cocky."

Dickens reluctantly handed over the banknotes, but a hint of competitiveness ignited in his eyes.

It has to be said that the current social atmosphere in Britain is a perfect match for the super-rich.

The 19th-century British had an ingrained passion for land and wealth.

This model of squeezing their rivals dry by purchasing and monopolizing land immediately ignited their inner blood.

Half an hour later, the scene in the living room was completely out of control.

The card game, which was just moments ago filled with laughter and joy, has now turned into a battlefield without gunpowder.

The ship of friendship can capsize in an instant...

"No! Why is it your land again!"

Michael let out a wail as his chess piece landed on the territory Dickens had just bought.

"Welcome, my friend."

Dickens laughed like a fox who had stolen a chicken.

"According to regulations, you should pay me a toll of twenty-two pounds."

"I...I don't have enough cash!"

Michael was dismayed to find that he had less than twenty pounds left.

"Then you can choose to mortgage your property."

Michelle offered a timely reminder.

A simulated land grab was fiercely waged in the small apartment.

Friendships seem so fragile in the face of "rent" and "bankruptcy".

Michael and Dickens quickly became bloodthirsty.

They argued fiercely over the ownership of a piece of land, and used every means possible to collect plots of land of the same color.

As the inventor of the game, Michel simply watched it all with a smile.

He executed his strategy silently, thanks to his thorough understanding of the game's rules.

Yes, Monopoly requires a certain level of skill; it's not just a game of pure luck.

In the early stages, it's about grabbing land; in the middle stages, it's about building; and in the later stages, it's about controlling the market and negotiating.

While Dickens and Michael were still basking in the glory of their gains and losses, Michel had already quietly monopolized the most expensive piece of land on the chessboard.

Mayfair District and St. James' Square.

Furthermore, he invested all the cash he had into building houses on these two plots of land.

Soon, he placed a hotel steadily on a plot of land in the Mayfair district.

"Alright, my trap is ready."

At this moment, Dickens' chess piece was only three squares away from the death zone.

"My turn!"

Dickens rubbed his hands together, picked up the dice, and looked extremely focused.

He is now the richest player on the field besides Michel, owning three railroads and an orange block, and is quite pleased with himself.

"If I roll a seven, I can buy the last railroad and achieve a monopoly!"

Dickens announced triumphantly.

"By then, you'll have to give me two hundred pounds every time you pass by!"

He shook the dice in his palm as if in prayer, then gently tossed them.

The two dice tumbled and bounced on the drawing paper, making a series of crisp sounds.

All eyes were focused on that small square.

Finally, the dice stopped rolling.

One is a dot, the other is two dots.

three o'clock.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

Dickens' smile froze on his face.

His fingers trembled as he counted the squares one by one on the chessboard.

Dickens's button chess piece, though it crosses "St. James's Square".

But in the end, it stopped at the most expensive and most fatal square on the chessboard.

Mayfair district.

This piece of land not only belongs to Michel, but also features a building made of several stacked stones that represents a "hotel".

"Welcome, Charles."

Michelle's voice was like the whisper of a devil.

"Welcome to the Mayfair Grand Hotel."

Michael gasped and looked at Dickens with pity.

He knew the game was over.

"How much is the rent?"

Dickens's voice was somewhat hoarse as he asked, clinging to his last shred of hope.

"Welcome to the Mayfair Luxury Hotel, Mr. Dickens. The total cost is... two thousand pounds."

"two...

Two thousand pounds?!

Dickens jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"Why don't you just rob it!"

"I'm robbing them."

Michelle shrugged, looking completely innocent.

"Rules are rules."

He pointed to the land deed in front of Dickens.

"You could choose to mortgage all your properties, including your three railroads and that Orange Street area, and maybe you could still raise enough money."

Dickens turned ashen-faced.

However, he is not someone who can't accept defeat.

He looked at the "real estate empire" he had painstakingly built, the railways and properties he was so proud of.

Now, however, we have to hand it all over to others to pay an absurd toll.

This made Dickens feel unprecedented humiliation and resentment.

"No! I can't go bankrupt like this!"

He gritted his teeth and began to search his body.

Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, he took something out of his vest pocket.

It was an exquisite silver pocket watch with a gold chain attached, clearly quite valuable.

"Michelle!"

Dickens slammed his pocket watch on the table, his eyes gleaming with a gambler's madness.

"I'll use this pocket watch as collateral! This watch is worth at least fifty pounds, fifty pounds in real life!"

He actually tried to use real-world assets to pay off his virtual debts in the game.

The living room of the apartment suddenly fell silent.

Michael's mouth dropped open; he could hardly believe what he was seeing.

Dickens was so driven by a game that he was willing to pawn his pocket watch.

This is absolutely absurd.

But from another perspective...

Michelle's new game is absolutely addictive!

This is indeed a game of wealth, luck, and wisdom.

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