America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 296 Food Stamps

Not long after, Old Karl arrived in a Cadillac and a convoy. Two hunting dogs got out of the car as soon as he opened the door, along with several scantily clad, hot white women.

Old Karl laughed heartily, hugged the Grand Master, and asked, "Are you satisfied with the gift I gave you?"

"That's good." Zhang Ailun nodded. "Actually, I also have a gift for you."

He then took out two videotapes and handed them to old Carl.

The other person glanced at the packaging of the pornographic videotape, his expression strange. "You actually left me two? I don't really need these things."

"You'll be useful when you can't even lift your head anymore," Zhang Ailun said with a slight smile.

"Who do you think you are!" Old Karl said, his face flushed and his voice filled with anger.

"I didn't come all this way just to hear you tease me. This place is so dark and doesn't look like a proper party spot at all. Come to my place, let's start the next party," Old Karl invited.

Zhang Ailun considered it for a moment and then agreed. After all, it was already late, and it wasn't really suitable to rush back to Los Angeles, so he decided to stay and rest.

Leaving the Beggars' Sect disciples at the manor, he took Boketu and the others and boarded Old Karl's convoy, heading to the other party's ranch. Just as Old Karl had said, this old fellow was indeed a man who knew how to enjoy life; he had basically taken all the pretty and attractive women in the neighborhood and invited them all to his ranch parties.

While the party wasn't as large as Madison's private island party, and didn't have as many celebrities, models, or actresses, it focused on the pure charm of a small town.

With old Karl's words, "Keep the music playing, keep dancing," the atmosphere became lively again.

The sect leader was approached and chatted up by several hot girls, including some acquaintances he had met at the bar. This made him feel awkward, since he was known for his ruthless nature and tendency to turn his back on people after they were done with him.

"Mr. Jin. You didn't respond when I added your contact information last time. Are you too busy?"

Listen to this; they even made excuses for the leader himself. Some even wanted to strike while the iron was hot and get the leader drunk, suggesting they go to the next private room to play games.

Zhang Ailun thought about it for a moment and then agreed.

The second round of the ranch party didn't end until 5 a.m. Old Carl tragically discovered he was too exhausted and had already slipped away with his men to study the precious disc the Grand Master had given him, hoping to save himself.

The next day.

Zhang Ailun woke up on the waterbed at Old Karl's house, feeling refreshed, and stretched.

When I reached out and touched it, it felt soft.

Turning my head, I saw a sea of ​​white, with several white girls clinging to me like octopuses.

Recalling yesterday's poker game, the leader didn't lose a single game from start to finish. The opponents were dressed in revealing clothes and had poor card skills, so after a few rounds, they had no choice but to accept the punishment.

Zhang Ailun pushed the others away, got up, went into the bathroom to take a shower, and got dressed.

When I came out, I saw the mess in the room, with colorful little strips of cloth scattered all over the floor. They were so thin that it looked like they couldn't afford to wear any clothes!

I picked up the sticky pink toys from the floor, tidied up the area, and put them in the bedside table.

Zhang Ailun turned and left the room. As he went downstairs, he saw several energetic and hot girls playing drinking games with the Beggar Clan disciples, seemingly having not slept all night.

I walked over and greeted the group, poured myself a cup of coffee to perk myself up, and asked, "What's going on with you guys? Still playing games here?"

"Boss, we played rock-paper-scissors and cards all night. The loser had to drink coffee, but the more we drank, the more energetic we became, and we couldn't sleep at all. So we just started a third party."

The Beggars' Sect disciple stared at a man with dark circles under his eyes, yawned, and saw several others already asleep nearby. "For the sake of men's dignity, we must not lose!"

A boring game...

Zhang Ailun glanced at the energetic hot girls; they were used to staying up late as night owls, so he ignored them and made himself a cup of black coffee to perk himself up. "Where are Sig and Boktu?"

"They just got up and should be in the kitchen helping to make breakfast," the Beggars' Sect disciple replied.

"Okay." Zhang Ailun nodded, finished his black coffee, and went to find something to eat.

When they arrived at the ranch's kitchen, they discovered that they couldn't possibly make breakfast.

The two men, their faces flushed with anger, argued in front of the frying pan about whether to put the onions or the butter first when grilling the steak. The cook, standing nearby, looked at them with a strange expression, completely at a loss. In the end, the eggs were fried until they turned black, the bread was burnt, and the onions and steak were so charred that they were inedible.

Aren't these two deliberately causing trouble?

They're doing their job just fine.

The cook, seeing the leader arrive, seemed to see him as a savior. She approached him pleadingly, "Sir, please help me, please persuade them. We really don't need that many people here."

"Are you the chef hired by old Karl?" Zhang Ailun nodded, looking at the gray-haired cook.

"I'm old Karl's cousin. After he became wealthy, he invited me to come and live here with my family to help with the work. He used to love my cooking the most," the cook said. "My daughter, Saviour, also admires you very much. She should have been at the party yesterday too."

"...I see." Zhang Ailun recalled that among the white girls he played poker with yesterday, there was indeed one named Sha Wen. And she was very energetic. She was the first and the last.

My heart skipped a beat. Oh no, it's my mother-in-law!

I'm somewhat speechless. I can't exactly say, "Your daughter is very hardworking and fun," can I?

Seeing Boketu and Xige causing trouble, Zhang Ailun went over and gave them both a light tap on the back of the head. "Have you had enough? Want to go outside and settle this with a fight?"

The two immediately quieted down, but they didn't stop arguing. "You were probably nowhere to be found when I was making steak, Captain Bocktu."

"Oh, really? Captain Sig, as far as I know, you've never cooked before. Did you eat rare steaks you found in street trash cans? I used to be a logistics and cook in a field army unit, and the soldiers who ate my food all said it was delicious," Bocktu said irritably.

"Then being your soldier is incredibly unlucky. They have to eat this stuff that looks like dog poop every day. What else can you do besides processing ready-made meals? If the army has to start fires and cook during battles, they might as well fight with sticks and stones." The two were very dissatisfied and blamed each other.

After thinking it over, Zhang Ailun came up with a win-win solution for them: "Eat all the breakfasts you made yourself, not a single one left. I don't want to repeat myself."

It's only been a few days, and they're already wasting food like this.

"Food isn't for you to play with, it's for you to eat. Since you like playing so much, why don't you find an open space, take off your pants, and play with your little sausages? Do you need my help?"

When it comes to verbal sparring, ten Sigs and Boktus couldn't compare to the Grand Master, who was utterly speechless after being rebuked.

The two glanced at the junk food they had made and had no choice but to eat it.

"Boss, it tastes pretty good, do you want to try it?" Sig, his mouth full of black paste, took a big bite of bread. Still stubborn.

"I think you're asking for trouble. Since it's so delicious, eat more! Make ten more identical portions and eat them too! Since the food wasn't thrown in the trash and you ate it, it's not a waste." Zhang Ailun directly fought fire with fire.

"I was wrong, boss." Sig immediately cowered, saying with a bitter face, "This mushy bread is inedible."

Boktu buried his head in his steak, which was charred on the outside and tough on the inside. He was questioning his existence, unable to understand why his steak was as hard to chew as a shoe insole. Finally, he concluded that it was a problem with the ingredients themselves!

Without the involvement of the two stubborn individuals, the cook quickly demonstrated her abilities and prepared a delicious breakfast in no time.

"You must have used up a lot of energy yesterday, so I specially prepared a nutritious meal for you to replenish your protein and calories."

He handed the leader a cup of hot milk. "Try it. This is milk from the cows on the ranch. It's been processed and is sterile!"

Zhang Ailun took a sip and found it to be indeed mellow and fragrant.

Returning to the ranch villa with breakfast, they found the girls were all up, but old Carl was still asleep. It seems there's no such thing as an overworked ox, only an exhausted field.

"I'm really worried that this old guy will die in his bed."

Zhang Ailun sighed and began eating his breakfast. The girl named Sha Wen sat at the same table with him, cut up the food, and fed it to him personally. The Grand Master never refused any of it.

After finishing breakfast, Zhang Ailun took out his phone to check today's daily news during his break.

[Daily News: Tijuana's official resistance force decisively defeated a local drug cartel, significantly deterring militants and electing a new mayor. Capitalizing on this momentum, the mayor issued a statement pledging stricter controls on organ trafficking and illegal trade. Details: The drug cartel and its backer, Squid Capital, have decided to launch even more severe retaliatory strikes.]

[Daily News: Your private satellite, stored in a suburban hangar, has completed maintenance. GBT is currently offering rocket launch packages using a test version of the SG52 rocket launcher. A single satellite launch costs as little as $98000 per person and can launch up to 120 microsatellites simultaneously. In the event of a launch failure, you will receive 1.5 times the launch cost as compensation.]

[Daily News: An auction will be held this afternoon in container B62 in the southern port area of ​​Los Angeles. The auction will feature private storage, and a genuine Picasso painting is found inside the green container D65.]

Are these genuine Picasso paintings?

Zhang Ailun was somewhat surprised.

This thing is actually quite valuable!

Although Picasso painted more than 3 works during his lifetime, including 1885 oil paintings, 7089 drawings, 20000 prints, and 6121 lithographs, they are widely circulated among the public and their prices vary.

However, this is, after all, a painting with celebrity influence, and its value varies from $1 million to $2 million depending on its exquisite quality and the time it was painted.

Buying it is like making a profit!

[Daily Intelligence: Your good friend Colonel Wood is looking after your Thunderbolt Armed Nation business and is preparing to introduce you to a military supplies deal: 20 sets of American military uniforms produced in a clothing factory in a mysterious Eastern country called "Yiwu." These need to be purchased from the Mason Clipper (D277) at San Francisco port at $3 per set, transported to the S/D. Pulton Military Base on the US-Mexico border, and sold to the base's commander for $28. Details: An additional $400 million worth of classified personal goods also need to be shipped.]

Good heavens, American military uniforms made in Yiwu? They cost $3 a set, and you're reselling them for $28?

Okay, okay, it has to be you guys.

Though you wear a Western-style dress, your heart remains free.

[Daily News: Your good friend Simone's discount coupon business has run into trouble. The coupon printing factory has been exposed for widespread counterfeiting, leading to lawsuits from the consumer association and the company. Her market activities have been banned, and she has decided to shut down her trading website and retire from the business.]

[Daily Intelligence: Your good friend, the great collector Madison, and his arch-rival, the wealthy Jehovah Priyan, will be holding an underground bonfire slave auction at Shamrock Ranch in the suburbs at 9:30 PM. You might be able to help Madison obtain dirt on Jehovah and carry out his revenge.]

[Details: Special guests at the auction included Air Force Colonel Frank from Edwards Base, Hollywood star Vin Diesel, East Coast rapper Pharrell Williams, singer Selena Gomez, Los Angeles East District Judge Joe Cole, Black Forest charity investor and philanthropist Merlin, leaders of the Florence 13 gang, and 26 other individuals. Auction items included: a Victoria's Secret model, a Colombian supermodel, a Swan Lake dancer from the Grand Peak Opera, and a former member of a South Korean girl group.]

Zhang Ailun looked at the intelligence report and fell into deep thought.

I think Madison would be very happy to get this information about his arch-enemy!

I sent Simone a message to ask how she was doing.

Zhang Ailun: Have you stopped doing your discount coupon business?

Simone: How did you know?

Zhang Ailun: I saw news online that the discount coupon printing factory was exposed for producing a large number of counterfeit coupons and was sued by the Consumer Association and the company. I think it will be difficult for your business to continue.

Simone: I didn't expect you to still have the mind to care about such trivial matters, you billionaire! Yes, I'm also troubled, but this kind of business is inherently difficult to do, and you can't make big money at all.

Zhang Ailun: What are your plans for the future?

Simone: I still have several hundred thousand dollars in savings, and I plan to invest $100,000 in little Lori to open a grocery store with him. Your people might be able to help us too.

Zhang Ailun: Is there some trick to this?

Simone: A while ago, when I was selling discounted items in the community, I met an Asian grocery store owner with Lori who was in the food stamp business.

Simone then gave Zhang Ailun a brief explanation of the industry insider information. It wasn't exactly high-level knowledge; at least many people knew it, it was just a matter of choosing whether or not to do it.

Food stamps are a welfare program initiated by state governments for low-income families. The full name is Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP for short.

Food stamps are similar in concept to shopping vouchers for the homeless, but they cannot be exchanged for cash or used to purchase any items. They are only used by low-income families to buy essential food items such as grains, fish, and meat.

Many savvy grocery store owners have also discovered this business opportunity and choose to buy food stamps from low-income families. Many poor families do not need that much food, and they would rather go hungry than give up a single leaf or cigarette. They will basically exchange their food stamps for cash at the store.

Grocery store owners also tacitly allowed customers to exchange food stamps for cash or other groceries such as cigarettes, and they would buy food stamps at a low price, offering 50 cents in cash or equivalent goods for every $1 of food stamps.

They accumulated large amounts of food stamps, then exchanged them for food or cash from the government, profiting from the price difference. The most valuable were seafood stamps, beef stamps, and protein-rich food stamps; on the black market, a single seafood stamp could fetch as much as $15.

In particular, food stamps bearing the logos of chain restaurants allow a family of four to make online reservations for free at nearby mid- to high-end chain restaurants. Many chain restaurants participate in the Nutrition Assistance Program, naturally also to offset taxes.

Zhang Ailun instantly understood the operating model: wasn't it just about speculating and making money off the country?

The West Coast has no shortage of poor families, and if you make a big enough business, you can indeed make money from the government, but it is not recommended for self-employed individuals without connections to do so.

The Grand Master certainly has the connections and power to help Simone.

Zhang Ailun: Rachel Kim, the short-tailed dog, owns a restaurant, which might help you cash out. Currently, many people on my team have jobs, but they don't have any assets and are classified as low-income families. They can obtain food stamps through shelters. Then they can buy the basic necessities they need from your grocery store, and you can make money too.