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1.85% Marvel Plane Trader / Chapter 1: Golden Trade
Marvel Plane Trader Marvel Plane Trader original

Marvel Plane Trader

Author: FicNovels

© WebNovel

Chapter 1: Golden Trade

In February 1943, Chicago was still cold. However, as a significant industrial city located far from the battlefield and in the heart of the United States, Chicago was still a bustling city of peace and prosperity, despite when the world war raged in Europe and Asia.

During the day, the busy streets were filled with cars and people browsing the numerous shops. The atmosphere was no less festive than in the 21st century.

It was hard to believe that the world's largest and deadliest war was being fought on the other side of the world, except for the occasional war posters pasted on the street corners.

However, none of this had anything to do with Josh.

At this moment, he was wrapped in a coat that didn't quite fit his frame, crossing the busy street and entering a shop by the roadside.

"Take a look if you need anything!" The old shopkeeper inside said without looking up, with the sound of the doorbell ringing crisply.

The grocer's store was meticulously organized, with scissors, cutlery, radios, and vinyl records all neatly placed in their designated spots.

But Josh was not here to buy anything but to sell something.

"I heard you buy gold here!" Josh walked to the counter and asked the old shopkeeper, who was tinkering with an old radio.

Hearing his words, the old shopkeeper finally looked up and glanced at him, surprised to see a teenager of fifteen or sixteen, but he still nodded.

Josh didn't hesitate and took a bag from his coat pocket, placing it on the counter and opening it to reveal the gold jewelry inside.

"Hey, this looks slightly like Indian craftsmanship, but not quite. Where did you get it from?" The old shopkeeper was surprised to see the gold jewelry in the bag.

"So what? Does Indian craftsmanship make it worth more money?" Josh replied with a question instead of an answer.

"Not really, it doesn't fit the mainstream aesthetic after all." The old shopkeeper shrugged. The aesthetic here was undoubtedly that of the white people, and the rough Indian craftsmanship could not attract the attention of those high society ladies. Therefore, the fate of this gold jewelry was to be melted down.

"So, how much can you offer?" Josh asked again, not caring about the craftsmanship because he knew it was not Indian jewelry.

"Don't rush, young man! Just wait a moment!" The old shopkeeper comforted him, then turned around and began to search slowly.

Josh was not in a hurry either because he had previously inquired that this was a well-known old grocery store in the neighborhood and a pawnshop.

And what he would sell was just gold, not any illegal items.

According to the law Roosevelt promulgated ten years ago, it was indeed illegal to privately buy and sell gold. This law would only be abolished entirely in the Nixon era, more than 20 years later.

However, since the Second World War, this law has been more relaxed than it was at the beginning.

In addition, during the war, many refugees flooded the United States, and the US government turned a blind eye to private gold transactions, so small-scale gold transactions were quite common.

Of course, the safest way is to sell gold to the bank for $35 per ounce, about 28 grams per ounce.

But doing so would be too much of a loss.

Because the price of gold among civilians has already risen to $50 per ounce, the $15 difference is not a small amount, especially considering the dollar's purchasing power in this era, which is extremely strong.

Taking Chicago as an example, a set meal with coffee, meat, and vegetables in a typical restaurant costs only 50-60 cents, while a giant hamburger costs only 20 cents.

In other words, for ordinary people, even if they eat out daily, $15 is enough to live large for more than a week. And the gold that Josh brought this time is not too much or too little; it's ten ounces.

This $150 is a real difference, two or three months' income for an ordinary person.

Don't be fooled by the fact that the average income of Americans in 1943 had already reached over a thousand dollars.

But what does "average" mean? Those who know, know.

In reality, a yearly income of $700-800 was already considered a high salary for ordinary people in the city.

Why did American youth eagerly join the military during World War II?

Isn't it because the military offered high enough salaries?

The basic monthly salary for a private was $50, and the rank promotion would add $10 to $20 per level. When you reached the rank of sergeant, you could earn $100 a month, which didn't include various allowances.

So $150 is a significant amount.

Josh didn't have much gold, so he was willing to take a little risk rather than give up such a large sum to the American bank.

Fortunately, the old shopkeeper didn't pull any tricks and quickly returned with some tools, such as measuring cups, water, scales, and other items.

"The purity of this gold is not too high, probably only about 80%, so I can only give you a price of $40," the old shopkeeper concluded after using a bunch of tools to measure the weight of the gold.

"Deal!" Josh wasn't too surprised by the old shopkeeper's conclusion because the purity of this gold could be a little low, after all. The metallurgical level of that world was not advanced, and the gold in Planetos couldn't even be turned into bars.

So Josh promptly agreed to the price offered by the old shopkeeper.

"Very good, a total of 9.8 ounces; I'm not cheating you, let's call it ten ounces. Here's $400. Take it, kid!" Seeing Josh readily agree, the old shopkeeper didn't delay further, turned around, and pulled out a roll of dollars from the counter. After taking out two bills, he handed the rest to Josh.

Josh took the roll of dollars, untied the leather strap, and found eight $50 bills, neither more nor less, just right.

After all, the United States had yet to enter the era of credit cards, so large denominations of dollars were still not rare, unlike in the 21st century, where $50 bills were hard to come by on the market.

"Give me the $50 in change, preferably in $5, but $10 is also okay!" Josh counted the money, verified it was genuine, and pushed back the $50 bill.

Not rare doesn't mean it's not inconvenient to not have small change due to the high purchasing power.

The old shopkeeper didn't say much. He just nodded and changed it into a roll of $5 bills.

After verifying everything was correct, Josh re-tied the money, put it in his pocket, and prepared to leave.

"If you have more goods next time, you can still come to me. The reputation of Old Hawk in this area is still pretty good!" Just as he was about to leave, the old shopkeeper's voice came from behind.

"Of course!" The words startled Josh slightly; he nodded and walked out the door.


Chapter 2: Time Traveler Josh

After leaving the door, Josh walked cautiously for two blocks and confirmed that no one had noticed him before he finally breathed a sigh of relief and walked into a decent restaurant on the side of the road.

It had been a week since he traveled through time, and the best thing he had eaten was just a hamburger. Now that he finally had some money, he naturally had to have a good meal.

Yes, Josh did not doubt that he was a time traveler.

Initially, he was just a tiny white-collar worker in a third-tier city in China in the 21st century. But after drinking with a friend who had just broken up with his girlfriend, he woke up in Chicago in 1943 and became a 15-year-old boy wandering the streets.

Heaven pitied him. In his previous life, although he was not from a wealthy family, he was still a young middle-class man with a car and a house, living a reasonably comfortable life in his early thirties. Although he often read online novels, he never thought of time travel.

His drinking buddy had failed in his entrepreneurial venture and had been dumped by his girlfriend of eight years, leading a failed life. Wasn't he the model for time travelers? Or did God make a mistake when choosing people?

Now, Josh found himself in Chicago in 1943, living in the Starting Point Orphanage, where he had eaten one meal but had no guarantee of the next.

The only benefit was that he had become 15 years old, gaining over ten years of life. But this life wasn't easy, as it was hard to say how long he could survive in this era.

Furthermore, some good news is that the original identity was not always an orphan. The parents passed away due to an accident in less than half a year, and they were legitimate American citizens, not illegal immigrants.

In addition, although his deceased parents did not leave him much property, they left him with a small apartment, at least giving him a place to sleep.

When he entered the restaurant, Josh did not order anything particularly extravagant. He ordered a large American beef patty, a serving of fries, a portion of cheesy macaroni, a salad, and a large cup of Coca-Cola.

It was a standard American blue-collar meal with plenty of food. As for the taste, it was just okay.

However, Josh was surprised that the Coca-Cola of this era tasted more potent than the Coca-Cola of the future. Since he was still growing, he quickly finished the meal.

After finishing the meal and paying, he spent seventy-five cents. Was it cheap? It was not cheap. According to the official gold exchange rate, this cost was equivalent to more than thirty dollars in the early 21st century.

During the economic crisis a few years ago, such a meal would not have cost more than fifty cents. The high price was because of the war, which caused a shortage of supplies.

Indeed, even though the United States had not experienced the war, prices began to rise in 1941, and from May 1942, the country started a rationing system.

Everyone received a ration book, which allowed them to purchase 48 blue and 64 red tokens made of plastic each month. Blue tokens were used to buy processed foods such as canned or bottled goods, while red tickets were used to purchase meat, fish, and dairy products.

Ordinary people could only buy goods according to the rationed amount, while stores and restaurants received larger quotas. All remaining supplies were sent to the front lines.

At the front lines, the rationed supplies of an ordinary soldier were three to four times that of a regular civilian.

It can be said that everything was prioritized for the war effort.

This rationing system was not expected to end until the second half of 1944 when the production of various goods in the United States peaked and became surplus. Of course, just like the private liquor business during the prohibition era, if you were willing to spend money, you could buy more goods.

After finishing a meal, Josh left the restaurant and relaxed as he walked down the street, ensuring no one was paying attention to him before calling a taxi. Don't be surprised; taxis were available in both Shanghai and Chicago during this time, not to mention in the United States.

He gave the driver an address and soon arrived at a used car dealership. As the world's leading industrial nation then, the United States had an extremely high number of cars, reaching 25% in 1937, or one car for every four Americans on average, with the majority concentrated in major cities like Chicago.

However, due to the country's entry into World War II, civilian car production was temporarily banned, and companies focused on producing military vehicles. As a result, new cars were difficult to come by and were subject to rationing, with only certain occupations like doctors and priests receiving quotas. Gasoline and tires were also subject to rationing.

Despite basic traffic regulations already being in place for some time, they were not as strict as today. Therefore, even though Josh was a bit younger than the legal driving age, he could obtain a driver's license with some extra money. He didn't need a new car, just a used one to make things easier in Chicago.

And with money, everything was possible, even with rationing. Eventually, Josh bought a good-condition used Ford for $200, nearly half what he had.

Driving the manual transmission car took some time, but with more specific traffic regulations, Josh could navigate the roads without any issues. He soon arrived at a gun store in a remote location.

Inside the store, Josh saw a variety of firearms. Although not as advanced as modern weapons, there were still light automatic weapons like the Thompson submachine gun, the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle, and the Colt automatic pistol. However, they were too expensive for Josh.

His target was an old rifle from World War I, the M1917, which was cheaper due to its simple structure and large surplus stock. He bought four of them, along with an M1911 pistol for self-defence.

The store owner, a chubby man, didn't question Josh's purchase of four rifles at once. He had seen worse during the Great Depression. As long as he paid, it was none of his business what he did with the guns.


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