On the streets of Chicago at dusk, Josh stood disheveled in the wind.
His newly bought car was stolen just a few hours after getting home.
This was an experience he had never had before.
In his previous life, living in the safest country in China, he had never encountered car theft and rarely even heard of it.
But America was different. In just one city, New York, there were over two thousand car thefts from January to March 2022...
If this was the case in 2022, one could imagine how rampant car thefts were in the earlier decades of America, especially in the 1940s.
So Josh, who had bought a car without any precaution, was just a typical victim.
So what should he do now that he has discovered his car was stolen?
Report it to the police?
Josh shook his head at the distant patrol car on the side of the road.
Forget it. Even in the 60s, car theft cases in America had a low clearance rate, let alone in this era.
And in this era, American police were very corrupt. Without money and no power, don't expect them to do anything.
There was also a very important problem: Josh's car, which he had bought at noon, had not been registered at all...
So even if Josh was unhappy about it, he could only accept his misfortune.
Without a car, he would just have to walk!
Originally, Josh wanted to drive around Chicago at night to see if there were any "fun" places. Still, now he could only eat something nearby and return to sleep.
Josh would never wander around in America's night without a car, even with a gun.
Soon, it was the next day.
After tidying up, he went out again, not on foot, but had arranged for a taxi in advance. And then came to yesterday's grocery store again.
Entering the store, he found that it was not Old Hawk behind the counter but a young girl in her twenties.
"Good morning; what can I help you with?" The young girl asked warmly when she saw Josh come in.
"Is Old Hawk not here?" Josh didn't say what he wanted but asked instead.
After all, Old Hawk owned the store, and this girl couldn't possibly handle the exchange of gold.
"You're looking for my grandfather? Wait a moment. He is working in the back. I'll go call him." The girl didn't pay much attention to Josh's attitude and turned to go into the back of the store. She was Old Hawk's granddaughter and often came to help out. She had seen many mysterious customers like Josh and was already used to it.
Old Hawk soon came out and was surprised to see Josh again.
"We meet again, young man. Is it gold again?"
"Yes, your prices are quite fair, so I decided to exchange more. I just don't know if you can handle it." Josh nodded.
"Hehe, young man, I know what you're worried about, but don't underestimate Old Hawk. This store has been here for decades, and although it doesn't look big, there are many priceless things here. Have you seen it? Although they are all second-hand goods, the gold you exchanged yesterday wouldn't even be enough to exchange for any watch in this cabinet." Old Hawk laughed, pointing to a nearby watch cabinet.
Josh hadn't noticed it before, but after looking closer at the watch cabinet, he knew that Old Hawk was telling the truth.
There weren't many watches in the cabinet, only seven or eight, but each one was very well preserved.
Although he didn't know much about watches, after all, he couldn't afford luxury watches in his previous life. However, this did not prevent him from recognizing the brands of these watches.
Patek Philippe, Rolex, Breguet... Although it was the 1940s, the value of these famous watches was at least thousands of dollars at that time - of course, provided that they were genuine.
Even if only half of them were authentic, their value would exceed the gold that Josh possessed.
Josh could only sigh in his heart that he did not know these things.
"120 ounces. The purity should be about the same!" Since Old Hawk was so confident, Josh didn't hesitate anymore. Just like yesterday, he took out a small bag and put it on the counter.
Twelve gold bars, with a total weight of over 3.4 kilograms, sounded like a lot.
However, there wasn't much in terms of volume, as the quality of gold was there.
A gold bar weighing 10 ounces was not as big as a single Snickers bar.
Therefore, although the gold was removed from the system, it did not arouse suspicion.
"This is good stuff. I'll take it all. Same price as yesterday, okay?" Old Hawk picked up a gold bar and weighed it, then smiled and said.
"Okay!" The other party's price was fair, so Josh naturally had no objection.
Soon, these 120 ounces of gold were exchanged for $4,800.
Receiving the money, Josh couldn't help feeling excited.
Putting the thick stack of bills into his pocket - actually, it was directly deposited into the system warehouse - Josh said goodbye to Old Hawk and walked out of the grocery store.
Turning two corners and ensuring no one was watching or following him, he tried to hail a taxi to the car dealership and buy a car.
After all, as the third largest city in the United States, Chicago was still quite large.
Public transportation in the United States was also very poor and inconvenient without a car.
As for stealing a car, Josh had thought about it. He would look for a place with no one around to park the car and then directly store it in the system warehouse. Could he still lose it?
However, it was not easy to hail a taxi. Josh was lucky yesterday and got one immediately. However, he waited for more than ten minutes today and still didn't see an empty car.
But just as he got impatient, a Ford car raced past him.
Although the appearance of cars in this era was similar, Josh recognized the one that had just driven past him at a glance. It was the one he had just bought yesterday and was stolen.
Because there was a very obvious scratch on the rear of the car when he bought it, and it was the same as the one in front of him now.
Immediately, he ran after the car.
Although the speed of cars in this era had long surpassed 70 miles per hour, due to being in the city and during the war, Roosevelt had ordered a ban on high-speed driving. Even on the highway, the maximum speed limit was only 35 miles per hour.
Therefore, the other party's speed was not fast, only a little over 20 miles per hour.
Josh, relying on his youth and a burst of energy, managed to keep up with the car for a short time.
However, as the car turned at the next intersection, Josh stopped.
Because it was not a good place ahead, Little Italy was in the immigrant district. Two more streets ahead were Chinatown.
Unfortunately, unlike the Little Italys and Chinatowns of major American cities in later years, which were famous tourist destinations and bustling markets, the Little Italys and Chinatowns of this era were still synonymous with slums, not much better than the segregated black neighborhoods.
In his original memories, his parents warned him not to go near Little Italy and Chinatown.
So Josh was quite hesitant now.
Influenced by various mafia movies such as The Godfather and legendary mafia figures like Al Capone and the Five Families, it's easy to get the wrong impression that people of Italian descent can easily make it in America.
But in fact, the reality is the opposite.
For a long time in America, Italians were the least welcomed white ethnic group, not the Irish people, as many thought.
In almost all mafia movies, the mafia bosses are usually portrayed as Italian-Americans, which in itself is a kind of discrimination.
In addition, in the movie "Green Book", the police refer to the Italian-American protagonist as "half-black", highlighting the awkward situation of Italian-Americans in the United States at that time. "Half-black" was a derogatory term used by the Anglo-Saxon white Americans towards Italian-Americans. It persisted for nearly a century from the 19th to the mid-20th century.
So why did the immigrants from Italy, once the center of European culture, encounter such a plight?
The reason is simple. Most of the Italian-Americans who immigrated to America came from southern Italy.
Like the North-South divide in America, Italy also has a North-South divide.
Northern Italy is developed in industry and commerce and is relatively prosperous. In contrast, the south is mountainous, with few resources, and is basically poor.
Wealthy Italians from the north would not choose to immigrate to America but rather choose South America because the Italian immigration wave was relatively late compared to other European countries. By this time, the resource allocation of various ethnic groups in America had basically been set. Wealthy Italians would rather choose to develop in South America and hire locals and blacks to pioneer and be their own bosses.
In contrast, poor Italians have no capital, so they choose to go to the prosperous North American region to work for the already-developed Americans.
That is to say, Italian-Americans who come to America are mostly uneducated and poor.
Additionally, as southern Europeans, Italians are more closely related to the Latin race, and the differences in appearance are more obvious.
Combined with the fact that Italians like to live in groups, are industrial workers, have low education, and are low-income, these attributes naturally make people have negative associations.
At the same time, Italian Americans faced the same situation as the neighboring Chinatown.
Especially during President Coolidge's era, a 1924 Immigration Act was specifically enacted against Italian Americans.
This law may not be well-known, but its impact on Italian-American immigrants was no less than the "Chinese Exclusion Act" against the Chinese.
Naturally, this also caused a lot of dissatisfaction among Italian-Americans.
What to do?
Obviously, join the Mafia.
The original Italian system is relatively mafia-like, so it was transplanted to America, and the effect was surprisingly good. In addition to the original discrimination, Italian-Americans added a mafia attribute, which was both feared and rejected.
Under the influence of this reputation, Josh naturally also had a sense of fear for the Little Italy neighborhood.
However, after hesitating for a long time, Josh still decided to go in.
After all, the car he bought at noon was stolen in the afternoon. He had never suffered such humiliation in his life.
But before entering Little Italy, Josh pulled up his collar to cover his face and walked into a gun shop across the street.
There are many gun shops, and sometimes it's quite convenient.
To enter the famous Italian neighborhood, Josh felt that just having an M1911 was not enough. He needed to bring two Thompsons and a shotgun.
Although he was a time traveler and had never been a soldier in his previous life, Josh knew how to use guns.
Whether it was a submachine gun, automatic rifle, bolt-action rifle, or shotgun, Josh had been exposed to them at a shooting club when he went to bear hunting in his previous life. He had also spent a lot of money on it.
Even before his previous life, Josh's predecessor had been taken out hunting by his father and had used a rifle.
So he couldn't say he was an expert in guns, but he knew how to use them.
Soon, Josh picked out a Chicago Typewriter, also known as a Thompson, which was the Mafia's favorite at the gun store. In addition, he also bought an M1918 Browning automatic rifle, a shotgun, and the corresponding ammunition, all packed in a gun case. He spent nearly two hundred dollars on everything.
After purchasing the guns, Josh turned into an empty alley and assembled the firearms before storing them in the system's warehouse with the gun case. After completing all of this, Josh strolled casually into Little Italy.
Perhaps because it was daytime, although the streets of Little Italy looked somewhat dirty and emitted the smell of sewage, there weren't many idle hooligans on the road. There were quite a few differences from the black neighborhoods of later times. Although many of Italian descent were involved in the Mafia, like the neighboring Chinatown, more hardworking and diligent working-class people were trying to make a living during the day. Only at night would things get a bit chaotic.
Therefore, Josh's preparations along the way were unnecessary.
However, after patrolling two streets, Josh didn't find the car he was looking for and became somewhat discouraged. It seemed that the other party had merely passed through Little Italy.
But just as Josh was about to give up, he suddenly saw the back of a car protruding from the entrance of an old warehouse in the distance.
Josh looked around and ensured no one was paying attention before walking towards the warehouse. As he approached, he also saw the full appearance of the car's tail, with the conspicuous scratch on it.
At this time, he also heard voices coming from inside the old warehouse.
"Listen, Joe, this is just an old Ford from over a decade ago. Even if I were to sell it in the second-hand market, I could only get two hundred for it at most. I still have to fix some of its parts, so the most I can offer you is fifty based on the price of the used parts. If you're not satisfied, go find someone else!" said a slightly hoarse voice with a strong Italian accent.
"Don't be like that, Mike. You should know how hard this job is these days. At least give me a little more. Just add ten bucks; how about it?" Another voice, somewhat oily, said.
Carefully approaching the warehouse, Josh could easily see what was happening inside. There were two people inside. One was a middle-aged man with Mediterranean features covered in oil stains, while the other was a slightly chubby, short young man. Their conversation made it easy to determine that the young man was a car thief and that the middle-aged man specialized in selling stolen cars.
All the various car parts scattered around the warehouse also indicated that this was a black market for stolen cars. Besides his old Ford, there was another car parked there.
Soon, Josh's attention was drawn to the other car.
It was a famous Cadillac V16.
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GOT IT