1994: I Became a Literary Master in America

Chapter 62 The King is Bankrupt! Please read on, add to your favorites, and vote with monthly ticket

The rehearsal hall of the Pan-Asian Theatre Company was bustling with activity.

One of their plays will soon be performed in an Off-Broadway theater.

The theater troupe worked tirelessly for this production. Zhang Disha even leveraged her network of connections with Chinese Americans, including Luo Yan, Zhou Caiqin, and Batink Lee, ultimately securing the opportunity to perform in the theater – a truly joyous occasion…

Zhang Disha invited many Chinese actors who live in New York to a gathering today.

Zhang Beihai then brought Cheng, Wang Dajun, Hu Jun, and others to offer their congratulations.

Everyone was drinking while watching the game.

Zhang Disha even arranged for a large color TV to be placed in the rehearsal room to show tonight's match.

However, most women are not interested in this.

Gong Xue, Zhou Wenqiong, Mai Wenqi, Yan Xiaoping, Wang Ji, Wu Junmei, and others gathered together and whispered among themselves.

Meanwhile, Wang Dajun and others sat in front of the television, watching the game with bated breath.

Argentina lost!

After losing Maradona, the Argentine team, though still star-studded and powerful, seemed to be sleepwalking.

The match started at 8:30 p.m. New York time. Seven minutes into the game, Bulgaria's Stoichkov received a yellow card, which gave Wang Dajun a moment of relief.

"It's only been seven minutes and Stoichkov has already turned yellow."

For the next eighty minutes, Bulgaria will likely be hampered, making this a difficult game.

Cheng said, "Although Argentina doesn't have Maradona, their strength is undeniable. Argentina will definitely win today."

Seventeen minutes later, Bulgarian player Jankov received a yellow card.

Wang Dajun perked up and laughed, "Looks like Bulgaria's a bit nervous."

"It's good to be nervous, after all, Argentina are the world champions."

Ten minutes later, Argentina's Ruggeri received a yellow card.

"This is getting intense. Why does Argentina seem to be dominating possession but failing to score? They seem a bit anxious?"

Looking at the situation on the field, Hu Jun couldn't help but chime in.

"What do you know? This is putting pressure on them. How long can Bulgaria hold out in this situation? It'll collapse sooner or later."

Not long after, near the end of the first half, Bulgaria's Tsvetanov and Ivanov both received yellow cards, seemingly confirming Wang Dajun's prediction. Argentina still held the upper hand, and Bulgaria seemed to be on the verge of collapse.

In the second half, in the 58th minute, the situation seemed to be confirming Wang Dajun's prediction.

Ivanov received his second yellow card, bringing his total to two yellows and one red, leaving Bulgaria with one less player and putting them at a disadvantage.

Wang Dajun was excited!

"Goal! Goal! Goal quickly!"

With his shout, the situation on the field changed dramatically, and a goal was scored.

However, it wasn't Argentina who scored, but Bulgaria's Stoichkov, who, with an assist from Kostadinov, broke through with his left foot to make it 1-0.

"No!"

Wang Dajun let out a scream and clutched his head with both hands.

The screams startled the others in the rehearsal room, who all gathered around to ask what was wrong.

At this moment, Wang Dajun looked tense.

"What's wrong, Your Majesty?"

Zhou Wenqiong asked in a low voice.

Wang Ji covered her mouth with her hand and whispered, "I heard from Jun'er that His Majesty bet on Argentina to win."

"How much did you buy? Judging from the noise, it must have cost ten or twenty thousand."

"More than that, he bought $50,000 worth."

"Fifty thousand? Where did he get so much money?"

"It seems they borrowed $30,000 from a finance company in Flushing."

"A finance company?"

"usury!"

hiss!

Upon hearing this, the women's expressions immediately changed.

The way he looked at Wang Dajun also started to change.

Wang Ji said softly, "The finance companies in Flushing all have gang connections behind them. Has Your Majesty gone mad?"

"He'd even lend money at exorbitant interest rates, does he want to die?"

Zhou Wenqiong and others who had only recently arrived in the United States were unaware of this.

But those elderly people know all too well what the nature of this usury is.

"I heard from Jun'er that the King used to gamble on football, and he won quite a bit."

Later, he heard a bettor at the lottery stall urging him to win big, so he borrowed money from a loan shark. Two days later, Maradona was suspended. He's been acting like a madman these past few days, completely out of his mind; it seems he's bet everything.

"Tsk tsk tsk..."

All the women couldn't help but gasp in astonishment.

However, Wang Dajun could no longer hear the sounds outside at this point.

He watched the television nervously, chain-smoking cigarettes, his whole being in a near-frenzied state.

Six minutes after Stoichkov scored, Bulgaria's Tsvetanov received his second yellow card and was sent off the field.

Nine against eleven, and this brought a renewed sparkle to Wang Dajun's eyes.

Argentina launched a furious attack, bringing on Ortega to bolster their offensive.

Time passed, second by second.

Argentina dominated possession but failed to score. Despite having the upper hand, they were always just one step away from equalizing.

Meanwhile, the Bulgarian team began making substitutions to stall for time...

In the 93rd minute, Bulgarian player Silakov scored with a header.

That was the game-winning shot!

Bulgaria extinguished Argentina's hopes in the final minute of the match.

Shortly after the restart, the referee blew the final whistle!

Bulgaria defeated Argentina 2-0.

"No, this shouldn't be happening. Argentina is so strong, they clearly had the upper hand, how could they lose to Bulgaria?"

"Your Majesty..."

"Don't touch me, it's fake, it's all fake!"

Wang Dajun completely collapsed.

Although he was heartbroken to lose his $20,000 savings, he did not despair.

A $30,000 high-interest loan...

His flight back to China is on July 20th, and it's only the 25th now, which means he's in danger at any time for the next twenty-odd days.

If those loan sharks knew he had lost everything, they probably wouldn't be so kind to him anymore.

Change your flight ticket?

It's probably difficult.

His eyes were filled with despair.

Sitting on the ground, he seemed like a soulless shell.

……

Meanwhile, inside the martial arts school, a chase was taking place.

Zhang Ping'an and the others laughed uncontrollably, inadvertently revealing that they had bet on Bulgaria to win.

Several of his fellow apprentices were red-eyed.

Woodward grabbed a rattan stick and chased Zhang Ping'an around the hall.

"You bastard, you bastard, you bastard... You had this kind of connections and didn't even tell your brothers, you just made money on your own, are you even human?"

Xu Shengjie was choked to the ground by Song Dechang and his ninth senior brother Wang Dong.

"Jeff, aren't your seniors good to you? When you got into trouble before, it was always your seniors who stepped in to solve it for you."

When you were twelve, you were almost beaten to death by those Koreans in Koreatown. It was your sixth senior brother who ran over and saved you, even taking a beating from Master for you. How can you not call your sixth senior brother along when something good happens?

"Jeff, you deserve to die!"

"Make that bastard treat us to a feast at Qilin Pavilion!"

"Yes, Jeff is treating!"

Several senior students shouted indignantly.

Knowing he was in the wrong, Xu Shengjie repeatedly begged for forgiveness...

"Senior brothers, I was wrong... But I didn't forget you. When it comes to betting on football, nothing is ever 100% certain. I was just a little lucky. You have to treat me, you absolutely have to treat me. If I don't, I'm a fucking coward."

Only then did the senior students let Xu Shengjie go.

They weren't really angry.

In fact, even if Xu Shengjie had told them in advance, they might not have believed him or placed a bet.

Pure jealousy!

Pure heartbreak...

Most importantly, Zhang Ping'an, Roger, and Tommy, those three little bastards, got to eat meat, which made them feel unbalanced.

Especially Zhang Ping'an, who is said to have given everything he had.

He had won over $10,000 before, and then added another $50,000.

With odds of 1:6, this guy won over 300,000 in one go!

This was over 300,000 in 1994, when the US dollar was strong and purchasing power was extremely high.

This guy went all in and achieved financial freedom!

"Justin, you deserve to die."

"I just believed Jeff. How was I supposed to know he didn't tell his brothers? He's the one who really deserves to die, he deserves to die!"

"Justin, you shameless bastard!"

Xu Shengjie couldn't help but curse.

After a while of making a fuss, their emotions calmed down.

Everyone sat down again, and Zhang Ping'an made a phone call, asking Tanhualou to send over another table of food and wine, as well as a case of whiskey.

Tanhualou is a long-established restaurant in Chinatown.

Located at 2 Dye Street, it is also the oldest upscale Chinese restaurant in New York, founded in 1904.

The restaurant was renovated last year, and it is said that they specially hired several master chefs from China at high salaries, making the food even more exquisite and delicious.

This meal, including the food and drinks, cost approximately one thousand US dollars.

Only then did Woodward and the others let Zhang Ping'an and his group go.

"How much can we earn this time?"

Woodward asked casually.

"Three hundred and eighty thousand, after taxes, it's probably around two hundred thousand. Damn the IRS!"

"You should be secretly happy. More than 200,000 yuan. In Chinatown, that would make you a rich person."

"How do you plan to use it?"

"I don't know," Zhang Ping'an said with a wry smile, scratching his head. "This is the first time in my life I've had so much money."

Besides, my father said this was money I earned myself, and he wouldn't interfere. I figured I couldn't just keep it in the bank.

"Senior Brother, do you know any good connections?"

"What connections do I have? If we're talking about connections, isn't your father currently working with Mr. Yin on the development project in Yangtou Bay?"

"I can't get involved in that business."

Mr. Yin collaborated with Italians on the development, and my father and Uncle Jimmy were involved, which was also due to Mr. Yin's influence.

Besides, 200,000 might sound like a lot, but it's nothing compared to the development of Yangtou Bay.

"That's true!"

Developing a business like Yangtou Bay is not something that ordinary people can participate in.

Xu Shengjie picked up a glistening roast goose leg, dipped it in osmanthus sauce, looked up, and said, "How about we open an internet cafe?"

"What?"

"Internet cafe!"

Xu Shengjie swallowed the meat in his mouth and said, "I read in the newspaper that 64k networks will be promoted starting this year."

I believe that computers and the internet are a major trend in the future. While we may not be able to fully participate, we can still benefit from the leftovers! A computer costs two thousand dollars, which is unaffordable for the average person. But if we open a coffee shop or bubble tea shop, and bring in a dozen or so old computers and connect them to the internet, it could be a viable business.

……