MTL - Marvel Plane Trader-Chapter 2 josie the traverser

  Chapter 2 Josie the Traveler

  Going out, walked two blocks carefully, and after confirming that no one noticed him, Josie was relieved, and then walked into a nice restaurant on the side of the road.

   It’s been a week since he traveled here. The best thing he’s ever eaten is just a hamburger. Now that he’s finally rich, he naturally has to eat a good meal.

  Well, yes, Josie is undoubtedly a time traveler.

  The original him was just a small white-collar worker in the third-tier city of Xia Kingdom in the 21st century.

   It turned out that I just drank a little wine with my broken-hearted friend, but when I woke up, I was already in Chicago in 1943, turning into a 15-year-old boy wandering the streets.

  God is pitiful, although Josie was not from a wealthy family in her previous life, she was still a petty young man with a car and a house.

  Although I often read online novels, I never thought about time travel.

   It was Fa Xiao who drank together, failed to start a business, and was dumped by his girlfriend who had been in love for eight years. His life was quite a failure. Isn't the general template of time traveler supposed to be like that?

   Or is it that God's hands were crooked when he selected people?

  It’s better now. I’ve been in Chicago for 43 years, and I’m happy to be part of the family of Qidian Orphanage.

  The only advantage is that you have become 15 years old, and you have lost your teenage life in vain.

   But this lifespan is not so easy to pick up. After all, in this era of environment, it is really hard to say how long one can live.

  Another piece of good news is that the original body was not always an orphan. It was less than half a year since his parents passed away due to an accident. They were both serious American citizens, not some black family.

  Besides that, although Yuanchen's deceased parents didn't leave him much property, at least they still have a small apartment so that he doesn't even have a place to sleep.

   Entering the restaurant, Josie didn't order any extravagant dishes.

   A large piece of American meatloaf, a serving of French fries, a serving of macaroni and cheese, a salad and a large glass of Coca-Cola.

  The standard American blue-collar set meal is very generous.

   As for the taste...that's all.

   It is the Coca-Cola of this era, which surprised Josie. The taste is much stronger than the Coca-Cola of the future.

  Because she was at a growing age, Josie quickly ate everything.

   After eating and paying, it cost seventy-five cents.

  Is it cheap? In fact, it is not cheap. If the cost is calculated according to the official gold exchange rate, it is already equivalent to more than 30 US dollars in the early 21st century.

  If placed in the economic crisis period a few years ago, such a meal would not exceed fifty cents.

  The reason why the price is high now is because of the shortage of supplies during the war.

That's right, because of the need to support the battlefields of Europe and Asia, even the United States, a country that has not suffered from the flames of war, began to soar in prices in 1941, and since May 1942, material rationing has begun nationwide system.

  Each person is given a ration book, which is a small plastic sign with 48 blue dots and 64 red dots allocated each month.

   The 'blue dot' is for buying canned, bottled, etc. processed foods; the 'red dot' is for buying meat, fish and dairy.

  Ordinary people can only buy supplies according to the rationed quantity. Only shops and restaurants can get more quotas, and the rest of the supplies are all supplied to the front line.

   On the front line, basically the rations of an ordinary army soldier are three to four times that of ordinary people.

   It can be said that everything is giving priority to serving the war.

   This kind of rationing system will basically not end until the second half of 1944, when the output of various materials in the United States reaches its peak and surpluses begin to appear.

  Of course, just like the twenty-year bootlegging business, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can buy more supplies.

   After a full meal, Josie left the restaurant, and after confirming that no one was paying attention to him, he walked on the street in a relaxed manner, and then called a taxi.

   Don't be surprised, there are taxis in the Xia Kingdom Magic Capital at the same time, let alone the United States.

   reported an address, the car started.

   Soon came to a second-hand car dealership.

  As the world's largest industrial power in this era, the number of cars in the United States is extremely amazing. In 1937, it had reached 25%.

   In other words, on average, every 4 Americans own a car.

  Most of them are concentrated in major cities.

   Not to mention a first-class industrial city like Chicago.

   And the price of the car is not high. A brand new basic Ford Model A sedan costs only five or six hundred dollars.

It’s just that as the United States formally participated in World War II, major American companies were temporarily banned from the production of civilian vehicles and turned to fully produce military vehicles. Therefore, new cars are not easy to buy now. Like most materials, they also implement a rationing system. In the world, only special occupations such as doctors and priests can get quotas.

   Gasoline and tires are also subject to quota restrictions.

  In contrast, the driver's license is trivial.

  Although due to the large number of cars, some relatively basic traffic regulations have been promulgated more than ten years ago, but after all, the time is short and not so strict.

  So even though Josie's actual age is still a little behind, as long as she spends a little more money, she can still get a driver's license smoothly.

  But Josie doesn’t have much demand for a new car, just a usable second-hand car.

   After all, Chicago is so big, it would be much more convenient to have a car to do things.

  Although gasoline and tires are rationed, but again, as long as you have money, everything is easy to manage.

  In the end, Josie bought a second-hand Ford that was filled with gas and in good condition for just two hundred dollars.

  However, this also reduced Josie's assets by two hundred dollars, directly shrinking by nearly half.

   After getting the car, Josie wobbled and started on the road.

   Not to mention, I was used to driving an automatic transmission in my previous life, and now I was a little uncomfortable driving this old-fashioned manual transmission. However, the traffic rules these days are far less complicated than they were later, so Josie’s journey was quite smooth.

   Soon, Josie drove to a relatively remote gun shop.

   Walking into the gun shop, all kinds of firearms come into view.

   Don’t think that the firearms of this year are not as advanced as those of later generations, but you must know that there is no automatic weapons bill in the United States now, and that thing was not promulgated until 1986.

  So now American gun stores not only have light automatic weapons such as Thomson submachine guns, M1918 Browning, and Colt automatic pistols, but also heavy machine guns such as the Colt M1895.

   But these guns are just for Josie to look at, because they are too expensive.

  The price of Thomson in the early years was extremely expensive, costing more than two hundred dollars for one piece. After years of improvement, the current price has dropped, but it still costs more than seventy dollars, which is still the official purchase price.

  The retail price is also increased because of the war, and the price is directly marked at 108.

   At this price, with the little money in Josie’s hands, it’s only enough for two, and the bullets can’t hold it.

   Similar to the M1 Garand, it is even more expensive. The retail price of 150 US dollars makes him discouraged.

  So Josie's goal is an old gun from World War I.

   Not Springfield. Because of its excellent performance, Springfield was also widely used during World War II. The production capacity was insufficient and the price was high.

   What Josie wants is the M1917 as a supplementary model of the Springfield rifle.

  Because of its relatively simple structure, M1917 was produced in large quantities during World War I, and was dismantled after the war, some were sold, and more than one million pieces were sealed.

  After World War II, although this rifle was reactivated, it was mainly used for support to other countries or for US military training purposes, and it was basically not used for actual combat. Therefore, the stock in the United States is still huge, so the price is very cheap.

  A gun with a thousand rounds of bullets is only $45, which can be said to be quite cheap.

  Basically during this period of American folk hunting or shooting competitions, many people would choose to buy this gun.

   "What do the guests want?" The chubby gun shop owner asked, and beside him was a chubby young man who was about the same age as Josie, who should be his son.

   "I want four M1917s, and give me another M1911." Josie said directly.

  The rifle is for sale, and the M1911 is for self-defense.

  Although it was a little surprising that Josie wanted four rifles at once, the store owner didn't ask much. After experiencing the Great Depression, what scene hasn't he seen? Dillinger bought guns from him back then.

  Anyway, as long as you give money, what does the customer do to buy a gun? It's none of his business?

  (end of this chapter)