Chapter 2

After going out the door, walking carefully two blocks, and after confirming that no one noticed him, Josh was relieved and walked into a nice restaurant on the side of the road.

It's been a week since he crossed over, and the best thing he's ever eaten was just a hamburger. Now that he's finally rich, he naturally has to eat a good meal.

Well, yes, Josie is undoubtedly a transmigrator.

Originally, he was just a small white-collar worker in a third-tier city in the Xia Kingdom in the 21st century.

In the end, he just had a drink with his lost friend, and he woke up in Chicago in 1943, turning into a 15-year-old boy walking on the streets.

God is pitiful, although Qiao Xi was not a wealthy family in her last life, she was still a petty bourgeois youth with a car and a house, and she lived a good life.

Although I often read online novels, I really never thought about going through this.

On the other hand, the guy who drank together was young, failed to start a business, and was dumped by his girlfriend who had been in love with him for eight years. His life was quite a failure. Shouldn't the general traveler template be like that?

Or is it that God's hand is crooked when he chooses people?

Well now, living in Chicago for 43 years, I am happy to join the big family of Qiqi Orphanage.

The only advantage is that he has become 15 years old, and he has gained a teenage life for nothing.

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

The other good news is that the original body was not always an orphan. The parents died unexpectedly in less than half a year. They were all serious American citizens, not some black households.

In addition, although the original deceased parents did not leave him much property, they still had a small apartment so that he would not even have a place to sleep.

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

A big American patty, a french fries, a macaroni and cheese, a salad and a big glass of Coca-Cola.

The standard American blue-collar package is very generous.

As for the taste...that's what happened.

However, the Coke of this era surprised Josie a little, and the taste is much stronger than the future Coca-Cola.

Because of the growing age, Josie quickly eats everything.

After paying for it, it cost seventy-five cents.

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

In the economic crisis a few years ago, such a meal would not have exceeded fifty cents.

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

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

Everyone is handed out a ration book with a small plastic sign with 48 blue dots and 64 red dots assigned each month.

The 'blue dot' is used to buy processed foods such as canned, bottled, etc.; the 'red dot' is used to buy meat, fish and dairy products.

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

On the front line, basically, an ordinary soldier's ration is three to four times that of the ordinary people.

It can be said that everything is in the service of the war first.

This rationing system will basically end one by one until the second half of 1944, when the output of various materials in the United States reaches its peak and begins to appear surplus.

Of course, just like the 20-year bootleg wine business, you can buy more supplies as long as you are willing to spend money.

After a full meal, Josie walked out of the hotel and reconfirmed that no one was paying attention to him before walking down the street in a relaxed manner, and then called a taxi.

Don't be surprised, Xia Guomo has taxis in the same period, let alone the United States.

An address was given and the car started.

Soon came to a used car shop.

As the world's first industrial power in this era, the car ownership 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 base Ford Model A sedan, as long as five or six hundred dollars.

It's just that with the official participation of the United States in World War II, major American companies have been temporarily banned from the production of civilian vehicles and turned to full production of military vehicles, so new cars are not easy to buy now. Like most materials, a rationing system is also implemented, basically. Only special occupations such as doctors and priests can get quotas.

Also subject to quotas are gasoline and tires.

In contrast, a driver's license or something is trivial.

Although some basic traffic regulations have been introduced more than ten years ago because of the large number of cars, after all, the time is still short and they are not so strict.

So even if Josie's actual age is still a little short, as long as you spend a little more money, you can still get a driver's license smoothly.

But Josie doesn't have much demand for a new car, just a working used car.

After all, Chicago is so big, it's a lot easier to have a car to do things.

And although gasoline and tires are rationed, it's still the same sentence, as long as you have money, everything is easy.

In the end, Josie paid $200 for a used Ford that was fully fueled and in good condition.

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

After getting the car, Josie swayed on the road.

Not to mention, I was used to driving an automatic transmission in my last life, and now I am a bit uncomfortable driving this old manual transmission, but the traffic rules are far less complicated these days, so Josie's journey has been smooth.

Soon, Josie drove to a relatively remote gun shop.

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

Don't look at the fact that the firearms of this year are not as advanced as later generations, but you must know that there is no automatic weapons bill in the United States today. That thing was only enacted in 1986.

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

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

In the early years, the Thomson was extremely expensive, costing more than two hundred dollars a piece. After years of improvement, the current price has come down, but it still costs more than seventy dollars, which is still the official purchase price.

The retail price has also increased due to the war, and the price is directly listed at 108.

At this price, Josie's money was enough for two, and it couldn't take the bullets.

Similar to the M1 Garand, it is more expensive, and the retail price of $150 makes him prohibitive.

So Josie's target is an old gun from the First World War.

It's not Springfield. Springfield was also widely used during World War II because of its excellent performance, and the price was high due to insufficient production capacity.

What Josie wanted was the M1917 as a supplement to the Springfield rifle.

Because of its relatively simple structure, the M1917 was mass-produced during the First World War. After the war, it was dismantled, some were sold, and more than one million 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, and was basically not used in actual combat, so the stock in the United States was still huge, so the price was very cheap.

With a gun with a thousand rounds of ammunition only $45, it can be said to be quite cheap.

Basically, in the American folk hunting or shooting competitions during this period, many people will choose to buy this gun.

"What do you want?" the chubby gun shop owner asked. Beside him was a chubby young man of the same age as Josie, who should be his son.

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

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

Although it was a bit unexpected that Josie wanted four rifles at a time, the shop owner didn't ask much. What scenes have he never seen before after experiencing the Great Depression? Dillinger used to buy guns from him.

Anyway, as long as you give money, what does the customer do with the gun, it's none of his business?

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