Meanwhile, Zvi, François and another lawyer, Thor, took the train to Baltimore.

The next day, in Baltimore, Zvi signed a contract with the U.S. Army for the purchase of thirty-four GMC trucks and sixty-six motorcycles, which were surplus war materiel that had just been brought back from Europe, as were the source of the motorcycles.

There was a time when Zvi was in a state of confusion.

Zvi rarely suffers, and even if he does, it is short-lived.

In the face of this series of dizzying transactions, he didn't know what the connection between the ones was, and it was hard for Zvi not to be confused.

"But even if François asked me to sign the manifesto, I signed it, and I trusted him. I'm right. Isn't that so? Look at me, now I'm a millionaire in the Florida sun! And I started out as a miner in Nova Huta, when I was only eleven years old! ”

Zvi asked only one question: "Are we going to let all these trucks remain their original earthy yellow color?" ”

"We're going to repaint all the cars, it's been decided, we're going to do it tonight. I don't think you're going to object to changing it to green, do you, Zvi? ”

With such a good start, things naturally went a little faster after that.

As soon as they returned to New York and met with Berkovic's team, François and Zvi visited the three factories.

The three factories they visited, two in the Bronx and one in Brooklyn, made hot dogs, wraps and fruit juice sodas.

On the same day, a contract was signed, which stipulated that the first batch of food would be supplied on 1 August, and that the supply and marketing relationship could be terminated at any time, provided that the other party was notified two weeks in advance.

On that day, July 25, Zvi discovered that in addition to being the president of the Southern Manhattan Newspaper Sellers Guild and the general manager of Zili Newspaper Distribution Co., Ltd., he was also the chairman of a razor food company.

"Why do food companies call razors?" Zvi was puzzled.

"A kind of remembrance," François replied, his voice a little deep.

"What do we want these millions of hot dogs for?" Zvi asked again.

"Sell it, Zvi, with your newspapers and magazines, with the consent of the mayor's office. You and your three hundred partners now own trucks that deliver newspapers every morning and early afternoon, as well as extra numbers, but what do you do the rest of the time, Zvi?? Do you think it's right to leave your trucks and drivers idle the rest of the time? Do you understand this? Moreover, it is only an organizational issue. The truck can deliver newspapers, but also hot dogs, as for soda and fruit juice......"

"What soda?"

"Think about it, Zvi, are you just giving those people something to eat and not something to drink?"

They went to New Jersey again for the sake of drinks.

On the 26th of July, in one day, they came into contact with six factory owners, three of whom accepted the strange conditions offered by the Razor Foods Corporation, that the goods would not be delivered by the factory, and that the delivery would be settled by the Razor Foods Corporation itself, because the company had its own car, and the trucks would come and take the goods away between midnight and four o'clock in the morning.

"Think about it, Zvi: it's only that time of day when we can be sure that there won't be any extras, we just have to double the number of drivers, the trucks can run twenty hours a day, and it's just a matter of maintenance."

This problem was solved on the evening of the 26th by the purchase of a huge garage, which served as a maintenance for trucks and motorcycles, and also doubled as a warehouse.

Zvi remembers that in his dealings with the manufacturers of the beverages, François, specifically the lawyer Thor, demanded that all contracts be valid for only one month, and that they should be rewritten every two weeks thereafter in order to give the other party two weeks' notice of termination if necessary.

"François, why is the contract so decided? How much trouble it is. ”

"Zvi, there's a huge profit here, think about it, why give the money we can earn to others?"

"We're going to open a factory!"

François not only had to open a factory, he also had to run a newspaper, and the matter of running a newspaper was immediately put on the agenda.

The materials were prepared by lawyer Thor, and François chose a printing house in the Flatbush borough of Brooklyn.

The factory flourished for a while, more than a decade ago, when it was owned by the Monaghan brothers. Later, one of the Monaghan brothers died, and the other went out of business. At the beginning of 1946, Roger? Shortly after Dunn retired from the Pacific Marine Corps, he bought the printing shop.

This time, François didn't bring Zvi, he didn't bring a lawyer, he came alone, after explaining his intentions, Roger? Dunn was amazed, and he asked incredulously, "How many newspapers?" Do you want to start several newspapers at the same time? What's your name? ”

"Anton Baker. It's not really a couple of completely different newspapers, I think that the content of the category could be the same for each newspaper, and the same for the others, but we would have to change the language: one in German, one in Italian, one in Polish, one in Yidji...... And so on and so forth. ”

Looking at this young man much younger than him, Roger? There was a hint of sarcasm in Dunn's eyes, and he said disapprerovingly, "Even if the content is the same, I'll have to rearrange it, you know?" A different type of text in each row is to be disassembled. ”

The large workshop was empty, the time was about half past seven in the evening, and the last two workers had left half an hour earlier, and Dunn's business was in a state of staggering, barely sustaining itself on printed notices and catalogs.

"I've never seen a printing press before, so maybe you can tell me a little bit about the production process...... If you have the time, I know it's pretty late. François spoke in his slow, surprisingly soft tone with an exotic accent that was difficult to determine.

Dunn stared at the light brown eyes that were about the same height as his own, and he heard himself reply that he was in no hurry tonight.

In the hour that followed, Roger? Dunn guided the guests on the tour as the owner of the factory, and even introduced the functions of the trimming machine. With undisguised regret, he lingered for a moment by a large rotary press that had not been in operation for four years, and asked how the guests had come to him.

"There was a man who told me about you, a foreman at the Eagle in Brooklyn. Said that there was a young printing owner who was in financial difficulties and was willing to take risks...... No, don't worry, my advice is legitimate in every way. Do you mean that? ”

"Yes."

"At the beginning, 50,000 copies were printed, and a newspaper in four languages was published, and our newspaper ......"

"'Our' newspaper? ……”

"You and mine, if you agree to a partnership, our newspapers will be delivered free of charge for ten days, and I can mobilize dozens of trucks and dozens of motorcycles to load newspapers at the exit of your rotary press. At the 303 locations in the South Side of Manhattan Island and the other 2,106 locations throughout the Metropolitan Area, our newspapers will be displayed under the same conditions as The New York Times, The Herald Tribune, The Mirror, The World Telegraph, The Post, and The American. The newspaper vendors in the South Side of Manhattan will be our partners, and they will agree that they will not get a commission for the first month of selling our newspapers, and more importantly, they will recommend these newspapers to their readers; They are in a good position to know who might be interested in German, Iti, Polish or Italian newspapers, and the purpose of the partnership and the corporation will apply to all newspaper vendors in New York, as long as they accept the purpose of the newly formed New York Immigrant News Co., Ltd. ”

"You're talking about...... "Roger?" Dunn hesitated.

François waved his hand slightly and said softly: "Mr. Dunn, one of my lawyers is working with his team on a list of businessmen who are both potential advertisers and immigrants who have recently arrived in the United States, who can speak one of the four languages I mentioned, and whose customers are likely to be readers of our newspapers. These merchants will all become free subscribers, and they will form the basis for the upcoming advertising manager department. Institutions, both public and private, that for whatever reason have new immigrants or who have yet spoken only their native language, are also given free books. This approach will reassure our future advertisers, because in the three-star period, the introductory issue will have a circulation of 45,000 copies, or at least 200,000 readers—200,000 select readers, which is the goal of attracting advertisers. ”

Roger? Dunn stammered......

François continued: "Listen to me a few more words, with the help of the bank, I can do this business with a printing house larger than you, and even with an existing newspaper, but I don't want to do this, I want to keep control of this deal, and our newspaper will be half the size of a normal newspaper......"

"Tabloids." Dunn finally got out of the way.

"Yes, tabloids, because it is more convenient to read them in the subway, because the tabloids charge more for full-page advertising than the half-page of the big newspapers, because in the form of a twelve-page newspaper there are actually only six pages. Our newspaper will have 12 pages, six of which will feature classified ads, which will remain the same for each issue, but will be printed in four languages. Small patches of advertisements will be solicited by our partner newspaper vendors, and as shareholders in New York Immigrant News Ltd., it is beneficial for them that the newspaper will soon make money. Four motorcycles will make frequent rounds of newsstands, taking away advertisements from these people, until we have our own office. Right now I have two places to consider, one in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn, and tomorrow I'll be thinking about the Bronx and Speten Island. The motorcycle will return to you at the latest by 9:30 p.m., which is the deadline, and advertisements submitted before this time must be published in the morning of the next day, unless otherwise requested by the customer. ”

"How long do you have to run out six small pages of ads? The day before yesterday, the foreman of the Mirror told me that it would take him an hour. Your factory doesn't have the typesetting capacity of the Mirror, so let's assume it will take three hours, even four, considering that you have to set aside two typesetting machines for the other pages, just in case you have to publish an article at the last minute, which means that the typesetting will be finished at half past one in the morning. It takes at least half an hour to pour the plates, so you can open the print at about two o'clock, send it from four o'clock, and our delivery staff will come to pick up the newspaper at about 4:40, and all newspaper sellers in New York will receive the newspaper at about 6 o'clock at the latest. With the existing conditions, do you really think you can do it? ”

"You don't have to worry about whether the newspaper will be printed in Italian, Iddish, Polish or German, although each of these languages has special typographical requirements, which I have to consider. I've identified three typesetting machines for you, on credit, including letters and fonts that you may not have. As for the typesetting and proofreaders, I've got them all tradedmen, and you don't have to worry, they're working in the printing of the combined Suns and the New York Times, and I've talked to them, and they're willing to do a little part-time work. Do you have more questions? ”

"Can you really make money?" Dunn asked the most crucial question.

François laughed and said, "To be honest, I don't think that the profits from the sale of newspapers will play much of a role in the financial balance of the deal, but rather that advertising and postings play a greater role." The newspaper will be profitable from about the fifth issue, and our purpose is to provide a means of communicating information for Americans of German, Italian, Polish, or Jewish descent. ”

"Your investment is just paper and ink." François concluded.

"No, and my workers' salaries, and my electricity, and I don't know what else I'm going to spend." Looking at François, Dunn said: "And this does not include the other jobs that have been left behind because of this, I don't have the manpower and material resources to do so much work at the same time, I will lose my patrons." ”

"You have almost no customers left, and your factory would have been closed in three months."

"That's my business." Shrugging, Dunn smirked.

With a cloth bag on his shoulder, François placed it on an imposition table stained with a lot of ink, and with an old proof, he untied the bag and took out a few stacks of banknotes, several of which were still tied with Newark bank stamps.

"Three thousand one hundred and forty-three dollars, that's all I have at the moment. I can pay the first few instalments upfront and pay in full. ”

"At most, it's only enough for two issues."

"I'll pay you later. You print the newspaper for me, and I pay you, just as I pay for it in the same way as I pay for the average printing owner. But when the newspaper starts to make money, I'll have to find another manufacturer, or I'll buy myself a printing house. That's when you can close the plant and go back to the Marines. François remained motionless, his eyes fixed on Dunn's eyes, and his expression seemed to be very amused.

"I don't see anything like Coke." Dunn said sadly.

"Of course you'll accept it, we're both acting like they're acting, so I think it's funny."

Dunn walked along the imposition table, past the typesetting machine, and into the room where the rotary press had not been used for four years. He was very angry with himself, but at the same time he felt inexplicably agitated and began to giggle.

"What if I do it with you?"

"When the money starts coming, you'll recoup your costs, plus 25 percent of the profits, plus 5 percent of the New York Immigration News Co."

"Ten percent."

"Okay." François said in a soft tone, still looking ridiculous.

François silently slung the bag back over his shoulder, walked behind Dunn, and together they looked at the huge machine.

Dunn kicked the foot of the concrete and sighed, "You know, for four years I've dreamed of seeing this machine spin again, to be a real print owner again." ”

Dunn saw a warm and friendly smile, and François said, "Well, the day has come." ”

――――

The weather was fine, and the fresh breeze dissipated the heat. Walking down the street, François's footsteps were exceptionally brisk.

François was not a genius in the Razor Group, and the only thing he was extraordinary at that time was his extraordinary ability in language, and it took only two or three months for him to master a language.

This makes the sick lions very envious, because the most painful thing for the sick lions is to learn foreign languages.

Now, François understood that his strongest ability was not to kill, but to make money, and that he was a genius in business.

Others are busy making one transaction, and he is doing dozens of transactions at the same time every day, although he is indeed very busy, but he does not feel chaotic at all, and feels that everything is under control.

It was an extremely powerful feeling, and before I knew it, François was imbued with an indescribable power in every move.

François grew more and more composed.

He is here today to meet an old man who is about to go bankrupt.

The old man's name is Ferguson, and obviously, Ferguson belongs to the kind of energetic old man who doesn't have much heart but likes to play tricks.

Upon meeting, François found that he liked the old man.

"Three ferries, plus two warehouses, and a dock, and an office." Ferguson enumerated the possessions he owned, and looked at the three men with smug eyes.

"Combined, I make about $1,000 a month. I'm fifty-four now, and I'm counting on another ten years to work out a result for yourself. I can get 120,000 if I calculate it, as long as I run it properly. ”

"Uh-huh!" François replied calmly.

Ferguson looked at the "uh-huh" of his three interlocutors, the most eye-catching, his eyes literally piercing a door.

Ferguson felt worse and worse, and he felt that he had reversed his age from the young man, which meant that he was living to be a pig.

It's a bit of a fire.

Although every buyer thinks that God may have sent him to help the suffering, he should be humble, he should be kind, he also wants to be humble, he wants to be kind, but no.

"What do you mean by 'uh-huh', young man?" Ferguson's eyes widened unconsciously.

(To be continued)