Detroit in the 40s was very prosperous, this is the Motor City, although because of the control of the war can not produce civilian cars, but the order sent by the army, but every automobile-related enterprise in Detroit has made a lot of money, and the factory owners are eager to start production 24 hours a day.

But after all, this is the United States, with the world's most powerful auto workers' union, even a car giant like General Motors will be bankrupt in the face of the union, so even if the factory owners want the workers to work overtime, it is just a good wish, they dare not really let the workers do this, because the auto workers' union will kill the company.

Every day commute time is the busiest time in Detroit, every morning countless auto workers rush to the factory to work, so that the streets of Detroit become congested, and every day after work, Detroit's big and small bars will be crowded with auto workers who come to have fun, they will come to have a beer or two after a busy day, get together to brag, and sometimes find the opposite sex to do something indescribable.

Hanks is one of the auto workers, an ordinary blue-collar worker, he knows how to weld, he is also a skilled worker in the auto factory, thanks to the development of the American automobile industry and the needs of the war, Hanks's salary is also very good, there is no problem to support his family, and he also bought an independent house in the suburbs.

In the United States in the forties, a blue-collar worker was paid enough to support his wife and two children, and there was no material scarcity. The blue-collar workers of the seventies lasted until the seventies, and the blue-collar workers in the seventies could not only have a car and a villa to live in, but also take the whole family to a big meal and watch a ball game every week, and it was rare to take the whole family to the beach in Miami once a year for a vacation. However, many of the blue-collar workers in the United States are thankfully paid a dozen dollars an hour.

Hanks's salary is not low, but life is tight, because his wife gave him five children, and two months ago, his fifth child was just born, plus the mortgage has not been paid off, which makes Hanks feel very stressed about life. His wife is a stay-at-home wife, and it is indeed very hard for Hanks to support five children on Hanks's salary alone.

Hanks, who has five children to raise, can't be like other auto workers, who go to the bar every day after work for a beer and live an indulgent nightlife, he will avoid unnecessary consumption as much as possible, and every day when he comes home after work, has dinner with his family, listens to the children talk about what happened today, and then leans back on the couch to read the newspaper and listen to the radio, which has become his main form of entertainment.

However, on this day, after Hanks got off work, he stopped in front of a sporting goods store.

Today is Hanks' eldest son's birthday, and he plans to buy him a birthday present, and he also knows that his eldest son has always wanted to play tennis and hope to have a tennis racket. However, the expensive price of tennis rackets made Hanks a little prohibitive.

After all, Hanks has five children to raise, and he has a mortgage, so he has to pay carefully for every expense.

Hanks paused in front of the sporting goods store for a long time, hesitating to walk in. As a father, he wants to meet his children's requirements as much as possible, he wants to buy a tennis racket for his eldest son; However, he also knew that with his current financial situation, buying a tennis racket would make life much more difficult for his family for the next month.

"Why don't you just buy a birthday cake!" Hanks said secretly in his heart, but he couldn't take a step, he couldn't bear to leave like this.

It's getting late, and it's almost time for the sporting goods store to close.

Hanks kept telling himself to go to the dessert shop and buy a cake and go home. However, his footsteps involuntarily walked towards the sporting goods store.

Hanks walked into the sporting goods store, and the shopkeeper's expression was also slightly surprised, he was counting the goods, and he was going to close home in five minutes, but he didn't expect customers to come in at this time.

Of course, there was business to be done, so the shopkeeper immediately greeted him.

"What do you need, sir?" The boss asked.

"I want to see a tennis racket." Hanks said in a ghostly way, but as soon as the words came out, Hanks regretted it, the expensive price of the tennis racket really made him a little unbearable, if he watched it for a long time but couldn't afford it in the end, maybe it would be a shameful thing!

"Sir, you came at the right time, we just bought a new type of tennis racket, and the sales are particularly good, please come here." The shopkeeper led Hanks to a shelf, picked up a new tennis racket and handed it to Hanks.

The first thing Hanks notices is the selling price posted under the tennis racket.

"Huh?" After seeing the price, Hanks couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and couldn't help but make a sound, the price marked on it was completely different from the price of tennis rackets that Hanks had known before, only about one-third of the original.

"How can it be so cheap, is this price mismarked?" Hanks couldn't help but ask.

"Sir, did you know that the price of this new type of tennis racket is much cheaper than that of traditional tennis rackets." The shopkeeper explained.

"But that's a lot cheaper, isn't it? If it is two or three percent cheaper, this is a normal thing, but this price suddenly becomes the original three percent, which is too unreasonable! Hanks said with some caution.

The shopkeeper was accustomed to seeing such a will, so he skillfully explained: "Sir, the previous tennis rackets used natural sheep intestines, the cost of natural sheep intestines is very high, you need to kill three cows to make such a tennis racket, and now this new type of tennis racket uses new materials to make tennis strings, I heard what is called artificial sheep intestines, the cost is greatly reduced, and the price is naturally cheap." ”

"I see." Hanks nodded, and then put down the new tennis racket in his hand, which he didn't plan to buy at this time.

When parents buy things for their children, they tend to pick the best ones, and Hanks is no different. Hanks instinctively felt that this cheap new tennis racket was definitely not as good as the traditional tennis racket, and the artificial sheep intestine was not as good as the natural sheep intestine.

The shopkeeper seemed to see Hanks's concerns, and he hurriedly explained: "Sir, you may not know that this new tennis racket is no worse than the previous tennis racket, or even better. ”

"The price is so cheap, but the product is not good, I don't believe it." Hanks said, shaking his head.

Hanks is an auto worker, and he often gets what he pays for in a car, and he spends more money on a luxury car, and the materials used in the workmanship are definitely better than the cheap car. For example, if you spend 100,000 yuan to buy a car, the interior is basically hard plastic, if you buy a car for 200,000 yuan, the inner room will be slush molded, and if you buy a car for 300,000 yuan, the interior will have some leather. Even if it's the same brand, sitting in the Audi A4L and taking a deep breath, the smell of makes people sour to the bone, and the smell of the Audi A8L is much better. (Forgive the description, I really can't find any other words to describe that taste.) ）

In the 40s, there was no such thing as brand added value in the automotive industry, and the difference between a $2,000 car and a $1,000 car was the materials and workmanship, not the brand. Many cheap cars launched by automobile companies are actually cheap because of the reduction of allocation, and the kind of car that costs six or seven hundred dollars a car is really poor in workmanship and materials.

In fact, the industrial products of that era were like this, the cheaper the price, the worse the materials and workmanship, the worse the quality of the products; And the more expensive the price, the better the materials, the finer the workmanship, and the better the quality. The brand of goods in that era was not valuable, and the big brands would not be at a premium, unlike later generations, a toilet seat with the Panasonic label was willing to let the Chinese people pay twice the price, and in fact, these toilet seats were also sold on an OEM after being produced by Chinese manufacturers.

Hanks, as a front-line auto worker, of course knows this truth, to say that the price of a product is only 30% of the original, but the quality is better than the original, Hanks will never believe it.

The shopkeeper has seen a lot of people like Hanks in recent times, and they don't believe that cheaper goods are better, so the shopkeeper explained: "Sir, I didn't lie to you, this new tennis racket is really better than the previous tennis racket, and it was this new tennis racket used by the champion in the recent US Open." Since this new tennis racket can win the US Open, it is enough to prove that the new tennis racket is better than the old tennis racket! ”

Hanks frowned and thought about it, thinking that what the shopkeeper said made sense. Although the most important factor affecting the outcome of the game is the strength of the athlete, but the sports equipment can not be ignored, this new tennis racket can help players win the US Open, although it cannot fully prove that the new tennis racket is better than the old tennis racket, at least it can show that the new tennis racket is not worse than the old tennis racket.

After hesitating for a moment, Hanks finally decided to buy this new tennis racket "the same style as the US Open champion" as a birthday present for his eldest son.

In the evening, when Hanks returned home, the children immediately gathered around.

"The meal is ready, wash your hands and get ready to eat." The wife also walked over and saw the tennis racket Hanks had in his hand.

"Happy birthday, my dear son!" Hanks handed the tennis racket to his eldest son.

"Oh my God, tennis rackets! Awesome, I've always wanted a tennis racket! Thank you, Dad, you're the best dad in the world! The eldest son jumped up excitedly.

Seeing the satisfied expression on the eldest son's face and the phrase "the best dad in the world", Hanks's heart was full of satisfaction, and at this time he suddenly felt that the hard work of the day had disappeared without a trace, and his hard work to make money was worth it!

The wife whispered in Hanks's ear: "You are spending too much money, tennis rackets are so expensive, and it will be Christmas soon, we still need to buy a lot of things, it seems that we will have to save money next month!" ”

"Honey, this tennis racket didn't cost much." Hanks whispered the price of the tennis racket to his wife.

"So cheap?" The wife had an incredulous expression on her face.

Hanks looked triumphant, as if he had done something amazing.

"With such a cheap racket, there won't be any problems with the quality, right?" The wife then asked.

"Of course not, this is the same style as the champion, and the champion of this year's US Open won the championship with this tennis racket!" Hanks hastened to explain.

……

At a juvenile detention center in Los Angeles, Pancho Gonzalez slowly walked out the door.

Standing in front of the gate of the juvenile detention center, Pancho Gonzalez took a deep breath, it was the taste of freedom, what a long time gone!

A year ago, the fifteen-year-old Pancho González was arrested for theft, but he was not sent to prison because he was a minor, but spent a year in a juvenile detention center, and today he was finally released from prison.

Parents may have abandoned this rebellious son and did not come to pick him up from prison.

Coming to pick up Gonzalez was his friend, a man named Chuck Pate, who was part of the Los Angeles Tennis Club.

In fact, Gonzalez was once a very talented tennis teenager, but Perry Jones, the president of the Southern California Tennis Association at the time, gave Gonzalez a ban because Gonzalez often skipped classes and occasionally broke the law for the first time and did some petty theft.

Gonzalez loved tennis so much that once he thought about it, he lost interest in school, so he had a troubled adolescence where officials from the education department and the police would often chase after him. And in the end, he paid the price for this and squatted in the juvenile detention center for a year.

The friend took Gonzalez to the bus, and the two sat side by side and began to chat.

"What are you going to do next? Are you going back to school? Chuck Pate asked.

"For people like me, will there be schools willing to accept me?" Pancho Gonzalez shook his head self-deprecatingly, then said, "I'm going to join the army, and I broadcast that the navy is short of people right now. ”

"Don't you continue to play tennis? You're a tennis prodigy, and it's a shame to just give up. Chuck Pate spoke.

"I can't even afford a tennis racket now, what kind of tennis do I play!" Gonzalez shook his head helplessly.

At this time, Gonzalez couldn't help but think of his first racket, when he was only twelve years old, and his mother bought Gonzalez an old racket for 51 cents from a thrift market.

It was the same tennis racket that started Gonzalez's tennis career, when he had no professional training and had to go to a nearby public court to watch other people play and teach himself. The rackets he used before were also old, and he occasionally went back to do some petty theft, just hoping to buy himself a new one.

Chuck Pate's voice interrupted Gonzalez's thoughts: "You must not know that the price of rackets is much cheaper than before, and a new type of racket has been released, and the price is only 30% of the original one!" ”

"A new racket? The price is only 30% of the original? Is this racket reliable? Gonzalez asked.

"Of course it's reliable, this year's US Open champion uses such a racket." Chuck Pate replied.

Gonzalez was suddenly a little moved, the new ball auction was so cheap, he could afford to do odd jobs for a while.

"Am I going to continue playing tennis?" Gonzalez hesitated, he had planned to join the army, but he really couldn't let go of the tennis he loved!

……

A few years later, one of the greatest players in the history of tennis, a two-time Grand Slam and a two-time professional Grand Slam winner, and the record holder of the world No. 1 in the world for eight consecutive years on the men's professional tour, Pancho Gonzalez told reporters in an exclusive interview that the reason why he was able to achieve what he is today is first of all thanks to a cheap enough tennis racket launched in 1943, and it is precisely because he can afford this cheap tennis racket that he continues to pursue his tennis dream.

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