Obviously, there was no way there would be water in the wine cabinet, so Balthazar poured a glass of soda and put it on the table, then said in a slightly hoarse accent: "I think you must be feeling strange by now, why would I let everyone out, right?"

"No, I wonder why a highly educated person like you would engage in criminal activity. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 infoYou must know that although Hollywood gangster movies give people a cool illusion, professional criminals in the real world often have to bear huge psychological pressure, especially gangsters who mainly commit violent crimes, and few bosses can survive to retirement. With that, Lu Li picked up the cup and took a small sip of soda.

From the large number of books, newspapers and magazines in the room, it can be seen that the young man in his twenties, who is very concerned about learning and collecting current political news, and the strip club is also very good, even if he gives up his illegal income, he can live well.

He couldn't figure out why such a person didn't go for a serious job or apply for a loan to start a business.

You must know that although the relationship between people in American society is extremely cold, it is still easy for talented young people to find a well-paying job.

"Hehe, you're not the first person to ask me this question, and you probably won't be the last. Balthazar smiled self-deprecatingly. "Yes, I did study at NYU Business School for two years and got a full scholarship, as rumors say, but they didn't know what they saw in those two years and how difficult it was. ”

"Oh, why don't you tell me about it? I'm curious about what led you to professional crime. Lu Li suggested with interest.

"Well, since you're willing to listen, it's okay for me to say it, we have time anyway. ”

Balthazar took off his glasses and shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant expression.

"First of all, I came from a large poor Hispanic family with six siblings, so my parents did their best to feed our stomachs and simply didn't have enough money for me to go to college.

So even after I got the scholarship, I got a part-time job at a restaurant near the school to earn basic expenses for daily living.

Due to the need to balance work and study, I had to shorten my sleep time, often stay up late, make myself very tired, and even relied on alcohol, drugs, and promiscuity to vent my stress for a while, and my grades plummeted.

As a result, in the second semester, my scholarship was cancelled, and I barely relied on the money I earned from my part-time job to save money for two years, and finally couldn't hold on in the third year, so I had to choose to take a leave of absence.

Second, when I was at Harvard Business School, I saw too much injustice and darkness.

Take admissions as an example, do you know that there is an alumni relationship term in the United States?

This means that when you know some outstanding alumni of prestigious universities and they are willing to write you letters of recommendation, then you can easily be accepted even if your grades are poor.

Of course, if it's an immediate family member, that's even better.

This is also why, President George W. Bush scored a lot of C's in high school, but he was able to successfully enter Yale University, because his father also graduated from Yale University.

What's even more interesting is that alumni relations account for more than a quarter of the admission rate of prestigious universities, and the student unions, fraternities, and sororities on campus are basically controlled by these people, and poor students like me are completely excluded from the circle.

It was then that I realized that in the United States, reading alone could not change the fate of poverty.

What if I could make it to graduation?

It's not the same as serving those huge interest groups, earning that meager salary, and then working hard to pay off student loans, housing loans, and car loans little by little.

As the now-loud-mouthed presidential candidate has repeatedly mentioned in public, the American dream is dead.

The upper classes are becoming more and more entrenched, social mobility is becoming less and less, and there are few examples of poor people working and studying hard to change their poverty in the last decade. ”

"So you decided to take revenge on society and embarked on the path of crime? Lu Li shook his head regretfully.

In his eyes, no matter what setbacks and darkness he has experienced, anti-system is the most stupid and idiotic behavior, and it is a joke about his whole life.

After all, no matter how corrupt and degenerate a country's system is, as long as it is not overthrown, it means that there are a large number of vested interests.

Any individual who tries to overthrow the system will inevitably be met with a massive immediate backlash and end up being a pitiful victim.

"Hahahaha! No, no, no. ”

Balthazar laughed and waved his hand, raising his glass and taking a sip of amber whiskey.

"What I just said was just the reason for dropping out of school, and becoming a career criminal is something that comes later.

When I returned home with a sense of loss and frustration, I found a bunch of bastards who could do anything about it taking over the entire block.

Not only did they ask for protection money from shops without limit, but they also robbed passers-by and women, making it impossible for residents to live at all, but the police did nothing about it.

As a last resort, I contacted a group of former classmates, brothers, and friends, pooled money to buy a few guns, and then set up a bureau to kill all of them, chopped up their bodies, and threw them into the sewer to feed the rats.

Since then, in order to prevent similar situations from happening again, we have taken over the neighborhood and punished any form of violent crime.

To some extent, it was only after the security environment in the neighborhood that the tenants of Carmel's apartment began to go into hiding.

In the past, only disgraced illegal immigrants, or poor people with no regular income who had just arrived in New York, chose to live in a place where they could be robbed, raped, or shot at any moment.

But now?

Rents for Carmel's apartments have tripled, more than 70 percent of the rooms have occupied, and property values have soared to more than $10 million. ”

Hearing this, Lu Li finally figured out why this gang was so different, it turned out that they were all local residents, for them, this was not only a place to earn money, but also their own home, so they naturally had to protect it from the outside world.

After thinking about this, Lu Li raised his glass and teased with a smile: "So I want to say thank you to you?"

"Forget about the thanks, I just want you to know that every protection fee paid by the shop is worth it, and we didn't take that money for nothing. In addition, every few months, my people help Carmel Apartments deal with several guys who are in arrears of rent for various reasons, and if they go through the legal route, I am afraid that there will be no results at all in a few months. Balthazar replied confidently.