Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 8 San Francisco, 1975

Since Evelyn said she could make a Snake arcade machine and Ethan also got the list of materials provided by the other party, the next morning, Ethan drove the Ford F-150 borrowed from Uncle Thomas, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, which was ordered to be built by the great American Emperor Joshua Norton in 1869 but was not actually built until 1937, and came to the most suitable area for purchasing electronic materials around, San Francisco.

Coming down Doyle Avenue and driving south along Highway 101 for about three miles, Ethan saw a series of underground tracks laid on the asphalt road. He accelerated and chased, and a cable car slowly moving along the steep hilly road finally appeared.

The orange figure made Ethan honk the car horn. After the horn, the cable car driver immediately shook the bell at hand, jingling in response.

"Good morning!"

Ethan shouted through the car window.

"Good morning, sir. Welcome to San Francisco."

The driver smiled and waved.

Such words made Ethan laugh out loud. He raised his hand to greet him, then stepped on the accelerator and sped away.

San Francisco's cable car is a nationally renowned sight. Since its appearance in the 19th century, it has been providing convenience for the citizens here.

Although the great earthquake in 1906 destroyed most of the cable car tracks and the development of automobiles made the citizens here no longer rely on the tracks, because the cable car culture had such a profound impact on the city, after careful consideration, San Francisco still retained several routes, and all of them were restored a few years later in the s.

In the previous life, I had only heard of Ethan but never seen it. But now, it can support tourists hanging outside the car and do road transportation like the third brother, which looks quite interesting.

Having satisfied his curiosity, Ethan turned the car around and drove to Market Street in San Francisco.

This is an important axis in San Francisco, with shops and office buildings gathered along the line. When Ethan browsed the house numbers and found the address of No. 1355, a huge door also appeared in front of him.

San Francisco Electronic Supply.

Such a conspicuous name made Ethan walk straight in, and as he appeared, a sturdy young white man greeted him warmly.

"Hello sir, welcome to San Francisco Electronic Supply, how can I help you?"

"Sure, I came to do some shopping."

Ethan took out a list and handed it to the other party.

After discovering that Evelyn's list was a bit of a spoof, Ethan screened it on his own and re-copied it.

As for those things he filtered out?

Well, he would definitely buy the things, and the list Evelin had written by hand was in his arms.

After taking the list from Ethan, the young white man just glanced at it and said with a smile: "Okay, sir, please wait a moment, I will go find the materials for you."

As he spoke, the white man turned around.

The refreshing action made Ethan very happy.

Browsing everything around, I saw a small storefront filled with a wide variety of electronic accessories.

Although Ethan didn't recognize them, he could feel the professionalism here.

Just when Ethan thought that his purchase would be easy and enjoyable, the white man who had just left came back.

He held up Ethan's list and said apologetically, "Sorry, sir, I have a few questions I want to ask."

"You say." Ethan retracted his gaze.

The white man asked, "Sir, if I read correctly, your list says potassium chlorate and acetone, right?"

"..."

Ethan didn’t understand what the other party meant. After a pause, he said, “That should be it.”

"I need your exact answer."

The white man acted very serious.

"Well...if it's written there, then it should be."

Ethan carefully recalled the list Evelyn had written for him, then nodded affirmatively.

His answer made the white man feel like he was facing a formidable enemy.

He put his right hand on his waist and said seriously, "Sir, do you know what potassium chlorate and acetone are used for? Potassium chlorate is a very dangerous chemical that is toxic, corrosive and explosive! Although acetone is an organic solvent, it can not only be used to make a solvent for smokeless gunpowder, but also to synthesize and purify methamphetamine!"

"So...if you don't explain this, I'm going to have to call 911..."

'? ? ? '

When the white man looked at Ethan with suspicion and his right hand had already reached his lower back, the obvious hint made Ethan think of a sentence -

'Free America, gunfights every day'

In order to avoid being shot at close range, and to prevent his hard-earned good life from slipping away, Ethan hurriedly said, "Hey, hey, hey! Brother! Calm down! I don't understand what you mean! I bought these things just to make circuit boards!"

"Really?"

The white man remained cautious. "Then can you tell me the production process of the circuit board?"

"How do I know this?" Ethan was confused.

"I don't know!"

However, his words were very straightforward. Having lived in America for many years, he understood that this was not the time to joke!
"This list was given to me by someone else! I don't recognize the materials on it at all! If I really planned to make explosives or drugs, would I drive here alone to buy these things?"

Ethan waved his right hand and pointed behind him.

"F**k! Man! I drive a Ford F-150! This car costs at least four thousand dollars! And the one I drive is the top model! Six thousand dollars! A normal person's annual salary! Do you think there would be a lunatic driving a car like this to buy dangerous goods? Doesn't this provide clues for the police to chase? Yeah!!!"

Ethan's roar made the white man's expression ease a lot.

He raised his hands and turned sideways to indicate that he had no guns hidden on his waist. Then he stretched out his right hand and said apologetically, "Sorry, brother, I scared you. Since the demonstrations have occurred again and again, we who sell chemicals have been extra careful, fearing that some dangerous goods will be bought by people with malicious intentions."

"After all, they might just feel good about the explosion, but we who sell things to them will be in trouble. Foberle will not let us go, and the city hall here will also find ways to make us pay some money."

Seeing that the other party didn't have a gun, Ethan finally let go of his worries.

He glared at him fiercely, his eyebrows raised like swords.

The white man, who understood what Ethan was referring to, readily lifted up his shirt to prove it once again.

When the empty scene appeared, Ethan immediately cursed "Damn!" angrily, and then kicked the cash register hard with his foot.

His venting did not attract the other party's obstruction. After shaking his head in anger, Ethan, knowing that the other party was not at fault, also stretched out his right hand and touched the other party forcefully.

Then, he panted, leaned against a shelf nearby and complained: "Brother! You know! You almost scared me to death!"

"There's nothing we can do. This is San Francisco." The white man also let out a long sigh and shrugged, "After I saw your order, I was almost scared to death!" "I thought a fanatic from some unknown faction had entered the store!"

Although Ethan was just frightened by the young white man, he had to admit that what this guy said was indeed true.

San Francisco in this era is indeed very chaotic.

Ever since America intervened in the war in Jiaozhi without reason, the anti-war sentiment in the country has become increasingly strong, and San Francisco, the city of freedom, has become the focus of people's gathering.

In the first five years of the 1970s alone, there were several demonstrations with more than 100,000 participants, and the largest one reached 150,000.

The most outrageous thing is that after the people found that their demands were not met, the subsequent rallies changed from normal marches and protests to gatherings to cause riots, blocking traffic, occupying buildings, and using radios to interfere with communication facilities. In the end, even large-scale conflicts broke out. If we have to describe it, it is not much different from Capitol Hill.

Not only that, since Harvey Milk, the first American to use magic and openly participate in the election as an LGBT person, was also from San Francisco, he had made himself the focus of public opinion since 1973. Therefore, San Francisco in this era was also a paradise for LGBT people to hold marches and demonstrations.

With multiple DeBuffs stacked up, it's understandable that the guy selling chemicals is cautious, but...

Even if Ethan can understand it, it doesn't mean he can accept it!

This time he was lucky because the boss didn't have a gun on his waist.

But the next time he meets a violent person, won’t he just shoot himself in the back and kill himself?
If that happens, I will really lose a lot!
Thinking of this, Ethan was still a little angry.

Looking at the guy who was as frightened as himself, he said in a bad manner: "Brother! With your vigilance! You shouldn't open a shop! Instead, enter Foberle!"

"I believe it! If there was a talent like you in Foberle, Ted Bundy would have been arrested long ago!"

Ethan's sarcasm made the white man smile awkwardly, and he spread his hands and said, "Brother, I have only become nervous recently. Aren't the media outside reporting that our people are preparing to withdraw from Asia? If it weren't for this, I wouldn't be so cautious. After all, the things you want can all be transported by rail."

It would have been fine if this guy didn't explain, but once he did, Ethan got even angrier.

"F***********!"

He never imagined that when he bought a chemical in North America, he would be subjected to the iron fist of freedom from Asia?

what is this?
It’s really a world famous painting!

"Forget it, just go and prepare something for me."

Ethan, who was already confused, didn't bother to care anymore.

"Ok sir."

The white man nodded repeatedly and disappeared again.

In about fifteen minutes, he had prepared everything Ethan wanted.

He also gave Ethan a discount for the trouble he had caused him and helped him load his things into the car.

Before saying goodbye, he handed over a business card with an apologetic look.

"Brother, I'm sorry, it's just my nerves that are frayed."

"My name is Frank, and this is my business card. Next time you need something, just call me and I'll send it to you."

Ethan felt a little better after hearing the somewhat humane apology.

He reached out to take it and forced a stiff smile as a gesture of goodwill.

At the same time, he also threw over a business card of his own.

Then, he stepped on the accelerator and ran away.
There was no way out. For him, he couldn't stay in this damn place for even a second!

Because his heart was filled with anger, when Ethan rushed home, he realized that he didn't seem to have bought what Evelin wanted.

This fact also caught Evelin, who was waiting for the result at home, red-handed.

At first, Evelin was a little angry.

But after Ethan explained the situation, the guy just burst out laughing.

"Ethan, do they think you bought these things to make explosives? Oh! My! God! You look so good! Not fierce at all! How could they have such an idea?"

Evelin covered her mouth, her beautiful eyes smiling into crescents.

"Isn't that your fault?"

Ethan was very angry and shouted, “Evelyn, you should explain it to me clearly!”

However, Ethan's blame-shifting behavior made Evelin laugh even harder.

"Ethan, you know, my teacher in college once said, 'Knowledge is neutral, but becoming an angel or a devil is just a matter of one's thoughts.'"

"Do you think if I had explained to you the various effects of these chemicals, you could have avoided today's problems?"

"No."

"When others think you are a monster, it's useless to make excuses."

Evelyn’s words made Ethan freeze on the spot, and the girl’s meaningful words made his eyes flicker.

After a while, Ethan, who had lived two lives, also laughed.

"Okay, okay, you're right, things are innocent, people are evil."

"But I'm more curious, why would your teacher say such things to you?"

"Because all inventions have two sides."

Evelyn was glad that her brother understood her. She shrugged and said, "Take radium for example. When Marie Curie discovered it, her biggest appeal was to cure cancer, but in the end it was made into a weapon. Another example is alternating current. Tesla intended to benefit the world, but in order to discredit him, Edison built an electric chair."

"No one knows whether the next thing engineers make will be good or bad. We can only pray that the world will not be biased."

"Cool~" Ethan smiled. Coming from the 21st century, he understood the meaning.

"Okay, I admit that you have it harder than me."

"Hehehe~"

Evelin liked Ethan’s attitude and laughed like a little fox, “Forget it if you didn’t buy the things. Just consider it as something you owe me.”

"Now that the materials have arrived, shall we get started?"

"Okay." Ethan naturally wouldn't refuse.

Note: ① There is a special video about Joshua Norton on Bilibili by John Khan Jr., if you are interested, you can watch it. ② San Francisco is really the capital of parades. Whenever something bad happens, there will be a parade there, and it is also the focus of Vietnam War rallies. ③ Regarding Harvey Milk mentioned in the article, Hollywood has made a movie, "Milk" starring Sean Penn. If you are interested, you can watch it. Although the movie has many emotional scenes, it also describes how Milk used magic to become a councilman in San Francisco in the 1970s and vigorously promoted the legalization of LGBT in San Francisco. ④ Ted Bundy: A serial killer active in the 1970s and 1980s, one of the prototypes of "The Silence of the Lambs".

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(End of this chapter)