Reborn in America, I am a legendary short seller on Wall Street.

Chapter 131 Chinatown

An hour later, Logan withdrew his money and rushed back to Paine Weber Securities.

Larry took him to Mr. Wallace, who, of course, knew who Logan's father was.
Mr. Wallace welcomed Logan back to open an account with a big smile. After hugging Logan, he readily agreed to Logan's request to open an account, and in accordance with Larry's terms, offered the most favorable account opening conditions from Paine Weber Company.

After making the promise, Mr. Wallace personally led Logan and Larry to the brokerage counter and gave them instructions.

Larry watched with a smile as Logan sat at the counter, looking apprehensive, to open an account. He thought to himself that fortune and misfortune are intertwined: if Logan hadn't been hit on the head, his father wouldn't have been promoted to police precinct chief, and if his father hadn't been the precinct chief, Logan wouldn't be receiving such a condescending and warm welcome from Mr. Wallace.

The US is a society based on personal connections! If you think the US lacks human relationships, it's because you simply don't know how to get a letter of recommendation from a senator!
After Logan opened his account and deposited his $3860 into his own account, Larry eagerly pulled him aside and said with a smile,
"My brother, are you really going to help those workers and children?"

Logan and Larry had spent a long time together, and as soon as he heard Larry's words, he knew he had a solution, so he quickly asked,

"What's your idea?"

Larry smiled and wagged his finger, saying, "Let them do some small business within their capabilities... We still need to find a Chinese person for this."

"Looking for Chinese people? Why?!" Logan was a little confused.

"I'll take you to him in a bit, you'll know when you meet him," Larry said with a smile, but the image of Huang Meitang was flashing through his mind.

For some reason, Larry always felt that Huang Meitang was an unusual person. It wasn't because he cut off his queue at this time, nor because of the two chance encounters, but because Larry felt that his humble yet assertive personality was very rare among Chinese Americans today.

Larry had a feeling that Huang Meitang was definitely not someone to be underestimated, and it wouldn't hurt to get closer to her.

Since we have this opportunity today, why not go over and discuss whether there is room for cooperation? Perhaps we can also connect with Chinese Americans through Huang Meitang.

Of course, the most important thing in establishing a relationship is not personal connection, but rather how to create a synergy of interests.

Larry pushed open the door and walked onto the street. Logan followed Larry outside and called to his old security guard, "Mr. Dunbar, please come with us somewhere."

When Larry first met this "Dances with Wolves" man, he saw that he had a full head of gray hair, a thin build, and a weathered face. He was wearing a noticeably oversized trench coat, but there was an undisguised sharpness in his eyes.

The elderly security guard named Dunbar had a pistol slung across his waist, a distinctive feature of semi-official employee detectives.

Dunbar frowned slightly, looked at Larry and Logan, and asked, "Where to?"

“To Chinatown!” Larry replied.
.
The three walked for ten minutes and arrived at Boston's Chinatown.

(Boston Chinatown)
Boston's Chinatown is located next to the financial and theater districts. It is not very large, maybe only one and a half blocks, but it is home to more than 1100 Chinese people.

In 1882, the United States passed the Chinese Exclusion Act, which severely restricted Chinese immigration to the United States, leading to a near standstill in the Chinese population. Currently, the Chinese who can legally reside in the United States are primarily engaged in low-level occupations such as railroad construction, laundry work, and restaurant jobs.

The Chinese community in Boston is somewhat unique because the earliest Chinese to arrive in Boston were employed by a shoe factory, so the Chinese here also work in shoemaking and tailoring.

Paine Weber Securities is very close to Chinatown, and Larry is quite familiar with the area. However, Larry had never actually visited Chinatown before, and his visit today was specifically for Huang Meitang.

Huang Meitang's laundromat is located in Ping An Lane, which is also the core area of ​​Chinatown.

Ping An Lane is very narrow, only wide enough for two handcarts to pass side by side, and both sides of the street are lined with various crowded shops. The counters in the shops are piled high with goods, and occasionally you can see Chinese characters on the covers of the goods.

This place is almost entirely populated by men; there are very few women.

As Larry and his two companions walked into Chinatown, the Chinese people in the shops on both sides couldn't help but focus their attention on them.

Larry ignored the stares of others, walked straight to the Ping An Laundry, glanced inside, and asked,

"Excuse me, is Huang Meitang here?"

A middle-aged Chinese man was sitting behind the laundromat. Seeing Larry approach the door, he immediately stood up, his eyes filled with a hint of wariness. "He...he hasn't returned yet, sir. What do you need him for?" the man stammered.

Larry gave him a friendly smile, then sat down on a bamboo chair in front of the laundromat, turning to the middle-aged Chinese man and saying,
“I have met Huang a few times, and I think highly of him. I want to talk to him about some business today.”

The middle-aged Chinese man nodded and said, "He went to collect the laundry, he'll be back soon."

But his eyes kept glancing at Larry and the other two white men, clearly still on high alert.

Logan and Dunbar were also visiting Chinatown for the first time. They were waiting for a Chinese man at the laundromat. Both of them stood behind Larry, looking at him without saying a word.

For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat silent.

About 10 minutes later, the creaking sound of a handcart came from Ping'an Lane. Huang Meitang returned, pushing a handcart piled high with clothes.

The middle-aged Chinese man rushed over first, whispering to Huang Meitang, clearly afraid that Larry and the others were looking for him and causing trouble.

But when Huang Meitang saw Larry, he smiled, waved his hand to indicate that it was alright, then placed the handcart in front of the laundromat and greeted Larry.

“Why did you come in person, Mr. Livingston?”

Larry smiled, patted the bamboo chair next to him, and gestured for Huang Meitang to sit down beside him. After the latter sat down, Larry said with a smile, "Huang, I'm here to discuss doing business with you."

Larry's words clearly surprised Huang Meitang. A look of astonishment appeared on his face, but he immediately asked curiously, "What kind of business are you talking about?"

“Milk tea,” Larry said.

The milk tea idea was actually something Larry just came up with on the spur of the moment.

Because of the discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese people were strictly prohibited from working in many industries, and their travel was severely restricted. Police would frequently conduct unannounced checks on Chinese people, and if they could not produce identification documents, which the Chinese referred to as "dog tags," they would be imprisoned.

Therefore, almost all Chinese Americans are confined to Chinatown, which is like an open-air concentration camp. The dense streets and alleys are constantly filled with the tragicomedy of the first generation of Chinese Americans struggling to survive in such a small space.

In some areas, the police even collect a "police tax" specifically targeting Chinatown. However, this tax revenue is not used to provide public services for the Chinese community. Instead, it allows the police to deploy more personnel to strictly control Chinatown.

In addition, Chinese people also had serious potential conflicts with local lower-class white people and other immigrants. Take Boston for example, immigrants from Europe controlled the most lucrative jobs available to low-level laborers, such as dock and logistics positions. Unless they were Chinese laborers employed by cargo ships, Chinese people going to the docks would be besieged by other ethnic groups.

In this harsh environment, Chinese people could only stick together for warmth. They not only had to squeeze into crowded Chinatowns, but also had to join triads such as the Hung Society for self-protection.

The industries that Chinese people work in are also very narrow, mainly laundries, restaurants, and Chinese medicine specialty shops that they can operate without leaving Chinatown.

Boston's Chinatown feels cramped and out of place compared to the Chinatowns in San Francisco and New York, because its population is far smaller.

Larry had just walked this narrow, peaceful alleyway, where laundromats were the most common shops.

Because laundromats had started using steam washing machines and steam irons by then, white steam was constantly rising into the air from the laundromat where Larry worked.

While pondering Logan's suggestion to provide meals for disabled workers and children, Larry thought of the various retail stores on the streets of his previous life, and naturally, he thought of the Turkish kebab shops that were very common on the streets of America and Europe in his previous life, and the bubble tea shops that had begun to spread.

Letting them open milk tea shops would not only earn them fame, but also attract a large group of people.

As for why Chinese people were included, it's the same point: Larry plans to bring as many people from various ethnic backgrounds as possible under his wing by developing the retail industry.

Moreover, businesses like convenience stores, milk tea shops, and Turkish kebab shops can indeed expand virally.

If the business model is established, Larry can expand this people-oriented approach to several major cities in the United States.

(End of this chapter)