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

Chapter 142 Departure, to Walden Pond
In the morning, Larry took a shower, brushed his teeth, and changed into corduroy breeches suitable for outdoor activities, fastened the suspenders, put on a more casual old linen shirt, soft-soled boots, and a baseball cap.

Naturally, Larry also carried his good friend, a Colt revolver.

In addition to the 12 rounds of ammunition in the small leather pouch on his gun sling, Larry also carried an extra satchel. He loaded it with 50 rounds of Colt .38 caliber ammunition so he could practice shooting when he had free time.

He also brought the remaining two boxes of ammunition for the Italian M1889 Bodeio. Since the gun had already been given to Mr. John Browning, there was no point in keeping the remaining two boxes of ammunition, so he might as well give them to him directly.

When Larry opened the safe to retrieve the bullets, he immediately spotted several stacks of US dollars inside.

Larry made a fortune on Wednesday when he went long on sugar, earning a total of $47.7 including principal and profit.

Larry allocated the money as follows: $45 was deposited back into the bank as a reserve fund for his company. Meanwhile, in the past few days, Larry has asked his business elite team to expedite the process of setting up his company.

In addition, Larry also informed Mr. K and Logan, instructing them to follow up on their respective projects, and to open the convenience store chain and food and beverage company as soon as possible if all goes well.

Larry has already had his business elite team create job postings to recruit several qualified accountants and management trainees, and is also looking for a less conspicuous office location.

Once the physical companies are ready to start operating, funds will be disbursed according to their respective needs.

Of course, the investment in the two companies couldn't be as small as it was when Logan was hospitalized. Back then, Larry considered that Mr. K and Logan didn't have much money, so he calculated it at $1000 per person.

But after these two weeks of turmoil, Mr. K and his partner made a fortune by betting on the Metropolitan Casino; Logan followed his lead and bought shares in the American Sugar Company, also earning a whopping $2.

Now that the two of them are quite wealthy, we can encourage them to increase their investment, and the physical store can also be expanded significantly.

For example, a convenience store can open three stores during the trial phase, while a food company needs to order a lot of containers, glass bottles and barbecue grills, which is also an investment.

In addition, Larry put another $2.5 back into the safe, as he needed to have some cash on hand to deal with unforeseen circumstances.

The bank deposits and cash totaled $47.5. Larry had $2000 in cash on hand, plus $1285 in transaction commissions returned by Reading. All in all, the cash in his wallet totaled $3350.

There's still quite a lot to spend. Larry recalled that his goal for this month was supposed to be "to spend less than $3," but now he feels that his goal is still so far away.

Let alone this month, we might not even be able to complete this task next month.

I don't want to think about it anymore, the more I think about it, the more upset I get.

Larry walked downstairs to the apartment building and was about to go out when he saw Mr. Winthrop, wearing a thick shirt and looking energetic, walking out of his apartment.

Larry's lips curled into a smile, and he quickly greeted him, "Respected sir, didn't you go to work today?"

Mr. Winthrop looked up and saw Larry. A smile spread across his face as he replied, "I worked the night shift at the newspaper for the past two days. Oh my God, I'm really getting old. I slept for a full fifteen hours yesterday afternoon and evening before I felt like a normal human being again."

"Your health is already excellent. When I get to your age, I certainly won't have as much energy as you!"

Mr. Winthrop was very pleased with Larry's compliments. He looked at Larry's attire with curiosity, noting that he didn't seem to be going to work, and casually asked what he was going to do.

Larry's eyes lit up, and he suddenly asked, "Sir, my friend and I are going to Walden Pond for the weekend. Would you be interested? If you're not too busy, would I have the honor of inviting you to join us?"

Mr. Winthrop's face suddenly lit up with excitement, and he murmured, "Is it alright? Wouldn't that be too presumptuous?"

Larry had met Mr. Winthrop a few times and had already noticed that the old man had a childlike personality. He liked to wear nice clothes, was still curious about new things despite his age, and loved to play. He guessed that Mr. Winthrop was either an Aquarius or a Gemini...

"It's alright, come along! We're just going for a stroll around Walden Pond, it's not a work trip. My friend would really enjoy traveling with a gentleman like you."

Mr. Winthrop nodded repeatedly, and after Larry finished speaking, he couldn't wait to go back to his room to change his clothes.

In just five minutes, the old gentleman emerged, dressed like Indiana Jones, a large brown bag tucked under his arm. He waved to Larry and said, "Mr. Livingston, thank you for your invitation. We'll be on our way now..."

The two walked out the door together and boarded a horse-drawn carriage. Just then, the apartment door opened, and Mrs. Winthrop came out with a frown, complaining to her husband, "You said you'd rest for two days, and now you're going on another trip, really..."

Mr. Winthrop, sitting in the carriage, kept smiling apologetically at his wife while quietly urging the coachman to hurry up.

The two arrived at the train station, where the Browning brothers were already waiting.

Larry helped the two sides get acquainted, and then went to buy Mr. Winthrop a first-class train ticket as well. The four of them then embarked on their journey to Walden Pond.

John Browning was indeed not a talkative person. After exchanging a few words with the old gentleman, he leaned back in his seat, constantly flipping through his notebook, his mind still on the automatic pistol that Larry had mentioned earlier...

But Matthew seemed to get along very well with Mr. Winthrop, and the two chatted about history and literature, acting like old friends who had known each other for many years on their first meeting.

"Yes! Mr. Browning, you are right. Walden is a truly great work. It was in this book that I first experienced aesthetic education through English words!"

Mr. Winthrop, getting excited, tapped his fingers on the small table.
Matthew Browning nodded in agreement, saying, "The arrival of spring is like the beginning of chaos, the creation of the universe—oh, that's so beautiful! I've never been to Walden Pond, and I even think the real Walden Pond might not be as beautiful as Mr. Thoreau's words..."

Upon hearing this, Mr. Winthrop gave a dismissive look and said with a smile that the real Walden Pond was extremely beautiful, not only with its stunning scenery but also with its top-tier landscape in the entire United States.

Matthew raised his eyebrows, unable to help but yearn for the leisurely Walden Pond described by Mr. Winthrop.

Larry nodded repeatedly. He had never actually seen any of the famous historical sites of this era. He already had little leisure time, and before, he had been tied up with business deals and couldn't enjoy a proper vacation.

Mr. Winthrop looked at Matthew and Larry with a smile, then playfully took a square box from his brown satchel and placed it on the small table.

Gentlemen, guess what this is?

Matthew and Larry stared wide-eyed at the strange wooden box, wondering what odd thing Mr. Winthrop had pulled out this time.

Mr. Winthrop's smile widened as he looked at the bewildered expressions on their faces, as if he had brought out this novel gadget just to see them react like that.

"Guess what, Mr. Livingston, aren't you very interested in technological inventions?"

Larry frowned, thinking to himself, "I've seen plenty of inventions in my past and present lives, but this one... I really can't tell what it is right away..."

Matthew Browning stared at the wooden box, his eyes suddenly lighting up, and blurted out, "I know! It's a camera...is it?"

Mr. Winthrop laughed heartily, clapped his hands, and exclaimed...

“That’s right! Matthew, this is a camera, Mr. Eastman’s innovative invention, a small handheld camera—the Kodak No. 1!”

This time it was Larry's turn to be shocked. The cameras he had encountered in this era were all big boxes like small safes, and they all required tripods. Photographers had to wrap themselves in opaque cloth when taking pictures.

This is the first time I've ever seen such a small camera.

Larry and Matthew curiously picked up the camera and fiddled with it, and even John Browning, who had been pondering his own questions, curiously picked up the Kodak No. 1 and fiddled with it for a bit.

As Larry held the camera in his hand, he slowly found the aperture and shutter speed settings, and unconsciously began to feel a sense of familiarity with the technological product based on his memories from his previous life.

"How many pictures can this camera take?" Larry asked, looking up.

"100 photos, but after taking the photos, you have to send the camera back to Kodak headquarters, and they will be responsible for developing the photos!"

Matthew, on the other side, also asked, "How much is this camera?"

Mr. Winthrop continued, “It’s $25 a unit, but if you take a hundred photos and need Kodak to develop them, they’ll charge you an extra $10!”

Matthew nodded repeatedly, smiling as he said, "Then you can try taking pictures of the beautiful scenery of Walden Pond later!"

Mr. Winthrop smiled broadly. "You're right! But this is my first time using this kind of portable camera, so I don't know how the photos will turn out. If they're very good, I plan to submit them to National Geographic!"

Larry's eyes widened again, and he looked up to ask, "The magazine you're talking about, is it one of those professional magazines that publish geography and landscapes?"

After receiving confirmation, Larry hugged the Kodak One, inwardly sighing with emotion—

The scientific and industrial age has truly brought one surprise after another to humankind, elevating us from ignorant and terrifying upright apes to the masters of the earth.

Fortunately, I was reborn into this era, rather than the earlier Middle Ages.

The 19th and 20th centuries were an era of accelerated scientific progress and a golden age for the advancement of human civilization!
(End of this chapter)