America: Starting from collecting corpses, leveling up to godhood

Chen Ming didn't reply immediately, but instead re-examined the girl in front of him with his gaze.

Today she wore a tight-fitting bodysuit with a very low neckline, covered by a short gray jacket, her long legs faintly visible beneath ripped jeans...

Objectively speaking, Sofia is indeed a stunning beauty.

Her mixed heritage gave her striking features and a healthy tan, making her exude a wild allure even when casually sitting in a barbecue restaurant.

If she does open some paid video accounts, Chen Ming wouldn't mind subscribing.

"To be honest, I was somewhat interested at first."

Chen Ming took a sip of cola, his tone relaxed.

"After all, I'm a normal adult male, and you are indeed quite good-looking."

"Haha, I caught you..."

Sofia's lips were about to curl into a smile.

"But if the prerequisite for getting into bed is to first dig out a place to lie down in a garbage dump, I'd rather sleep in my car."

"Fuck you, Chen!"

Enraged, Sofia grabbed a clove of garlic and threw it, but Chen Ming dodged it by tilting his head.

"I call this chaos within order! Do you think I'm some pampered brat who's slept in a pink princess bed since I was little?"

She poured herself another glass of wine and downed it in one gulp.

"When I was ten years old, my mom brought my sister and me to this godforsaken place in a shipping container..."

"In order to allow the three of us to stay and get green cards, she spent all her money pulling strings and married herself off to a lame old white man."

"An old drunkard who retired from Afghanistan lost his legs and brains after stepping on a landmine in Kandahar. Apart from using his veterans' pay to buy whiskey to get himself drunk, he would go on drunken rampages and beat people. My mother, my sister, and even me were not spared from his belt buckle."

Chen Ming listened silently without interrupting, while Sophia stared blankly at the charcoal fire.

"At that time, I was the only hope for my family."

"I'm not as timid as my sister, and I'm quite bright, especially with numbers. My mom and sister think that as long as I study hard, get into university, and become a respectable person, I can pull the whole family out of this mess..."

"I did well enough to get into California State University, majoring in accounting, and my grades were decent."

"Why didn't you finish reading it?"

Chen Ming keenly caught the past tense in her words.

"It's all because of that damn money, just like you." Sophia shrugged.

"My mother was diagnosed with uremia during my sophomore year of college. My father, who was lame, ran away with the money immediately. My sister took on everything to pay for her medical treatment and tuition."

"She lied to me, saying she was a head waitress at a high-end restaurant in Hollywood, but actually she was a prostitute at a motel..."

"And then?"

"And then? Heh."

"She met a man who drove a Ferrari. He claimed to be a rich second-generation from Wall Street, fell in love with her at first sight, and wanted to help her escape her misery."

"My sister isn't very bright. She really thought she'd met Richard Gere from 'Pretty Woman,' but that bastard used her identity to take out a loan of over ten thousand dollars at exorbitant interest rates and then vanished without a trace."

"Now, she's lying in her little house in the countryside waiting to die, and I've dropped out of school... but thankfully, the knowledge is still in my head."

Sofia lowered her voice and leaned forward.

"I know how to forge W-2 forms for undocumented immigrants to fraudulently obtain welfare, and I also know how to help scoundrels like Big Taco exploit tax loopholes to make the IRS think their dirty money comes from mowing lawns..."

"This is my real main job."

Chen Ming nodded thoughtfully after listening.

Everything is now clear.

No wonder she is so skilled at using a notebook to create tables.

In a country where even two-digit cash registers rely on calculators, and where the president praises elementary school students on television for being geniuses at turning computers on and off, being proficient in Excel and pivot tables is no different from mastering black magic.

The tax issues are even more surreal.

Even now, Chen Ming still doesn't fully understand the numerous tax laws and regulations in the United States.

Federal income tax, California state tax, Social Security tax, Medicare tax... and even the sales tax, which is calculated separately for buying a hamburger.

If you earn 100 yuan and have 70 yuan left in your hand, you should thank God.

So, don't misunderstand.

Sofia swirled her empty wine glass, her eyes eerily clear.

"I enjoy making dirty jokes, I just find it amusing to see you men so flustered. It makes me feel like I'm in control..."

"My sister's experience taught me that love is just dog poop coated in sugar. I don't want to end up like her, flushing myself down the drain for so-called 'true love'."

"Very wise."

Chen Ming raised the Coke can and touched it to the rim of Sophia's glass.

"Hormones may fade, but Franklin will always be loyal."

"That's right, Franklin is always loyal."

Sofia's smile this time was genuine.

Chen Ming put down his cola and glanced around. The people at the next table were busy drinking and no one was paying attention to them.

"Since you're a professional and short on cash like me... how about pulling off a big heist?"

Chen Ming took out the booklet he had found earlier from his pocket, slid it in front of Sophia, and briefly recounted what had happened.

After hearing the details, Sophia looked at Chen Ming as if he were a monster.

"Have you ever considered publishing an autobiography after you retire? With your knack for causing trouble, Hollywood could make at least a dozen movies out of you."

"I'll ask you to play the female lead then."

Chen Ming pointed to the notebook.

"This is stuff embezzled by a gang accountant, worth about 20,000. The location is hidden inside... I've looked at it, but it's just normal accounts, so there doesn't seem to be anything wrong."

"Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise, treasure..."

Sophia glanced at it, her eyes instantly sharpening.

"Hmph, it's certainly no problem to fool idiots."

Sofia's fingers scribbled rapidly across the page.

"But some of the expenses are too strange. In April, I spent more than three thousand dollars on cleaning supplies. It doesn't necessarily cost that much to wash the Statue of Liberty..."

"I roughly know where it is; this plan is doomed."

"Where?" Chen Ming asked, somewhat unwilling to give up.

"Lamona Gardens, the oldest and most dangerous residential area in all of Los Angeles, the headquarters of the Mexican gang Big Hazard," Sofia sighed.

"That place is almost like an independent kingdom, with only two entrances and exits, and gang members on guard all day long. For unfamiliar faces like us, it's harder to get in than a prison..."

"Give up. If you go there, your pretty skin will be peeled off and made into a flag to hang on a telephone pole."

"All right."

Chen Ming smiled and did not refute.

For Chen Ming right now, the risk-reward ratio of storming the gang's headquarters is too low.

He has a system panel. As long as he has time to slowly "add points" and his physical abilities are improved to a superhuman level, this kind of dangerous place will just be an ordinary ATM.

……