America: Starting from collecting corpses, leveling up to godhood

"Now you have two choices—take your initial investment and go back to Texas to bake your apple pies, or add some Texas-style dinner to the coyotes in the desert."

The three Texans looked at each other in bewilderment.

They glanced at the bullets scattered on the table, then at the huge sum of money in Chen Ming's bag, and instantly sobered up considerably.

We've met our match.

The fat man gritted his teeth and finally left dejectedly, clutching his swollen wrist.

"You bitch...you're lucky, we're leaving!"

As the three burly men cursed and left through the back door, Sofia's tense shoulders slumped, and she collapsed into her chair, panting heavily.

"My God... I really thought I was going to get my head blown off."

"If you ever dare to bring my money laundering funds to this kind of shady shop with no surveillance cameras and wreak havoc again, I'll personally shoot you in the head."

Chen Ming, expressionless, poured all the chips from her arms into his backpack.

"I helped you almost double your initial investment, okay!"

Sofia rubbed her aching wrist and muttered in dissatisfaction.

"Card counting is a skill. You should thank me for earning you this 50,000 yuan, instead of holding a gun to my head..."

"Yes, thank you so much." Chen Ming sneered and zipped up his backpack.

"If my taxi hadn't arrived in time, you would have been stuffed into the back of a pickup truck by those three Texans, and they would have taken you away with your money."

Sofia shrank back, knowing she was in the wrong, and shut her mouth. Chen Ming then turned around and tapped the wooden bar counter.

"Stop hiding, old man. Exchange all these plastic sheets for cash. If you're short even a penny, I'll tear your shop down."

……

Half an hour later, the two returned safely to the casino's opulent VIP redemption area.

Chen Ming pushed all the purple slot machine vouchers he had won in small amounts, along with the cash he had won at the black casino, into the slot under the bulletproof glass.

The blond, blue-eyed cashier skillfully operated the money counting machine, then handed over two documents and a pen.

"Sir, the total is $124,300. According to Nevada gambling law, we need to photocopy your ID and Social Security number. In addition, gambling winnings exceeding $5,000 require the filing of a tax form, and 24% federal income tax will be withheld directly from your account in accordance with the law..."

Looking at the large sum of tax that had been crossed off the receipt, Chen Ming felt a sharp pain in his heart and gasped for breath.

"Twenty-four percent... Why were these bandits in suits hanged?!"

"There's nothing you can do about it; it's called a legal protection fee, and you'll have to pay it again when you file your annual tax return. Surprised?"

Sofia signed the form without even blinking.

"But as long as you pay this tax truthfully, even if there's brain matter stuck to that money, the IRS will still smile and give you a good citizen award... That's America."

The printer was humming.

Soon, an official Chase Bank draft with a watermark and proof of tax payment was slowly handed out from the window.

Sophia took the promissory note, flicked it with her fingers, handed it to Chen Ming, and winked.

"I've helped you so much, you should at least treat a beautiful lady to a nice dinner, right? I don't need much, just take me out for tuna..."

"McDonald's is all we have. Do you want to eat there?"

……

Ten minutes later, at a 24-hour McDonald's on Vegas Avenue.

Chen Ming, looking utterly disgusted, tossed the somewhat deformed behemoth back into the plastic tray, feeling utterly hopeless.

"Is this McDonald's? It looks like industrial waste with cardboard sandwiched between the pieces..."

Chen Ming pulled out a tissue and tried to wipe away the mysterious slime that had been accumulating on the table for who knows how long.

"I don't even know what to say... You just stuffed over $100,000 in promissory notes into your pocket, and then you bring me here to eat a $10 value meal?" Sofia took a big bite of fries and pointed with her chin to the distance.

"See that homeless man chatting with his mop in that corner? The half-pizza he just pulled out of the trash looks more tempting than this burger!"

"The service at this awful place is as bad as ever... I just asked for a McFlurry, and the staff looked at me like I was giving them a medical bill..."

"So what did he say to you?" Chen Ming took a bite of his Big Mac.

"Sorry, our ice cream machine is broken." Sofia perfectly imitated the other person's perfunctory Black English accent.

"I swear, all the McDonald's ice cream machines in America share the same repairman, and that guy should have died twenty years ago... This is definitely some kind of conspiracy against civilians!"

Upon hearing this, Chen Ming nearly choked on his fries.

"Don't be surprised, this is American fast food."

Sofia tapped the paper cup next to her that was bigger than her face.

"Its only advantage is that you can get unlimited free refills of sugary drinks here."

"Yeah, free liquid diabetes." Chen Ming looked at the cup speechlessly.

"This is so big you could practically use it to bathe a baby."

Sofia took a big gulp of cola.

"Complaints aside, now that the money's all laundered, what are you, the newly minted millionaire, planning to do next? Go back to Los Angeles and continue pushing your food cart selling one-dollar fried rice?"

"Of course I'll keep the food truck running; it's the best cover for my law-abiding citizen status."

Chen Ming looked at the flashing neon lights outside the window.

"Law-abiding citizen?" Sophia rolled her eyes dramatically.

No sooner had they finished speaking than a homeless man, draped in a tattered blanket and reeking of urine, suddenly approached their table.

"Hey bro, could you give me some change? Or... you guys aren't going to eat that burger anymore, right?"

The homeless man stared intently at the deformed behemoth, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets.

Without wasting any words, Chen Ming pushed the entire tray over.

"Take it all, but keep it away from my backpack."

"May God bless you, my Asian brothers!"

The homeless man grabbed his hamburger and fries and darted back to the corner like a stray dog ​​guarding its food.

Sofia couldn't help but shake her head as she watched the homeless man wolf down his food.

"Do you think he'll thank God for this, or will he suffer a perforated stomach after eating this pile of industrial waste?"

"I guess he was probably just an ordinary person with a normal family not long ago, and then he lost all the wealth he had accumulated over the past few decades in just two hours here, and he'll soon be taken down by my colleagues... Time to go."

Chen Ming picked up his backpack.

"Finally, we can rest... Where should we stay tonight, in a luxury suite at Caesars Palace?" Sofia's eyes lit up.

"No, we'll just find a random motel on the street that costs fifty dollars a night and doesn't require us to register our real names, and sleep for four hours. We'll head back to Los Angeles as soon as it's light tomorrow."

Chen Ming pushed open the glass door of McDonald's without turning his head.

"Hey!" Sofia hurriedly grabbed her half-finished Coke and chased after them.

"I risked my life today to help you win money and launder the accounts, where's my share?!"

"I was originally going to give you a little something, but considering that you caused me to get into a fight with someone again... that McDonald's value meal you just had is your bonus."

"Fuck you, Chen! Even Wall Street capitalists would hang you on a lamppost if they heard that!"