Reborn in America: I Have an Equipment Slot

From these two important figures, Irving learned that the tobacco processing ship from the Bahamas had sailed from the northeastern waters of the United States.

Initially, they did not intend to produce and sell tobacco on the high seas, but due to the recent passage of laws banning leaf tobacco in the Washington and New York areas, sales of leaf tobacco have declined rapidly.

Left with no other option, they came to the high seas not far from Florida in search of more sales channels.

Each state in the United States has its own separate laws. For example, in the Washington area, tobacco merchants made huge profits before leaf tobacco appeared.

However, since the advent of leaf tobacco, many smokers have preferred to spend half the price of regular cigarettes rather than spend a few dollars to buy leaf tobacco, which is stronger.

Under this trend, some tobacco merchants choose to join the leaf tobacco industry. Although they do not have the raw materials in their own hands and need to purchase large quantities of leaves from other states where leaves are legally grown, their profits will be diluted.

Other tobacco merchants chose to band together, put pressure on the government, and unite with scholars to publicize the dangers of tobacco leaves, thereby pushing the state government to enact a ban.

No matter what choice is made, it's really just capitalists voting with their feet based on their own interests.

In America, capitalists will always find ways to make money.

"You mean those smugglers only need 500 dollars to buy a case of 50 cartons of tobacco?!" Owen exclaimed in shock after learning the price of the tobacco from the two men.

"So that means a carton of tobacco only costs $10 to produce? One carton contains ten packs? One pack costs $1 to produce??"

Irving did a quick calculation and then gasped.

It's worth noting that in Miami, even the cheapest ordinary cigarettes cost $2-3, and a pack of Marlboro can cost as much as $6.

In contrast, if a pack of tobacco leaves were sold for $10, there would definitely be a lot of people scrambling to buy it.

In other words, smugglers make at least a 10-fold profit from smuggling these tobacco leaves?!

After a few drinks, the two bigwigs from Washington were soon a little tipsy. They chuckled and nodded. "Of course, kid. Otherwise, why do you think those smugglers would risk going to international waters to bring their stuff over?"

"The tobacco business has always been a highly profitable business. Although leaf tobacco is not exactly considered part of the tobacco business, its profit margin is even greater than that of regular tobacco."

"It's just that it's not time to go crazy yet..."

Xiao Hua nodded, raised his glass to clink with the two men, and said with a smile, "But there are too many profitable businesses. To be honest, tobacco isn't even the most lucrative one."

"That's right." The two masked middle-aged men took another swig of wine, then looked at the seductive dancers on the stage and joked, "For example, the beauties on the stage are probably more profitable than the tobacco business."

"Hahaha……"

Seeing the two men toasting and drinking with Xiao Hua, looking quite drunk, Owen pondered for a moment and then picked up his glass as well.

After clinking glasses with the two men, suppressing the burning sensation from the alcohol, he asked, "Gentlemen, do you know how many cartons are sold from that tobacco processing ship?"

"What, you want to get into smuggling too?" Hearing Owen's slightly immature voice, the two masked men exchanged a glance and burst into laughter.

"Kid, you know what? It's so boring talking about these things with us old guys."

"That's right, I'm a bit sleepy. If there were a few hot Cuban dancers here, we could both be more energetic."

Upon hearing what the two said, Irving immediately looked at Walter Jr. beside him.

Walter shrugged, said nothing, and immediately snapped his fingers, signaling the waitress standing not far away to come over.

After Irving requested a few Cuban dancers, the two masked middle-aged men immediately changed their attitude, patting Irving lightly on the shoulder and jokingly saying, "Kid, looks like you know the rules."

Okay, to tell you the truth, you'll need at least a hundred cartons before those cigarette vendors will treat you as a customer and give you proper treatment.

Moreover, the more you ask for, the better their attitude towards you will be.

Of course, the more goods you have, the easier it is to get caught by those guys from the customs bureau.

I remember those guys in the customs bureau have made a lot of money lately. If they smell it, hehe, they'll definitely pull your pants off!

The two middle-aged men wanted to say something more, but when they saw four or five Cuban beauties dressed in samba dance costumes walking over, their eyes lit up and they hurriedly headed towards the private room.

After the two left, Walter's smile faded. He looked at Owen, who was deep in thought, and reminded him, "Hey kid, you're not really planning to get into smuggling, are you?"

"No, I was just curious and asking casually." Owen snapped out of his reverie and quickly shook his head slowly.

"That's good." Little Walter took a deep breath, patted the bartender's backside as she poured drinks, and turned to look at Owen, saying:

"Hey kid, you know what? In my opinion, you don't need to touch those dirty, risky, and old businesses at all. You should cling to Ms. Catherine's leg and stick to her like glue."

Let's put aside other things for now and just talk about this movie.

For most people, the amount of money needed to invest in a movie is far too much—an astronomical sum that they might not earn in a few years, a decade, or even a lifetime.

But for a wealthy woman like Ms. Catherine, investing in a film is just pocket change.

It might not even be as much as the money she casually donated to universities…”

Walter shook his head, withdrew his hand, picked up his glass, and took a sip.

He originally thought that Owen was a smart guy who would stick with Catherine and even make a name for himself in the film industry step by step with her support.

But to my surprise, all the other party was thinking about was how to make money, and they ignored the gold mine that was Catherine.

Every time he tried to brag to the other man about how he rose to the top of his life by picking up girls and starting a film company when he was young, he never expected that this boring young man, Irving, would always bring the topic back to him. As a result, the alcohol-fueled Walter lost all desire to continue chatting with Irving.

He then called two blonde dancers and prepared to find a private room to discuss life together.

Seeing this, Irving breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that things had to be done step by step. For him now, only by successfully completing the film and receiving his salary could he truly have the first capital to start a business.

Having figured this out, he stood up, looked at Walter Jr. who was about to head to the private room, and shrugged. "You're right, Mr. Walter Jr., I really need to stick close to Ms. Catherine."

"But since we're already here, we should enjoy ourselves while we can. I've thought it through: I want three blondes. But let's make it clear first, I don't have much money on me right now, so you'll have to treat me this time..."

"Oh, no problem!" Seeing that his words had an instructive effect on Irving, Walter immediately burst into laughter and patted his chest.

"Come on, buddy, I'll take you backstage and call up two hot dancers waiting to perform, so you can see what 'Miami style' really means!"