America 1929: John F. Kennedy, the Great Writer

"...President Hoover reiterated yesterday that the fundamentals of our economy are healthy. This prosperity is not a flash in the pan..."

Listening to the radio, Arthur Kennedy was speechless for a moment.

Although he hadn't studied history well before he transmigrated, he still knew roughly what kind of person Hoover was.

After all, this man was a stepping stone for Franklin Roosevelt, the father of American homeless people and the great savior of America, who pioneered the "Hoovertown" and "Hooverville" initiatives.

He is a well-known figure worldwide.

Therefore, the Hoover administration's words on the radio should absolutely not be believed. It's better to believe that there really was something between Trump and Kelvin.

If all goes well, those who believe Hoover will soon be able to enjoy a healthy outdoor lifestyle on benches in Central Park.

Arthur rubbed his temples; he hadn't fully processed the memories in this body yet.

He discovered he had traveled through time last night.

Good news: The original owner worked for a daily newspaper, and he still knows that today is October 22, 1929.

The bad news: He's not good at history and only knows that the US stock market crashed in October 1929, but he doesn't know the exact date it started.

He was still pondering how to deal with the impending Great Depression when suddenly, his boss, William Hearst, roared throughout the entire editorial office.

"Damn it! Why haven't we found a replacement article for tomorrow's morning financial news section?!"

"Thomas! How's that idiot who got food poisoning doing now?"

Editor-in-Chief Thomas Duane poked his head out of his office: "Still in the hospital. The doctor said he needs to stay in bed for at least three days."

"Damn it!" Hearst slammed his fist on the table and then walked into the editorial office area.

"All of you!"

Hearst made a large circle with his hand.

"Financial news, social news, sports news, even entertainment news! Anyone who can read, write for me! Any topic is fine, just anything related to money—stocks, the market, the economy, anything!"

"Submit it to my desk before 8 PM. The one I choose will receive twenty dollars!"

A series of suppressed gasps filled the office.

Twenty dollars!

Keep in mind that an assistant editor's weekly salary is only twenty dollars.

With such a generous reward, some people immediately became eager to try. The sound of typing sporadically began, then grew louder and louder, like ten thousand hamsters chewing at the same time.

Arthur stared at his blank manuscript paper, his mind completely blank.

Twenty dollars was very tempting to him. Although the original owner's salary wasn't low, he was always broke.

This morning, when his landlady urged him to pay the rent, Arthur counted the money in his pocket and realized he was still $15 short.

However, as someone who had traveled from another time, his understanding of the American economy in 1929 was limited to the fact that it was "about to collapse," without knowing exactly when or how it would collapse.

The original owner did graduate from the Department of Economics at New York University, but his memories were fragmented, leaving only some scattered terms and formulas.

What to write? How to compose it?

If the financial section really gets a blank page, will I be fired?

As an Irishman, it wasn't easy for the original owner to find a decent job in old Manhattan, New York.

What did the old Stars and Stripes people call the Irish?

White black guy!

They didn't treat them like family at all; they wanted to send them all to the port to work as laborers.

Although his surname was Kennedy, his family were just farmers in Pennsylvania.

He has virtually no connection to financial tycoon Joseph Kennedy, let alone being the current president of JFK who is still a middle school student.

If I get caught up in this and fired, it will be really hard for me to find a job.

Just then, a voice suddenly rang in his mind.

[Ding~ Host detected at a crucial juncture in their life]

[Conditions met, system is binding... Binding successful]

[Monthly Check-in System Activated]

Arthur paused for a moment.

The system? Did it arrive so promptly?

[New Player Guide Begins: You can sign in on the 1st of each month. Each sign-in grants one chance to win prizes, including skills, items, and information.]

[Host detected to be facing an urgent mission; new player gift pack issued ahead of schedule]

[Start now?]

This system is quite user-friendly; it gives you benefits right from the start.

Arthur silently chanted in his mind: Activate.

[Newcomer Reward: Sharp-Tongued Critic (Master)]

[Skill Description: Acquire top-tier commentary writing skills, adept at using sharp, humorous, and incisive language to analyze the essence of things]

A flood of information rushed into Arthur's mind.

Those Weibo hot comments, forum posts, and viral articles he used to stay up all night reading, those incisive metaphors, the progressively logical arguments, and the emotionally charged headlines...

And all sorts of satirical jokes from both China and the West were thrown in all at once.

A sharp-tongued critic...

When everyone is optimistic about the stock market, writing a critique of it is a novel approach, but you can't openly criticize it, as that would be off-putting.

Arthur blinked, and when he looked at the blank manuscript again, he suddenly had an idea: why not adapt that classic satirical story?

Fan Jin's Success in the Imperial Examination.

Some stock market investors dream of making a fortune in the stock market, just like Fan Jin who was single-mindedly focused on passing the imperial examination. This kind of fanaticism is fundamentally the same.

It's just that Fan Jin, having passed the imperial examination, still has a few more years of good life ahead of him, while American stock market investors probably only have less than a month left.

The American economy is even less hopeful than the officialdom depicted in The Scholars.

Using Fan Jin's success in the imperial examination to satirize the US stock market is a similar approach, isn't it?

He flexed his fingers, took a deep breath, and typed the title:

Van Dyke's Chinese Stocks.

But then he stopped. This kind of anti-mainstream article can't use a real name. It needs a pen name. It needs to be both satirical and memorable.

He thought of Van Dyke, the honest and unassuming character in the story who eventually went insane. He thought of those well-dressed "honest men" on Wall Street.

A brilliant pen name popped into my head.

An honest man on Wall Street.

Brilliant. There are no honest people on Wall Street. The pseudonym itself is ironic, yet it's not immediately obvious.

He retyped his signature under the title: An Honest Man of Wall Street.

After writing the last sentence, he glanced at the clock: 4:15 PM. He carefully proofread it, revised a few wordings, and then pulled the manuscript from the typewriter.

My palms are already starting to swell. Without Ctrl's help, relying solely on the mechanical typewriter, the workload is considerable.

He took his manuscript and headed towards Hearst's office. The office door was open, and a manuscript box sat by the door, already piled high with manuscripts. Arthur placed his manuscript on top and turned to leave.

"Mr. Kennedy?"

Dorothy, the receptionist, called out to him. This middle-aged woman, who usually ignored him, unusually spoke up today.

"You submitted your manuscript too?" Dorothy glanced at the submission inbox. "Let me see... Honest Man of Wall Street? Is that your pen name?"

Arthur nodded: "Just something I thought of."

Dorothy laughed: "That's an interesting pen name. Good luck."

Arthur thanked him and was about to return to his seat when Jason, the editor-in-chief of the financial section, came out from the office next door.

"Janedy, perfect."

Jason held a notebook in his hand, his face serious.

"There's an urgent interview at the Brooklyn docks about the impact of import tariff adjustments on port trade. If you go now, it might be very late tonight."

Arthur's heart sank. Now? 4:15 PM? The results are due at 5 PM.

But looking at Jason's unquestionable expression, he knew it was intentional.

It's just that the results are about to be announced, and no one wants to go out on fieldwork, so they sent the most junior assistant editor, since they don't think Arthur can be selected either.

He returned to his seat to gather his things. Jimmy, sitting opposite him, leaned over and asked, "Where are you going?"

"Brooklyn Pier, Interview"

"Now?" Jimmy's eyes widened. "So you're not waiting for the results?"

Arthur shrugged: "The editor-in-chief's order."