American Entertainment 1982

On the third day, Tommy Hawke received a call from Tony from Yarmouth, Canada. It was similar to what Tommy judged. There was a complete cigarette sales network there, but Tony was a little upset. He was very sorry. Willingly.

Because according to Tommy’s confession, Tony first arrived in Portland, across the bay from Yarmouth, Canada. It was only the second day after he revealed to the local paid Italian tour guide that his home was in Missouri, USA. Some Italians who run a grocery store in Portland took the initiative to chat with him, chatting about the cigarette business that is very common between the United States and Canada.

It's very simple. Missouri is a big tobacco-growing province in the United States, and it's also the place with the lowest tobacco tax in the entire United States. Tony said that his family lives in Missouri. In the eyes of these Italians, it can already show that his family is likely to be engaged in cigarette-related business. , either planting tobacco leaves or processing tobacco leaves.

If it is true, then the two parties can cooperate to sell cigarettes to Canada.

This kind of cigarette business is so common that even the Canadian government has become numb. After all, even the U.S. government can withstand its own strong indignation every year, and has the cheek to treat the American Tobacco Company’s processing ship coming to the high seas near Canada to produce cigarettes for several months. No way, how could they expect Yankees under such a powerful government to respect Canadian laws.

Take Marlboro cigarettes as an example. Nearly 30% of the Marlboro cigarettes smoked by Canadian smokers are not purchased through formal channels recognized by the Canadian government.

That is to say, Canada approves the import of 5 million boxes of Marlboro every year, but the statistics show that the country has sold 6.5 million boxes. Where did the extra 1.5 million boxes that have not paid taxes come from? Already obvious.

And Canadian smokers are also keen to buy this kind of imported cigarettes of unknown origin. It is not that Canadian smokers are not patriotic, but the money in their pockets is not worthy of making them love Canada.

Tobacco taxes in Canada are too high. New Yorkers in the United States spend less than four dollars on a pack of Marlboro, and smokers can’t help but greet the mayor with foul language. In Canada, a pack of Marlboro sold through regular channels now costs five dollars. .

If you feel that the price of American products is too high, you can only buy local Canadian cigarette brands such as Belmont with the same taste as Shit.

Moreover, in order to prevent more smokers from supporting domestic products, the American Tobacco Company even planned an operation that caused the Canadian government to swear. The survey report widely advertised to the Canadian people, saying that after the survey and comparison, it was found that regular smoking of Belmont cigarettes is likely to cause irreversible and serious damage to the heart.

The entire survey report is short of directly stating the words "Treasure your own life, please buy American brand cigarettes."

Tony was very happy that his fellow Italians in Portland thought he was a visitor from Missouri, because he thought that the other party was going to negotiate business with him at the price of Marlboros legally sold in Missouri.

For this reason, he, who is not good at mathematics, deliberately calculated the income. The normal price of a pack of Marlboro in Missouri is 2.6 US dollars a pack, but they only get 40 cents from the factory. Nearly two dollars, one earns nearly twenty dollars, one box earns nearly one thousand dollars, and two hundred boxes is 180,000 yuan.

But he soon discovered that the idiot was not the Italians, but himself. The local Italians had long been used to this kind of business and knew the ex-factory prices of tobacco factories. Like a fool who rushes into the supermarket on Black Friday, he buys as much as he hears the price of 2.4 per box.

Especially after hearing that Tony was only willing to trade near the high seas of Yarmouth, and even refused to sail into the territorial waters, the other party directly quoted a price of more than 275 US dollars per box, which made Tony almost uncontrollable and wanted to run away on the spot. low price.

"Tommy, a box of Marlboro in Canada costs five dollars, but they only pay us fifty-five cents per box." After hearing that Tommy agreed to cooperate at this price, Tony on the phone said very unwillingly : "The profits are all made by those profiteers."

"Tony, you can't go to Canada to sell a box by yourself. Smokers also need profits. Since we have decided to trade in the safest and safest way, we must be prepared to give more profits to those who take risks. Get ready." Tommy Hawke said calmly, "I don't find it strange to trade at this price."

"I asked if we could deliver to the city they designated..." Tony said.

Before Tony could finish speaking, Tommy interrupted him decisively: "No, it's on the high seas, don't step into it for more than one kilometer."

"Then watch them make hundreds of thousands or even more with our goods?" Tony breathed heavily on the phone: "Tommy, as long as..."

Tommy Hawk interrupted Tony again, and said in a slow tone: "Tony, take a deep breath, calm down, and think about it differently. You can earn 15,000 yuan just by driving a fishing boat out to sea. Bank interest and expenses, we can get 14,000 yuan, and before that, you only earned 80 yuan a week, and I only earned 3 yuan per hour by working part-time. We use a day and night to earn a lot of people a year There is already a lot of money that you may not be able to make, never be too greedy, you have to control money, not be dominated by money, and don’t get lost in your mind by those numbers.”

"That's right, there are already a lot, don't be greedy." Tony tried to take a few deep breaths over the phone, and then asked with some uncertainty.

Tommy said: "Think about what you warned me, don't do stupid things. We're going to come back with the money and bring Bethea home instead of sending ourselves to a Canadian prison for doing stupid things, thinking Think of Ashley, think of her."

"OK, you're right, brother." Tommy calmed down: "I can't control myself when I hear those numbers, my God, you're right, OK, remember the communication station of the other fishing boat With the intercom channel, I will wait for you on the fishing boat, when are you going to set off?"

Tommy Hawke glanced at the clock on the wall, and the hour hand pointed to eleven o'clock at noon: "I will go to sea at three o'clock in the afternoon, and I will arrive at the Gulf of Maine at two or three o'clock in the morning, you can go to sleep now , and you will drive the boat on the return journey."

"Let those bastards make more money, I want... Shit! I forgot another thing, see Tommy then!" Tony suddenly remembered something, and hung up the phone in a hurry.

Putting the handset back in place, putting away the contact records he had just made, Tommy Hawke got up and picked up the suitcase that he had prepared long ago, filled with clothes and tools to keep out the cold in the middle of the night, before he could take a step, the master bedroom The door had already opened, and Melonie came out with a life jacket in her left hand and a large trolley case in her right hand.

"First of all, you should know that Tony and I know how to drive a fishing boat out to sea at the age of fourteen, which is more proficient than driving a car, right?" Tommy glanced at the life jacket in the other party's hand: "Secondly, in the sea area we are driving, the number of offshore fishing boats is higher than that of a car." There are so many fish, you may be killed by countless life buoys thrown by passing fishing boats in less than 30 seconds after you fall into the water, your current appearance is very hurtful."

Melonie opened the door of the apartment, stepped out of the house first, and said without looking back: "This is a mockery, Tommy, you are so smart, can't you see that this is a response to your distrust of me last time."