Without hesitation, Tony, who claimed to have a way to get cheap goods, directed 'Muffler' to drive the car out of the city. They drove around the maze-like interior of a junkyard before finally stopping in a very secluded spot.
A well-maintained 1988 Jeep Cherokee came into view with an imposing presence. Several black men who looked like they weren't exactly friendly surrounded him. Don't get me wrong, they were just discussing business. The leader, nicknamed "Rat," quoted Tony four thousand dollars, and it looked like he could negotiate it down further.
"WTF!" Song Ya sensed something was wrong. A new Cherokee should cost around $20,000, and a used one shouldn't be this cheap...
The silencer' beside him sensed Song Ya's doubt and quietly made a 'pocket-reaching' gesture.
"So that's a stolen car?"
Alex was starting to regret it. He had gotten carried away after receiving a large sum of money, letting Tony do whatever he wanted. He had only four thousand five hundred yuan in his pocket and dared to swagger into a place like this to pick up a stolen car...
He got carried away, and Tony got even more carried away. Not only did he have a great time chatting with "Rat," but he also took the "hand-rolled leaf" that the other man handed him and started smoking it. When he got really into it, he went and took out the gun that was hidden in the "Silencer" car and got into the new Cherokee.
"This car has really nice interior space. Alex, where do you think would be a good place to hide the gun? This? This?"
He excitedly stuffed the gun under the driver's seat to test it, but it didn't feel right, so he climbed to the back seat to find a place to hide it.
"Hey! Hey! Let's not buy it, let's go!"
Alex was furious. She dragged him into the 'Muffler' car and yelled, "Are you an idiot? This car is so new, it'll be gone in less than three days if it's parked in front of our house!" She shouted the made-up excuse, deliberately letting 'Rat' and the others hear her.
"It's not that exaggerated..."
Tony was still reluctant to leave, but Alex kept winking at him and finally managed to persuade him to get in the car. "Forget it, my brother has a problem here." He even pointed to his head at 'Rat' and the others, "Thank you for your help."
"It's okay, brother."
The 'rat' didn't say anything, just waved them away.
As soon as they left the vehicle disposal plant, the two had the most intense argument Alex had ever had since his transmigration.
"You made me lose face just now, you know that?!"
Perhaps the leaves hadn't calmed down yet, because Tony practically yelled at them to express his dissatisfaction, "Since I brought you here, there's absolutely no problem. There are plenty of stolen cars in South Down, the police can't handle them all. Apart from the time 'ET' was killed, have any police cars ever entered our neighborhood? They don't dare to come in..."
"Look at yourself now! You're gambling on a probability event!"
Alex was also furious. "Have you thought about what would happen if we were pulled over by the police while driving that car?" He counted on his fingers. "The car was stolen, there was someone inside who smelled strongly of tobacco, and there was a gun hidden in the back seat! Have you thought about how many years we could spend in jail just for these things?! Let me tell you, I have a bright future ahead of me, and I don't want to get stuck in this mess for no reason!"
"Wow wow wow wow!"
Tony clapped his hands nonstop. "APLUS really made a fortune! What's wrong? Starting to complain that your brother is holding you back? Let me tell you! Without me, would your song even have a chance to be sung by Lori? I'm your brother, and I'm always in charge here! And haven't you noticed that Lori has distanced herself from us because of you? Silencer' and I are both making sacrifices for you!"
"Okay, okay, okay, you're resentful about sacrificing a chance to be a follower, but you're blind to the danger of potentially dragging yourself and your brother into jail?"
"How many times have I told you? That's not a lackey, that's a brother! Little Lowry and I are brothers!"
"He's just a lackey, no matter how nicely you put it."
"We're brothers! We're partners! Little Lowry is a star! We're his star partners!"
"attendant..."
Just as the noise was reaching its peak, the 'muffler' suddenly brought the car to a stop.
Turning my head, I realized we had driven into a huge used car market.
"FXXXYOU!"
"FXXX!"
The two slammed the door and got out of the car, but stopped arguing. The salesman was already coming to greet them.
"Pickup truck".
The silencer' headed straight for the pickup truck area.
"Hmm?" Alex was drawn to the Volkswagen logo on a pickup truck. "Wow! How much can that logo be worth? Hmm, not bad, really not bad. I wonder if it burns oil? Huh? Why am I having this thought..."
"Young man, you have a good eye! The Volkswagen Katie, we have a huge discount on this car..." The salesman immediately started to persuade him.
"Stop looking at that, a two-seater pickup truck isn't enough for us." Tony stood next to a Ford pickup truck and called Alex over.
After much deliberation, I finally settled on a Ford four-seater pickup truck. It was eight years old and its condition was only so-so, but it was cheap, costing just over two thousand yuan for everything.
N*Ger's anger came and went quickly. By the time Tony got into his 'new' car, he was acting like nothing had happened, humming a little tune and constantly testing out the car's various features. "Where do we go next?" he asked.
With a considerable amount of money left, Alex thought for a moment, "Let's go to the second hand appliance market. We already have a refrigerator at home, so let's get a washing machine too. That way, Aunt Susie won't have to carry a huge pile of clothes to the public laundry room and squeeze in with everyone else."
"Yeah!" Tony said, turning the steering wheel. "Alex, you're a good brother. To be honest, I used to think the same way you do now, probably... back in seventh grade? Silencer' and I were tall and strong for our age, the main players on the football team. We only wanted to get a college scholarship through football and even play professionally. It was with that belief that we were able to resist all kinds of temptations in the ghetto, gangs, drugs, petty theft... But then everything changed. Our peers gradually caught up in height, and I couldn't control my body fat. There was no hope for a scholarship, and our path was blocked... Day after day, we ended up like this."
"I understand." Alex bumped fists with Tony, and the two smiled at each other.
At the second hand appliance market, they first picked out a front-loading washing machine and an oven. Alex gave Silencer' a VCR, bought Tony a Famicom and a small TV, and chose an electronic metronome, a guitar, a trumpet, and some other miscellaneous items for himself.
Since transmigrating, he's been living a life of dealing with second hand goods. Even his first transmigration perk was a song about second hand stores. This was partly because the second hand market in the US is incredibly rich and convenient, and partly because he couldn't keep new things in his home, especially new appliances. The welfare agency staff would conduct regular inspections and random checks, and if they found a significant improvement in living standards or if the male head of the household was no longer a single parent, his welfare payments would drop drastically. With Alex current income, it was far from enough to lift his entire family out of welfare and into a comfortable life, so new appliances were out of the question.
After finishing his personal matters, Alex focused his main energy on recording songs, which was his top priority at the moment. He hadn't been to school for many days because of it, but it didn't matter. The school had contacted Sussie's aunt once, and since the guardian had no objections, they let it go.
A few days later, the version brought back from the professional mixing studio received unanimous approval, which meant that Lowry's new album, which he had been working day and night to finish, was finally ready for production.
Old Joe and Pablo had gone to the factory, and the recording studio returned to calm. Exhausted, Alex and Eric collapsed on the sofa, not wanting to move at all.
Actually, this version is still quite different from the original in Alex mind. Perhaps it's due to technology, but the sound quality of Joe's chorus and Morgan's saxophone is not as penetrating as the original. To put it simply, it's not catchy enough. There are also many other shortcomings. Little Lowry's rap part is naturally not as good as the original. Alex couldn't give too much guidance during the recording, after all, he was a complete newcomer and had to consider the relationship between the two parties.
Anyway, he felt that this song was unlikely to reach the heights of the original, but that was all he could do; he would just do his best.
"Hey, Eric." He suddenly remembered what Old Joe had said about Eric picking up girls.
"What?" Eric was almost asleep.
"Those girls downstairs, do you really think you can just pick any one of them and hook up with her on the spot?"
"Pretty much, do you want to learn?"
"Um..."
Eric laughed. "Still pretending with me? You little pervert, come on, I'll teach you, it's not hard at all."