Everyone returned to the hotel in the evening and went to the supermarket here to do some shopping the next morning. Then they went to the rented villa to decorate and clean it.
Chen Feng wanted to pay a cleaner to come and clean it, but Zhou Qianru said it was not necessary and the four of them could come together.
It’s not that the villa is unclean, it’s just that it hasn’t been occupied for a while, so there will inevitably be some dust. Use a vacuum cleaner to suck up the dust, mop the floor, and then wipe all parts of the room with a cloth, and it’s almost done.
Four people, including Chen Feng and Brina, all participated in the cleaning and cleaning.
It seemed easy to clean, but everyone was busy until noon and still hadn't finished cleaning.
Originally, the first meal could only be left until the evening, and everyone ate takeout at noon.
After lunch, everyone continued their efforts and worked for more than two hours before finally cleaning the huge villa.
So, when everyone sat down to rest together, Chen Feng suggested that next time there is such a cleaning, he should spend some money to hire a professional cleaner.
This time, Zhou Qianru didn't object anymore. She was also very tired.
She has basically never done such housework before, mainly because this villa is a bit too big. Even four people are exhausted.
Chen Feng even felt the need to hire a servant specifically responsible for cleaning the room.
As soon as he mentioned this idea, Brina reminded him that if he really wanted to hire cleaners, he must hire them from a regular housekeeping company. If he hired illegal immigrants for cheap, he would probably bring safety risks to himself, pointing out that
From time to time, a group of masked gangsters will come to your door with guns, or your home will be robbed.
There have been many such cases in America.
The reason why masked gangsters suddenly came to the door with guns was because the illegal immigrant cleaners provided clues and even cooperated directly.
Although the crime rate in Houston is at the lower level among large cities in the United States, it is relatively speaking.
In the entire state of Texas, which has simple folk customs, Houston's crime rate ranks among the highest.
Fortunately, this is a wealthy community, with police patrolling 24 hours a day, and the family also has Miao Na, a professional bodyguard with a gun.
With such a configuration, as long as you don't go out frequently, especially don't go to areas with poor public security, your personal safety is basically guaranteed.
Zhou Qianru originally thought that Chen Feng was right and it was necessary to hire a cleaning lady, but after hearing what Brina said, she immediately gave up the idea and made it clear that there was no need to hire one.
She has nothing to do if she stays here. She just takes the time to clean once in a while, just as exercise. I don't think it is necessary to do such a big cleaning every day.
Chen Feng thought about it and let it go.
In the evening, Zhou Qianru and Brina cooked together for everyone.
Because the supermarket I went to before basically didn’t have those domestic seasonings, this time except for rice, most of the other dishes were cooked, and only two dishes were Chinese stir-fries: fried beef with green pepper and tomato and egg soup.
After eating, everyone gathered around the tea room on the second floor. There is also a TV here, and you can watch TV programs from all over the world, including TV stations in the Dragon Kingdom.
Just considering Brina's feelings, everyone just watched American TV programs and learned English by the way.
The four of them stayed here together until almost ten o'clock before going back to their rooms to sleep.
Not long after returning to the room, Brianna unexpectedly sent another message asking if she should leave the door open for her at night.
Chen Feng thought for a while but still refused. It had been two nights in a row and he still needed a little rest.
In addition, Zhou Qianru is next door. Chen Feng felt that sleeping with Brina on the first day he moved in was somewhat disrespectful to Zhou Qianru.
After Brina received Chen Feng's message, she simply said good night and said nothing more.
Chen Feng checked several unread messages from China in his room and only replied to Wu Mengting and Sun Xiaorui.
The others had nothing important to do, and Chen Feng did not reply as usual.
Then, he went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face, turned his cell phone on silent, and lay down to sleep.
Chen Feng woke up at almost seven o'clock the next morning and finally restored the biological clock he had developed in China.
Get up, wash up, put on the sports clothes I brought specially from China, then go downstairs and go for a run.
At this moment, in the villa, except for Miao Na, the bodyguard, who was already up, Brina and Zhou Qianru were not up yet.
Along the road in the wealthy community here, Chen Feng started running in circles.
During this period, he met several men and women who were also jogging with him, some old and some young. Three of them greeted him enthusiastically and said good morning, and Chen Feng also smiled and nodded.
This made Chen Feng feel that the people here were at least very warm on the surface and not difficult to get along with.
But Chen Feng really didn't want to get to know these foreigners.
When he was almost done running, Chen Feng ran back to the rented villa.
It was almost half past seven, and Brina had gotten up and was sitting in the restaurant on the first floor having breakfast. Zhou Qianru hadn't gotten up yet.
"Did you go out for a run?" Brina looked at Chen Feng with some surprise. She didn't know that Chen Feng had the habit of running in the morning.
"Yes, are you surprised?" Chen Feng asked with a smile.
Brina nodded and said, "Yeah, I didn't expect you to go out for a run early in the morning on your first day here. Let's go for a run together tomorrow."
"Do you also like to run in the morning?" Chen Feng asked.
"Of course." Brina nodded, "I have been in the habit of running in the morning since I was a child, together with my father."
"Okay, let's run together tomorrow. Get up at seven in the morning. Is that okay?"
"certainly."
Chen Feng would certainly not refuse to have a beauty like Brina accompany him for a morning jog.
First, I went upstairs to take a shower, and then came down to have breakfast. Brina prepared bread, milk, bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches, all of which were high in calories.
Chen Feng didn't care. After quickly solving the battle, he said to Brina: "I plan to go out and buy a lottery ticket later to try my luck. Can you tell me about the lottery here in America?
?”
Chen Feng was planning to make money here. Buying lottery tickets was undoubtedly the easiest way, and at the same time, he really wanted to try his luck.
See if your good luck is still there, or if it still has the effect after moving abroad.
The last two times he went to Europe, he encountered thrilling things. It seemed that his good luck was not very effective, or there was something else to say.
But last time he never thought about making money by buying lottery tickets abroad.
Now that he has actual needs for money, or dollars, he plans to give it a try.
"Why did you suddenly think of buying lottery tickets?" Brina was a little confused.
Chen Feng said casually: "I dreamed yesterday that I won a lottery ticket here, so I wanted to give it a try. What if I win? However, I don't know much about your lottery tickets, especially now.
As a foreigner, if he wins a lottery ticket here, will he have to pay more tax than a native of your country?"
Chen Feng asked this because he planned to let Linna, a Chinese, receive the prize if he, a foreigner, has a high tax rate.
From this point of view, Chen Feng still trusts Brynna.
Of course, this also has something to do with Chen Feng's current misappropriation of money, not to mention the money he earned from casually buying lottery tickets.
After thinking for a while, Brina replied: "As far as I know, the taxes and fees for foreigners who win lottery tickets here are similar to those of our own people. You have to know that the taxes here are very high. Like buying lottery tickets
If you win a big prize in the lottery, you may end up paying a total of 35% tax, including federal tax, state tax, and city tax."
Chen Feng couldn't help but clicked his tongue slightly when he heard this: "So high?"
The domestic income tax of 20% seems very high, but I didn’t expect it to be even higher here, so much higher.
Brina nodded and said, "Of course. The taxes here are so high. Those office workers have to pay almost this much tax every month. For example, if you earn 10,000 dollars a month, the federal side will have to pay
25% income tax, in addition to state tax withholding, plus 7.65% Social Security and Medicare taxes.
In all these cases, a monthly pre-tax income of 10,000 U.S. dollars may only end up putting down 60% or even less. This is a very common situation.
Of course, when it comes to filing taxes, each taxpayer's situation is different. You can refund some tax according to your actual situation, but of course you may also need to make up for the tax.
Generally speaking, individuals in the United States are mainly taxed on two types of income: general income and capital income.
Earning money from working is general income, and buying stocks and funds is capital income. The tax rate for general income is up to 37%, and the tax rate for capital income is up to 23.8%.
It can be seen from this tax rate that our country encourages people to speculate in stocks."
Brina, a local native, introduced the tax rate here, and Chen Feng had a general understanding.
The tax rate for winning big prizes in this lottery is really a bit high, but how can I put it, some profits are definitely better than none.
Anyway, if his luck is the same here, buying lottery tickets is tantamount to robbing money for him.
"I understand, the tax rate for this lottery is a bit high. However, let's buy a few and try our luck."
Brina smiled and said: "Looking at you, you seem to be sure that you can win the lottery."
Chen Feng smiled confidently and said: "Of course, my dreams have always been more effective."
"Really?" Brina asked curiously.
"Really. If you don't believe it, you will know when I buy a lottery ticket and win."
Seeing Chen Feng's confident look, Brina felt a little excited. She stood up and said, "Okay, let's go buy a few now."
Chen Feng also stood up, and just as he was about to go out with Brina, he heard Zhou Qianru's voice from behind: "Where are you going?"
Chen Feng said: "How many lottery tickets are you going to buy?"
"Lottery?" Zhou Qianru was confused.
"Yes, let's try our luck. Brina and I will go back as soon as we go. You can have breakfast first. There is food in the kitchen."
"I'm not very hungry yet, I'll go with you."
When Chen Feng saw this, he did not refuse.
So, the four of them went out together.
There are many places to buy lottery tickets in America. There is a convenience store not far from the community here that sells lottery tickets. There are also some restaurants and gas stations that sell lottery tickets. Basically every gas station here sells lottery tickets.
Under Brina's introduction, Chen Feng chose a lottery with a not particularly high prize.
Otherwise, if you win hundreds of millions of dollars, it will be on the news, and they have regulations here where you have to take photos and show your face when accepting the prize.
Chen Feng didn't want to be targeted by bad guys because of this.
The more popular lotteries here are Super Lotto and Powerball, of which Powerball once had a jackpot of US$2.04 billion.
What Chen Feng bought this time was Mega Millions. The top prize is a cumulative bonus, starting at at least US$1,200. The second prize is US$1 million, as long as all five numbers are matched.
A bet was $2. Chen Feng spent $100 and randomly selected 50 bets.
Brina followed suit and bought 5 bets for 10 US dollars, and Zhou Qianru also spent 20 US dollars to buy 10 bets.
Only Miao Na resisted the temptation of getting something for nothing and did not buy it together.
The lottery will be drawn at ten o'clock tonight. Chen Feng and the three of them were looking forward to it. They went back to the villa chatting and laughing, waiting to see the lottery results in the evening.
"Chen, I don't believe you can win the first prize. Even if you buy so much."
As soon as she came back and sat down, Brina said this to Chen Feng directly.
Chen Feng shrugged nonchalantly and said, "If I don't win, it's even more impossible for you to win."
Brina smiled and shook her head and said: "I didn't have high hopes, otherwise I wouldn't have bought it for only $10."
Zhou Qianru also smiled and said: "I bought it as a joke, and I didn't expect to win the lottery. But I am also looking forward to tonight's lottery result."
Chen Feng looked at Brina and said, "How about we make a bet?"
Brina looked at him slightly and asked, "What bet?"
Chen Feng said: "If I win one million, you will stay with me for a year and be my personal assistant. Don't worry, I will give you a satisfactory reward."
Brynn was stunned and looked at him slightly surprised. She didn't know how to answer for a while.
In her heart, she didn't want to have long-term contact with Chen Feng, lest she develop true feelings for him.
I accompanied him to Houston this time just to help and relax.
She had even planned to stay here for a few more days and then return to Los Angeles. After that, she had no choice but to return to Xiuzhou and never see Chen Feng again.
But now Chen Feng suddenly proposed this bet, leaving her wondering whether she should accept it or not.
"What?" Chen Feng teased with a smile, "Don't you think I won't win the jackpot? You should know that the probability of winning one million is very low, even if I spent a hundred dollars to buy 50 bets."
When Brina heard what Chen Feng said, she thought about it and thought it was true. She really didn't believe that Chen Feng could win a million dollars by buying lottery tickets for a hundred dollars.
However, she still asked: "Then what if you don't win a million?"
"How about I lose you $10,000? Your chances of winning are pretty good. Besides, no matter you win or lose, you make money."
Brina frowned slightly and said, "I don't want money. If you lose, how about you stay with me for a year at America? That's only fair."
This time it was Chen Feng's turn to be stunned, and she really defeated an entire army.
If Chen Feng had 100% confidence in winning one million this time, he would not have spent $100 to buy so many lottery tickets.
It was precisely because it was not 100% that he bought so many at once.
"What? Don't you dare?" Brina teased in a similar way.