002 The future of the next generation of the Hall family
In the days that followed, in addition to going to school, Aldrich went to bars with his two brothers to watch football games at night. Although he was disgusted with the chaos of the East London community, since he became a member here, he naturally went with the flow.
As the World Cup in Mexico progresses, Aldridge seems absent-minded. His eldest brother comes home with a smile every day after watching the game. The teams he bets on all qualify well, and Andrew even shouts about victory every day when he comes home.
When Arthur and Amelia saw the children, they also knew that they were betting on football following the craze of the World Cup. The two parents did not criticize them harshly, but only warned them not to indulge in it, and not to have dreams of getting rich overnight.
The Hall family is actually a working class person with no advanced culture or connotation. The neighbors in the community are from all walks of life. Betting, drinking, and occasionally getting into fights are all normal things, as long as they don't join a gang.
, adults will not teach their children a lesson if they are not involved in illegal business.
When the group stage was over, Barnett returned home a little helplessly and gave Andrew one hundred and forty pounds, which Andrew had won after counting the principal.
Andrew took the money and said to his elder brother with a smile: "Don't be discouraged, who would have thought that Portugal would go home?"
Barnett shrugged and said indifferently: "It's just a pity that I only won less than two hundred pounds."
The only thing Barnett was wrong about was Group F. He thought Portugal and England would have no problem qualifying. In fact, Portugal defeated England in the first game and had great prospects for qualifying. Who would have thought that in the end they would lose two games in a row and return to their hometown?
Andrew was much luckier. He only picked England to advance to the knockout rounds. That night when Portugal defeated England, he didn't sleep well all night. This made Aldridge, who was in the same room with him, dumbfounded, and in turn comforted him.
one night.
After winning money, he wanted to win more. Andrew ran into the bedroom and smiled at Aldridge who was sitting in a daze at the desk: "Guess the top eight next."
Aldridge came to his senses and said helplessly: "The three teams that are most certain are Argentina, England, and West Germany. Don't guess about the other teams."
He only remembers the championship and runner-up, and Argentina did not meet England in the quarter-finals, which means that England must have advanced.
Andrew thought for a while and nodded: "Well, it's up to you. I'll tell my brother."
Aldrich looked at the back of his second brother running out of the bedroom like a storm, and said to himself: "What will I do in the future?"
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person. His only interest was football. Although Aldridge is now only ten years old biologically, he is very resistant to going to school step by step.
When the quarter-finals came to an end, Barnett and Andrew were overjoyed. Apparently they had won money again.
When they excitedly appeared in front of Aldrich to discuss the top four teams, Aldrich could only say helplessly: "West Germany and Argentina are the only two teams that are sure."
Barnett seemed a little reluctant and said: "Argentina may not be able to beat England."
Andrew looked at the more than two hundred pounds in his hand. After excluding the principal, he had already earned more than one hundred pounds. For a thirteen-year-old, this was a great achievement, and he did not want to make a hasty choice.
Aldrich didn't say much. He opened the desk drawer, held a lottery ticket in his hand and waved it up, saying, "At this time, don't I support myself?"
More than half a month had passed before Barnett and Andrew remembered the lottery tickets that Aldrich had bet on for the championship and runner-up. Now, looking at it, weren't they the Argentina champion and West Germany runner-up?
The two older brothers were very loyal. Since this was the case, the three brothers united and bought Argentina and West Germany to advance.
On the day of the England-Afghanistan war, Aldrich watched the fans in the bar scold Maradona for being shameless, and was shocked by the miraculous silence after Maradona singled out the English players at half-time. England was eventually eliminated 1:2.
In the bar, Aldrich and his two brothers returned home, just like the fans, but found some comfort in their disappointment.
Although Andrew and Barnett won money, they were not happy. There is nothing more disappointing than the team they support being eliminated.
Now that the matter is over, the teams that advance to the finals don’t need to think too much and continue to support West Germany and Argentina.
When the day of the final arrived, Barnett had more than thirteen hundred pounds, and Andrew had nearly four hundred pounds.
But they were helpless to find that before the World Cup started, the lottery ticket Aldrich placed would have a 65-fold return if it hit. In other words, if Argentina wins the cup, Aldrich will have 6,500 pounds.
Compared with Aldridge watching the final in the bar, Andrew and Barnett were extremely nervous. They kept drinking and cheering for Argentina, although they could only do so in their hearts and did not dare to shout out. After all, they were in the bar.
There are others, who allowed Argentina to cheat and eliminate England.
In the end, Argentina won the Hercules Cup 3:2 against West Germany, and Maradona ascended to the altar to be crowned king. Andrew and Barnett could not restrain their excitement and shouted loudly. Under the astonished expressions in the bar, the three brothers
He quickly fled the bar.
On a midsummer night in the eastern suburbs of London, the three Hall brothers sat on the grass and talked about the fruitful results of the Mexico World Cup. They were holding beer bottles in one hand and fried chicken in the other, and they were so excited that they could not sleep all night.
When the wine was getting thicker, Barnett suddenly stopped smiling, lay on the grass, looked at the vast starry sky, and sighed with a hint of sadness.
Andrew happily counted the pounds in his hand over and over again. Before the World Cup, they only had the 500 pounds that the eldest brother had saved for two years. Now the three brothers have more than 10,000 pounds. Andrew turned the banknotes over and over like a money maniac.
.
Aldrich noticed that his elder brother had become silent, so he stepped forward and asked, "Are you worried?"
Barnett covered his forehead with the back of his hand and said quietly: "I don't want to continue to be a decoration worker."
In the past two years, he has helped Arthur. His specific job is to install glass on customers' doors. No matter how he looks at this job, he has no bright future.
Coupled with the fact that he suddenly earned more than two years of savings, Barnett did not want to be an unknown worker anymore, which was reasonable.
Aldrich asked, "What do you want to do?"
Barnett looked thoughtfully towards the west of London and said with a longing tone: "Do you know who lives in west London?"
"Rich man."
Andrew didn't know how many times he had counted the bills, but he interjected without raising his head.
Aldrich pondered, West London was indeed wealthy, but in terms of professions, apart from the rich, a large proportion of the people there were in a very prestigious profession today: stockbrokers.
Thinking of this, Aldrich suddenly realized: Before the stock market crash next year, this is the time when the stock market is in full swing.
Aldrich smiled at his eldest brother and said, "Just do it if you want to. Your parents will support you."
Although his family is from the working class, if given the opportunity, who wouldn’t want to break away from blue-collar work and advance to white-collar work?
Barnett looked at Aldrich blankly, as if his brother's verbal support had greatly increased his confidence, and he planned to explain his ambition to Arthur after returning home.
Aldrich was not stingy either. He gave all 6,500 pounds to his eldest brother. Andrew followed suit when he saw this. If his eldest brother wanted to start a business, the brothers naturally gave their full support.
Before returning home, Barnett had more than 10,000 pounds in his pocket, which at least gave him a lot of confidence.
Aldrich did not go home, but came to the door of the video store in the community. The store was closed. He knocked on the door gently, and soon the voice of the black man Sander came from inside the store.
"Who? If you want to rent a video tape, please do it tomorrow."
It seemed that Sander was still a little worried, fearing that some unscrupulous person might come to visit.
There are indeed a few scattered gangs in the nearby communities. Even if there are no large-scale gangs like drug smuggling, there are still some who exploit immigrants to collect protection fees.
Aldrich said calmly outside the door: "It's Sander, right? I'm Aldrich. I broke your window at night a month ago, and I came here specifically to apologize."
Sander saw through the window in the store that Aldrich was alone outside the door, so he opened the door carefully and invited Aldrich into the store.
Aldrich looked around at the video store, and he was used to the dazzling array of products in later generations, so this video store was bland.
Sander's eyes were always wary, but Aldrich reiterated that he was here to apologize and bowed sincerely, so Sander accepted it calmly.
Aldrich originally planned to leave after apologizing, but he inadvertently found a row of video tapes on the shelves and walked over. The video tapes were not packaged, but had white paper on the side with the date and two
The name of the team.
Obviously, these are game tapes.
Aldridge looked through the tapes one by one and casually chatted about football with Sander.
When Sander asked: "Are you a Millwall fan?"
Aldrich was silent for half a minute. Finally, he shook his head frankly and said, "No, but my parents and two brothers are."
In this era of lack of entertainment, Aldrich was full of energy at night. He couldn't sleep, but there was no video recorder at home. He thought for a moment and asked Sander: "Are you inviting someone here?"
Xander was stunned, shook his head and said: "I can't afford to ask."
Aldrich continued: "You close your shop very early at night, maybe you are afraid of something happening, right? I have a proposal. I will work for you at night, and I will not be paid a penny, as long as you let me watch the video tape in the store for free."
East London is a mixed bag of dragons and snakes. Sander closed the door early at night because he was really afraid of something happening. Although Aldrich was still a child, he was a local from the nearby community. Although Arthur was just a glass seller, everyone around him knew Hall.
The family members, with Aldrich helping in the store, naturally added a layer of insurance to the store.
After repeatedly confirming with Aldrich, Sander agreed to his proposal.
From then on, Aldridge went to school during the day and worked at Sander at night. In his free time, he watched game tapes. He vaguely had an idea of what kind of career he would pursue in the future.
