In Chicago in February, the weather is still cold.
Although it is now 1943, it is the time when the world war is at its most raging in Europe and Asia.
But as far away from the rear of the battlefield and the most important industrial city in the United States, Chicago is still a scene of singing and dancing.
During the day, the streets are busy with traffic, there are a variety of shops, and gentlemen and beauties come and go. The liveliness is not inferior to that of the 21st century.
If we hadn't seen various war posters posted on the streets from time to time, it would be almost difficult to believe that the largest and most casualty war in history was going on on the other side of the world at this time.
But none of this has anything to do with Josie.
At this time, he was wrapped in a coat that did not fit his figure, walked through the busy street, and got into a roadside shop.
"See if you need anything!" Along with the crisp sound of the doorbell, the elderly shopkeeper in the hall said without raising his head.
This is a grocery store. Everything from scissors and tableware to radios and vinyl records can be seen here, all placed in their respective places in a very orderly manner.
But Josie is not here to buy things, but to sell them.
"I heard you collect gold here!" Qiao Xi walked straight to the counter and asked the old shopkeeper who was playing with an old radio.
After hearing his words, the old shopkeeper raised his head slightly and glanced at him. He was slightly surprised to see a boy of fifteen or sixteen years old, but he still nodded.
Without hesitation, Qiao Xi took out a pocket from his coat and opened it on the counter, revealing the gold jewelry inside.
"Huh? It looks a bit like Indian craftsmanship, but not very similar. Where did you get it?" The old shop owner said in surprise when he saw the gold jewelry in the bag.
"What? Can Indian crafts be worth more?" Josie did not answer, but asked instead.
"No, after all, it is not in line with public aesthetics." The old shop owner shrugged. The public aesthetics here are undoubtedly the aesthetics of white people. The rough Indian craftsmanship cannot attract the attention of those noble ladies, so the fate of these gold
, only the fate of being smelted.
"Then how much can you offer?" Josie asked again. He didn't care about the craftsmanship, because he knew that this was not Indian gold jewelry at all.
"Don't be impatient, kid! Just wait a moment!" the old shopkeeper soothed, then turned around and started rummaging unhurriedly.
When Qiao Xi saw this, he was not in a hurry, because he had also inquired about it before coming here. This was a relatively famous old grocery store in this neighborhood, and it was also a "pawn shop".
And what he wants to sell is only gold, not any illegal items.
Well...if according to the decree issued by Roosevelt ten years ago, it is indeed illegal to buy and sell gold privately, and this law will not be completely abolished until the Nixon era more than twenty years later.
But in fact, since World War II, this law has actually become less stringent than it was at the beginning.
Coupled with the large influx of refugees during the war, the U.S. government also turned a blind eye to private gold transactions, so a small amount of gold transactions are actually very common.
Of course, the safest way is to sell gold to the bank at a price of US$35 per ounce. When converted into grams, one ounce is about twenty-eight grams.
But it would be a huge loss to do so.
Because now the private gold price has already risen to fifty US dollars per ounce.
The difference of fifteen dollars is not a small amount.
After all, the purchasing power of the US dollar in this era is extremely strong.
Taking a big city like Chicago as an example, a set meal with coffee, meat and vegetables in a typical restaurant only costs fifty or sixty cents, and a large hamburger only costs twenty cents.
In other words, for ordinary people, even if they go out to restaurants every day, fifteen dollars is enough to eat and drink for more than a week.
And the gold that Qiaoxi brought this time was not too much, not too little, ten ounces. This was a full difference of one hundred and fifty US dollars, which was already the income of ordinary people in two or three months.
Don't look at it. In 1943, the per capita income in the United States had reached more than one thousand US dollars.
But everyone knows what the average person is.
In fact, the annual income of ordinary people in the city can reach US$700-800, which is already a high salary.
Why did American young people actively join the military during World War II?
Isn’t it because the military salary is high enough?
The basic monthly salary of a private is fifty U.S. dollars, and each rank promotion ranges from ten to twenty U.S. dollars. Basically, when you reach a staff sergeant, you can get one hundred U.S. dollars a month, not counting various subsidies.
So one hundred and fifty dollars is definitely not a small amount of money.
Qiaoxi didn't have too much gold, so he was naturally reluctant to give up such a large difference to the Bank of America, so he was willing to take a little risk.
Fortunately, the old shop owner didn't do anything wrong and came back quickly with some tools, including measuring cups, water, scales and other things.
"The purity of this gold is not too high, only about 80%. I can only give you a price of forty." The old shop owner used a bunch of tools to calculate the specific gravity of the gold and concluded.
"Deal!" Qiao Xi was not too surprised by the conclusion of the old shop owner, because the purity of the gold could not be too high. After all, the metallurgical level in that world was not advanced, not to mention that steel could not be smelted.
of barbarian gold.
So Qiao Xi decisively agreed to the price given by the old shop owner.
"Very good, a total of 9.8 ounces. I won't lose anything to you. Just count it as ten ounces. Here is four hundred dollars. Take it, kid!" Seeing Josie agreeing readily, the old shopkeeper turned around and walked away from the counter without any ink.
He took out a roll of dollars, pulled out two, and handed the rest to Josie.
Josie took the dollar roll, untied the leather band, and found eight fifty-denomination U.S. dollars, no more, no less, just right.
After all, the United States has not yet entered the credit card era, so large-denomination U.S. dollars are not uncommon. Unlike the 21st century, it is rare to see U.S. dollars with fifty denominations on the market.
"Change these fifty dollars into change for me. Five yuan is best, but ten yuan will also work!" Qiao Xi counted the money, confirmed the authenticity, and pushed back another fifty dollars.
It's not uncommon, but it's not uncommon, but due to high purchasing power, it's still not convenient if you don't have a little money around.
The old shop owner didn't say much, just nodded, and then exchanged the roll for five dollars.
After counting and confirming that there was nothing wrong, Qiao Xi tied up the money again, put it in his pocket and prepared to leave.
"Next time you have goods, you can come to me. Old Hawke has a good reputation in this area!" The voice of the old shopkeeper came as he was about to go out.
"Of course!" Qiao Xi was slightly startled when he heard this, nodded, and then walked out the door.