From legendary short seller to god of American capital

Chapter 33 Exotic Dinner

Larry watched Logan disappear around the street corner before his father and mother emerged from the station exit.

"Larry, oh my child, why did you run off in such a hurry? I thought you were possessed." His mother grabbed Larry and looked anxiously into his eyes.

At this moment, the father strode over, his face serious. "Larry, what's wrong? Even if something happened, couldn't you have told us first? You've made your mother so worried."

Larry smiled at them both, thought for a moment, and replied, "It's like this, the salaries at Paine Weber Securities are paid today. I asked a guy in the branch to collect my salary for me, and it was supposed to be 5:30 pm. But the train was delayed, and I was worried he wouldn't be able to get home in time... that's why I was in such a hurry."

The father and mother exchanged a glance, their expressions relaxing.

The mother gave a wry smile. "Alright, did you see him? With the snow falling so heavily, has he already gone home?"

"No! He's been waiting for me here. I just saw him. He even gave me my salary."

Larry simply took the wad of messy money he had just given Logan and handed it to his mother.

The mother was slightly surprised to see that there was a $50 bill in the money, but she still took the money and sorted it in her hand.

The father looked at Larry's "wages" and smiled, but then he looked around the square, frowned, and said...

"It's so late, I doubt we'll be able to find a carriage to take us home. This is troublesome. We'll have to walk home, and in this terrible weather, I think it'll be a challenge for all three of us."

Larry's eyes lit up. "But Dad, we haven't had dinner yet. We can't walk four miles home hungry, can we?"

The father nodded, but his brow furrowed again. "But it's Christmas Eve, all the restaurants are closed. Where are we going to eat?"

Larry smirked. "I know a restaurant that's open, but we have to go a quarter mile into town."

The father frowned and remained silent, clearly worried that it would be too late to go home after dinner.

At that moment, the mother suddenly looked up and asked hesitantly, "Larry, how much does Mr. Potter pay you per week?"

"12 dollars! What's wrong?" Larry was puzzled as to why his mother asked this.

"But this is more than $12, it's much more..."

"Oh, right! This is more than two months' salary..."

Larry quickly did the math in his head. If the weekly wage was $12, then $120 for 10 weeks should be about right. So he continued, "Since the raise, I've had Mr. Porter save my salary. I'm afraid that if I keep that money on hand, I won't be able to resist spending it."

The father chuckled upon hearing this. "Oh my goodness, Larry's even saving money now! Tell me, what kind of money do you use to buy things like tuna and reindeer meat?"

"Tips!!" Larry said firmly. "Those kind gentlemen always reward me because I'm smart enough and handsome enough, just like you."

"Hahaha, alright! Good lad." His father rarely praised Larry to his face, but at this moment, he couldn't help but pat Larry's head hard.

But his mother's tone was still very puzzled. He pulled a $100 bill from the neatly arranged stack of money, frowned, and asked,

"My God, does Mr. Potter pay you two months' salary of $238.5?"

hiss! !

Larry gasped inwardly, not noticing that there was a hundred-dollar bill mixed in with the money.

The father looked puzzled and turned to look at Larry.

Larry's mind raced: it would be absurd to say it was six months' salary now; he'd only been at Paine Weber Securities for six months. But making up another reason now was obviously inappropriate. His mouth was dry, and his thoughts raced through his memory, searching for a suitable excuse to quickly cover up the lie...

Suddenly, Larry remembered a word and shouted, "Bonus!!"

The father and mother were both stunned. They exchanged a glance and asked in confusion, "What is a bonus?"

In the United States at that time, factory owners and business owners only paid their employees a fixed salary. Well-paying jobs were generally paid weekly, while manual labor or piecework was paid daily.

Therefore, there is no concept of bonuses.

The word "bonus" originally came from the financial field and refers to the "extra income" of stocks, similar to dividends.

Seeing that his parents still looked puzzled, Larry smiled, deliberately pouting, and said, "No! I'm too hungry. If you would allow your hungry son to treat you to a meal, I will explain at the dinner table."

The father and mother exchanged a glance and agreed.

So Larry led the way, his mother clutched Larry's "salary" and "bonus" in both hands, and his father held his own briefcase. The three of them walked along the street, braving the university entrance.

After walking about a quarter mile, Larry spotted a red lantern hanging outside a restaurant on the side of the street, and a smile spread across his face.

"We're here! Mom and Dad, let's eat first."

The parents stared blankly at the paper lanterns hanging outside the shop and the unfamiliar Chinese characters under the plaque, completely bewildered.

"This is a Chinese restaurant, Mom and Dad. It's the only restaurant that's still open during Christmas," Larry said, pushing open the door.

Inside the restaurant, a Chinese owner sat behind the counter, a waiter was dozing on a bench at the restaurant entrance, and seven or eight Asians were eating at three square tables.

When Larry and his family of three appeared, the owner, his employees, and the other customers were all stunned.

Larry, unfazed, strode into the Chinese restaurant and said to the waiter who approached him, "We want to have dinner. Tell me what your specialties are... Oh, by the way, do you have a menu? Let me see it."

The owner and his waiter stared at each other blankly for a few seconds before the owner snapped out of his daze and loudly replied in oddly accented English, "Menu!! Yes, sir. We have menus. Please sit down and wait."

Larry nodded, then turned to find a suitable table for his parents. This time, he discovered that his parents were still standing in the snow outside the restaurant, not daring to come in.

Larry smiled wryly, took a few steps outside the store, and dragged the two of them inside.

Larry's parents were the most honest and straightforward New Englanders, who never pursued luxury and had little curiosity about the outside world. So when they first entered this Chinese restaurant, which they had never seen before, their faces were full of wariness.

Larry noticed that his mother had quickly hidden Larry's "salary" in her pocket and was stiff, clearly very nervous.

Larry had never eaten at a Chinese restaurant before, but he had been wanting to have one for a while. Today was Christmas Eve, and it would be wonderful to have an exotic dinner with his parents here.