Sitting on the ground and collecting money

  After having breakfast, before Luo Yi could consider today's schedule, Tu Jiu came in to report that someone outside was looking for him again.

  "Who is it?" Luo Yi asked.

  " Luo Zi, there are two foreigners, I couldn't understand what they were saying. The hotel manager said that these two foreigners are looking for you."

  "What's your name, foreigner?"

  "There seems to be one with the surname An and another with the surname Dai." Toujiu recalled.

  "Oh, it's Andrew and David. Please let them in."

  Jiu went out and in a little while, brought Andrew and David in. As soon as Andrew entered the door, he exclaimed loudly in English: "Lo! We succeeded, great success, guess how much money we made?"

  Luoyi was infected by Andrew's emotions and laughed, asking in English: "Andrew, have you started your concert? How much money did you make?" Looking at Andrew like this, it should be a considerable profit. Luoyi naturally hoped that they would make more money, after all, for every dollar they made, 30 cents belonged to the Lus.

  "No, no," Andrew said. "We hadn't even started the concert, we just sang this song in a bar, but just in bars, we had huge success."

  "Man, if you were there, Lou, after we finished that song 'Greenfields', I saw dollars flying at us like pigeons. The crowd went wild, they almost buried us in cash."

  "Really? Then how much money have you counted?"

  "Minus the costs we gave to the bar, we made a clean $5000, oh man, you know, we've never made that much money singing in bars before." Andrew exclaimed, "And this is just for one show, if we do 10 shows, if we open our own concert, My God, I can hardly imagine all of this."

  Luo Yi quickly calculated in his heart, 5000 US dollars, multiplied by 30% is 1500 US dollars, which means that Andrew's performance for one night can earn him an income of 1500 US dollars. At that time, one dollar was equivalent to three big oceans, and 1500 US dollars were equivalent to 4500 big oceans, which was even greater than the benefits brought by the gold mine in Ma Tieling. The most important thing is that this is completely cost-free, he only needs to sit on the ground and collect money. In the future, with the issuance and devaluation of legal tender, the value of the US dollar will be even more impressive.

  "My friends, have you come to give me a bonus today?" Luo Yi said with a smile, "I'm really short of money now."

  "That's absolutely right." Andrew said, pulling out a stack of cash from his pocket and handing it to Luo Yi, "Luo! This is $2000. No, no, no, we didn't mean to change the agreement, your share will still be calculated at 30% afterwards. This time, it's just a little something from us."

  Luo Yi unceremoniously accepted the money and didn't even count it, directly putting it on the table. He secretly smiled to himself, knowing that Andrew was posturing like this, there must be more to come.

  "Also, Luo, we've discussed it among ourselves. Since this song has achieved such great success, if you bring out a few more songs from your place and perform them together, it will definitely create an even bigger sensation. We want to ask you to write a few more songs, then we'll go back to the US to hold concerts, and we can also release records. Don't worry, including record sales, you'll get 30% of the share."

  "Davy exclaimed hastily: 'Roe, I'm now very anxious to see some of your other songs. You spoke of something about six hundred miles...'"

  "It's five hundred miles." Luo Yi corrected.

  "Oh, I guess I was a little too eager and drove an extra hundred miles." David shrugged, responding with American humor.

  Luo Yi opened the drawer, took out a few sheets of paper, and handed them to Andrew and David. "I've copied out a few more songs," he said. "Here are the lyrics and scores. However, as you know, my music level is not good, so some of the scores may be incorrect. You take them first and practice, then I'll go listen to how you sing and make corrections if necessary."

  David snatched the sheet music, hummed a few lines softly, and couldn't help but burst into bloom: "Too great, too great. It's completely in the same style, we don't need to sing one song five times."

  Andrew also took a look at the song sheet and said, "Hmm, I think with these few songs, we can totally hold a concert. However, if we want to record an album, these few songs are not enough, we still need three or four more songs. Luo, do you have any other songs?"

  Lu Yi pretended to be reserved and said: "My teacher is a genius, he wrote many songs, all kinds of styles. However, I am a stupid student, can't remember much. I think, maybe after some days I will recall some more."

  Andrew said discontentedly: "Luo, I know you're a smart person. You must have recorded other songs too, but now you don't want to give them to us. Are you afraid we won't keep our promise?"

  Luo Yi said: "There's an old Chinese saying, 'First be a small person, then a gentleman.' When cooperating for the first time, being cautious is necessary. You have these few songs now, and you should be able to sing them for a while, giving listeners something to look forward to. Isn't it better than always waiting for you to release new songs?"

  Andrew said, "You Chinese are really too cunning. I truly suspect that these songs were written by you, and what you said about your teacher is probably just something you made up to deceive us? No need to explain, I understand your caution, rest assured, after we return to the US, we will transfer your share into your account, and then you'll know our sincerity."

  "Andrew, based on your estimate, how much money can you make in the US with these few songs?"

  "That's hard to say, the charm of pop music lies in its unpredictability. However, judging from the effect of our performance at the bar yesterday, I think these few songs will definitely cause a sensation. If so, making $3 million a year shouldn't be a problem." Andrew replied, seemingly an honest man who didn't know how to hide his true intentions when it came to expenses either.

  "Andrew, if I calculate it your way, I should be able to get a share of $900,000, right?" Luo Yi said.

  "Yes, I am confident."

  "I want to use this money to buy some things in the US, can you help me?"

  "What's that?"

  Ammunition.

  "Arms dealer?" Andrew was somewhat surprised. "Luo, are you an arms dealer? Oh, I always thought you were an artist."

  Luo Yi said: "Aren't arms dealers and artists contradictory? It's said that Hitler also liked music."

  "No, I really dislike Hitler," David interjected, "You and Hitler are different."

  "Of course not." Luo Yi hastily withdrew his inappropriate analogy, "I am not an arms dealer, I am just an ordinary Chinese. The reason I need arms is because my motherland has been invaded by another country, and I need to use weapons to drive the invaders out of my home."

  "Are you talking about Japanese people?" David asked.

  "Yes."

  David said, "I don't like the Japanese either. Luo, if you're buying arms to fight against the Japanese, I'm willing to support you. I know someone who does arms deals in Shanghai, specifically with the Chinese government. I can introduce you to him, and I think he'll be able to help you."

  "That's great, what kind of military equipment does he mainly deal with?"

  "I don't understand this. But I've communicated with him, he said as long as there are weapons in the world, he can make them. And he has no faith, whether it's angels or Satan, as long as you have dollars in your hand, you can buy weapons from him."

  "All right, you arrange a meeting with him for me. If this thing can be done, in the future my share of the profits will be divided out and half paid to him, let him use this money to purchase arms for me."