Chapter 2

Leaving the door, Josie cautiously walked through two blocks, and only after confirming that no one had noticed him did he let out a sigh of relief and then walked into a decent restaurant on the side of the road.

It had been a week since he had come to this era, and the best thing he had eaten was just a hamburger. Now that he finally had some money, he naturally had to treat himself to a good meal.

Yes, there was no doubt that Josie was a穿越者 (穿越者 means "time traveler" or "one who has crossed over," but it's a term often used in Chinese literature for someone who has been transported to another time or world, so I'll translate it as "time traveler" here).

Originally, he was just a white-collar worker in a third-tier city in the 21st-century Xia country (China).

He had only gone out for a drink with a friend who had just gone through a breakup, but when he woke up, he found himself in Chicago in 1943, transformed into a 15-year-old street kid.

Fortunately, in his previous life, although Josie wasn't from a wealthy family, he was a middle-class young man with a car and a house, living a rather comfortable life. He was in his early thirties, the prime of his life.

Although he often read web novels, he never thought that time travel would actually happen to him.

It was his drinking buddy, who had failed in his business and been dumped by his girlfriend of eight years, who had a pretty rough life. Shouldn't the typical time traveler template be someone like that?

Or did the heavens just pick the wrong person?

Now, he was in 1943 Chicago, living in the St. Joseph's Orphanage, where meals were uncertain.

The only good thing was that he had become 15 years old, gaining a few extra decades of life.

But this extra life wasn't so easy to come by, given the harsh conditions of the era. How long he could survive was really hard to say.

There was one piece of good news, though: his original body wasn't always an orphan. His parents had died in an accident less than half a year ago, and they were legitimate American citizens, not undocumented immigrants.

Moreover, although his deceased parents hadn't left him much wealth, they did leave him a small apartment, so he at least had a place to sleep.

Entering the restaurant, Josie didn't order anything particularly luxurious.

A large American meat patty, a serving of fries, a serving of cheese macaroni, a salad, and a large cup of Coca-Cola.

A standard American blue-collar meal, with a generous portion.

As for the taste... it was just okay.

What surprised Josie was the taste of the cola from this era, which was much richer than the Coca-Cola of the future.

Because he was in his growth years, Josie quickly finished his meal.

After eating, he paid 75 cents.

Was it cheap? Actually, it wasn't. This cost, if calculated according to the official gold exchange rate, was equivalent to over $30 in the early 21st century.

If it were a few years ago during the economic crisis, such a meal wouldn't have cost more than 50 cents.

The reason for the high prices now was due to the war, which had made supplies tight.

Indeed, because of the need to support the European and Asian battlefields, even the United States, which had not been directly affected by the war, saw prices soar starting in 1941. From May 1942, the country had also implemented a rationing system.

Everyone was issued a ration book, which allocated 48 blue points and 64 red points in plastic tokens each month.

'Blue points' were used to buy canned, bottled, and other processed foods; 'red points' were used to buy meat, fish, and dairy products.

Ordinary people could only buy supplies according to their rations, while stores and restaurants received more quotas, with the rest of the supplies going to the front lines.

On the front lines, a regular army soldier's rations were about three to four times those of ordinary civilians.

In short, everything was prioritized for the war effort.

This rationing system would only gradually end in the second half of 1944, when the United States' production of various supplies reached its peak and began to exceed demand.

Of course, just like the illegal alcohol trade of the 1920s, if you were willing to pay, you could still get more supplies.

After a satisfying meal, Josie left the restaurant, once again confirming that no one was paying attention to him, and then walked down the street, relaxed, and called a taxi.

Don't be surprised; even in the same period, Shanghai in China had taxis, let alone the United States.

He gave an address, and the car started.

Soon, they arrived at a used car dealership.

As the world's leading industrial power of the era, the United States had an extremely high number of cars, reaching 25% in 1937.

This meant that on average, every four Americans owned a car.

Most of these were concentrated in major cities.

Chicago, a top industrial city, was no exception.

Moreover, car prices were not high. A new basic Ford Model A sedan cost only $500 to $600.

However, with the United States officially entering World War II, major companies were temporarily banned from producing civilian cars and were instead focused on producing military vehicles. As a result, new cars were not easy to come by and were also subject to rationing, with only doctors, priests, and other special professions receiving quotas.

Similarly, gasoline and tires were also rationed.

In comparison, getting a driver's license was relatively easy.

Although some basic traffic laws had been established in the previous decade due to the high number of cars, they were not as strict as they would become later.

So even though Josie was a bit young, he could still get a driver's license by paying a little extra.

However, Josie didn't have a strong need for a new car; a used one that worked would do.

After all, Chicago was a big city, and having a car would make things much more convenient.

Although gasoline and tires were rationed, as long as you had money, everything could be arranged.

In the end, Josie spent $200 on a well-maintained, fully fueled used Ford.

This reduced his assets by nearly half.

Getting the car, Josie drove off.

To be honest, after being used to automatic transmissions in his previous life, driving this old manual transmission was a bit challenging at first, but the traffic rules of the era were much simpler, so Josie's journey was relatively smooth.

Soon, Josie drove to a relatively secluded gun shop.

Walking into the gun shop, various firearms caught his eye.

Although the firearms of this era were not as advanced as those of the future, it's important to note that the United States had no automatic weapons act at the time, which wouldn't be enacted until 1986.

So, in American gun shops, there were not only light automatic weapons like the Thompson submachine gun, the M1918 Browning, and the Colt automatic pistol, but even heavy machine guns like the Colt M1895 were available.

However, Josie was just looking at these guns because they were too expensive.

The early Thompson was extremely expensive, costing over $200 per gun. After years of improvements, the price had dropped, but it still cost over $70, which was the official procurement price.

The retail price had also increased due to the war, now priced at $108.

At this price, with the money Josie had, he could only afford two, and he wouldn't have enough for ammunition.

Guns like the M1 Garand were even more expensive, with a retail price of $150, which was beyond his budget.

So, Josie's target was an old gun from World War I.

Not the Springfield, as its excellent performance made it widely used in World War II, leading to high demand and prices.

What Josie wanted was the M1917, a supplementary rifle to the Springfield.

The M1917, with its relatively simple design, was mass-produced during World War I and then decommissioned after the war. Some were sold, and over a million were stored.

After World War II, these rifles were mainly used to support other countries or for U.S. military training, not for actual combat, so there were still a large number in the United States, making them very cheap.

A rifle with a thousand rounds of ammunition cost only $45, which was quite affordable.

Many people in the United States at this time chose to buy this gun for hunting or shooting competitions.

"What would you like, sir?" the chubby gun shop owner asked. Beside him was a young man about Josie's age, also chubby, who was likely his son.

"I want four M1917s and one M1911," Josie said directly.

The rifles were for selling, and the M1911 was for his own self-defense.

Although it was a bit surprising that Josie wanted four rifles at once, the shop owner didn't ask too many questions. Having lived through the Great Depression, he had seen it all. Even John Dillinger had bought guns from him back in the day.

As long as the money was paid, what the customer did with the guns was none of his business.