The Young Lion

In the following days, in addition to going to school, Aldridge went to the bar with his two brothers to watch the ball game in the evening. Although he resented the chaos in the East London community, since he became a member of this place, it naturally took its course.

With the progress of the World Cup in Mexico, Aldridge seemed absent-minded. His elder brother watched the ball and went home every day with a smile on his face. The teams he bet on were in good condition. Andrew returned home every day and yelled for victory. When Arthur and Amelia saw the children, they also knew that they were gambling following the World Cup craze. The two parents did not blame them, but only told them not to indulge in them, and do not dream of getting rich overnight.

The Hall family is actually a working class. There is no high-level cultivation and connotation. The community has three schools and nine neighbors. Gambling, drinking, and occasionally fighting are all normal things, as long as they do not participate in gangs. Without involving in illegal business, adults will not teach their children.

When the group stage ended, Barnett returned home slightly helplessly, and gave Andrew 140 pounds, which was calculated as the principal and Andrew won.

Andrew took the money and smiled to his elder brother: "Don't be discouraged, who can think of Portugal coming home?"

Barnett shrugged indifferently: "It's just a pity that I won less than two hundred pounds."

Barnett’s only mistake was Group F. He felt that Portugal and England had no problems in qualifying. In fact, Portugal won England in the first game and the prospects for the qualifying were very good. Who could have thought of losing two games in a row and returning to his hometown?

Andrew was more fortunate, he only picked one England to advance to the knockout, Portugal won England that night, he did not sleep well all night, which made Aldridge who was in the same room with him laugh and laugh, which in turn comforted him one night.

After winning the money, he wanted to win more. Andrew ran into the bedroom and smiled at Aldridge sitting at the desk in a daze: "Next guess the quarterfinals."

Aldridge recovered, and said helplessly: "The most certain are the three teams, Argentina, England and West Germany. Don't guess the other teams."

He only remembers the championship and runner-up, and Argentina did not meet England in the quarterfinals, which means that England must have advanced.

After thinking for a while, Andrew nodded and said, "Well, listen to you, I'll tell Brother."

Aldridge watched the second brother wind running out of the back of the bedroom and said to himself: "What will I do in the future?"

His previous life was just an ordinary person. His only interest was football. Although Aldridge is only ten years old now, he is very resistant to going to school step by step.

When the quarterfinals came to an end, Barnett and Andrew were overjoyed, and obviously they won again.

When they happily appeared in front of Aldridge to discuss the top four teams, Aldridge could only helplessly say: "West Germany and Argentina, only these two teams are sure."

Barnett seemed reluctant, saying: "Argentina may not win England."

Andrew looked at the more than two hundred pounds in his hand and scrapped the principal. He had earned more than one hundred pounds. For the 13-year-old, he was a great achievement, and he did not want to make a hasty choice.

Aldridge didn't say much, opened the drawer of the desk, took a lottery ticket in his hand, and said, "Don't I support myself at this time?"

It's been more than half a month since Barnett and Andrew remembered the lottery ticket that Aldridge bet on. Is it the Argentine champion and West Germany runner-up now?

The two brothers were righteous. Since this was the case, the three brothers united the front and they also bought Argentina and West Germany for promotion.

On the day of the Anglo-Afghan Wars, Aldridge watched the fans in the bar scolding Maradona for being shameless, and was shocked by Maradona's miracle of picking up the England players in the half.

In the bar, Aldridge, like his two older brothers and fans, returned home, but was comforted by the disappointment.

Although Andrew and Barnett won the money, they were not happy. There was nothing more disappointing than the team they supported.

So far, the teams that advanced to the finals don't have to think about it anymore, they continue to support West Germany and Argentina.

When the final day arrived, Barnett had more than 1,300 pounds, and Andrew also had close to 400 pounds.

But they found it very helpless to find that before the World Cup began, the odd lottery that Aldridge bet on would have a return of 65 times. In other words, if Argentina won the cup, Aldridge had £6,500.

Compared to Aldridge’s ease of watching the finals in the bar, Andrew and Barnett are nervous, drinking and cheering for Argentina, although they can only be in their hearts and dare not call out, after all, in the bar There are other people, who let Argentina use England as a way of cheating out of England.

In the end, Argentina 3:2 West Germany won the Hercules Cup, Maradona boarded the altar seal, Andrew and Barnett couldn’t help but shouted with excitement, and watched in amazement at the bar, the three brothers Quickly escaped from the bar.

In the eastern suburbs of London on a midsummer night, the three brothers of the Hall family sat on the grass and talked about the fruitful results of the Mexico World Cup. They carried a beer bottle in one hand and fried chicken in the other, and were unable to sleep at night with excitement.

When the wine was strong, Barnett suddenly smiled, lying on the grass and looking at the vast starry sky, with a slight sigh.

Andrew counted the pounds in his hands over and over again. Before the start of the World Cup, they only had the big brother to save 500 pounds for two years. Now the three brothers have 10,000 pounds. Andrew is like a wealthy fan. .

Aldrich noticed his brother’s silence, and stepped forward to ask, "Having something?"

Barnett blocked his head with his hands, said quietly: "I don't want to continue to be a decoration worker."

In the past two years, he has helped Arthur. The specific job is to install glass on the door of the customer. This job has no great future.

Coupled with the pound that has earned more than two years of savings, Barnett does not want to be an obscure worker, and it makes sense.

Aldridge replied: "What do you want to do?"

Barnett thoughtfully looked west of London and said with longing: "Do you know who lives in West London?"

"The rich man."

Andrew didn't know how many times the bill was gone, and inserted his mouth without looking up.

Aldrich thought about it. West London was indeed wealthy, but in terms of occupation, apart from the rich, a large proportion of people there are now a very beautiful profession: stock brokers.

Thinking of this, Aldridge realized: Before the stock market crash next year, the current stage is the time when the stock market is in full swing.

Aldridge smiled at his elder brother: "Do it if you want, your parents should support you."

Although the family is a working class, if there is a chance, who would not want to get rid of the blue-collar and advance to the white-collar?

Barnett stared at Aldridge staring blankly. It seemed that his brother's verbal support had greatly increased his confidence. He intended to return to Arthur to explain his own wishes.

Aldridge is not stingy either. He gave all his £6,500 to his elder brother. Andrew also followed suit. The elder brother is going to start a business, and the brothers naturally support it.

Before returning home, Barnett had more than 10,000 pounds, at least he had enough confidence.

Aldrich didn't go home, but came to the door of the video store in the community. The store was closed. He knocked gently on the door, and the voice of black Sand came from the store for a while.

"Who? Tomorrow to rent a videotape."

It seems that Sander was a little scared, afraid that he would come to the door.

There are indeed a few scattered gangs in the nearby community. Even if there is no large-scale gangster like drug smuggling, it is possible to squeeze immigrants for a protection fee.

Aldridge said quietly outside the door: "It's Sand, right? I'm Aldridge. I broke your window at night a month ago. I specifically apologized."

Sander saw through the window that Aldridge was the only person outside the door, so he carefully opened the door and invited Aldridge into the shop.

Aldrich looked at the video store and saw the dazzling sight of later generations, and the video store was lackluster.

Sander always had a trace of vigilance in his eyes, but Aldridge once again reiterated that he had come to apologize, and sincerely bent down and bowed, Sander accepted it.

Aldridge originally planned to leave after apologizing, but he accidentally found a video tape on a row of shelves and walked over. The video tape was not packaged, but the white paper was stuck on the side, with the date and two pieces written on it. The name of the team.

Obviously, these are game tapes.

Aldridge flipped through the videos one by one and casually chatted with Sand about football.

When Sander asked, "Are you a Millwall fan?"

Aldridge was silent for half a minute. Eventually, he shook his head frankly and said, "No, but my parents and two brothers are both."

In this era of lack of entertainment, Aldridge was full of energy at night. He couldn’t sleep, but he didn’t have a VCR at home. He thought about it for a moment and asked Sander, “Are you hiring anyone here?”

Sander froze, shaking his head and said: "Please do not."

Aldridge continued: "You close the door early in the evening, should you be afraid of an accident? I have a proposal, I will come to work for you at night, and pay nothing, as long as you let me watch the video in the store for free."

East London dragons and snakes are mixed, and Sander’s early closing at night is indeed afraid of an accident. Although Aldridge is still a child, he is a local in a nearby community after all. Although Arthur is only a glass seller, he knows Hall all around. The people of the family, with Audridge helping in the store, naturally added a layer of insurance to the store.

After confirming with Aldridge again and again, Sand agreed with his proposal.

From then on, Aldridge went to school during the day and worked at Sand at night. He watched the game tapes in his free time. Hiddenly, he had ideas about what kind of career he would pursue in the future.