In the days that followed, Aldridge went to the pub with his two older brothers to watch football games in the evenings in addition to school, and although he hated the chaos of the East London neighborhood, now that he was a member of the area, he naturally went with the flow.

With the progress of the Mexico World Cup, Aldridge seemed absent-minded, the eldest brother smiled every day when he went home after watching the game, the teams he bet on were in a good situation, Andrew shouted for victory every day when he came home, Arthur and Amelia saw the children's situation, and also knew that they were gambling with the craze of the World Cup, and the two parents did not criticize them, but just warned them not to indulge in it, and not to dream of getting rich overnight.

Hall's family is actually a working class, without high-level cultivation and connotation, the neighborhood has three religions and nine streams, gambling balls, drinking, and occasional fights, this is a normal thing, as long as they don't participate in gangs, don't get involved in illegal business, adults will not teach children.

When the group stage was over, Barnett returned home with a little reluctance and gave Andrew £140, which Andrew won after counting the principal.

Andrew took the money and said to the eldest brother with a grin: "Don't be discouraged, who would have thought that Portugal would come home?" ”

Barnett shrugged and said, "It's just a pity, I won less than two hundred pounds." ”

Barnett's only mistake is Group F, thinking that Portugal and England have no problem qualifying, in fact, Portugal won England in the first game, and the prospects of qualifying are very good, who would have thought that after the worst, he would lose two games in a row and return home?

Andrew was much luckier, he only picked England to advance to the knockout round, and the night Portugal won against England, he didn't sleep well all night, which made Aldridge, who was in the same room with him, cry and laugh, and in turn comforted him for a night.

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

Aldridge came back to his senses and said helplessly: "The most certain ones are the three teams, Argentina, England, and West Germany." Don't guess the rest of the team. ”

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

Andrew thought for a while and nodded, "Well, listen to you, I'll go tell the eldest brother." ”

Aldrich looked at the back of the second brother running out of the bedroom, and said to himself, "What am I going to do in the future?" ”

In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person, and his only interest was football, and although Aldridge is only ten years old now, he is very resistant to going to school in a step-by-step manner.

When the quarter-finals came to an end, Barnett and Andrew were overjoyed, and it was clear that they had won again.

When they appeared in front of Aldridge in high spirits and discussed the teams in the top four, Aldridge could only say helplessly: "West Germany and Argentina, only these two teams are sure." ”

Barnett looked a little reluctant and said: "Argentina can't necessarily win against England. ”

Andrew looked at the more than two hundred pounds in his hand, and after removing the principal, he had already earned more than a hundred pounds, which was a great achievement for him at the age of thirteen, and he didn't want to make a hasty choice.

Aldrich didn't say much, opened the drawer of his desk, took a lottery ticket in his hand, raised it, and said, "At this time, don't I support myself?" ”

It's been more than half a month, and Barnett and Andrew remembered the lottery tickets that Aldridge bet on for the champion and runner-up, and now they look at it, isn't it the Argentine champion and the West German runner-up?

The two elder brothers were righteous, and since this was the case, the three brothers united the front, and they also went to buy Argentina and West Germany to advance.

On the day of the Anglo-Argentine game, Aldridge watched the fans in the bar denounce Maradona for shamelessness, and was shocked by Maradona's death after the miracle of the England players in the first half, and England finally went out 1:2.

At the bar, Aldridge, along with his two brothers and fans, returned home, only to find some comfort in their disappointment.

Andrew and Barnett couldn't be happier despite their winnings, and there was nothing more disappointing than the team they were backing out.

At this point, the teams that have advanced to the final need not think twice and continue to support West Germany and Argentina.

By the time the final arrived, Barnett had more than £1,300 in his hands and Andrew had close to £400.

But they were very helpless to find that before the start of the World Cup, the ticket that Aldrich bet on, if it hits, will have a 65-fold return, in other words, if Argentina wins the cup, Aldridge will have 6,500 pounds.

Compared with Aldridge's ease of watching the final in the bar, Andrew and Barnett were nervous to death, drinking non-stop, and constantly cheering Argentina on, although they could only do it in their hearts, and they didn't dare to shout, after all, there were other people in the bar, who let Argentina cheat and eliminate England.

In the end, Argentina won the Hercules Cup 3:2 West Germany, Maradona ascended the altar and became the king, Andrew and Barnett couldn't hold back the excitement in their hearts and shouted, and under the stunned expression of the bar, the three brothers quickly fled the bar.

On a midsummer night in the eastern suburbs of London, the three Hall brothers sat on the grass and talked about the fruitful results of the Mexican World Cup, carrying a beer bottle in one hand and fried chicken in the other, and they couldn't sleep through the night with excitement.

When the wine was strong, Barnett suddenly put away his smile, lay on the grass and looked at the vast starry sky, and sighed a little abruptly.

Andrew counted the pounds in his hands over and over again, before the World Cup began, they only had the 500 pounds that the eldest brother had accumulated for two years, and now the three brothers had more than 10,000 pounds, Andrew turned the bills over and over like a money fan.

Aldrich noticed the strangeness of the eldest brother's silence, and leaned forward and asked, "Something on your mind?" ”

Barnett blocked his head with the back of his hand and said quietly, "I don't want to continue to be a decorator." ”

In the past two years, he has helped Arthur, and his specific job is to install glass for customers, and this job has no great future.

Coupled with the pounds he had earned over two years of savings, it made sense that Barnett would not want to be an obscure worker again.

Aldrich asked rhetorically, "So what do you want to do?" ”

Barnett looked thoughtfully at the west of London, and said in a longing tone, "Do you know who lives in West London?" ”

"Rich people."

Andrew didn't know how many times he had counted the bills, and he interjected without raising his head.

Aldridge pondered that West London was indeed wealthy, but in terms of occupation, a large proportion of the people there, except for the rich, were in a very glamorous profession today: stockbrokers.

Thinking of this, Aldrich realized in his heart: before the stock market crash next year, it is the time for the stock market to be majestic at this stage.

Aldrich smiled at the eldest 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 move up to the white-collar class?

Barnett looked at Aldridge in amazement, as if his brother's verbal support had boosted his confidence, and he planned to explain his intentions to Arthur when he returned home.

Aldrich was not stingy, he gave all 6,500 pounds to his eldest brother, and Andrew followed suit, and the eldest brother was going to start a business, and the brothers naturally supported him.

Before returning home, Barnett had more than 10,000 pounds in his arms, at least he had a lot of confidence.

Aldrich did not go home, but went to the door of the community's video tape shop, which was already closed, and he knocked lightly, and after a while, the voice of the black man Sander came from inside the store.

"Who? If you want to rent a videotape, please come tomorrow. ”

It seems that Sander is still a little frightened, for fear that the unscrupulous will come to the door.

There are indeed a few scattered gangs in the nearby community, and even if there are no large gangs like drug trafficking and smuggling, there are still some people who can squeeze immigrants to collect protection money.

Aldrich said in a calm tone outside the door, "It's Sander, right?" I'm Aldrich, and I'm here to apologize for breaking your window in the night a month ago. ”

Sander saw through the window that Aldrich was the only one outside, so he cautiously opened the door and invited Aldrich into the store.

Aldrich looked at the video shop, and was used to seeing the dazzling array of later generations, and the video store was lackluster.

There was always a hint of wariness in Sander's eyes, but Aldrich reiterated that he had come to apologize and bowed sincerely, and Sand accepted it calmly.

Aldridge had planned to apologize and leave, but he inadvertently noticed a row of videotapes on the shelves and walked over, the tapes were not packaged, but only white paper with the dates and names of the two teams on the sideways.

Obviously, these are match tapes.

Aldridge flipped through the tapes and casually chatted with Sander about football.

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

Aldrich was silent for half a minute, and finally, he shook his head frankly and said, "No, but my parents and two older brothers are." ”

In this era of lack of entertainment, Aldrich was full of energy at night, he couldn't sleep, but there was no video recorder at home, he thought for a moment, and asked Sander, "Do you have someone here?" ”

Sander was stunned for a moment, shook his head and said, "Please." ”

Aldrich continued: "You closed the door very early at night, probably for fear of accidents, right? I have a proposal that I will come and work for you at night, and I will not be paid, as long as you let me watch the tape in the store for free. ”

East London is mixed with dragons and snakes, and Sander closes early at night for fear of accidents, and Aldrich, although he is still a child, is a local in the nearby community after all, although Arthur is just a glass seller, but everyone around knows the Hall family, and Aldrich is helping in the store, so he naturally adds a layer of insurance to the store.

After repeatedly confirming with Aldrich, Sander agreed to his proposal.

Since then, Aldridge has been going to school during the day, working here at Sander at night, watching game tapes in his free time, and vaguely he has an idea of what kind of career he will pursue in the future.