America 1919

1920, the evening of January 16th!

The entire Atlantic City was lit up as if it were daylight. On every street of Atlantic City, people could be seen staggering, drunk with bottles in hand, while others pushed carts full of all sorts of liquor, each person's face bearing the madness of drinking to their heart's content while they still could.

At Block Tavern, the place was packed. In front of everyone sat an assortment of drinks.

Today, the tavern was Atlantic City's leading melody, with brothels and casinos making way for it.

Two muscular men were engaged in a drinking contest, two tables pushed together and topped with various drinks, a man standing at each end, hands braced on the tables, intently staring each other down.

Behind them were their respective supporters, each holding a beer, whiskey, or rum in hand.

Women, dressed with abandon, mingled among the crowd, no longer caring who was holding them.

Robert didn't care about the temperature outside; he was just wearing an open-necked shirt, one arm around a voluptuous woman, a whistle to his lips.

At the sound of the whistle from Robert's mouth, the contestants began to guzzle down the various fine drinks on the table like thirsty oxen.

Cheers and shouts rose and fell. When one side claimed victory, the atmosphere inside the tavern reached its zenith.

The winner raised his arms high, as if a victorious general inspecting his troops, and suddenly, a woman lifting her skirt leapt into his embrace.

Another scream arose.

This was how the people of Atlantic City vented their emotions in a frenzy with the impending arrival of Prohibition.

This scene was not unique to Block Tavern; it could be seen in any tavern of Atlantic City, in any city across the United States.

The once federally supported Prohibition, even before its start, had already begun to face resistance from the people across the country.

At that moment, Donnie raised his glass overhead, stirring up the atmosphere among all present.

"Tonight is the eve when Americans' personal freedoms will be stripped away!"

This declaration was met with fervent applause throughout the tavern.

"Block Tavern will always provide you with any 'liquid bread' you desire; no one can deprive us of our right to enjoy freedom!"

When these words were shouted, Block Tavern once again erupted in enthusiastic applause.

Similarly, a woman dressed provocatively with a charming face picked up her skirt, jumped onto the table, and fervently threw herself at Donnie, offering him her most passionate kiss.

Donnie, in turn, wrapped his arm tightly around her slender waist, pulling her close to his body, and kissed her deeply.

"Wowww!!!"

The atmosphere at the scene climbed again.

Everyone kept asking for more drinks, as if they would never be able to drink again after today.

Batches of customers were thrown out of the tavern, only to be replaced by new batches entering.

Last, handfuls of bills found their way into Donnie's wallet.

The night was wild; so wild that even Donnie didn't know whether Block Tavern had closed its doors. When he opened his eyes, sunlight was already streaming into his room.

Looking at the two unfamiliar women lying next to him and smelling the strong scent of hormones in the room, Donnie could imagine just how wild the previous night had been.

He threw back the covers, ignoring the women's pleas, and after washing up with a basin of cold water, Donnie felt completely refreshed.

When he went downstairs, he saw John already cleaning up the still-messy hall.

"I've never seen people act so crazy!"

Upon seeing Donnie, John couldn't help but complain.

"Where's Robert?"

Grabbing a beer from behind the bar to clear his head, Donnie took a swig and felt even more invigorated.

"He probably won't be up until after ten," John said nonchalantly.

Donnie nodded. If he himself had been that wild last night, he could only imagine what sort of scene Robert might have been in.

"We made over 300 US Dollars last night, which is about what we make in two months!"

John sat down next to Donnie, saying this with some surprise.

"I never expected everyone to go so crazy after knowing about the situation in Atlantic City!"

Donnie laughed, "Live for today with wine for today; who knows if Atlantic City can really stand up to the National Government!"

John asked curiously, "So can Atlantic City really withstand the pressure from the National Government?"

"Rest assured, Atlantic City won't give up such a good opportunity!" Donnie said with conviction.

During the Prohibition era in the United States, Atlantic City experienced its most rapid development phase, and the biggest credit was due to the ineffectiveness of the prohibition laws there. Even when the prohibition was repealed across the United States in the '30s, it led directly to a period of decline for Atlantic City.

It took decades for the city to recover, only improving slightly when it officially became the second-largest casino city in the United States.

John immediately laughed and said, "If that's really the case, then we don't need to worry about Cameron's tuition anymore!"

"Cameron's tuition has never been a problem!"

Donnie said confidently.

"I heard that the National Government has already established a prohibition enforcement agency. They will be deployed to every state, every city. Won't they bring us some trouble?"

John asked.

To better promote the enforcement of the Prohibition, the National Government had already trained a group of prohibition agents as early as last year.

"Don't worry!" Donnie said dismissively, "Those people won't cause us any trouble!"

When Nucky was arrested, the National Government spent four to five years investigating him to secure a conviction, and even then, they only managed to put him away on charges of tax evasion.

In the United States, the concept that the law does not punish the masses was equally applicable, if not more so.

As long as Atlantic City could keep providing continuous political donations and more votes to those at the higher echelons, the city would not be hindered by Prohibition.

Getting the answer he wanted, John had nothing to worry about anymore.

"By the way, the tavern owners came over last night; they finally couldn't hold out any longer and agreed to our offer!"

John said proudly.

Previously, Donnie had wanted to sell his stockpiled liquor to the taverns of Atlantic City, but to his surprise, they tried to unite to force him to lower his prices. That's when Donnie had Robert increase the selling price, adopting a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.

When the owners saw Atlantic City's frenzy last night, they couldn't sit still any longer and someone immediately came to Block Tavern, capitulating.

"It's the same as before, ensure our liquor reserves are secure, and sell the rest to them."

John nodded, "I'll discuss the distribution quantities to each establishment with Robert once he wakes up."

Donnie nodded, "Don't let any one bar grow too dominant. After all, good liquor will become increasingly scarce in Atlantic City."

The Prohibition did have its effects. As a pure tourism city, Atlantic City couldn't have large clandestine distilleries, which meant that once the United States' stockpile of liquor was completely depleted, cities like Atlantic City and others would have to resort to poor quality liquor from those illegal distilleries.

As for the liquor smuggled from Europe and Canada, it would be sold at high prices to the upper-middle-class people in the United States.

According to historical records, during this time, many distilleries mixed industrial alcohol with whiskey, rum, and wine to sell to drinkers.

This led to an annual increase in deaths from alcohol poisoning in the United States.

Because of Carl, Donnie was able to produce liquor that was superior to the poor-quality spirits yet not as fine as the smuggled ones from Europe and Canada. Therefore, he was already planning to enter the mid-to-low end of the American bootleg liquor market with such products.

"Don't worry about it!"

John said with pride.

After chatting casually for a bit, the two women in Donnie's room came downstairs, their cheeks flushed and their manner flirtatious.

Donnie took out three US dollars from the drawer and handed it to them. The two divided their share, each kissing their banknotes against their lips.

"Last night was a thoroughly enjoyable and wonderful evening, and I hope we have the chance to continue!"

One of the women, whose name Donnie didn't know, kissed him and then left hand in hand with the other woman.

During this era, traditional women still made up the majority in the United States, so they were not as open as American women in the seventies and eighties.

The women who appeared in Block Tavern last night were mostly from the boarding houses nearby. They knew that the men of Atlantic City were all out drinking in the taverns last night, so they also entered various taverns, and evidently, they were successful.

"How were those two last night?"

After the women left, John looked at Donnie with a mischievous grin and asked.

Donnie asked, "Don't tell me you slept alone last night?"

"Of course not!" John immediately denied, then became somewhat embarrassed as he said, "But I drank too much last night and only remember waking up next to a woman; I've forgotten what happened last night!"

Donnie looked at John with disdain, "You always boast about how much you can drink, but in the end, you're just a lightweight, aren't you!"

Although John didn't understand what Donnie meant, he knew it wasn't anything good. But then he felt embarrassed again thinking about his performance last night.

"Humph, tonight I will definitely show her what I'm made of!"

Donnie chuckled. As they were preparing to find a place for lunch, a man with graying hair, accompanied by two subordinates, slowly walked into Block Tavern.

"Donnie Block, I haven't mistaken you, have I?" The man looked at Donnie with a smile and said casually, "I am Brigadier General Louis Kuhler!"