America 1919

"Dear Donnie, did you receive the newspapers I sent you?" Your journey continues on m v|l-e'm,p y r

Clutching the phone, Donnie sat before a stack of America's most influential newspapers—The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The New York Times—all of which featured entertainment sections buzzing with news about the Miss America Pageant.

"Dear Nucky, your efficiency is really too high. I'm now starting to worry whether our pageant committee staff can arrive in those cities on time!"

Organizing the pageant committee in Atlantic City was not a difficult task for Donnie, but the real challenge lay in how to set up polling stations in other cities across America.

This was precisely why Donnie had to collaborate with Nucky, because in Atlantic City, only Nucky had the capacity to establish relationships with other cities in such a short timeframe.

Before Nucky left Atlantic City, Donnie had reached an agreement with him that they could not possibly impact the entire country with the first Miss America election.

So in the end, they just selected a few key cities for the event.

These included New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, San Francisco, Boston, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, and Washington, eleven cities in total including Atlantic City itself.

Excluding Atlantic City, the remaining ten cities would host local competitions, each selecting their top three contestants.

The top three from each city would arrive in Atlantic City in July to begin the final contest, and from there, the top three national winners would be decided, with the first place naturally crowned as Miss America!

To better attract competitors, Donnie and Nucky also established corresponding rewards.

The top three from each city would receive cash prizes and have all their expenses covered by the committee for their trip to Atlantic City, where they would also be honored with the title of Distinguished Citizens of Atlantic City.

As for the national top three, the prizes were even more substantial. The most important of these was that the winner of Miss America would be arranged to go on a national lecture tour.

Simply put, Donnie was about to create a star!

In the America of 1920, he was creating a star!

Of course, this involved a lot more details, all of which needed to be determined by Donnie and the election committee.

"Haha, rest assured, I've already spoken to my friends. They are very interested in this and will cooperate with us fully!"

It's the girls they're interested in, right?

Donnie couldn't help but scoff to himself. Unless there were unforeseen circumstances, this Miss America election was bound to be a contest rife with underhanded dealings.

However, Donnie didn't care about that. What he sought was how to use this event to expand his business empire.

Donnie then discussed the details with Nucky.

One of the critical issues was funding.

To turn this beauty pageant into a nationally anticipated event, extensive promotional efforts would be indispensable from the start.

According to the arrangement Donnie had made with Nucky before, this event's budget was set at a staggering 100,000 US dollars.

The actual expenditure was borne by Donnie and the Atlantic City City Hall.

Indeed, this beauty pageant was initiated in the name of Atlantic City, with Donnie as the main organizer.

For this purpose, Donnie had specifically registered a company named 'Starry Entertainment' in Atlantic City!

"I'm well aware of your influence, Nucky. Because of your decision, Atlantic City is sure to rise to a new level!"

Donnie said, laughing.

"Haha!" Nucky burst into laughter, clearly in a very good mood. The reason for his cheerfulness wasn't just because the Miss America election was off to a smooth start. More importantly, he had already been in contact with Harding's campaign manager through his connections and learned about the veracity of the scandals concerning Harding as relayed by Donnie.

To ensure Harding's smooth election, Nucky had agreed to bring Harding's mistress and his illegitimate child to Atlantic City to prevent any accidental revelations during Harding's campaign.

It was precisely Nucky's actions... and of course, there was another critical point—Harding needed the votes from New Jersey!

So, when Nucky met with Harding's campaign manager, the first thing that the manager said was, "As far as I know, to have Mr. Nucky's support is to have the votes of New Jersey!"

Through his campaign manager, Harding also expressed to Nucky that once elected, he would approve the construction of a highway from Atlantic City to Philadelphia!

"This is a victory for both of us!" said Nucky, and then with a hint of regret he added, "It's a pity, though, that this investment will take a while to reap returns."

Nucky was a political genius who had the entire political scene of Atlantic City and New Jersey at his command, but that didn't make him a genius businessman.

Up to this point, he still believed that despite the grand scale of the pageant and its ability to bring more exposure to Atlantic City, that was all it could achieve.

As for the business opportunities it contained, he didn't see them.

Donnie, however, just smiled lightly. If Nucky knew that Ponzi was willing to invest 500,000 in advertising for the pageant, he'd surely be over the moon!

Donnie was definitely not going to tell Nucky about this.

After all, Donnie had signed the contract with Ponzi in his own name.

But that didn't mean Donnie wouldn't go through the proper channels to turn this beauty pageant into an opportunity for more benefits for himself.

"My dear Nucky, why would you think that way? Don't you know that there are heaps and heaps of banknotes waving at us, just waiting for us to take them?"

Nucky paused for a moment on the phone. After the past few days' experiences, Nucky had come to acknowledge Donnie's abilities, and now, hearing Donnie talk like this, he naturally took a greater interest.

"Do you have an idea?"

Donnie said, "As long as we persistently advertise Miss America in newspapers in major cities across the country, more and more people will definitely become interested in it.

In time, we can completely take advantage of the naming rights, advertising fees, and some other indirect income, finding suitable partners to cooperate with.

For example, aside from ordinary people, there are bound to be wealthy individuals interested in this event, for reasons you understand. In that case, can't we contact some car dealers to sponsor our competition?

Of course, this is just one example."

Donnie, holding the phone, heard the hurried breathing of Nucky, and he was convinced that Nucky was not exercising but was astounded by his proposal.

After all, in this era, though advertising exists, many people are unable to see its diversity, functionality, and accomplishments.

Just take this beauty pageant for instance. Nucky only noticed the influence the event brought to Atlantic City; that was already an advertising effect.

However, his perspective was limited by the era, and he failed to see the personal benefits the pageant could bring them!

Now, Donnie's words were like opening a new door for Nucky!

"I understand. I'll make contact about this immediately!"

Donnie said with a smile, "Then I'll leave it to you, Mr. Nucky!"

.

Every reform cannot be peaceful; the reform in the West District was no exception!

Although Donnie had said to use the big-fish-eat-little-fish approach to mitigate the impact of the West District's reform, there were still many surprises.

Previously, Donnie told Eli to support two capable gangs. The rest of the West District gangs were either to be taken out or assimilated.

Among these two gangs, Eli chose one in the West District named Tanding, led by a man named Tanding himself, and naturally, the other was John.

Tanding took a non-cooperative stance against violence, wounding the leaders of three or four gangs within just a couple of days.

Such actions naturally caused dissatisfaction among many.

So today, when Tanding had just walked out of an Italian restaurant, he was suddenly shot at by someone coming head-on!

If his subordinates hadn't been brave enough to draw their guns and shoot back immediately, tomorrow could have been Tanding's death anniversary!

Eli was very angry about this and wanted to go to Donnie to discuss strategies right away.

But at that moment, he was stopped by Sean Be.

"Chief, isn't this the perfect time for us to step in? Using the incident of Tanding being shot, we can immediately mobilize the public security forces to enter the West District, carry out a sweep, take all those stubborn people into custody, and highlight your influence, right?"

Sean Be's words made Eli nod slightly and say, "Good. We can't go to Donnie for everything; otherwise, they will certainly look down on us!"

Then Eli patted Sean Be on the shoulder, appreciatively saying, "You have a good brain, second only to mine. I never noticed your ability in this area before!"

Sean Be spoke obsequiously, "All thanks to your excellent guidance!"

Eli laughed heartily, "Gather those youngsters from public security immediately. We're going to properly sort out the West District!"

"Yes!"

.

"Eli should be entering the West District shortly, so contact the gambling businesses controlled by those disobedient gangs right now and tell them to either come under our wing or wait for the sweep!"

At that time, John, sitting pompously in Isaiah's pub, said to Gary Thomas.

Gary Thomas had now become John's top lieutenant!

"Understood, I'll get right on it!" Gary Thomas said excitedly.