Chen Qiang has heard of the name of Lingling Circus.

In the future, there will be three major circuses in the world, namely Lingling Circus, Big Apple Circus and Cirque du Soleil.

However, after entering the Internet era, circus became a declining sunset industry. Animal protection organizations have been accusing circus of cruelty to animals in their performances and calling on everyone to resist circus. At the same time, animal protection laws of various countries are constantly squeezing the living space of circus. Therefore, among the three major circuses in the world, Lingling Circus and Big Apple Circus went bankrupt one after another, and only Cirque du Soleil could barely support it.

In the future, it will be difficult to find traditional circuses with animal performances in North America. Most of the remaining circuses in North America conduct light shows and stage shows. If you want to watch traditional circus performances, you have to find Russians. Only the fighting nations are still playing circuses that train tigers and lions.

In 1932, neither the Big Apple Circus nor the Cirque du Soleil had been established, but the Lingling Circus, which was founded in 1872, had a history of 60 years.

The early Lingling Circus mainly performed some curious performances, such as dwarfs, bisexuals, conjoined people, six-fingered people, etc. Later, Lingling Circus acquired several other circus one after another. As the circus grew its strength, Lingling Circus began to perform animal performances.

Before the Great Depression, Lingling Circus was the only big circus in the United States. After the 1960s, Lingling Circus reached its peak. At that time, Lingling Circus was divided into two teams, red and blue, and each team had trains with more than 80 cars. In the 1980s, the entire Lingling Circus could perform more than 1,000 shows a year. When Lingling Circus performed in Washington, even the US president would come to watch the circus.

The business strategy of Lingling Circus has always been to raise animals but not humans. The animals used for performances are raised by Lingling Circus. The actors who perform programs are hired by Lingling Circus. Usually, the actors who are more popular will be invited by Lingling Circus. When the actor's popularity has passed, Lingling Circus will replace new actors. It is also for this reason that Lingling Circus can always bring new programs to the audience and keep the audience fresh.

As for inviting sports stars to the circus Biaoyuan, this was also a very common thing at that time. Performing in circus was also a very important income for American athletes.

For example, the legendary American athlete Jesse Owens, after the Berlin Olympics, relied on performing in circuses to make a living for a long time. There are also some water performance shows in the United States, and professional swimmers and diving athletes will also invite professional swimmers and diving athletes to perform, especially diving athletes, performing some fancy diving movements, which are very popular in water performances.

Many people may think that being a gold medalist at the Olympics is a very cheap thing to perform in a circus, and it sounds miserable. But in fact, the performance income of Olympic champions in circus is much higher than that of ordinary people.

Back to the point, Chen Qiang looked at the invitation in his hand and was immediately moved.

Chen Qiang still has to stay in the United States for a while now. He doesn't know how long it will take to receive the boat tickets from Nanjing. It costs money to eat and stay in hotels in Los Angeles. He can't stay empty-handed, so Chen Qiang had long planned to find a job in the United States and earn his living expenses.

However, the United States is now in the worst period of the Great Depression, with unemployed workers everywhere, and finding a job is very difficult. Chen Qiang originally planned to plan a good idea to find a job, but he didn't expect a job to come to his door.

...

After the mid-19th century, circus performances gradually began to flourish. In North America, European countries and even some countries in South America, circus is not only a very popular entertainment event, but also a celebration that people are looking forward to. The arrival of a circus will completely stop the daily production and life of a small city, and even schools will end school early. Even small towns and villages around the city will flock to it.

People gathered around the circus trucks early, watching huge tents rise up, performers in exquisite and gorgeous costumes and animals full of exotic styles, jointly creating a world full of noise, flaunt and adventure. It is normal for circus performed in a small town of less than 6,000 people to attract nearly 10,000 people to watch.

It's probably like a certain singer holding a performance meeting, and fans from the surrounding cities will be attracted to you.

However, when Chen Qiang came to Lingling Circus, he did not meet the audience because it was not time for the official performance.

The Lingling Circus is stationed in an open space. You can see many small tents from a distance, and small trucks are arranged in an orderly manner. When you get closer, you can see some temporary small stages.

The circus in the 1930s was different from later generations. In later generations, circus performances were performed in a large tent, and all performances were performed in sequence. However, in the 1930s, circus performances had not yet entered the indoor era, and most performances were outdoors, with actors temporarily setting up a stage or a small tent, performing their own performances. Only the taming performances of lions and tigers were held in a large tent.

Therefore, the circus in the 1930s was more like a simple garden parade. After the audience included in the circus venue, they each chose their favorite performance projects to watch. Moreover, Americans in this era did not have so many entertainment projects, and circus performances often attracted a lot of audiences.

As soon as Chen Qiang walked into the circus gate, he heard a voice sounding from his head: "Be careful, don't get paint dripped onto your body."

Chen Qiang looked up and saw a middle-aged white man with a sun hat sitting on a ladder with several paint buckets on the shelf next to him. He was painting a billboard hanging from a high place.

"Can you help me hand the paint bucket? Yes, it's the one on the left!" The white man pointed to the paint bucket on the ground.

Chen Qiang handed the paint bucket to the white man. After the white man arrived, he spoke and said, "You are here too early, and the circus performance here has not started yet."

"I'm not here to watch the circus, I'm here to find someone." Chen Qiang said as he took out the invitation letter from his arms and continued, "I'm here to find Mr. Field."

"Are you looking for the boss here?" the white man pointed in one direction and continued: "There is a truck over there, the colorful one, and Mr. Field is in the small tent next to him."

Chen Qiang followed the instructions of the white man and found the small tent.

"Mr. Field is here?" Chen Qiang shouted outside the tent.

Then someone opened the door of the tent, and a man with a beard appeared in front of Chen Qiang. After seeing Chen Qiang, he was slightly surprised, and then said with joy: "Mr. Chen, I didn't expect you to really come!"

Obviously, this bearded man knows Chen Qiang, who is the boss of this place Field.

After the two of them exchanged greetings, Field asked, "Mr. Chen, since you are willing to come, it means you are interested in coming to our circus performance. However, the performance and the competition are different. I wonder if you have participated in similar performance activities before?"

"Of course, when I was in China, I was the spokesperson for several products. I often participated in sponsor advertising activities. So I am familiar with this aspect." Chen Qiang said without any modesty.

When looking for a job, you must naturally brag yourself a little better. If you say you don’t know anything, even if the boss is willing to ask you, you won’t be given a very high salary.

Field asked a few more simple questions, and Chen Qiang answered them one by one.

Field was very satisfied with Chen Qiang's interview performance. He decided to hire Chen Qiang. He only heard him say: "Los Angeles is a big city. Our circus plans to stay here for a week. If you are willing to come to our circus to perform, our circus is willing to pay you a salary of $25 a day. If you perform well, we will pay you an extra bonus."

$20 a day, which was already a very high salary in the United States at that time. Due to the Great Depression, American salaries were also declining. In 1932, the hourly wages of American workers had dropped to 45 cents. Of course, this is the official data, and the real data is probably much lower than this.

Calculated based on working 10 hours a day, the salary of an American worker is US$4.50 per day. Moreover, workers in that era had no salary on weekends and holidays. If workers worked 26 days a month, the salary per month would be US$112.

In fact, in the Great Depression environment at that time, it would be thankful to find a job with a monthly salary of US$100.

So if you count it this way, the circus pays Chen Qiang $25 a day, which can indeed be considered a high salary. Chen Qiang earns more than an ordinary American worker in a circus in five days.

"There is US$25 a day, and the 7-day period is US$175 a day. You can take on this job!" Chen Qiang felt that he had no reason to refuse.

This is $175, which was a lot of money in 1932. At that time, a hot dog was $5 cents, a magazine was $10 cents, and a meal was about $50 cents. If it was just to ensure food and clothing, $175 could live in the United States for a long time.

However, Chen Qiang had another doubt, and he said, "Mr. Field, you know I am a Chinese. I don't have an American passport. The United States has the "Exclusion Act", so if I work here, it may violate the law!"

Field laughed strangely: "Mr. Chen, you don't have to worry about this. You come to me to perform just to promote the Olympic spirit, not to work. As for our circus, we are moved by your Olympic spirit, so we are willing to donate 25 US dollars to you every day. So we are not an employment relationship. I think American laws will not prohibit athletes from promoting the Olympic spirit, nor will circus from making charitable donations."

Field's explanation immediately made Chen Qiang admire him, and he couldn't help but give him a thumbs up.

"I am worthy of being a businessman. I am really a ghostly person. Moreover, Field is so calm. It is probably not the first time he has done such a thing!" Chen Qiang said in his heart.

Chen Qiang didn't guess much in his heart. Lingling Circus did not do such a thing at once. Before, they often performed some curious performances, many of which were deformed people collected from all over the world. These poor deformed people do not have American work visas and cannot work in the United States according to the law.

However, Lingling Circus paid the salary of those deformed people by the name of charitable donations to the disabled. The deformed people's performances were also described by Lingling Circus as an activity like street begging.

A disabled person begging on the street. My circus thought he was pitiful, so he donated some money to him, which was not a violation of American law at all!

...

The Great Depression in the 1930s also affected the business of circus, and many circuses went bankrupt as a result. However, large circuses such as Lingling Circus were getting better and better.

This is like a situation where movie tickets rise. When movie ticket prices rise, the box office of some bad movies will be particularly miserable. On the contrary, excellent movies with excellent production will have higher and higher box offices.

Because ordinary people think that movie tickets have become more expensive, of course they have to choose more carefully when spending money to watch movies. Spending the same amount of money to watch a movie without imax, 3D, or Hollywood productions would be a loss. On the contrary, if it is a big lineup of "Avengers 4", even if the ticket price is a little more expensive, it would be worth it to go to the cinema to watch an imax.

The same is true for circus business. When Americans have money in their pockets, even if the circus performance is a little worse, many people will watch it. At worst, they just treat it as if they are joining in the fun. But when Americans have no money in their pockets, only those top circuses are worth the money.

The Lingling Circus opened a temporary track of about 60 meters for Chen Qiang and a sand pool for performing long jumps. Chen Qiang also performed while interacting with the audience as if he was attending a temple fair in China.

In recent days, Chen Qiang's name has been constantly appearing in American newspapers, which has made Chen Qiang quite famous, so there are many people watching. When Chen Qiang invited the audience to compete, the audience actively participated.

The United States is originally a sports power, and Americans have much better understanding and participation in sports than the Chinese people. At the temple fair in Tianjin, many Chinese people are unconscious of Chen Qiang’s championship sign. You tell the Chinese people that Chen Qiang is the champion of the Far East Games, and perhaps everyone will ask what the Far East Games is. The focus of Chinese people is that Chen Qiang defeated the Japanese, and Chen Qiang is the fastest running person in Asia, and Chen Qiang can bring them excitement.

But the United States is different. Americans understand sports. They know what the Olympic champion is and the meaning of a world record. If you tell Americans Chen Qiang, they will think that Chen Qiang is very powerful. American spectators are more willing to go on the court to compete with Chen Qiang. After all, there are not many opportunities to compete with the world record holders.

For these American audiences, they are not going to defeat Chen Qiang. They want to show themselves in front of everyone, or they want to get the feeling of being involved.

Chen Qiang's performance is very good, even better than those funny clowns or acrobatic performers. The main reason for this is that Chen Qiang's performance can allow the audience to participate. A performance that can interact with the audience in real time and can involve the audience is of course more attractive than those self-interesting performance forms.

For a time, Chen Qiang became a popular rooster in Lingling's circus. In addition to the performance of training tigers and lions in the big tent in the middle, there were many audiences here in Chen Qiang.

...

A middle-aged man with a big belly competed with Chen Qiang for a sprint. After he ran through the finish line, he suddenly fell to the ground and fainted.

Chen Qiang hurriedly came forward and kept pinching the people, finally awakening them.

"Sir, are you okay?" Chen Qiang asked.

"I'm a little dizzy," the fat middle-aged man continued; "I just felt the darkness in front of me..."

The fat man's face turned a little red. Looking at his figure, Chen Qiang had already guessed in his heart that the fat man suffered from high blood pressure. The sudden and intense exercise just now made the fat man's blood pressure rise instantly, which directly caused him to faint.

"Sir, do you often experience dizziness, headache, tight neck plate, fatigue, palpitations and other symptoms? You will get better after a while?" Chen Qiang asked.

The fat man nodded: "Yes, you're right."

"Then will you have symptoms such as inattention, memory loss, numbness, fatigue, etc." Chen Qiang continued.

"How do you know? Are you a fortune teller?" The fat man looked shocked.

Chen Qiang is 100% sure that this fat man suffers from hypertension.

Chen Qiang really wanted to tell the fat man that he should treat hypertension now, but then he thought that the concept of treating hypertension in this era is completely different from that in later generations.

Exercise can keep people healthy, which will be a special research topic in the future, and it will be divided into many small topics. Chen Qiang has read many papers in this area, including exercise to treat diseases.

In future scientific research, many diseases can be treated with exercise therapy, such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Chen Qiang’s Sports University is also associated with some well-known medical colleges to jointly study the methods of exercise treatment. At that time, Chen Qiang was still the deputy leader of the medical school liaison group, and had a lot of knowledge in terms of exercise and health.

Therefore, according to the information Chen Qiang saw, people of this era did not realize the importance of reasonable exercise in the treatment of chronic diseases.

For example, diabetes, if people in the future have a little bit of health knowledge, they will know that the most important thing for diabetic patients is to control their blood sugar. In addition to taking medicine or injecting insulin, they should also be accompanied by a reasonable diet and moderate exercise.

In the 1930s, people's treatment of diabetes was to eat more to maintain their weight. For example, cereals and high cholesterol foods that diabetic patients needed to strictly control their intake. In that era, it was a good medicine for treating diabetes, because cereals and high cholesterol foods could increase weight. If this were in later generations, it would be a way to let diabetic patients die early.

For example, hypertension, people in the future know that if you suffer from hypertension, you have to take antihypertensive drugs for life. However, in the 1930s, hypertension was not considered a disease. Many elderly people will not treat them after they have hypertension.

The doctors at that time believed that when a person gets older, blood vessels will become thinner and narrower, and the increase in blood pressure is conducive to dilating blood vessels and improving the body's ability to blood circulation. Therefore, if an elderly person has high blood pressure, it is a good thing and will promote blood circulation.

I don’t know how many people this backward medical concept has killed, including US President Roosevelt, who suffered from hypertension. Before his death, his blood pressure continued to rise, but the doctor gave the conclusion that "the president is very healthy". As a result, Roosevelt died of cerebral hemorrhage caused by hypertension in a few days. If Roosevelt had a few tablets of antihypertensive drugs, he might be able to live for another 10 or 20 years, and the world would be different.

"In this era, people don't realize that high blood pressure is a disease, and doctors don't treat high blood pressure. If I tell him that he has high blood pressure, it may be regarded as a joke. It seems that I can only start from other aspects, such as asking him to exercise more and lose weight, which can also lower his blood pressure."

Thinking of this, Chen Qiang had no choice but to speak, "Sir, I have a way to relieve these symptoms of you." Chen Qiang said.

"What method?" the fat man asked immediately.

"Exercise, exercise appropriately." Chen Qiang really wanted to tell the fat man that he should take antihypertensive drugs. However, Chen Qiang knew that he was not a doctor, and guiding others to take medication would definitely cause trouble. Moreover, Chen Qiang was not sure whether there were antihypertensive drugs in this era.

"Can you tell me what disease I have now?" the fat man asked.

Chen Qiang thought about it and he couldn't say that the fat man had high blood pressure, so he had to say, "You are in a sub-healthy state now."
To be continued...