America 1982.

Chapter 140 Honesty is a virtue

Benjamin Rosen looked at Tommy Hawke, who had just sat back down after answering the phone, with a playful smile. Although the young man still had a smile on his face, the increasing number of gestures during the conversation showed that the phone call had a great impact on his mood, and it was a negative one.

"I guess the call just now was from another SSD alumnus who saw the magazine?" Benjamin asked Tommy.

Charles also looked at Tommy with curiosity. Tommy nodded to the two of them and said, "Yes, the other party claims to be Robert Miller, an alumnus of the Cornell University chapter of SSD. He actually found me through my high school teacher."

"I've heard of this name, but I don't know much about him. The duty-free shop business he founded with another SSD alumnus Chuck Feeney has never been listed, so its connection with Wall Street is relatively weak. I only learned from some news reports that they made good use of SSD's connections, especially SSD's connections in military academies such as West Point and the Naval Academy." After hearing this name, Benjamin gave some information he knew:
“Although the SSD alumni network is well developed, not everyone knows and understands each other.”

Benjamin did not continue speaking.

Charles obviously had some knowledge of this name, and he roughly talked about the rise of Robert Miller and Chuck Feeney. They were a bit like Tommy and Jason, bold and shameless. They used their holidays to travel overseas, made some money and then started the duty-free shop business.

"They are somewhat similar to you, but after making money, they turned back into normal humans, gentlemen, civilized, and polite. I'm worried that you and Jason may not complete a similar evolution."

After listening to Charles' introduction, Tommy took out his cigarette, lit it, took a deep breath and spit it out from his nose, looking at the scenery in the distance of the garden: "I understand, this is what I am worried about. After listening to your introduction, I am worried that this kind of evolution will happen to me."

"You prayed for power, but when you found that the power really appeared, you were vaguely out of control. You were worried about this, right? You hoped that everything would be just as it appeared in your mind when you first planned this matter, everything was within your expectations and control." Benjamin adjusted his sitting posture, leaning more comfortably on the sofa, making himself look more relaxed from the perspective of the two young men, and smiled as he pointed out Tommy's concerns.

Tommy nodded again. There was no need to hide anything in front of this middle-aged fraternity alumnus who was the vice president of Morgan Stanley.

"Tommy, do you know why you feel out of control? Because that power has the ability to think independently and is more greedy. You used to accumulate power for Actor Company. You could think for them and they would act according to your wishes. But now the power appears in your body, but it doesn't belong to you..."

"Control money, don't be controlled by money." Tommy retracted his gaze and looked at Benjamin.

Benjamin picked up the cigar, cut off the cap, and carefully toasted it with a cigarette lighter. Then he handed it to Charles and took one for himself. He slowly toasted it in his hand and said to Tommy:

"Yes, I'm glad you understand this. Are SSD brothers really as close as family? Of course, I'm not questioning the brotherhood of SSD. They will definitely be willing to help you when you are in trouble, just like your family, but they are too similar to your family. When your father and brother help you, they will definitely tell you that you have to follow their instructions and advice to solve the problem. The same is true for your SSD brothers. When you accept power, you'd better be mentally prepared for the stronger to think for you, and their help is not free. Just like me, I hope to use this lawsuit as an opportunity to talk to IBM about a settlement. This question is not difficult for you to guess, because you understand the computer industry, so you can understand the purpose of my taking out money like this. I am indeed helping you to exchange worthless shares for real cash, so that you can become a multi-millionaire before graduating from college, but at the same time my real purpose is for the industry development of Compaq. At this moment, you can't guess why an SSD alumnus who has no relevant industry experience finds you through your high school teacher and wants to help you. This is your worry, because you understand that no one is a real philanthropist, not even your SSD brothers."

"After listening to you and Charles' introduction to the two founders of DFS, I always feel like two imaginative New Moneys quickly became Old Moneys after making money. I feel that should not be called evolution, but assimilation." Tommy expressed his thoughts to Benjamin:
“In other words, after they borrowed power to achieve success, they did not become New Money, but were assimilated by the power and became part of Old Money.”

Benjamin exhaled smoke and said with a smile: "You know, everyone has different opinions. Some people think that there is nothing wrong with that. They also have countless wealth. Although the power does not belong to him, it is always surging in his body and can be used at any time."

"Mr. Miller even helped me prepare a first-class ticket." Tommy said what Robert Miller said to him on the phone.

"Go meet him. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not your negligence. It's just that the SSD alumni network's response to you at this moment is beyond your initial expectations. You thought that only those alumni who are passionate about the software industry would be interested in you, but how much perspective can you have on the entire lawsuit, Tommy?" When Benjamin heard Tommy say that the other party had prepared a plane ticket for him, and his reaction due to his uneasiness about the unknown, he laughed happily. It seemed that Tommy at this moment made him feel more adorable, like a real college student:
"Before you met me, you didn't even think that Compaq and IBM could possibly reach a settlement in this lawsuit. With so many alumni, so many angles, and so many brains, there are only more things that can be thought of. Everyone would have the idea that maybe this lawsuit would allow me to fulfill a little wish. What you just said was very good. Control money, don't be controlled by money. Remember this sentence, and then treat the upcoming meeting as a business course. Although I don't know what business the other party will discuss with you, it is definitely not your original idea, so no matter what business it is, when you feel you can't help but agree..."

Benjamin paused here and tapped his chest gently with his hand: "Recall what you wanted to achieve when you first designed all this, because it can guide your heart and bring it back to the starting point. People and newspapers often say that Wall Street is full of gold to describe how easy it is to make a fortune on Wall Street, but they don't say that each piece of the flowing gold is marked with a price and cannot be picked up casually. Just because you don't see a price tag doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It may just be that the price tag has been hidden."

Seeing Tommy nod in agreement, Benjamin continued:

“College students are keen to join various fraternities to expand their network and explore opportunities, but there are always people who are bitten back by opportunities. Only those who are truly calm can escape. My personal experience is that the biggest surprise in fraternity communication is not the network and opportunities, but that you can let those alumni tell you how to look at the same thing from different positions and different perspectives, and then discover some problems that you would never notice before, learn to stand at a higher level to look at the overall situation, and thus complete your own evolution and make yourself... better, or worse.”

At the end, Benjamin stood up and made an SSD-specific gesture to Tommy, then patted Tommy and Charles on the shoulders who stood up shortly after him, and said to Tommy, "For me, this is the most precious gift of life that the SSD brothers have given me. As for investing in actors or transferring shares, when you are no longer interested in the big businesses that you may have never thought about in the past 20 years since you were born and that make you sigh at the fantastic big businesses in this country, then you are welcome to come back. By then, we can continue to talk about the small business of 10 million."

"Thank you." Tommy said to Benjamin seriously, "Thank you for your advice."

Those words made Tommy believe that Benjamin, an old man who had been dealing with various elites and upper-class people on Wall Street for fifteen years and now retired to California, really wanted to be an angel investor in young people and young industries.

Because there were some things he didn't need to say so explicitly. He was worried that as a junior of SSD, he would lose his composure and make mistakes on some important choices after realizing that the situation was getting out of control.

In America, this virtue is as rare as adult virginity.

Just like Benjamin said, he should meet the other party. Even if there is no cooperation, at least he can look at the lawsuit from the perspective of a big shot like Robert Miller and gain some nutrition.
It's not about making yourself better or worse, but about becoming stronger.

……

This was the first time Tommy Hawke had taken a business class flight in his life. The first-class services, such as a separate boarding bridge, an independent lounge, a luxury business car from San Francisco International Airport to pick him up to the airport, etc., made Tommy Hawke feel that there was nothing to be surprised about. Instead, after boarding the JetBlue plane, he became more determined to become a rich man.

Because the smiling, good-looking young stewardesses in front of him were completely different from the ones Tommy had seen on other red-eye flights before.

This problem mainly arises due to the emergence of the women's rights movement, which has also affected the profession of flight attendant. In the 1980s in the United States, don't think that the busy routes in the United States are all staffed by young and beautiful stewardesses with outstanding figures, exquisite makeup, high heels and stockings, and beautiful uniforms.

Taking the red-eye flights that Tommy is most familiar with as an example, the age of the flight attendants ranges from about 28 to 40 years old. There may be tall, short, fat, thin... all kinds of strange creatures. Every time I take a plane, it feels as exciting as opening a blind box. But the only thing that can be guaranteed is that there are absolutely no beautiful ones.

Those creatures, also called stewardesses, wore the same pants and flat shoes as men, wore no makeup, and smoked more skillfully than the passengers. If there was a quarrel, they could greet all the relatives of the passengers in ten seconds, and then put all the blame on the passengers. The female passengers said that the other party insulted her because they suspected her of stealing, and the male passengers sexually harassed her. Tommy couldn't even think of anyone else who could stand up to these air shrews except his father in the countryside of Warwick and his co-workers.

It is these women who have no advantage in appearance but have shouted out the equal rights slogan in the flight attendant industry: be professional, not sexy!

This slogan was opposed by countless male passengers, because before this damn equal rights slogan, the slogan of flight attendants has always been: Fly me!

The double meaning of the word makes people think a lot.

The reason why there are no flight attendants over 40 years old on red-eye flights is mainly because the airlines consider that older flight attendants are prone to sudden death when flying red-eye routes for a long time. In order to avoid claims, they concentrate older flight attendants in the economy class of ordinary flights to provide passengers with considerate service like mothers or grandmothers.

But look at the first class cabin now. After Tommy stepped onto the plane, four beautiful women, whose attire of short skirts, stockings, high heels, and sweet looks perfectly portrayed the image of stewardesses in men's minds, bowed to him.

The leader even winked at Tommy Hawke and said something provocative to satisfy male fantasies: "Sir, does your girlfriend know that you are about to fly with us?"

"I really wish I had a girlfriend so I could show off this flight with you guys to her." Tommy smiled at the other party and responded, then was accompanied by the other party to his own cabin.

Don't be fooled by the other party's ambiguous compliments. The other party will say this to all first-class passengers. This is the slogan of JetBlue's first-class cabin. There may be nothing wrong with just hugging the other party, touching thighs, taking a photo, etc., but if you think that just buying a plane ticket and a few words from the other party make you have wild thoughts, I can only say that you are too naive. Those words from the other party are just to fool you into continuing to choose JetBlue flights next time. If you dare to harass these increasingly scarce and valuable assets of JetBlue, you will be brought to court.

If you really want to do whatever you want, you'd better own a private jet, take the stewardess you like to your own plane, and let her serve you alone.

They boarded the plane at four o'clock in the afternoon and arrived in Boston at nine o'clock in the evening, ending a five-hour flight. Robert Miller arranged a driver to pick them up, but Tommy did not get in the other's car. Instead, he asked the driver to go back and tell Mr. Miller that it was already late at night and he would visit him in Quincy tomorrow.

Tommy then went to the parking lot and got into the car that Sophia had come to pick him up in.

These days, Susan, Sophia, Mark and Delia all stayed in Boston. Only Holly received a call from Tommy that he was leaving Stanford, and she rushed back to take over Tommy's job after he left.

Sophia was driving the rented Mercury and asked Tommy in the passenger seat, "I think you are hopeless, Tommy. You traveled by yourself and didn't take red-eye flights, but when I flew with you, it was always a red-eye flight. Are you targeting me?"

"Based on what you've learned about me over this period of time, why do you think I didn't choose a red-eye flight?" Tommy opened the car window and lit a cigarette:
"Of course I would only do this if I don't have to pay for it myself. I'm going to Quincy to meet an SSD alumnus tomorrow, and he arranged the plane ticket for me."

"Do you want me to drive you directly to Quincy in the middle of the night?" Sophia laughed: "It sounds a bit far."

"No, it's the same if I stay in Boston tonight and drive there tomorrow morning. I'm just worried that I have a very beautiful high school teacher who also lives in Quincy. She sounds like she's very close to her alumni. Maybe she's a friend or partner of her father... So I called you to pick me up." Tommy turned his head with a cigarette in between, his arm resting on the car window, looking at Sophia's profile as she concentrated on driving in the night, and said with a smile.

Sophia frowned slightly: "It sounds like there is no direct connection between you having a beautiful female teacher and asking me to pick you up at the airport."

"You are a bit like her. If I look at you more now, it will increase my resistance. In case the other party designs some exaggerated movie plot where I am willing to reach some crappy cooperation, the benefit is that the female teacher will marry me, then I will be able to resist the temptation." Tommy flicked the ash off his cigarette and said while looking at the night outside the window.

Sophia had gotten used to Tommy's teasing during this period of time. Although this guy liked to take advantage of her with his mouth, he was still very gentlemanly towards her and did not do anything excessive like touching her, so she smiled and responded:
"Won't just looking at her make the desire to have her worse?"

"No, believe me, absolutely not." Tommy retracted his gaze and said seriously:
"That's why I chose you to pick me up. I only needed to take a look at your figure and imagine in my mind that the female teacher had the same airport number as you. I was sure that even if she stood naked in front of me, I wouldn't even look at her, not even if she asked me to marry her."

Sophia remained calm when she heard what Tommy said, showing no signs of going berserk. This made Tommy curious and relieved, but he soon realized that there were some problems:

"You've grown up, Sophia... uh... this is not the way to the hotel, Sophia, look at the sign, you're going the wrong way."

"Let's go straight to Quincy." Sophia stepped on the accelerator and drove directly onto the interstate highway. Then she turned her head to look at Tommy. "I don't know if you could have gotten that beautiful female teacher to marry you before, but I'm sure that after you slandered my figure again, I will definitely make it impossible for you to do so."

"You see, if I don't want a six-foot-nine-inch tall muscular driver to drive me to Quincy, it's that easy to choose a beautiful driver to accompany me. Just give her some little stimulation." Tommy laughed and said to Sophia.

Sophia sighed first, but then took a deep breath, continued to look forward, and smiled: "I feel better now. After all, you were just lying to provoke me, right?"

"I'm not lying. I'm using the truth to stimulate you." Tommy adjusted his sitting position and rested his hands behind his head:

"My mother once said before she left this world that honesty is a virtue."

Mercury disappeared into the night, leaving only the crazy roar of a woman echoing in the night wind: "You'd better stop being honest about women's bodies, or I will send myself and you to heaven to meet your mother and ask her in person how she raised a scumbag like you."

The first update is 5,000 words. The second update will be ready now. It will be finished before 12 o'clock.



(End of this chapter)