America 1982-Chapter 169 - 64: Unexpected Gains

After his shower, Tommy didn’t bother wrapping himself in a towel and walked right out of the bathroom; after all, Jason had already gone to the SSD headquarters, and no one else was in the dorm.

Upon opening the fridge, he discovered that the food inside had all gone bad, at this moment reminding him and Jason with its blackened, rotten appearance that it had been quite some time since either of them had last opened the fridge.

Tommy took out the last can of beer and had just popped the tab when Charles barged in, taking the beer perfectly from Tommy’s hand, and took a sip, "Thanks, Exhibitionist Mr."

"No thanks needed since you stole it, I wasn’t planning on giving it to you, that was the last can in the fridge." Tommy sighed, "What’s going on?"

Upon hearing ’the last can,’ Charles didn’t bother to explain to Tommy and opted to finish the beer first before speaking, "Nothing much, our SSD Stanford Chapter just received a donation from an alumnus, a hundred grand, so you’d better get dressed and come with me to thank the donator."

"Mr. President, I currently hold no position at SSD, I’m just a rookie, okay?" Tommy, relieved to hear about the alumni donation, flopped onto the bed and closed his eyes, "Let me sleep for another half hour, half an hour later I have to make a call to Florida, so please tread lightly when you leave." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The Fraternity, the kind of organization that can hire lawyers and has the funds to organize various large-scale events, mainly relies on donations from members who have graduated. The annual dues paid by the members within the university are barely enough to pay Stanford University’s ground lease and hire cooks and cleaners.

If alumni who live far away mail in their donation checks, the SSD can only thank them over the phone, but if donors are nearby in Silicon Valley, SSD organizes a group to visit and express gratitude; everyone sits down for a meal or some drinks, chatting about what’s new with SSD and what interesting things have happened since their own college days.

Basically, it’s a routine social interaction, and such interactions are usually controlled by a few SSD veterans; rookies rarely get the opportunity, as the veterans step into society quicker and need to tap into the fraternity’s internal network to discover various opportunities.

"The donor specifically asked for your presence, it’s just you and me." Charles looked at Tommy, picked up the can in his hand, and tossed it accurately at Tommy’s crotch, satisfied, he declared, "Score!"

The cold beer can, taken from the fridge, shocked Tommy’s private area, making him quickly open his eyes and sit up, hands covering his privates, cussing at Charles, the current president of SSD, instead of asking why he was requested.

"Benjamin Rosen, a Stanford University student in 1955, and a member of the SSD Fraternity, seems you’re not too fond of me, I’ve decided to take Ted with me instead, and just say that you..."

"I’m wrong, Charles, what I’m upset about isn’t what you did, but how could you choose a beer can? You should have switched to a dart and helped me pierce my club!" Tommy stood up, "Just as long as after you’ve had your fun, you take me to meet the guy."

Benjamin Rosen, Chairman and CEO of the Compaq Computer Corporation, a titan in the computer hardware industry, was obviously a name Tommy had heard of, but he hadn’t expected that Rosen would want to meet him; he thought maybe one of those SSD alumni keen on investing in the software industry might be the first.

While putting on his clothes, Tommy thought about the approximate history of Compaq’s development, and then paused, looked at Charles, "Why would he donate a hundred grand to SSD and then have us visit him? I mean... he could have just asked us to visit directly."

"It’s a question of attitude," Charles replied, folding his arms across his chest.

Tommy nodded in agreement and said, "The Compaq company, founded in ’82, is essentially the Actor Corporation of the computer hardware industry."

"SSD really is full of talents; you all chose the path of imitation, only your Actor is in software, and his Compaq is in hardware," Charles said with an evil grin, "I think he might want to exchange notes with you on how to copy and shamelessly extort, to grow big and strong, so that Stanford University becomes notoriously famous."

"No, he copied to make money; I’m for equality," Tommy corrected the error in Charles’s words.

Charles rolled his eyes, "Hurry up and pull up your pants, Benjamin’s limousine is waiting for us, Tommy Hawk, your egalitarian imitation tactics are much more harmful to the American computer industry than Benjamin’s blatant imitation."

...

The fifty-year-old Benjamin Rosen welcomed Charles and Tommy in his 430-square-meter penthouse apartment in Silicon Valley, which is pretty much the most upscale area in Silicon Valley nowadays.

"I spend most of the year working at the Compaq headquarters in Harris, Texas, and only occasionally fly to Silicon Valley for some business events, so if you need any party venue, feel free to choose this place, although I don’t live here, the maids, butler, and gardeners still come every day to clean up." Wearing a loose tracksuit, Benjamin took them directly to his rooftop garden, made them comfortable, and said casually:

"I know, if SSD wants to hold some thrilling parties, they often need to pay extra for temporary venues, you might consider this place, it’s not bad. Over there in the garden, there’s an outdoor swimming pool, the girls probably won’t hate the environment here."