America 1982-Chapter 600 - 132: I’m Home

Under the bright sunshine, Sophia got out of the car with a smile on her face. Standing on Stanford’s Sunset Drive, she turned around lightly a few times before looking at Tommy who followed her out of the car:

"Setting foot on Stanford soil, it feels like I’ve returned to those bygone days. I feel totally relaxed. It’s shocking how fast time flies. I can’t believe I’ve been away from Stanford for six years, and you’ve graduated for nearly three years."

"When people reminisce about the past, they tend to deceive themselves subconsciously by selectively deleting certain memories and embellishing others. Like you, my dear Miss Sophia, if I remember correctly, you used to yell at me all day long, questioning why I didn’t pay you and saying you had had enough of your part-time job at Actor." Tommy plopped down on the hood of Sophia’s girly pink sports car, took out a cigarette from the pocket of his floral shirt, lit it, and continued with a smile:

"Just a friendly reminder, it was precisely because of that infuriatingly dull period that you made more money than many people will in their lifetime, which allows you to leisurely come back and romanticize your memories. Think about it, if you hadn’t been kindly picked up by me, what would you be doing now? Maybe you’d be juggling part-time jobs and studying for the bar exam, or you might have passed the bar and be working as an assistant in some law firm or some backwater county commissioner’s office, slaving away without even the time to change a sanitary pad, let alone pile a new one on top of an old one..."

"Tommy~ can’t you leave some room for my imagination?" Sophia stopped reminiscing about the good old times, frowned slightly, and interrupted Tommy with disdain.

Tommy, with the cigarette dangling from his mouth, waved in the direction of the Stanford campus a few times, then continued: "That’s the reality. Delia, as a female lawyer just starting out, lived like that—bossed around by her superiors, too busy to change even her personal things, and having to run errands to buy Trojan condoms and lingerie for her boss’ affairs with prostitutes."

In the distance, a student with a very androgynous look, upon seeing Tommy’s gesture, drove a golf cart toward them.

Sophia hesitated for a moment but couldn’t help herself and retorted: "Then why don’t you give me Odelia’s example? Odelia told me her job back then was very easy."

"Lady, that’s because her father already owned assets worth four hundred million at that time, and her boss was her godmother." Tommy got up from the hood of Sophia’s sports car and opened his arms to welcome the approaching golf cart with a smile.

The person who arrived was a member of the Fraternity ONE of Stanford University, a student organization that Susan had managed to establish with Tommy’s financial support back at Stanford University. It had since flourished and, while it couldn’t compete with the large fraternities with decades of history, it was no longer just another nameless, ephemeral group.

"Good morning, Tommy. Thanks for showing up and ensuring I got kicked out by my tutor to come and take you on a campus tour in this thing. Hop in quickly; I’ve got a ton of work waiting," said the androgynous student as they greeted Tommy coldly from the driver’s seat of the golf cart, tilting their head to signal them to get on.

Tommy got on the cart and introduced the girl with silver-white short hair to Sophia as Quinn Bates, "Stanford University Class of 1988 graduate, the first vice president of Fraternity ONE, majoring in computer science, from a small rural town, poor as dirt, ambitious, and aside from not liking pointless socializing, having a flatter chest than me and lacking golf clubs, she’s pretty much my twin."

"Also, I’ve slept with Susan, unlike you." Quinn, without turning her head, retorted back at Tommy.

"Well, that’s cool, Hi, I’m Sophia," greeted Sophia, then she lowered her voice to Tommy: "Normally, there’s no way you’d know someone of such high caliber. I get the feeling she doesn’t want to know you either."

"She doesn’t have a choice. She and I share a mentor, and she’s currently the only woman on my mentor’s work team here at Stanford. Also, she’s the one with the lowest academic qualifications. Though she appears gender-neutral, just like how you appear to lack a chest, she’s indeed a woman. My mentor has been conditioned by his mentors since high school to always keep a woman on the team, supposedly for her to look pleasing to the eye and to run errands like making coffee."

"So..." Sophia blinked in confusion: "Is that why I am the only woman among your coworkers?"

"No, it’s different. You don’t have to be eye candy; you’re just there to run errands," Tommy laughed.

Sophia said discontentedly, "I’ll quit when I get back. I’ve made enough money to retire and enjoy life anyway."

"If you’re not joking, could you leave me your phone number?" asked Quinn, still in her cool demeanor, upon hearing Sophia’s comment.

"Of course, so you’re willing to refer me for a new job?" Sophia happily replied, while smugly glancing at Tommy, silently mouthing to him:

See, asshole, I’m not worried about being unemployed without you.

"No, I mean, I’d like to refer some of the fraternity alumni for your soon-to-be-vacant position." Quinn gave a response that almost drove Sophia up the wall: