Chapter 150 Black Humor
Outside the Washington Supreme Court building, an NBC reporter said to the camera:
"We have seen that the lawyers representing Microsoft, IBM, Compaq, Baolan, and MicroPort, which should have questioned Actor's plagiarism like Lotus, have appeared on the scene. They have all submitted court documents supporting Actor to the company. Friend statement."
ABC journalists introduced the picture in front of the pre-trial building from another angle:
"In addition to peer companies and professionals, we have seen that nearly 200 lawyers representing various non-profit advocacy organizations, acting as friends of the court, will enter the scene today to hear the Supreme Court's ruling on the infringement case of Lotus Corporation v. Actor Corporation, In addition, Stanford University represents the university that is the founder of Actor, and there will also be many students and administrators involved in this trial in different identities."
"In addition to these lawyers who are entering the building, we can also notice that there are about 500 or 600 people gathered at the scene, most of them are women. Let the Lotus shatter the American dream!' and other slogans, it is understood that these are some of the people who received Actor's OSS software for free, and we randomly interviewed one."
"Hello, ma'am, what's your name?" The reporter walked up to a middle-aged woman in her thirties, and handed the microphone to her mouth.
The middle-aged woman looked at the camera, first waved her hand curiously, and then said, "I'm Emily, from Batesville, Washington, DC."
"Emily, why did you come here?" The reporter asked Emily with a smile.
Emily said seriously to the camera: "Support Actor, support Tommy Hawke, I hope to have the opportunity to tell him in person, don't be afraid, don't panic, we are standing here, with him, he is not for Himself, he just wants to let more people live with dignity. He is not wrong. If the court decides that Actor loses the case, he should not worry. We may not be able to afford the expensive software of those big companies, but we can afford 49.99 , we will raise money for him and Actor to tide over the difficulties."
"Wow, but Tommy and Actor's company may be plagiarized..." The reporter frowned slightly, trying to turn the question to his opinion on the lawsuit, but before he finished asking, Emily corrected him with some dissatisfaction the words said:
"He didn't plagiarize! There is no clear law telling this poor kid that he can't do it, it's the fault of the American judiciary! But now those rich people and judges are obviously trying to make wealth and take our money. He killed everything! We cannot tolerate massacres in full view! His mother must be crying in heaven at this time, her kind and loving son is about to be framed as a sinner by this country..."
Benjamin Rosen, chairman of Compaq Corporation and executive director of EFF, appeared next to the camera at this time, as if passing by, the reporter quickly threw off Emily, chased after him and asked: "Mr. Rosen, as a professional in the computer industry, Can you briefly talk about your views on this lawsuit, why many companies in the computer industry are willing to support Actor’s possible infringement.”
"Because a certain court makes a judgment in favor of Lotus, which will subvert the entire computer industry. Practitioners are aware of this potential harm, so as practitioners and professionals, they will naturally make the most sober decision." Benjamin Rosen finished speaking gracefully into the microphone and walked towards the Supreme Court building.
"People from Actor Company have arrived!" A voice from the crowd rang out loudly.
Two commercial vehicles slowly approached from a distance, parked outside the building, the crowd swarmed past, the door opened, and Delia Case and her team of lawyers, Holly Keener, the co-founder of Actor, walked out of it. , Jason White, but not the blond boy who told everyone in the hearing that he was going to take all the responsibility alone.
"Excuse me, Lawyer Keith, won't Mr. Tommy Hawke attend the trial today?" A reporter saw that the car was empty and asked Delia and others loudly.
The people who came to support also asked loudly: "Where is Tommy?"
Facing the reporters' questioning, Delia and the lawyers remained expressionless and tried to walk into the building, but the crowd kept asking questions.
Delia didn't speak, Jason bowed his head and remained silent. Only Holly seemed unable to face those ardent gazes. Besides, she was at the end, and at this moment, she was a little at a loss in front of everyone, so she managed to squeeze out an ugly smile. , hesitated to speak:
"Tommy has some problems now and cannot come with us for the time being, but we believe that he is with everyone in Actor Company."
"Excuse me, what happened?" Hearing that someone was finally willing to answer, countless topics and flashing lights pointed at Holly, and asked loudly.
"Someone... Sorry, I can't say the identity of the other party, but they want to take some time to talk to Tommy about the lawsuit. After the chat, Tommy was a little uncomfortable. He told us that he had a headache. The doctor asked He was resting, so he couldn't come to the court to attend the trial in person, but he asked me to express his opinion that no matter what kind of punishment was made, he would accept it calmly. I'm sorry, everyone, I have lost my composure, please let me in..." Holly With a pitiful and weak appearance, she covered her mouth with her hand.
Beside him, Jim Manz passed by wearing a baseball bat in a low-key way. As the former vice president of Lotus, he will be the witness of the plaintiff Lotus today in this trial. His expression is relaxed at the moment.
Of course it's easy, if it wasn't for running fast, it would be me who is struggling now.
Hearing Holly's words, the corners of his mouth turned up unconsciously. This is definitely a trick directed and performed by Tommy Hawke to deceive these poor people in the square outside. Wow, look, Tommy the Rogue has touched the interest Cake, someone didn't want him in court, someone was terrified of him.
As for who is holding Tommy back, it doesn't matter, it's the big shots anyway, why is it sure? Lotus, of course, in order to beat Actor, replaced their hard-working vice president Jim Manz with a guy with Kennedy in his name.
In fact, it's all those people's wild thoughts. The real reason is that the Supreme Court's trial will not be made public. At most, you can only consult the text. There is no TV broadcast, no reporter to take pictures, and that **** has no room to play. A lawyer who deals more professionally with judges.
Otherwise, this **** said passionately to a bunch of judges: I am willing to bear all the crimes! Those justices are not congressmen without ruling power. If these justices are moved by Tommy's sincere feelings and decide to make him a saint in America, Tommy should find a place to hang himself and see if he can hang himself in three days. Resurrection, if you can be resurrected, you will become Jesus, if you die thoroughly, it will be the funniest joke in the next hundred years.
"God bless the righteous..." Jim walked up the steps towards the building, looking at the slogans that only made him laugh: "I hope others will help him, and then thank him, this kind of **** can be called For the righteous, this is a **** strange magical country. If it continues like this, maybe Tommy or another provocateur tells them that he is a woman. Maybe they can believe it and invite him Go to the women's restroom."
Holly over there seemed to be unable to continue. She just hurriedly said sorry, then turned around and followed in the footsteps of Jason and the others, causing the others to look at each other.
The middle-aged woman named Emily who was interviewed just now took the opportunity to appear in front of the camera that was out of focus, and said loudly:
"America needs a young man like Tommy. He has all the virtues. He will make this country better. He will win! God bless the righteous!"
…
On the terrace of the River View Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in Washington, feeling the moist breeze blowing from the Potomac River for a moment, sitting on the sofa, Tommy in pajamas slowly opened his eyes: "This is the only time I don't have to wear clothes. Sleep aids, sleep until you wake up naturally."
Stephen Binn looked at Tommy Hawke, who was looking at the scenery on the river in the distance: "It's an honor to be planted by you as the hidden big man who put pressure on you to prevent you from attending the trial, Tommy, obviously you called me , and then you have your blond girl tell the outside world that someone is putting pressure on you, and you haven't dared to refuse."
"You are worth 600 million fucking, rich man, how could I reject you?" Tommy laughed:
"The trial of the Supreme Court is not open to the public. There is no need for me to waste my saliva. Let the lawyers handle it."
Sophia in the distant living room paid a tip to the waiter who rang the doorbell, and then brought coffee and snacks over by herself.
Stephen said thank you, looked at the back of Sophia who walked back to the living room, and then looked at Tommy with inquiring eyes. Tommy Hawk shrugged: "Secretary, girlfriend, assistant, whatever, I didn't pay her anyway. salary."
"I don't believe you don't pay, there are women who are willing to deliver coffee for you." Stephen Binn said with affirmative tone.
"Am I attractive? The whole of America is fascinated by me~" Tommy stared dissatisfiedly when he heard Stephen's evaluation of himself:
"I didn't pay Sophia a penny, I just relied on my personal charm and love to help her a little bit."
"I told an organization called EFF that in order to thank Sophia for providing free legal assistance to disadvantaged groups in the computer software industry, EFF donated a sum of money to Stanford Law School as a scholarship, and Stanford Law School gave it to her. For you It may not be much, but it is enough for Sophia to continue to provide me with free legal aid." Tommy said lightly.
Stephen's eyes widened: "You **** pay your girl a salary and you have to find a way to avoid taxes? If this continues, you will try to avoid taxes if you buy Torjan!"
Tommy gestured to the other party to shut up, and said seriously: "Stanford University gave her a scholarship, so what does it matter to me?"
"Then why don't I see your girl to deliver coffee to the dean of the law school?"
"Sophia, my friend asked why you didn't deliver coffee to the dean."
Sophia sighed, raised her head and pushed the glasses on the bridge of her nose: "Because the dean is busy with the opportunities you created, he frequently appears in the public eye, and he is helping you run around and increase his popularity."
"The dean told her that all she needs to do is thank me, boy of the Order of the Phoenix." Tommy made a provocative pouting kiss to Stephen, and then changed the subject:
"Let's talk about business, rich man, remember when I said that when the time is right, you can take the money out and invest it, and then your Papa Tommy will give you some pocket money? The time is up."
"How much money do you need?" Stephen heard Tommy talking about investing money, took a sip of coffee:
"Give me any reason, so that I can have a reason when I notify the manager of the wealth management company, even if you say you need me to give you money to help you cure AIDS, it's fine, just any reason."
"The 600,000 OSS users are looking forward to it, waiting for me to sell them computers, and after I have gained a place in the software circle, of course, the hardware will also have a foot in it. If I don't take advantage of the current situation, I want those big companies to give me another chance. The probability is even lower than the probability of God appearing." Tommy said to Stephen:
"During this time, EFF, Actor Company has made preliminary contact with several companies in the industry, and it is likely to let their money in, do you understand? Actor Company cannot always be Tommy's company, so my shares have been diluted Some, but not nothing, I am also planning to transfer some shares, and then take some cash, the company valuation is fake, as long as the banknotes are real."
Stephen put down the coffee cup, picked up the cigarette case and lit one, and then threw the cigarette case to Tommy: "To the point, Tommy, I'm not interested in how much money you make."
"Mr. Benjamin Rosen of Compaq has urged me many times. As long as I give my nod, I will invest in Actor in the name of Compaq, remove the Compaq logo on the computers they produce, and replace them with the Actor brand. It seems that with 600,000 users, even if only 100,000 people are willing to buy a computer, the sales volume is enough to scare everyone." Tommy also took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth:
"The software is free for me, but the hardware is not free. Everyone should understand, right? And we can assemble it ourselves, or hand it over to those small companies blocked by IBM and Compaq to process it for us, and then give it away for free. I am not greedy for the software of other small companies invested by Actor in some EFF alliances. I am not interested in the hardware market of more than 1,000 yuan. IBM, Apple, and Compaq compete casually, but I want to have the computer market of less than 1,000 yuan. Site."
Stephen spit out smoke: "I'm not a computer science major, Tommy, needless to say it's too complicated, just tell me how much your Actor company needs."
"My Actor company doesn't need money." Tommy said to Stephen.
When Stephen heard Tommy's words, he was so angry that he choked on the smoke and coughed twice: "Then you **** asked me to take the money out. Could it be that the **** teamed up with you to open a strip club?"
"I mean, the wallets of those 600,000 people and possibly more people are better to be handed over to me than to be emptied by other people. At least I am willing to change their lives." Tommy looked at Stephen:
"Do you know what a micro-loan is?"
"Shouldn't the loan be the business of the bank?" Stephen was stunned for a moment: "All 600 million is invested, and the size of this bank can only be regarded as a small bank, Tommy, besides, I can't invest all of it when you open a bank .”
Tommy motioned Stephen to listen to himself: "I'm going to open a microfinance bank, lend money to those who trust me without collateral, use it to buy computers, buy software, or do other things that want to change myself. Will not lend to rich people, I require borrowers must live below the poverty line, willing to accept the bank's proposal to create a five-person customer group, they are one, once the group is formed, they will be able to obtain bank accounts, receive When it comes to loans, these five people will hold a group meeting every week under the auspices of the bank staff, complete the loan repayment in the group meeting, and exchange progress or changes this week, exchange ideas and the like.”
"Every week? This frequency is too high. I heard that household bills are sent only once a month." Stephen said puzzled.
Tommy looked at the cigarette in his hand and said: "The high-frequency contact with weekly loans can effectively guarantee the repayment rate, because it keeps people's minds tensed, and borrowers also need frequent encouragement or guidance. , This is a benign contact, but if you only contact it once a month, and it’s just a cold reminder call, believe me, bad debts will definitely give you a lot of headaches.”
Stephen frowned. Although he didn't care about money, he didn't really want to lend it to a group of poor ghosts. He asked with some concern, "What if the other party doesn't repay the loan after a week?"
"He will not be able to get the next installment of small loans, and he will wait for someone to come and confiscate things such as computers and software, so that the bank's losses will be relatively smaller, and if other people in his team feel that there is a reason for him, they can replace him." He pays the loan to ensure that he can stay in this group. If no one is willing to help him, he needs to leave. There is no possibility of no bad debts. Just use this method to urge those people to change their life status as much as possible, otherwise how can the bank Gaining a good reputation, if you and I decide to become the president and finance minister of this country, it is not a summer camp kind of house-playing game, these are precious reputations." Tommy explained his thinking.
Stephen shook his head: "This will definitely lose money. If you can't run for president, I'm afraid that your computer company will make the most money, because this bank needs real money to buy computers and software for the poor. If they refuse to pay back Loans are bad debts, tell me how to make a profit?"
"Don't be like this, be more tolerant and magnanimous to the poor, after all, they are the majority in this country." Tommy smiled at Stephen and said:
"However, in addition to providing this kind of low-interest loans to those who are willing to change their destiny, in order to ensure the income of the bank, I plan to use SSD's contacts to start another business, called payday small consumer loans, mainly for people in the United States. Heroic soldiers, the interest and penalty interest will be much higher. Anyway, don’t worry about these American soldiers being unable to repay the loan. You only need to use the post-dated checks issued by the state treasury for these soldiers, and deduct our loan and interest on payday on time. In this way, their accounts are managed by us, and they only need to pay off the debt every month, and then continue to borrow money from us, and at the same time issue a post-dated check for the next month."
Stephen was dumbfounded when he heard that. Although he is a rich man, he has never been short of money, but he is sure that none of those soldiers can refuse Tommy's temptation. Where did this grandson come up with the idea of cutting off children and grandchildren:
"What about after retiring? There is no national financial salary, and I haven't found a job yet..."
"If the U.S. government doesn't want to pay, the bank has to take the bills and take away his house and car, let him go bankrupt, or introduce them to be mercenaries, earn more, but that's not what the bank should consider, Understand? I help the poor because I am kind, but I will not help the US government. It is the sin of this country's government that bankrupted these brave soldiers. Obviously these soldiers are underpaid so they need to borrow money. The country Just raise their salaries, what does it matter to me, the bank that lent them money?" Tommy looked at Stephen innocently:
“I never earn poor man’s money.”
"It's true that you didn't earn money from the **** poor, but you're robbing the wallets of American soldiers..." Stephen couldn't find a suitable expression to express his inner reaction at the moment.
Tommy shrugged: "We started small, such as starting with a military base in California, and then gradually expanded to nearby Texas and New Mexico, and finally we have our business locations near all garrison bases throughout the United States. SSD has been working with veterans The association has cooperated and done good deeds for so long, so it's time to pay back some money."
"And I have always believed that loans can eliminate poverty more than pure charity. Loans will increase the initiative of the poor. We will encourage them to change from lenders to savers, and then use their saved money to lend to more needy people. People, or invest in more companies that need help, you don’t know, there are many great companies in the United States that are worth investing in and worth helping, but I don’t have money, so I can only use everyone’s money to accomplish this.”
Stephen covered his forehead: "But you won't distribute the money earned from investment to everyone."
"The money I earned through hard work is mine. Those people didn't do anything. Why did they take my money?" Tommy said confidently.
"They can't do anything, not only can't take your money, but they also have to bear the **** loan." Stephen rubbed his forehead: "I have Jewish blood, but now I feel that you are more Jewish than me."
At this time Sophia turned on the TV in the living room, and a middle-aged woman just appeared on the live news screen. She shouted at the camera with her loudest voice:
"America needs a young man like Tommy. He has all the virtues. He will make this country better. He will win! God bless the righteous!"
Stephen closed his eyes, leaned on the sofa, and said softly: "Tommy Hawk, with all the virtues, this is definitely the most ironic black humor I've ever heard."
Six thousand words~
(end of this chapter)