American History 1988
Chapter 47 - 44 Contempt Chain

Chapter 47: Chapter 44 Contempt Chain

"Simon, I was gone for less than two months and you started smoking ’leaf’?" Dean couldn’t help but let the expletives fly as he set down his computer and luggage.

It was bad enough that the guy was shirtless, but what was truly eye-watering was the drawing he had made on his chest with a marker, featuring two eggs with a hot dog squeezed between them.

Okay, the unique drawing, the bare chest gyrating to the beat, the horned helmets, and Michael Jackson’s "Bad" blasting from the speakers.

Dean suspected he was trying to psych himself up in this unique way after striking out with the ladies. Yup, psyching up that hot dog.

"Come on, Dean, the doctor said partying helps alleviate mental stress. Come, join me in paying homage to our ’little brother’!" Simon remembered that Dean had gone on leave early due to mental health reasons, and now that the two could start a party together, maybe all problems would disappear.

"I bet if things go as expected, our dorm will receive complaints from the other apartments by tomorrow," Dean walked over to the window and turned the music down a bit.

"Screw that crap!" Simon threw his horned helmet onto the bed, "Nearly a thousand apartments in the student center, but guess how many people actually live there? Less than 600! Man, the area around Fenn Tower is practically turning into a ghost town."

Dean, carrying his computer, shrugged by the window, "Who told our school to be in East Africa? Plus, there are way too many vacant houses in Cleveland."

The Cuyahoga River splits Cleveland into two, and people commonly refer to the two areas as east or west of the river.

Like Youngstown, the eastern part of Cleveland is predominantly African American communities, while white people and other European immigrants tend to live on the west side.

As a result, locals jokingly call the big bridge over the Cuyahoga River the longest bridge in the world.

Because one end connects to Europe and the other to Africa.

Unfortunately, the university district is on the east side, so some financially well-off white students have left campus to rent apartments on the west side.

If not there, they would at least find a place in the dwindling white communities in the east, especially since Cleveland’s urban area had lots of vacant houses due to population outflow.

Consequently, the dorms at state university have become the places with the lowest occupancy rates; aside from poor white students, hardly anyone else lives there.

As for why there are no African Americans? Please, high school graduates are rare enough in the black community these days, let alone college students.

However, the upside of having few people is that Dean and his friends could do whatever they wanted without anyone bothering them.

"Dean, I’ve been so bored I was about to go crazy since you left," Simon said as he casually threw on a shirt and bounced off the bed.

"If by that you mean tagging along with you to Case Western Reserve University to hit on chicks, I’d rather stay home on leave," Dean still remembered their previous enthusiastic trip that ended with them being chased away by campus police, mistaking them for thugs.

The fraternities across the street had even made it clear, if any rubbish students came to harass their people again, they wouldn’t mind teaching them a lesson.

Yes, the students at Case Western Reserve University might be a bit nerdy, but they have their pride.

To them, Cleveland State University, ranking barely within the top 200 in America, was nothing but a trashy university.

See, the hierarchy of disdain exists everywhere.

"Come on, Dean, we’re not going to Case Western Reserve University this time; we’re heading to the Cleveland Performing Arts Center." Simon hadn’t given up on his ambition to snag the girls from top private universities, instead he aimed even higher, at the illustrious Performing Arts Center.

"Wait a minute," Dean set aside the half-assembled computer in his hands, "Are you talking about the Cleveland Performing Arts Center? The one home to the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, one of the top five orchestras?"

"Exactly!" Simon snapped his fingers in triumph when he saw the surprise on Dean’s face. He knew Dean would be shocked.

"Where’d you get the money? Mother F*cker, you didn’t start selling your ass, did you, Simon?" Dean couldn’t help but suspect his roommate.

As far as he knew, even the cheapest seats at the Cleveland Performing Arts Center were over 125 dollars. Come on, that’s enough for them to live off for half a month at school.

Moreover, Simon seemed to imply he had more than one ticket.

"F*ck you! Dean, you’re the gay one~ I got these two tickets from those nerds at Case Western Reserve University." Simon pulled out two tickets from his pocket and flaunted them. "Hear that, Dean? That’s the sound of classy symphonic music."

"Oh~Shit! Simon, I must admit you’ve really impressed me." Dean examined the tickets for a moment and indeed they didn’t look fake. "Why would those nerds give tickets to you?"

"They weren’t free," Simon snatched the tickets back and put them away, "I traded them for two Madonna photo albums. The students at Case always get discounted tickets since the Cleveland Performing Arts Center receives donations from them."

The Cleveland Performance Arts Center is located right beside Case Western Reserve University, and its many luxurious auditoriums couldn’t have been built without Case’s funding. In America, private universities are generally not short of money.

"Simon," Dean looked seriously at his roommate, "I finally believe that you’re serious, not just messing around. Mother F*cker, are you actually willing to trade Madonna’s photo album? I can already imagine the painful expression on your face when you can’t jerk off to them anymore."

"Dean! You really do understand me! Now do you believe I’m not joking?" Simon raised his hand, and Dean slapped it in understanding.

"But although you’ve got the tickets, are you sure Case’s female students will actually go? They might not necessarily like the dreary symphonic music." Dean still harbored doubts about Simon’s ambitions.

Upon hearing this, Simon confidently laughed, "Dean, you still don’t understand these private university students. To appear high-class, even if they don’t like it, they will attend a symphony occasionally. This way, they can discuss mainstream aesthetic issues with interviewers from big companies during interviews. It will help them blend more quickly into various elite circles and gain the interviewers’ favor."

"Then how do you know for sure that they’ll go to next Thursday’s performance?" Dean pointed to the tickets in his pocket.

"That’s because next Thursday’s concert is a joint performance between the Cleveland Orchestra and the students from the Conservatory of Music. As members of the orchestra, and professors at the Conservatory, there is always an arrangement like this each month. Case has always had good relations with the Conservatory, especially the sororities from both schools often organize various events together, so they will definitely show up at these kinds of performances." Simon winked proudly; the affairs of the college town didn’t escape his ears.

"Alright Simon, you’ve piqued my curiosity. I too want to see what’s so different about Case’s good girls and the Conservatory’s pampered princesses compared to ordinary girls?" Dean had never been to a symphonic concert before, and he also wanted to know the difference between domestic cars.

Seeing that Dean was busy again with his computer, Simon couldn’t help but lean in curiously.

"Dean, I’m beginning to suspect the guy selling his ass is you~!" Simon pointed at the computer in his hands, astonished. Although he didn’t have a computer, he knew that even the cheapest ones cost five or six hundred US dollars.

Dean’s family was about as wealthy as his, which wasn’t saying much, and such an expensive machine was out of reach for poor students like them.

"50 US dollars, bought from a group of movers," Dean smiled smugly; he loved getting things for free.

"Oh~Shit! Where are these dumbasses? You absolutely have to introduce me to them, Dean!" Simon didn’t have a computer, but that didn’t mean he didn’t recognize their value.

Even Cleveland University offered computer courses, though they had a low profile. Simon would also use his free time to go to the computer lab to play a couple of electronic games or flame people on BBS.

Now that he saw Dean got one for only 50 dollars, he was naturally tempted.

"Opportunities like these don’t come around every time, but I’ll keep an eye out for you, and I’ll hold onto anything suitable that comes up," Dean said as he plugged in the computer and found everything working well.

However, although the dormitory had a phone line, there was no internet service, so Dean couldn’t do much at the moment. Later, he would have to make a call to the ISP; he still had a lot of work to do.

"Dean, do you have ’Tetris’ on your computer? This game has been all the rage lately." Simon had become addicted to the game, which was simple yet highly entertaining.

Dean shrugged, "I don’t have a single game on my computer, just dull code."

"Come on, Dean, stop being a bookworm. Why do you think you were so stressed before? In my opinion, it’s because you study too hard. If you want a great body, we need to start by being bad boys." Simon was keen on encouraging Dean to join him in being a bad student. The thought of attending classes honestly was so dull that he doubted he could make it to graduation.

"In a couple of days, we should go to the West Market to see if we can find an old computer to bring back. This Christmas at home, I made some extra cash."

"So, this computer is for me?" Simon asked incredulously.

"That’s right, but you’ll have to help me with a few small things when you’re free," Dean nodded, affirming his guess.

"Oh~Shit! Dean, you’ve f*cking got my attention now."

"F*ck you! I’m only interested in pretty girls, stay away from me, homo."

"Alright, I gave you a chance~" Simon danced along to the music again, cheerfully.

"But Simon, before we buy the computer. You have to tell me about those student discounts at Case Western and their computer science program," Dean said.

"Are you interested in that?"

"No, I just think it might be related to the little gadget I’ve been working on recently; it could come in handy," Dean spread his hands and started coding again.

Even without the internet, it didn’t stop him from programming; he still hadn’t finished that automated scraping software yet.

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PS: In a few more Chapters, I’ll slightly pick up the pace and enter into the business storyline, starting the journey to wealth.