American History 1988
Chapter 50 - 47 Seeking Pleasure with the Opposite Sex

Chapter 50: Chapter 47 Seeking Pleasure with the Opposite Sex

The Cleveland Orchestra’s performance was indeed a feast for the eyes, and even people like Dean and Simon, who hadn’t heard much of "D major" or "Serenade for Strings," felt that an occasional visit to Severance Hall to cleanse their ears was a nice choice.

But music was secondary, during the entire performance, Dean’s and Simon’s attention was elsewhere.

Simon was busy checking out the girls in the front row from Case Western, while Dean occasionally turned his attention to the girl in the red dress playing the cello on stage.

Everyone loves beauty, and it’s normal to take a couple more looks at a pretty girl. Dean was also a young man full of vigor.

"Dean, don’t rush off, there’s a party later," Simon said, pulling on Dean who wanted to stand up and leave after the show.

"A party? Here?" Dean looked around the glittering concert hall, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

"No, of course not," Simon gestured for Dean to follow him, "It’s over at Case, but not far from here."

Tonight’s performance was clearly a collaborative event organized by Case and the Conservatory of Music, and students from these two schools always had good relations.

They could not only visit each other’s campus but also take classes and even earn degrees from the other school within permitted limits.

After a performance like tonight’s, students from both schools would certainly hold a grand party. Of course, this kind of open party would also attract students from other schools in the college town who would sneak in quietly.

By the time Dean and Simon arrived at the student center near Case, the place was already packed.

Deafening music, spinning and shining stage lights, and girls in ultra-short skirts dancing wildly on the stage.

"Wow~" For Dean, who was at such a place for the first time, it was an eye-opener.

"Dean, isn’t this exciting?" Simon asked loudly, dancing to the music.

"What?" Dean couldn’t hear him because of the blaring music.

"I said!" Simon moved closer to his ear, "Mother F*cker, can you believe those gentlemen and ladies at the concert hall showing such a spicy side after shedding their disguises?"

Dean laughed and nodded, "Yeah, we’re all the same!"

"That’s right! You’re damn right, Dean!" Simon patted his shoulder and prepared to look for his own prey, "Dean, loosen up! Girls like confident guys. I’ll come get you in an hour to meet some fraternity guys."

After saying that, Simon disappeared into the crowd, and Dean scanned around. There were too many people; he couldn’t make out who was who.

"Hey, handsome, wanna dance?" A girl in a short skirt approached Dean slowly, rubbing against him with her dancing body, intentionally or not.

"Of course," Dean nodded with a smile; it would be impolite to refuse someone in such a setting.

"What’s your name? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before." The girl swayed to the rhythm as she started chatting with him.

"Dean Price," Dean swayed with her, "Actually, this is my first time here, and you?"

"Aha~ I knew I was right," the girl smiled proudly, "Vicky Tamis, just call me Vicky."

Vicky had already noticed Dean; his casual suit made him stand out in a crowd of dancing people. Even though he later took off his jacket, his charming face still attracted the attention of many girls around.

As an experienced hunter, Vicky immediately saw that Dean was not a regular here — perhaps a fledgling? A novice more handsome than most people here? Licking her lips, Vicky took the initiative. Tenderfoot can’t resist even a hint of temptation. She didn’t wait for someone to approach like other girls did; a real hunter strikes to kill.

Taking two glasses from a passing waiter, Vicky handed one to Dean, "Want a drink?"

"Is this alcohol?" Dean took it and sniffed, his eyes showing some surprise.

"Come on, it’s a party~!" What’s a party without alcohol? The rule Against 21-year-olds drinking is a joke.

Dean shrugged and then gulped it down. Hmm, it wasn’t that strong, just a bit more potent than beer.

Seeing him finish, Vicky’s smile warmed a few notches. She climbed onto Dean’s shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I know a place that’s really fun, it’s usually quiet there, wanna check it out?"

"Uh... actually, I have something later, so..." Dean spread his hands, "I can’t be gone too long."

"OK~" Vicky shrugged and then left with an air of disappointment. As an old hunter, she shouldn’t be swayed by prey; there were plenty of people here to have fun with.

Watching her leave, Dean was indifferent. Although he’d never been to such a party, he knew the girls here weren’t necessarily more conservative than streetwalkers.

Relaxing a bit was fine, but he had business to attend to later. After taking two more drinks from a girl with a tray, Dean retreated to a quiet corner.

He had noticed that if he didn’t leave now, a few girls who had their eyes on him would get ideas again.

But as long as you moved to a corner, everyone would tacitly look away; they knew you didn’t want to find fun for the time being.

"Do you mind if I take one?" A girl in the corner pointed at the other glass Dean had placed on the box.

Dean turned and took a couple of glances, but could only make out a rough outline in the dim light. Yet he nodded generously, "Of course."

The girl raised her glass to gesture at him, and Dean lightly clinked his against hers before they both smiled and took a sip.

"You don’t like it here?" While nodding to the rhythm, he started making casual conversation.

"It’s just not suitable now," Dean leaned on the box, looking at the people in the hall. "I have to meet a few important people later, so I need to stay sober."

"Very important?"

"Maybe, but I have to give it a try." Seeing her curiosity, Dean decided to explain since he had nothing to lose. "Do you know about websites? The computer network kind."

"We have it at school, but it’s too complicated. Most people just use it to send emails or browse forums."

"Exactly that!" Dean became interested, "What I’m working on is to show everyone something more interesting. You can think of it as a new kind of forum. Only it has many more functions and it’s much more convenient."

Dean then gave her a brief explanation of what Price’s List was about. He wasn’t sure if she understood, but it passed the time anyway.

"Cool~ I’ll definitely have to check it out once it’s done."

"Actually, it’s already finished, but you probably can’t see it on the campus network. It’s available on America’s network." Dean had already launched Cleveland’s Price’s List, although it didn’t have many users yet.

Moreover, the network used by America University had its own independent nodes. They were connected to the NSFNET, the National Science Foundation Network, formerly known as ARPANET.

The NSFNET spans the entire North American continent, but the institutions using it are mainly research institutes and universities, meaning it was not open to the public at the time.

Therefore, Dean’s Price’s List could only be experienced on America’s network for now since these two networks were not interoperable and even used different communication protocols.

"It’s already finished? So, what’s it called?" asked the girl, now curious.

"Price’s List," Dean said with a smile, telling her the name. "Oh, and by the way, I’m Dean Price."

As Dean reached out his hand, the girl shook it with a smile. "Ophelia Gerald."

Hmm, that name didn’t seem like a typical American naming convention. But Dean didn’t have the chance to inquire further because Simon was beckoning to him from the doorway of a room up ahead.

Dean nodded at her and turned to walk towards Simon. As the stage lights rotated, Dean caught a glimpse of a face—it was her?

"Dean, come over here," Simon slung an arm over Dean’s shoulder, "Listen, I’ve been hyping up your website to these guys, about how cool it is. So don’t let me down. For your sake, I’ve turned down the girls three times, three times!"

"Don’t worry, I have a secret weapon," Dean reassured him with a confident look.

After receiving the signal, Simon pushed the door and walked into the room.

"Hey~, Wesley, I brought him," Simon said, spreading his arms wide and warmly greeting the people inside the room.

However, when Dean entered, he saw about a dozen people, both men and women, seated around the central couch where a blond young man was sizing them up with a bottle in his hand.

"Simon, you better be telling the truth, or I won’t mind teaching you a lesson again." The blond man was Wesley, and as he finished speaking, the people around looked at Dean and Simon with ill intent.

"Come on, Dean’s website has been proven." Simon looked at Dean, signaling that it was his turn to shine.

"That’s right, we’ve almost got five thousand users in Youngstown," Dean confirmed with a nod.

"Youngstown?" The mention of the place got a laugh out of everyone in the room, with a few young women giggling uncontrollably.

"Ok~" Dean shrugged unperturbed, "Youngstown is a small place, isn’t it? Its urban population doesn’t even reach a hundred thousand." Dean knew what they were laughing at.

"But, even such a small place has five thousand users. Doesn’t that prove the appeal of my website?"

The laughter gradually subsided as they considered his point. Wesley, half-reclining on the couch, sat up. "Tell us about your website."

"Price’s List, it’s called Price’s List," Dean got straight to the point. "I know you don’t understand it yet, but believe me, once you see it, you’ll be hooked."

"Simon says you can exchange anything on it?" Wesley asked thoughtfully.

"That’s right, anything, any way! Cash transactions, bartering, giveaways—you can look for any kind. It’s an open platform, providing a space for buyers and sellers to trade freely.

Besides that..." Dean emphasized with a finger, "it also has a dating feature, for opposite-sex relationships!"

"Opposite-sex dating?" At this, everyone became interested, especially the men. Dean could already see the great interest in their eyes.

"How many students are there in the colleges around the university town?" Dean voiced enticingly.

"I guess at least 80,000," a guy couldn’t help but respond.

"80,000!" Dean exclaimed, "So, how many of them are girls?"

How many? Based on the male to female ratio, it would be close to forty thousand if not exactly.

Forty thousand girls! The beasts in the room were already getting restless.

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