American History 1988
Chapter 54 - 50: The Most Beautiful Girl on Campus

Chapter 54: Chapter 50: The Most Beautiful Girl on Campus

"David, come check this out! I’ve found something interesting." Steven, seated in front of his computer, excitedly called over his roommate.

"Steven, it’s not that boring Space Discovery magazine again, is it? You know I’m not interested in that," David from Texas preferred cowboys and revolvers to any so-called grand space discoveries.

"Come on, I can guarantee you’ll be interested in this," Steven said, teasingly wiggling his middle finger in front of him.

"F*ck you, Steven, you look like a giggling idiot with that expression," David said with a look of disgust on his face, but he couldn’t resist his curiosity and came over to Steven’s computer.

"Look!" Steven pointed at the computer screen, "Mother F*cker, these guys are actually showing off their sizes?!"

"What?!" David was initially shocked at the content on the computer screen, then his face turned as red as his neck.

"Oh~shit! This is the kind of competition men should be paying attention to. Check this out, 18m! Oh~ This is definitely a tool that would make the ladies scream!"

"But I think the guy probably got the unit of measurement wrong," Steven said, thoughtfully stroking his chin while calmly analyzing.

However, his remark did not get any response; puzzled, Steven turned his head and was stunned by what he saw. "Wait, David, what are you doing?" The bastard was actually reaching down below?

"Do you have a ruler? I think I qualify for the competition," David said, swinging his hips and proudly flaunting his assets.

"F*ck you, David! You’re like a horny donkey; the girls won’t like it," Steven said, almost gagging with disdain.

"What? There are girls involved too?" David even started to get excited.

"It’s a community for heterosexual encounters, also a place to make friends, of course there are girls," Steven scrolled through the posts, "Look, many women are complaining about this post, they think it’s offensive to women. To be honest, David, I think you’re offending me, can you put your thing away?"

"Heterosexual encounters? Dating?" However, what caught David’s attention was something entirely different.

"Exactly," Steven shrugged, "There’s been a rumor on campus recently about a website called Price’s List that’s really interesting. You can find girls to date and do anything else there."

"Price’s List? Why haven’t I heard about this before? It sounds like a price report or something," David said as he pulled up his pants and went back to his own computer, typing away at the keyboard.

"The site has only been online for a week, but it seems to be getting famous now, at least among students. The heterosexual encounter community already has thousands of posts."

"Hold on, I found the site, but why don’t I see the heterosexual encounter community you’re talking about?" David, sitting across from him, craned his neck to ask.

Steven stood up and came over to help him open the dialer software. "You need to redial and switch to the American network. You know NSFnet—here everything is very serious. Including Price’s List, ’heterosexual encounters’ has been rebranded as a ’campus exchange community.’

"But the American network is so damn slow, and it’s expensive too." David had a terrible impression of the American network, with internet fees costing two to three US Dollars per hour.

Steven spread his hands helplessly, "Well, if you’re looking for some fun, you’ve got to sacrifice something. I’ve heard they’re planning to upgrade to broadband, which is a faster way of connecting to the internet. As for Price’s List, they’ve been doing pretty well. I heard it’s because they’ve leased a server."

"Well, to show off my Big Mac, I’ll endure this." While waiting to dial, David comforted himself by rubbing his hands together.

"Oh, right," before turning back to his seat, Steven snapped his fingers. "I heard that the founder of Price’s List is about to throw a party."

"A party?" That was something David was interested in.

"Yep, they’ve started a vote on the website for the most beautiful girl on campus. The candidate posters are plastered all over campus, and you just click the heart on the website to vote. So..." Steven gave David a knowing look, "The prettiest girls, beer, and even champagne..."

"Oh~shiti! My leech is already raising its flag in protest!" David instinctively pressed down with his right hand.

...

"Dean, I think we don’t need to throw a party for Price’s List to get more popular." Simon suggested to Dean after putting another case of beer into the shopping cart.

"You have no idea how crazy those guys went when I told them there was a place to help them get a date. One Texan from SPE, the motherf*cker, sent out hundreds of wanton posts in one night, charging around like a stud on a sunny day."

Dean casually grabbed a large can of spray paint from the shelf, checked the price, then shoved it into the shopping cart without hesitation. Everything at Costco is strong, in large quantities, and cheap.

Whereas other supermarkets sell cheese in bottles, Costco’s cheese comes in flour bags—that’s just not of the same dimension. The same goes for the spray paint; it can’t be described by a bottle, but rather a can or a bucket is more apt.

After contentedly selecting a whole bunch of stuff for the party, Dean finally clapped his hands and answered Simon’s question.

"Our ads have already been distributed, and everyone is looking forward to this party. If we cancel now, Price’s List would definitely be scorned by everyone."

Although the Cleveland site of Price’s List now had several thousand users, Dean wasn’t arrogant about it.

Just as Price’s List could spread throughout the entire college town in just a week, the collapse of its reputation could also happen in just two or three days.

The party would of course go ahead as planned and even be treated more seriously. After all, Price’s List now had its own reputation, and the party, to some extent, represented its image.

"Speaking of the party, has the venue been rented?" Dean used to hand these chores off to Simon because he was better at them than himself.

"Euclid Avenue," Simon said with a proud smile, "there are vast empty mansions there. Dean, can you imagine? Nearly an acre of estate for just over 300 US dollars a night! Motherf*cker, if I had the money, I’d buy it all up."

Euclid Avenue was once a well-known rich neighborhood in Cleveland, and it was very close to Dean’s dormitory, just a few hundred meters walk from the door.

It is now so cheap there because the rich on Euclid Avenue had long since moved to other cities.

With Cleveland’s African American population soaring to 44 percent, Euclid Avenue could not escape change. It is now chaotic, with the mansions on the entire street in a semi-abandoned state.

"The place should be enough; what about the people attending the party?" Dean initially planned to hold an unrestricted party, meaning that everyone could participate.

But Simon told him that wouldn’t be possible, if Dean really intended to go through with it. Setting aside the budget issue, that one-acre estate would be overrun. Party animals from the university, they don’t understand the meaning of restraint.

"I sent out invites to the major fraternities, sororities, and other professional clubs in the college town. Because of our beauty contest, everyone expressed great interest." Simon had to admit, Dean’s original idea of holding the beauty contest online was brilliant.

"As long as our party can get lively, that’s all that matters." The least Dean expected was to avoid a dull atmosphere, at least to make Price’s List look presentable. He had planned to use the party to attract users, but the spread was quicker than Dean had anticipated.

"Don’t worry, Dean, there’s no such thing as a dull party at college," Simon had no doubt about that. As long as free drinks were on offer, hordes of people would flock to it.

"We’ve bought almost everything—booze, spray paint, streamers, balloons. Let’s check out the food last." After going over the purchases, Dean pushed the cart toward the food section.

"Hey~ Dean~"

Just as he came out of the aisle, Dean encountered a girl in a black sweater, greeting him.

"You are... Ophelia?" Dean took a moment to remember, then realized who the girl in front of him was. They had even drunk together once in a corner at the party.

"Yeah~" Ophelia had a pair of brown eyes, just like her hair color. But what caught attention most was her fair skin, and the bright, flawless teeth she revealed when she smiled.

"Didn’t expect to meet you here," Ophelia tucked her brown hair behind her ear, "I checked out your website, it’s cool, I even left you a message."

A message? For some reason, Dean thought of that feedback message he had scoffed at, which seemed as if they were old acquaintances...

"Yes, I saw it, I’m glad you liked it," Dean instantly adopted an expression of joy.

"Hey, Dean..." Simon nudged him subtly with his elbow, only now coming out of his shock.

Mother F*cker! How could Dean know the girl in the red dress playing the cello on stage with the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra that night?! The darling of the crowds, the goddess in the hearts of countless guys?!

"Oh right, this is my roommate, Simon," Dean introduced his friend who was standing by.

"Hi, Simon Paulson," Simon greeted her warmly.

"Ophelia Gerard," Ophelia returned the greeting politely.

"So..." Simon gave Dean and Ophelia an ambiguous look, "I won’t bother you two anymore." Then, without waiting for a response, he took off with the shopping cart.

"Good luck, Dean!" Simon didn’t forget to whisper in Dean’s ear before he left.

"Er... he’s always so... enthusiastic~" Dean spread his hands in a somewhat helpless gesture.

"I can see that," Ophelia shook her head with a smile, showing she didn’t mind.

This was their second meeting, but maybe because they had drunk together, walking together didn’t feel awkward at all.

"Are you a student at Cleveland State University?"

"Yes, I’m a freshman now. Speaking of which, I saw your performance that night—it was incredibly breathtaking."

"Thank you, it’s an honor."

"So, you’re a student at the Cleveland Conservatory?" Dean began to gently probe for information.

"Temporarily." Ophelia gave an answer that took Dean by surprise.

"Temporarily?"

"Yes," Ophelia nodded, "I’m a student at the Paris Conservatory, currently here on an exchange program."

"The Paris Conservatory? Oh~ I should have guessed..." Dean slapped his own forehead, "Gerard? French?"

"Yeah~" Ophelia nodded with a smile, acknowledging that Gerard was a typical French surname with a long heritage.

"If magnificent music like that was played by a student from France, then it all makes sense. The artistic caliber of the old revolutionary region certainly holds a status in the Western world."

"Dean, you’re really quite amusing." Ophelia had thought students like Dean would be the bookish type—after all, most website creators seemed to fit that image.

But it turned out he was much livelier than she had imagined.

"By the way, what brings you here today..." Ophelia noticed their loaded shopping cart, which did not look like everyday groceries.

"Party, Price’s List party."

"That ’campus beauties’ Price’s List party?"

"You could say that, but it’s mainly to celebrate the successful launch of Price’s List," Dean forcefully shifted the theme of the conversation.

"By the way, Ophelia, are you free the day after tomorrow? You know, the day of the party. If you’d like to come..." Dean cleverly extended the invitation.

"Great!" Ophelia readily agreed, "I also want to see who the most beautiful girl on campus is."

Dean shrugged, if you were there, you might just take the top spot.