Tommy, Jason, Holly, Mark and Susan were all wearing the same outfit, a pure black round-neck T-shirt, durable blue jeans and a pair of smoky gray casual sneakers. They were leaning against the front of Tommy's graffiti-covered vintage car outside the garage, looking directly at the camera with gentle yet firm eyes.

The Stanford Daily photographer adjusted the lens angle and finally pressed the shutter.

The Stanford Daily is the school newspaper of Stanford University. The Stanford Daily Publishing Company is operated and managed by Stanford students. Its circulation is not high, only about four to five thousand copies. Its customer base is mainly teachers and students of the school. As for the main income of the newspaper, it depends on donations and advertising.

This was a very serious newspaper, not the kind of high school newspaper Tommy had seen at Lincoln High School, which only recorded some interesting things happening on campus.

The style of this newspaper has been changing with the graduation and replacement of the editor-in-chief. For example, its style in the first two years was like that of The Washington Post, and in the past two years it looks like that of USA Today.

Basically, by looking at the style of the newspaper, you can determine which newspaper group the editor-in-chief will join after graduation. This is simply the best internship for students who want to become newspaper editors-in-chief.

Although the styles have changed, there is only one thing that remains unchanged, and that is the deep feud between the Stanford Daily and the Stanford University management. In 1973, the school tried to take over the newspaper, but after being rejected by the students, it used underhand tactics, resulting in several student editors being taken away by the police.

So, starting from that year, the Stanford Daily had an unwritten rule: school scandals would always be the first headline of the newspaper.

For example, in 1978, the entire state of California and even the entire United States was paying attention to California Proposition 6, and all newspapers gave this news to the front page. Only the Stanford Daily put the news that the whole country was paying attention to on the second page. The front page news of the day was-

 

 

It can be said that the management of Stanford University was made trembling with fear by this newspaper, fearing that one would become a laughing stock if they made a small mistake. For example, Professor XXX had received various whips as gifts from students every Christmas since 1978.

The Stanford Daily has a circulation of 4,000 to 5,000, and 2,000 of them are contributed by administrators and professors at Stanford University, simply to see if they have done something wrong and made the headlines of the Stanford Daily.

At this moment, the Stanford Daily's interview with Actor Company naturally had nothing to do with Tommy and Actor's popularity. It was mainly because Actor Company donated a sum of five hundred to the newspaper and then bought advertising space in the newspaper, so the newspaper arranged this interview.

…

Jason sat in his seat and smiled at the reporter who had turned on the recorder and opened his shorthand notebook.

"When you find that your roommate has become busy every day and no longer takes you to have fun like before, you have to figure out what attracts him. Roommates must first have the same interests and hobbies. Tommy and I are like this. We like computers, changes, and Girls. We all come from small places, but we have no lack of social responsibility, especially me. I have a gentleman spirit..."

"In addition to founding Actor with me, Jason White also works part-time as a gigolo. Can you guys take advantage of this and place an escort ad for him?" Tommy leaned against the wall with his arms folded, and suddenly spoke with a smile.

Jason, who had just claimed to be a gentleman, now ignored the presence of reporters and greeted Tommy with a series of extremely F-containing greetings.

"Tommy is a jerk," Jason told reporters at the end of the interview.

…

"Well, Actor's sense of social responsibility attracted me, you know? When these two big boys stood in front of me and said to me: Holly, we should help those women. I was instantly knocked down by the tenderness they showed, and I couldn't find any reason to refuse." Holly tied her long hair behind her head today, looking more shrewd and capable, less charming with blonde hair hanging down her shoulders in the past:

"It was very difficult in the early days. We didn't know how far we could go. But now, we have successfully helped nearly 100 women gain jobs and confidence in life in Silicon Valley. There are also 1,700 students from nearby community colleges who are interested in our training program. However, due to the number of classrooms and computers, they can only schedule appointments slowly. Our family and school have taught us to do the right thing. So, what could be more right than helping others?"

"What do you think of Tommy?" Holly laughed when she heard the question. She thought for a moment and said, "Tommy Hawke is a bad guy who does good things. Yes, he is a jerk."

…

"I started working in the sex trade in San Jose after graduating from high school. I lived in that kind of place until I was 24 and I didn't die. I always felt that I was lucky." Susan Curtis looked at the reporter calmly:

"But it wasn't until I saw the advertisement for free training in the magazine 'Seeker' that I realized that my good luck had just begun. I learned OSS and got an A. I interned at Symantec and am currently helping Actor give the right advice to trainers. By the way, I also founded Hope Human Resources with Holly and Mark. I can't believe that I became a partner of the company. How can I put it? Knowledge changed my bad fate, but without Tommy, Jason and Holly, I would not have the opportunity to acquire knowledge. I want to work with them to help more people. I don't know how to say too much, but I know that I am doing the right thing."

"What do you think of Tommy?" Susan turned her head to look at Tommy, who was smoking with Jason and Mark outside the garage, then retracted her gaze and looked at the reporter:

"I'm older than him, but I feel like he's more like my godfather, guiding me, teaching me, and correcting my life. Holly and Jason both say he's a jerk? Hahaha ~ Yes, he's a jerk, but I would never say that to him. If he really is a jerk, it's this society that has corrupted him. As Tommy said to me, it's this country that's a jerk, not us."

…

"Data engineer is my job at Actor. I like this title." Mark looked at the reporter calmly. "Every day I enter the data of various potential customers into the computer, and then call them to ask if they want to master a computer technology. I like this job. This job at Actor has cured my anxiety and helped me get out of my unbearable past."

"Jason is a savage and violent bastard, Holly is a scheming woman with outstanding abilities, Susan is Tommy's fanatic, and me, I'm just a shadow. Most of the time you won't see me. I'm busy collecting data in the dark. Yes, that's my impression of us, like the Four Horsemen of Actor."

"Tommy? Wasn't my analogy clear enough? He is, without a doubt, the king of assholes in Actor."

…

Tommy was the last one to sit in front of the reporters.

The reporter flipped through his shorthand notebook and said, "Your four colleagues all call you a jerk, but you can tell they like you very much."

"They don't like me, they just like our business." Tommy took out a cigarette box and gestured to the reporter: "Would you like one?"

"No, thanks, Tommy. Can you tell me why you wanted to create this software?"

Tommy lit up and took a puff, then he seemed to be lost in memory, and said slowly: "I'm from Warwick, Rhode Island, which is a rural place. My father runs a small shipbreaking yard, which is a hard job of dismantling scrapped ships, but he attaches great importance to his children. I can come here to study because of him. When I was in high school, he wanted to buy me a computer because it was said that other rich families bought this kind of thing for their children. He went to the computer store and listened to the salesperson for a long time. In the end, he walked out empty-handed. He couldn't afford it, let alone a computer. He couldn't even afford the software. He blamed himself for this and worked twice as hard to save enough money. As a result, he was hit by a piece of shipboard because he was too tired, leaving a scar on his thigh."

"At that time, I began to think about how many people like my father blamed themselves for not being able to afford a computer. After studying computer science, I realized that I might not have the money to start a hardware company, but at least I could start with software and try to make a low-priced but practical software for those who were deterred by the high cost of software. Technology should not be a privilege that only the rich can experience."

"So my partner and I founded Actor to help the poor who were deprived of the convenience and quality of technology by high software prices. Actor cooperated with the Stanford Women's Equality Promotion Association to train those women. Many people said to me, Tommy, I am glad to know that you are a supporter of women's equality."

"No, that's not enough. I told them that equal rights in science and technology are what I'm fighting for."

The reporter's pen paused for a moment on the sketchbook, and finally came up with the title of this article -