Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 112 Give Him Love and Strength
Tommy Hawke wore a custom-made suit made of expensive fabrics, a blue polka-dot tie, shaved his beard, combed his hair into a slicked-back style, and walked into the live broadcast room with a smile on his face. However, this outfit made him look like a nouveau riche who had suddenly become rich.
Susan stood up and gave Tommy a tight hug, then turned to look at everyone and said with a bright smile: "That's him, Tommy Hawke, the man who changed my destiny! Soon, he will change your destiny and give you a brand new life!"
"Thank you Susan, thank you for the introduction." Tommy considerately supported Susan until she left, then sat on the sofa and looked at Bob with a smile: "I don't know why you called me up, I was having a great time backstage, I don't even know what to say to the camera."
"You don't know what to say? Talk about OSS and your dreams..." Bob said with a smile .
"I'm from the East Coast. We East Coasters are not as romantic and imaginative as the guys from the West Coast. We prefer to be more practical. That is, no matter what, doing is more important than saying. There's nothing much to say. I've already finished OSS. The rest is up to the audience. The audience is smart. They know how to distinguish between true and false, good and evil. They have independent eyes and independent brains. They are the free people of this land. They can decide anything for themselves and be the masters of this land. They should never be swayed by others." Tommy shook his head, interrupted Bob, and said to the audience calmly:
"My mother often told me that only God can make you kneel down in the dust with a sincere heart. Unfortunately, he has never come here. It is not that he abandons us, but that he gives us true freedom."
After this sentence was spoken, dozens of audience members in the audience were already applauding loudly. This is a phrase that most Americans in Florida are accustomed to saying. It started when the white people of this land said this to President Lincoln when he was trying to abolish slavery. Now it has become a slogan used by the middle and lower classes in Florida, regardless of race, to fight against the power of the government.
At least this college student looks like one of us since he could say this.
"Susan said you..." Bob saw the actors in the audience clapping loudly. He swore that it was not a plot arrangement, but the spontaneous behavior of these country people. They were so simple. Every time a politician or any other figure came to speak to them, as long as they said this classic line of Floridians, they felt that the other party stood with them and were inseparable.
When the applause died down, Bob continued, "Susan said you were from the country."
Tommy nodded, his eyes always looking at the audience, and he said, "Susan cares a lot about my image. She thinks I saved her, but in fact she saved herself. If a person doesn't take the initiative to change, others can't help her. So she won't say anything bad about me. I can tell you honestly that I am not only from the countryside, but also a complete jerk, just like the son you love and hate, or the kid in the neighbor's house who looks a little stupid and a little lustful, dressed himself up as Batman in junior high school, and was also considerate. I prepared a Robin costume for my date, but she thought I was mentally retarded, which ultimately ruined my first date. In high school, I and my classmates tried every possible way to get into an adult bar to meet the world. I secretly opened a porn channel without telling my family, and set the alarm to get up on time in the middle of the night to watch... To be honest, I have done all these stupid things, and I am very good at them. Of course, the price I paid was that my father was also very good at teaching me a lesson. He could even lie on the sofa with his eyes closed and accurately kick my butt, which was five meters away from him, with his slippers. My butt..."
The people in the audience laughed happily again.
Hearing the familiar laughter from the audience, Tommy looked at Bob, shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Damn it! These people in the audience look almost like my parents. I can't say any advertising slogans to them. This feels too weird. Bob, can you imagine going back to your parents' house, taking out a gadget you made yourself, and telling them seriously that this is a product and you only need 49.99 yuan to change your destiny? Come on, I even feel that someone in the audience is ready to stand up and kick my ass, Dad, you are there, right?"
"Look at these people. They are as simple, sincere and cheerful as my parents. My mother was an ordinary housewife, but she died when I was sixteen. My father was a shipbreaker. He worked hard to make money to raise me and send me to college..." Tommy looked at the people in the audience, and finally lowered his head in distress, and said in a low voice:
"Bob, I can't do it. I can't sell OSS to people like my parents. They don't need software to change their destiny, right? A fruit farmer grows oranges every day. A mother takes care of her family every day. Why do they need such a thing? Don't sell it. Change the product. Bringing OSS here to sell is a wrong decision on my part."
Bob said nervously, "Tommy, this is a live broadcast. You'd better follow the advertising slogan ... or if you think they shouldn't pay, why not give away 100 for free like we did with the product we sold before? The 100 viewers who call in first will receive the software for free?"
"I should provide OSS for free to everyone who wants to change. Do you understand? All for free, absolutely free. This is my idea. On my way to the live broadcast room, I was still thinking about this issue seriously, but I can't. Do you see my clothes? It's a bit strange, right? It doesn't fit in a poor boy like me. Doesn't it look like those rich people on Wall Street in New York? This is the most expensive clothes I have ever worn in my life, because I will appear on a TV show. I took a fashion magazine to a high-end tailor shop, pointed to the high-end clothes in the magazine and said to the tailor, I come from the countryside, but I am rich now, so you have to dress me like those rich people! Let me exude nobility and appear in the live broadcast room, so that I can have the confidence to tell the audience that as long as they buy the software, they can become like me!" Tommy stood up, took off his suit jacket, and threw it directly to the crowd:
"But when I saw these kind and friendly faces, I knew I couldn't do it! Throw away that hypocritical suit, I want to confess everything. Actor not only helps them, but also needs them to help me!"
"Tommy! Watch your emotions! You'd better think carefully about every word you say!" Holly, with an anxious look on her face, appeared at the entrance of the live broadcast room and reminded him in a low voice, not caring that this was a live TV broadcast.
Tommy looked at Holly steadily, then shook his head firmly and looked towards the camera:
"I know it's a bad idea to come to this kind of live broadcast room to sell software, but Actor and I have reached a dead end. Although I lost my mother, I am not lacking in maternal love. My mother taught me to help women and respect women. I did what my mother said. I helped a lot of women. I developed a software that is easier for people to use. I helped students find better-paid jobs."
"I thought it was the right thing to do until someone told us it was better not to do it and if you let them get a job we'll kick you out."
"We received a lawyer's letter and an indictment from a big company. It's a real big company that can make more than 100 million in half a year. I consulted a lawyer, and the lawyer told me that there is no chance of winning against such a big company. The simplest point is that any lawsuit will take half a year or a year, and some troublesome ones may even take three to five years. They can afford the sky-high lawyer fees, but Actor and I can't, because lawyers charge by the hour. I calculate how many hours there are in a year, and then multiply it by 200 yuan, which is the basic fee I should pay to the lawyer. They just need to delay time, and when a poor person like me can't pay the lawyer's fees, it will be the end of Actor. When that day comes, this small company that did the right thing will be exploited by them."
"My coming here to sell software is just a last-ditch effort before that day actually comes, to make as much legal fees as possible and not look defenseless."
At this point, Tommy took a deep breath and said, "As long as 100,000 copies of this software are sold, there will be no more charges. As long as I am still in Actor, it will always be free. But for the first 100,000 customers, I am sorry, it must make money from you because it needs to survive, it needs to hire lawyers, and it needs to fight hard with those big companies! Even if it ends up in pieces! I don't know why big companies want to cut off the poor's chance to get rich, but I am a free man of this land. No matter what conspiracy they have, I will not yield to them, just like the Floridians back then. Even if we can't defeat our opponents, we still have the courage to charge! I need your help!"
"You want to find a decent new job by studying? Pick up the phone and buy OSS! I'll give you a job!"
"You have never seen a computer, pick up the phone and buy OSS! As long as you study hard, I will give it to you!"
"If you don't want to be blocked from wealth by those rich people, pick up the phone and buy OSS! This is your best chance!"
"Or maybe you just don't want to see the only country boy willing to help you get knocked down by them! Pick up the phone and buy OSS! Lend a hand and give me strength! Together, let's take down those capitalists who are trying to enslave us forever!"
"Only God can make us kneel down in the dust in a sincere heart, but unfortunately He has never come here! Except for God, no one can take away our right to acquire knowledge! No one can take away our right to change ourselves! As long as Actor exists, our software will never increase in price, our training will always be free and open, and we will always help ordinary people who want to change their destiny!"
"Is there anything wrong with listening to my mother and doing the right thing? Fuck you! My mother is never wrong! Never! So no matter how difficult it is, I will never back down!"
"God save those who save themselves! God bless Actor, in the name of freedom! God is my witness!"
The audience stood up and applauded loudly for Tommy, who was standing on the live broadcast stage with a defiant look on his face and his head slightly raised!
Amidst the thunderous applause, the director's voice rang in Bob's ears:
"Thirty seconds ago, the sales volume exceeded one thousand sets. Many women called and asked how to donate to this poor young man named Tommy. They are willing to give him love and strength on behalf of his deceased mother."
