Volume 3: My days in a college fraternity Chapter 138 A House Full of Lies
On the second-floor corridor bridge of this sea view villa, Robert Miller, a man with light blond hair and a gentle smile on his face, slowly stood up from his chair. He did not rush forward, but stood where he was, with an appreciative smile on his face, looking at Tommy who appeared at the stairs and was getting closer and closer.
He said in the same tone as he had on the phone:
"Kid, you should have come over last night to have a drink with me and chat. From what I remember, you are not the shy type."
"I know, but when a man has a girlfriend, no matter what type of personality he has, he will eventually only have one type left, the passive type. It's best to listen to your girlfriend if you don't want to be severely punished by her, like me." Tommy responded to the other person's words, and at the same time walked over and took the initiative to extend his hand:
"Tommy Hawke, SSD Stanford Chapter, nice to meet you, Mr. Miller."
Miller shook hands with Tommy, and then introduced Julian Farrell, who was walking over with his shirt sleeves rolled up. "Otilia's father, Julian Farrell, is the president of Sea Line Shipbuilding, my Cornell University alumnus, and a pure-blooded vampire salesman. His greatest pleasure is selling some tattered sailboats to friends, like me."
"Is it a bit redundant for me to be in my own holiday villa? After all, two idiots from the White Robes are blatantly slandering me as a member of the Order of the Phoenix." Farrell walked over with a smile and held out his hand to Tommy.
"Tommy Hawke, Otilia has always mentioned you to me and her mother, saying that you are her best student, even though she doesn't have a teaching position. We should have met each other when you were in high school, right?"
"Yes, sir." Tommy nodded to Farrell. "I'm sorry I didn't meet you in high school before."
Farrell didn't stay here without knowing what was going on. After shaking hands with Tommy and exchanging pleasantries with him, he took the initiative to say, "I'm going to make a few calls to the company to handle some work. Don't be sorry. When I'm done, we can have dinner together. It's the same if we meet now."
"No need to regret, Tommy, sit down, I'll tell you why you don't have to regret." Miller motioned Tommy to sit next to him, then looked at Sophia who was chatting happily with Ottilia and her three daughters downstairs, and said:
"When Julian was in college, he stole the international sweetheart contestant of our SSD Cornell University chapter. Now she is his wife. Do you still feel regretful after hearing this news?"
Tommy shrugged and said to Miller with a wry smile, "Then I have even more regrettable news to tell you. The strong contender for the International Sweetheart selected by the Stanford chapter, a blonde girl who looks like Judy Garland, was also snatched away by someone from the Order of the Phoenix. Just like your relationship with Mr. Farrell, that guy from the Order of the Phoenix is also my friend, and I can't seem to do anything but feel sorry for him."
"No, there are many things that can be done. If I were you, I would marry SSD's daughter with the intention of helping him avenge his previous shame." Miller suddenly turned his head and looked at Tommy and said.
Tommy was slightly stunned.
Robert Miller laughed. "It sounds a bit difficult, right? After all, you are the only daughter of the Farrell family of Sea Line Shipping. You have been well taken care of since you were born. You are different from people like us. We have to understand the rules of society and find ways to make our lives better since we are born. Your father is..."
"Shipbreakers, but there's a little shipbreaking yard now," said Tommy.
"My father is a furniture salesman. I remember when I told him I wanted to go to college, he was not proud, but angry, because he thought I was making a wrong choice. He had already found me a good job in his eyes, as a carpenter apprentice in a furniture factory. The job was stable, and I could learn skills. After I became a master, I could open my own furniture workshop to support my family, and I wouldn't have to worry about starving to death." Robert Miller picked up the grapes from the fruit bowl on the table and put one in his mouth:
"My mother persuaded him for a long time before he agreed to let me go to college and become the first college student in the Miller family."
Tommy, with a sad expression , recalled with the old man the difficult years of their studies. He talked about how he came up with the gimmick of a summer camp to make money to bring back his sister and save up for tuition.
"I wasn't as good as you when I was in high school, kid." Miller praised with an affirmative tone, "I only knew how to do odd jobs back then, but you can already make a lot of money. It's because I learned about your past from Ottilia that I decided to invest in you because we are the same kind of people."
"Mr. Miller, excuse me for being blunt, but your business has nothing to do with the computer software industry. I mean that investment shouldn't be so hasty. Of course, I appreciate your appreciation, but I'm in trouble right now, and it's not a good time to invest." Tommy pretended to be confused about the other person's thoughts and asked frankly.
Miller looked at Tommy with his gray-blue eyes. "Tommy, you are so smart. You should realize that all businesses in the United States are the same, regardless of industry. Entrepreneurs may need professional knowledge, but investors do not. They just need to know that they can make money. Your troubles are not troubles to me. I guess you should have roughly understood my news. I am where I am today because of SSD. Without SSD's connections at West Point and the Naval Academy, Chuck and I would not be able to do our tax-free business today."
"Yes sir, I heard about your experience with Mr. Feeney." Tommy nodded.
Miller wiped the water stains on his fingers from picking up grapes with a tissue. "You are a member of SSD, so I can save myself the bullshit I would say to those sanctimonious guys. To put it simply, when my SSD brothers in the Navy went fishing with me, they mentioned that the U.S. Navy is preparing to bid for a naval contract worth at least $2 billion, of which about $400 million involves computer software. I think Actor might want to make some money from it."
"It sounds like the Navy won't let a small company like Actor have the chance to make this money unless all its members are blind. Mr. Miller, Actor doesn't have the ability to bid. We just develop some simple office software and sell it to the poor." Tommy had a look of shock on his face. After a few seconds of being stunned, he came to his senses and shook his head.
Miller ignored Tommy's shock and continued, "The order is for the U.S. Navy to bid for service providers for four large overseas bases located in Taiwan, Hawaii, Japan, and South Korea to establish computer information centers and provide computer information equipment maintenance services. The two billion is just the cost of basic construction. If facility maintenance services are needed in the future, another contract needs to be signed and renewed every five years. That means the government can be charged once every five years."
"This kind of business is more suitable for EDS, which was founded by another SSD alumnus, Mr. Henry Perot. His EDS specializes in providing overall network construction and maintenance services for government departments, large banks, and enterprises." Tommy asked immediately after listening.
Hearing Tommy talking about Perot, Miller smiled disdainfully: "Perot, yes, you've heard of Perot, right? That guy does sound like you, a person engaged in the computer business, with connections in the military. The Army, Navy and even the National Social Security Administration have large contracts for his company. He is indeed the most suitable candidate for this order, but why didn't I call him, but instead invited you to come and discuss this business after I found you?"
"I don't know, sir. I haven't met Mr. Perot, I've only heard his stories." Tommy shook his head.
From every perspective, Perot's EDS was the best choice for the Navy.
"He got a big order while working at IBM thanks to his connections at SSD, and then he founded EDS. The military didn't choose IBM, which was more suitable, for many orders, and gave them all to his small company EDS, just like I'm going to give you this order today. With those orders, EDS grew rapidly, and in a short time this guy became the richest man in Texas. But he wanted to take the company public even though he had no shortage of money. EDS could make endless wealth just by taking on business from the US military, but that bastard insisted on betraying the people who helped him and took EDS public in a high-profile manner. Many shareholders who had helped him and just wanted to hold shares in the company to collect returns were forced to withdraw from EDS on the eve of the listing. Now, after listening to you, do you think Perot, who betrayed his friend, is still the most suitable candidate for this Navy order?" After Miller explained why he didn't want Perot to take on the business, he patted Tommy on the shoulder:
"Now, an opportunity for you to become the richest man in Rhode Island, because of Perot's stupidity, is presented to you, Tommy, just as that opportunity presented to Perot."
Tommy's face showed disbelief, and his breathing was even a little rapid, but his heart was actually as calm as water. If the old man said this to an ordinary college student, he would probably be tempted because it sounded very tempting, as if the whole thing was completely harmless, and there was even a reference for retreat. For example, if there was a conflict with shareholders over company business issues one day, he could go public and go his separate ways like Perot.
But in fact, Miller was avoiding the main point. He would never say that just because Perot could do something, it didn't mean Tommy Hawke could do it too.
Perot served in the Navy for many years, received many medals, and had a deep background. Moreover, he was a childhood friend of Hayes McClukin, the third-ranked white-shoe elite lawyer in the United States and President Nixon's personal adviser. He also had a personal relationship with the Bush family in Texas. His background spanning both parties and the military made it impossible for the group of vampires in the military behind Miller to directly use American-style Iai to deal with Perot, who was getting rid of them as shareholders to make a lot of money. After all, these American military termites would not do stupid things just because they made less money, causing them to lose their jobs and be ruined.
But they must dare to use American Iai to deal with Tommy Hawke, who has no background but tries to imitate Perrault and break free from control.
As if noticing the expression on Tommy's face, Miller continued, "You like Otilia very much, right? Influenced by the bastards in SSD, no one can resist a blonde girl, and the fact that she is your high school teacher makes her even more attractive. Seizing this opportunity will allow you to propose to her with an expensive diamond ring, and her father will not object to you two being a perfect match. He will only send his blessing. If you miss this opportunity, I think you are just selling those cheap softwares. It will be difficult for Julian to hand his daughter over to you with confidence, because a father will worry about the decline in the quality of life of his precious daughter."
"But in this kind of open bidding, Actor and EDS are totally uncompetitive." Tommy did not follow the other party to talk about Ottilia, but continued to ask. It sounded like women were not worth mentioning in his mind at the moment, and making money was Tommy Hawke's only goal.
Miller saw that Tommy was a little tempted, and immediately emphasized his tone of temptation: "EDS has formed several business alliances to provide comprehensive information services to various parties. Lotus happens to be a member of the EDS Agile Alliance and is responsible for providing EDS with special spreadsheet software. In other words, there is an economic connection between them, and the connection can implicate EDS in court. During the time when EDS was involved, the military could use the excuse of worrying about potential infringement risks and malicious claims to reject EDS's bid. This reason is aboveboard. Then, I will give you all-round support, including lawyers, funds, connections, lobbyists, etc. You can Rapidly expand Actor in a short period of time and easily obtain this contract. To be honest, military business is the easiest to do. Those low-level soldiers have no idea what they need. Even if you give them a blank piece of paper and tell them what electronic materials are inside, they will foolishly believe it. As long as you complete this business, you will find that as long as you make the right choice, making money is actually a very easy thing. Of course, I can first pay Actor 5 million in the name of DFS purchasing Actor's computer software training services, so that your company's account will not be out of money, although DFS does not need Actor to provide any services at all."
In his mind, Tommy had already used all kinds of dirty words to greet this old man countless times, who had obviously become a beast in human skin, but still deliberately spoke to him in a jerk tone in an attempt to get closer to him. The three daughters and his wife had already been put in countless postures in Tommy's mind.
I am a jerk with no bottom line in my behavior, but I have the most basic humanity. But what is this guy? After I have lost my imagination, courage and freedom and am no longer worthy of being a jerk, he still wants to trick me into helping him deal with that jerk Pero?
He is old, but he doesn't allow other big-name men to live a life of debauchery, so he can only be a eunuch with him?
There was nothing worth learning from this meeting, except that Tommy could see that Miller used the lawsuit from his perspective. It was far worse than Benjamin Rosen. At least Mr. Benjamin could give some positive suggestions. Although Tommy himself understood those principles, that was at least the attitude of SSD alumni teaching SSD juniors.
And listen to what this bastard said. He deceived himself and Actor into being his tools and weapons, and was only willing to pay five million. Did he really think Master Tommy was a Warwick countryman who had never seen money?
He was unwilling to pay the price that he imagined might exist, to marry Ottilia to him in exchange for him being a tool. He was unwilling to give her to his own daughter, and he was unwilling to give her to someone else's daughter? Even if he told a lie, it would be fine to make Master Tommy happy.
If I had known that the other party was so rich but still maintained the good tradition of being stingy, I would not have brought Sophia along as a shield. That way, I might have been able to get closer to Ottilia in private.
"Uh...but...I mean...I mean I'm from Warwick." Tommy opened his mouth hesitantly, looked at Miller, then lowered his head to look at his hands. "You know, Mr. Perot is my father's idol. After knowing that I joined SSD, my father specifically told me to remember to ask for an autographed photo for him if I have a chance to meet him. But Mr. Miller, what you just said...is that you want me to stand opposite Mr. Perot. He is also a member of SSD. I joined SSD because of him."
"So, are you sure you want to give up such a big business?" Miller stared at Tommy with a half-smile. "You are a smart man. Think about it. When you have no money, you can make waves in the Caribbean. If you have wealth, you can even use that money and your mind to change the world, Tommy."
Tommy seemed to have made up his mind. His eyes suddenly became firm as he looked at Miller: "Let me help you fight against your former idol and SSD alumnus... It will cost you extra money."
"What a qualified bastard for SSD." Miller laughed when he heard Tommy's words: "So how much money do you hope to get?"
Tommy also laughed: "No, no, no, money is not important now. I am more insecure now."
"Sense of security?" Miller frowned slightly: "Bodyguard? Driver? Doctor?"
"Your three daughters are all blonde like Miss Otilia Farrell, huh?" Tommy said with a smile, and slowly stood up: "I was just kidding."
This sentence almost choked Robert Miller, who was drinking water from a glass. He didn't have Alzheimer's disease. This bastard really dared to think that his three daughters were all blonde...
He stood up with a slightly gloomy face, shook hands with Tommy, and said coldly: "I don't think you need to think about it. I already know the answer. I used to be a jerk, so I know what you are thinking. You regard what I say as a lie and a joke."
"You're not an asshole, Mr. Miller, so it's best to treat this meeting as a joke." Tommy let go of the other's hand and sighed. "Before I met you, I respected you because your experiences when you were young made me, a new generation of assholes, admire you. I wanted to find a time machine and go back to that era to do those crazy things with you. But now, as I'm about to leave, I find that except for your three blonde daughters who are not as pretty as Ottilia, you don't have any characteristics worth remembering. Times have changed, Mr. Miller. Twenty years ago, you and Mr. Perot were the most outstanding assholes in SSD, but now, only Mr. Perot is still insisting on being an asshole, and you have become a gentleman."
After saying that, he bowed slightly to Miller, turned around and walked towards the stairs: "Assholes are always those who break the rules, rather than assimilated into the rules. So every time someone calls me an asshole, I am very happy, because they are reminding me not to forget what I want to be."
"You rejected me, but I can still help you. It's a procurement contract worth five million. It has nothing to do with the Navy's bidding contract. I just want to see you kick those nerds' butts." Miller asked from behind.
Tommy immediately turned around, walked quickly back to Miller, and bowed to the ground: "If you had told me earlier that you gave Actor Company five million for free, it would have made me have a much better impression of you, Mr. Miller."
"So you were greeting me crazily in your mind just now." Miller laughed when he saw Tommy's reaction.
Tommy said frankly: "No, I'm not gay, I just say hello..."
"Shut up. For my age, don't let me die of a heart attack." Miller sat back in his seat and took out a business card from under the fruit plate:
"I won't pay five million, but here's Perot's business card. He said before that if you're not an idiot who rushes into an opportunity without hesitation, you can call him and he'll buy a batch of OSS."
Tommy stared at the business card, then looked at Miller who had a smirk on his face: "You're a really good actor, Mr. Miller. I have a colleague who is an assistant casting director. Would you like to make a movie? I'd pay you to be the leading actor."
"No need. Just let my daughters go in your mind." Miller shook his head. "Although I lied just now, it is true that Perot lost the Navy order."
"Impossible." Hearing Miller's words, Tommy said with certainty: "No other company can compete with EDS for the Navy's orders."
"Wait and watch the news , or wait for Perot to fly back to China after finishing his work and tell you in person. It's not a secret anyway." Miller said somewhat listlessly:
"I wanted to teach you a lesson, you know? But you didn't give me a chance to teach you a lesson. Instead, you used similar lines to teach me a lesson. Did you see through some part of it?"
Tommy said seriously, "No, everything I said before was a lie. The only thing I said to you when I left was true. You are not a jerk, Mr. Miller."
After he finished speaking, he hesitated and added, "Uh, by the way, there is one more thing I want to clarify. I don't have a girlfriend. Sophia is my legal assistant. I thought you would seduce me with your beauty, so I brought her here to remind myself not to be fooled. But now, I feel it is necessary to explain clearly to you, your three daughters, and Ottilia that I am single, and my character is obvious to all..."
"How is your brotherhood's secret meeting going? I prepared some food, do you need it sent up?" Ottilia asked loudly to the two people on the terrace upstairs from far downstairs.
"No need, Otilia, take my three daughters away. Aren't you planning to go to New York Broadway to watch a musical? Ask the driver to take you to the airport immediately." Miller responded loudly, then turned his head to look at Tommy and said threateningly: "My daughters will only marry true gentlemen, so you'd better stay away from them and don't force me to castrate you."
Tommy raised his hands obediently and made a retreating motion: "This sentence vaguely reminds me of the momentum you had when you were a jerk."
"There is no lunch prepared for you. I am only responsible for teaching you one thing in this class. Don't be like a fly that rushes to poop. Think about the consequences. I didn't expect you to do so well." Miller waved his hand impatiently at him and made a gesture to drive him away:
"What I said to you was not a lie. It was just a retelling of what happened to me back then. How great it would have been if I could have resisted the temptation like you did. Now I can't even decide whether to take my company public."
