American History 1988

Dean hadn’t thought too much about his relationship with Ophelia. For a boy who encounters a pretty girl, feeling a bit of excitement followed by taking the initiative to hit a home run is just that simple. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Between emotional connection and physical attraction, Dean perhaps leaned more towards the latter, which included all the women he had met thus far. He thoroughly practiced this freedom in that respect.

Of course, he wasn’t completely heartless; when he was with each of them, Dean always showed his most tender side.

He could tolerate Susie’s dreadful cooking except for her seafood pasta, pretending to relish a taste that was plainly like chewing wax. This was merely because she had busied herself in the kitchen all morning for him, and he couldn’t bear to break her heart.

To reward Susie for her dedicated effort in overcharging the rent, Dean generously granted her a 10% share. Although the stocks seemed insignificant now, Dean knew that Susie had essentially secured a long-term meal ticket for the future.

As for Ophelia, Dean was willing to accompany her in studying European classical architecture that he had absolutely no interest in. At every one of Ophelia’s performances, Dean was there without fail, admiring the entire process from the audience, even though he didn’t understand a thing about symphonies.

Miranda... But let’s not talk about Miranda just yet, because Ophelia’s performance has come to an end.

In Severance Hall, as the orchestra conductor took a bow to the audience, a tidal wave of applause broke out, and Dean, in a front-row seat, clapped enthusiastically towards Ophelia.

She noticed him and immediately gave a sweet smile. Dean was Ophelia’s first love, and she treasured this relationship greatly.

"Ophelia, the most beautiful person in this entire hall is you," Dean said as the crowd gradually dispersed, and he immediately approached the edge of the stage to greet Ophelia.

"Dean, tonight is my last performance in Severance Hall," Ophelia said, happy about Dean’s arrival yet melancholic about the farewell.

She looked up at the resplendent hall, her gaze filled with longing. The dark gold carvings on the cornice remained elegant, and the feather lamps scattered across the dome flickered on and off.

It was unknown when she would be able to return after going back to Europe this time.

Seeing the specks of moisture in Ophelia’s eyes, Dean gently pulled her into his arms. "Ophelia, Europe and North America have mutual visa exemptions. You can come back anytime you want, as long as you wish."

"I will," the naïve Ophelia believed him sincerely. She didn’t know that time would dilute everything. She was also unaware that by the next time she returned to North America, massive changes would have already altered everything.

"Ophelia, everyone here has left. Shall we play one more piece together?" Dean cleared his throat, his eyes full of the aroma of hormones.

"What?" At first, Ophelia was puzzled, but as soon as she saw the look in Dean’s eyes, her heart skipped a beat. "Dean... That’s absolutely not okay..."

This was Severance Hall! Home to the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, ranked among the top five in America! Numerous celebrities and politicians had watched performances here, and Ophelia herself had just performed on this stage.

But now... oh my god, Ophelia couldn’t even imagine such a scene! She considered it a desecration, the elegant symphony... the intertwining of two bodies...

"Ophelia... Ophelia..." Dean shook her by the shoulders to snap her out of it, "Relax, there’s no one here anymore, look, the lights of the stage and the audience have gone out, no one can see us. This is your last performance, right? Don’t you want to reach the supreme culmination of our relationship right here?"

Dean was like a devil from hell, throwing one fatal temptation after another at Ophelia.

"But Dean, I... I... am a little scared..." Ophelia nervously grabbed her skirt, her voice quivering with each word. Her heartbeat felt like a drum kit, bursting non-stop.

"Let’s go to the back," Dean quickly scanned the surroundings, and immediately locked onto the row of tall pipe organs on stage.

This was one of the largest pipe organs in America, with 6,025 pipes, the tallest of which reached ten meters. The wall of organ pipes shielded the back half of the stage completely.

Ophelia followed Dean’s gaze and was stunned. She had never thought that the pipe organ, which played melodious music, could also be used for such a purpose...

"Come on, Ophelia. You will enjoy it. I promise," Dean said, leading her by the hand behind the pipe organ on stage.

"Ophelia, your dress tonight is very pretty. Just like this, I like the feeling of holding onto them from the back..."

"Dean, you’ll get it dirty," Ophelia still possessed the last bit of stubbornness.

"No, it makes you look like a French princess. Ophelia, I’m fascinated by you like this..."

Under Dean’s sweet talk, Ophelia soon obediently complied.

"Oh~ Ophelia, my touch tells me. You’re not scared at all, in fact, you’re even enjoying it..."

"Shut up... Dean..." Nervousness, thrill, excitement, a mixture of complex emotions came together, bringing Ophelia an incomparable sensation.

Dean was right, it was indeed a sublime pleasure.

...

After completing his ultimate challenge in Severance Hall, Dean saw Ophelia off at the Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, where she boarded her flight to France.

Goodbye, the last trace of innocence from youth. Dean had a feeling that he might never meet another girl as pure as Ophelia again.

She gave him all the beautiful imaginings of campus youth, without money or profit. Romance and warmth were the main melodies of their time together.

But it was time to say goodbye to all that. Morgan Tailer’s funds had arrived, and he needed to arrange everything in Ohio for the next two months.

"I know everyone is somewhat puzzled about what a website is, and even have only a vague understanding of Price’s List. But the truth is right in front of us—we’ve made money!"

Dean, waving the financial report in his hand, spoke with compelling allure. "Just last month, Price’s List’s profit exceeded 20,000 US Dollars! But back then we only had three people, which means on average, each person generated over 6,000 US Dollars in wealth!

Do you know the monthly profit of the Republican Steel Plant in the suburbs of Cleveland? The answer is a negative one million US Dollars—they’re losing money!"

As Dean’s words finished, a burst of laughter arose from below. The Cleveland newspapers were reporting daily on the losses of the Republican Steel Plant, and even rumors of its bankruptcy were rumbling.

As a result, thousands of workers took to the streets to protest the plant’s decision to cut production. They were worried that the cutbacks were just a pretext and what the plant really wanted to do was to shut down the entire steel mill.

Thousands of people depended on it to make a living. If the steel plant closed, they would all be out of jobs.

Listen, out there on the street, the marching protestors had once again passed through Franklin Street.

"I assure you, Price’s List will never lay off an employee without good reason, but instead, we will recruit more in the future.

The internet is a burgeoning land, destined to lead the next wave of change. Now that we are ahead of everyone, as long as we maintain this lead, I promise you all will become millionaires in the future!"

Beep! Beep! Beep! The sound of police sirens came from the streets; the protestors and sheriffs were clashing violently.

Cursing, crying, police warnings—all these chaotic noises echoed through the entire city of Ohio.

"Simon, close the windows, please." At Dean’s signal, the office windows closed one by one.

The sounds of the old era were blocked out, leaving only young faces in the room ready to embrace the next era.

Including Dean, there were fifteen employees. This was the entirety of Price’s List’s staff.

"Some of you will go to Cincinnati, some to the state capital Columbus, and some will stay in Cleveland.

But no matter where you go, just remember one thing: Price’s List’s core mission is to bring convenient life services to our users.

I need you to walk into every street locally, to record things you find interesting. A coffee shop with great service, a restaurant with delicious food, a craftsman with outstanding skills, and a beautiful, safe community...

These are all precious assets worth recording on Price’s List. With them, our website will attract more people.

Life is meant to be rich and colorful. I don’t care how you do it. You can explore and create the content yourselves, or get your friends involved, but within two months, I want to see the local Price’s List online, with a wealth of content.

Of course, Price’s List will not forget your efforts. For every advertisement you secure locally, you’ll get your cut from it.

Remember this is just additional income. On top of the base salary, Price’s List will not disappoint anyone."

The circle of new employees cheered and raised their hands upon hearing this. They hadn’t held much hope for commissions, as they hadn’t touched this industry before.

The salary offered by Price’s List, while not large, was moderate. It was not easy to find stable employment in the Rust Belt, as the streets outside illustrated all too clearly.

So as long as it was suitable, they didn’t mind giving a new industry a try. Traditional heavy industry was doomed to decline, and the young people refused to enter the factories, not wanting to become part of the future’s unemployed masses.

Now, after this meeting, the new employees all felt that Price’s List might be a good choice—at least their boss was a very charismatic person.

Today, Dean was merely taking the opportunity of welcoming new staff to hold a mass mobilization meeting. The real employee training would be continued later by Simon.

After half a year at Dean’s side, Simon had grown familiar with the operations of Price’s List. He had even picked up some basic coding skills by osmosis.

However, to ensure that Price’s List could operate smoothly after Dean left, Morgan Tailer had also introduced two programmers to Dean. After interviewing them himself, Dean hired them.

Dean had already completed most of the design work, and the new programmers only had to maintain the website’s regular operation—a task any computer-savvy individual could handle.

"Simon, I’m leaving Cleveland in your hands. I’ll make a trip to Columbus myself. Anyway, just do it as usual, and there definitely won’t be a problem. I believe in you," Dean said.

"Although I do miss the days with you here, it’s clear that I need to face this on my own now," Simon said as he fist-bumped Dean. "So, when are you planning to leave?"

"Probably in the next couple of days, but before that, I need to say goodbye to Miranda."

"Wow~" Simon was imagining a scene of fireworks.