America 1982-Chapter 190 - 71: The Long-Awaited Care_3

"You’re the image that Jason, Susan, Mark, Holly project around me. Your presence by my side is the embodiment of Actor Corporation, representing their complete trust in me. They’re just as naive as you, clueless about what I’m actually doing, but they still carry out every task I assign them. I have a responsibility towards them, and that responsibility is a constant reminder to myself not to screw up, because these idiots are counting on me to make them rich." 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Sophia tried to appear calm as she looked directly at Tommy and mustered up the courage to speak, "You now have a professional lawyer to solve your legal problems, and I think you no longer need my legal aid, Tommy, I..."

"Look at this chick’s touching words, about to leave me, and yet pretending it’s because I don’t need legal aid. Do you think I, of all people, wouldn’t need free legal aid?" Tommy didn’t give her a chance to finish and cut her off:

"Remember, Sophia, free stuff is always more important than what’s not, just imagine our first encounter. I turned up out of nowhere, as if by chance, but do you know how many ugly chicks I had to blow off before sitting down with someone with only one flaw: tits like a man’s chest? You were carefully chosen, Sophia, believe me. If the day comes when Tommy Hawk needs to rely on Delia or someone else to teach me how to deal with trouble in this country, it means I ought to retire."

"I insist..." Sophia started to speak again, her voice quieter than before.

Tommy Hawk stubbed out the cigarette butt: "Your insistence doesn’t mean squat to me, dare to go back to law school and I’ll have Delia send you a lawyer’s letter right away, claiming that due to your negligence while working for me, there has been a serious damage to my personal image, and pinning it all on you. Even if you graduate and pass the bar, when law firms see your record, they won’t give an idiot like you a job and in the end, I’ll force you to come back to earn the eighty bucks a week I’ll never actually pay you. You know I can do this."

"Thank you for your not-so-touching but very threatening way of holding on to me," Sophia sighed, trying to muster a smile: "I feel a bit better now, Tommy."

"Damn it, I’m just purely threatening, okay? Delia says one word to you and you’re terrified into reliving all your life’s mistakes. I tell you a hundred times stuff like ’Sophia, you have no boobs’ or ’Miss O’Connor, you need to develop again’ and you never once consider getting a boob job," Tommy retorted irritably:

"Do you have some cash on you right now?"

Sophia nodded begrudgingly, "Yes, a little, but I guess it’s not enough to cover the cost of a boob job."

"Of course it’s not enough. Don’t worry, the company can pick up the tab for something like this. Once we get through this busy period, we’ll find some excuse to upgrade the company’s equipment, pull some money, and get you that boob job." Tommy drained the last drop of coffee from his cup and then stood up, walking towards the exit of the conference room:

"But for now, go to the hotel’s front desk and pay the conference room fee. I bet Delia didn’t take care of it. Why does the silver-haired chick have a thing for the Four Seasons Hotel, picking such a fancy place just to meet, without considering that her employer is just a poor devil with a conscience, morals, and manners, but goddamn no money."

"So I’m just not cut out to be a secretary, right, I’d still make a great lawyer," Sophia followed Tommy, trying to adjust her mood, she asked him.

Tommy laughed and shook his head as he walked: "Sophia, the first thing I’ll do when you pass the bar is to send you to our competitors, so you can earn double the salary."

"Do you think I’d be an excellent corporate spy?"

"No, no need for spying, I believe without my guidance, just by being yourself, you’d ruin that company completely."

...

Stanford University School of Engineering, Department of Computer Science, campus technology exhibition.

For the true computer enthusiasts of Stanford, this was one of the two big bashes of the year. Not only did the event showcase the school’s real computer research achievements, but also the inventions of various quirky software and hardware by students. Of course, this wasn’t just a party for computer geeks and nerds; many potential investors or their assistants would also make an appearance to see if they could find projects of interest.

Right now, Tommy Hawk was standing in the second longest queue at the exhibition, waiting to experience a self-service voice touch screen introduced by Stanford’s Computer Research Center. In just half an hour, Tommy had already seen at least a dozen secretaries or assistants from major companies try it out, then turn to talk to the engineering elites for more detailed technical information afterward.

This touchscreen was nowhere near as exaggerated as the one Tommy witnessed in his past life; it had no bright colors, the touch felt terrible and voice recognition was dreadfully bad, often necessitating touch to complete commands. Of course, even if voice recognition worked correctly, it could only provide basic information in short sentences, such as directing someone to the restroom or library, etc.