America 1982-Chapter 317 - 20 In Rome

The hall, standing with sixteen granite columns, strikingly resembled the Pantheon, the Roman Empire’s crowning architectural achievement with its round dome.

Above the imposing dome, apart from the dazzling, grandiose lighting installations, images of the gods were meticulously painted by the designer. Combined with the room-sized Roman sculptures within the hall, at this moment, bathed in light, they seemed as if the gods themselves had come alive, casting their mournful gazes upon the mortals in the hall.

By now, the music had already ceased, and the women who had been lively within the hall before had all retired. The attending men, holding glasses of champagne, gathered together, directing their attention to the stage in the center of the hall.

In the corners around the hall, dozens of figures cloaked in black hooded robes had appeared, their faces and figures obscured. They stood silently behind the sixteen granite columns, resembling the sculptures, but through their knee-length robes, they deliberately revealed a segment of fair shins and various high heels, subtly reminding those in the hall of their difference from the statues.

David’s representatives from elementary school, high school, and college had finished their speeches, and now it was Tommy Hawk’s turn to represent the CS gang and talk about his good brother David.

"Thanks to the previous friends for giving David such a high appraisal; are you sure you’re really his friends, not actors he paid for? Okay, just joking. David Schafer, undoubtedly, is a true leader and our dearest friend," Tommy said, with a seemingly solemn expression, microphone in hand, standing on the hall’s stage, and with a mischievous smile, he began his speech to the audience:

"The first time I became friends with him, I knew he had to be America’s future leader, and that was back in Saint Vincent."

Hearing this name, a few of the CS gang guys in the front row burst out laughing, and Kevin couldn’t contain himself as he said, "That thing with him and Chris, it cracks me up every time I think about it."

"Indeed, I am surprised that incident didn’t dissuade David from pursuing a political career," Chris added seriously.

Tommy went on to recount an embarrassing story about David from their summer camp days: "When David attended the CS gang’s summer camp in Saint Vincent, he served as the country’s minister of the interior, but he always felt that he couldn’t fully utilize his potential in that position. He believed the position of minister of finance was more suitable for him because he was poor enough."

"The problem was that the position of finance minister belonged to another good friend of David’s, Chris. David approached Chris and suggested, ’I think we can have a fair election to canvas votes from the citizens of Kingston. Whoever gets the higher number of votes will become the finance minister, taking charge of the nation’s fiscal power, and whoever gets fewer votes will become the minister of the interior, responsible for fixing the constantly wobbly leg of Prime Minister Tommy Hawk’s office desk. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I’m Tommy Hawk.’"

"Harassed by David, Chris finally agreed. So, these two guys eagerly assembled their own campaign teams and planned vote-canvasing rallies. You might not know it, but Kingston didn’t have a venue as grand as today’s; the capital only had a so-called ’square.’ As expected, both David and Chris scheduled their first rallies there at the same time. The two solemn-seeming guys performed acts such as shaking hands with the citizens, kissing children, and giving speeches. Saint Vincent is a tropical country with unpredictable weather, and as luck would have it, it started to pour in the middle of their rallies. Chris, being from California, where sudden rainfall is also quite common, took advantage of his experience. Like unleashed wild dogs, he and his team darted into a nearby building to take cover. David was different; as a practical man from Georgia on the East Coast, he continued to interact with the citizens in the rain and deliver an impassioned electoral speech, feeling certain he would defeat Chris, who abandoned the voters at the first sign of rain, until he inadvertently overheard a conversation between two Kingston citizens."

"The conversation was brief. One citizen said to a companion, ’A downpour shows us clearly who we should vote for.’ The companion agreed, ’That’s right, we couldn’t possibly vote for an idiot who doesn’t know to take cover when it rains.’"

Ripples of laughter spread through the audience below.

Having finished his joke, Tommy gestured towards a side passage and introduced to the audience, "Ladies and gentlemen, let us welcome tonight’s absolute star, everyone’s dearest friend, David Schafer!"

As Tommy finished speaking, David, with a friendly and chubby figure, ascended the stage. He embraced and shook hands with Tommy, then took over the microphone. Only after watching Tommy step down did he turn to address the audience: 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Thank you all for coming to my bachelor party, and thank you to Tommy Hawk just now -- F*ck you, Tommy! Don’t think I don’t know that you were egged on by those scoundrels in the CS gang, who intentionally stole my warm-up joke, forcing me to keep it brief so that you bastards could have more time to chat up the ladies. Dream on! I’m going to treat tonight like a congressional hearing simulation; you can’t expect me to shut up until I’ve spoken for four hours."

"First of all, I must declare that I am absolutely not a leader, Tommy is. He’s the best candidate for President of the United States. As everyone knows, the President of the United States is a job only the most shameless person in America can fulfill, and so far, I haven’t found a second presidential candidate who could measure up to Tommy."