classifiedscript Chapter 89 Influence
Chapter 89 Influence
Chapter 89 Influence
In the early morning in the working-class neighborhood of Mountain View, before the sunlight had fully pierced through the thin mist, the tranquility of the Reeves' house was already shattered by the constant arguing.
Water stains still lingered on the tiled floor, gleaming coldly in the morning light, mirroring the atmosphere of the home at that moment.
"I should have stayed in San Francisco! I had to come to this crappy place to work. Not only do I have to pay rent, but I also have to commute between the two cities every day. I've had enough of Winnie and Leo's extra tuition fees and all sorts of miscellaneous expenses."
Linda's voice sounded like it had been sanded, carrying a long-suppressed sharpness. She slammed the glass of water she was holding heavily on the table, shaking the water droplets off the glass and leaving dark stains on the wooden placemat.
"Do you know how long it's been since I went shopping? Three months, a full three months without buying a single new piece of clothing! I even switched to discounted cosmetics from the supermarket."
"It's all because of you, all because of that stupid decision you made back then."
Reeves was adjusting his clothes a short distance away, his imposing manner much weaker.
Because he is indeed responsible for the current situation, and he cannot deny that.
Reeves originally had a happy family, a harmonious household, and two children.
Those days are filled with memories. In that house with a terrace in San Francisco's Sunset District, the sweet aroma of Linda's baked cookies would always fill the air on weekends.
He works as a technical director at a finance company in the city center. His office has floor-to-ceiling windows facing the Golden Gate Bridge, where he can leisurely enjoy the view while sipping coffee every day.
Linda is a sales manager at Union Department Store, and her income is also quite substantial.
While they may not be extremely wealthy, they live a comfortable life and are the envy of many.
But ever since he quit his job and moved to Mountain View, life has been like a spilled spice jar, with all the flavors mixed together.
Linda's work is inseparable from San Francisco, and the house there can only continue to be paid off with a mortgage and cannot be sold.
Because there was no one to take care of the two children, they transferred to the semi-closed St. Andrew's School, where the tuition alone was three times more expensive than before.
Linda's frequent trips between the two locations have increased her fuel costs, living expenses, and other costs.
This also made their originally affluent life suddenly become a struggle for money.
Reeves doesn't regret it; he believes his choice was correct.
"I am a top computer science graduate from CMU, and I don't want to waste my life doing nothing every day."
Being a technical director at a finance company is essentially no different from being a network administrator, and this isn't the life Reeves wants.
Reeves' silence only fueled Linda's anger. "Regret it? What were you doing before? Did you regret marrying me? Did you give up your dreams and end up living a simple life with me in San Francisco?"
He recalled having the opportunity to visit a research institution, and then glanced at his irritable wife in front of him.
"Just like I said when I took my vow, marrying you is the best decision I've ever made in my life."
Seeing that Linda remained silent, her expression softened considerably. Reeves placed his hands on her shoulders and gazed deeply into her eyes. "Believe me, I told you I would give you a life of luxury. Our company has great potential; once we raise funds and go public, all of us will receive original shares."
Linda pouted. "You've said this countless times. So what if you raise funds and go public? What will the market value be? Eight hundred million dollars or a billion dollars? The shares you get are worth at most thirty or fifty thousand dollars. What's the use?"
Reeves fell silent, because he didn't know how to refute the other party.
Although he firmly believes that Google will definitely be a great company, how much market value will it be worth?
Hundreds of billions of dollars? Then the shares I received would still have some value.
But can he believe it? Can Linda believe it?
"Give me some more time, okay?"
Linda stood still, the morning light casting deep shadows on her face. She stared for a long time at the dark circles under her husband's eyes, the result of countless sleepless nights spent coding.
"Two years." Seeing her husband's pleading eyes, she finally softened, her voice hoarse with weariness, "Two years at most. If we see no hope, we'll go back to San Francisco."
Reeves smiled happily; two years was enough.
But to his surprise, it didn't even take two years; in just two minutes, Linda's attitude underwent a complete 180-degree change.
At the dinner table, after Reeves sat down, his gaze inadvertently swept over the headline of the financial section, and he seemed to be frozen in place, his blood seemingly freezing instantly.
Although he had only met the man in the photo a few times, he remembered him vividly. Who else could it be but his boss, Ernst?
The small building covered in ivy in the background—wasn't that the office building he clocked in at every day? The photo in the newspaper made him freeze in his chair.
"What's wrong with you?" Linda noticed Reeves' unusual behavior and asked anxiously.
Reeves snapped out of his daze and grabbed his wife's wrist tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force.
He pushed the newspaper in front of Linda, his fingertips trembling as he pointed to the headline. "Can you check this for me? It's Billion, isn't it?"
Linda gave a "what do you mean?" look, then opened her mouth wide and said, "Don't tell me that this $22.5 billion company is where you work, and that this newly minted super-rich man in America is your boss."
Reeves nodded excitedly. "Google, I remember telling you that."
Linda had long forgotten about it, because the thought of the company upset her.
"Oh my god!" Linda clutched her hair with both hands, unsure how to express her current emotions.
The Series A funding round was already worth $22.5 billion, what about Series B? Series C? Linda simply couldn't imagine what kind of behemoth this company would become after going public; she could almost see Google's stock ticker flashing on the Nasdaq screen.
Her husband was not only an early employee of the company, but also a team leader.
Promotion, raise, becoming a wealthy wife—many ideas popped into Linda's head.
"Fuck, let that old bastard Chelman go eat shit. I'm not putting up with him anymore, and he can forget about exploiting me. Once my husband gets a promotion and a raise, I'll stay home, be a good wife and mother, and spend my days taking the kids shopping."
At the same time in Las Vegas, Cockerian, who had just gotten a satisfying toy the night before and was in high spirits, was now looking at the newspaper in his hand with a gloomy expression.
"Boss, what about the woman inside?"
Koklian turned and roared, "Throw him into a brothel! You can only leave when you pay back the money!"
.
He had originally planned to stay a couple more days, but now he had no desire to stay at all.
The newspapers were full of reports about Ernst and Google. Ernst, a nobody he had previously looked down on, had suddenly become America's youngest super-tycoon, with more than twice his wealth. This was unacceptable to Cockerell.
The key issue is the feud between the two, which seems unlikely to be resolved now.
Although Ernst acquired MGM and managed it well, the fact remains that it was burdened with huge debts.
If he's not careful, not only his Hollywood colleagues, but even the capitalists could devour him whole.
Cockerian had never considered Ernst, the MGM boss, a threat, but now things were different; Ernst's status, wealth, and influence clearly surpassed his own.
The roles have now reversed. Don't forget that MGM Resorts is also a leveraged business, and everyone knows what Wall Street is like.
Meanwhile, at a manor in Sacramento, the capital of California, several elderly men were chatting about the same thing.
"An interesting little guy, he actually broke down the class barrier."
America's resources have already been allocated, so it can be said that your fate is determined from the moment you are born.
But now that someone has broken this fate and transcended class, it naturally attracts the attention of those who care.
Every American billionaire is a resource and a target for various forces to court.
Of course, what they really want is the key to breaking down class barriers.
"Clearly, a new industry has emerged; keep an eye on it."
The butler standing nearby nodded, indicating that he understood.
Another elderly man put down the documents in his hand. "It says here that this little guy's whole family is blue, which is really nice. I saw that it says his cousin is running for the position of county magistrate of Tuleli County. I think we can appropriately express our goodwill."
The first old man stood up nonchalantly. "You can handle this little matter yourselves. The weather's nice today, how about a few rounds?"
The remaining few exchanged glances and burst into laughter. "Looks like you haven't lost enough yet."