: No more picking up scraps, afraid of getting beaten up.

Chapter 43: No more picking up scraps, afraid of getting beaten up.

Q: When you see a guy wearing black Doc Martens, black wrinkled leather pants, a black T-shirt underneath, a black leather jacket on top, and large black sunglasses hanging from his collar, what is your first reaction?

A: The long hair that was flowing in the wind immediately brought the description "ghost fire boy" to Ethan's mind.

He even uttered the exclamation, "What a load of crap!"

But once he saw the guy's face clearly, he decisively abandoned the agent and hurried downstairs.

He rushed to the guy's side and asked in confusion, "What's going on? Steve, what's going on here...?"

That's right, the guy in the abstract outfit in front of you is Steve Jobs.

At this moment, his face was full of anger.

His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at the people in front of him, veins bulging on his neck, giving off a strong sense of determination to fight if they didn't submit.

Beside him stood a guy with round cheeks and thick lips.

Although he was dressed politely, his blue shirt was tattered, the left sleeve was torn to shreds, several buttons were missing, and some of his hair was sticking out.

Upon hearing Ethan's voice, the people present immediately turned their attention to him.

The furious Steve Jobs was taken aback for a moment, then asked in surprise, "Ethan? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to look at the apartment..." Ethan pointed behind him with his thumb.

"What are you doing here?" Ethan asked, frowning. "Fighting?"

As soon as he said it, Ethan realized he had used the wrong words.

Because apart from Steve Jobs, the other people were dressed normally.

They were all dressed in T-shirts and shorts, or plaid shirts and jeans, or, for a more formal occasion, suits, shirts and trousers. Only Steve Jobs, like a street thug, was constantly swearing and cursing.

"Uh...I guess so..." Jobs thought for a moment and nodded.

However, the next second he explained, "But we didn't start this! They falsely accused us of breaking their things!"

Upon hearing this, the previously quiet crowd on the other side became excited again.

"Steve! Watch your words!"

"You haven't explained things clearly!"

"We have no stain!"

"Oh! Fxxk! I already said this isn't our problem!" The shout from the other side made Jobs jump up and down.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Seeing that these guys were still trying to quack like ducks, Ethan Jones quickly said, "Stop arguing! I think you all know that arguing won't get you anywhere, so calm down and let's find a place to sit down and talk, okay?"

Ethan's voice was so loud that it completely drowned out theirs.

The overwhelming momentum caused the argument to stall.

"I have no objection." Steve Jobs, panting, was the first to agree. "Let's go inside and talk."

At the same time, he introduced the chubby guy next to him, "This is Ethan, the one I told you about, the Ethan who took me to sell goods last month."

Then he turned to Ethan and said, "This is my friend Stephen."

"Hello." The chubby boy nodded slightly.

"Hello," Ethan said, stopping short of a formality.

Those nearby looked puzzled. "Sir, may I ask who you are?"

Their question made Steve Jobs raise his head: "Him? Ah, you know Snake Game?"

"He invented it!"

That's a very powerful introduction.

Upon learning that Ethan was the creator of "Snake," these young men, roughly the same age as Steve Jobs, immediately suppressed their anger. Some even came over and shook hands with Ethan, saying, "Hey bro, nice to meet you."

"I am Steven, Steven Levy, you can call me Steven."

"They are Harry Garland, Lee Phil Statham, Roger Mellen, and John Draper."

Oh... I don't recognize any of them...

Ethan had never heard of any of these names.

But that doesn't matter, because it won't affect his manners.

After a brief handshake with these guys, Ethan, acting as the middleman, prepared to follow them into their house.

But before going inside, he greeted Frank again.

"Um... could you talk to that real estate agent for me? I'm not going to take this house anymore, you know what I mean?"

"I understand, I understand, it's to avoid getting beaten up at night!"

"..."

Frank always manages to explain the essence of things from a unique perspective.

This impressed Ethan greatly.

Although the words were a bit harsh, Ethan didn't have time to care. After sitting down inside, he began to learn about the disputes among these people.

The first speaker was Steve Jobs.

"Ethan, here's the thing. A few of us are members of the same computer club. Last month, in May, I went out with you to replace the motherboard for a client's Snake Game game, right? Around that time, our club held an offline gathering."

"Because I wasn't in California, I couldn't attend, and I don't know what they talked about that day. But when I came back this month, my friend Stephen, who is him, told me about the magic of that party."

As he spoke, Steve Jobs pointed.

The chubby guy with tattered clothes next to him immediately said, "Hey~ after Steve came back, I told him about what I saw at the party in May, and the details of what I saw, uh... I have to start from March."

"Our club was formed in March of this year. Steve was there at the time. At the first gathering, the club's founder, Gordon, told us that he had ordered an Altair 8800 through Popular Electronics and that he would receive it in a month or two. So we were really looking forward to it."

"You know Altair, right? It's the hottest personal microcomputer right now!"

"Last month, Altair arrived, and Gordon showed it to us and let each of us operate it."

"Because Steve showed great interest in Altair back in March, when he came back from work this month, I told him about what happened last month, and he wanted to see Altair because he was interested."

"So, when the party came up again on the 12th of this month, we went together. At this party, he saw the Altair he had been dreaming of, and even tried it out himself, showing how to type numbers using a typewriter by turning a joystick..."

At this point, the chubby boy turned to look at Jobs.

Seemingly recalling that moment, Jobs' face was filled with excitement. "Yes, Ethan, you know what? When I saw Altair, I was absolutely shocked! Because I had never encountered anything like it before!"

"This thing seems to have a life of its own!"

Steve Jobs waved his hand and continued, "Because Altair seemed so amazing—it could calculate all sorts of things based on our commands!—and I was very curious about how it worked, so I asked Stephen how it was made. After obtaining permission from Altair's owner, Gordon, the founder of our club, Stephen disassembled Altair in front of everyone and explained its internal structure to me and all of us. I listened very attentively..."

At this point, Steve Jobs stopped.

He raised an eyebrow at Ethan.

Ethan understood immediately from this gesture. After briefly recalling the argument, he knew why these guys were arguing. "So, the Altair you guys took apart is broken, right?"

"Liquid! It's broken!"

Before Jobs could speak, Steven Levy, who had greeted Ethan earlier, said, "The day before yesterday, Gordon, the founder of our club, told us some good news: he received an offer from SSA and will be starting work in Baltimore soon."

"We are happy for his success, but at the same time we are also sad because we may never see Altair again after he leaves, so we wanted to see Altair one last time before he left."

"But when we went there yesterday, we found that the machine seemed to be broken. After connecting the circuit, one of the indicator lights on the main panel was not lit, and it had only been touched by Steve and his team before, so..."

"I already said! We demolished it and then put it back up! And we even ran through it again right in front of you!" Jobs shouted.

"But it's really broken now!" Steven Levy and his group retorted.

"Okay! Okay!"

The renewed argument prompted Ethan to raise his voice.

"I think I understand why, but at the same time, I have a new question."

"Can anyone tell me if any of you have checked that computer? Or do you know how it broke down?"

This question left Steven Levy and his group looking at each other in bewilderment.

Even the voices were much softer—

"We did not dismantle Altair."

"Gordon bought the complete set! It cost him over six hundred dollars! How could we dare to disassemble something so expensive?"

"Yes! The seller from Altair specifically stated that the fully assembled version of the machine is not covered by separate warranty!"

"have to!"

Ethan understood immediately upon hearing this.

These guys really tried to shift the blame without even understanding the specifics of the situation!

But then Ethan thought it was normal.

After all, it's over six hundred dollars, which is almost two months' income for a normal person. It would be strange if they weren't anxious if it broke.

"So what do you want now?" Ethan asked.

"We called them here today because we want them to pay us compensation."

"Is this your idea, or your club's founder, that guy's name again...?"

"Gordon."

"Yes, is this your idea or Gordon's?"

"Gordon thinks this thing can be fixed, but we don't dare!"

'???'

"...This is troublesome."

Ethan had a headache.

The item broke somehow? You want to repair it but think it's too expensive? Why do these people seem to want to be in the right but are also shameless?

But Steve Jobs said, "Perhaps we have a way."

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Steven Levy and his group became anxious again.

"You've already broken it! And you still want to keep touching it?"

"That won't do! What if it's just a minor problem now, but it turns into a big problem after you touch it?"

"Yeah! Gordon has to go to Baltimore for his performance review! He can't waste time here with you guys!"

The renewed noise annoyed Ethan Jones.

"Stop yelling!!!"

Not wanting to get stuck in an endless loop, he roared—

"Get Steve and the others to fix it!"

"A machine that costs over six hundred dollars, right?"

"If they break the machine, I'll buy you a new one!"

After a burst of shouts, the scene fell silent.

Seeing the group remain silent, Ethan said in a deep voice, "I've finished speaking. Who agrees? Who disagrees?"

"Um?"

He stared with his bull-like eyes, scanning his surroundings.

Note: ①SSA is the U.S. Social Security Administration.

(End of this chapter)