Chapter 42: No More Missed Opportunities, Fear of Getting Hit

Q: When you see a guy with black Martin boots, black wrinkled leather pants, a black T-shirt, and a black leather jacket with a black pair of large sunglasses, what's your first reaction?

A: The flowing long hair immediately made Ethan think of the adjective "fire-spirited youth."

The exclamation of "damn fool" was almost on his lips!

But as soon as he saw the guy's face clearly, he decisively dropped the intermediary and hurried downstairs.

Rushing to the guy's side, he asked in confusion, "What's going on? Steve, what are you guys doing..."

Yes, the guy in front of him was none other than Steve Jobs.

At this moment, his face was full of anger.

His red eyes stared at the people in front of him, veins bulging on his neck, giving off a vibe that he was ready to fight.

And beside him stood a guy with round cheeks and thick lips.

Although dressed decently, the blue shirt on the upper body was already tattered, the left sleeve was torn to shreds, and several buttons in front were missing, revealing lively hair.

Upon hearing Ethan's voice, the attention of the people on the scene immediately shifted.

The initially furious Steve Jobs first froze, then exclaimed, "Ethan? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see a house..." Ethan pointed behind him with his thumb.

"What are you guys doing here?" Ethan frowned and asked, "Fighting?"

As soon as the words came out, Ethan felt that the wording was wrong.

Because, except for Steve Jobs, the others were dressed normally.

Either in T-shirts and shorts or checkered shirts with jeans, and the more formal ones were in suits and dress shirts. Only Steve Jobs was cursing like a street guy.

"Uh... sort of," Jobs thought for a moment and nodded.

But the next moment, he explained, "But we didn't start this! They accused us of damaging their things!"

With these words, the previously quiet crowd on the opposite side became excited again.

"Steve! Watch your language!"

"You guys didn't explain things clearly!"

"We didn't accuse them!"

"Oh! Fxxk! I said it's not our problem!" The shouts from the opposite side made Jobs a bit agitated.

"Stop, stop, stop!"

Seeing that these guys still wanted to quack like ducks, Ethan Jones quickly said, "Stop arguing for a moment! I think you all should know that arguing won't lead to a solution. So, calm down first, and let's find a place to sit and talk, okay?"

Ethan's voice was loud enough to drown them out.

The spontaneous momentum also made the on-site dispute tend to stagnate.

"I have no objection." Steve Jobs agreed first, panting heavily. "Let's talk inside."

At the same time, he introduced the chubby guy beside him, "This is the Ethan I told you about, the one who sold goods with me last month."

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

"Hello," the chubby guy nodded slightly.

"Hello," Ethan also greeted briefly.

The people nearby were somewhat puzzled, "Excuse me, sir, who are you?"

Their inquiry made Steve Jobs raise his head proudly, "Him? Ah, do you know 'Snake Game'?"

"He invented it!"

This introduction was indeed powerful.

Upon learning that Ethan was the producer of "Snake Game," these young men, similar in age to Jobs, immediately softened their expressions. Some even approached Ethan and shook his hand, saying, "Hey, brother, nice to meet you."

"I'm Steven, Steven Levy, you can call me Steven."

"They are Harry Galan, Lee Philstanzen, Roger Mellen, John Dreper."

"Oh... I don't know any of them..."

Ethan hadn't heard any of these names before. But that didn't matter; it wouldn't affect his manners.

After a simple handshake with these guys, Ethan, playing the role of a mediator, prepared to join them in their house.

But before entering, he greeted Frank.

"Um... can you communicate with that agent for me? I won't be taking this house. You understand, right?"

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

Frank always had a unique way of explaining the essence of things.

Ethan admired that.

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

The first to speak was Steve Jobs.

"Ethan, here's the thing. We are all members of the same computer club. Last month, in May, didn't I go out with you to replace the game motherboard for 'Snake Game's' customers? During that time, our club held an offline gathering."

"Because I wasn't in California, I couldn't attend, and I didn't know what they talked about that day. But when I came back this month, my friend Stephen, him, he told me about the magical gathering."

Saying this, Steve Jobs pointed a finger.

The chubby guy beside him immediately said, "Yeah~ After Steve came back, I told him about the May gathering, and the content of the gathering, um... let's start from March."

"Our club was formed in March this year. Steve was there at that time. Because in the first meeting, the club's founder, Gordon, told us that he had ordered an Altair 8800 through 'Popular Electronics' and would probably get it in one or two months. So we were all looking forward to it."

"Do you know the Altair? It's the currently hottest personal microcomputer!"

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

"Because in March, Steve showed great interest in the Altair, so when he came back to work this month, I told him about last month, and he, being interested, wanted to see the Altair."

"So, on the 12th of this month, when the gathering was held again, we went together. At this gathering, he saw the long-awaited Altair, and then he even tried it himself, typing with a joystick to produce numbers..."

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

Seemingly reminiscing about that scene, Jobs' face was full of excitement. "Yes, Ethan, do you know? When I saw the Altair, I was shocked! Because before that, I had never touched anything like it!"

"Something that seemed to have a life!"

Steve Jobs waved his hand and continued, "Because the Altair looked so amazing, it could calculate all sorts of content according to our instructions! And I was very curious about how it worked. So, I asked Stephen how this thing was made. With the consent of Gordon, the owner of the Altair, and the founder of our club, Stephen took apart the Altair in front of everyone, and then explained the internal structure to me and everyone else. At that time, I listened very attentively..."

At this point, Steve Jobs stopped.

He raised his eyebrows at Ethan.

This gesture made Ethan understand. Combining it with the recent argument, he knew why these guys were in dispute. "So, the Altair you guys disassembled is broken, right?"

"Yeah! 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 good news. He got an offer from SSA and is about to start working in Baltimore."

"We are happy for his success, but at the same time, we are also regretful because after he leaves, we may never see the Altair again. So we wanted to take another look at the Altair before he left."

"But when we went yesterday, we found that the machine seemed to be broken. After connecting the circuit, an indicator light on the main panel didn't light up, and it had only been touched by Steve and them before, so..."

"I told you! After we disassembled it, we restored it! And we even ran it again in front of you!" Jobs loudly declared.

"But it is indeed broken now!" Steven Levy's group confronted.

"Okay! Okay!"

The renewed argument raised Ethan's voice.

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

"Can someone tell me if any of you checked that computer? Or, do you know how that computer broke?"

This question left Steven Levy's group in a state of confusion.

Even the tone of their voices lowered.

"We didn't disassemble the Altair."

"Gordon bought the complete version! He spent over six hundred dollars on it! We wouldn't dare to disassemble something that expensive!"

"Yeah! The seller of the Altair specifically said that the whole machine version is not covered by warranty if disassembled!"

"Alright!"

As soon as Ethan heard this, he understood.

These guys really want to shift blame without understanding the situation! But on second thought, Ethan felt it was normal. After all, something worth over six hundred dollars, equivalent to the income of an ordinary person for one or almost two months, if it breaks and there's no urgency to fix it, that would be strange.

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

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

"Is this your decision or the decision of your club's founder, that guy named..."

"Gordon."

"Yes, is it your decision or Gordon's decision?"

"Gordon thinks this thing should be fixable, but we don't dare!"

"???"

"...This is troublesome."

Ethan had a headache. Something is broken, they don't know how, they think repairing it is expensive, and these people want to claim justice while being shameless?

But Steve Jobs said, "Maybe we have a solution."

"What?"

As soon as this was said, Steven Levy's group became anxious again.

"You've already messed it up! And you want to continue meddling?"

"No! What if it's just a minor issue now, and you make it a big problem by meddling?"

"Yeah! Gordon is about to start working in Baltimore! He can't waste time with you here!"

The renewed argument made Ethan Jones feel annoyed.

"Stop it!!!"

Not wanting to get into an endless loop, he directly shouted—

"Let Steve and them fix it!"

"A machine worth over six hundred dollars, right?"

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

After a burst of roaring, the scene quieted down.

Looking at the silent few, Ethan spoke in a deep voice, "I've said what I needed to say. Who agrees? Who opposes?"

"Hmm?"

He stared with wide eyes, scanning the surroundings.