Simon and Janette said their goodbyes and left the Hearst mansion a little after nine o'clock.
Back at his own estate, the villa was brightly lit. The new housekeeper, Alice Ferguson, was still leading the maids in cleaning the villa, and bodyguards were scattered everywhere, reinstalling and upgrading the estate's security system.
Simon ignored these domestic matters. After traveling from San Francisco to Los Angeles and then to New York on the East Coast all in one day, he now only wanted a good hot bath and then sleep.
Janette called Neil Bennett to inquire about the security system, so Simon asked Alice Ferguson to take him to the master bedroom of the villa.
The new housekeeper led Simon to a room on the east side of the second floor of the villa and personally opened the door.
Simon glanced at the furnishings in the bedroom, nodded, and asked, "Where's the study?"
"Next door".
Alice Ferguson pointed to the door on the right, and just as she was about to go over, Simon stopped her, "Help me run a hot bath. Don't make it too hot. Call me when it's ready".
After giving the instruction, Simon walked towards the study next door.
Alice was still holding a black hardcover folder, looking very much like an office lady. She watched her employer leave, paused for a moment, and then personally went into the master bathroom to prepare Simon's bath water.
The villa, of course, already had internet installed.
Simon entered the study, turned on the computer, and while browsing the Ygritte portal, he logged into his email. From time to time, he would type a few sentences on an email draft page based on what he saw. This was something he had been doing frequently in recent months, providing several suggestion emails to the two people in charge of Ygritte every week, and also discussing other matters of the Ygritte company through email.
In just a few short months, email had become an important communication tool between Simon and many high-ranking officials in the Westeros system.
To ensure security, Simon had also specifically asked Ygritte's technical team to set up an independent server and formulate special content regulations, specifying what could be communicated via email and what could not, and regularly deleting and cleaning up emails.
It was somewhat frustrating to note that the main content of the current World Wide Web platform was still provided by the Ygritte portal.
Besides that, there were the various university campus networks in North America that were gradually connecting to the World Wide Web platform, which was an achievement that Simon was very satisfied with from the Ygritte team. By directly donating World Wide Web series software to North American universities, this highly practical technology quickly became popular in various universities, and more and more universities were using HTML web page technology to remake their own campus websites.
Not only that, Ygritte Company and the Simon & Janette Westeros Foundation had already donated professional World Wide Web technology-related courses to schools such as Stanford, Harvard, and MIT.
Outside of university campuses, Ygritte Company was also continuing to promote World Wide Web technology throughout society using physical books and online tutorials. Currently, Ygritte Company had published three books introducing World Wide Web technology and related applications, and the Ygritte portal had also set up a special sub-section for users to learn and discuss World Wide Web technology.
With this series of promotional measures, the popularization speed of World Wide Web technology was much faster than Simon had estimated.
Today is September 29th. Although this month has not yet fully passed, according to statistics from America Online, the number of America Online users in September 1990 increased by 27% compared to August.
From May, when Ygritte officially began to promote World Wide Web technology, to now, in five months, America Online's single-month user growth was 38,000, 46,000, 61,000, 73,000, and 97,000 respectively.
Including the initial batch of accumulated users, America Online's internet access user count has reached 386,000.
Beyond America Online, Ygritte Company had two other internet service providers licensed for World Wide Web technology in the Great Lakes metropolitan area and the southern states of the US, and their cumulative user count in recent months also exceeded 100,000.
Simon's initial goal was to reach 500,000 users accessing the internet through World Wide Web technology in the remaining months of 1990.
Now, this goal has been basically achieved three months ahead of schedule.
It is conceivable that as long as the telecommunications infrastructure and internet content resources keep pace, it will not be too difficult for Simon to achieve a scale of tens of millions of internet users in North America within three years.
He had just browsed a few web pages when a knock sounded, and Simon looked up to see Alice at the study door.
The housekeeper's black suit clearly had some water stains, but her expression remained composed: "Boss, the water is ready".
Simon responded, saved the half-written email, turned off the computer, and stood up to leave the study. As he walked, he took off his suit and handed it to the housekeeper standing by the door.
Alice Ferguson held Simon's jacket and, seeing her employer enter the adjacent bedroom, hesitated for a moment before following him. She slowly approached the master bedroom door, and seeing Simon had already entered the bathroom and closed the door, she finally let out a soft sigh of relief.
Then she didn't know how to deal with the clothes in her hand. Should she hang them on the bedroom hanger, or take them down to prepare for dry cleaning?
Born into a decent middle-class family, and being a favoured child from a young age, although she accepted this job, the housekeeper truly had no experience serving people.
Recalling that other girls had received training in housekeeping,
Alice Ferguson suddenly wondered why Janette Westeros would choose to hire her. After all, this job was not something she actively pursued.
However, when she received the invitation, she quickly decided to accept.
As for the reason, she was never a woman content with mediocrity at heart. She didn't want to be an appendage to her father and family her entire life, like her mother. She hoped to do things, to achieve something, to have the world remember her.
Currently, if she could gain Westeros's attention, it would definitely be the best shortcut to realizing her inner ambitions. To achieve this goal, even paying some price, including her own body, would be worth it. After all, Simon Westeros was definitely a man very difficult for women to refuse; many of her female and even male friends considered him a fantasy object.
Only…
She squeezed the suit in her hand again.
She certainly didn't have the 'ambition' to actually become a head maid who folds quilts and makes beds.
After standing at the bedroom door for a moment, the housekeeper finally remembered her identity, she had subordinates, so there was no need for her to handle everything directly.
Realizing this, Alice carried the clothes downstairs.
Downstairs, Janette happened to walk into the villa's main hall. Seeing the housekeeper's appearance, she asked, "What are you doing with Simon's clothes?"
Alice Ferguson stopped and replied, "The boss is taking a bath; these are what he just changed out of".
Janette looked at her again, nodded, and said, "I'm going to take a bath too. Please prepare a change of clothes for Simon and me".
With that, Janette walked towards the stairs.
Arriving at the master bedroom on the second floor, Janette quickly shed her clothes, pushed open the bathroom door, and plunged into the large bathtub, splashing water playfully. She was soon embraced by Simon.
Looking at Janette, who had quieted down in his arms, her eyes narrowed like a kitten as she nestled against his chest, Simon knew that if he let go, she would drown. He tightened his arm around her waist, enjoying the skin-to-skin contact, and said, "Why did you find a housekeeper like this?"
"You don't like vases, so I found a smarter one", Janette lifted her chin from Simon's chest, her beautiful eyes looking up at him, "Are you satisfied?"
Simon nodded and said, "She's too ambitious; she needs to be tempered a bit".
Janette rubbed her cheek against Simon's chest and said with a hint of playful ambiguity, "Mmm, 'temper' her however you like. If she doesn't work out, just send her away".
Simon smiled and didn't continue the conversation.
The two quietly embraced for a moment. Then, Janette suddenly said, "Did you hear about it a few days ago? Ronald Perelman wanted to join the River Club, the one founded by the Roosevelt family. Not only was he rejected, but he was also ridiculed, being called just a speculator".
Ronald Perelman is a Wall Street raider on par with Carl Icahn. In the 1980s, through a leveraged buyout, he used $100 million in capital to acquire Revlon, a cosmetics giant with a market value of over $1 billion. If Simon hadn't appeared, Perelman would have bought Marvel last year.
On this year's Forbes 400 Richest Americans list, Ronald Perelman ranked fourth with a net worth of $2.87 billion, trailing only Simon, Kluge, and Buffett.
Simon knew why Janette suddenly brought this up; it was still about what happened at the Hearst's house tonight.
Although America has no aristocracy, in many cases, these old federal families, accumulated over a century, are even more arrogant than European nobles. After all, most of these families still control immense wealth and vast networks of power.
"You know me", Simon said, stroking the smooth skin of the woman in his arms, "I don't need others' approval, nor do I pursue joining any particular circle. If they think putting on airs in front of me is a symbol of status, then let them be".
"Actually, I just felt a bit uncomfortable. Why should they look down on you?" Janette curled her arm to prop her chin and looked up, saying, "How about we snatch those shares?"
"And then wait for Daenerys Entertainment to be repeatedly harassed by dozens of mainstream federal newspapers and even more weekly magazines every time it releases a movie?"
"Hmm…"
Janette gnawed on her wrist in frustration. Not satisfied, she then leaned her head and started to nibble on Simon's shoulder.
Simon soothingly stroked the woman's waist and chuckled, "Since we can't be friends, it's fine for everyone to live in peace. Besides, the Hearst family probably thinks their print media empire can continue to flourish for another hundred years, thus allowing them to remain proud. But who can really say what the future holds?"
Traditional print media had controlled public opinion for over a century. Janette wasn't Simon, so she naturally couldn't imagine the scene of print media's decline. However, she didn't doubt her man's judgment at all, nodding in agreement. She didn't continue the topic and squinted her eyes against his chest.
Downstairs in the villa, Alice, holding Simon's coat, quickly found the four girls, A, B, C, and D, huddled together on a sofa watching TV in a small living room. Unlike the other new maids who were housed elsewhere in the city, A, B, C, and D all lived in the main villa.
Having also spent a day running around with their masters and a busy evening, the four girls, A, B, C, and D, had just settled down. Seeing Alice, none of them got up, nor did they even greet her.
The housekeeper frowned and held up the clothes in her hand, saying, "The boss is taking a bath. Which of you can help prepare some clean clothes for him?"
Hearing Alice say that, the four girls exchanged glances.
In the afternoon, they had heard that the four of them would be under the jurisdiction of this newcomer, and they were all somewhat displeased. Girl A, Allison, said, "Are you sure the boss isn't asking you to prepare them?"
Alice stared sharply at Allison and said without hesitation, "I am very sure".
After a few seconds of eye contact with the housekeeper, Allison eventually looked away, but she stubbornly remained seated.
As the standoff continued, Girl C, Claire Gay, voluntarily stood up from the sofa and said, "Leave it to me".
Claire said, walked over, took Simon's clothes, ignored Alice, and walked straight out.
The housekeeper paused, then turned and followed her.
The two women went upstairs together. Claire walked into the walk-in closet, ignoring the housekeeper who was still staring at her. She took out the wallet from the suit, hung the clothes on a hanger, and then skilfully found a few pieces of the master and mistress's underwear. She then gathered them up along with the wallet and went to the master bedroom.
Placing the wallet on the nightstand in the master bedroom, Claire held the few pieces of underwear and went to the bathroom door. Just as she was about to knock, she seemed to suddenly remember the housekeeper. She turned to look at Alice, who was standing at the door, and said, "Are you taking them in, or should I?"
The housekeeper saw no flaw on Claire's face. After a moment of hesitation, remembering Janette's recent instructions, she stepped forward and took the clothes.
Claire handed the clothes to the housekeeper, then turned and left the master bedroom without any change in her demeanour.
Watching Girl C's figure disappear, Alice took a soft, deep breath, then raised her hand and knocked on the door.
Receiving a response, she pushed the door open and entered.
The bathroom was filled with a faint mist, carrying the unique fragrance of shower gel.
However, noticing the confused looks from the man and woman embracing in the bathtub, the housekeeper knew she had been tricked. She stood there somewhat at a loss, holding the clothes blankly.
Janette blinked a few times. Seeing the housekeeper's flushed face, she quickly realized what had happened and giggled with delight, softening into Simon's embrace.
Simon also understood, a smile appearing on his face. Just as he was about to send the housekeeper out, Janette sat up and said, "Who tricked you into coming in? Call them over, I want to see".
The housekeeper, embarrassed, wanted to turn around, but then remembered something and slightly raised her hand.
Simon said, "You can just put them on the bed outside".
The housekeeper nodded, finally turned around, and walked out of the bathroom somewhat mechanically.
A moment later, Girl C, Claire, appeared at the bathroom door with a worried expression, accompanied by the ice-faced housekeeper.
Originally, she had only intended to play a trick on this newcomer, but when she heard Janette call her over, Girl C realized she might have made a big mistake.
None of the four girls, A, B, C, and D, were particularly afraid of Simon. Their boss always had a humble and calm demeanour; they had never even seen him lose his temper.
However, they all had some fear of the mistress.
A, B, C, and D were all Australians and knew the power of the Johnston family in Australia. Moreover, being chosen by Janette from hundreds of candidates and getting this job was not easy. Unlike Simon, Janette would truly scold and punish them without mercy, or even directly fire them.
Claire, who had been by Janette's side for some time, had personally witnessed the mistress fire six employees of Cersei Capital at once. A trading team composed of Wall Street elites was completely laid off in the blink of an eye, simply because they had made a relatively minor trading error twice in a row.
Seeing the two women reappear, Janette, still nestled against Simon, waved her hand and said, "Come here".
The housekeeper didn't move, but Claire instinctively walked over.
As she approached, seeing Janette press her hand down, Claire knelt down by the bathtub without the slightest hesitation.
Reaching out to lightly touch Girl C's delicate chin, Janette said, "You're very clever. Even the smart girl I just hired was tricked by you".
Claire's body stiffened when Janette's damp fingertips touched her chin. She didn't dare to retort and lowered her head, saying, "I'm, I'm sorry, madam".
"I'm complimenting you", Janette withdrew her hand and said with a smile, "But, don't trick her again in the future. If you turn her into a fool, you'll be responsible".
Having been with Simon and his wife for so long, Claire had somewhat figured out Janette's temperament. Knowing that the mistress wasn't being sarcastic, she relaxed a little and nodded slightly: "I understand, madam".
Janette casually stirred the bubbles in the bathtub and then said, "Since you've been complimented, you need a reward. What do you want?"
Claire hesitated for a moment and then said, "Alice said we would be under her command from now on. I don't think that's necessary".
Janette glanced at the housekeeper standing at the bathroom door and nodded in strong agreement: "Indeed, she's so clumsy. You don't need to listen to her anymore. Now, go out".