014 Crisis Beneath the Calm
Steve hung up the phone from home, his expression a mix of conflicting emotions.
After returning home, with an uneasy heart, he called his parents who were away on business and relayed Richard's plans and ideas to his father almost exactly as they had been told to him.
After hearing Steve's thoughts, Mr. Harrington on the other end of the line was silent for a long time; that wait for his father's response made Steve feel like he was waiting for a verdict, enduring an agonizing ordeal.
Finally, Mr. Harrington simply asked him, "This wasn't your idea, was it?"
Exposed in a second, Steve's heart skipped a beat, but he still honestly answered, "Yes."
A soft "Heh" came from the other end. Steve felt it was incredibly ironic and soul-crushing; he felt his dad was mocking him, as if saying, "Haha, I knew my son couldn't come up with such a great idea." Though there were no more words, that simple "Heh" was rich with meaning.
Just when Steve thought Richard's proposal might fall through, to his surprise, his father, Mr. Harrington, said, "I agree. I'll transfer money to your account. Work hard with that friend of yours and learn from him. Oh, and report your daily progress and various matters to me from now on."
After Steve said, "I understand," his big-shot businessman father hurriedly hung up the phone.
Listening to the dial tone, with his father's words still echoing in his ears, Steve's current mood could hardly be described with a simple word like "complicated."
However, Steve had always been a guy with strong psychological resilience, able to bounce back quickly; he quickly gathered his emotions and called Richard's house to share the good news.
Richard was also quite pleased. Over the phone, he mentioned that they would discuss the detailed plan further once they met at school tomorrow. He told Steve to get ready, as the days of partnering in business would require him to grow as well; Richard had no intention of letting Steve be a hands-off investor.
Steve was such a useful partner; how could Richard possibly let him coast?
He himself would work hard in the early stages, but by the middle and late stages... no, as soon as Steve became proficient in the business, it would be his turn to step back. Steve would have to handle more of the operations, and he would be the one focusing on strategy and expansion!
With a cheerful mood, Richard was all smiles when he went to work at Benny's Burgers.
"So happy, looks like you had a great Halloween." Benny glanced at Richard's bright smile with a teasing look and an knowing grin. As Richard's neighbor, he knew very well that a female friend, who usually wore casual clothes but happened to wear a dress yesterday, frequently visited Richard's house, sometimes even staying overnight and riding the same bike to school in the morning.
Richard thought for a moment and gave a serious evaluation: "It was so-so. The VCR had some issues, the tape jammed a few times, and near the end of the movie, the power in the whole house became unstable, so we had to pause for quite a while."
"Oh, unstable voltage. Speaking of which, the same thing happened to me yesterday." Benny recalled what happened last night after hearing Richard say that, and he felt it was a bit strange.
"Don't even think twice about it; it must be The Lab's doing." A local farmer nearby, a Black man named Gilbert, shook his head and complained while eating a burger. "That lab was built right next to my farm. It makes me nervous every day. I don't know if they're doing some research that pollutes the environment. I just hope they don't ruin my farm and my crops."
"How can you be so sure it's them?" a diner near him asked curiously.
Gilbert said firmly, "How can I be sure? Chief Hopper has been driving to The Lab quite often this past month. I'd say the Chief probably found something. If The Lab really wasn't up to no good, why would the police keep going over there to investigate?"
Once he said this, everyone felt it made sense, but they all tacitly stopped discussing the matter, including Gilbert himself who had started the topic.
After all, that Hawkins National Laboratory was backed by the federal government; its influence was too immense. Ordinary people like them couldn't compete with them. If bad words about them got out and were overheard, no one knew what the consequences of crossing them would be.
Complaining was fine, but they shouldn't discuss too much.
Benny also grunted and dropped the subject. After hearing Gilbert's words, his impression of the Hawkins Lab went straight from neutral to negative.
It had to be said that the people from The Lab were indeed mysterious, and they seemed suspicious to the town's residents.
In a way, the townspeople were very united; their emotions were easily influenced by individuals. Generally, they were quite warm and friendly, but once someone targeted a certain person or thing, it could easily escalate to a level of shared hostility.
Richard worked silently with his head down, but he was pleased inwardly. He was glad to see the townspeople beginning to consciously distrust The Lab.
Over the next few days, Richard and Steve discussed the business opening during their free time. The plan, simply put, was to start a shop in the town and then expand to the surrounding towns. After accumulating some wealth, they would form a company and franchise, creating a training system. They would collect franchise fees while making money from them, then attract venture capital to transfer risk and expand the number of stores across the US. Ideally, they would even get popular celebrities of the time to franchise and do endorsements... finally, with capital rolling in, they would grow bigger and stronger.
Although Steve didn't quite understand all the concepts Richard mentioned, based on his parents' business experience, he could tell that the system Richard devised was very innovative for the current time and had a very promising future.
Except for the early stage of development which focused on operations—where the money earned would be harder to get and less—the subsequent stages would basically focus entirely on franchising and expansion. The money would come in fast and in large amounts, and it would all be big money, without him having to work at the ground level.
At this moment, the two of them, wearing sunglasses, stood in front of a shop for rent in a commercial building in the town center. This would be the first shop they opened.
"This is the one," Steve said excitedly to Richard, and the two fist-bumped.
After Steve notified people to start designing and renovating according to Richard's ideas, most of the preparations for the opening were temporarily concluded. Steve was now quite curious about the excellence of the "Bubble Tea and Smoothies" products Richard had mentioned.
"Your parents are away from home for long periods now, right?" Richard asked, thinking for a moment after learning Steve was curious about the taste of the shop's products.
Steve: "Yeah, they probably won't be back until the end of the month this time."
Richard smiled: "In that case, let's have a taste testing session at your house tonight. We'll invite more people and have everyone do an evaluation."
"Uh... that's fine, but who should we invite?" Steve agreed readily; he just happened to be looking for a chance to spend more time with Nancy.
A couple in the honeymoon phase always finds ways to be together.
"I've already thought it through." Richard folded his arms. "I'll be responsible for notifying people. Then, I'll write a list of ingredients for you. Buy as many as you can; if you can't find some, then forget it."
Hearing this, Steve quickly raised his hand and said, "Then don't forget to help me invite Nancy!"
...That evening, guests arrived at Steve's house one after another, and soon the house was filled with people.
The evaluators were mainly divided into two groups: the high school group and the middle school group. The high school group consisted mainly of Richard's friends: Robin, Jonathan, Steve, Eddie, Nancy, and Nancy's best friend Barbara. The middle school group was the four kids he met on Halloween: Mike and the others. Oh, and Lucas's elementary school-aged sister, Erica, also followed along because she sensed an opportunity to get free stuff.
Steve looked at the crowd in his house, especially the group of kids running around restlessly, and his smile became a bit forced.
"Ahem, I won't waste words. I've invited everyone here today to give Steve and me some feedback on the products for our future drink shop." Richard coughed lightly and gestured for everyone to gather around the kitchen island, where the equipment and prepared ingredients for making the drinks were already set out.
"Leave it to me, handsome. I'll use my expert palate to give you the best suggestions." Erica, acting like a little adult, crossed her arms with a look of full confidence.
Lucas felt his ears burning with embarrassment when he heard his sister's arrogant speech, but he couldn't stop her.
Although Lucas was very reluctant to admit it, he had never been able to control his sister since they were young, because she truly was the smartest one in the family.
Richard smiled, "Then let's get started quickly and not waste everyone's time."
Next, Richard demonstrated his impressive techniques in front of everyone. The various mixing methods left them dazzled; even the confident and composed Erica was stunned, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
Compared to the others, Robin was much calmer. After all, she often came to Richard's house to mooch food and drinks; having seen it so much, she naturally took it in stride.
Richard's Culinary Arts had long since conquered her stomach. In her eyes, there seemed to be no dish Richard couldn't make. Now he was just mixing drinks, which was easy for him. Of course, in his preparation techniques, Richard seemed to be showing off a little on purpose.
This guy, who usually liked to act low-key but inevitably went all out when he did something, was just that type.
Richard made three cups of each drink, letting the boys from the high school group, all the girls, and the boys from the middle school group share them. He made six types of drinks tonight, and the portions weren't large, just right. However, Erica, this little girl with a small body but a big appetite, actually claimed the tasting portion wasn't enough and asked for a separate large portion of one of the drinks to be remade for her to take home.
If Lucas hadn't stopped her, Erica might have been even greedier.
[Established a relationship with the core plot character (Erica Sinclair), Plot Points +10]
"This is absolutely fantastic. I'm sure your bubble tea and smoothies will be a huge hit." The boys in the high school group were generally full of praise after tasting them.
Steve and Richard high-fived; this was exactly the feedback they wanted.
"I feel like my whole family will get addicted to this." Nancy's best friend Barbara gave an evaluation that sounded both happy and concerned. Her whole family loved fried, high-sugar foods; they ate whatever tasted good without any restraint on calorie intake.
"Haha, don't worry. In the future, we'll launch low-sugar and sugar-free options, which can reduce calories while being just as delicious." Richard said with a smile after hearing Barbara's concern.
Hearing Richard's words, a pleased flush appeared on Barbara's face, and she nodded somewhat shyly.
Barbara represented the evaluation of most of the girls. Now that they heard there would be low-calorie drinks, everyone's worries were gone, and they were very satisfied.
The middle school group, on the other hand, gave slightly different feedback.
"We think they're definitely delicious, but they feel a bit too refined, like they're for girls. We want something stronger, a cooler taste," the boys commented. Eddie also stepped forward, nodding and saying with slightly exaggerated gestures, "Is there anything with a kick or carbonation?"
"Those exist too." Richard nodded and then raised an eyebrow at them. "If the timing is right, maybe I'll even do a collaboration with D&D."
"Whoa, that would be so cool!" The boys' eyes lit up, and they couldn't help but shout in excitement, hugging their new friend Eddie.
The other non-D&D enthusiasts, especially the girls, shook their heads at the sight.
Erica stood with her hands on her hips like a disapproving mom and bluntly complained, "Capitalists are just harvesting you boys."
"Erica, you don't understand anything! This is awesome!" Lucas yelled at his sister, then looked at Richard with an eager and admiring expression. "Listen, Lee, if you really succeed, then from now on, you will definitely be my, Lucas's, only idol."
"Idol!" Eddie embraced the four kids, his eyes shining with pure enthusiasm.
Bzzzt— Bzzzt—
Just as everyone was happy, the lights in Steve's mansion suddenly began to flicker eerily.
Gurgle gurgle, rumble rumble... Richard's ears twitched slightly. He vaguely heard the familiar roar of a monster in the distance. He couldn't help but look at the calendar, his expression changing slightly.
These past few days had been so peaceful that he had unknowingly forgotten that today was an extremely important day.
November 6, 1983. The monster was unleashed, the young boy Will from the middle school group went missing, it was the day the superpowered girl Eleven escaped from The Lab, and it was the day the story of the series officially began.
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