America 1982-Chapter 631 - 144: The Reason Kane Fan Converted to Buddhism

Jason, having received a call from Tommy informing him that Charles was on his way, hurried to the conference room and pushed open the door, only to be tightly embraced by Ted and Tommy who were hiding behind it. Afterwards, Charles, who had just been sitting elegantly at the conference table, straightened his suit, stood up, flexed his palms, and finally brought his middle and index fingers together in a stabbing motion towards Jason’s buttocks, pinned against the table:

"Long live Sparta!"

It was said that the entire WinStar Corporation heard a wail that day, akin to that of a wild beast.

After catching up with Ted, who he hadn’t seen in a while, Jason, dragging his now numb buttock, sat down next to Tommy. He looked at Tommy, who gave a slight nod. Taking this as a cue, Jason finally turned towards Charles across from him and said with a stern face, "Whatever you want to talk about, Tommy here doesn’t know anything, be it AmigaOS or the recent public relations activities about Stanford. If you want to know, ask me; I’m the Boss."

"Are you certain?" Charles, raising his left hand’s index and middle fingers, waggled them at Jason and asked with a smile.

Jason shrugged and leaned back in his chair, replying, "As certain as you are about knowing the temperature of my butt with those four fingers of yours, Charles."

"OK, so essentially, in May, when Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa Gorbachyova, are visiting the United States, we have a special itinerary arranged just for her. During one of those events, you’re supposed to have a chat with her, right?" Charles said, looking at Jason.

Jason froze for a moment, turned to Tommy, and said in an uncertain, lowered voice, "Didn’t you damn say we had covered some Soviet at Stanford University for the AmigaOS PR?"

"Indeed we did, Professor Condoleezza took care of it, and Dennis gave us a big hand, too," Tommy told Jason.

Jason frowned, "Then why the hell is Charles saying I need to go keep Gorbachev’s wife company? Haven’t you seen those Hollywood movies about the Soviets? The KGB can do anything. I don’t want to get involved in some damn bizarre espionage affair, nor do I want to have an affair with the wife of the Soviet President, only to be silenced by a KGB agent who could crawl out of a sewer, vent, or even from damn inside a shoe."

"Jason, you’re flying off the handle in the wrong direction," Tommy said helplessly.

Jason picked up a cigarette, lit it with his head down, then raised his head to look at Charles and switched his tone, "You’re here for a benefit, right? I don’t understand, do your father-in-law and the President not get paid? They’re always looking to take advantage of us small business people! We’ve already paid a hefty sum to Dennis, and it seems he also did a small favor for the President. I thought you were here to show the President’s appreciation in return."

"That’s right," Tommy nodded in relief.

Charles spread his hands, offering Jason an innocent look in response, "That was just the entry fee; now we’re talking business. Gorbachev’s main focus at Stanford will be a quick tour of Stanford University’s infrastructure, to give a speech at a dinner about the politics and cooperation between the two countries to the West Coast politicians of America, and then move on to the next place. From late May to the first week of June, his schedule in the United States is jam-packed, and salespeople won’t likely find much time to pitch products to him."

The purpose of Gorbachev’s visit was for the United States to show goodwill and values to Gorbachev, and to convey the idea that even though some troubles seemed to arise in some Soviet member states, America absolutely did not want to see the Soviet Union disintegrate.

Of course, that was also true. The disintegration America wanted to see was the complete shutdown of a huge country, the stirring up of ethnic hatred, and the wars between those Soviet member states. Because that kind of disintegration would make America the real power broker, no matter what reasons it chose for intervention. But now, even though the Soviet member states seemed noisy and clamoring for independence, their armies, factories, and intelligence agencies were still operating normally. If the Soviet Union disintegrated peacefully while maintaining order, that was definitely not the outcome America wanted to see. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

This was why America invited Gorbachev to visit, supporting him against the pressure and encouraging him to expand freedoms a bit more. If he needed it, Mr. President wouldn’t mind visiting those member states to support Gorbachev.

America would wait until it was fully prepared to intervene, capable of stirring up a strong enough wave of anti-Soviet democracy among the major member states of the Soviet Union, before pushing for a freer disintegration.

Thus, America took this invitation to visit very seriously. At this point, the Secretary of State had already personally flown to Moscow to discuss and finalize the details of the visit with the other side. Once they arrived, America planned to showcase all the great things born out of their free system. Making sure Gorbachev would see smiling Americans at every stop, letting him feel that the free world was ready to welcome the Soviet Union.

"So we’re supposed to do business with his wife?" Jason exhaled a puff of smoke, "How? How about I offer her the position of Vice Chairman?"

Charles smiled and said, "Compared to Gorbachev, his wife, Raisa, is clearly the better business partner—born in the Soviet Union, the first lady of the Soviets, yet yearning for the high-profile freedom of an American first lady, and she lives it. Extravagant and ostentatious, on her visit to London, the Soviet first lady spent tens of thousands of British Pounds at Harrods on luxury goods, which she wore the very next day, not caring about being captured on camera. The first ladies of the Soviet member states are like her handmaidens; if she so desires, she could call the first lady of Ukraine or Romania at three in the morning and chat over a high-level encrypted direct line, just to have them analyze which dress looks prettier for her."