The sudden call brought a spark to Ethan Jones, who was planning his own activities.
Decisively descending the stairs, he arrived in the living room just in time to see a girl entering the house, carrying a handbag.
This girl wore a bell-shaped hat, and her thick, orange-red hair flowed freely down her shoulders.
She was dressed in a white hoodie with "ERA" printed on the left sleeve and "PEACE" on the right. A pair of slim, deep blue jeans adorned her lower half, and she sported brown and white saddle shoes.
At first glance, she exuded a vibrant and energetic aura.
Seeing Thomas and Linda approaching, the girl opened her arms and gave them a warm hug.
"Dad! Linda! I've missed you so much!"
"We missed you too, Evelyn."
Thomas and Linda kissed the girl on the cheek, displaying their affection without reservation.
Linda added, "Oh, Evelyn, you came back just in time. I've already prepared dinner, featuring Alaskan king crab and clam soup. By the way, you mentioned that there's a sushi restaurant in San Francisco with a fantastic California roll. I specifically had someone inquire, and they use processed avocado instead of raw fish in their California roll, giving it a delightful crunch. I tried making some today; go wash up."
"Really?" The girl's eyes lit up. "I love you, Linda!"
"I love you too, sweetheart."
As the girl excitedly headed towards the dining room, Ethan, standing behind Thomas and Linda, entered her line of sight.
When she noticed Ethan, she greeted him with a bright smile. "Hi, Evelyn, good evening."
"I'm not okay, Ethan."
However, the girl immediately dropped her smile, wearing a stern expression. Her attitude seemed as if Ethan owed her millions.
"How can you talk to Ethan like that?" Thomas expressed his displeasure.
"He's your brother," she emphasized.
"Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!"
Thomas's words elevated Evelyn's tone, and she rolled her eyes, saying, "I know! Ethan is my brother! But I don't want to be the sister of such a fool! Okay?"
With that, she turned around and went upstairs.
Her sudden turn left Thomas with a frozen expression, and Linda tried to ease the tension, "Evelyn, it's time to eat."
"I'm not eating! Just seeing him makes me furious!" Evelyn exclaimed loudly.
Simultaneously, she stomped her feet forcefully.
"Bang, bang, bang." The sound echoed, the wooden staircase groaning under the weight.
This scene infuriated Thomas, and he shouted, "Fine, don't eat! One meal won't starve you!"
Then, he looked at Ethan and Linda, saying, "Let's go, we'll eat."
Ethan raised his head, glancing upstairs.
The disappearing figure, even for that moment, made him raise an eyebrow.
As Thomas had said, Evelyn was his, or rather, the original owner's sister, but their relationship...
Well, according to the original owner's memories, initially, their relationship wasn't this strained.
Evelyn Johnson, born in 1954, was the daughter of Thomas Johnson, Ethan Jones's uncle, and his late wife. In the year of Evelyn's birth, her mother succumbed to an infection of the mucinous shigella, leaving her an orphan.
The loss of his beloved wife devastated Thomas. With no experience in parenting and being a male in both physiology and self-awareness, he sought Linda's help, who was then working in their family orchard, to take care of the child. Over time, they developed feelings for each other, and Linda naturally became Evelyn's stepmother.
Because Linda had raised Evelyn since childhood, their bond was strong. Moreover, since Linda had fertility issues, and Thomas had no biological children of his own, they treated Evelyn as their own, eliminating any concerns about the family's future.
With this background, when Ethan Jones came into Linda's care after losing both his parents, Evelyn took good care of her little brother. They attended school together, did homework together, and even had Thomas enroll them in the same extracurricular activities. They learned martial arts and horseback riding together, and even attended SAT prep classes.
To Evelyn, it seemed likely that, with her help, Ethan Jones would secure a place in a decent university. She had applied and got into Stanford a year ahead.
However, to her dismay, Ethan abandoned his education after high school, embracing anti-intellectual ideologies and aiming to explore the societal realm blindly.
This choice infuriated Evelyn. For the next three years, she didn't show him a pleasant face.
Ethan, having come from another world, actually agreed with Evelyn's approach.
He knew well that Evelyn, his sister, and Linda, his aunt, were right.
While education might not be the sole opportunity to change one's fate, it was the simplest choice to alter one's life. Academic qualifications might not represent a person's abilities, but they made it clear to others that the person had passed the majority of screening assessments.
So, after crossing over, Ethan attempted to mend his relationship with this sister who had not been swayed by the concept of happiness education. Unfortunately, the process seemed unsatisfactory.
Sighing, he followed his uncle and aunt into the dining room.
Due to the anger, Thomas wore a long face during the meal, resembling a shoe horn.
As the head of the household, he remained silent, and neither Linda nor Ethan dared to speak. When the tense atmosphere became unbearable, Linda finally stood up.
She placed the still-warm, approximately two-pound Alaskan king crab onto a plate, scooped a bowl of clam soup, and grabbed a California roll, saying, "I'll take her some food."
"Let me do it," Ethan suggested.
"You?" Linda was surprised.
Even Thomas looked at him with a doubtful gaze.
"Yes, I'll go."
Ethan smiled and spoke candidly, "Actually, we all know why Evelyn has been angry with me all these years. She thought my decision to give up college was childish and immature. Although I still feel that studying may not be suitable for me, I also have to admit that I was a bit too stubborn back then. I owe her an apology, so here I am..."
"Oh, Ethan..."
Linda pursed her lips, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Hehe..."
Thomas chuckled and gave Ethan a gentle pat on the backside.
"Go on, young man. You're like a cowboy from Texas now! Even though I hate those fools!"
Encouraged by their support, Ethan carried the food and headed upstairs. As he faced the closed door, he raised one hand holding the tray and used the other to knock on the door.
After a few "thud, thud, thud" sounds, a brief inquiry came from inside.
"Who?"
"It's me."
"..."
Two seconds later, a voice emerged.
"Get lost, I don't want to see you."
Evelyn's calm tone and harsh words combined perfectly.
Upon hearing the phrase "get lost," Ethan just laughed and leaned against the door, saying, "Evelyn, I know you've been angry with me all these years, but I came today to celebrate with you."
"I'm free. Magnavox fired me."
"Because of Nolan Bushnell."
Ethan's words received no response.
Undeterred, he continued, "You know, initially, they didn't want to compensate me. They used the excuse that I caused significant losses to the company and tried to intimidate me into leaving voluntarily."
"But I held my ground and turned the tables on them, scaring them into giving me a compensation of 2N+1."
Pausing for a moment, Ethan continued, "Do you know what reason I used to scare them today? It was from the conversation you had with Thomas before. Remember a month ago when Thomas was complaining at the dinner table about Liben's trade union deliberately lowering the price of our naval oranges? You said it was Liben's attempt to test the waters, not content with the post-war status quo, wanting to gain freedom and sovereignty. I used your perspective to label them as foreign capital trying to erode our national industry, forcing them to compensate me willingly."
"To be honest, studying really broadens one's horizons and opens up new ways of thinking."
"Your viewpoint was correct."
With that, Ethan stopped talking.
After waiting for two or three seconds, a voice came from inside the room, "The door's not locked."
This fact made Ethan smirk.
As he pushed open the door, everything inside unfolded before him.
It was a nearly 200-square-foot square room with windows on the north and south sides.
Under the south window was a bed with a poster of Barbara Streisand on the headboard, adjacent to a wardrobe.
Correspondingly, under the north window, there was a desk and a bookshelf. The top of the bookshelf was filled with books, and there were quite a few cassette boxes on the top.
At this moment, Evelyn sat at the desk, bathed in the light of a table lamp, engrossed in reading.
Perhaps Evelyn didn't want Ethan to know what she was reading, or maybe she was just hungry.
When footsteps approached from behind, she closed the book and placed it on the corner of the desk.
This action allowed Ethan to see the cover of the book clearly.
It was a magazine with a yellow background and a blue label.
At the top of the cover was its name—
Popular Electronics.
TL Note:
Barbara Streisand: Legitimate Jewish actress, Tony, Oscar, Golden Globe, and Grammy Award winner.
Popular Electronics: A monthly magazine in the field of electronic engineering, published in the United States since the 1950s. A classic in the field.