6 Failed Again

MAY 1997 MIDLE SCHOOL DAYS

"Okay, what is this?" Michael took a sip of his coffee as he looked at the white folder that his son gave him.

"Look at it yourself," Ben said with a smug smile to his father.

"... Okay, whatever," Michael shrugged. Turning to open the folder, he was greeted by 'Financial Analysis of the IT Industry' written in a beautiful cursive format.

Intrigued, he flipped to the next page, and there, a complex graph with lines, numbers, and percentages—blah blah—greeted him, causing his mind to feel dizzy for a moment.

"This... you know what? Just tell me what's in it. I'm leaving for work in 10 minutes, and I don't have time to read something so complicated," Michael said in annoyance as he massaged his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

"... Dad, it's a market analysis I made about the increase in stocks of various internet companies in the last decade-"

"Uh-uh, stop right there."Michael's face twisted with a strange expression as he interrupted his son, asking, "Did you just said market analysis?"

As a lawyer, his expertise lies in workplace-related legal issues, including employment contracts and discrimination cases. However, he is not entirely ignorant when it comes to laws in other fields.

[P.S. Ben's parents' occupations weren't mentioned in the original (or maybe they were; I'm just not aware?). In this fanfiction, his dad will be a lawyer, and his mom will be a real estate agent.

P.P.S. There are many types of lawyers: criminal lawyers, civil lawyers, corporate lawyers, and more.]

He also had corporate lawyer colleagues in the firm where he worked, who often talked about their cases (not confidential, of course). So, he knew a thing or two about how business works.

"Yes, I spent three weeks compiling everything," Ben said. He looked at his father strangely, but seeing that he had piqued his father's interest, he enthusiastically explained to impress him. "As I said before, there are a dozen companies in the folder—"

"Stop!" Michael once again interjected and asked in a serious tone, "How did you even manage to get such data? Is it even legal?"

"Of course, it's legal; it's something that companies show to the public to make people buy their stocks!" Ben let out a smug smile as he continued, "Also, I found it on the internet, hehe, you'll be surprised at what you can find there, Dad."

"..." Michael found himself at a loss after hearing his son's introductions. Was the internet truly that remarkable? In his perception, it was merely a collection of words accessible through a computer; a digital entity, not a physical one: 'Is it even profitable?' And if so, 'How does it generate income?'

"Anyway, may I continue?" Ben asked, snapping his father back to the conversation.

"Sure, go on." Michael nodded and motioned with his hand for his son to continue.

"Okay, I know you're short on time, but hear me out. In the summary, the portfolio listed the company's total assets and stock price data from 1994 to 1997." Ben flipped the folder to the seventh page. "For example, 'Yahoo,' founded in 1994, went public in 1996, with an initial public offering of $13.00 per share, closing at a whopping $33.00. A crazy increase of 270%, and that's just for a day! Four months later? Boom, its market cap is around $350 million! And Dad, do you know how much it's worth now? $680 million, and according to many financial institutions, this trend will continue for the next decade!"

"... That..." Michael began to say something, only to close his mouth again, lost in thought.

"Still not convinced, Dad? Here's another one: 'Netscape,' founded in April 1994; 16 months later, it went public. The initial offer was set at $28 and closed at $52 on its first day, making its market value rise to $2.9 billion!"

"..."

"There's also eBay, Cisco, DoubleClick—."

"Okay, Times-up, I still have to attend my work..." Michael interrupted him once more as he stared at his wrist watch before saying, "Look, I know you've worked hard in you're presentation, and I'm really impressed. However, I still have work to attend to so how about we talked about it later?"

Looking at his father's expression how can he not understand what he mean? However he still nodded, feeling at lost for words; "Okay"

"Anyway, I'm out, I'll review it later." Michael explained briefly, then hurriedly went to the living room to say his goodbyes to his sisters.

"... Narrow-minded." He mumbles as he stared at Michael departing car.

It would be a lie if said he was fine.

After all, he spending a lot of time and effort in order to create his presentation, he even reherse it for hours, but in the end it still didnt work.

But then again, It's not Michael fault. He was just being cautious.

After all their family was doing great already, with a house, lot, cars, and earning more than enough to enjoy outings every summer and do more... They might not rich in general, but at least they don't lack anything.

It's not that Michael is ignorant; the years of a stable life just made him content. After all, investment is a serious matter, much like gambling. It is very risky, and the last thing he wants is to bet only to lose, potentially destroying the stability he has worked hard to build.

***

SCHOOL CAFERTERIA

"And then, guess what I did?" Keny had a bright smile as he recounted his date. "I told her a joke! I said, 'Why did the math book look sad?' and she was like, 'why?,' then I was like, 'Because it had too many problems!' pfft! I can't... bro~, It's so funny!"

That's right, Keny went on a date with a girl in their class—Isabel, a real-life loli with a height of 4'9, a cute A-cup-sized breast, black hair, and blue eyes. She had a cute voice, like those V-tubers in the future.

Frankly, Ben was taken aback that his friend managed to date such a girl. Not that he was saying that he was bad, but the girl was just way out of his league... Tsk, lucky bastard.

"..." Looking at him, who was bragging about how it went. Talking about how he managed to hold her hands and, according to him, made her laugh with his jokes, he felt cringe.

Ben swears, those jokes were painfully lame. Yet, judging by Keny's genuine laughter, it's clear he was dead serious about those jokes.

'Oh well~ it's 1997. People at this time had different humors from those from future.' Ben sighed.

...

AN: The characters are not without flaws.