Steve watched the little girl leave in pain and sadness, couldn't help but frown, and muttered, "What kind of person is that? So rude."
"Probably someone who just moved to town," Richard smiled slightly, as the long-absent notification for plot points echoed in his ears.
[Established a relationship with core plot character Maxine Mayfield, plot points +10]
Hearing she was an outsider, Steve shook his head, then turned back to ask Richard, "Isn't it about time we hired some staff?"
"Even if we hire staff, they can't start immediately; training and such needs to be in place," Richard said with a faint smile. "The reputation we worked so hard to build can't be easily ruined. Besides, new employees should be found among acquaintances, people we can trust."
"That's true," Steve agreed. "How about we look among the people we know?"
"I already have two candidates in mind: one is Joyce, and the other is Robin," Richard said, holding up two fingers.
"Robin? Isn't she planning to apply for college?" Steve was a bit surprised to hear Robin's name because, in his impression, Robin was a top student and very close to Richard.
"Her situation is similar to Nancy's, but also a bit different. Robin wants to go to Stanford, and only Stanford. But it's not easy. You know how low the acceptance rate is for that university. So until she's successfully admitted, Robin will stay in town to work, and I think that will be at least a year or two." Richard explained Robin's situation to Steve.
Steve clicked his tongue. "This... the world of top students, I really don't understand it. Such grand pursuits and persistence."
Richard smiled. "Everyone has their own choices. As long as they don't regret it later, they're a mature adult."
Hearing this, Steve crossed his arms and asked with a smile, "What about your choice? If Robin successfully gets into Stanford, she'll leave town and might never come back. Would you let her go?"
Richard thought seriously for a moment and said, "Then I might tie her back one day."
Hearing Richard's serious reply, Steve's smile faded slightly, and he patted the other's shoulder. "I was just asking casually, don't take it to heart."
Richard smiled slightly. "You asked casually, so of course, I answered casually too."
"...The way you speak so seriously, I'll take it for real!"
Nearly a year had passed since the gate to The Upside Down was closed. The town was changing rapidly, becoming more urbanized. The town's municipal and police buildings had been renovated and upgraded, and many companies had opened branch offices in the office buildings in the town center. The town's standard of living was slowly improving.
Besides the changes in the town, everyone involved in the original Upside Down incident had their own developments.
Needless to say for the younger group, their changes were mainly academic years and the stirrings of youth; the major changes were in the young adult and adult groups.
Starting with the adult group, Joyce and the senior programmer Bob had started a sweet relationship, and recently they seemed to be considering engagement and marriage. Their relationship was stable and loving; they would surely be happy after tying the knot.
Chief Hopper felt both blessing and loss regarding this. Richard naturally knew Chief Hopper's feelings for Joyce, but unfortunately, Hopper always had various reservations. On one hand, it was because of his health, and on the other, it was because of Eleven. He was now slowly letting go, focusing wholeheartedly on taking care of Eleven and his career. Now he was both a father raising a child and, due to The Upside Down incident, had been promoted to Deputy Chief of the town, the second-in-command of the police station.
As for the young adult group, Robin, Nancy, and her best friend Barbara went without saying; the three girls were all academic and career-oriented leading ladies. Eddie, Jonathan, Steve, and Richard—all four men—had directly benefited from the movie "demon child creel" filmed a year ago.
It turned out that "demon child creel" had officially been released in theaters across America two months ago. Its unconventional filming techniques and solid, eerie, and mysterious script made the movie a breakout hit, with massive box office success. As the scriptwriters and investors, Steve and Richard naturally made a fortune.
Jonathan, as the director of the film, had caught the attention of many major movie studios. Richard suggested he try writing to a director he admired, and surprisingly, that director directly extended an olive branch, hoping Jonathan would become his "direct disciple." At the same time, Jonathan received an invitation from the photography department of a well-known university. Jonathan was overjoyed, weeping with joy that day as he told Joyce, "Mom, your son has made it."
Eddie, responsible for the soundtrack of "demon child creel," had gained some fans and caught the attention of a record company. The company hoped to sign Eddie and his Hellfire Club to become real stars.
Everyone seemed to have a bright future... After a busy day, Richard returned home. Before he could even take his keys out of his bag, the front door opened from the inside. As Richard entered the house, the lights throughout the home automatically turned on. When he reached out his hand, a glass filled halfway with water flew into his grasp.
This wasn't high-tech smart furniture, but the thoughtful service of high-quality ghostly talents.
After nearly a year of training, it couldn't be said that the vengeful spirits in the house were 100% free of malice, but at least they were finally under control. They wouldn't randomly attack anyone entering the house besides Richard—unless a guest broke the rules and offended the house, which might trigger the spirits' wrath and lead to a collective attack.
However, even when attacking, the spirits knew how to restrain themselves. They wouldn't randomly take lives; they'd just give a lesson and let the person leave.
For Richard, vengeful spirits that didn't harm people were already a huge step forward.
The year he spent carefully looking after the house inside and out had not been in vain.
It had to be said that the A-rank All-around Housework was indeed powerful. Even the vengeful spirits living in the house succumbed to Richard's cleaning skills. According to their individual accounts, every time Richard did a deep clean of the house, it was like giving them a high-end spa, ear cleaning, skincare, and other things that made the spirits feel comfortable and relaxed. With such superb craftsmanship, it was hard for the spirits not to indulge in the enjoyment.
In order to experience Richard's careful care again, the spirits were naturally willing to be obedient.
Sometimes, Richard felt that vengeful spirits were quite different from when they were human. At the very least, spirits had no integrity, nor did they care about it.
"Any unexpected visitors at home today?" Richard asked while drinking water, addressing the father doll sitting on the sofa.
The doll's eyeballs rolled to look at him, and it communicated with Richard through its will.
"Oh, everything's normal?" Richard nodded and muttered to himself, "Then it seems the people from The Lab and the military have really all left. That's good; at least I don't have to deal with that headache."
"What about the phone?" Richard asked. "Did anyone call?"
The doll shook its head.
The face of Number 8 came to Richard's mind. He wondered if this girl, who had fallen into obsession, had still not changed her mind.
Without more superpowered allies, when The Upside Down makes its comeback, it will be very difficult to defeat Henry and the Mind Flayer.