Driver's License and Tax Returns

After finishing his math exam, Link lay on his desk in a daze. There was still quite a while before the exam ended, and the proctor initially thought he had simply scribbled random answers, since his scratch paper was completely blank.

The proctor did not think Link had cheated, though. None of the other students had finished either, so naturally no one could have helped him cheat. As he escorted Link to the door, he quietly asked, "No calculations?"

Link paused slightly, then smiled and replied in a low voice, "They're all in my head. Have a nice day, sir!"

After walking out of the exam room with his backpack, Link spotted Lisa. She immediately asked, "How was it? No problems, Link?"

"Of course. I think I did well." Link did not bother being modest. In the United States, modesty was not particularly valued; in this situation, it was seen as a lack of confidence.

"Good. Once you pass, I'll give you a surprise!"

"Really? I'm looking forward to it..."

Early the next morning, the weekend sun slowly rose over the horizon. The light of dawn drove away the dark night sky, soft golden radiance scattered across the ground, and the edges of the distant sky were painted gold.

People who got up early to exercise gradually began jogging through parks and along paths, or taking leisurely walks. Link had risen early as well, and he had already finished his morning run and was heading home.

He had added a little weight training that morning, and the results were not bad. His stamina attribute had gained more experience than yesterday. That kind of visible daily progress gave Link tremendous motivation.

On his way home, he occasionally saw girls strutting down the street in tiny shorts and camisoles, their figures turning heads.

American girls often did not mind showing off their hot bodies, even if it drew plenty of lecherous stares. To them, that meant they were attractive.

Of course, that also meant it was not easy to judge a girl's personality from how she dressed. Sometimes, girls dressed provocatively were actually proper, honest, and well-behaved at heart.

Still, in the United States, where lust mattered more than love, such girls were extremely rare.

By the time Link got home, Lisa had just entered the kitchen to make breakfast. Link took a shower and tidied himself up before heading to the living room, where he turned on the TV with the remote and started watching the morning news.

The first report was about the police cracking down on gang crime. More than a dozen heavily armed, burly American police officers smashed open the door of a townhouse and rushed inside. Before long, two Black men were escorted out.

As the camera shifted, Link could see many local residents gathered around to watch. These people were mostly Black as well, and when the men saw the suspects appear, they immediately became agitated.

Some cursed, some kept throwing water bottles, and others shouted all kinds of abuse. The scene was incredibly lively.

Watching the report, Link felt like he was watching a movie. He found it quite interesting. In his previous life, he would never have seen something this explosive back home.

Although the local residents in the report made a huge fuss, it did not change anything. The suspects were ultimately shoved into police cars, and the officers paid the crowd no attention.

Fortunately, the locals did little more than throw water bottles, make insulting gestures, and yell curses. Nothing like the movies happened, where some powerful criminal turned all the police officers into bodies sprawled on the ground.

Soon, an on-site reporter appeared on the screen. She wore a professional women's suit and looked highly capable. According to her report, the two men were suspected of murder, organized drug trafficking, and other crimes.

Link switched through a few more channels, but they were mostly broadcasting news programs related to public safety and gang problems.

Naturally, most of the incidents took place in poor neighborhoods. Security remained fairly good in affluent areas and middle-class districts, where the police focused their surveillance and patrols.

Still, these reports gave Link a deeper understanding of the happy United States, where there was a shooting every day.

Breakfast was soon ready, and Lisa woke Robert. Robert was the town sheriff, not an ordinary patrol officer. Even on weekends, he was not guaranteed time off. Overtime was part of the routine, or rather, in the United States, if you wanted to become part of the elite, you could not refuse overtime.

In some movies and TV shows, upper and middle management at big companies went on vacations here and there every year or spent happy weekends having fun, but that did not mean they never worked overtime, as advertised.

Unless you wanted to drift through life as a poor member of the underclass, earning wages by the hour, you could not refuse overtime.

Besides Robert, Elizabeth, being the good girl she was, got up on time. Only Bianca, who seemed determined to become a happily mediocre elementary school student, was still snoring in bed.

During breakfast, Elizabeth said, "Dad, since it's summer vacation, I'm planning to get my driver's license."

Robert nodded. "Not bad. I know the director of the Department of Motor Vehicles well. I can contact him and arrange a time so you won't have to wait in line for the test. Once you get your license, I can go with you to pick out a car you like."

In the United States, even high school students who were only sixteen would get a car from their families for transportation once they were old enough and had obtained a driver's license.

It could be said that cars were an essential part of life for Americans, with no alternative.

Although there was no such thing as pulling strings in the United States, even in this parallel-world version of the country, having acquaintances and connections could still bring certain conveniences and advantages.

Of course, those conveniences were vastly different from the kind across the Pacific Ocean in this era. Having someone help did not mean you could skip the test and get a driver's license directly. That was simply impossible in the United States.

Even if you were the President of the United States, you had to pass the test to get a license. The favor Robert mentioned only meant Elizabeth would not need to wait in line. For example, if the test normally admitted thirty people at once, they would only let twenty-nine into the test room and save one spot for Elizabeth.

A driver's license was a very important form of identification in the United States, used extremely often. It was essentially equivalent to an ID card and social welfare documents, and showing a driver's license was very useful when handling affairs.

If he had not been a little too young, Link would have liked to get a driver's license himself.

Finishing the SSAT did not mean Link would be idle that summer. Besides steadily learning new material, he still had baseball training and games to attend.

In American schools, achievements like these were highly helpful for improving one's evaluation, getting into a prestigious university in the future, and obtaining scholarships.

Aside from that, Link occasionally attended parties hosted by high school students, chatting and flirting with a few pretty girls.

Compared with Lena, who was still flat-chested, these seventeen- and eighteen-year-old high school girls were far more in line with his tastes. Even though he was still a little too young to make it to third base, first and second base felt pretty good too.

He looked a little young, but as long as Link brought a few bottles of Robert's beer, he would be welcomed, and people would think he was cool.

American brats were fairly rebellious. Although people under twenty could not buy alcohol, plenty of underage troublemakers, especially high school students, still found all sorts of ways to get booze and throw wild parties with their bad friends.

Anyone who could get alcohol was definitely the star in everyone's eyes, and an indispensable figure at many high school parties.

As for whether anyone would notice some beer was missing, Link was not too concerned. Robert liked buying several cases of beer at a time, and since he was often busy working overtime, even he had no idea how much alcohol was in the house.

With Robert's personality, he would not care much if Link drank a little anyway. In his view, only someone who drank could be called a man.

Especially since Link had recently begun learning from Peggy and taken over the household's tax returns, he had gained a deeper understanding of the family's finances. Casually buying a couple more cases of beer was no challenge at all.