Chapter 101: Brotherhood

……

As the vice president and head of research and development at LinkedIn, although the company is not yet listed, Matthew, who has a monthly salary of $20,000, also took out a loan to buy a two-story house covering an area of about 200 square meters near LinkedIn.

"It seems that there are quite a few people!"

After noticing the vehicles parked on the side of the road and the brightly lit residences not far away, Guo Shouyun said in his heart.

"Matthew, drop me down at the door, and then you find a place to park. ”

"Boss, won't I go in with you?"

"No, you just wait in the car. I will call you as soon as possible. ”

Considering that it was a class reunion, Guo Shouyun, who would not be in any danger, said.

Hearing him say this, Matthew Bloom didn't insist anymore.

After getting out of the car, after a brief look at the whole house, Guo Shouyun pushed open the waist-high courtyard door, and followed the garden road through the lawn to the door, just about to knock on the door, but he never thought that the thick wooden door was opened from the inside first. A guy in a white suit walked out with a tall blonde in his arms and a passionate kiss.

Fortunately, Guo Shouyun dodged quickly, otherwise he would have been bumped into by these two reckless guys.

"Bruce Guo?"

Guo Shouyun's movements successfully attracted the attention of the two, especially the young man in a white suit, about twenty-six or seventeen years old, quickly pushed away the female companion in his arms, and walked to Guo Shouyun's side with great interest and asked.

"Are you...?"

He frowned slightly and looked at the guy in front of him, he never remembered such a person among his classmates.

"Jason Wallais, Stanford Economics Class of '92!"

Looking at the other party's right hand that took the initiative to stretch out, after suppressing the doubts in his heart, Guo Shouyun said while stretching out his right hand: "Nice to meet you!"

"You're here for this party too?"

"party, isn't this a class reunion?" Guo Shouyun said in surprise.

"Of course it's a class reunion, tonight it's a class reunion at Stanford. Let's go, I'll take you inside. A lot of people in there want to know you!"

In the memories left by Bruce Guo, there are countless experiences of him participating in class reunions, and Guo Shouyun is certainly no stranger to this. However, compared to the class reunions he had attended before, the man at today's party did not say that all the women he saw were young and beautiful, dressed up in fashion, and had good looks and figures. Few of these apparently deliberately arranged women were his classmates.

"Everyone, the Bruce Guo we want to see the most is here!"

Jason Valles, who came in with Guo Shouyun, shouted, instantly attracting the attention of everyone in the room.

"Bruce...!"

Putting down the wine glass in his hand, Martin Alexander hurriedly greeted him.

When he approached, Guo Shouyun smiled and glanced at him with deep eyes, "Martin, you gave me a big surprise today!"

Martin Alexander had a hint of embarrassment on his face, of course he knew what Guo Shouyun was referring to.

"Su Li, I didn't expect us to meet again so soon!"

Without giving Martin a chance to explain, Guo Shouyun's eyes turned to the woman standing beside him at the moment, wearing a red evening dress, her hair was pulled high, and her slightly thin pretty face showed a hint of shrewdness.

Sully Wenderow smiled, "Bruce, for more than half a year, you have been a well-known entrepreneurial elite in Silicon Valley, and it is our honor for you to come today." ”

After quickly sweeping her left hand holding Martin, Guo Shouyun's eyes flashed with a fine light, and he smiled and nodded.

"Martin and I are best friends and co-entrepreneurs, so of course I can't miss his invitation!"

After a pause, his gaze turned to the crowd of people gathered behind him, "Won't you introduce me to me?"

Martin Alexander's expression moved, and he was about to speak, but Sully Wendrow, who was standing beside him, had already preemptively said: "Bruce, let me introduce you, this is Keith Braischroeder, who is now the head of the credit department of the San Francisco branch of Bank of America!"

After briefly looking at the young white man in front of him who was wearing a dark blue suit, about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, with gold-rimmed glasses on his face, and slightly narrow eyes giving people a sense of gloom, Guo Shouyun held the right hand that the other party took the initiative to stretch over.

"Mr. Guo, I've heard of the name for a long time!"

"You're welcome, it's a shame to be praised by the founder of the famous 'Kratos Brotherhood'!"

Keith Braischroeder's eyes flashed, "Mr. Guo also knows us?"

"Of course... Even though I only studied at Stanford University for two years, I still know the names of 'Archimedes', 'Kratos' and 'Joan of Arc'!" Guo Shouyun nodded and smiled.

Archimedes, Kratos, and Joan of Arc are Stanford's most famous fraternity and sorority societies, similar in nature to the famous Yale Skull and Bones Society.

Speaking of which, it is impossible to mention the fraternities and sororities that have a long history and tradition in the United States.

The Brotherhood began as a secret organization in an upper-class church school, and at that time the university was still a church system, with strict school rules, a monotonous social and extracurricular life, and a religious prison, such a life was a harsh life for college students in their early twenties.

So, a group of rebellious children's shoes got together and formed a secret group similar to the ~ lower party. At the beginning, everyone got together to discuss life and current affairs. Democracy and freedom were widely worshipped at that time, so the vast majority of brotherhoods named their groups after the letters and names of Greece, the source of European democracy, and the addresses of their rallies were very secretive.

In the beginning, such groups continued the spirit of speculation and discussion in Greek philosophy, and the operation of the entire organization and group also inherited the methods of the Greek city-states, such as democratic voting on bills, and the methods of handling affairs and adjudication were also inherited from the Greek social and philosophical system, which were completely different from the mainstream religious centralization of the society at that time.

However, because such discussions are not in accordance with the school rules, all activities must be carried out in secret, and the participating members form brotherly revolutionary feelings with different surnames among themselves, and the participating members will have unique mutual recognition signs such as member badges in order to identify each other, and later establish a more obscure set of "passwords", colors, flags, badges, representative symbols, and so on.

And in order to resist the "secret agent", there will be a series of membership review methods, during this time the person who applies for membership is called a 'brother', which requires a complete series of requirements, and there will be members who are responsible for all the review and admission process. This kind of obscure, xenophobic, private, and "elite" small group status will give participants a series of "identity" and "honor". Later, many misunderstandings about such groups were derived, and in the development of the following 100 years, they were gradually closely related to a series of complex "unspoken rules" behind American society and American universities.

The Sisterhood is a derivative of the Brotherhood, because in the beginning the Catholic schools were only boys, so the secret societies that started out were also only boys. Later, similar groups in girls' schools became known as 'sororities'. Later, with the emancipation of women's rights, many schools were both male and female, and many clubs began to relax the criteria for recruiting people, and gradually became a mixed organization for male and female students.

Also, to be clear, fraternities and sororities in the United States are not exactly the kind of madness that was shown in the later films of the Hollywood movie "American Pie". In fact, fraternities and sororities in the United States also have social and professional distinctions. Needless to say, there are social natures, naked ~ running, alcoholism, including corporal punishment initiation ceremonies. But the professional nature is different.

For example, the 'Brotherhood of Business', the 'Brotherhood of Law', the 'Brotherhood of Medicine', etc., are generally composed of students of the same major, and these professional societies are generally mixed with men and women, and the activities organized have a strong professional color, and generally do not have their own houses. Recruiting members is generally based on professional orientation and merit, and members are allowed to join other fraternities at the same time.

'Archimedes' and 'Kratos' are two of the most famous of Stanford's many social fraternities. However, there are also differences in the criteria for recruiting members between the two. The Archimedes Brotherhood, as its name suggests, values wisdom, knowledge, and creativity. It does not pay attention to the race and background of the members, but the academic performance and achievements of the members during the university as the evaluation standard, and the members are basically the top few people in each college and major.

To be able to become the top of the industry at Stanford University, which gathers global elite talents, is undoubtedly a genius among geniuses, and will become almost 100% of the top social elites in the future. Therefore, the 'Archimedes' brotherhood, which has existed since the establishment of Stanford University, although there are not many members in each session, has outstanding social resources and influence, and it is also the strongest club that every Stanford student is eager to join.

But it's a pity that Guo Shouyun is not one of them. It's not that he's not qualified, it's that 'Archimedes' has a three-year evaluation period for each new member. In each of the three years, only those who are good enough in their studies will get an invitation to it. And Guo Shouyun chose to graduate just after finishing his sophomore year, so he naturally passed by the 'Archimedes' brotherhood.

As for the 'Kratos Brotherhood' named after the ancient Greek warrior Kratos, Guo Shouyun is no stranger. Compared to Archimedes, which values knowledge and ability, the Kratos Brotherhood was founded very late, only ten years now, but it has developed very quickly. Because, although the Kratos Brotherhood does not value race and origin, it is extremely utilitarian. The members are either the rich second generation, or the descendants of political families with extraordinary family backgrounds, or entrepreneurial elites during their studies.

Although its history and influence are not as good as those of the Archimedes Brotherhood, it has developed quite rapidly because it can provide many excellent social resources for graduates who have just entered the society.