Watermere, Long Island, New York.

"The big ones here can fit the entire Hope Hill neighborhood in." Colin stood in front of his Ford pickup truck, his hands folded on his waist, looking at the open-door manor in front of him, and sighed in shock.

In the passenger seat, the Hawke family's fourteen-year-old daughter, Becia, jumped out of the car in a thick winter coat, raised the camera on her chest with both hands that looked more expensive than her father's car, and pointed the lens at Watermere's iconic building, the windmill built more than 100 years ago, adjusted the angle, and took a landscape photo.

"When I first arrived, I was also taken aback, about fifteen acres, and the sea you see now, and the windmill, strictly belong to this Mary's estate." Tommy wrapped himself in a cotton ball, walked over and stood beside his father, learned the movement of the other party's waist, and introduced.

Living in California for too long made him uncomfortable with the winter in New York.

Colin turned his face to look at Tommy and said incredulously, "Fifteen acres? ”

Then he looked around: "I said on the phone before, is it too hasty for me to pay the short-term rent this time?" You know, in winter, the business of the shipbreaking yard is generally not very good, and to make matters worse, the sperm donation company that I used to go to before in Warwick has closed down, and even if it doesn't go out of business, I don't think that the money I make from selling tadpoles can pay the rent here, how much does it cost to sleep in this place for a night? ”

"A dollar." Tommy finished in an affirmative tone, and then looked at his sister who was playing with the camera next to him and didn't come up to greet him for the first time: "Hey, are you still angry with me because I didn't come home for Christmas to reunite?" Honestly, I have a share of the money for the camera that Otilia gave you, and, do you see the big house? I think you should let Sophia accompany you in now, and I have prepared a gift that is hidden in one of the eleven bedrooms. ”

Bessia stood there as if she didn't hear it at all, Tommy sighed and obediently admitted her mistake: "Well, I'm sorry, my dear sister, it's my fault that I promised to come home for Christmas but didn't do it, I promise it won't happen again this year, I promise." ”

Hearing Tommy take the initiative to admit his mistake, a smile finally appeared on Becia's always cold face: "Last Christmas, although Otilia and Ashley came to accompany me and Dad, I still felt lonely, because you and Tony didn't come home, but it's okay, I forgive you." ”

"I'm you, so I'll go and see the gifts first." Tommy heard his sister forgive him, so he dared to reach out and gently pat the other party's head, and said with a smile.

Seeing Sophia standing at the gate of the main building of the manor in the distance waving to her, Bessia ran towards the manor, ran far away before turning her head and asking Tommy loudly, "I forgot to ask, what is the gift?" Tommy? ”

"You're going to be absolutely shocked, Bessia!" Tommy replied loudly at her, and only added in a whisper as Becia continued to run forward, "In case you slip through your studies because of the holidays, I have your governess in Rhode Island, Mrs. Morgan, come over, and I hope you enjoy the surprise." ”

After saying that, Tommy turned around and was about to walk towards the manor with his father, but he saw that his father was taking out his wallet and counting a stack of bills, Tommy asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?" The maids here don't need to tip, Daddy. ”

"It's about three hundred and twenty yuan here, and I'll pay you another fifty yuan when I go back, and you can renew the lease of this place for another year." Colin handed Tommy the bill, "Although this place looks like the countryside of Warwick, the rent for this big house is still very good. ”

Tommy didn't take the money from his father, he smiled and grabbed the other party's shoulder, and walked towards the manor with him: "I can't figure it out, this is the church asset of the Abbey of St. Dominic, and it can be borrowed for vacation thanks to Ortilia, she has done some charity activities for the abbey before, and in gratitude for her kindness, the monastery has rented this property that has always been vacant for her to use for one dollar." ”

"I also regularly attend church charity events, and I go to church every week...... Why didn't the church think about thanking me, the church in Warwick City is too stingy, and when I go back, I will call on the neighbors of Hope Hill to demonstrate, they are all God's people, and the church in New York can rent such a big house for believers for a dollar, and the church in Warwick will only say to us, believers, this church should be renovated again, we need to raise funds......" Colin heard Tommy say that Otilia rented such a big house for a dollar, and immediately began to criticize the church in Warwick.

Tommy didn't lie, this Mary's Manor, built in 1887 in the English Baroque style, is indeed a church asset, and it was indeed leased by the church to Ortilia for $1, and Otilia even has the right of first refusal, but what Tommy didn't tell Dad is how much Otilia paid for those charitable activities, and during the $1 lease period, the repair and maintenance of the manor was also borne by Ortilia.

When the two entered the main building of the manor, after Tommy introduced Paige, Martin, and Dorothy to Colin, Colin looked at Martin, who was helping Dorothy carry various things, and quietly asked Tommy, "Son, you take two women, an old white man and a black ...... Blacks, even diapers, were brought from Los Angeles to New York, but only not to bring back Otilia for our family gatherings. ”

"Ortilia, Ashley will be here tomorrow with their parents, and then we'll pick up Tony together, I promise, I don't deliberately leave her in Los Angeles, in fact, she's in New York right now, just don't have time to come over for a while." Tommy immediately explained to Colin that he had no intention of leaving Otilia in Los Angeles and bringing the other two women to New York to fool around.

After receiving assurances from Tommy's mouth that Ottilia would definitely appear, Colin walked towards Martin in the distance with a cigarette in his mouth.

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief, in the Hawke family, women have a higher status than men, if he dares to say to his father today that he does not respect Otilia, Tommy absolutely believes that his father can do something to teach him a hard lesson in public.

Last Christmas, Tommy couldn't come home because he had to stay in California to help Jason with some EFF work, and Tony was overseas, so the Hawke family's Christmas could only be spent by Daddy and Bessia, and the two of them spent it alone.

But Ashley and Otilia didn't let this happen, Ashley took her parents, and Otilia rushed to Hawke's house with her parents, and the three families spent Christmas 1988 happily.

This also made Colin recognize Otilia even more, and every time he talked on the phone, he had to persuade his son Tommy not to fool around and to be loyal to love.

Today, though, Daddy Colin didn't spend much time teaching Tommy, because a black man named Martin had caught his attention, and he now had more important things to do than tell Tommy.

……

In the afternoon, in the gym at Mary's Manor, Martin was playing with Mr. Page's electric stunner, pushing the switch from time to time to make the electric stunter crackle, and Mr. Page was leaning on the gym equipment, squatting with weights one by one.

"Mr. Page, do you think that the boss's dad is targeting me?" "I mean, he's like an overseer, always looking for something for me to do, lest I'm idle." ”

Martin felt that he was being targeted, there were more than a dozen subordinates in this manor, and even Tommy had brought his big butler Dorothy in Los Angeles, who didn't need a driver and bodyguard for anything, but this old guy named Colin would only stare at him and arrange all kinds of things for him to do.

For example, when Colin saw him chatting with Page, he walked over and asked him to help him wipe the tattered pickup, on the grounds that he was the driver of the Hawk family, and the driver should help wipe the car.

But as soon as he had finished wiping the car and was returning to Mr. Page to catch his breath, the damned old fellow immediately "Biu" appeared in front of him, and instead of calling himself Martin, he said with a straight face: "Mr. Hart, my son didn't pay you a salary to stand here and brag to the others." ”

Martin said he had just finished wiping the car, and then the guy tilted his head and let himself go with him to a place in the manor, and when he got there, Martin was dumbfounded, it was a carriage house in the corner of the manor.

Carriage houses, the kind of buildings that have largely disappeared from urban homes in the United States after World War I.

In the carriage house of this manor, two old and dilapidated wooden carriages with dust accumulated for at least a hundred years are parked.

"A carriage is a car, Mr. Driver." Martin frustratedly mimicked Colin's tone and complained to Paige, "Can you imagine? He actually moved a chaise longue and put it in front of the carriage room, and sat on it and watched me finish wiping the two carriages, which is something the can be done by humans? What were you doing when I wiped the carriage? Mr. Page? What are you doing~"

Page counted silently, and after squatting, he moved his limbs and said, "I moved another recliner to sit next to him, drank beer and chatted, and by the way, I accompanied him to supervise you to wipe the car." ”

"That's the problem, Mr. Page, he and you, are fucking racists!" Martin scolded hatefully.

Page wiped his sweat and corrected the error in Martin's words: "No, I must be, but Colin must not." ”

"Where did you get the answer that he wasn't? Because he wore a coat in a black color? Martin asked, rolling his eyes.

"No, actually, when I looked around the manor, I found that in addition to the carriage house, there was an old-fashioned mill, and I said to Colin that when you were done wiping the cart, you should be asked to push the mill and grind some flour, but Colin refused, and if he was a racist, he would definitely agree with my suggestion." Page said seriously:

"But Colin said that if he settles here one day, you can come and be a miller and hire other black men to work for you."

Martin clenched the electric shocker in his hand: "You know what, I'm going to electroblast your club now, then go to the boss's club, and then ......"

"Martin~" Sophia walked in from outside at this time, holding a credit card and a note full of more than a dozen phone numbers and handing it to Martin: "This is Tommy's credit card and the phone number of more than a dozen high-end clubs or nightclubs in New York, as well as the address of a car rental company on Long Island, you can go and rent a luxury car you like, or even the driver can ask them to provide it, and then drive to those clubs and nightclubs, and choose one of your favorites, Tonight, invite your friends in New York to go for a drink and pay for it all with this credit card. ”

Martin's unfinished words were suddenly stuck in his throat, he took the credit card and phone number handed by Sophia, looked down, and looked back at Sophia blankly.

Sophia asked Martin puzzled, "What's wrong?" Do you have other arrangements? ”

"He's going to blast Tommy's club." Paige walked over to the side, wiping his sweat.

"Really?" Sophia was immediately impressed by Martin: "Give me a few more power calls, warrior, you did what I always wanted to do." ”

"Crackle~" Martin put the electric shock device on himself for a moment, his body trembled twice unconsciously with the current, and then said: "I am ashamed of the idea that I was ready to hurt the boss and his father just now, and from now on, I am Martin, the faithful miller of the Hawke family." ”

(End of chapter)