America 1982

Fiori Italian Restaurant, Fifth Avenue, New York.

Several women in chic evening gowns, who looked like ladies dressed for a banquet, were taking photos on the iconic staircase of this restaurant. There was even a lighting engineer specially equipped to create a scene on the silk-like staircase that looked like it was flowing. come up with various shapes.

"If I were the chef of a restaurant, I would be very happy to know that someone called a week in advance to reserve a table, but when I found out that when they arrived, they didn't care whether the food was delicious, but crowded on the stairs to take pictures. I You must use a kitchen knife to drive them out." Tommy looked at the women, and while complaining, he took out his wallet and motioned to the waiter:

"My girlfriend and I are sitting here, hoping to better appreciate this satin staircase that looks like a work of art while tasting the food, instead of being interrupted by flashes or other lights every ten seconds. Mood, can't you introduce a service that provides photography only during non-meal time next time? I'll give you some tips, and you can pour blueberry jam or other colored things on those women for me..."

"Be tolerant, Tommy." Otilia did not sit across from Tommy, but sat side by side with him. At this time, she gently held Tommy's palm with her hand, smiled at the waiter and said: "Take it. Tip, by the way, I really like the Italian coffee ice cream in the restaurant, can you bring me another one at the end of our meal?”

"Of course, ma'am." The waiter was relieved, took the tip from Tommy's hand, bowed slightly and left quickly.

Otilia held Tommy's hand and said, "Every time you eat with me in New York, you don't look happy."

Tommy squeezed back slightly, then let go, lowering his head and continuing to eat: "Because no one in California will bring a photographer and lights in to take pictures while the restaurant guests are eating."

"This is New York. Those ladies may just be from other states and want to leave some good memories while traveling in New York." Otilia said to Tommy in a gentle voice:

"Just like when we travel, we take photos as souvenirs, and then put the photos into the album. When we grow old, we open them and slowly look through each memory."

Tommy nodded and gave Otilia a relieved smile in response: "Of course, you make my unhappiness disappear quickly every time. Speaking of which, you seem to be in a good mood today."

"My administrative assistant Judy quietly told me something today." Otilia showed a small expression of pride on her face and looked at Tommy proudly.

Tommy put down the tableware in his hand and looked at Otilia cooperatively: "What happened?"

Otilia looked at Tommy happily and said, "Because of my work in Gabon, I was nominated for the Albert Topfer International Humanitarian Award."

"I'm so proud of you, Otilia." After Tommy wiped the corners of his mouth, he immediately sent congratulations and gave his girlfriend a hug: "You are worthy of all honors in the world."

The Albert Topfer International Humanitarian Award is an international charity award established last year. It was initiated by Mr. Albert Topfer, an American businessman engaged in the grain business in Germany. It is mainly used for Gratitude recognizes those philanthropic individuals who advance humanitarian causes.

Otilia truly deserves this charity award. After all, KeyBank promised the other party that if its charity business in Europe involves food procurement, it will give priority to the other party's business.

Otilia said: "I didn't expect to receive this award, and the nominations have already surprised me, you know? The other people who have been nominated are... I think every one of them is well-deserved. That person, I am flattered to have my name listed next to them. Among them are Mr. Desmond Tutu, Archbishop of South Africa, Ms. Marianne Wright, an American civil rights activist, and Ms. Isolina Ferre, the abbot of a Puerto Rican convent. …”

"Of course, I know you don't care about winning awards. The important thing is to help those in need, but don't be too humble. You have really helped many poor people. Not everyone is willing to put down their own luxurious life and pay attention to them," Tommy said to Otilia.

In fact, among the four nominees, three are people of color and one is a white woman. The answer is already obvious, but Tommy cannot congratulate Otilia in advance for winning the award.

Otilia said seriously to Tommy: "Without your encouragement, I would still be helping my godmother in Newport as an assistant. Tommy, you let me see the other side of the world, poverty, famine, injustice." , and are willing to accompany me to change it, even if it is just a small change, someone will always benefit."

"It's your kindness that motivates you, not me." Tommy said.

Otilia looked at Tommy expectantly: "Now that you have graduated, can I do these things with you?"

"Me?" Tommy was stunned for a moment, then said: "No, I can't, I mean I'm in California and have more important things to do. I'm going to prepare a small TV channel to focus on black people and help black people. , trying to make more people no longer hold stereotypes against black people. It is still in the preparation stage. There is a lot of work that I need to solve personally, and... I don’t want to rely too much on you. Think about it, if I show up in your Around you, your work assistants will complain, look, Miss Farrell's boyfriend is here to attract attention again, pretending to accompany Miss Farrell to pay attention to charity, in fact, it only proves that he is a guy who has nothing to do..."

"They won't think that. I told them that you just don't have time, otherwise all the people who have been helped should thank you, not me." Otilia said seriously:

"However, it doesn't matter if you have other arrangements. People who don't know you well may indeed misunderstand you. If you feel that it will be psychologically stressful for you to appear with me, I understand. Don't be sad, Tommy. I promise to fly to California on time to be with you every holiday.”

Tommy kissed the other person's cheek gently: "Thank you for your understanding, Otilia."

"Hearing you...I'm not racist, I just...heard that you couldn't be with me every day in order to help black people, which made me feel that I might not be as attractive as black people." Otilia leaned her head on the soup On Mi's shoulder, he whispered his little complaints about Tommy.

Tommy touched Otilia's shoulder and smiled: "What makes you have this illusion? Your father, Mr. Farrell, said some bad things about me again and advised you to break up with me?"

"Of course not. My dad likes you very much. Did you forget that the last time you went to see him, he helped you open the bottle of red wine that he only opened when he was going to celebrate his retirement?" Otilia immediately denied it.

"Three years, three full years, it took Mr. Farrell to recognize me. Whenever I recall these three years of life, I can't help but burst into tears." Tommy said to Otilia.

Julian Farrell, Tommy's future father-in-law, although he never directly opposed Tommy's relationship with his only daughter, he kept making small moves behind the scenes. If Tommy's bodyguard Mr. Page hadn't been a police officer in Los Angeles, With deep connections in the California police circles, Otilia had long since broken up with him happily.

That guy actually hired a private detective to keep an eye on Tommy, who was responsible for filming ambiguous scenes between Tommy and women. When he got the hot content, he told his daughter Otilia to stay away from Tommy, a scumbag.

Fortunately, the California private detective who was hired also had the identity of a retired police officer and had some friendship with Paige. When he learned that Paige was helping Tommy drive, he called and wanted to know more about Tommy, but the loyal Paige was killed. Mr. Qi turned around and told Tommy, and Tommy was able to transform into a good man immediately.

It wasn't until the last dinner with his future father-in-law and his family that Julian gave up his determination to persuade his daughter to break up with Tommy.

In the words of Julian and Tommy's chat alone in the cigar bar, when he was young, he would hold single parties the day before his wedding and have fun with women. They were all men, so he knew what Tommy was like, but when he saw Tommy Mi can even pretend to be a good man for his daughter, but he can still do it for three years, which shows that Tommy really values ​​his daughter.

Of course, Tommy would not believe the other party's lies. The main reason why the other party tolerated him was that he had seen Otilia's aura gradually increasing, and the reason why Otilia became more and more dazzling was all because of himself. For all the hard work behind the scenes, no man would be willing to think about it if he just wanted to have a relationship with Otilia and was not planning to talk about marriage.

Another secondary reason is that Tommy chose to use the same method to fight an eye for an eye.

Relying on the all-powerful Pinkerton Detective, Tommy finally got the photos of his future father-in-law dating his two lovers. If Mr. Farrell is going to continue to help Otilia keep an eye on him, Tommy will not mind hurting each other with his future father-in-law. .

Tommy had nothing to lose when Otilia broke up with him, but Mr. Farrell would suffer a huge loss if he got divorced.

This is why Tommy hates dealing with gentlemen. Only when they have to hold onto each other's balls can they be willing to tear off their disguises and communicate with him sincerely.

"You should try this pasta, it tastes very good." Hearing Tommy's eyes filled with tears because of his father, Otilia changed the subject awkwardly:

"Besides, aren't you going to go back to Warwick? Are you going to fly back to California directly?"

Tommy swallowed the food in his mouth and said a little depressed: "Forget it, the last time I talked to my dad on the phone, he was a little angry with me. He said that he was busy helping the Naval Preparatory Academy to dismantle a scrapped training ship. , the tone was full of pride, I laughed at him, I don’t understand, Tony obviously got more for him, but my dad was actually very excited about dismantling a broken ship from 1920, what is there to be excited about? Tony relies on connections , helped him get a long-term ship-breaking order from the Naval Academy, and he could take his workers to move to Maryland to open a new ship-breaking yard. But what happened... He actually said that he didn't want to cause trouble to Tony. What's the reason for this? He Have you forgotten the time when you went to the police station and caused trouble for Tony and me?"

"Families will consider each other. It's normal for Mr. Hawke to do this, Tommy, and Mr. Hawke doesn't want to leave Warwick. He loves it there." Otilia persuaded from the side:

"Tony will definitely understand his decision. Just like my father, he spends most of the year busy in cities like New York, Miami, and Los Angeles, but he still likes to go back to Newport as long as time permits. Maybe Warwick is not as good as Maryland. Annapolis in the state is prosperous, but after all, it is his hometown in his heart."

"I understand, I just..."

The mobile phone at hand rang. Tommy smiled apologetically at Otilia, got up and walked away for a few steps before answering the call: "I'm Tommy."

"Tommy~" Sophia's voice came from the other end of the phone: "As you wish, the black CEO of the black TV station that you admired and appointed finally decided to take him with you because of your procrastination and inefficiency. People have switched to SBG. I reminded you to set up a non-competition clause, but you didn’t consider my suggestion at all. What should you do now? I got the news that SBG will launch a black channel in six months..."

"Six months? Are you kidding me? I helped SBG complete all the plans for the black channel, and then they still have six months to go online? This work efficiency is eye-opening to me..." After hearing this, Tommy was speechless at first. He sighed with emotion, and then immediately told Sophia on the other side of the phone:

"Okay, according to the plan, fire the dozen or so black employees who were recruited for pretense, and prepare generous resignation packages for them. You have to tell them sincerely that the reason for firing them is entirely because the person in charge resigned, and the young , Mr. Investor, who is full of passion and pursues equality, heard the news and is now at a loss in New York. He doesn’t understand why he just wanted to do something to help black people, but was betrayed by the trusted black elite. There is no way, the TV station may not be able to continue. It’s a pity that we can only fire them.”

"After dealing with this group of black people, buy the pages of newspapers that all black people in California like to read, find some black reporters, and let them tell their black compatriots that there is a black elite who can independently control a channel to speak out for black people, but he is willing to Run and be SBG’s dog.”

"Then, despite the betrayal he had just suffered from black people, Tommy Hawke was willing to stay true to his original intention and go to California in person to provide jobs, a voice channel, and high-quality television programs for black people."

"That's all?" Sophia was not surprised at Tommy's reaction after hearing the news that more than half of her employees had switched jobs, so she just continued to ask.

Tommy walked back to the dining table and sat down, holding the phone in his left hand. With his right hand, he brought Otilia's long and tender fingers to his lips and kissed him gently. He smiled and said to the phone:

"The black elite abandoned me, and I couldn't find suitable black professionals to take over. I could only temporarily choose a few white production teams to survive the difficult times. So, find out the list of white candidates that Mark gave you before. Let them go to Los Angeles and prepare to join me, and I will fly back to California as soon as possible to let black viewers decide for themselves which TV channel is truly serving black people."

…

California, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills.

"I always thought you were a frugal person, Tommy." Delia, dressed in a decent women's suit, accompanied by a servant, walked through the hall of the two-story mansion and walked to the backyard. She stood in front of him in the backyard. Tommy, swinging a golf club, smiled and said:

"Then I found out that you actually rent in Beverly Hills, which is either rich or expensive?"

"Long time no see, Delia. By the way, I haven't congratulated you on becoming a senior partner of Davis Polk \u0026 Associates. You are the first female senior partner of the White Shoe Club, and you are even more outstanding than Elizabeth Meagher." Tang Mi putted lightly, hit the ball, and said to Delia.

Delia looked at the environment of this villa: "I thought you would prefer to settle in New York, a city full of wealth and wealth."

"New York is not suitable for a bastard like me." Tommy handed the club to the servant and opened his arms to Delia for a hug: "I like California where I feel more comfortable."

There was the noise of construction in the distance. Delia gently pointed her finger in the direction of the noise and said with a smile to Tommy: "Are you sure you like such a noisy California? Do you want me, a lawyer, to help you warn you?" Neighbors, please pay attention to the noise volume during construction? Because we are so familiar with each other, there is no charge for this service."

"That's my house. I bought it two years ago. It took two years to complete all the construction procedures. In order to avoid complaints from neighbors, before the construction was completed, I had to rent a house that was five hundred meters away from me. Tommy can lie and say that the neighbors are being harassed by noise. The one we are in now is one of the three houses." Tommy was a little uninterested when he heard Delia's suggestion:

"I should have thought of asking you to take action, Delia."

"Which celebrity's mansion was snatched by you, and then you brutally tore it down and completely rebuilt it?" Delia asked curiously.

Beverly Hills is a long-established area for wealthy white people. In 1907, real estate was sold for the first time. The slogan was:

This community is an all-white community. If there are Jews or black people in the community, please don’t worry. We guarantee that they are definitely not your neighbors, but your considerate servants.

Moreover, every property owner is required to sign the "Beverly Hills Neighborhood Covenant" when purchasing a property, stating that the property cannot be rented to Jews or black people, otherwise the homeowners association has the right to expel those who violate the contract from the community.

It was not until the end of World War II that wealthy Jewish businessmen and black businessmen were allowed to buy properties in Beverly Hills. With the emergence of people of color, a large number of white original owners with severe racism sold their properties and left Beverly Hills. Many listed luxury homes were White Hollywood movie stars bought it, and later even formed an implicit rule. If you don't have a Beverly Hills residence, you don't seem worthy of being called a Hollywood movie star.

This is why most of the current owners of Beverly Hills are Hollywood stars.

"Bing Crosby." Tommy said the name of the original owner.

Delia's first reaction was that Tommy was joking. She had an expression of disbelief on her face: "How is it possible? Crosby's inheritance is worth at least over 100 million. It is impossible for his family to be short of money and have to sell real estate. …”

Bing Crosby is the most successful artist in the United States. He can win the Oscar for Best Actor for his movies, break the Guinness World Records for his albums, win the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and leave three stars on Hollywood Boulevard.

He is also very good at making money, investing in horse farms, oil fields, film technology industries, real estate, etc. Let's put it this way, the canned laughter used in sitcoms in the United States in the early years required patents for the technology companies in which he invested. Fee because his company was the first to patent canned laughter.

When the other party passed away in 1977, the newspaper said that the assets left by Crosby were worth 80 million U.S. dollars. Now ten years later, it is not surprising that the value has exceeded 100 million U.S. dollars. That’s why Delia couldn’t believe it. Bing Crosby The descendants need to sell the property for cash.

"I don't believe it either, but it's a fact, you know? His family hates him." Tommy told Delia what he knew:

"This guy doesn't believe in his wife and children. He thinks they are all fools. If they are left to take care of them, they will all be ruined. So he made a decision and handed over all his assets to him. Trust the trust fund to take care of it, leave a will, and your children should not inherit the inheritance if they are under sixty-five years old. They can only receive 2,000 yuan a month from the trust fund for living. Yes, you heard it right, six Fifteen years old, he feels that his child may not truly mature until he is sixty-five.”

"He's not worried that his child won't live to be sixty-five?" Delia couldn't help laughing when she heard the will.

Tommy continued: "Then the family trust fund he trusted decided to invest conservatively after his death, so he chose the safe oil industry. Unexpectedly, the United States announced the arrival of an era of oil surplus, and the price of oil dropped from $35 One barrel fell to 10 US dollars per barrel. In three years, 1,200 oil drilling rigs were shut down in the United States. Therefore, if the real estate is not sold to raise cash, Mr. Crosby’s trust fund may not even survive his life. children."

"It looks like seven acres." Delia said, looking at the land that was fenced off for renovations.

Tommy shook his head slightly: "It's only a little more than five acres. Because Otilia used to live in her family's nine-acre mansion in Newport, so I was worried that she would not be used to a house that was too small. She once lived with her. I said, if we get married, I hope our family can plan a family zoo and raise some docile animals to grow up with our children."

"So how much did you spend on this mansion that you obviously planned to use as a wedding house? Give me a price that will make me stop being your neighbor." Delia looked at Tommy and asked with a smile.

"The price when it was listed in 1985 was 7 million. The real estate consultant told me that it was worth 11 million. I was lucky to be able to buy it, because during that time, I just asked Sophia to help me. I made some extra money on Wall Street, so after all calculations, the Japanese paid the bills for this mansion, its decoration costs, and the rent for these three residences. Thanks to Japan for appreciating the yen, I, a poor American, can get this big house for free. House." Tommy spread his hands towards Delia:

"In order to express my sincere gratitude to Japan, after I acquired this house, I donated 100,000 yuan each to the Big Cigar Foundation established by General Curtis LeMay and the 509th Integrated Group of the U.S. Army Air Force. Thank them for their barbecue and The nuclear bomb made Japan a loyal ally of the United States."

"So, is Sophia okay?" Delia asked Tommy after hearing Sophia's name.

Tommy nodded: "It's so good. I rented three villas nearby. In order to avoid vacancies, she now lives in another villa that I was forced to rent for me. Even the maid's expenses are paid by me." Paying."

"Did you give the other one to Susan or Holly? I guess they both have a close relationship with you." Delia asked with a smile.

Tommy shook his head and looked into the distance: "It is vacant. It is specially used to receive black guests who come to visit, to show respect for them."

"I guess you don't just want to talk to me about the big house that the Japanese gave you for free." Seeing Tommy's expression, Delia stopped chatting and asked the other party why he met her.

Tommy withdrew his gaze and looked at Delia: "I need a black lawyer, a black lawyer as good as you."

"No, you should tell me that you need me. If there is a case and you don't take care of me, I will be angry." Delia winked at Tommy and said.

Tommy let out a breath: "You are not black, Delia, and I don't have new business for you. I just need a black litigation firm to do some legal work for my TV station. Do you understand? Black people can do it." There are a lot of things you can’t do.”

"for example?"

"Like a black man can attack another black man for betraying his skin color, but you can't."

"There are indeed some very good black lawyers, but I guess you don't need black lawyers who have a strong sense of justice and a strong sense of race?"

"You know me, Delia. If you have a suitable candidate, call me or Sophia."

"So, you are so busy that you don't have time to eat with me?"

"I'm a little busy. My poor team members are waiting for me to host the first meeting."

"Then why are you still practicing golf?"

"I'm waiting for my black bodyguard. My driver, Mr. Page, has gone to pick him up and is on his way."

"Why must we emphasize black bodyguards?" Delia asked in confusion.

"Because the black bodyguard can be my agent for swearing. The black bodyguard is responsible for swearing, and Mr. Page is responsible for beating people." Tommy turned and walked towards the living room:

"In order to avoid being called a racist, I generally do not interfere with my black bodyguard's outrageous insults to his fellow black people on my behalf."