America 1982

"Chatting with adults who are too smart is always too tiring and the topics are heavy, so..." At eight o'clock in the night, Tommy Hawke sat on a bench in the lobby of this old-fashioned British-style hotel built during the Edwardian period. Said to Catherine who was drinking juice next to her.

Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, Catherine had already retracted her gaze towards the long bar, looked at Tommy, and said, "So, does this explain why you have only had two naive and stupid friends around you since you were a child?"

Tommy thought for a while and finally nodded: "Yes, Dennis is right, you are very good at ending chats."

"So, is that guy asking you to try to see if I'm targeting him or all boys?" Catherine asked.

Tommy Hawke looked around and said with regret: "Yes, although I told him the answer, he felt it was not safe enough. In fact, more normal boys would not think about the problem like this, but Dennis happened to be with There are two subtle differences between normal boys. First, he has no shame, and second, he has no brains."

This old-fashioned luxury hotel has now become a student dormitory, and because there are no televisions in this country, the entertainment in the evening can only be some entertainment facilities in the hotel lobby, such as billiard tables, card tables, band performances, etc.

Otilia and Susan, the principal of the local high school, were sitting on the second floor, overlooking the students relaxing in the hall, chatting intimately, performing their duties perfectly, supervising the students, but not destroying everyone's happiness. interest.

The card table is the first entertainment facility that gets tired of playing and is abandoned. It’s not that it’s not exciting because you don’t gamble, but it’s because sitting across from you is a person of your age who has been practicing poker skills since he was a child, is proficient in various playing methods, and has an amazing winning rate. You will find that there is no sense of participation in this game at all.

This is the happiest moment for the students who like to be in the limelight. They control the musical instruments and stage, the pool table and the long bar, and use various methods and techniques that they are good at to try to win the attention of the girls.

For example, Dennis, this guy was slapping the tabletop in front of the long bar and shouting loudly to his peers who were occupying the small stage:

"Let's arm-wrestle! Decide who owns the stage like a real male creature! Don't tell me about first-come, first-served!"

David Schafer, who was lying on the bar like a lazy man, immediately became energetic: "If anyone is willing to place a bet, I can provide services for everyone, and the commission is reasonable."

"David, you are not allowed to gamble with money! Can't you use cookies as chips?" Otilia stood up immediately and held on to the railing on the second floor to warn.

Under the eyes of Dennis, the police chief, Pam, who was converting two unknown bicycles into a double couple's bicycle in the corner of the hall, had a rare reaction. She took out the change from her body and walked over, patting it on the bar. He said to David tepidly: "Exchange these two pieces for soda and buy Dennis to win."

After saying that, the guy turned around and continued walking back to the corner to start his modification operation.

"David, I'll also buy a two-dollar soda, and Dennis wins." Tommy sat on the bench and whistled hard to attract David's attention, and then shouted.

Catherine asked curiously: "You don't know who will stand up and teach that guy a lesson, so you just want him to win?"

"This is the reason why we three naive and stupid guys have been friends for so long. It doesn't matter who the opponent is, but you have to know who your companions are. You can have two friends who have never betrayed each other when you grow up. I think Not too little," Tommy said.

Before his opponent stepped forward, two of his buddies had already placed bets on themselves to win. This made Dennis smile even more. He raised his hands and looked around: "The person standing in front of you is Dennis Herbert! From The Mount Hope neighborhood in the West End of Warwick, Kent County, Rhode Island! The owner of the neighborhood with the most drunken brawlers at the Warwick Oktoberfest for seven consecutive years, where the most vicious people in the United States gather..."

"Stephen said, let me try." Frank stood up slowly under Stephen's instigation and said to Dennis, who was talking nonsense.

Seeing Frank's sharp muscles, Dennis maintained his momentum, but his eyes began to glance towards the stage unconsciously: "Frank, I challenge those guys on the stage..."

"Dennis! You are a tough guy created by Warwick! Let him see how powerful you are! Know how hard you are!" Tommy hissed loudly: "Don't be a coward!"

Dennis turned his head and cursed a series of curses at Tommy: "F*ck You! Tommy! Look at this guy Frank, he has more muscles in his neck than my fucking abdominal muscles! Put on boxing gloves for this guy, he and white people Boxing champion John Dempsey is exactly the same! And you actually want me to die at his hands?"

However, although he said this, he was not timid in his actions. Dennis put his hands on the bar and stared excitedly at Frank who was eager to try.

"Mathematician, what do you think the probability of Dennis winning?" Tommy asked Chris who had just finished the poker game next to him.

Chris looked at Tommy speechlessly: "Tommy, if you have to ask others to know the winning rate in this kind of game, I don't recommend you to go to college."

At this time, one of Zoe's trainees hurriedly walked into the bar, escorted by two black local police officers. After patrolling around, he walked up to Tommy who was chatting with Chris and said: "Tommy, from Nickelodeon Mr. Elton, the producer, called and wanted to talk to you, and Zoe asked me to inform you.”

"So if you are not extremely thirsty for power, don't be a politician. What a wonderful night. There are so many beautiful girls around you to chat with, but I have to communicate with a middle-aged man." Tommy stood up, raised his hand, and Chris talked to He gave a high-five: "I can do the work of picking up girls for you, Mr. Prime Minister."

"You always know how to make it harder for me, Chris," Tommy said with a smile.

Seeing Tommy walk into the external relations office, Zoe, who had been waiting in the external relations office, handed Tommy the phone that had not been hung up. When handing it over, she did not forget to cover the receiver with her hand and quickly introduced the situation: "Nickelodeon The producer of "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", Elton Bourne, I just gave him some basic information, but his interest didn't seem that strong."

"We are the paying party, Zoe, and they are the chosen dancers." Tommy took the phone and deliberately said in a voice that could definitely be heard on the other end of the phone: "Didn't I tell you that it would be better to wait for the Disney Channel show? After Bian also gave feedback, we worked on it together. I hate having to introduce the situation again every time. There are many things waiting for us to do in this country."

Zoe silently gave a thumbs up, and Tommy smiled and handed the phone to his ear: "Hello, Mr. Byrne, I am Tommy Hawke, chairman of the CSLS committee, founder of this summer summit, and interim prime minister of St. Vincent. .”

"Kid, your title will soon outlast our president." Elton laughed on the phone.

Tommy ignored the other party's teasing and continued to say seriously and arrogantly: "To make a long story short, if I want to promote a summer camp on Nickelodeon, how much do I have to pay so that you can show up in St. Vincent with a camera crew?"

"It sounds like you are very rich. It is rare for a partner to talk about the price directly during the first formal call. This makes me a little frustrated. I feel like the producer is like a stripper." Elton obviously felt more and more like Tang Mi's tone was ridiculous.

Tommy adjusted his breath, and then there was a little dissatisfaction in his tone: "If it weren't for my Defense Secretary Katherine Nunn's good impression of Nickelodeon, I wouldn't have considered you. Disney Channel is the first choice, and we have no shortage." Money, not only is the treasury of this country in the hands of my chancellor, but we can keep Nickelodeon running our ads 24 hours a day if we want."

"This is ridiculous, kid. No country would actually hand over wealth to a bunch of high school students in this kind of experience game."

"You know what's even more ridiculous? Mr. Byrne, my high school treasurer has a fortune of $600 million. The interest he earns on that wealth sitting in the bank for a year is more than the salary of everyone in this country." Several times more.”

"Kid, what on earth are you talking about?"

"Stephen Bean, the current finance minister of this country, comes from the Bean family of New York. If you look at the recent news in the New York newspapers about Mr. Leon Bean and his family, you will know that I have no interest in joking with you, no matter what. "Tommy Hawke took the initiative on the phone and talked:

"I think you need to accept this ridiculous reality first, and then talk about cooperation. When you feel that I am not joking, it may be easier for us to communicate. I want to promote the summer camp, build this brand, and then promote it. This beautiful country, this is why I hope to cooperate with a TV station. If you want to cooperate, then think about how to help create a documentary or other program that is both interesting and in-depth. Also, don’t do it because we have enough Wealth, as far as the lion is concerned, we are rich people, but we are not philanthropists, and making money from rich people is much more difficult than making money from poor people."

"Child, what you just said was Leon Bean's grandson..."

"Mr. Byrne, you have called me "child" four times since this call. Let me remind you that if I hear the fifth call again, I guarantee that you will not make a penny from me. I will directly choose to go with you. In partnership with the Disney Channel, for the sake of my Minister of Defense, Katherine Nunn, I would like to introduce to you one last time myself, Tommy Hawke, Chairman of the CSLS Committee and Interim Prime Minister of St. Vincent." Tommy Hawke said to The receiver said word by word:

"Next time you call, call me Mr. Prime Minister."

After speaking, Tommy hung up the phone, and Zoe looked at Tommy in surprise: "It seems like it's over before we even get to the point?"

"Before we start, let him verify the authenticity of the information I told him. Then through this conversation, I believe that we are a group of people who care about titles. We are obviously naive but like to talk to people in an adult tone, which makes it easy for them to take the initiative. ...Child." Tommy Hawke lit a cigarette and smiled at Zoe: "Thank you for your hard work, lady, I can escort you back to the hotel."

"Actually, you have read my information, right?" Zoe nodded, walked out of the outreach office with Tommy, locked the door carefully, and asked as she and Tommy walked side by side in the corridor.

Tommy nodded: "I have seen it."

"So when they called me lady, you didn't think of another nickname for me?"

"I've thought about it, but I think it's more appropriate to wait until you tell them yourself one day," Tommy said.

As soon as the two people walked out of the government building, they heard the sound of musical instruments playing from the hotel in the distance. An old song by Bob Dylan, "Knocking on Heaven's Door", was performed by Dennis in a rock style and drifted in the night wind. Comes:

"knock-knock-knockin' on heaven's door! knock-knock-knockin' on heaven's door! knock-knock-knockin' on heaven's door..."

It sounded a bit like a cover of Guns N' Roses that Tommy Hawke liked in his previous life. Others in the hall seemed to be infected by the sound and joined the singers, letting the singing resound throughout Kingston. night sky.

"A very old song, but still full of appeal." Listening to the song, Zoe slightly raised her head to look at the starry sky, smiled and said: "Great summer camp."

"Of course, great summer camp and, even better, us, let's go, Miss Vixen." Tommy said softly, "I hope you like the nickname I gave you in my heart."

The second update is here, two chapters and six thousand words.