New Gods of North America

“You’re a friend of the Fisk family, and that makes you my friend.

"The warehouse has been idle for a few years anyway. If you only need it during your studies at the academy, Wayne, feel free to use it. You're welcome."

The real estate agent originally introduced Wayne to several commercial warehouses for rent.

Then, when he went to visit the site, Wayne noticed a yard with an unused warehouse next to it.

This area was originally a dock area reserved by George Berg.

In those days, many speculative businessmen would choose to do business here. They would buy some goods shipped from the Old World from merchant ships coming from the ocean, and first sell them to the gentlemen living in Georgeburg. Then, under the guise of "being very popular among noble lords and ladies", they would sell them to various plantations in Virginia or the southern inland areas.

However, as the colonies in the New World expanded, and the capital of Virginia changed from Georgetown to Richmond,

Georgeburg gradually lost its function as a coastal port, shipping volume was greatly reduced, and many spare docks and warehouses were gradually abandoned or converted to other uses.

The unused yard with a warehouse that Wayne noticed was owned by a local elderly middle-class wealthy man.

It is said that the old man was a captain when he was young, specializing in international trade. He bought a lot of properties here in Georgeburg. When he got older, he lived in the city to retire and collected rent every month.

It is said that he has a detached villa with a small courtyard, which is rented out specifically to scholars and students of the "college" - the locals like to call it "George and Anna College" to reflect its uniqueness in the minds of the locals - and each room is charged a symbolic fee of only US$1 per year.

The unused warehouse was originally his property when he made his fortune, and it was a testimony to his past experiences.

At first, I was reluctant to sell it. Later, even if I wanted to sell it, I couldn't get a good price, so I could only rent it out at a low price. Finally, even renting it out was too troublesome, so I just left it idle. So now it is neither used nor rented out, just sitting there.

When Wayne followed the real estate agent to ask the old man for the price,

At first, the old man thought it was troublesome and almost sent me away with just a few words.

Afterwards we chatted for a while.

After knowing that Wayne was a student who was about to register at the "college", and that he had contacts with the Fisk family and had special gold coins representing their family friendship,

The old man searched for a while and finally found a bunch of old keys. Then he waved his hand and indicated that the yard with the warehouse could be used by Wayne and his friends in the past few years.

"Is it true that we don't have to sign a lease? I'm still willing to pay part of the lease fee."

Wayne felt that it would be safer to have paper materials with black and white words on them, so as to avoid being kicked out early, which would have wasted money and energy on decoration and furniture purchases.

The old man seemed very heroic:

“No need. The real estate agent is here now and can serve as a witness.

"I promise you that I will not take it back until you graduate from the 'College'. And as long as you don't tear down all the buildings in the courtyard, I don't mind you changing some of the features there."

They were just casual acquaintances, and words alone were not enough to prove anything. Wayne wanted to hold out a little longer, but the look from the staff stopped him.

In the end, Wayne took the key away and welcomed the old man to visit him when he was free.

After leaving the old man's house, the real estate agent explained to Wayne:

Unlike northerners who like to put their agreements into paper contracts, the old-school circles in the South have their own unique set of rules - when dealing with people, doing things and doing business, they pay more attention to "verbal agreements."

What they pursue is the chivalrous spirit that takes pride in being trusted by others and being able to consciously fulfill their promises.

So when they say "I promise you" seriously,

If others still ask them to put their promises into writing, it is in a sense equivalent to questioning their character, credibility or authority.

Sometimes it can be very offensive.

Need to pay attention to the actual situation.

According to the real estate agency staff's understanding over the years, the old man is just that kind of old-fashioned and trustworthy "Southerner".

Wayne had already been allowed to use the warehouse for free and had received guarantees. If Wayne insisted on signing the contract, he might end up making things worse and not be able to rent it even if he paid, which would be a waste of time.

Listening to the real estate agency staff's well-intentioned warning, Wayne could only nod silently.

Hmm...

Amazing Southerner.

…

When Wayne returned to the carriage with the keys, he took the opportunity to talk to Lina about the differences in customs between the north and the south while waiting for Inessa.

Unexpectedly, Lina, a "foreigner", was not surprised at all.

She seemed to understand. "The people in the south of America are called 'Dixie'. They are different from the northern 'Yankees' like you."

Wayne had a question mark on his face.

What the hell are these two new terms?

"You haven't heard of 'Yankee' and 'Dixie'? Impossible."

As Lina spoke, she hummed a light and cheerful tune, "This is the tune of Yankee Doodle. You must have heard this song, right?"

Wayne thought the tune sounded familiar and he must have heard it before, but he still didn't understand why.

Lina didn't keep it a secret:

"The name 'Yankee' was probably first coined by the Windsor people, and it probably refers to non-aristocratic immigrants of Windsor descent. Anyway, it's a joke or derogatory term for you Americans.

“When America was preparing to establish its nation and began to use force to drive out the Windsor colonists, the Windsor people sang Yankee Doodle everywhere to mock you Americans.

"It is said that at that time, some of the Windsor troops even deliberately asked the military band to play "Yankee Doodle" when they surrendered, in order to humiliate your American army."

Forehead……

Wayne thought for a moment and said, "That doesn't sound like a good word."

"It certainly wasn't a nice word at first, but now it should be considered a relatively neutral word with a teasing tone to you guys?"

Lina continued to talk about history, "At that time, the New World Army of America deliberately used "Yankee Doodle" as their military song, and then used victory after victory to humiliate the Windsor people.

"At the surrender ceremony when the Windsors announced their complete defeat, some American officers still refused to give in and ordered the military band to play Yankee Doodle again in front of the Windsors. This is a famous scene in history.

"If we really want to talk about it, it should be considered as the dark history of the Kingdom of Windsor."

Wayne understood, "So the Franks particularly like to listen to people telling and spreading this dark history?"

"That's right," Lina snapped her fingers, "Even the American officer who ordered the playing of 'Yankee Doodle' at the surrender ceremony after the defeat in Windsor was actually a Frank."

puff.

It is another testimony to the century-old friendship between Windsor and Frank.

No wonder Lina knows so much about these things.

"Well, I understand 'Yankee', but what is 'Dixie'?" Wayne asked.

"You southerners in America have relatively closer ties with Windsor. So the southern plantation masters generally do not agree with the term 'Yankee' and call themselves 'Dixie' to distinguish themselves from the northerners. By the way, they actually call you northerners 'Yankee' as well."

All right,

It’s not just Windsor and Frank that have a century-old friendship. In a sense, the North and South of America also have a deep “friendship”…