American Entertainment 1982

Fifth Avenue, New York, Fiori Italian restaurant.

A few women in chic evening dresses, who looked like ladies and ladies dressed up for a banquet, were taking pictures on the iconic staircase of this restaurant, and even specially equipped with a lighting engineer to make a scene on the floating silk staircase. out of various shapes.

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

"Sitting here with my girlfriend, I hope that when we taste the food, we can better appreciate this satin staircase like a work of art, instead of being interrupted by flashing lights or other lights every ten seconds. Mood, next time, can’t you launch a service that only takes pictures during non-dinner hours? I’ll give you some tips, and you can splash those women with blueberry sauce or other colorful things for me...”

"Be more lenient, Tommy." Otilia did not sit opposite Tommy, but sat side by side with him. At this time, she gently held Tommy's palm with her hand, and said to the waiter with a smile: "Take the Tip, by the way, I really like the Italian coffee ice cream in the restaurant, can you bring me another one when we finish our meal?"

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

Ottilia shook Tommy's palm and said, "Every time you dine with me in New York, you don't look very happy."

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

"This is New York, those ladies may just be from other states and want to make some good memories while traveling in New York." Ottilia said softly to Tommy:

"Just like when we go on a trip, we will also take pictures as souvenirs, and then put the photos in the album, open it when we get old, and slowly look through each memory."

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

"My administrative assistant, Judy, quietly told me something today." Otilia looked proudly at Tommy with a small proud expression on her face.

Tommy put down the tableware in his hand, and looked at Ottilia 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, Ottilia." After wiping the corners of his mouth, Tommy immediately congratulated and gave his girlfriend a hug: "You are worthy of all the honors in this world."

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

Otilia deserved 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.

Ottilia said: "I didn't think I'd get this award, the nominations blew me away, you know? The other people who were nominated were... I think each of them deserved it That person, I am flattered to be named next to them, including Mr. Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop of South Africa, Ms. Marian Wright, the American civil rights activist, and Ms. Isolina Ferre, the Abbot of Puerto Rico. ..."

"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 self-effacing. You really helped a lot of poor people. Not everyone is willing to put down their good life and pay attention to They," Tommy said to Otilia.

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

Ottilia 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 is willing to accompany me to change it, even if it is only a trivial change, but someone will always benefit."

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

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

"Me?" Tommy froze for a moment, then said: "No, I can't, I mean I'm in California, I have more important things to do, I'm going to prepare a small TV channel, focus on black people, help black people , trying to make more people no longer have stereotypes against black people, still in the preparation stage, there are a lot of work that I need to solve by myself, and... I don’t want to rely too much on you, think about it, if I appear in your By your side, your work assistants will slander you, look, Miss Farrell’s boyfriend is here to attract attention again, pretending to accompany Miss Farrell to focus on charity, in fact it can only prove that he is a guy who has nothing to do..."

"They don't think that way. 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, if you have other arrangements, it doesn't matter. Maybe those who don't know you will misunderstand you. If you think you will appear with me, there will be psychological pressure. I understand. Don't be sad, Tommy. I guarantee that I will fly to California to accompany you on time every holiday."

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

"Hearing you...I'm not racist, I just...hearing that you can't be with me every day to help black people makes me feel that I may not be as attractive as black people." Otilia leaned her head against the soup Mi's shoulder, whispering his little complaint about Tommy.

Tommy touched Ottilia's shoulder and said with a smile: "What made 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 you went to see him last time, and did he open that bottle of red wine for you when he was going to celebrate his retirement?" Otilia immediately denied.

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

Julian Farrell, Tommy's future father-in-law, although he has never directly opposed Tommy's relationship with his only daughter, but he keeps making small moves behind the scenes. If Tommy's bodyguard, Mr. Page, was not a policeman in Los Angeles, With a deep network of contacts in the California police force, Ottilia had already broken up with him happily at this time.

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

Fortunately, the hired California private detective also has the identity of a retired policeman. He has some friendship with Page. When he learned that Page helped Tommy drive, he called to make friends and wanted to know something about Tommy. 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's family that Julian gave up his determination to persuade his daughter to break up with Tommy.

In the words of Julian and Tommy chatting alone in the cigar bar, when he was young, he would have a single party the day before he got married, and he would have fun with women. They were all men, so he knew what Tommy was like, but seeing Tommy Even if Mi Neng pretends to be a good man for his daughter, he can last for three years, which shows that Tommy really attaches great importance to his daughter.

Of course, Tommy would not believe the nonsense of the other party. The main reason the other party tolerated him was that he had seen the halo on Ottilia gradually increase, and the reason why Ottilia became more and more dazzling was all because of him. The credit for the silent contribution behind the scenes, if you just talk about love with Otilia and don't plan to talk about marriage, no man is willing to make such a thought.

Another secondary reason is that Tommy chooses to use the same tactics with an eye for an eye.

Relying on the almighty Pinkerton detective, Tommy finally got the photos of his future father-in-law dating his two lovers. If Mr. Farrell is going to help Otilia keep an eye on him, Tommy doesn't mind hurting each other with his future father-in-law .

Otilia broke up with him, and Tommy had nothing to lose, but if this Mr. Farrell suffered a divorce, the loss would not be the slightest.

This is why Tommy hates dealing with gentlemen. They are willing to tear off their disguise and communicate with themselves sincerely if they have the egg to hold each other.

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

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

Tommy swallowed the food in his mouth, and said with some gloom: "Forget it, last time I talked to Dad on the phone, he was a little angry with me. He said he was busy helping the Naval Preparatory Academy to dismantle a scrapped training ship. , the tone was full of pride, I taunted him, I don’t understand, Tony obviously won more for him, and my old man was so excited to dismantle a broken ship in 1920, what’s there to be excited about? Tony relies on relationships , to help him get a long-term ship breaking order from the Naval Academy, and he can take his workers to move to Maryland to open a new ship breaking yard. As a result... he actually said that he didn't want to make trouble for Tony. What is the reason? He Have you forgotten the past when you went to the police station and made trouble for Tony and me?"

"The family 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." Ottilia persuaded from the side:

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

"I understand, I just..."

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

"Tommy~" Sophia's voice came from the other side of the phone: "As you wish, the black CEO of the black TV station you admired and appointed, finally decided to bring him along because of your procrastination and inefficiency. Some people jumped to SBG, I reminded you to set up non-compete clauses, but you didn’t consider my suggestion at all, what should I do now? I got news that SBG will launch a black channel in six months..."

"Six months? Are you kidding me? I've helped SBG complete all the plans for the black channel, and then they will have another six months to go online? This work efficiency is an eye-opener..." After listening to Tommy, he was speechless at first. He sighed with emotion, and then immediately told Sophia on the phone:

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

"After solving these blacks, buy the newspaper pages that all blacks in California like to read, find some black reporters, and ask them to tell their black compatriots that there is a black elite who can independently control a channel to speak for blacks, but he is willing. Run to be SBG's dog."

"And then, despite the recent betrayal by black people, Tommy Hawk is willing to stay true to his original intention and go to California in person to provide black people with jobs, voice channels, and high-quality TV programs."

"Only these?" Sophia was not surprised at Tommy's reaction after hearing the news that more than half of his employees had switched jobs, and just continued to ask.

Tommy walked back to the dining table and sat down, holding the phone in his left hand, and brought Ottilia's long and soft fingers to his lips with his right hand and kissed him lightly, and said to the phone with a smile:

"The black elite abandoned me. I couldn't find a suitable black professional to take over. I could only temporarily choose a few white production teams to survive the difficult time. So, find out the white candidate list that Mark gave you before. Let them go to Los Angeles to meet me, and I will fly back to California as soon as possible, so that black viewers can tell which one is the TV channel that really serves black people."

...

California, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills.

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

"Then I found out that you actually live 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, the first female senior partner of the White Shoes Club, better than Elizabeth Meag." Tang Mi putt 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, where money is lavish."

"New York is not suitable for a jerk like me." Tommy handed the cue to the servant, and he opened his arms and hugged Delia: "I like California, which is more comfortable."

There was construction noise in the distance. Delia lightly pointed her fingers in the direction of the noise, and said to Tommy with a smile, "Are you sure you like such a noisy California? Do you want me, a lawyer, to help you warn you?" Neighbors, pay attention to the noise volume during construction? For the sake of our familiarity, there is no charge for this service.”

"That's my house. I bought it two years ago. It took two years to complete the various procedures required for the construction. In order to avoid complaints from neighbors, I have to rent a house that is 500 meters away from me before the construction is completed. Me can lie about the neighbors' three houses that are disturbed by the noise, and the one we're in now is one of them." Tommy's interest faded when he heard Delia's suggestion:

"I should have thought of letting you go, Delia."

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

Beverly Hills is an old-fashioned white rich area. It sold real estate for the first time in 1907. The advertising slogan is:

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

Moreover, every owner needs to sign the "Beverly Hills Neighborhood Friendship Contract" when buying a property, stating that the property cannot be rented to Jews or blacks, otherwise the property owners 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 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 serious racism sold their properties and left Beverly Hills. White Hollywood movie stars bought it, and later even formed an implicit rule that if you don’t have a residence in Beverly Hills, you don’t seem to be worthy of being called a Hollywood movie star.

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

"Bing Crosby." Tommy said the original owner's name.

Delia's first reaction was that Tommy was joking, and she had an expression of disbelief on her face: "How is it possible, the inheritance left by Crosby is at least worth over 100 million yuan, and his family cannot be so short of money that they have to sell the property ..."

Bing Crosby, the most successful entertainer in the United States, won the Oscar for Best Actor for making movies, broke the Guinness World Record for recordings, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and left three stars on Hollywood Boulevard alone.

And he is very good at making money, investing in racecourses, oil fields, film technology industry, real estate, etc. Let's put it this way, the canned laughter used in American sitcoms in the early years needed to be patented by the technology company he invested in. Fei, because his company was the first to register canned laughter as a patent.

When the other party passed away in 1977, the newspapers also said that the assets left by Crosby were worth 80 million U.S. dollars. Now that ten years have passed, it is not surprising that the value has increased by more than 100 million U.S. dollars, so Delia can't believe it. Bing Crosby Descendants need to sell the property for cash.

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

"This guy doesn't believe in his wife and his children. He thinks that they are all idiots. If they take care of them, they will lose everything, so he made a decision. He handed over all his assets to him The trusted trust fund manages and leaves a will. If your children are under the age of 65, you don’t want to inherit the inheritance. You can only receive 2,000 yuan a month from the trust fund for living. Yes, you heard it right, six At the age of fifteen, he felt that his child might not be truly mature until he was sixty-five."

"He's not worried that his child won't live to be sixty-five years old?" 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. As a result, he did not expect that the United States announced the arrival of the era of oil surplus, and the price of oil dropped from 35 US dollars. A barrel has dropped to $10 a barrel. In three years, 1,200 oil drilling rigs have been shut down in the United States. Therefore, if the property is not sold to raise cash, Mr. Crosby's trust fund may not even survive his children."

"It looks like seven acres." Delia said, overlooking the land that was fenced off for renovation.

Tommy shook his head slightly: "It's only a little over five acres, because Ottilia lived in her family's nine-acre mansion in Newport before, so I'm worried that the house is too small for her to get used to it. I said, if we get married, I hope we can plan a family zoo at home, raise some gentle animals, and grow up with the children."

"So how much did you spend on this mansion that you obviously plan to use as your wedding house? Tell me the price for letting me cancel being your neighbor." Delia looked at Tommy and asked with a smile.

"In 1985, it was listed for 7 million yuan. The real estate consultant told me that it was worth 11 million yuan. I was lucky to be able to buy it, because at that time, I just asked Sophia to help me Wall Street made some extra money, so after all the calculations, the Japanese paid the bills for this mansion, the renovation fee, and the rent of these three houses. Thanks to Japan for its appreciation of the yen, I, a poor American, can get this mansion for free. house." Tommy spread his hands towards Delia:

"In order to express my sincere gratitude to Japan, after I got this house, I specially donated 100,000 yuan to the Big Cigar Foundation established by General Curtis LeMay and the 509th Comprehensive Brigade of the US Army Air Corps. Nuclear bombs, make Japan a loyal ally of the United States."

"So, is Sophia okay?" Delia asked Tommy when she heard Sophia's name.

Tommy nodded: "It's great, I rented three nearby villas, in order to avoid vacancy, she is now living for me in another villa that I was forced to rent, and even the servant's fee is paid by me." Paying."

"Is there another one that you gave to Susan or Holly? I guess they have a close relationship with you." Delia asked with a smile.

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

"I guess, you 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 why the other party saw her.

Tommy looked away and looked at Delia: "I need a black lawyer, a black lawyer who is 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 bad breath: "You are not black, Delia, and I don't have a new business to take care of you, I just need a black litigation firm to help my TV station with some legal work, understand? Black people can Do a lot of things you can't do."

"for example?"

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

"There are some really good black lawyers, but I guess you don't need black lawyers with a 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 have dinner with me?"

"Something busy, my poor team, waiting for me to chair the first meeting."

"Then why are you still practicing golf?"

"I'm waiting for my black bodyguard. My driver, Mr. Page, has picked him up and is coming."

"Why do you have to emphasize black bodyguards?" Delia asked puzzled.

"It's because of the black bodyguard that I can act as my swearing agent. The black bodyguard is in charge of swearing, and Mr. Page is in charge of beating people." Tommy turned and walked towards the living room:

"In order to avoid being called a racist, I generally don't interfere with the behavior of my black bodyguard who insults his black compatriots for me out of outrage."