America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 273: Chapter 270 Thanksgiving is a Day of Suffering

Atlanta, Northville Community.

In the not-so-large courtyard, Martin dragged out the barbecue grill, his foot gave way, and he nearly fell into a pothole. He shouted toward the tool shed, "Hart, you idiot, what can you do besides screwing up the Earth? Can't you make some progress?"

Hart peeked out from the tool shed, about to say that it was Lily who had done it, but saw the elder sister standing at the door, staring coldly in his direction.

As a brother who had been bullied by two older sisters for years, Hart wisely chose to shut up.

Mainly because the elder sister had been practicing carving for a long time and was particularly strong, a punch on the head hurt a lot more than a whack from the oldest sister.

Martin cleaned the barbecue grill and shouted again, "Idiot, stop standing there like a fool, drag out the charcoal and let it dry in the sun."

Hart had a million curses in his heart that he dared not utter, so he could only drag out a big bag of charcoal to a place where the sunlight could shine directly on it.

He had just finished when, before he could catch his breath, Lily called out, "Hart, go to the kitchen and slice the meat."

Head hanging low, Hart washed his hands again and went to work in the kitchen.

Others celebrated Thanksgiving; he spent it like a day of suffering.

After setting up the barbecue grill, Lily came over and said, "I carved a lot of things from the materials you mailed. Do you want to come to my room and see?"

"What are they?" Martin asked.

Lily tugged at his rolled-up sleeves, "You'll see if you look."

Martin followed her into the house, heading straight upstairs.

Lily opened her bedroom door and invited him in, "Come in."

Stepping inside, the most eye-catching thing in Lily's room was the workbench, with countless shelves set up vertically and horizontally, all densely packed with various carvings.

Mainly focused on horn, stone, and wood carvings, there were clowns, insects, and various crafts.

Martin even spotted a miniature kettle.

Lily brought out a beautifully carved wooden box, proud as if it were treasure. When she opened it, there was a house in the background with five little figures standing in front.

Martin could tell from their features that they were Elena, Harris, Lily, Hart, and himself.

Lily pushed it towards Martin, very happy, "This is our family. Do you think it looks like us?"

Downstairs, at the courtyard door, a black BMW 7 Series stopped by the side of the road. Elena, who had bought a roasted turkey, got out of the car and noticed no one was in the yard.

She entered the house and saw Hart scowling as he chopped meat, so she asked, "Where are Lily and Martin?"

Hart pointed the tip of his knife upwards, indicating the ceiling, and deliberately said, "They went upstairs. Lily said she had something nice to show Martin."

At that remark, Elena put down the packaged turkey and sprinted upstairs, the boots making a rapid clacking sound on the wooden staircase.

"Fuck! Those two assholes!" she cursed under her breath, rushing to the second floor and around the corner, she found Lily's bedroom door open and let half of her worries drop.

Elena reached the bedroom door and saw Martin standing in the middle of the room like a model, while Lily sat in front of the workbench with a carving knife, working rapidly with clay.

Lily heard the hurried footsteps, turned her head, and gave her sister a sweet smile, "I'm making a realistic sculpture of Martin."

Elena, arms crossed and leaning against the doorway, said, "You two idiots hurry up, I've brought the turkey."

Lily replied, "Harris isn't back yet, there's no rush, right?"

Martin pointed downstairs and yelled, "Hart, once you're done with the meat, marinate it with the sauce I prepared."

Hart was furious, "In this house, am I the only one working? It's not fair!"

Elena yelled, "If you've been told to work, then get on with it and stop complaining!"

Downstairs in the kitchen, the sound of chopping meat thudded incessantly.

Elena didn't leave, waiting until Lily had carved out the rough shape before calling Martin down with her.

The two of them prepared for the Thanksgiving dinner that night.

Lily didn't move, carefully perfecting the sculpture in her hands.

It wasn't until the sound of footsteps had vanished completely from the stairs that she put down the carving knife and took out a brochure about the California Institute of the Arts.

If she wanted to go, that blockhead Martin could secure her a letter of recommendation, and even grades wouldn't be key.

Back when they lived in Clayton Community, it was so difficult when Harris applied for college.

Lily's gaze swept across her independent, newly renovated room, and then through the window at the grassy courtyard, knowing things were different now.

She was also very clear about where all these changes had come from.

There was another car door closing outside, Harris had rushed back from college.

Upstairs, Lily continued carving.

Downstairs, Elena unwrapped the turkey to further process the semi-finished bird.

Harris and Hart were responsible for skewering the meat while Martin placed the skewers on the barbecue, brushing them with oil and seasoning.

As the sky darkened, the turkey, barbecue, fruit salad, and cold vegetable dishes were placed on the dining table.

Martin and Elena, along with the five of them, sat around the dining table to enjoy the sumptuous dinner.

As always, Elena picked up the knife and fork to cut the turkey for everyone.

Lily brought over a box of cola, placing a bottle in front of each person.

Harris was the first to open his and said to Martin, "Tonight, let's first toast to the Sect Hierarch."

Elena was the first to pick up her drink and clink it against Martin's.

Martin clinked his glass against those of four people and said, "May we keep getting better and better."

Elena echoed, "Better and better!"

The five of them drank their colas and started eating, chatting as they did. There was an unspoken agreement not to talk about Hollywood or work, just happy memories from their time in the Clayton Community.

Martin was very concerned about the youngest one at home and asked, "How are Holle's grades?"

Elena frowned with worry, "Mediocre, I guess. It feels quite difficult to get into a good university."

Martin thought for a moment and suggested, "Hire him a strict tutor."

Holle felt like crying, put down his fork, and drank half a can of cola in one gulp, muttering discontentedly, "It's Thanksgiving today, can't you all be a bit nicer to me?"

Lily clenched her fist, "This is love from your brother and sister, can't you feel it?"

Martin joked, "Don't worry, we'll find you a pretty female tutor."

"That I can do!" Holle raised both hands in approval, "Martin, we've made a deal, a beautiful and sexy female tutor!"

Elena glanced at Martin and Holle and remarked, "Do you want to get someone thrown in jail?"

Her phone rang. After wiping her hands with a napkin, she answered, "Scott, what's up? It's Thanksgiving today, so if you want to come over, you're welcome."

The Scott on the other end said, "Having a get-together? I know you're all doing well, and that's enough for me; I won't come over."

Elena responded, "May God bless you with everlasting wealth."

Scott laughed and said, "I'm living the life of the rich now."

They didn't say much and soon hung up.

Lily immediately asked, "Was it him?"

Elena nodded slightly, "Don't worry, he's much better than before and won't come to bother us."

Harris interjected, "He's more reliable than Emma."

Martin knew they were talking about Scott. Perhaps Sophia's training was very effective; he had heard from Hart and others that Scott had kicked his alcohol habit and hardly used drugs anymore.

What was this? A kind of strange power of love?

Remembering her mother, Lily said, "I wonder how Emma is doing now."

Elena reminded her, "I've told you before, don't bring her up again." She had long given up, "First, we don't want to know how she's doing! Second, I don't want her to know how we're doing!"

Lily shut her mouth.

Elena seriously warned, "If you don't want our lives to become a mess, even if you see Emma, pretend you don't know her."

It wasn't that she was ruthless, but the last time she heard about Emma, she was mixing with a bunch of older black men from South City.

Those old black men meant endless trouble.

The Northville Community that Martin chose had a responsible committee, a well-established Neighborhood Defense Alliance, and extremely frequent APD patrols. The house and the guardianship of his siblings were all under Elena's name; there was no need to worry about those troubles.

Not to mention anything else, those unfamiliar black faces showing up in the community would immediately be stopped and questioned by the patrolling APD; any improper move, and it wouldn't be strange to find their magazines emptied.

After dinner, Martin and Elena made an appointment to meet Robert at a nearby bar for drinks.

Perhaps because of Thanksgiving, the bar was not very crowded.

The three of them found a spot to sit down casually and ordered beers to drink slowly.

Robert had gained some weight, his hair neatly combed back, making his head look even larger.

He clinked glasses with Martin and Elena, sharing, "Hollywood is bringing more and more crews to Atlanta to shoot; the scope of our company's business is much larger than before, now we are the largest entertainment agency in Atlanta."

Martin asked casually, "Is Jerome thinking of expanding outward?"

"Neither he nor I have any immediate plans to expand," Robert admitted with modest ambition, "The captain says that in Atlanta we are local bosses; even though CAA and WMA have come, they have to show us some respect. The big six production crews are also very polite to us; once we leave Atlanta, all that would be gone."

Elena said, "It's similar to me. In Atlanta, we live free and easy, but once we leave, we'll face too many difficulties."

Robert agreed and thus admired Martin, "Not everyone is willing to leave the familiar hometown and venture so far away like you."

Perhaps having left too much behind in Atlanta, Martin took a sip of his beer and said, "When I'm old and I've lost the drive to keep striving, I'll settle back in Atlanta. It's actually quite nice here."

Elena glanced at Martin; she could no longer guess his thoughts and was too lazy to try.

The happy education she had received from childhood still influenced Elena; she couldn't see too far ahead nor did she want to. She was very satisfied with her life at the moment.

Robert went on to say, "I've collected a large batch of commemorative Cola Cult first-edition colas; if you need any, just give me a call; I can send them to Los Angeles any time."

Martin pointed to Old Cloth at the entrance of the bar, then glanced at Elena and Robert, commenting, "The Sect Hierarch, the Great Protector, the Holy Woman, and the High Priest, it's like a high-level Cola Cult gathering today."

But Robert was serious, "Now, we are also quite a loose, large organization."

Elena joined in, "The Sect Hierarch still has an exceptionally strong charisma."

This was also a support beyond the film industry.