America 1982.

Chapter 39 The way home
"Gentlemen, can we go home and hug each other? How about helping unload the goods? The equal rights movement teaches us that men and women are equal, not that men can blatantly slack off while ladies are working." Melanie stood on the deck and interrupted the two men who were immersed in the father-son relationship.

Seeing his son gently break away from his embrace, Colin Hawke looked at Melonie with dissatisfaction: "Melonie, you haven't been able to get married for so long, you should seriously reflect on whether you are annoying. At least your sister never interrupts a conversation between men."

Melonie rolled her eyes at Colin Hawke and continued to work. "Thanks for your reminder, Colin. Once I get the offer letter from Sinclair Elementary School, I will go on a dating show to see if it's true that I can't get married, as you said."

"There are actually college-educated people on your ship? How is that possible? This is more shocking than the fact that you didn't go to Canada to sell goods." Tommy came back to his senses from the emotion just now and asked his father.

"Carlo?" At this moment, a man wearing thin casual clothes and a tattered coat with his arms folded walked out of the cabin of the KKS. He looked at Tommy Hawke with surprise, and then took a few quick steps forward in the light, and blurted out after making sure he saw Tommy's appearance clearly.

But then those eyes immediately turned to Melonie who was unloading the goods: "And your Aunt Beatrice who was stripping?"

Hearing the word "striptease", all the busy men, even the Italian old man who was at least sixty years old, stopped what they were doing and looked at Melonie following the man's gaze.

"I don't know whether you can get married or not. The only thing I can be sure of is that the people on this ship will definitely be interested in watching your blind date show, Melonie Beatrice." Colin Hawke saw the reactions of the crowd, whistled, and added a stab to Melonie, who was already socially doomed on the spot.

"Mr. Kendrick?" Tommy Hawke looked as if he had seen a ghost: "Why are you on this ship?"

"It's a long story, Carlo..." Seeing Tommy, Will Kendrick showed an awkward smile: "I originally wanted to..."

"Let me introduce the situation, son. Do you know Will? Yes, this guy is the one I just mentioned who went to college and advised me to make a wise choice. He said he is an engineer." Colin Hawke heard Tommy Hawke's words and interrupted Will and introduced himself:

"When we were inspecting the ship's engine before departure, we happened to encounter some minor problems with the coolant. We were about to buy a few more barrels of coolant to prevent accidents during sailing. Then this guy appeared on the dock and asked us if we knew Carlo Leon and a lady named Beatrice. They were his only two friends in Warwick. He was a little bored today, so he came to Warwick to look around and hoped to find them to go on a picnic, barbecue or go fishing. I told him that I knew everything about Warwick and of course I knew who those two people were. If he wanted me to tell him, then he had to buy two barrels. The coolant was given to us as a consulting fee. This guy came over and took a look at the cooler and said that there was no need to replace the coolant. He knew how to repair it. Then, while helping us repair it, he boasted that he could help the company save a lot of unnecessary expenses every year. Rocco also praised his repair skills. So for the sake of insurance on this voyage and to save some repair costs, we decided to take him out to sea for a ride. We told him that as long as he accompanied us on a trip, we would take him to see Carlo Leon and Beatrice when we came back. Then this bored guy thought we were just going out to sea for fishing and simply agreed. "

"Dad, are you suspected of deceiving and abducting...an adult male?" Tommy covered his forehead and spoke to his dad in a low voice.

Colin Hawke glanced at Will Kendrick, whose eyes were shining at Melonie, and said to his son, "No, maybe what happened just now was a lie. After all, this ride was indeed a bit long, and we rejected his request to go back to his company's processing ship to rest while the fishing boat was loading. But now it seems that my action of stopping him from going back to the processing ship was a manifestation of keeping my word and fulfilling my promise. Although I didn't expect that the Carlo Leon and Beatrice he kept talking about were you and Melonie."

As he spoke, he turned to Will Kendrick who was passing by and said, "Are you satisfied, Mr. Will?"

"Except that the ride lasted a little long, of course, of course I'm satisfied. You can do what you say, Mr. Hawke. There are not many people in this society who are honest and trustworthy. But next time if the ride lasts too long, please tell me in advance so that I can prepare some thick clothes to keep warm. I always subconsciously think of every sea as Miami. Hi, Carlo, wait until I say hello to your Aunt Beatrice before we chat." Will Kendrick had already walked towards Melanie, who had not yet recovered from her social slumber. When he heard Colin Hawke's question, he said without turning his head.

Colin Hawke spread his hands and shrugged at Tommy. Tommy rolled his eyes speechlessly: "If you hadn't met me, what would you say to him?"

"Don't worry, I've already thought of the answer. I'll introduce him to Morin's younger brother Carlo Morin and Green's 67-year-old mother, Mrs. Beatrice Green." Colin Hawke stated his original plan bluntly.

Tommy lowered his head and sighed, "I think I'd better go talk to Mr. Will and ask him to keep it a secret for us."

"No need. Look at the expression he gave Melonie. Not to mention leaking secrets, maybe if Melonie asked him to help sell these goods to Canada, he would agree without hesitation. When I first met your mother, I also had the same expression as he does now, like a dog in heat."

Tony walked over from the Italian's boat at this time. Seeing that Tommy and his father had obviously relaxed a lot, he breathed a sigh of relief: "Well done, Dad. You are not controlled by money just like me. Although I am puzzled why you made the right choice, it doesn't matter anymore. As long as it is right, it's good enough."

"Come here, the most loyal and reliable son of this family." Colin opened his arms, hugged his two sons one by one, looked at the vast sea, and said loudly: "Of course it is the right choice. There is no doubt that we have made the right choice for each other and for our family."

"How many boxes of cigarettes are there on the ship?" Tommy asked, while being hugged by his father and looking at the cargo piled on the ship.

"Three hundred boxes, Thomas one hundred boxes, I one hundred boxes, and the others jointly invest one hundred boxes." Colin Hawke grinned happily when talking about the quantity.

"Where did you get the money to buy a hundred boxes of goods?" Tommy asked in disbelief. "Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for you and Mr. Morin to pool your money to buy a hundred glasses of cheap beer in a small bar."

Tony also spoke up: "I'm curious about this question too."

"Boys, I always have to leave some stories for you on the way back." Colin Hawke let go of his two sons, turned around, put his fingers in his mouth and blew a loud whistle, and shouted to the old fellows who came here because of his reputation: "Boys! Help the guests load the goods onto the ship, and then go home!"

……

On the return trip of the KKS, Mr. Maureen took over the driving from Tony. Tony, carrying a bottle of wine, and he and Tommy, wearing thick coats, sat side by side on the deck, leaning back slightly, looking at the night sky and stars above that were gradually disappearing as the sun was about to rise.

Mr. Rocco Wadman, Mr. Wilson and Mr. Green were driving the DTF behind the left side of the fishing boat.

Everyone else was resting with their eyes closed in the cockpit, including Mr. Will Kendrick, who had been the most excited before. He was now leaning against the cabin opposite Melonie, dozing off. Melonie, who was separated from him by an aisle, was wrapped in a cotton coat, biting a piece of unfinished biscuit, and just leaning against the bulkhead, she fell into a deep sleep without any image.

Colin Hawke counted the bills in his hand, and after confirming that they were correct, he put them neatly into his backpack, then walked out of the cockpit and came to the deck. He sat next to his two sons who were preparing to enjoy the sunrise over the sea, handed the backpack to Tommy Hawke, then lowered his head to take out a cigarette, lit it and took a puff, and said with emotion: "It's all in there. This is the most money I've ever touched in my life. I counted it seven times, a total of 145,000 yuan. Those Canadian cigarette dealers are really rich."

"Why leave it all to me?" Tommy Hawke opened the backpack and took a look, then asked his father in confusion.

Colin Hawke, imitating his two sons, supported his hands behind his back. "When I was counting the bills for the fourth time, Melonie told me that it would be best to give the money to you to pay the tax. It was the first time I knew that I had to pay taxes to the American government, which had no sense of participation from the beginning to the end, when I bought a batch of cigarettes on the high seas and sold them on another high seas. Now I finally understand why the Soviet Union wanted to attack the United States. It's a pity that I am not the powerful Soviet Union, otherwise I would have bombed those shameless people in the White House long ago. Well, now I can only let you, my son, find a way to pay the damn tax. Maureen, Green, Waldman and others agree with me. No one wants to cause trouble, and they all trust you now. They think your plan is better and more reliable than their father who has been commanding them for many years. Only Wilson disagrees. He insists on depositing the money directly into the bank himself to see if anyone dares to take his money. But in the end, he was persuaded by us and gave up that stupid idea."

"Without tax records and unable to explain the source, if you rashly deposit the money in a bank, it will soon be investigated, the money will eventually be taken away, and you may even be thrown into jail." Tommy Hawke smiled and said, "Mr. Wilson was right to give up the idea."

Tony picked up the bottle and took a sip, then handed it to Tommy and chuckled, "So how is it possible that there is no one who doesn't want to beat up that bitch America? It did nothing but rob us poor people of our hard-earned money." "Now can you tell me where you and Mr. Morin got the money, Dad?" Tommy Hawke took the bottle, tilted his head back and took a sip, then handed the whiskey to his dad with a smell of alcohol.

Colin Hawke held a bottle of wine in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth, looking at the place in the distance where the first ray of sunlight was about to appear: "Ruby."

"I should have guessed it. There's no doubt about it."

"Yeah, I should have guessed Dad's only way to raise funds."

Seeing that both of his sons had the look of having guessed it a long time ago, Colin Hawke said unhappily, "Hey! It's not what you two think. I told Ruby that if I wanted to borrow 20,000 dollars but didn't want my house to be taken away when I couldn't pay it back, was there any way to solve it? Ruby is a very good person. He gave me a suggestion. He said that there is a medical center in Boston that is looking for someone to do AIDS research recently. They are willing to pay 50,000 dollars to the healthy male who volunteers to be studied by them, and provide free lifelong medical services. After the drug is developed, the guy's name may be recorded in medical history. In addition, the doctor can help me keep some tadpoles for future reproduction before I am studied. Ruby said that it seems that after being studied, there will be no How could a woman be willing to have a child with me? Although I don't mess around, my charm is obvious to all. I knew it was a lie. Then Ruby meant to lend me 20,000 yuan. If I paid it back on time with interest, everyone would be happy. If I couldn't pay it back, I would have to send myself or someone he found to send me to a medical center for research. To be honest, after hearing that, I wanted to choose the second option directly. This money seemed to fall from the sky. I told him that if I returned safely but lost the money, I would let them research it myself. If I couldn't return, I would let the medical center research my uncle who lived in the countryside of Worcester, Massachusetts. It just so happened that while the medical center was researching him, they could also help cure his hearing loss that had troubled him for many years for free."

"Shit! Fortunately, we got the money and returned safely." Tommy Hawke breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this: "Dad, are you sure you know what AIDS is?"

"Of course I know, kid. Don't look at your father like that. I know everything. I heard from the bartender Keith that only white people who sleep with niggers will get that disease. If they don't sleep with niggers, they won't be infected. The reason why this disease is prevalent in New York is that there are too many niggers there and the white people don't love themselves enough. So go ahead and study me, I will never sleep with a nigger and make myself sick." Colin Hawke took a sip of wine and said in an affirmative tone.

"Maybe the medical center will take you away, inject you with anesthetic first, and then throw you to a nigger. That way you won't know whether anything happened between you and the nigger, Dad." Tony thought about it seriously, then looked at the two of them and told them a possibility he had thought of.

Colin Hawke was speechless. He thought for a moment with a serious face, then patted Tony on the shoulder and said, "You're right, Tony. It's very likely. Fortunately, he succeeded in making money. Otherwise...Oh my God, my poor uncle. I can't imagine that scene. If it really happened, even if I help to cure his hearing loss for free, I guarantee that he will never forgive me until his death."

Tommy Hawke couldn't help laughing when he heard the absurd but extremely serious conversation between his father and brother.

"What are you laughing at, Tommy?" Tony Hawk asked in confusion, "This is very likely to happen. Remember when you went to the dentist as a kid? The doctor injected some anesthetics to make you unconscious, and you didn't even feel anything when he pulled out your wisdom teeth. Maybe they are going to deal with Dad in this way, sending a nigger to hide nearby, and wait for Dad to fall into a coma..."

"No, no, no, I'm not laughing at your analysis. I just think this may be the most exciting thing I or the Hawke family have done since my mother passed away. It is worth remembering for the rest of my life." Tommy Hawke explained with a smile.

Tony nodded in understanding: "Indeed, this is the most exciting thing since Mom passed away, right, Dad?"

Colin Hawke held a cigarette in his mouth and said calmly: "For me, this may be the second most exciting thing after your mother left me. You know I will never lie to you."

"So you are the most exciting..." Tony wanted to ask curiously.

"Tony, family comes first." Tommy Hawke suddenly had an idea and interrupted Tony. He pointed at the red sun that jumped out of the sea and spread its light to everything in sight and said, "Just enjoy this beautiful and quiet morning. Don't ask any more questions."

"Your mother must be very happy to hear you say that, son." Dad patted Tommy Hawke's shoulder gently and said with some surprise and some relief.

Then he raised his head and took a sip of whiskey, looking at the sun rising slowly over the sea, and playing a soothing and melodious folk song. Tony looked at his father and brother, and finally looked into the distance. Slowly, his brows slightly wrinkled due to curiosity gradually relaxed, and finally his lips curled up, revealing a smile the same color as the sun on his face: "Yeah, family comes first, for mom."

In the early morning glow and with pleasant whistles, the fishing boat carrying the men of the Hawke family headed closer and closer to home.

(Volume 1: FOE Family First Completed)

Author's words: I'm worried that the word count below won't fit, so I write it here. It hasn't been put up on the shelves yet anyway, so it won't take up the paid word count.

Uh... this is my first time writing about this kind of subject matter, and also the first time I’ve tried to write some stories that are not so paranoid and intense. I’ve written some daily life and practiced how to write plots without relying solely on strong confrontations. Because according to the reviews, it seems that my ability to write about daily life and emotions has always been zero.

Before I wrote this paragraph, I just saw some readers in the book review section say they gave up on the book. I'm sorry. My first attempt at writing about family relationships did not give those who gave up on the book a good reading experience. I'm really sorry.

I don't understand the United States, and I'm not very good at writing about family interactions. Or rather, I'm not good at writing about everyday plots at all. I'm only used to writing about strong conflicts. This book is also an attempt to change my thinking, practice my writing skills, and try my best to write about some plots that I'm not good at but need to learn so that I can improve. It's like an exercise book, recording whether I have made any progress.

Fortunately, the author is a newcomer, and everyone has continued to show care and tolerance to me as a newcomer, accepting or tolerating my arbitrary and pretentious pseudo-American graffiti.

Initially, I wanted to use the first volume of about 100,000 words to write about a family. The family is not perfect and has various shortcomings, but the family members actually care about each other. At the end of the first volume, the family members reconciled, but judging from the feedback that some readers abandoned the book, it was obviously messed up. Maybe I designed it very well in my mind, but the story that was finally presented disappointed everyone. After all, the author's personal level is limited. I can only hope that I will learn from my mistakes and write better stories for you as entertainment in the future.

This book wants to try to write a story that is not so exaggerated, not so crazy, similar to the American TV series season by season, full of coincidences, drama, absurdity, but there is no need to worry about 404. The reason why I say this is that I also want to humbly make a final reservation for all the gentlemen who have abandoned the book. The story of the next volume is not very related to the previous one. If you are not in a hurry, you can take a look at it after scolding it and add a follow-up reading. After all, if you follow-up reading too many books, you will easily be advised by the editor to finish the book quickly...

Here is the answer time: First, the title of the book, America 1982 and American Entertainment 1982. After consideration, I finally chose the latter, which obviously shows the author's big-picture aesthetic. (Please be gentle when scolding, it was actually chosen by the editor.)
Second: American Entertainment. The plot of American Entertainment will not appear for a long time, maybe with two volumes of stories in between, and I know nothing about American Entertainment now. The original idea has no strong connection with American Entertainment. It is more like an absurd and rough American period novel, but the editor suggested to be safe and not to do stupid things, so it is better to make it look like an American Entertainment novel. Yes, I will do American Entertainment after I go to college. You are welcome to provide me with some divergent ideas about American Entertainment. Recently, there are too many things at home, and I haven’t had time to design related plots.

Third: It will not involve gangs or any violent plots. The first half of the book is about a normal person who travels through time and becomes a normal poor person, and then works hard to become a rich normal person, realizing the inspirational American dream. In the nightmare part of the second half of the book, the author will also try hard to learn to write well about the commercial struggles and daily scenes in the American entertainment industry, and be a conscientious capitalist in the United States who does not think about fighting and killing at every turn and wins people over with virtue.

Fourth: Many readers are curious about why one has to go to college after rebirth instead of using the power of prophecy to start a business and rise rapidly. I do not deny that one can make money without studying after rebirth. I just think that it seems easier to start a business after getting into college, and the environment is better. After all, there is a developed alumni network around you, and it is easier to find investment or like-minded partners than to fight alone in a remote small town. Of course, this is also my personal idea. I just say it casually. Another reason is that I don’t want to write too many stories in the first volume about using gray means to accumulate the first pot of gold. I write about those that I am better at, but I still want to focus on training my weak daily emotional communication, plot description and other issues. After all, I have never written about this subject before, and I am not very good at writing daily life. I have made up my mind that because it is a new subject and a new attempt, the results may fail. I am writing with the idea that even if I can’t make any royalties, it is good to improve my writing skills.

Fifth: Some readers asked me about the reference materials for this book. Let me say again that my understanding of the United States comes from American movies and TV dramas. I have never been to the United States, so the information in the book is not of any reference value. Please don't take it seriously. The movies and TV dramas that you and I have watched should overlap. I will only list a small number of American 1980s dramas that are not common in China, such as "Hill Street Blues", "The Cosby Show", "The Golden Age", "Seinfeld", "Hotel Transylvania", "Everybody Hates Chris", "Family Ties", and "The Carrie Diaries". Interested readers can go and have a look, but some of them do not have Chinese subtitles, so you can only make your own machine-translated subtitles. The translation quality is enough to make people dumbfounded. At most, you can look at the characteristics of the era of clothing and costumes. Don't ask why, I am the one who is dumbfounded by the machine-translated subtitles.

Okay, that’s about it. Thank you all for your company during this period. Now let’s move on to the second volume of this book: Knocking on Heaven’s Door.

Welcome to watch, thank you everyone.

(End of this chapter)