America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 270 Thanksgiving is Good Friday

Atlanta, Northville community.

In the small courtyard, Martin dragged out the barbecue grill, his legs buckled, and he almost fell into the mud pit. He yelled towards the tool shed, "Hall, you idiot, what can you do besides cracking Earth? Can't you improve a little?!"

Hall peeked out from the tool shed, about to say that Lily had done it, when he saw the young lady standing at the door, staring coldly at him.

As the younger brother who had been bullied by his two older sisters for many years, Hall wisely chose to keep quiet.

The main reason is that the young lady has been practicing carving for a long time, so she has a lot of strength in her hands. When she punches someone on the head, it hurts much more than when the older woman hits her.

Martin, cleaning the grill, yelled, "Idiot, don't just stand there, drag the charcoal out to dry."

Hall had a million curses he wanted to utter, but he didn't dare say them aloud. All he could do was drag out a large bag of charcoal and place it in a spot where the sun could shine directly on it.

Before she could even catch her breath after finishing, Lily called out, "Hall, go to the kitchen and cut some meat."

Hall lowered his head, washed his hands, and went into the kitchen to work.

While others celebrate Thanksgiving, he celebrates Good Friday.

Martin set up the barbecue grill, and Lily came over and said, "I've carved a lot of things with the materials you mailed. Would you like to come to my room and take a look?"

"What?" Martin asked.

Lily tugged at his rolled-up sleeves: "You'll see when you see it."

Martin followed her into the house and went straight up to the second floor.

Lily opened the door and invited, "Come in."

As Martin entered, the most eye-catching thing in Lily's room was the worktable, which was covered with countless shelves, densely packed with various carvings.

The carvings are mainly made of cow horns, stones, and wood, and feature clowns, insects, and various handicrafts.

Martin even saw a miniature version of the kettle.

Lily proudly presented a beautifully carved wooden box, which, when opened, revealed a house with five tiny figures standing inside.

Martin could distinguish them by their appearances as Elena, Harris, Lily, Hall, and himself.

Lily pushed the car in front of Martin, beaming, "This is our family. Don't we look alike?"

Downstairs, at the entrance to the courtyard, a black BMW 7 Series was parked on the side of the road. Elena, who had bought a roast turkey, got out of the car and found that no one was in the courtyard.

She entered the house and saw Hall cleaving meat with gritted teeth. She asked, "Where are Lily and Martin?"

Hall pointed the knife upwards toward the roof and said deliberately, "Going upstairs, Lily said she has something good to show Martin."

Upon hearing this, Elena casually put down the packaged turkey and dashed upstairs, her boots clattering rapidly on the wooden stairs.

"Fuck! Those two bastards!" she cursed under her breath, rushed upstairs, turned the corner, and found Lily's door open. Her heart immediately relaxed a little.

Elena walked to the doorway and saw Martin standing in the middle of the house like a model, while Lily sat at the workbench with a carving knife, quickly sculpting with clay.

Hearing hurried footsteps, Lily turned around and gave her older sister a sweet smile: "I'm making a realistic sculpture for Martin."

Elena came to the door, crossed her arms, leaned against the door frame, and said, "You two idiots, hurry up, I've brought the turkey back."

Lily said, "Harris isn't back yet, so let's not worry."

Martin pointed downstairs and shouted, "Hall, the meat's all cut. Marinate it with the sauce I made."

Hall was furious: "Am I the only one doing all the work in this house? That's not fair!"

Elena yelled, "If I tell you to do something, then do it quickly and stop talking nonsense!"

Downstairs in the kitchen, the sound of chopping meat echoed loudly.

Elena showed no intention of leaving, waiting until Lily finished sculpting the basic shape before calling Martin downstairs together.

The two prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for the evening.

Lily didn't move, patiently refining the carving in her hands.

Once the footsteps had completely disappeared from the stairs, she put down her carving knife, took out a document containing information about the California Institute of the Arts.

If she wanted to go, that idiot Martin could get her a letter of recommendation; grades didn't even matter.

Back when we lived in the Clayton neighborhood, it was so hard for Harris to get into college.

Lily's gaze swept over the separate, newly decorated room, and then through the window at the lush, green courtyard; she knew things were different now.

She also knew very well where all these changes came from.

The sound of a car door closing came from outside; Harris had rushed back from the university.

Upstairs, Lily continued carving.

Downstairs, Elena unpacked the turkey and further processed the semi-finished product.

Harris and Hall were in charge of skewering the meat, while Martin placed the skewers on the grill and brushed them with oil and seasoning.

As darkness fell, a meal of turkey, roast meat, fruit salad, and cold vegetable salad was placed on the table.

Martin, Elena, and three others sat around the dining table, enjoying a sumptuous dinner together.

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

Lily brought over a case of Coke and placed a bottle in front of everyone.

Harris opened the letter first and said to Martin, "Tonight, let's pay our respects to the High Priest."

Elena was the first to pick up her glass and clink glasses with Martin.

Martin clinked glasses with each of the four people and said, "Wishing us all the best."

Elena chimed in, "It's getting better and better!"

The five of them drank Coke and started eating together, chatting as they ate. They all tacitly avoided talking about Hollywood or work, instead reminiscing about happy times in the Clayton neighborhood.

Martin, concerned about the youngest in the family, asked, "How are Hall's grades?"

Elena said with concern, "It's just so-so. I feel it will be quite difficult to get into a good university."

Martin thought for a moment and said, "Let's hire a strict tutor for him."

Hall felt like crying. He put down his knife and fork, downed half a can of Coke in one gulp, and muttered, "Can't you guys be a little nicer to me on Thanksgiving?"

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

Martin joked, "Don't worry, I'll find you a beautiful female tutor."

"That's a good idea!" Hall cheered, raising both hands. "Martin, it's a deal: a beautiful and sexy female tutor!"

Elena looked at Martin and Hall and said, "Do you want someone to go to jail?"

Her phone rang. She wiped her hands with a napkin and answered, "Scott, what's up? It's Thanksgiving today. If you'd like to come over, I'll allow you."

Scott, on the other end, said, "A party? Knowing you guys are doing well is enough for me. I'm not going."

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

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

The two didn't say much and quickly hung up the phone.

Lily immediately asked, "Is it him?"

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

Harris chimed in, "He's more reliable than Emma."

Martin knew they were talking about Scott. Perhaps Sophia's training had worked. He had heard Hart and others say that Scott had kicked his alcoholism and almost stopped using drugs.

What is this? Some kind of strange power of love?

Lily thought of her mother and said, "I wonder how Emma is doing."

Elena cautioned, "I told you, don't mention her again." She had already 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 solemnly warned, "If you don't want our lives to be ruined, pretend you don't know Emma even if you see her."

It wasn't that she was heartless, but the last time she learned about Emma's situation, she found out that Emma was hanging out with a group of black men from the south of the city.

Those black men represent endless trouble.

Martin chose a Northville neighborhood with a responsible community council, a well-established neighborhood defense alliance, and frequent APD patrols. Elena also had custody of the house and her younger siblings, so there was no need to worry about any troublesome issues.

Putting aside everything else, if those unfamiliar black men appear in the community, they will immediately be questioned by the patrolling APD. If they dare to make any extra movements, it is not uncommon for their magazines to be emptied.

After dinner, Martin and Elena met up with Robert and went to a bar near the neighborhood for drinks.

Perhaps because of Thanksgiving, there weren't many people in the bar.

The three of them found a place to sit down and ordered beer to drink slowly.

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

He clinked glasses with Martin and Elena and said, "More and more Hollywood crews are coming to Atlanta to film, and the company's business is much larger than before. It's now the largest entertainment agency in Atlanta."

Martin casually asked, "Is Jerome interested in expanding his business elsewhere?"

"Neither he nor I have any plans to expand outwards for the time being." Robert's ambitions are not great: "According to the team leader, we are the local big shots in Atlanta. Even if CAA and WMA come, they have to give us some face. The crews of the six major studios also treat us very politely. Once we leave Atlanta, all of that will be gone."

Elena said, "It's similar to me. We live freely in Atlanta, but once we leave, we encounter too many difficulties."

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

"Perhaps too much is left in Atlanta," Martin said, taking a sip of beer. "When I get old and lose the motivation to keep striving, I'll settle down in Atlanta. It's actually quite nice here."

Elena glanced at Martin; she couldn't guess what he was thinking, and she didn't care to.

The joyful education she received from a young age has always influenced Elena; she doesn't look too far ahead or think too much about the future, and she is very satisfied with her current life.

Robert added, "I have a large collection of the first Coca-Cola commemorative editions. If you need them, just give me a call and I can send them to Los Angeles anytime."

Martin pointed to Old Brooks at the bar entrance, then looked at Elena and Robert, and said, "The leader, the great protector, the saintess, and the high priest, today is quite a gathering of the high-ranking members of the Cola Cult."

Robert, however, was quite serious: "Now we're a relatively loosely organized large organization."

Elena chimed in, "The cult leader has an exceptionally strong appeal."

This is also a boost outside of the film industry.

(End of this chapter)