Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Louis and John
"Beep!" As the sound of a car horn sounded, Jiang Hai saw Philemon in the distance quickly rushing out of the villa, riding a small car, and heading to the gate of the manor. Not long after, he drove an all-terrain vehicle and led a Toyota Camry slowly from the gate of the manor.
Seeing this, Jiang Hai, as the owner of the place, and Robbins and others temporarily put down their work and walked out.
"Just park here!" Philemon directed as he pulled the car into Jiang Hai's parking lot. His smile would probably be wider if it weren't for his ears. Needless to say, it must be his children sitting in the car.
"I haven't seen them for a year. It's impossible to say that I don't miss them," even Philemon, who was a chatterbox, thought to himself.
Hearing Philemon's voice, the car stopped in the parking space, and four people got out.
There were two men and two women, all black. The black man who got out of the driver's seat was a little older. It was difficult for Jiang Hai to judge the age of a black man unless he was truly old. However, this man had a beard, suggesting he was older. He wore a fitted down jacket and looked 70% like Philemon. When he smiled, he showed a mouthful of white teeth.
The man who got out of the co-pilot's seat looked younger, dressed more youthfully. He resembled the high school students in the U.S. that Jiang Hai had seen before, though he was a little more mature than them.
Needless to say, these two were Philemon's eldest and youngest sons.
After the back seat was opened, two women came out. One looked older, with a bookish air about her, while the other was clearly a student.
"Come, let me introduce you to Uncle Robbins and Uncle Burke. Edward doesn't need an introduction. This is Harriman-Fiers, your father's current colleague. This is Jiang Hai, my current boss." As Philemon led them to Jiang Hai's villa and introduced them, he explained that in the U.S., uncles are not called by their first names but as "An Kou," so they should address the three older men that way. As for Harriman, they simply nodded.
When introducing Jiang Hai, they had to come over and shake his hand. After all, this was the person who worked for their father, and they had to remember they were standing on Jiang Hai's territory.
"Boss, these are my two sons. The eldest, Louis Turner, and his girlfriend, Javier Anthony, who is also a teacher at their school. This is my youngest son, John Turner, and his girlfriend, Fitz Shelley." As they shook hands, Philemon introduced his son and future daughter-in-law to Jiang Hai.
"Hello, don't be shy here. Your parents and I are like family, so feel free to treat this place as your home. If possible, stay here for a few more days. Your parents haven't seen you for a while." Jiang Hai spoke in a slightly odd but fluent manner after hearing Philemon's introduction.
The group naturally nodded in agreement. It was still winter vacation, so they had more time to relax compared to other jobs.
Initially, they thought it would be too much trouble, planning to leave after the New Year. However, seeing Jiang Hai's hospitality, they were willing to stay a few more days and enjoy the large manor.
John Turner's girlfriend, in particular, was very curious about the manor, and after a brief greeting, everyone went their separate ways.
On Christmas Eve, people in the U.S. don't have the habit of visiting each other unless they are bachelors like Jiang Hai and his friends. Each person walked into their own room. Philemon's small villa was naturally not comparable to Jiang Hai's, but to Louis Turner and John Turner, it was still very nice.
At least it was better than where they lived. John Turner still stayed in a school dormitory, while Louis Turner had rented a suite in the city center, not far from the school, where he lived with his girlfriend.
Such a small villa was something they would need to work hard for a few years to afford, whether renting or buying.
So, they were quite impressed with this place. The villa wasn't like an ordinary worker's house.
The decoration and layout inside made it feel much more like a home than a temporary residence.
In terms of size, the room Jiang Hai gave Philemon and his family was no smaller than those of the wealthy in the suburbs.
Regardless of whether the other party built these workers' houses for their own wealth or other reasons, the ones benefiting now were Jiang Hai and his employees.
"Dad, your boss doesn't seem very old!" After entering the room and greeting Mrs. Philemon, the two girls went into the kitchen to help, showing their attitude. The men, on the other hand, took off their coats and sat down on the sofa in the living room. As soon as he sat down, Louis Turner curiously asked Philemon.
"Yes, he's not very old. Not even 30, probably around 26 or 27, a few years younger than you, Louis," Philemon answered as he took three bottles of beer from the refrigerator. "That's true, but where did he get the money to buy such a large estate?" Louis asked curiously as he took a beer from Philemon's hand. It was impossible not to be curious. They were about the same age, so how did he have a manor worth hundreds of millions when he was only earning a few thousand dollars a month? It was hard to balance that in his mind.
"I don't know much, but he doesn't seem to be the descendant of Chinese officials or businessmen. He once said that his parents died a year ago. It doesn't seem like he got help from them," Philemon shrugged and smiled as he handed his youngest son a beer.
Hearing his father's words, Louis frowned. Jiang Hai's unknown wealth and identity made him uneasy.
Compared to other people, Louis believed more in one saying: there's no love or hatred without reason in this world. Now that Jiang Hai was being so good to his parents, Louis didn't believe it was purely out of kindness.
So now he was wondering what Jiang Hai's purpose was—what he wanted, where his money came from, and whether it was clean or dirty. He had to admit that sometimes people are overly sentimental.
There's a kind of paranoid delusion: when others are too good to him, he feels suspicious. Shouldn't they treat him badly?
"Don't worry about it, bro. This guy should be a good person. You have to trust your parents' judgment," John Turner, knowing his brother's nature, smiled and patted his shoulder while drinking beer.
"I hope I'm just being too suspicious!" Louis Turner chuckled at himself. Sometimes having a dark heart isn't good. It was because of his suspicions that he quit many jobs and stayed as an assistant coach for the high school basketball team, preferring that over earning more money because he didn't feel safe.
"Of course, you're just being suspicious. Even though I don't know where the boss's money comes from, I'm sure he's a good man, an out-and-out good man. There won't be any problems with his identity." After all, they'd already met the lawyer, so what was there to worry about? In Philemon's eyes, Jiang Hai was just like his sons and nephews—trustworthy.
Philemon patted his eldest son on the shoulder, summarized his thoughts, and then called his two sons to decorate the Christmas tree together. As for Jiang Hai's villa, Jiang Hai didn't know that Philemon's eldest son was questioning his "purpose." In fact, without him saying anything, Jiang Hai also felt his purpose was somewhat unclear because he didn't know what he was going to do.
But compared to his purpose, Philemon's family worked faster at decorating. After all, they were a bunch of old men, not too particular about things. They were quick about it. The Christmas tree had already been set up, and all kinds of small toys and colorful lights had been hung, making it look very festive. As for the food, it was mostly prepared.
The roast turkey Jiang Hai bought was particularly large, and he planned to save it for tomorrow. Today, they ate the one he had hunted in the forest. Along with the turkey, they had roasted beef, lamb chops, fish, shrimp, and cheddar soup, plus some corn porridge.
Christmas Eve is just an extension of Christmas, so today's food wasn't particularly elaborate.
Tomorrow, on the actual holiday, the meal would be more extravagant, but even today, there was plenty of food.
Compared to the neatness of Philemon's family, Jiang Hai's family was much simpler since no one here was religious.
After the meal was ready, they started eating around 2 pm. During the meal, Philemon brought over the gingerbread man made by his wife, which was actually a cookie. Of course, he was inevitably forced to drink a cup of wine.
A few grown men, eating and drinking, naturally made a lot of noise. Unknowingly, the meal lasted until after 10 pm, when everyone finally left. However, before leaving, they had to clean up Jiang Hai's house, which was part of the agreement.