Derek held the steaming teacup and sat awkwardly among a group of Indians. He looked around. The woman was wearing a shawl with complicated patterns, and the man was wearing a bolo tie. This was an Indian gathering, and what Derek knew was that the Gale and his wife, who had just returned from their trip, invited friends to share their travel experiences.
If it were just like this, Derek wouldn't be so restless. The enthusiastic Mrs. Wind also wanted to use this gathering of people to do Derek a favor.
Derek found Sibella in the kitchen. He raised his hand and forced himself to finish the hot tea in the cup. He raised his hand to the Indian next to him and pointed at the empty cup. "Haha, I'll go get another cup. Haha, do you need it?"
The people around him took a look at this guy who obviously didn't belong here and didn't bother to respond.
Derek no longer hesitated, quickly stood up and walked to the kitchen.
"Ah, Derek." Sibella was looking for snacks on the silver dinner plate. When she saw Derek coming over, she smiled, "Is everyone here? Let's go give everyone snacks."
"Ah, about this..." Derek put down the cup and lowered his voice in embarrassment to the woman in front of him, "Do I have to stay here?" He saw doubts starting to appear on Sibella's face and quickly pressed the button. Sibella's shoulder, "Oh, Mrs. Gale, don't get me wrong..."
Derek looked at the Indians who were already sitting in the living room, turned back, and said seriously to Sibella, "I am very grateful to Madam for letting me, a stranger, take a ride, and also very grateful to Madam for letting me stay temporarily. Of course I am also very grateful to my wife for being willing to help me, but I don’t think I should continue to trouble... "
Sibella smiled, patted Derek's arm with her thin palm, "Oh~" her tone changed, "What a nice young man, I'm happy to help." Sibella's face was full of smiles. "It's no trouble! I'm glad you're here."
Young man? Derek had an indescribable feeling. He was not young, and this title was rarely used on him anymore. "Ah, thank you. But Madam, I..."
"Come on!" Sibella took Derek's arm and walked to the living room. "Can you hold my plate for me?"
"Uh, okay." Derek realized that he couldn't hide, so he reluctantly picked up the plate and kept smiling so as not to embarrass this kind woman.
"Is everyone here?" Sibella walked into the crowded living room, looked around like a host, and asked.
"Walker hasn't arrived yet." Corden glanced at him and replied.
"Oh, hehe." Sibella held Derek's arm. Patting the other person's arm, "He's always late. Let's wait a little longer."
Derek stared at a room full of Indians, smiled uncomfortably, and was pushed back to his seat by Sibella.
The atmosphere was a little strange, and many people looked at Derek with doubtful eyes, and then turned to Sibella. They are all wondering about one thing, what is this guy doing here
The door was pushed open, and a well-dressed man stepped inside. Except for a face that was clearly Indian. His clothes are incompatible with the people here. He glanced at the living room that was already full of people and nodded towards the people he knew. Finally, he looked at the owner in the middle, Sibella, with an unfriendly expression, "Hayate, I'm here."
Steve Walker stood directly at the door, as if he had no intention of actually entering. "I don't care what you want to do. Just finish it quickly. I have something else to do." He raised his hand. He made an urging gesture.
Derek finally found a guy who also didn't want to be here, but unfortunately he was also an Indian.
"Oh, Steve!" Sibella stood up, "Can you be more polite? Didn't you see we have a guest here?" She pointed at Derek, who looked awkward.
"Don't call me Steve. Walker!" Steve frowned, "I'm not that familiar with you." But Steve's eyes fell on Derek's face. Putting aside the obvious embarrassment, this is a face that should not appear on such occasions, "Who is this again?"
Sibella smiled and pulled Derek, "Oh! Look, I haven't even been formally introduced. In fact, while everyone is here today, I want to ask you for a favor!"
Derek was pulled by Sibella and stood up uncomfortably. A dozen pairs of deep (Indian silhouettes) eyes stared at him, making him nervous unconsciously. "Hi!" He looked at everyone first. Waving his hand, "I'm Derek, Derek Grande..."
"Wait." The interruption was Steve who was standing at the door and unwilling to step in. He stretched out his arms and waved, his face full of doubts, "What did you say? Grande?"
"Do you know Grande?" Derek looked at the other person, so he ignored the Indians around him who began to exchange glances with each other.
Before Steve could continue to ask, Derek turned his head away from Sibella with a smile on his face, "Look, I told you, more people help, right! We will help you find your family!" "
Derek opened his mouth, then smiled reluctantly, "Yeah, I..."
Sibella seemed very happy and raised her voice, "Derek came to Barton to look for his family!"
Derek was even more embarrassed, standing at a loss among a group of Indians looking at each other.
"Oh!" Sibella patted Derek's arm, "I know, I know." She used the indulgent expression that elders often show to their juniors, "Go, go! I know you don't have the intention to stay. Here, go! Go ask the traveler who doesn’t want to stay here about Grande! You can come back and thank me later!”
Then Sibella pushed Derek towards the door.
Derek hesitantly walked past the crowded Indians and glanced at Sibella. This overly enthusiastic old woman said thank you against her will and walked towards Steve, who was frowning.
Steve looked at the smile deliberately placed on Sibella's face, twitched the corner of his mouth, opened the door again, and hugged Derek who was coming, "Let's talk outside."
The house of Mr. and Mrs. Hayate is the same as when they left it, with a squeaky front porch that has been neglected, mottled and peeling paint on the walls, and a small front yard that feels unusually prosperous under the cover of weeds. The two stepped out and looked at the cars that had been parked all over the road. Steve tilted his head towards the car at the end of the road and said, "Go to my car and talk."
"Let's be clear first!" Derek walked beside Steve and didn't bother to look at this person. "Uh, Walker. Steve. Walker, right?"
Steve turned his head and looked at the other person, "Just Steve." He added lightly, "If you really belong to Grande, 'family'."
"Well, about that." Derek frowned. "First of all, I don't want to disturb Grande's life now, and I don't want to inquire about anything. I just came to see the person who made me." He twitched the corners of his mouth and his voice became softer, "Father, if you follow common sense Let’s talk…”
Steve looked at the strange-looking man, thought for a moment, and frowned. "What the hell are you?"
Weird way of asking questions. What is it? Vampires, werewolves, skinchangers...that's where Steve's question really goes. Let's take a look at the answer he got.
"Completely forgotten bastard (illegitimate child), obviously." Derek lowered his head and shook his head, "Sibella told me that Grande is now run by two brothers." He paused for a moment, "Strictly speaking , I am their, uh, brother." He shook his head again. "So, if I really have to go find them, I should do it myself."
Derek glanced at Steve with a wry smile, "I guess you should be friends with them, right? I don't want them to have a bad impression of me. So believe me, I don't want to find out anything through their friends. .”
Steve opened his mouth and nodded slowly, "Me." He thought for a moment, "I believe you. Get in the car."
Steve's car is a Jeep. The center of gravity is higher than that of an ordinary car, allowing the two people in the car to have an unobstructed view across the roofs of cars parked on the entire street in front, taking in the declining Paisiying.
The two men, who were strangers, sat side by side in silence, looking around.
"Aren't you from Barton?" Steve said.
"No. It's not." Derek immediately replied, "It's my first time in Barton." He added, "The first time I can remember."
"Oh." Steve nodded. He wasn't sure what he wanted to get out of the other person's mouth, but what he knew was that no matter what Sibella was paying attention to, Grande's two people still didn't know it at all. Affection. He can completely walk away and ignore it now, or he can do what any businessman should do and look for benefits that he can exploit.
Steve waved his hands around, frowning, with a look of disgust on his face, "This place, this shabby place, cannot represent Barton. This is..."
"Pai Siying." Derek seemed to realize the other party's intention and smiled, "Sibella told me, this is not a prosperous place in Barton."
Steve turned his body sideways and stared at Derek, "How did you meet Sibella?" He spread his hands, "Pure curiosity."
"Oh, that's right." Derek smiled, "They gave me a ride. If it weren't for them, I might have to walk all night before I could enter Barton West."
"That's it?" Steve raised an eyebrow, "They picked you up on the side of the road?"
"Haha." Derek smiled, "You can say that."
Steve shook his head, "Don't you think there's something weird about them?"
Derek had a strange look on his face. After thinking for a moment, he remembered that this Steve didn't seem to like the Gale couple very much, so he smiled awkwardly and said, "Sorry, I don't feel anything."
"Hmph, I'll tell you directly." Steve snorted, "Hayate is not a good guy, you'd better stay away from them."
Derek frowned, "They were very nice to me and overzealous, I admit it, but I don't think they are bad people."
Steve sneered and said nothing more. He opened the small box in the middle of the seat, flipped through it, and took out a business card. "If you want to visit Grande, you'd better hurry up. I don't want to be a The one who inexplicably leaked the news and told them that he had a brother."
Derek took the business card, which had Zachary Grande's name and the address of Grande Funeral Home printed on it.
"Thank you." Derek stared at the business card.
"And!" Steve suddenly remembered something and used a teasing tone, "If you can, mention me and make it clear. I don't want to be guessing the next time I see the two Grande brothers. Have they seen their brother? It’s not good for friendship!”
Derek nodded in understanding. Such dramatic family events can easily distract people from relationships. I don’t know if Grande’s brothers will feel disgusted after knowing that he actually came into contact with their friends. Derek sighed helplessly, it would have been nice if he hadn't met this over-zealous couple last night.
In Derek's mind, an old car appeared in the night. It slowly stopped on the side of the road and waved friendly to him who had been walking by the road for who knows how long. "Young man! Look at you! You're so tired." Come on! Are you going to Barton? You're so lucky to get in the car! The back seat is spacious enough for you to sleep comfortably!"
Derek smiled and shook his head. It was not bad. He should be lucky to meet such a kind person on the side of the road in the middle of the night. (..)