Chapter 5816: Chapter 4839: Home Alone (19)
"This isn’t a good place," Steve said, "Not now, and even more so back then. I’d like to believe the Stark Family wasn’t deeply involved, but you must know the secrets here."
"Knowing doesn’t mean anything," Stark looked at him and said, "Since we didn’t collude back then, we definitely won’t now. I had Shiller buy a house here, not to drag him into the water. You know, it’s always him dragging the whole world into Hell."
"That’s exactly why I need to remind you," Steve said, "Growing up here, it’s normal to have some psychological shadows, I totally understand. But burning this place to the ground isn’t wise."
"Who said I would burn this place to the ground?"
"You got Shiller here, isn’t that why?" Steve pointed out, "The secrets of this place aren’t secrets, even I as an outsider know them. It won’t be long before Shiller finds out, and then he’ll definitely cause some big commotion. What will be left of this place?"
"Shiller is much better now," Stark said helplessly, "Otherwise, why didn’t I persuade him to buy a house here before? You must also admit, the situation here needs solving, and none of us can do it better than him."
Stark gave Steve one last look, then turned and went upstairs. Steve sighed in front of the stairs, just about to follow Stark when he suddenly saw on the decorative mirror in the hallway the figure of a girl dressed in a waiter’s outfit holding a tray.
Steve paused slightly. When he looked again, the figure was already gone, but it was definitely not an illusion. He recognized the girl’s outfit, that light green professional dress was once worn by waiters at a Hampton vacation manor.
Steve took two steps at a time upstairs. Others had already made a round, and this place had all the rooms an estate should have, including a library, study, parlor, and guest rooms. Almost every window outside had a view of the sea, with the blue of the ocean and the gold of the morning light intermingling.
Bucky came out from the library and saw Steve standing in the hallway staring at him. Bucky walked over, put his arm around Steve’s shoulder, and asked, "What did you two talk about?"
"Do you still remember Sweet Vacation Manor?" Steve suddenly asked.
"Oh, you mean that resort out at the far end of South Fork?" Bucky fell into a reverie, thought for a while, then said, "I remember they had quite a promotion in Brooklyn at the time, and I even passed the interview, but why I didn’t go work there, I’ve forgotten."
"That’s because you overslept on your first day of work," Steve remembered his black history very clearly, "That morning you dashed past my door like a frantic wombat. Then less than two hours later, you came back dejected because they don’t want lazy bones that are late."
Bucky sighed deeply and said, "It must’ve been because Sally dragged me out drinking, that’s why I overslept. Otherwise, I was probably tinkering with the radio. If I’d gotten that job back then, we might’ve afforded an old Dodge..."
"The pay there was indeed high," Steve said, "And there were mandatory tips, you’d often easily get a dollar or two. But it’s a good thing you didn’t end up going."
"Why’s that?"
"Don’t you remember? That place didn’t even last two years before it shut down. It was quite the scandal, I heard from Mrs. Evan that they found some unknown bacteria in the manor’s tap water system, the water source was polluted, causing many guests to fall ill, which led to its closure."
Bucky nodded and said, "Then it’s good I didn’t go, I wouldn’t want to get a stomachache... But why did you suddenly bring this up?"
"Do you remember what kind of people they hired?"
"How could I remember that?" Bucky frowned, trying hard to recall, after thinking for a long time, he said, "I remember they had body requirements for male and female waitstaff, the height requirement was quite strict. Men needed to be strong, and women voluptuous. But that makes sense, since it’s a high-end resort, and the staff had to be pleasing to the eye."
"Their uniforms were light green, right?"
"Exactly," Bucky clearly had a strong impression of this, "I remember at the time I complained with others at the interview, saying dressed like this on the lawn, one wrong step and you’d be devoured by a lawnmower."
Steve pondered, Bucky frowned slightly, "So is there something wrong?"
"I saw someone," Steve chose not to hide, "someone in the resort’s waitstaff uniform."
"Impossible!" Bucky raised his voice, "That place has been closed for decades, who would still be wearing those uniforms? You were seeing things."
"Could be," Steve didn’t deny it, as he only caught a glimpse and didn’t see it clearly. After chatting with Bucky for a while, the impression faded and he didn’t bring it up again.
They made another round around the entire estate, everyone expressing admiration for the house. However, during the process, Stark, Natasha, and Steve all seemed a bit dazed, sometimes zoning out mid-sentence, staring into space. When others asked what was wrong, they didn’t say anything.
"Breakfast is ready!" Greed shouted from downstairs.
At this moment, Strange hurriedly walked in from the main entrance. He rarely wore a suit, and Shiller greedily sized him up and said, "Why are you so dressed up today?"
"I have a wedding to attend in West Hampton," Strange sat down at the dining table, reaching out to gently tug at his tie, "it’s the daughter of one of my former patients getting married."
Others gradually came down and sat at the table. The breakfast was quite ordinary: fried eggs, bacon, sandwiches, accompanied by fruit and vegetable salad, tomato-baked beans, and oatmeal. Though typical white fare, since the ingredients were good and freshly cooked, it was quite delicious.
"By the way," Strange spoke up, "Natasha, could I trouble you to be my female companion today?"
Natasha raised an eyebrow and said, "What’s the occasion?"
"Just a lawn wedding, and I’m tired of dealing with the suggestive glances from the girls," Strange frowned, "that gentleman also wants to introduce his second daughter to me."
"You could try to approach them," Natasha’s tone like an old grandmother’s, "there’s no need to shut everyone out. A proper emotional life is good for mental and physical health, right, Shiller?"
Shiller nodded and said, "There’s no harm in dating. But if you’re really looking to start a romantic relationship, you might need to make some slight adjustments to your full schedule..."
"I just don’t want to change," Strange said, "the Crux needs to be watched, the Magical Defense Network needs maintenance, surgeries need to be done, and movies to be filmed. Now’s not a good time to start any new life."
"If that’s the case, then it’s never a good time," Steve said, "of course, I’m not criticizing. It’s just that work never ends, and taking some personal time to rest isn’t so bad."
"Work is rest," Strange’s comment was shocking, "when I get tired of this job, I do the next one to change my mind, I don’t feel any exhaustion."
"Is this your first time attending a banquet here?" Arrogant spoke, quieting the room. Everyone stopped their small talk, but they didn’t look at Arrogant; they just continued eating.
"Of course not," Strange frowned slightly but still answered, he cut into his fried egg and said, "I’ve been to Hampton many times and attended several weddings here. What’s the matter?"
"When was the first time?"
"I can’t quite remember," Strange also showed a reminiscent expression, "I was very young then, far from magic, but I had already made some achievements in the medical field..."
"What impression do you have of this place?"
"How could it be good?" Strange said with some self-mockery, "A young doctor from a small town, just emerging, only because I performed well in one or two surgeries, extremely luckily got the ticket to upper-class society, and found out after arriving that no one truly respects doctors. They’re just glad to have found yet another handy tool."
"But it got better later on, right," Bucky spoke up, "you became the Hand of God, able to pull them back from the God of Death anytime. They all depend on you."
Strange didn’t answer, and Steve shook his head first and said, "No, Bucky, upper-class society isn’t what you think. The notions of class and bloodline are deeply rooted in their minds. Even if you bring them immense benefits, they feel it’s something they deserve because they are noble and successful. They believe they gave you a chance to showcase yourself, and without you, countless others are eager to serve them. So even the semblance of respect may not last long. The smiles they give you are just them being generous and kind."
Bucky’s eyebrows knitted together: "Seems like during our time apart, you had other important matters."
"Don’t say that, Bucky," Steve laughed, "as the only one among us who hasn’t experienced upper-class society, you’re lucky."
"I’m just saying, when you faced those sinister moments, I couldn’t be there with you."
"That’s not right," Steve denied, "when we first faced that sinister world, we were still very young. I wasn’t shy about complaining to you about how tough the work in Hampton was. Remember?"
Bucky fell into deep thought again. He had once been brainwashed, and many memories were somewhat confused, needing careful recall to come back. But soon, he picked out some memory fragments.
Back then, after the Long Island Railroad was completed, Long Island’s development climbed to new heights. Hampton transformed from a small fishing village into the most renowned wealthy playground on the East Coast.
What followed was a shortage of manpower. The resorts were built, the buildings erected, even the clients flocked, but there was a severe lack of personnel in the service industry.
At that time, New York industries of all kinds were in their Golden Age. Not only was Wall Street booming, but various small vendors at the bottom tier also enjoyed prosperous lives. Ordinary middle-class folks were unwilling to work in the service industry, so Long Island’s recruitment mainly targeted Brooklyn’s poorer areas. Those strong yet poverty-stricken young people yearning for a decent job were the best recruitment targets.
No doubt, Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers were among them. They came from typical Brooklyn civilian families, city kids from poor backgrounds, teenagers with nothing better to do after school. Their personal qualifications weren’t outstanding enough to land high-barrier jobs, so they joined the Golden Wave of Long Island, finding a somewhat decent job in Hampton.
