Joseph looked at the three people giggling mischievously, completely confused and unable to understand what was going on. However, he had no intention of getting involved in their conversation. At first glance, he saw the red costume in Alex's hand and didn't ask any further about what they were discussing. Instead, he casually pointed at the costume and asked, "What's that?"
"Halloween!" Alex raised the costume in his hand and cheered excitedly. Clearly, Alex had been looking forward to Halloween for a long time. "Look, I specifically found this outfit at a thrift store. Isn't it great? Isn't it great?"
"This... is... what?" Hugo looked at the bright red jumpsuit, full of question marks in his head. "Is this tight-fitting?" Hugo noticed the material of the outfit and strongly suspected what it would look like when worn.
"Yes." It was Charlize who answered, her firm tone showing her professional knowledge, but the horrified look on her face wasn't quite as amusing. Hugo and Charlize exchanged a glance and couldn't help but twitch their lips.
"Spider-Man, this is Spider-Man! Didn't you guys see it?" Alex was still unwilling to give up hope, his eyes gleaming with anticipation as his gaze shifted repeatedly between Charlize, Hugo, and Joseph.
Hugo immediately had a bunch of black lines on his forehead. He could guarantee that if Spider-Man wore such a costume outside, he would definitely be eliminated as a fringe weirdo, especially since Hugo had seen the live-action "Spider-Man" movie released in the 21st century. This outfit made it seem even weirder.
Joseph's reaction was slightly better. He looked up and down at the costume twice and reluctantly nodded, "It does feel a little different from the comic version. Why didn't you choose blue pants?"
Alex regretfully tugged at his red pants. "Because of the price..."
"Oh..." The three of them suddenly understood, and then Joseph pointed at the sleeves. "Then what's your plan for the spider webs?" Although there was a spider emblem on the chest of the outfit, without spider webs, it just wasn't Spider-Man.
"I have a plan. I'm going to..." As soon as Alex saw Joseph responding, he immediately got excited and started talking enthusiastically, clearly full of ideas.
"You really have been looking forward to Halloween for a long time, huh." Hugo couldn't help but sigh. Although he had participated in Halloween events before, he was rarely as passionate and proactive as Alex. Perhaps it was because Halloween wasn't a traditional holiday in most parts of Asia, so the atmosphere wasn't as strong.
"Of course! I've been looking forward to this day for a long time!" Alex's eyes were practically glowing. "...Wait, none of you prepared anything?" Alex noticed that the three in front of him didn't respond, and his voice became so surprised it nearly cracked.
"Prepared for what?" Charlize asked curiously. She still wasn't very familiar with American customs. "For candy? But you're already past the age of 'trick or treat.'" Actually, many college students still play "trick or treat" on Halloween, but rather than the candy, enjoying the atmosphere is what's most important. Of course, pranks are too.
"It's a wild party, age doesn't matter!" Alex explained excitedly, but still got no response. "Oh, God! You're all such boring people! Boring!" Alex clearly couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't like Halloween. "You didn't even prepare for Halloween, that's just terrifying."
Alex grumbled angrily as he carried his costume back to his room. Watching Alex's stiffened back, the three of them Hugo, Charlize, and Joseph looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.
"That reminds me of how excited my little sister Mary gets about Halloween." Joseph recalled his family, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips. "She always waited early in front of the pumpkins, ready for us to carve them together. But once the jack-o'-lanterns were set up, she'd get scared and want to hide behind me. She always insisted I take her trick-or-treating, and even if my brother Peter volunteered, she wouldn't go with him. So every Halloween, I was always very busy."
Joseph's words made Hugo and Charlize smile too. Talking about family always had that effect.
"What about this year? Are you going back?" Hugo asked. From what he remembered, Joseph hadn't gone home last year either for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or Christmas.
Joseph sighed. "Mary's grown up. She hasn't needed me to take her trick-or-treating for several years now." His tone was full of regret and melancholy. "Besides, we probably still have promotional events during Halloween." Joseph took a deep breath and adjusted his slightly gloomy mood. "But there's a holiday for Thanksgiving. Are you going back?"
When Joseph asked this, Hugo's first reaction was to look at Charlize, because he didn't think the question was meant for him. He hadn't been home in ten years, and more importantly, he had no 'home' to return to here he had crossed over and couldn't go back.
Charlize, on the other hand, didn't realize it wasn't directed at Hugo. She paused for a moment, thinking it was a question for him. But then the question somehow came to her. "No, I won't be going back. I'll go to New York during Christmas. I made plans with my mother." Then she turned the question back to Hugo. "What about you?"
It was only then that Hugo realized wait, he actually did have a home to return to here. Hugo Lancaster wasn't an orphan. On the contrary, both his parents were alive. The problem was, though Hugo had been in this world for ten months now, he had never once called or met with his parents. The memories of his family in his mind were still just fragmented and blurry. Other than knowing his parents were divorced, he didn't have much detailed information.
So by normal standards, parents not contacting their child for ten whole months? That couldn't be clearer the relationship between parents and child was very poor. Regardless of whose fault it was, at least there were no signs of reconciliation. So when Charlize threw the question back to him, Hugo froze for a few seconds, not knowing how to respond.
Joseph looked at the silent Hugo. He didn't know much about Hugo's family matters either probably Ron Meyer or Tracy Jacobs would know more. But in the year or so that Joseph had been working with Hugo, he had almost never seen Hugo contact his parents. The few times he did were around last Christmas, and they hadn't ended well. Family just wasn't a frequent keyword in Hugo's conversations.
"Hugo, how about you try giving your father a call?" Joseph suggested uncertainly. In the past, Joseph wouldn't have given Hugo any personal advice, especially not about family he simply didn't care enough about Hugo's private life; Hugo wasn't worth it. But over the past year, Hugo had changed a lot, and the two of them had grown closer. So Joseph tentatively offered a suggestion.
Sure enough, when Hugo heard the suggestion, he didn't get angry as Joseph had feared, but instead fell into deep thought. "Maybe I'll give it a try?"
But what should he say after making the call? Let alone this father whom he'd never met, even the parents Hugo had before transmigrating he hadn't been in touch with them for a long time, and when there was contact, it was only with his mother. Suddenly, Hugo noticed something Joseph had suggested contacting his father, not his mother. Was there some reason behind that?
Furthermore, Hugo didn't have the habit of celebrating Thanksgiving. He knew the traditional American Thanksgiving was a time for family gatherings followed by mutual complaints and arguments. Many American movies portrayed family conflicts exploding during Thanksgiving. Hugo didn't know if that was just movie exaggeration or actual reality. So he had no idea what to say to his father over the phone "Shall we have dinner together?" or "Want to meet up for Thanksgiving this year?"
Hugo rubbed his temples just the thought of making the call gave him a headache. Joseph, encouraged by Hugo's affirmative reply earlier, continued, "You could just ask how he's doing, see if he has any plans for Thanksgiving. As for the rest… once you're on the call, you'll think of something."
"Hoo… got it." Hugo adjusted his breathing. "Phone number my father's phone number… do you have it?" Hugo wrinkled his nose. "I don't remember it." That was an obstacle he had to admit there was no clue in his mind.
Joseph wasn't surprised at all, as if it were perfectly natural. "I remember there was a note in your wallet. If it's not there, check your Dead Poets Society script you always had a habit of slipping important information into it, or just writing it directly on the pages." Back then, Hugo was a bit superstitious, believing Dead Poets Society had brought him good luck, so he liked to keep important things tucked in with the script.
Hugo frowned. "Alright, I'll check. Anyway, there's still some time before Thanksgiving, no rush." If he could recall more about his family during this time, that would be ideal. At the very least, he wanted to figure out what happened between him and his mother. If he could also come up with something to talk about with his father, that would be even better.
"So, what are we having for dinner?" Hugo looked at the vegetables on the table. Charlize had spent the better part of the day sorting them out, laying them all on the table, but hadn't put any of them into the fridge.
Charlize knew Hugo was changing the subject, but she didn't call him out on it. Instead, she lowered her head to glance at the vegetables. "There are still some clams in the fridge. Let's make pasta. If you had bought more potatoes, we could've made baked mashed potatoes too. But there are only three…" Charlize helplessly rolled the three lonely potatoes on the table.
"Why did you only buy three potatoes?" Joseph asked with a face full of confusion. That immediately brought them back to the topic from before Joseph came in. Hugo and Charlize glanced at each other and burst out laughing.
...
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