"Hello." Jane Sampson nodded distantly and returned a "hello" as a response.
She could understand where Stella Carterās hostility towards her came from.
Because of her appearance, Stella Carter was demoted from the female lead to a stand-in, so it was normal for Stella to be angry with her.
"Brother James Carter, can I sit here and eat with you?" Stella Carter sensed that Jane Sampsonās attitude towards her was indifferent, so she didnāt continue speaking with Jane.
Stella assumed, given James Carterās personality and their slight family connection, that James Carter wouldnāt object to her request.
But unexpectedly, the man sitting next to Jane Sampson, who had been keeping his head down and hadnāt looked at her, suddenly spoke up.
His voice coldly refused her.
"Itās inconvenient," said James Black.
James Carter saw Stellaās face change drastically and almost couldnāt hold back his laughter.
In the end, out of consideration for the girlās feelings, he pointed to his own seat, "Go sit in my spot, itās empty."
Stella came to her senses, nodded, then glanced at James Black and asked James Carter, "Brother James Carter, who is this?"
"Jane Sampsonās husband," James Black answered himself, "Have you finished? If so, move along, donāt linger here with endless small talk, bothering people who are eating."
Stella left with a pale face, and after she had gone far, Jane Sampson pinched James Blackās arm, "Why are you being so unreasonably harsh to the girl?"
If James Black dropped his demeanor and spoke to people in that icy tone, few could withstand it without feeling intimidated.
"Itās not without reason," James Black said, "James Carter is your brother, and she kept calling him Brother James Carter in front of you. What does she want? To disgust you or what?"
"She doesnāt even know my relationship with the Carter family, how could she intentionally say that to disgust me?" Jane Sampson asked James Black, "Are you stupid?"
"Sheās calling him Brother James Carter just for you to hear, and also for the film crew to hear," said James Black, having seen many people; everyone has their own little schemes, itās quite normal.
But he couldnāt stand someone putting on airs in front of Jane Sampson.
"Sheās relying on that slight relation with James Carter, calling him Brother James Carter to let the crew know sheās James Carterās relative, that she has backing, and saying it in front of you is to let you know sheās James Carterās cousin. Even as your stand-in, she wouldnāt regard you."
After speaking, James Black turned to James Carter, "In your Carter family, do cousins call each other like this?"
"When elders would bring the younger generation to visit homes, thatās how they introduced the kids, āThis is your Brother XX, Sister XX,ā so the kids followed the adultsā lead. Later, we grew up and didnāt interact much, so if we met again, the younger ones would usually change to calling me cousin. Some would still call me Brother James Carter, I thought she might have gotten used to it from childhood," James Carter explained.
Jane Sampson nodded, "Thatās also reasonable, thatās how I was taught to call you and Peter Gingery when I was very young."
She called James Black "Brother" for quite a while, but having gotten familiar with Peter Gingery, she didnāt stick to such formalities with him, always calling him by his full name.