GBP Chapter 359 August Manor
Chapter 359 August Manor
In the midst of the wind and snow, a tall and elegant young man in a black tuxedo, holding a large black umbrella with a long handle, spoke slowly and loudly in the not-so-standard Chinese language when Yu Yu parked the car in front of him. At the same time, he placed his right hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and saluted.
Behind him were four young people, two men and two women. They held an umbrella in one hand and another in the other. They bowed their heads in salute when the young man saluted.
Having just arrived at the manor and received such a reception before even getting out of the car, the brothers suddenly felt a little restrained. They quickly got out of the car and bowed to greet the five people. However, just as they began to be polite, the other party held an umbrella in front of them, causing them to raise their heads, which had just lowered half an inch.
The masters of the Laoqian family do not have to bow and express their gratitude to the butlers and maids. They have their own reserved ways of expressing their gratitude. This is the rule. Therefore, in their eyes, asking guests to greet these professional butlers and maids in the oriental polite way is actually a very rude and unruly thing to do.
But due to different cultures, it is normal that they don’t know. Housekeepers and servants will use their own ways to avoid embarrassing the host and guests.
"Dear guests, it's freezing outside, and a snowstorm is imminent. We've prepared mulled wine, wool blankets, and a warm fireplace inside. Please rest in the living room. Leave your car keys in the car. We'll move them to the garage one by one, and we'll also arrange for the remaining guests."
The young man came to Yu Yu holding an umbrella, seemingly inviting the seven of them in a neither humble nor arrogant manner, but in fact, his respectfulness was only directed at Yu Yu.
You're quite good at acting? Yu Yu glanced at him.
The adults had trained him well, and the teachers had taught him well. The young man lowered his eyes, pretending to be a stranger he was meeting for the first time.
Yu Yu rolled her eyes subtly, and the young man lowered his head and smiled without saying a word.
At this time, another unspoken rule of the Lao Qian family emerged, that is, before the host enters the house, the accompanying guests cannot enter first, even if the guests are close to the door. If the accompanying guests are not aware of this rule, the housekeepers will also delay them for a while in their own polite way.
Yu Yu certainly knew this, so he did not stand there and exchange glances with the young man. Instead, he took the initiative to step forward and was the first to walk into the warm door. The remaining four male and female servants who were holding umbrellas for the brothers then took a step forward and invited them into the house.
The brothers were immediately captivated by the porch decorations, which exuded a classical Western European charm. They stared around with their mouths agape, but they didn't dare venture inside to examine them closely. The wooden flooring exuded an ancient air, and they couldn't bring themselves to walk into the house in their dirty, snow-soaked shoes.
The two butlers escorted them inside and then left, one to park the car while the other greeted the next arrival with an umbrella. The young man in the lead, dressed as a butler, was using a brush to clean the snow that had accidentally fallen on Yu Yu. Afterward, he and one of the maids cleaned the coats of the others, while another maid took out the shoe-cleaning mats they had prepared in advance.
The old people who had never been "served" like this seemed a little at a loss, but the three people who helped them tidy up were very organized. They seemed to be doing things elegantly and slowly, but in fact they were very quick and efficient. They had helped them clean up and take off their coats before the old people even realized what was happening.
"Please come this way." The young butler made a gesture of invitation. He had been busy for a while, but the white gloves he stretched out were still neat and wrinkle-free.
He led the seven people into the warm hall and asked them to rest in the living room for a while before returning to the porch to continue receiving the program crew.
It was only then that Lu Hu, who hadn't dared to utter a single word, finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Wow!"
He pronounced these two interjections in an exaggerated and reasonable manner.
"I mean, this is wow!"
Although they were still carrying microphones, there were no cameras in the room and outsiders from the program crew had not come in yet. Lu Hu controlled himself and did not say anything else that might expose Yu Yu, but his bright eyes were staring straight at Yu Yu.
"Indeed, it's quite exaggerated in the eyes of ordinary people like us," Yu Yu said helplessly. "But this is how the aristocrats of the Old Money Clan live. Besides having to clean themselves after bathing, wipe their own butts after pooping, and chew and swallow their own food, most of the time, the housekeepers arrange everything for them."
"...No, how can you say the word 'shit' in such an elegant place and then eat right after that?" Zhang Yuan, who was still carefully touching the fur on the sofa for fear of damaging it, felt spoiled when he heard Yu Yu say that. He glared at Yu Yu speechlessly.
"Sorry to break your filter, Bird. Even nobles have to poop. Birds are straightforward." Yu Yu spread his hands.
"Hey!" Zhang Yuan suspected that Yu Yu was teasing him, but he had no evidence.
"Nobles can shit, and I shit too. To round it off, I'm also a noble!"
Wang Yuexin threw himself into the soft single sofa, and proudly crossed his legs and placed them on the footstool. The fireplace beside him was burning brightly, and the flames warmed his legs. He pulled the blanket on the armrest towards himself, feeling that he could stay here tonight.
"I love it here! I belong here!"
Are you in love again? Su Xing looked at him lying on the spacious sofa, looking so small, and couldn't help laughing: "Why do I remember you saying you belonged to Tencent last year? How come after sweeping the big goose's hometown, you turned around and made yourself a little noble, right?"
Chen Fusheng was looking at the unique little objects in the living room. Seeing that he was curious, Yu Yu casually introduced to him what these decorations were made of.
Wang Zhengliang, who was standing by, saw the grand piano in the corner as soon as he entered the room. He pointed at the piano and Yu Yu understood what he meant without him saying a word, so he nodded, indicating that Wang Zhengliang should just be as casual as if he were back home.
After getting the consent of the "male owner", Wang Zhengliang came to the piano and touched the body of the piano. He could feel that it was an antique piano that was quite old, but it was well maintained by the owner.
He casually played a short melody, and the sound of the piano was even more pleasant than he had imagined. Just this one play made him feel refreshed all over. He immediately sat on the chair and started playing freely. It was obvious that he liked this piano very much.
Chen Fusheng smiled at Wang Zhengliang's state. He stood by the piano, listening to Professor Wang's freestyle melody while chatting with Yu Yu. "I heard from the young man who greeted us just now that this is Alaric's winter palace? Aristocratic mansions like this are usually used to escape the heat in the summer and keep warm in the winter. It doesn't seem warm enough to live here in the winter."
"That's generally true," Yu Yu nodded. "But aristocrats, especially great aristocrats or former royal families, wouldn't have just one winter palace or one summer palace."
Yu Yu was explaining that with his knowledge, even if he was not Alaric's successor, it was reasonable for him to know the information that the public could find.
"Some winter palaces are indeed used for wintering, but don't forget where Alaric's Espulendore Palace is. It's in Barcelona. Given Barcelona's winter climate, they don't need to go out to spend the winter, so their winter palaces are often prepared for ski vacations."
"This August Manor is like that. It is said that the entire back mountain is their private ski resort."
Speaking of skiing, Wang Zhengliang's eyes lit up again: "There's a private ski resort here?"
"That's what the outside media said." Yu Yu smiled, "But even if we did, we can't go now. We don't know when this blizzard will stop. Even if it does, we probably won't have the chance to go skiing in the wild. So Brother Liang, let's wait until next time. It's not too late to go skiing when you're free."
Anyway, August Manor has been here for a hundred years and will not leave. Yu Yu has plenty of opportunities to take his brothers to revisit the old place privately, or visit other manors.
At this time, the young butler walked in with a group of directors. Several camera teachers started taking pictures of the reception room of August Manor, and Dalin was shooting everywhere with a GoPro in his hand.
Although the number of people in the entire program team is not over a hundred, there are still dozens of them. It is obviously impractical to squeeze so many people into the living room. However, there is more than one main reception room on the first floor of the manor. There are also several small halls and the main dining room on the other side, so the rest of the people were assigned to other rooms to rest. Only the director team and the cameraman were in the main living room.
As for how these dozens of people will live, it is not a big problem. The manor's second floor has one master bedroom and six secondary bedrooms, which are enough for Lao Beibei and the director team to live in. The servants' room in the attic on the third floor, which takes care of their daily life, has bunk beds and can accommodate eight people.
In addition to the main building of the manor, there is a small detached house on the right wing, which is also the servants' room. It is two stories high and its area is even larger than some villas.
In addition, the manor also has a library, studio, main and secondary living rooms, entertainment rooms and other rooms, which can barely accommodate people. However, there are no beds, so they can only sleep on sofas and chaise longues. Sleeping on the floor is the last resort, and the housekeeper will only resort to this last resort when he can't arrange everything.
"The Duke stayed here for a week at the end of January, so the entire manor is not idle at present." While serving mulled wine to everyone, the young butler Carlo gave them a brief introduction to the August Manor.
Yu Yu's cheap father stayed here for a week and then went back. Carlo, the apprentice of the old butler Javier, stayed to clean up the entire manor. He originally planned to cover the furniture in the entire manor with white dust cloth again, waiting for the next maintenance.
But Javier thought that their trip to Europe would probably pass by here. Although he was not sure whether they would be here, a perfect butler would make all preparations and plans for his master in advance. So he asked Carlo and his four men to stay here for a few more days, and then pack up and return to the old house after they passed by.
Unexpectedly, it really came in handy. At least the program crew who came here to take refuge can now drink mulled wine and have a delicious meal in the evening.