Chapter 1782: Living Off Your Face (first and foremost, monthly pa.s.s)
This chinese-style courtyard was close to a green area in the center of the city. The front yard was a wide lawn, built around a fence with white walls and black tiles. It extended all the way to the private garden in the backyard.
Around it was a row of evergreen camphor trees. The roof of the hilltop, which was in the shape of a shed, was hidden under the trees. It looked like a mountain range, and visually expanded the size of the courtyard.
Gu Nianzhi had only taken a casual glance and already felt that it was extraordinary.
This chinese-style courtyard took up a lot of s.p.a.ce and had a s.p.a.cious courtyard in the center of the city..
Gu Nianzhi pursed her lips and whispered,”… This can be used as a museum, right?”
In such a location and in such an area, how could anyone without power and influence dare to live like this?
At this point, it was impossible to live in a house like this with just money.
Huo Shaoheng narrowed his eyes and sized them up.
He had the same question, but he did not mumble it out like Gu Nianzhi.
The two of them had come to explore the area today. It was another way of dressing up. They did not dress up like ordinary tourists like they did yesterday.
Today, the two of them were dressed very fas.h.i.+onably, and it was the kind of fas.h.i.+onability that had a special cultural atmosphere. It was the kind of fas.h.i.+onability that the free artists of Brooklyn, New York, had.
They wore big sungla.s.ses on their faces, and their hair was deliberately messed up, but it wasn’t really messed up. It was a mess that had been carefully groomed with hairspray, and in the midst of the mess, there was order. There was only arrogance and insolence.
They wore a Panama hat on their head, a black suede vest vest on their body, and Harlem pants on their legs. They looked like overseas Chinese who had just returned from New York.
He held up his SLR camera and kept taking pictures of the yard, making very exaggerated gestures and tones.
“Oh, my G.o.d!”
“This is so beautiful!”
“Fabulous!”
They had just taken two pictures at the door when a young girl in a white suit and black pants, dressed as a nanny, came out of the chinese-style house.
She walked along the small gray gravel road that was laid on the lawn in front of the door.
Standing in front of the wooden fence at the door, she smiled and asked, “What are you two doing here?”
Gu Nianzhi quickly put away her camera and gave her a thumbs-up in Chinese with a thick foreign accent.”… So Beautiful! So great!”
The young girl pursed her lips into a smile. “You’re foreigners? Where are you from?”
“New York. We came here from New York to get some fresh air and sketch.”Gu Nianzhi stuttered as she spoke, her arms gesticulating wildly, just like those Chinese children who were born and raised abroad.
The young girl’s att.i.tude was even better. She smiled and said, “Our master happened to be at home today. He saw you hanging around the door and wanted to invite you in for a cup of tea.”
Gu Nianzhi was on high alert, but she still acted nonchalant on the surface. She smiled and said, “No… I Won’t disturb you. We’re just photos, sketches.”
“Our yard is very beautiful.”The young girl pushed open the fence door. “If you don’t come in today, you might not be able to see it in the future.”
Gu Nianzhi pretended to be surprised. She pushed her sungla.s.ses to the top of her head and widened her eyes. “Why? Why?”
“Our master is going to emigrate. He donated this house to a museum in the city.”The young girl made way. “The furniture inside is all red sandalwood. It will be left behind and will not be taken away.”
“Ah!”Gu Nianzhi exclaimed and gave her a thumbs up. “Your master is so great!”
Huo Shaoheng took out a cigarette and took a puff. He put it in his mouth and pretended to be careless. He mumbled,”… Let’s see…”
It was the same feeling of a foreigner speaking Chinese.
The young girl glanced at Huo Shaoheng. She smiled and pointed at the wooden trash can hidden on the other side of the fence. “You can’t smoke here. Sir, please throw the test here.”
Huo Shaoheng grunted and reluctantly threw the cigarette away.
Gu Nianzhi saw that Huo Shaoheng did not object, so she followed him into the courtyard.
The young lady gently closed the door behind them and led them to the main house.
The steps at the door were made of stone, so it was hard to tell what material it was made of. However, the arrangement of the steps was well-arranged, and it had an ancient charm to it.
The owner of the house seemed to like traditional culture?
Gu Nianzhi muttered to herself as she walked in.
“Sir, they’re here.”The young lady stopped in front of them and bowed respectfully.
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
What era was this? Even as a servant, it was still a proper job. They earned money by working hard. Why did they have to be so subservient?
Did they really think that the British prime minister, Aunt Mei, couldn’t wait to kneel down and kiss Prince Willam’s feet when she saw him?
Speaking of which, the person opposite them wasn’t even a prince yet..
Gu Nianzhi couldn’t help but curse in her heart.
Huo Shaoheng was already sizing up the old man sitting on the sofa in the middle of the living room.
The Man wasn’t young anymore, but he had maintained his appearance well. He looked like he was in his early fifties, but according to his information, he was already sixty-five years old.
His hair wasn’t bad, only slightly white. It wasn’t dyed black, and his face was slightly plump, so his wrinkles weren’t obvious.
There was a set of kung fu tea set on the mahogany coffee table in front of him. Seeing that they had entered, he raised his hand casually and said with a smile, “Nice to meet you both. We are guests from afar. Would you like to sit down and have a cup of tea?”
Gu Nianzhi poked her head out from behind Huo Shaoheng. Gu Ling wrinkled her little nose strangely and said with a look of disdain, “I hate drinking tea! I only drink c.o.ke!”
1
The man stared at Gu Nianzhi. After a while, he smiled and said to the young woman standing next to him, “Mei, go buy two bottles of c.o.ke.”
The young woman smiled and replied, then turned and left.
Huo Shaoheng took Gu Nianzhi’s hand and walked with her to the sofa to sit face to face with the man.
“h.e.l.lo, sorry to bother you. We just came from New York. We’re art students. We’re here to sketch and take photos.”Huo Shaoheng gestured, and his accent was perfect.
As a former field agent, Huo Shaoheng’s disguise skills were impeccable.
In order to not cause any trouble for him, Gu Nianzhi had no choice but to speak as little as possible.
“It’s okay, it’s okay.”The man laughed, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes showed. He looked a little worn out.
His gaze s.h.i.+fted between Huo Shaoheng and Gu Nianzhi, and finally landed on Gu Nianzhi’s face. He smiled and said, “Miss, did you just come back from abroad?”
“Of course.”Gu Nianzhi shrugged. “This place is cleaner than New York. I like it here.”
Hearing Gu Nianzhi’s words, the man laughed out loud and dispelled some of his doubts.
Only someone who had lived in New York for a while could say that C city was cleaner than New York.
The man poured himself a small cup of kung fu tea and held it in his hand. He took a deep breath and sniffed it, then blew on it. He took a sip and closed his eyes to taste the tea.
Gu Nianzhi resisted the urge to look at Huo Shaoheng. She only looked curiously at the furniture in the room.
The young lady had said that the place was made of rosewood, but Gu Nianzhi did not know much about it. At a glance, she felt that the room was rather dark. In the corner of the room, there was an old cabinet with intricate carvings, it looked exquisite, but she was still respectful of its dark color.
To be honest, if no one lived here, it would be a museum of ancient furniture..
The man finished his cup of tea and opened his eyes to see Gu Nianzhi turning her head to look around. There was an almost ignorant innocence in her big eyes, just like those children who grew up well-off and did not understand the hards.h.i.+ps of the world.
Gu Nianzhi had also been modified today. Her eyes were dark blue and she looked blue. Her hair was dyed light and her nose was straight. She looked like a mixed-race Chinese.
Although her lips were still very prominent.
However, there were a lot of people with lips like that. Lips alone didn’t mean much.
The man looked away and smiled as he told them about New York.
“I just came back from New York last year. It’s a good place. I have an apartment in New York’s Central Park. I can see the green s.p.a.ce in the park from the window. The scenery is pretty good.”
Gu Nianzhi instantly looked even more surprised. “You have an apartment in Central Park? ! You must be very rich! The houses there are too expensive!”
“I’m old, and I just want to find a good place to spend my old age. What does it matter if it’s expensive? Money is for spending anyway. I don’t have any offspring, so I won’t bring them with me when I’m born or when I’m dead. When I’m done spending them, I’ll give them back to society.”
The man smiled at Gu Nianzhi as he spoke. “Miss, You’re American? What do your parents do?”
Gu Nianzhi nodded. “My father is a primary school teacher, and my mother is a housewife. They don’t have much money, so I have to work to pay for school.”
She pointed to the camera on her chest and said seriously, “I’m taking a job at a magazine. I’m coming to Huaxia to take some photos of ancient buildings so I can go back to work and earn some tuition fees for the next semester.”
The man smiled even more amiably and praised Gu Nianzhi. “You’re ambitious! There are too few girls like you these days. You can rely on your looks to make a living, but you have to compete with others in terms of talent.”
Gu Nianzhi touched her face and pretended not to understand. She pretended to be confused and said,”… What do you mean by relying on your looks to make a living? Can your face make a living?”
“AH? hahahaha…”the man laughed at Gu Nianzhi’s words and shook his head. “No, no… Your Chinese is really…”
Gu Nianzhi looked at Huo shaoheng and whispered, “Did I say something wrong?”
Huo Shaoheng also looked confused and said,”… it should be right, right?”
The two of them looked like young Chinese people who didn’t know much about Chinese.
As they talked, the young girl came back with a bag of c.o.ke and some cold drinks.
She put the things in an ice box and said to Gu nianzhi and Huo shaoheng, “Our master doesn’t eat these things, so we don’t have them at home. We just went out to buy them.”
Gu Nianzhi took a can of c.o.ke and glanced at it quickly. Seeing that there was no problem, she opened the bottle and took a sip. She said emotionally, “How can there be no c.o.ke? What would life be like without c.o.ke?”
Huo Shaoheng also took a bottle of c.o.ke, but he did not drink it. He put it on the coffee table in front of him and nodded at the old man. He then asked the young girl standing next to him, “May I know where the washroom is? Can I borrow it?”
The young girl quickly said, “Please follow me.”
She took Huo Shaoheng to the washroom. There were only Gu Nianzhi and the old man in the living room.
Gu nianzhi stretched her long legs and hummed an out-of-tune English song, looking very relaxed.
The old man stared at her again and said slowly, “What’s your name? How Old Are you this year?”
Gu nianzhi smiled and said, “My name is Grace. I’m 18 this year. Why?”
She deliberately said that she was two years younger, like a college student who had just entered university.
The man’s pupils shrank when he heard that Gu Nianzhi’s English name was Grace, but he quickly came back to his senses and said nonchalantly,”… you just said that you had to pay for your own tuition when you went to University?”
“Yes…”Gu Nianzhi frowned and put the c.o.ke on the coffee table. “My family doesn’t have money, and I didn’t apply for a scholars.h.i.+p. Alas, you don’t know, working is too tiring…”
The man smiled slowly and reached out to cover Gu Nianzhi’s hand that she had yet to pull back. He said, “You can find someone to pay for your tuition…”
“I tried, but I couldn’t find it…”Gu Nianzhi pulled her hand back without batting an eyelid and smiled cheekily. “How can it be so good? Who would pay for my tuition for no reason?”