From the Island Owner to the King

A Boeing airliner from New York, USA to London, UK is parked at London Heathrow Airport.

Chen Rui got off the plane.

"Mr. Chen?" A tall man in a black suit, sunglasses and a stern expression came over and asked Chen Rui.

"I'm."

"Count Hill asked me to pick you up, please come with me."

Chen Rui followed the man in black and sunglasses to a luxurious car.

The man opened the rear door and let Chen Rui sit in.

Then open the front door, sit in the driver's seat, start the car and drive towards the London zone.

After half an hour.

The car stopped in front of a manor.

There was a bodyguard in black waiting here. When the car stopped, he walked up quickly and helped Chen Rui open the car door.

Chen Rui got out of the car and looked around.

This is a manor full of medieval classical style, with thick stone columns and statues full of medieval styles.

The wall is made of large and small, scattered rocks, which have an irregular beauty. This irregular beauty is like the 'golden wire' above the kiln. Beauty gives a different sense of aesthetics.

After the wind and rain, the wall has been eroded by the years, although it looks mottled, old and vicissitudes of life.

Through the mottled walls, people can intuitively feel the long history and cultural precipitation of the manor.

"Mr. Chen, I'm the earl's housekeeper, Berke Wise, the earl is waiting for you in the living room, please come with me." A middle-aged man in a tuxedo with a very medieval gentleman style came over and said to Chen Rui. said.

Approach Hill Manor with Burke.

The bodyguards in black in the manor looked stern.

Several dog handlers each walked around with four German Shepherds in their hands.

In a corner of the manor, there were several huge iron cages, each of which contained a wild untrained and ferocious cheetah.

Sit in a battery car with Burke and follow the lawn passage to the main building in the middle of the manor.

"Hello, Mr. Chen, welcome to my manor."

"Thanks for your invitation."

"Please sit down."

The guest and the host sit down.

"Do you prefer tea or coffee?" Earl Hill asked Chen Rui.

"Have some tea."

Butler Burke, who was standing next to him, gave orders to the maid softly.

Soon, the maid brought a set of tea sets and a pot of tea.

Earl Hill poured a cup for Chen Rui himself, and then poured himself a cup.

"This is the West Lake Longjing produced in your China. It is flat and pretty in shape, green in color, and has a mellow inner quality. When soaked in a cup, the buds and leaves are green. It is known for its green color, fragrant, sweet taste and beautiful shape. 'Four unique.' This small tube of tea is the best tea produced in Longjing, with eighteen fine buds before the rain." Earl Hill is very familiar with Chinese tea culture.

When I was in college, there was an old professor who took Chen Rui to drink tea very much. In his spare time, he told Chen Rui some knowledge about tea.

Eighteen imperial teas and fine buds before the rain, Chen Rui has some understanding.

The so-called eighteen imperial teas mean that Qianlong went to the south of the Yangtze River six times.

I came to Longjing tea area four times to watch tea picking and production, taste tea and write poems.

On the way back, I brought the Longjing tea back to the Queen Mother. After the Queen Mother drank it, her anger disappeared, and she even said that this Longjing tea is better than a panacea.

Qianlong immediately passed a decree to seal the eighteen tea trees in front of Hugong Temple as "Imperial Tea", which was collected and produced every year for the Queen Mother to drink.

As for the fine buds before the rain, one flag and one shot are taken, and the annual output is very small, which is very rare.

In 2005, in the West Lake Longjing Tea Garden, 100 grams of the best eighteen teas were sold at a sky-high price of 728,000 yuan per pound. After 10 years, the price has more than doubled.

Chen Rui picked up the teacup and looked at it.

The tea leaves are soaked in water, and the buds and leaves are green.

The soup is clear and bright green.

Smell it gently with the nose, the fragrance is tender and fragrant.

Finally, Chen Rui picked up the teacup and took a sip, the taste was fresh, mellow and refreshing.

"It really is the best tea." Chen Rui praised.

After drinking the tea, Chen Rui's eyes suddenly attracted to the cup in his hand.

Holding the cup in the hand, it is light and delicate, with a feeling of being as light as a floating cloud.

The whole body is exquisite and thin, giving people a hazy sense of transparency.

The texture is warm and lustrous, and through the light, you can see the green tea leaves inside.

The decoration of the cup is also very exquisite. The rim of the cup is carved with a combination of round carving, relief carving, hollow carving and other techniques to carve a lotus bud. Then the bas-relief pattern is decorated to form a visual contrast of concave and convex, which enhances its artistic expression effect.

The carved lotus buds are budding, as thin as hair, without any axe chisel marks.

This is a blue-white jade teacup carved from a single piece of blue-white jade.

Chen Rui thought of a kind of jade, called Hendustan jade, which is also a Hui, religious jade or Islamic jade.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the Ministry of Internal Affairs set up a workshop dedicated to imitating Hendustan jade, which absorbed the advantages of Hendustan jade's unique shape, smooth pattern and thin carcass, combined with the traditional methods of Chinese craftsmanship, to create a product with Xifan. style jade.

Chen Rui carefully appreciated the blue and white jade cup in his hand with admiration.

"Mr. Chen is also not interested in antiques." Count Hill asked with a smile when he saw Chen Rui admiring the cup in his hand.

Chen Rui put down the white jade cup and said with a smile, "Antiques are the history that you hold in your hands. I think antiques are the carriers of culture and witnesses of history. Through each piece of antiques, you can understand the information of past history and culture, which makes people unable to help themselves. Addicted to it.

Moreover, through 'playing', one's sentiments can be refined. "

In college, Chen Rui came into contact with antiques by chance, and has been very interested in antiques since then. Usually, when he has time, he will visit the antique street and antique city near the school. The vicissitudes of history and the sense of cultural precipitation.

It's endless fun.

Earl Hill is also a lover of antiques.

He has very deep attainments in the identification and appreciation of works of art.

Unlike Chen Rui, Earl Hill was rich, and he could buy any artwork he liked.

In his family room, there are more than 2,000 British and foreign works of art over 500 years, ranging from medieval furniture and decorations, paintings, neoclassical sculptures, books and other works of art, including four Picassos , Andrew Wise and Monet, as well as ancient Chinese ceramics, cloisonne, Tang Dynasty tomb sculptures, etc.

The two chatted happily.

Earl Hill took Chen Rui to visit his manor.

The manor is very large, covering more than 1,000 acres, including the main building, the living room, 3 living room villas, collection rooms, 11 artificial lakes, green lawns, ponds, woods, gardens, slopes, mountains and rivers, horse farms, etc.