"No. 28, Chaofu Road, Huangpu East Road New District, Guangzhou." After Jason confirmed the current address again, he came to the gate of the mansion where the address was located.
I saw two large Chinese characters on the door plaque hanging on the door beam: "Qiao Mansion".
"Black oil tin ring, this is at least a high-ranking official of fifth to third rank."
At this time, Jason skillfully picked up the bronze beast door knocker in front of the door and hit the assistant head fixed on the door.
"Dang...dangdang..."
…
Soon, the side door of the mansion slowly opened, and a concierge with long white hair came out.
He took a look at Jason who was standing in front of the door, then stepped forward and bowed his hands and asked: "I don't know what to call this person. Who are you looking for when you come to the house?"
"Hello, old man, my name is Jason, and we are here to find Lord Jonathan." Jason quickly returned the greeting with his hands in hand.
"Does the guest have a greeting card?" the concierge asked again.
"I don't have a greeting card, but I have brought Lord Jonathan's wife and his relatives and friends." Jason said, turning around and pointing to Alice and others who were standing at the stone lion outside the door.
"Oh, it turns out it's the madam who has arrived. It's so good. During this time, the master often talked to me about this." At this time, the concierge immediately said with a smile on his face.
Then he quickly walked up to Alice, bowed and said, "Hello, madam!"
Alice didn't understand what the old man said, but when he bowed to her and saluted her, he habitually bowed his body and returned the salute with a smile.
At this time, Jason also came over and said to Alice: "Madam, he is saying hello to you."
"Oh, hello." Alice said in a very Western-style Chinese pronunciation that she didn't know many response words.
"Please wait a moment, madam, and a few guests. I will go back and open the door to let you in." A bright smile appeared on the concierge's face. After saying this to a few people, he immediately turned around and returned to the mansion.
"Jason, why did he leave?" Alice asked Jason in confusion as she watched the leaving concierge.
"Madam, according to the etiquette here, he went back to open the door to greet you." Jason explained.
"Oh! It's amazing that there is such etiquette." Alice couldn't help but feel a little proud in her heart.
Soon, the sound of the door bolt being removed was heard from inside the closed door of the mansion.
"Acridine..." With the sound of the door shaft turning, the heavy door slowly opened.
The concierge came out of the door again, came to Alice and others, made an invitation gesture and said: "Madam, there are several other distinguished guests, please follow me in first!"
Under Jason's translation, several people followed the concierge and quickly arrived at the outer living room of the courtyard house.
"Madam, distinguished guests, please wait here for a moment. I will make tea first and call other servants over." The concierge informed and then left.
After the concierge left, Kennedy and others became less restrained and even looked at the layout of the outer living room with interest.
This is an ordinary Chinese-style outdoor living room. The decoration style only intersects with traditional classical style, and also incorporates some European styles. It gives people a luxurious yet simple feeling.
And its entrance also has a entrance hall as always. In addition to some Feng Shui objects, there are also some exquisite porcelains placed on the shelves in the entrance hall as embellishments.
"Kennedy, look at the porcelain displayed here. It should be from their official kiln. If it can be shipped back to London, it can be sold for a lot of money." Jerry looked at Kennedy and said with a smile.
"Don't tell me, it does look good and beautiful." Kennedy agreed.
"Brother, you have to get used to it and ask Jonathan to give you some in the future." Alice said.
"Haha, I still need him to give it to me, just tell me where I can buy it." Kennedy laughed, feeling that his love for this sister was not in vain.
After half a stick of incense, a maid carrying tea followed the concierge.
The maid turned out to be a Western European, which surprised Alice and others. After several conversations, they finally had a general understanding of the maid.
The maid's name is Jenny. She was a Spaniard who lived in Luzon before. She came to China with her father to do business all year round. Later, Annan's "defeated troops" attacked Luzon, and his family happened to come to Macau to trade, so they escaped disaster.
However, as bad news continued to come from Luzon, the family soon declared bankruptcy.
In order to make a living, Jenny can only choose to work outside to help support the family.
But today's white people are not the foreign adults of later generations, so it is not easy for Jenny to find a serious job here. Fortunately, she is proficient in Chinese, English and Spanish. In the end, after several twists and turns, Jonathan Work in the house.
Jenny and Jonathan signed a three-year contract. Their job was to take care of Alice's daily life and teach her Chinese and daily translation matters. The monthly salary was five taels.
Five taels of silver is indeed not much compared to the translations at the translation office. But the salary here is already high, which is enough for Jenny's family to live a comfortable life.
After all, in the Manchu Qing Dynasty, the annual salary of a sixth-grade person was only sixty taels of silver.
Of course, with this salary, and more importantly, with this job, Jenny's family is qualified to continue living here, otherwise they will face the risk of being evicted.
"Jenny, it's great to have you." Knowing that Jonathan had actually prepared a translator for her to take care of her daily life, Alice couldn't help but exclaimed happily.
Although Alice also brought two maids here to take care of her daily life, they did not understand Chinese and would have a lot of inconveniences living here. But it is too expensive to keep a translator by your side.
Now that there is a servant who can act as a translator, how can Alice not be excited?
"Madam, you are flattered." Jenny responded humbly.
"By the way, I haven't seen Jonathan yet. Has he gone to work?" Alice asked.
"Yes, ma'am, Lord Jonathan usually comes home at midnight." Jenny replied.
"It will be some time before he can come back. Is there any good place here? I just want to go shopping with my brother and the others." Alice said.
"Madam, I personally think that the most important thing you should not miss is the Royal Mall here. It is very large and luxurious. The most important thing is that there are many things, including food, clothing, and everything. It is definitely a good place to spend time. .” Jenny suggested.
"Listening to what you said, I really need to go take a look." After hearing this, Alice seemed to understand what was going on.
How many women don’t like shopping?
Kennedy happened to also want to experience this legendary ancient country in the East, so after a few chats, they set off to the Royal Mall that Jenny mentioned with great anticipation.
