In less than two months, Lan Li returned to London again, but without the unexpected turbulence and turmoil, his life was calm, a phenomenon that had never appeared in his memory.

Elizabeth did not appear in front of Lan Li, she had declared her "independence" - not divorce, because the Catholic Church still did not support divorce, but she was running the gallery on her own.

There is no need for words or justification, Elizabeth's actions and gestures are sufficient, and all signs are showing that it was George who expelled Lan Li from the house in the first place, and it has nothing to do with Elizabeth. Of course, Elizabeth was not innocent, and her mistake was to remain silent and stand by – like the mistress of all aristocratic families, a tradition that seems to have been practiced by the English aristocracy for centuries.

What's more, the new core of the "Hall Family" has not made any noise, and it has fallen silent since the auction, which is undoubtedly a key signal.

The fact that someone had tentatively gone to Elizabeth's gallery and cautiously searched for information without hearing anything from the Prince-Garden reassured everyone that at least Lan Li was not prepared to destroy Elizabeth.

Incidentally, the mansion he bought in Kensington-Chelsea is right next to the Princes' Gardens, just a 10-minute walk from Knightsbridge, where Ranley's former apartment was located.

Among the aristocracy, a family was often able to own multiple mansions for different purposes. For example, "Next weekend, I'm going to Windermere for a holiday" to refer to a villa in the Lake District, "I'm going back to Knightsbridge tonight" to say that I won't return to the main house, or "Your father is in Notting Hill" to describe the head of the family who is staying at a third person's mansion and choosing not to return for the night.

Even if the couple chooses to separate, they will not directly mention the matter of "separation", but say, "He is in Manchester now, and she is basically in Westminster".

A city, a district, a neighborhood, a landmark, these names will become referential and symbolic. It is for this reason that the mansion is now called the "Prince's Garden", which means that the heart of the Hall family has been transferred from Bayswater to the Prince's Garden.

This is a quiet shift, but one at the same time a crucial one.

The Princes' Garden did not "ban" Elizabeth, and similarly, the Prince's Garden did not "ban" George.

George still works at Barclays, and as a hereditary baron, he still has a strong reputation among the traditional aristocracy - those people who are supporters of traditional culture, who cannot accept Lan Li as an actor, nor can they accept Lan Li rebelling against his parents, or even accept Elizabeth's "independence". They are unwavering on George's side, and they are all important support forces for George to establish himself in social situations.

It's just that the assets they hold are relatively fixed and relatively stable, and they have an exclusive fund manager early on, so it is obviously not so easy to change their ways; moreover, they are a group that refuses to change, and even if they can change, they will take the initiative to refuse.

At the same time, they cannot represent the future development, nor can they represent the younger generation, the decadent and twilight ideas are tied hand and foot, it is difficult to create new wealth, and it is difficult to accept the changes of the times and emerging industries, which limit George's development space, and it is difficult to seek breakthroughs at the career level.

It can be said that it is not a problem for George to retain his dignity and fame, but it is impossible for him to achieve great things and make a name for himself.

There is no place for George in the social occasions of those new nobles, but he can still immerse himself in the glory of the past and enjoy the privileges of nobility.

So George can still go to the bank, he can still go to the club, he can still go to certain parties without any hindrance. Even if Lan Li made a move, there was no way to stop it - because this was a circle where Lan Li had no way to interfere with the influence, not to mention that Lan Li was not prepared to stop it.

In the past two months, George has been a little low-key, and his whereabouts and figure are far less conspicuous than Elizabeth's, but he still hasn't disappeared.

This time, when Lan Li returned to London, George also kept quiet, did not show up or show up, everything was calm.

Without George and Elizabeth, and without news of Elf, Lan Li's return to London became normal.

After five years, the shadow that George and Elizabeth had cast over Lan Li's head seemed to have finally disappeared, and could no longer affect Lan Li, who did not need to worry or consider the constraints of her family, and at the same time, London finally took on the familiar appearance of Lan Li, those dark clouds, those drizzles, and those colds all smelled of home, and everything went at the pace of Lan Li.

After saying goodbye to Lan Li, Eggels-Lanthimos began to revise the script in retreat, and he still hopes to think clearly about the plot line and framework before the official start of filming - in the final analysis, he is not the kind of director who plays on the spot and sways his inspiration, and this time if it were not for special circumstances, he would not have chosen the method of "writing and shooting", and now he is trying his best to complete more preparations.

At the same time, Lan Li is learning to enjoy London.

In this life, Lan Li has never really calmed down and enjoyed the city, because of the entanglement from his family, and because of the drive of the actor's dream, he has always been running as hard as he can, and he has no chance to slow down to appreciate the charm of the city, and the gloom and coldness of London are deeply imprinted in his blood, although this is his home, but it is so strange.

When he returned to London in September, he had the opportunity to explore the city like a tourist, capturing the city's history and culture in a glimpse of the city's history and culture, and now he is learning to immerse himself in the city like a local.

Instead of afternoon tea or a double-decker bus, spend the day shopping for your favorite second-hand vinyl records at the Rough-Trade, sipping craft beers at a corner bar and watching a soccer game on a TV screen, or sneaking into a Luna open-air cinema after dark to watch a black-and-white movie under the night and the stars.

And, of course, Lan Li's favourite thing: treasure hunting in the second-hand bookstore area of Charing Cross.

If you ask Lan Li to count the best things to do in London, music, drama, graffiti, pubs and more can all be shortlisted, and books are undoubtedly the best.

In those second-hand bookstores, you can find bookstores that specialize in different editions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland from different eras, and you can find bookstores that specialize in 20th-century paperback suspense, where you can not only find all kinds of books, but also meet all kinds of book lovers.

Almost every bookstore has its own gathering of book collectors, and every gathering has its doors open to welcome all enthusiasts to attend.

Lan Li once met a person who specialized in collecting brochures sent to bookstores by British publishers before the publication of new books. The booklet is generally the same size, layout, paper, and printing font as the book to be published, and a brief introduction of a dozen pages thin allows the bookstore owner to make a preview and finally decide on the number of orders to order from the publisher according to his own situation.

The collector called the pamphlets "a conversation between the publisher and the bookkeeper", and the most impressive of them was a 1929 advertising brochure sent by Model Publishing in London to Whitby & Sons in South Somerset, England.

Founded in 1922, the Parapeta Press is best known for publishing a complete set of 24 volumes of Dickens's collected works, a set of hardcover books on linen with gold letters on a black background, which countless collectors have coveted, but the brochure is not a book recommendation, but a review of the year and outlook for the year ahead.

The booklet, called "Bodkin's Kind," satirizes Archibald-Bodkin, Britain's attorney general, who was known for banning books such as "Ulysses" and "The Well of Solitude," and asks about some of the bookstore's requests for orders, hoping for a quick response.

The nearly 100-year-old booklet featured only four telephone numbers in London, and the handwriting on the letterhead was blurred, but the pamphlet of continuous correspondence between publishers and bookshop owners remained unchanged today, in an era when mail and mobile phones were so advanced.

It's like the British Royal Mail that has been around for a hundred years.

Some people ask, what is the difference between London and New York, what is the difference between Europe and North America, how is the cultural and historical connotation presented, these pamphlets, these book collectors, these used bookstores, are the evidence, and people are always unconsciously lost in time.

That's the charm of London – sometimes, when you're in the dust and time of a used bookstore, you can't help but look back at the haze and drizzle outside the window, and then you start to learn to feel the humidity and cold.

Lan Li needs this kind of time, to calm down and settle down, to have some time to spend with herself, to put aside the helplessness and hurt caused by those prejudices for the time being, to roam freely in the light and shadow of time and memories, and then rely on her own feet and eyes to discover the beauty of London, just like in New York.

In those days, the Lanli would forget George and Elizabeth, the aristocracy, the show and the dream, and simply relax in search of the purest and simplest pleasures, rock climbing and surfing, reading and beer.