The driver opened the car door, Lu Li stepped out of the car, buttoned the suit, and looked at the ancient building in front of him, compared with the bar this afternoon, it is more exquisite, and the unique charm is quiet and vivid under the dark blue sky, as if you can clearly read the traces of history between bricks and tiles. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

"Sir, I'll pick you up at eleven o'clock, is it all right?" the driver politely caught him.

Lu Li nodded in affirmation, "Eleven o'clock." ”

Dining at a riverside restaurant is not uncommon for three hours to jump, and four hours to make.

Lu Li chose a navy blue suit with a pearl white shirt, and the tie of the same color was printed with a handmade anchor print, a traditional dress in college style, but more youthful. He looked down and checked his clothes, then put the long cylinder containing the painting in his hand, and after making sure that there was no problem, Lu Li took a step in the direction of the restaurant.

"Good evening, sir, may I ask the name and phone number of the appointment?" The waiter standing at the door, with a straight suit and a straight posture, was even more formal and grand than Lu Li. A classic black suit with a white shirt, and it's also a retro cumbersome three-piece suit.

Lu Li paused, he didn't know Evelyn's last name, nor did he know her phone number, this afternoon, everything happened in electric time, and they didn't have time to exchange more confidence. Interestingly, he didn't even introduce himself to Evelyn, which means that Evelyn had no idea who he was at all.

"I made a date with a friend, Evelyn?" the matter had come to this point, and Lu Li could only ask head-on.

"Evelyn—who?" said the waiter, still with a polite smile on his face, as if he was asking Evelyn's last name.

"Strello. A capable voice came from behind him, Lu Li turned his head, and then saw Evelyn in a red dress, she didn't have time to change her clothes, she just added a black blazer outside, adding a touch of neatness to the woman's charm.

"Good evening, Evelyn. The waiter greeted politely, and looked down at his appointment notepad, "Two, eight, right?"

With that familiar gesture, it can be seen that Evelyn should be a regular here. Lu Li remembered Anna's words in the afternoon, Evelyn is a gallery manager, and when dealing with art, there should be no shortage of high society and elite among the customers, so it is not surprising that she often goes in and out of such occasions.

The waiter began to lead the way, and Evelyn looked Lu Li up and down, revealing a look of certainty. This made Lu Li laugh dumbly, and puffed up his chest slightly, "This is allowed to enter the restaurant, right?"

The joke made Evelyn laugh heartily, and then nodded solemnly, "Barely passing." ”

The two men followed the waiter's footsteps and entered the dining room. It's a typical English country cottage, with no fancy décor, just lighted logs, simple square tables, and even the overhead lights are nothing new, and the lemon yellow halo makes the whole space look spacious and bright.

The waiter pulled out a chair and sat Lu Li and Evelyn respectively, and then handed the wine list to Evelyn.

Lu Li noticed this small detail. When he was in the Olive Garden Restaurant before, Lu Li knew that in a real top restaurant, the task of selecting red wine was given to the female companion, and the task of ordering food was entrusted to the male companion - the men's menu was priced, but the women's menu was not.

This is a fortunate thing, Lu Li's knowledge of fine red wine is only at the entry level, and the superficial learning from Romanée Conti is only limited to Pinot Noir, and the other top red wine types are still limited to understanding.

After Evelyn had finished ordering the wine, the waitress handed over the menu - strictly in the order of appetizer, starter, main course, and dessert.

Although I had heard that the menu of Riverside Restaurant was the most extensive of the four Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK, I realized the meaning of this sentence after actually seeing it, and the array of choices was simply dizzying, and it was impossible to know where to start. This kind of ordering process tests a person's heritage, background and literacy.

Fortunately, before leaving, Lu Li did a special investigation on the Internet, otherwise there would be a mess tonight.

"Do you have any taboos?" Lu Li briefly looked at the entire menu, and after having a rough impression, he asked.

Generally speaking, in addition to the cost and literacy, it is also a test of the man's understanding of the woman: whether the food can satisfy the woman, whether it meets the woman's preferences, whether there is something in common between the two parties, and so on.

In Western dating occasions, these seemingly casual small details reflect the key to whether the two parties are compatible.

However, Lu Li and Evelyn had only met for the first time, and they had only been together for fifteen minutes, so they couldn't understand each other at all, so Lu Li asked directly.

"The main course is fried halibut. I haven't eaten in a long time. Evelyn is also a straightforward type, and she didn't hide it and said it straight.

Lu Li smiled and nodded, "Okay, I'll choose game Shuangpin as the main dish." ”

Among the varied menus at Riverside Restaurant, pan-fried halibut is the most classic dish, which has been around since the restaurant opened and is now the restaurant's most famous and longest-standing dish. Many people come here specifically for this dish.

As for the game Shuangpin, it has only entered the menu in the past two years, but it has become the trump card among the trump cards, choosing the best game of the season. This dish is not often eaten, and it does not appear on the menu very often, but every time it appears, it is bound to cause a frenzy.

Just one dish, Evelyn could tell Lu Li's taste, a smile flashed in her eyes, and after Lu Li had ordered the appetizer, appetizer and main course, Evelyn chuckled, "I thought you were just a tourist here." ”

Lu Li handed the menu to the waiter, "It's because I'm a tourist, so I have to prepare it in advance." It seems that my preparation at least did not go wrong. ”

This modest, somewhat confident answer, made Evelyn laugh, "So, did you bring the oil painting here?"

Lu Li raised his eyebrows in surprise, "I thought it would be at least after dessert." ”

Evelyn shrugged her shoulders unremittingly, "After dessert, it will probably be until midnight." I thought, we can take our time. ”

Lu Li had no objection, he picked up the long barrel and handed it to Evelyn, "This painting has also been collected by our family for some years, and it is from my grandmother. ”

Evelyn opened the lid of the tube, removed the painting inside, and carefully placed it on the table. Lu Li hurriedly helped her remove the meal stack and knives and forks on the table, leaving enough space.

After arranging the painting, Evelyn took out a small cylindrical magnifying glass and began to build up a large number of them. This reminded Lu Li of the situation when he inspected the paintings at Sotheby's, but Evelyn's movements were more concise.

Lu Li's mood was also inexplicably a little excited, and he followed Evelyn's line of sight and slowly moved on the oil painting, but Evelyn did not examine every inch and inch by inch, but looked for a few key points, looked at them seriously, and then nodded, "Yes, this is my grandfather's handwriting." ”

Lu Li couldn't help but be a little surprised, "How do you make a judgment? This painting, his colors and brushstrokes are slightly different, just like that, you can make a judgment?" It's like identifying the authenticity of a painting, details win, and the process is not so easy.

Although the painting is not the work of a famous artist, and the appraisal does not need to be so complicated, Evelyn only examined it for less than three minutes, so she concluded that it was too hasty, right?

Evelyn didn't panic at all, moving her magnifying glass to the top of the building and pointing to the cascading windows, "Look at this carefully. There is an abbreviation here. ”

Lu Li leaned over and looked at it suspiciously, and in a bunch of lines, two clear letters could indeed be seen, "H-S", the handwriting was very small, but it would definitely not be mistaken. If you take the magnifying glass away, even if you stick it on it, you won't see it, and you will only think that the two letters are part of the line.

This reminded Lu Li of one thing, many artists who copy classic paintings, in order to leave their own marks, but also to distinguish forged works from the real ones, and of course, the most important thing is to show off their great achievements, they generally leave their own marks in special corners.

Abbreviation, which is the most widely used logo.

"H-S?" Lu Li looked up and looked at Evelyn curiously.

"Hans-Strello. Evelyn smiled, "My grandfather's name was Hans-Strello. The painting you saw this afternoon, in the same place, also has the same logo. ”

"I thought they would leave a mark only after the painting was finished?" Lu Li continued to ask.

Maybe he can't wait. Or maybe he realized that he was leaving, never finishing the painting. Evelyn sighed softly, not saying much, but the loss and embarrassment in her words still loomed.

At this time, Lu Li realized that the owner of the space ring had been found, it was this Hans Strello, and the painting in the ring was painted by him.

After going around in a big circle, he suddenly found the original owner, but Lu Li had no sense of reality, and there were more answers in his mind that had not been answered. For example, why didn't Hans put all the paintings in the ring and take them with him? Was it because he was worried that his family would see it? So, did the paintings he carried in the ring have any special significance? What is the significance of this Chrysler Building?

More importantly, why was Hans's ring left to Yuan Qingzhu in Albert Cohen's hand?

Faintly, Lu Li felt that he was opening the thick history book and opening an unknown story in the history of World War II. It's a really amazing feeling.