Chapter 15: The Mayor's Invitation
The town mayor of Entlebuch is located in the centre of the town, just north of the hills. The neighborhood is built on a hillside that stretches across the eastern side of the hill to the lake.
Zhou Nan parked the car at the door of the carriage house of the Entlebuch family, so as not to affect the passage of vehicles up and down the mountain, and then took out a bottle of home-brewed cider from the car and rang the electric bell.
Mrs. Entlebuch soon appeared in the courtyard and greeted her cordially through the railing. "Jonas, are you visiting Villa Sennar again today?"
Villa Sennar is located at the very top of the Weggis peninsula, almost in the heart of Lake Lucerne. The villa was originally the property of a wealthy merchant, but later went bankrupt and the villa was taken over by the town of Weggis and returned to the town's public property.
Rachmaninov lived here for ten years during his exile from 29 to 39 years, making this ordinary villa a musical mecca.
When Zhou Nan came to visit the Holy Land for the first time, he was immediately fascinated by this place. It wasn't the shabby-looking house that fascinated him, but the scenery and topography.
Although he can only be regarded as a layman in feng shui, he can also see that this peninsula is a treasure of feng shui.
With Lake Lucerne as the center, the Rigi Mountains in the north and Xuanwu in the north. The peninsula is the remnant of Mount Rigi descending from the river, and in the shape of Mount Rigi, which is the Xuanwu probe, Villa Sennar is located at the eye of the tortoise.
Zhou Nan also went up to Pilatus Mountain once, and from the mountain overlook, you can clearly see the entire terrain, no matter from which angle, this is a feng shui treasure of the Yang House.
It's just that because of the inconvenient transportation, Zhou Nan has never had the idea of being here.
But this time Thomas targeted him, and he was a little disheartened at first, but then he thought of this. I came to Entlebucher, on the one hand, to hear his opinion, and on the other hand, to find a way back for myself.
"Hello Madame Entlebuch, is Mr. Entlebuch at home?"
"Unfortunately, there was a meeting this morning, and he went to the town office. It's too cold outside, come in and sit. ”
Zhou Nan handed her the cider and said, "Last time Mr. Entlebuch said that he liked this wine, I brought another bottle. I will not go in at first, but will go to the Villa Sennar, and when I return, I will come again to visit Monsieur Entlebuch. ”
The old lady happily took the cider and said with a smile, "The cider you made is really delicious, and I like it too." Do you have something to do with him? ”
"It's a little, but it's not too rushed."
Refusing Mrs. Entlebuch's offer, Zhou Nan drove down to the lake and drove south along a gravel road by the lake.
On the right side of the area is a series of pastures, interspersed with woods. Most of these forests are pine and cypress, but there are also quite a few poplar and apple trees, and a few cherry trees.
On the other side of the mountain, the Schwyz Valley, in addition to being home to the famous Swiss Army Knife, is also the most famous cherry valley in Switzerland, where cherries are famous throughout Europe and produce the finest fruits that the rich rush to buy.
So, it's no surprise to see cherry trees here.
Just because it's winter, you can't see the rose gardens that cover the mountains, but in summer, the roses here attract many tourists.
Although Zhou Nan has been in Switzerland for two and a half years, he has not yet seen the beautiful summer in Switzerland. He spent both summers in the mountains of the southeast, where there were only green mountains, and the summers were so short that it seemed that the summers had already passed without a single coat.
Passing through a forest full of apple trees between two small hills**, this season, the road is full of strange and jagged branches, but in the summer, it should be beautiful.
After a short downhill climb, you will come to the end of the peninsula. On the west side is a lush wood, and on the left are two hills, above which are pastures, which are covered with heavy snow at this time, forming white waves.
The top of the entire peninsula is slightly lower than the rear end, with an area of about one square kilometer in the shape of a square. The land is divided into three by two hills about 20 meters high, with a forest at the top of the hill and a forest on the west side of the lake, among which is a pasture with grass.
The land here is not suitable for cultivation, so the utilization rate is not high, and now it is unowned land, and the town uses the pastures here as pasture for hay reserves.
The Villa Sennar is located on the west side of the lake, describing the whole peninsula as a turtle's head, and the villa is located slightly off the eye.
This humble villa is one of the few concrete buildings in Switzerland and was originally unremarkable, but after 10 years of living here at Rachmaninoff, it has also become a place of pilgrimage for many music lovers.
But there are not many people like Zhou Nan, because in the past few years, they have been affected by the war, and there are very few tourists.
The workers of the ranch had already met Zhou Nan, and they smiled honestly and greeted Zhou Nan one by one. They were also curious about the new car Zhou Nan bought, and Zhou Nan generously did not lock the car door, and let them sit in and play one by one.
He went up a few flights of steps, through a small garden, to the courtyard of the villa.
After Rachmaninov left, there was no one living in the house anymore, the house was empty and without any furniture. Some of the manuscripts he had left behind were received at a memorial in the town.
Zhou Nan had already seen it last time he came over, so he wasn't curious. This time, he just wanted to come and see the house and the ranch, and then ask about the possibility of buying.
Everything is nice here, the scenery is beautiful, the top of a peninsula is exclusive, the pastures have woods, mountains, meadows.
The only downside is that it's too big.
At the top, the lower area is about a square kilometer, and the pasture adjacent to the peninsula is not known to be the extent of this area, but if it is, it will be larger.
With such a large area, and the land price here is relatively high in Switzerland, the price will definitely not be too low.
After looking around the villa, Zhou Nan stepped on a path, climbed the small mountain in the middle of the pasture, passed through the woods, and came to the middle of the peninsula.
It's like a turtle's mouth, just on the low ground between two mountain ranges, and a lake of water reaches into the pasture.
After slapping off the snow on a stump, Zhou Nan sat on the stump, looking at the slightly rippling lake in a daze.
Today is the twenty-ninth year of the new year, tomorrow is Chinese New Year's Eve, and the day after tomorrow will enter the 46th year. An armistice has just been signed in the country, but it is only a temporary peace.
He is powerless to change the world, or even himself, so he can only hide in a foreign land. This made him feel a burst of pathos inexplicably in his heart, and he couldn't help but feel sad from his heart.
Although his current life seems to be very happy, he still feels that he is a passerby who cannot fit in, because his heart is never here.
He didn't know how long it took for him to hear someone calling his name. Looking back, Mr. Entlebuch was descending from a hill twenty or thirty meters high. "Jonas, why are you here in a daze? I've heard about you, and Thomas is a little inauthentic. ”
Zhou Nan hurriedly greeted him. "Mr. Entlebuch, you don't have to come......"
The old man came over with a smile, panting slightly because he had gone too quickly, and white mist erupted from his nostrils and mouth. Because it was so cold, the fog froze into ice slag on his beard, which was very funny.
"Isn't it upset? Life is like that, there are always all kinds of troubles. However, as long as we face it bravely, nothing is a problem. ”
Zhou Nan asked with some emotion: "Mr. Entlebuch, did you come to me on purpose?" ”
"I heard that you came to me, so I came to talk to you. Thomas has just taken office and wants to establish his authority, so take you as a model. But he doesn't know that you are a hidden gem, but I do. ”
Zhou Nanleng paused for a moment and asked, "What do you mean?" ”
He stomped his foot and said, "It's too cold here, let's find a warm place to talk." Jonas, I cordially invite you to settle in our small town of Weggis, I know that our life here is not as convenient as Meghan's, but we have a more intimate living environment than they are. ”
Zhou Nan paused for a moment, not expecting that he hadn't mentioned it yet, but he had already mentioned it. "Why?"
"Because a writer and a musician can have a far greater impact on Weggis than a worker or a farmer."
The two men followed the footprints and walked towards the villa again, and Entlebuch also explained to Zhou Nan the reason for his invitation. The main reason for this is that Entlerbuch knows that Zhou Nan is currently writing a book and has a wealth of musical literacy.
He had listened to Zhou Nan's playing and thought that Zhou Nan's flute art was an oriental musical skill that could shock all musicians, and that Zhou Nan could make a huge name in Europe just by relying on it.
"Weggis was a place admired by both Mark Twain and Tolstoy, and was Mr. Rachmaninoff's favorite town, but because of the inconvenient transportation, we were far less famous on the shores of Lake Lucerne than Horf and Meghan. More importantly, we lack an artist who can continue to make the town's reputation alive. At this time, I met you Jonas and I believe you can be such a person. ”
This is really a village with no way out, and the willows and flowers are bright.
Although Zhou Nan never worried about his fate after being expelled by the vote of the people in the community, Entlebuch's invitation still warmed his heart.
Indeed, moving to Weggis is a little more secluded, although it is a little inconvenient. What's more, since it was personally invited by the mayor of the town, it seems that he can also negotiate the conditions and buy this Sennar villa.
After all, this is also the place where Rachmaninov lived for ten years, and his living in it also helped his own reputation.
It's just that before the voting results on Meghan's side came out, he couldn't directly agree to Mayor Entlebuch, but could only reach a gentleman's agreement with Mayor Entlebuch first.