Chapter 1550: Oak Manor

The new year is here.

Rockefeller Central Plaza is also covered with flowers.

People are beaming and walking on the street, purchasing the supplies needed for the New Year.

It's just that Li Zitao's family is no longer in the apartment. They decided to go to the south where the temperature is warmer to spend the cold winter.

It was also before the start of the journey that Li Zitao learned that Lao Mei also had a cellar.

Most Southerners have cellars in their homes, they just prefer to call them underground storage rooms.

"Ah~"

Seeing the tall and majestic oak trees entrenched on both sides of the road, like tall, burly, and eternal guardian giants, Mary let out a hearty cry.

She hasn't felt so comfortable for a long time, and this time the decision is undoubtedly correct.

This time, a group of them came to New Orleans for vacation. Apart from the weather and environmental factors, there was another point to take a look at the newly bought manor.

Oak Manor, located 17 kilometers away from New Orleans, is the shooting location of "Gone with the Wind", which is popular all over the United States, and it is their newly purchased real estate.

Oak Manor has a glorious history that has been passed down for 4 generations.

From the owner of the big manor who first planted sugar cane to taking over the land from his brother-in-law, he built this solemn and luxurious manor.

Later, he died early due to illness, and his wife was not good at management, which made the manor heavily in debt.

After finally waiting for a capable and ambitious airport worker, the Civil War broke out.

The young heir is forced to go to war, and when the war is over, he loses everything except the estate, which has been almost plundered by escaped slaves.

Knowing that his mother and sister died at the hands of slaves and suffered humiliation before death, he could no longer bear the blow and fell into a depression.

The family members died tragically, the greatest wealth, the slaves and the plantations ran and destroyed, and they were sick and dying.

In desperation, the manor could only be put up for auction.

In 25 years, a couple took over the manor and built it as a landscape.

Huge sums of money have been spent on renovations, the introduction of modern kitchens and water systems, and the seemingly ordinary manor has actually undergone a major surgery.

Originally, it was very difficult for Li Zitao to buy this manor again.

Unfortunately, the couple had no children.

They originally planned to set up a non-profit foundation and hand over the manor to the foundation to take care of it.

During this period, the two met Mary, and she was very interested in the manor in "Gone with the Wind".

In the end, the two parties reached an agreement, and Mary bought the manor for US$5.06 million.

And they can use that money to spend their retirement years comfortably, doing whatever they want.

If they still want to start a foundation and devote themselves to philanthropy, Mary will be happy to help them.

"These oaks are so beautiful, they've been around for over two centuries."

Standing under the huge ancient oak tree, Mary looked up and said, "It's hard to imagine how surprised the owner who planted them would be if he could see this scene!"

"More than 200 years is not too long." Li Zitao said calmly; "If we like, we can plant some more."

"Wait until the next century, and later generations will be amazed by it."

Speaking of this, Li Zitao suddenly remembered a joke, burying an Ultraman in the soil, after several centuries, whether it will become a century-old problem for archaeologists all over the world.

"These ancient oak trees are very rare, don't destroy them." Mary said angrily.

"Okay!" Now that she said so, Li Zitao no longer insisted.

Go straight along the cement road in the middle, hidden among the oak trees and bushes, the slave room, the prison room and the punishment room full of torture tools to punish the slaves are looming.

These wooden buildings flicker between the shadows of the trees, giving people a sense of eerie darkness.

Li Zitao pointed to those rooms and said, "Tear them all down,

Grass and shrubs should also be cleared and trimmed. "

"In addition, repair and renovate the former horsemen, which will be used in the future." Living in the south with a strong rural atmosphere, it would be boring without galloping horses.

Soon, the main house of the manor appeared at the end of the road.

It was a three-story European-style building, surrounded by more than 20 Greek-style columns, elegant and solemn.

Push open the door and walk into the room. The decoration is luxurious and elegant. Through the rear window, you can see the neat grassland, which is at least a thousand hectares.

Converted to about 30,000 square meters, it is enough for whatever you want to do here.

At the end is a dense forest, and beyond the forest is the fence of the manor.

Across the fence is the road, and on the other side is the embankment. Standing on it, you can see the numerous shipyards and docks along the Mississippi River.

In the room, Li Zitao and his family have visited all the rooms in the entire house.

The photos of the family members who built the manor hanging in the corridor have been put away by the servants.

They are familiarizing themselves with the environment here under Dan's command, in order to devote themselves to their jobs as soon as possible.

Since arriving at the manor, Pearl has been running around excitedly.

Aiden followed her, running and playing wildly in the yard with her.

For Pearl, who seldom leaves the reinforced concrete city as long as he can remember, every plant and tree here is full of fun.

At this moment, she was staring at the ant nest on the ground without blinking.

She has held this position for half an hour, and there is no sense of boredom.

It wasn't until the servants got familiar with the environment and prepared dinner that she was called away by her mother. It was so much fun to look back and forth reluctantly.

"Will we all live here in the future?" During the meal, Pearl raised his head and looked at Aiden with big crystal eyes full of expectation.

Aiden, who has no resistance to his sister's cute appearance, can only leave this question to others.

"You should ask your father about that." After Aiden finished speaking, Pearl turned his gaze to him.

Aiden, who had successfully dumped the blame, heaved a sigh of relief, and gloated at Li Zitao waiting for his answer.

"We'll be living here for a while, and you'll have plenty of time to get to know it."

"I don't want to go back at all." In just half a day, Pearl has fallen in love with this relaxed and leisurely country life.

In fact, this is exactly the case. The leisure and quiet country life can always make people linger.

Especially under the premise that all the basic necessities of life are taken care of by someone, and there is no need to worry about running around for life.

The renovation of the manor was progressing very quickly, but it was just pushed to a few wooden houses, and the messy things inside were counted and thrown away.

The horse boy at the back hired a carpenter from the town, re-framed and repaired it according to the style Mary wanted, and it was over.

After spending an entire afternoon, the renovation of the manor was temporarily over.

As for other repairs, they have to wait until they leave after their vacation.

Li Zitao wanted to replace all the floors here, so he used the calfskin floor in his study room in his New York apartment.

Sound insulation, vibration reduction, soft and comfortable, lie on...

Heck, it's very comfortable to walk on.