Chapter 225 225

Malibu is only thirty miles from Los Angeles. Starting from Santa Monica Beach, along the coastline all the way west, you can see the seaside city surrounded by countless sand, waves and sunshine. The twenty-seven miles of coastline is enough for surfing. Enthusiasts are crazy, and the landscape of the many state parks, canyons, and rivers makes this a paradise. The endless beauty, clean and private living environment, and brilliant sunrises and sunsets make Malibu a clean habitat away from the city.

Malibu has a long history, dating back to the mid-sixteenth century, but the area existed as the private property of the nobility for centuries, until 1929, when landowners were in a marathon campaign with the state government. After losing the lawsuit, he had to agree to build a road through the city, and then the owner was forced to sell and lease part of the property, which is the prototype of the current Malibu.

Since the 1950s, Malibu, relying on its warm and pleasant beaches and beautiful and comfortable scenery, has attracted many film crews to come here to shoot scenes, making it gradually prosperous, and many holiday villas have begun to be set up in this area. Under the premise of destroying the natural scenery, a health resort has been formed - of course, this is the right of the rich.

Until March 1991, Malibu officially became a city under the state of California, under Los Angeles. Although the name is a city, it is actually just a small county with a population of less than 10,000. Although it is only 30 miles away from Santa Monica and can be reached in 40 minutes by car, due to the lack of supermarkets, shopping malls, etc. Living configuration, all have to drive to Santa Monica to refill groceries. Therefore, Malibu is completely a holiday destination for the rich, buying enough daily necessities in the city, and then driving to Malibu to enjoy life in isolation.

If Beverly Hills is the starlight gathering place in Los Angeles, then Malibu is the starlight gathering place on the entire West Coast, where each villa covers a very large area, basically preventing everyone from exploring. Line of sight - if you break in, it's a private house, so the rich and the stars, many people in the upper class like to enjoy undisturbed leisure time here.

Therefore, although Malibu has only been established for two years, the entire urban ecological chain here has been basically formed, and the price of villas is naturally high - of course, compared to the 21st century, a villa is 10 million US dollars. , Now the price is very low, but this is still the patent of the rich, as if it is a specific circle, only a specific group of people can enter.

Today, Hugo entered this circle for the first time.

Joseph drove Hugo and Uma into the gate of one of the villas, helped to move the items and luggage brought from the supermarket to the gate, then walked towards the driver's seat again and opened the car door, "Then, I wish you a vacation. Have fun and enjoy this leisurely time."

"Joe, in such a big room, you should also stay." Hugo issued an invitation with a smile, "You have been busy for a year in the past, and you deserve a vacation."

Uma, who was standing beside Hugo, also raised her head and smiled, "Yes, Joseph, you should also enjoy a vacation, you have been really busy in the past two months, it's time to take a good rest. ."

Joseph glanced at Uma and remembered Charlize's words before departure, "Believe me, Uma definitely wants to enjoy the two-person world with Hugo. When I say 'two', I mean two people, nothing else. Man, Hugo belonged to Uma during this time, not to our group of friends. Not only should our group of friends not join, it's better to stay far--I mean-absolutely far away from them Sight."

Before that, Joseph was still skeptical of Charlize's words, but looking at the smile on Uma's face, he suddenly understood the source of Charlize's words, and believed the truth of those words. Joseph could not help but sigh secretly: the world of women is really incomprehensible.

"No, I don't want it anymore." Joseph knew that if he really stayed, he would probably suffer. "I have two more scripts in my hand. I'll take a look first and let you know when there is news." I'll keep an eye out for Sleepless in Seattle, too."

Hugo patted Joseph on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Don't be too anxious, things should take their time. The most important thing is to correct your mentality."

Joseph nodded, then waved goodbye to Uma, got into the driver's seat, and drove away.

Hugo turned to look at Uma in front of him, "Hey, it's really only the two of us left now!"

A few days ago, Uma proposed to Hugo to enjoy the two-person world together. On the one hand, it was to make up for the regret of not spending the New Year's Eve together, and on the other hand, it was to relax Hugo who had worked hard for several months. Hugo thinks this is a good idea. He has been in Los Angeles for nearly a year, and he has not really rested. He has experienced so many things on New Year's Eve. Hugo also wants to relax his head.

After careful consideration, they chose Malibu. Although it is said that at the current level of Hugo, there is not enough ability to buy villas in Malibu, but Malibu also provides the rental business of idle villas. The so-called leasing business, in fact, compared with the rent, is more to hope that someone will live in the villa for a long time and maintain the daily operation of the villa. Only in this way can the villa last for a long time. Hugo now wants to rent a villa for a vacation, and he still has the ability.

Villas in Malibu by the sea can be regarded as a popular location, with an average rent of 20,000 US dollars a day, which does not include maintenance costs such as electricity and water bills. Like sports cars, yachts and other luxury goods, the purchase of villas The threshold is not high, but the cost of maintaining the villa is sky-high. The "Downton Abbey" in the British TV series, which began to air in 2010, sells for $400 million, and the annual maintenance cost is as high as $8 million, of which the cleaning cost alone is as high as $1.7 million Dollars, on top of that, utilities, gas, security, lawns, gardens, maintenance, etc. are all worth a fortune. It can be seen that, in fact, the real luxury goods, although the purchase cost is very expensive, but the maintenance cost is even higher.

The rent of Malibu villas is not high at $20,000, but the related maintenance costs must be borne by the tenants themselves, which is a lot of money. But Hugo was only here for a short vacation, so it was affordable.

Looking at the villa in front of them, Hugo and Uma couldn't wait to enter the empty house and browsed the house for the first time, only then did they know what comfort and luxury are.

The villa is located just a few steps from Malibu Beach, covers an area of ​​more than 6,000 square feet (560 square meters), which will take a while to browse, including four bedrooms and four bathrooms. The exterior of the house is made of stone walls, has a terrace with a pleasant view, and the interior design is elegant European style. Most of the rooms face the direction of the swimming pool and the sea, allowing people to see the blue sky and sea at a glance.

This is the real mansion, every design is carefully arranged, luxurious sofas, spiral staircases, retro fireplaces, quaint bookcases, cumbersome chandeliers, glass skylights that can see the sky, can An indoor bar that accommodates a large number of guests, and palm trees on the side of the room to bathe in the shadows, all elements have left a deep impression in the mind.

Living in such a mansion is indeed a pleasure. Although the space is a bit too big and a little empty, fortunately, Hugo and Uma are reluctant to enjoy the two-person world. The original vacation was only scheduled for a week, but when the week was about to end, Uma still didn't want to leave.

"We can continue to stay here for a few days. Anyway, we haven't worked recently. Who knows if we will have time to enjoy such leisure after being busy." Uma is obviously reluctant to part here.

Hugo couldn't help laughing. He also liked it here, but he still had enough reason. "But our vacation is over, and we need to get back to work after we go back. The Golden Globe Awards are about to kick off."

"It will only take forty minutes to drive back to Los Angeles from here. Even if I have a job, I will be able to go back in time." Uma sat in Hugo's arms and looked at Hugo with those green eyes, "Besides, Now, didn't Joseph say that if the job changes, he will call you, did he mention the job when you called him yesterday?"

"No." Hugo sighed, and he was a little disappointed in this, but he still let himself try not to care, after all, no job is so simple, Joseph is also working hard now, and he can do things. Just be patient and trust Joseph.

"That's right, since it's a vacation, let's continue to enjoy it. If there is a job, there's no way to go back." Uma continued to increase his persuasion, "Now, let's continue to stay here! "

Hugo was a little helpless when Uma said it, a smile formed on the corner of his mouth, and he gently bit Uma's nose, "Then you say, how many more days?" Let the real estate agent ventilate. However, villas in Malibu are idle all year round, especially now that it is winter, not the peak holiday season, so it is not a big problem to continue to stay.

"How about three more days?" Uma asked hesitantly.

Hugo took a deep breath, "Okay, then stay for three more days." Anyway, it's fine to go back, it's not bad to enjoy life here, and Hugo also brought a lot of books to read, and the days are full.

"Oh yeah!" Uma immediately cheered, "then let's go to the supermarket to buy some food and fruit, oh yes, and pesticides, there are so many ants here, God! And also Yes, I'm out of sunscreen..."

"You can make a list, and then we'll go to the supermarket." Hugo sat up, hugged Uma's waist, rolled over and pressed her on the sofa, then followed Uma's lips and collarbone all the way Going down, he said vaguely, "It's not easy to go to the supermarket here once, don't miss anything..."

In this way, Hugo and Uma continued to stay at their villa in Malibu. When Joseph heard the news, the first thing he saw was Charlize's "I knew it" eyes, "Did they continue to stay?" After receiving an affirmative answer from Joseph, Charlize was triumphant. Extending his right hand, Joseph, Alex, and Karl each put a dollar in Charlize's hand.

The seven-day vacation was extended to ten days, the ten days was extended to fifteen days, and finally, Hugo and Uma waited until the Golden Globe Awards on the twenty-fourth before leaving Malibu in a dusty way, ending the two-year-long holiday. Eleven days off and back in Los Angeles for tonight's awards ceremony.