Earl Robin's car is a four-seater Jaguar XJ6 with dark green paint, iconic four-eyed headlights, a leopard logo on the hood, and even the background color of the Jaguar logo on the rims is green, which is in line with the Scottish people's love for all kinds of green.
It was just past five when we came out of the Boyle family's forest farm. It was a little early for the dinner to go back, but if we wanted to visit somewhere else, it seemed like there wasn't enough time.
"Haha, I'll take you to a nice place, we'll talk on the way."
Earl Robin very warmly invited Alan to ride in the same car. Looking at his Jaguar, Alan smiled and said that after the New Year... he must make the Bentley he acquired produce a model specially for Scotland, and even make the leather seats green. Then he would come here to reap some profits.
…
Ayrshire is a port city because it is close to the sea. Across the sea is Northern Ireland. When there was a famine there, many Irish people crossed the sea to Scotland to beg, so that in the city of Glasgow today, about 30% of the people are Irish.
The terrain here is lowland and the environment is good, suitable for large-scale planting.
Allen humbly asked, "What crops do you mainly grow on your land?"
"Barley, wheat, etc. Our area is the main production area of Lowland whiskey. I also have a distillery at home. Growing crops is not profitable, so I will grow raw materials for the distillery."
Speaking of this, Earl Robin also sighed.
The British nobles used to own a lot of land, but the output from the land was not profitable.
It would be fine for ordinary people from small families to rely on agricultural subsidies from the government, but for nobles who own large tracts of land, if they work hard to grow barley for a year and sell it... they can't sell it at a good price, and they may only earn a hard-earned living throughout the year, not to mention the wages of the servants at home. If they don't take the subsidies, they may even lose money.
Earl Robin, who grows his own raw materials and runs his own winery, has already achieved an ecological closed loop. Maybe it's better here, but the land in Alan's family has long been abandoned for cultivation.
Farming means losing money. In this case, why bother farming? Why not just buy food?
In addition, Wales is hilly and mountainous, and there are not as many plains as Scotland, so a lot of his family's land is used for grazing and breeding. Some small plots of land are used to grow vegetables for self-sufficiency, and the rest...
If the terrain is not good, just leave it there as a wilderness.
In any case, their land development and utilization are definitely not as sophisticated as the Boyle family's.
…
If you think about it this way, the Earl of Glasgow's household has reduced the number of servants to the lowest standard, with the rest relying on temporary workers. Even the farm is run by college students who are tricked into coming for free. It can be said that a lot of effort has been put into the details, and money has been saved wherever it can be saved.
While doing so may seem to save a lot of costs, the safety of the personnel is greatly compromised. Ordinary college students doing farm work... not to mention whether they are skilled or not and how efficient they are, they won't be able to do it for long, right?
"Can you invite college students to work on your farm all year round?"
Alan is not opposed to these delicate operations. It's all exploitation after all. No matter how you save here or there, you have to do the math in the end. At least hundreds of thousands of pounds in wages can be saved a year. This is just the labor cost. The profits these things bring him have not been calculated yet. For things with zero cost, it is profitable no matter how you calculate it.
"We have a large family... The heads of major factories and farms are all young people from the family, just to give them something to do. The workers are college students. I donate to the schools around here regularly every year, haha... Those schools will also give priority to promoting my place, which is complementary. I heard that you also donate to schools, isn't that how your family operates?"
Count Robin looked at Alan strangely.
“…”
What the hell... They both donated money to the school, but Allen wanted to get William and Harry through the back door to get better care, and to use it to play a trick on them, while Earl Robin wanted to find free college student workers. The same thing has completely different effects in the hands of different people.
Although it's not a good thing, Allen's donation is a pure donation. Earl Robin can save labor costs, and the money he earns is definitely much more than the donation.
“You still need to study more!”
Alan sighed. Although everyone thought differently due to the specific reasons of each family, there were many things he could learn from Earl Robin, such as the concept of saving money. Alan liked things to be grand and did not care so much about details. He was not so meticulous in doing things, so sometimes the cost could not be minimized and the profit could not be maximized.
But he earns a lot, has many projects, and a lot of gray income, which gives Allen the illusion that all his businesses are doing well. Now after taking a look around, Allen feels that next year he should optimize the industries under his name. Saving money, at some point, is making money!
…
"This is……"
After the convoy arrived at the destination, led by Earl Robin, Alan looked at the building in front of him with a very "rustic" door sign, his mouth slightly open.
《Rural Art Photography Center》
It was a small two-story white building that covered a large area. Its crooked copper door had such a rustic name hanging on it. It looked like... Alan had thought it was some kind of activity center for the elderly.
But it also has the word "filming" in it.
Is this a film set?
"Hahaha, what do you think?" Earl Robin stood on tiptoe and hugged Alan.
“Is this your place?”
"Of course! I'm also a director, don't you know?"
Count Robin pointed at himself, looking smug.
"???"
Oh shit, I met a colleague here?
Alan blinked. He didn't expect that Earl Robin had this hobby. He had never heard of it before.
…
Under the smug leadership of Earl Robin, Alan walked into this so-called art photography center which looked like a senior activity center for a visit.
It’s true, you can’t judge a book by its cover.
It looks plain from the outside, but once you get inside, you will find it is luxuriously decorated. There is a very long corridor at the entrance, which is the Hall of Honor. On both sides of the corridor are glass cabinets that reach the ceiling. There are all kinds of trophies, all of which Alan has never heard of. Never mind whether the awards are heavyweight or not, there are a lot of them anyway!
The 1st Ayrshire Film Festival - Best New Director
The First Fordtown Film Festival - Best Screenplay
Kate Village Popular Award
The 2nd Ayrshire Film Festival - Best Director
The 3rd Ayrshire Film Festival - Best Documentary
Looking at the fancy trophies in the honor cabinet, especially the titles on them, Alan almost laughed out loud.
What the hell... Earl Robin is most likely a person with a big addiction to food. This award is accurate to the county and village levels. Could it be that he paid for this award himself?
"Ahem... Don't care about these awards. I love my hometown more. I want to hold more activities in my hometown to make it lively and give back to ordinary people..."
Earl Robin calmly pulled Alan, not wanting him to look at the details of each award, just the number!
…
"As for me, I'm definitely not comparable to you. I mainly shoot documentaries, and the themes... ahahaha... are all about the countryside, all about Scotland, you know?"
After exiting the Hall of Honor, what came into view were rows of equipment that even Alan was a little surprised by.
What does it mean that poor students have more stationery?
These photographic equipment in front of you are what we call poor student’s stationery!
Some of the equipment is very niche, and even barely needs to be used, but Earl Robin bought them all and filled several rows with them.
"Um... let's go to your reading room?"
Looking at his strange awards and equipment, Alan was very curious about what exactly this guy was photographing.
Speaking of watching movies... Earl Robin said shyly, "Well... the dinner is about to start, how about another day?"
"?"
Seeing his expression that seemed like he wanted to show off but was a little embarrassed, Alan became even more curious.
But since the owner said he wanted to do it another day, Alan couldn't force it.
I'm shooting a documentary about rural areas, but I'm a little embarrassed to show it to him...
Combined with the identity of the old Su traitor in Robin's family, Alan suddenly had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and he seemed to understand what type of thing he was shooting.
This is probably the kind of routine that directors from many small countries or countries with little reputation in the film industry like to use - exposing their ugliness.
They just flatter their hometown, describing how dark and backward it is, and publicize many low-probability events as if they were common situations.
Anyway, just make it as disgusting as possible, and then use this kind of film to please outsiders.
If... Robin made some documentaries about Scotland, and considering his status as a politician, there is still a lot of room for maneuver.
for example……
The people in Ayrshire where he is now live a very hard and difficult life.
How do you think others would feel after watching his films?
The first feeling would definitely be that this is due to inaction by the Scottish authorities!
Then, as a Scottish MP, Earl Robin can say such things in Parliament, no matter whether it is true or false, as long as there is such a film, he can make it work.
As for whether he directed and acted in this himself, who cares?
Alan had never heard of him before. If this guy was really shameless, given his family's character, couldn't he just use a stage name when making a movie?
The more I think about it, the more I feel that this Earl of Glasgow knows how to have fun!
This is how the traditional black-hearted aristocratic lords play. On the one hand, they make documentaries to discredit the officials, and on the other hand, they personally stand up to win the hearts of the people, play the role of a good guy, and play both the good cop and the bad cop.
"Hahaha... Then I won't watch it. But... Robin, when you are free, you must come to my place. We should communicate more. I have gained a lot from this visit!"
What Count Robin did seemed to open the door to a new world for Allen. Although this move was shameless, it was fun!
…
Kelburn Castle currently only has the first and second floors open to the public. As for the third floor, it has not yet been opened. One reason is that it is needed to store some precious items, and the other is that Earl Robin and his men have to live there. If the place is open to visitors every day, they will have no place to live.
In the private reception room of Robin's house, Alan followed Robin in and saw Robin's wife with a girl in her twenties. The two were sitting on the sofa next to them and talking and laughing. Seeing them come back, the Countess stood up, took the girl's hand, came to Alan and introduced them to him.
"Mr. Allen... This is the special guest of tonight's dinner, Samantha Gates. Samantha, you should have heard of Mr. Allen, right?"
After the introduction, the Countess naturally handed Samantha's hand to Alan.
Alan held the soft, tender little hand in his hand, then looked at the person in front of him, feeling a little confused.
The main reason was that he really didn't expect that the mysterious guest at tonight's dinner would be her!
This woman named Samantha Gates may not be very famous in the outside world, especially in China. One reason is that information was not well developed in the era she lived in. The other reason is that Samantha did not choose to be an actress. She debuted as a child star and was initially a model who took photos. Later, because of her outstanding looks, she made two movies. After filming the two movies that year, she returned to the print modeling industry and retired from the film industry.
I didn't expect to see her here today!
Allen also has a photo album of this person in his collection at home.
Samantha is most famous for a photo album she shot a few years ago in collaboration with an island photographer. That photo album...tsk tsk tsk...
Anyway, there is an image of Alice in her photo album, which is hailed as the benchmark of modern Alice, the Alice in "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland".
But this photographer from the island country… just turned a photo album with a focus on children or youth into a photo album with a focus on adults. Although there are no obvious leaks in the entire photo album, there are hints everywhere…
It is full of Japanese artistic conception, hazy.
It’s an island country... those who understand will understand. Anyway, Alan was very impressed by this photo book, so he was a little surprised when he saw the real Samantha now.
It gives people the feeling that the real people in the photo album have walked out of the book.
…
"Hello, Mr. Alan, nice to meet you." Samantha very gracefully lifted the hair behind her ear and greeted Alan with a smile.
Her lightly lifted up her long blond hair, making it look like she was in a shampoo commercial. Each strand of hair was clearly visible, and as her hair fell, a fragrant breeze filled the air.
She had a straight little nose, big eyes with green pupils, and thin red lips. Her appearance hadn't changed much from before, except that she was a little taller. If no one told her age, just looking at her face, no one would believe that the girl in front of them was already 28 years old!
A 28-year-old blonde loli!
This is a very strange combination. You know how old she is, and her figure is that of a young woman, but on this young woman's body, a baby-faced head is installed...
Alan squeezed his hand slightly and said, "Hello, Ms. Samantha, I didn't expect to see you here. I have collected your photos."
…