Chapter 16 Strict Aunt
Hmm... an aunt who values appearance and etiquette and keeps rabbits? Something feels a bit strange.
Zhang Wei immediately imagined the scene from Alice in Wonderland: a tall and majestic castle, a garden behind it, and a rabbit hole...
This thought became even more realistic when she saw the Wilsons, who were dressed like medieval aristocrats in the movies.
We set off from London with a fresh start. This time we got a very spacious car, so the family of six including Betty was not crowded at all. Finally, the child seat was removed under Namier's strong protest, but they could only sit next to the adults.
This made Manny very happy, and he sat with Leida as he wished.
Zhang Wei still preferred to sit next to the window. She always wanted to see what was outside, so Betty sat outside her.
She looked at the scenery along the road from the city to the suburbs. The weather was a little gloomy, but it didn't look like it was going to rain. There weren't many tall buildings in the city, and soon all she could see were large meadows and lush trees, with small wooden villas hidden in between, very much in the European country style.
Although there were many places like this in New York City, this place was obviously more cold, making Zhang Wei feel that it was less popular.
There were not many vehicles or pedestrians on the road. Zhang Wei thought it would be quite comfortable to ride a bicycle here, provided it didn't rain.
After turning left and right, the car finally entered a road where the light was completely blocked by the shade of trees. The trees on both sides were so thick that it might take two people to hug them together. It was clearly morning but it was as dark as evening. Maybe it was a psychological effect, Zhang Wei couldn't help but shudder.
"We're almost there, Vera. Remember to greet Mrs. Collins!" Betty whispered in her ear.
This was the second time she had mentioned Mrs. Collins, and it seemed Betty was impressed by this aspect of her.
Then the car finally stopped and Zhang Wei was carried out of the car by Betty. When she looked up, she saw a castle in front of her. Although she had imagined whether she could see the castle, there was still a big difference between imagination and seeing it directly in front of her.
This castle looks very old at first glance, with vines covering some parts. It is not an exaggerated Gothic style, but looks heavy and simple, with a sense of stability and solidity. The entire shape except for the roof is a regular rectangular block, with only the towers at both ends having barrel vaults, which is a symbol of typical European classical architecture.
Zhang Wei felt as if she had seen a similar building in a history book, probably in the chapter about the European Renaissance.
Before she could continue to admire it, she heard Leida's polite voice:
"Aunt Mary, thank you for coming to pick us up in person."
As the sound of wheels approached, a serious female voice said, "Whether I come or not, you always come to disturb me every summer."
Zhang Weicai saw a woman in a wheelchair approaching him. She looked a bit like a witch in a fairy tale because her skin was abnormally pale, she had deep nasolabial folds, and sunken eye sockets. She looked difficult to get along with.
"Mary, we are a family and we must always find opportunities to get together." Charles immediately walked over, hugged her and kissed her on the cheek, then took control of the wheelchair from an old man.
Emma took Zhang Wei and Namier and said, "Mary, the children all want to see their only aunt."
Zhang Wei immediately followed Namier and Manny in greeting her: "Aunt Mary, good day."
Zhang Wei just bowed his head and said nothing.
Aunt Mary glanced at Namier and said, "I suppose he'd rather see the rabbits in the garden."
She turned her gaze towards Zhang Wei again. Meeting her gaze, Zhang Wei felt that she would not say anything good, but she also gritted her teeth and let her look at her. However, she quickly withdrew her gaze and said to Charles behind her:
"I hope you made this decision after careful consideration, not on a whim."
"I'm sorry, Mary, I should have told you in time, but the circumstances were rather special at the time. We originally just wanted to go over and take a look, but we didn't expect to meet Vera—"
Before he could finish, Aunt Mary raised her hand to stop him:
"You don't need to report to me. Although I used to be the daughter of the Wilson family, my last name is Collins now. You only need to be responsible to the Wilson family."
After that, she turned the wheel and said, "Go in, otherwise people will think I don't let the Wilson family into my castle!"
Even the usually lively Namir didn't dare to move, which shows how powerful Aunt Mary's aura is.
Emma held Zhang Wei's hand to comfort her, but Zhang Wei didn't feel much. After all, she was a stranger whom she had just met for the first time. She just had to treat her as the owner of the castle inn where she was going to stay.
Oh yeah, she's going to live in a castle! It makes me excited just thinking about it.
Emma was relieved to see Zhang Wei looking around happily in a short while.
The place where we got off the bus was some distance away from the gate. It didn't look far, but it was not far when we walked. Zhang Wei followed everyone and walked straight forward. After crossing the lawn planted with evergreen trees, they came across a stone bridge. There was water underneath!
Zhang Wei stood on the bridge and found that there was a moat surrounding the entire castle. After crossing the bridge, there was a small square with a lawn and a pool without water, which looked like an abandoned fountain.
To be honest, the closer you get to the castle, the more dilapidated it looks. Moss has grown on the base of the walls outside the castle, and the windows have faded and revealed signs of rust.
Zhang Wei had a feeling that this time the accommodation might not be more comfortable than in a hotel.
"The room upstairs has been cleaned up. I'll go see what to give you for lunch. You can deal with the rest yourself."
Aunt Mary said this and left with the old housekeeper.
"It's okay, let's take our time, Betty. Let's first arrange bedrooms for the children!" Charles seemed to be used to having a serious sister, and he immediately made arrangements for everyone:
"Leida, go help too!"
"Emma, come with me to the wine cellar, let's find a bottle of good wine to celebrate!"
After saying this, he left leisurely with his wife, leaving the children in the room looking at each other in bewilderment.
"Come on, kids, come upstairs with me!" Betty immediately got into the mood.
Namier was in deep doubt: "Did I really stay here for two months last summer? I don't believe it!"
"No doubt about it, you stayed for 34 days to be exact, and you didn't want to go home at all." Manny was happy to prove it to him.
"Let's go!" Leida picked up the noisy kid and went upstairs.
Betty also wanted to hug Zhang Wei, but she refused. She still felt it was very novel and couldn't wait to explore step by step.
While they were talking, Zhang Wei kept looking up at the ceiling of the hall. Not only was there colorful paintings on it, but there was also a huge and gorgeous crystal chandelier hanging on it. The crystal chandelier looked a little yellow, and no one knew how many years it had been there.
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