Rebirth of the Wild Age

New York, Manhattan, Upper East Side, Sutton Square neighborhood.

A long-discontinued Lincoln sedan stopped by the side of the road. Zhang Lin held a wooden box in her hand. After getting off the car, she waved to the driver arranged by the company and walked towards the No. 11 townhouse opposite.

Zhang Lin looked at the surrounding houses along the way, and there was a lot of envy in her eyes. This former roommate of Lin Zhuoyun is already the marketing director of the North American branch of Xifeng Canned Food Co., Ltd., but she still does not have the financial resources to buy a house in this neighborhood.

From cultural and artistic celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe and Arthur Miller to many high-ranking political officials and business tycoons in the United States, they all like to buy houses and settle here.

The No. 11 townhouse where I.M. Pei lived was formerly owned by Roosevelt's cousin.

Ding dong, ding dong!

A blond young maid opened the small window of the door, looked outside, saw that the visitor was an Asian woman, and asked, Hello, what can I do?

Hello, Zhang Lin said with a smile, I'm here to visit Mr. Bei on behalf of Mr. Song. I made an appointment on the phone before.

The young maid immediately opened the door and said, Mr. Bei has not gone out and has been waiting at home for a long time. Please come in!

Zhang Lin came down to the garden led by the maid. An old lady was watering the flowers with a water bottle. The maid immediately introduced, Ma'am, this is a visitor that Mr. Bei has invited.

Zhang Lin hurriedly greeted: Hello, Mrs. Bei!

The old lady’s name is Lu Shuhua, and her English name is Irene Lu. Because of transliteration, she is often referred to as Lu Shuhua, Lu Ailing, and Lu Ailin by the Chinese media. She was born in a famous Chinese family and graduated from a famous American school. She is almost 90 years old this year, and she looks intellectual and kind.

Hello, Lu Shuhua put down the watering can, and shook hands with Zhang Lin, Is Miss Chinese?

Zhang Lin replied immediately: My name is Zhang Lin, I am Chinese, and I am currently working in the United States. This time, I was entrusted by Mr. Song Weiyang to visit Mr. I.M. Pei.

Lu Shuhua switched to Chinese mode with a smile, and said in Mandarin with a Cantonese accent: Miss Zhang, please come inside.

Thank you! Zhang Lin hurriedly held the wooden box with her left hand, and helped the old lady go inside with her right hand.

In the living room, Lu Shuhua personally made coffee for Zhang Lin and shouted in Cantonese: Old man, there are guests at home!

This townhouse has four floors. After a short while, I.M. Pei walked down the stair railing. Although the old gentleman was very tough, but after all his grade was too high, Zhang Lin hurried over to help him.

Don't help me, I'm not too old to walk. IM Pei laughed.

After IM Pei finished walking the stairs, Zhang Lin held the wooden box and said, Mr. Pei, this is a gift that Mr. Song asked me to bring you.

IM Pei opened the wooden box on the spot, and there was a bottle of red wine inside. He took out most of the wine bottle, looked carefully at the signature on the bottle, and said with a smile: Lafite in 1986, hey, Mr. Song's gift is quite precious.

Zhang Lin said: Mr. Song knew you like red wine, so he asked me to take a picture of a bottle.

IM Pei shook his head and smiled wryly: Such a precious gift, Mr. Song must have business with me.

The 1982 Lafite is the most famous in China, but the ratings given by professional wine tasting institutions are not the highest. The real top Lafites are 1901, 1953, 1959, 1986, and 2000. Even the 1996 Lafite has a higher score than the 1982.

I.M. Pei is a senior red wine lover. When Château Lafite invites him to drink, he always chooses 59 years of Lafite to entertain him.

Zhang Lin said in Mandarin: The sword is given to the hero.

Pei can understand Mandarin, but only Cantonese is fluent. He put the bottle back and asked in English, Does Mr. Song want to ask me to build a house?

Please design a science and technology building. Zhang Lin said.

IM Pei shook his head and said, Unfortunately, I have already retired.

Zhang Lin said: Isn't Mr. Bei the old man who designed the new Suzhou Museum that is under construction?

I.M. Pei explained: That was my final work.

Zhang Lin said: I will truthfully convey Mr. Bei's intentions, but Mr. Song may have to pay a visit in person.

IM Pei smiled and said, Is he still relying on me?

It's a sincere invitation. Zhang Lin said.

Mr. Song's great name, I've heard it in Manhattan, he is indeed an outstanding person in contemporary China, IM Pei thought for a while and said, Since I have retired, I must not be able to take on jobs anymore. But I can participate in the conceptual design , the specific design plan is in charge of my son Jianzhong or Lizhong, you can ask Mr. Song if it is feasible.

Okay, thank you Mr. Bei. Zhang Lin said.

IM Pei said: If it's convenient, you can call now, and I will let them go to China after the matter is finalized.

Although IM Pei has retired and closed the mountain, sometimes he still can't save face. Take the year before last as an example, he went back to Suzhou to go to the Design Museum, but Jinmen invited him over and over again. In desperation, IM Pei could only agree to be responsible for the conceptual design of the Dagu Bridge in Jinmen.

As for I.M. Pei's three sons, two of them are architectural designers, and one of them plans to go to Hong Kong City to expand his business. Just taking this opportunity to open up the mainland China market can be regarded as the old man paving the way for his son.

Naturally, Song Weiyang would not refuse. The conceptual design of the father and the specific design of the son can be advertised as a collaboration between I.M. Pei and his son.

A few minutes later, Zhang Lin put down her phone and said, Mr. Bei, Mr. Song is very happy to accept your proposal. He said that he will prepare rice wine and braised pork in China, and personally entertain Mr. Pei and his family.

Hahahaha, IM Pei couldn't help laughing, Mr. Song, you really know everything. Not only do you know that I like red wine, but you also know that I like rice wine and braised pork. He Could it be that I made a copy of the menu I had when I returned to China last time?

Zhang Lin also laughed: These are all manifestations of Mr. Song's sincerity.

IM Pei said: Let's do this, I will take my son back to China in a few days, and try to implement the design plan as soon as possible, which can be regarded as living up to Mr. Song's kindness.

In fact, I.M. Pei was going back to China. Because of the museum project in Jiangsu Province, he had to go to China almost every 15 months, and he had gone back and forth several times. Now that the richest man in China has asked him to build a house, he can take his family back to China early to relax, work out the design of the building with his son, and then go to Suzhou to attend the opening ceremony of the museum.

The old man is not the kind of aloof character who does not eat the fireworks of the world, he is very down-to-earth, and all the friends he makes are celebrities and big names in the political, business, and literary circles. This time, he just made another rich man in China.

And what about Song Weiyang?

After getting the exact news about the joint design of I.M. Pei and his son, they quickly contacted the Zhongguancun Software Park to increase the planned 30-story building and build a 38-story commercial building. With I.M. Pei's name as a signboard, it can be hyped even outside the Fifth Ring Road, and the management of the software park and real estate companies will also help with the speculation.

Some of the land around the software park has been bought by developers, but construction has not started yet.

Once the Ark Building designed by I.M. Pei is completed, and Song Weiyang's title of China's richest man is added, it will inevitably attract many technology companies to move here (Zhongguancun is too crowded and too expensive). As long as the software park has enough popularity, a residential area will follow the trend, followed by banks, supermarkets, schools, hospitals and other institutions. It should take five to eight years to develop.

Song Weiyang even called Brother Xiaoma. Anyway, Tencent is rich now, and it happens to be able to build Tencent's capital headquarters building in the Software Park, instead of going to Zhongguancun to squeeze office buildings.

Well, Song Weiyang also took a piece of residential land for his father's company to build a villa area, presumably the executives of those technology companies are willing to buy it - this land is his due reward for vigorously promoting the development of the software park.