Chapter 15: Fink's Estate

  After transferring from Magdeburg to Oschersleben, Zhang Haino hired a horse-drawn carriage outside the station. Although it cost quite a few marks, at least it saved him the trouble of asking for directions.

  Two hours later, the sky gradually darkened and the scenery on both sides of the road became blurred. After a bumpy ride, the horse carriage finally stopped in front of two large iron gates.

  Zhang Hainuo had only one piece of luggage with him, a leather bag containing clothes to change into. It was very light. He got off the car and paid the fare, but before he could even reach out to knock on the big black iron gate, someone came over with a lantern to open it for him.

  "A woman's voice came from the other side of the door, and two seconds later, it excitedly shouted: 'The Baron has returned! The Baron has returned!'"

  Can this poor baron be worthy of the title "adult"? Zhang Haino thought it was a bit funny in his heart. He quickly saw the source of the voice, which was a not-too-tall, somewhat stout middle-aged woman. She was dressed very ordinarily and had a half-long apron tied to her front, which was the typical image of a working-class servant in this era.

  When Zhang Hainuo got off the car, there was only one window in the villa that was shining with light. After the maid shouted twice, the lights inside lit up a bit more, but it was still not enough to let Zhang Hainuo see the true appearance of the house in the villa. He didn't have high hopes for his own home to be as grand and luxurious as the von Tirpitz family's, after all, a house with only one butler and two or three servants wouldn't be too big.

  Following the maid and her glass lantern, Zhang Haino walked through the large iron gate towards the inside. Soon he saw two other lanterns moving towards him. One of them was held by a man in his thirties, while the other was carried by an old man with a head full of white hair.

  "Baron, you're back!" The two of them looked at Zhang Haino with a mixture of delight and respect.

  Unfortunately, Zhang Hainuo couldn't recall their names, so he had to say to them like this:

  "Ah, vacation, back and stay for two days!"

  "It's really great! Baron, you haven't come back since the war broke out. To be honest, we were all worried about you!" This was said by the white-haired old man, who was obviously the butler here.

  It's been two years since Zhang Hainuo returned home, and he was quite surprised that Edwin hadn't mentioned it to him. It seems that this Hainuo didn't care about this house, perhaps for him, this old and small villa no longer had much meaning as a home.

  Anyway, Zhang Hainuo still said politely:

  "Oh... I'm really sorry, it's just been too busy and didn't have time to come back even once!"

  "Baron, you're too serious, you must have more important things to attend to in the Navy! By the way, we received both letters you sent back two years ago and last year, everything has been taken care of according to your instructions!" The old man spoke as he led the way in front of Zhang Haino, while the maid and the man followed on either side behind him, reminding Zhang Haino of the typical triangular escort formation used during fleet operations.

  What instructions? Zhang Hainuo didn't know what instructions he had given before, but it wasn't good to ask now. He simply responded with a simple "oh". The estate was indeed not large, and the group of people arrived at the front door of the main building in just a few steps. It was a pair of double doors, each one meter wide and over two meters high, with large door rings and iron-clad corners.

  As for this gate, Zhang Hainuo felt it still had a noble and aristocratic air about it!

  "Welcome home, Baron!" The old man handed the lantern to the maid and walked to the front door, pushing open the seemingly heavy door with both hands.

  Perhaps due to the fatigue of the journey, Zhang Haino slept until dawn on this unfamiliar large bed. This large bed that can accommodate three or four people is soft and comfortable, absolutely incomparable to the hard bunks on a warship! What makes Zhang Haino feel somewhat unaccustomed is the soft nightgown he's wearing, its style isn't particularly strange, it can also be seen in some movies depicting ancient European life. The only thing Zhang Haino doesn't understand is that since they've already passed the industrial era, why does the butler still give him this kind of sleeping attire.

  Zhang Hainuo got out of bed and walked to the window, pulling open the thick curtains. The world in front of him suddenly became bright!

  Under the sunshine of Chaoyang, the distant fields present a golden color symbolizing harvest. Nearby, there is a small stream with bridges and mills, as well as patches of forests. Between the trees, one can vaguely see an earthen road that is not very wide, allowing at most two horse-drawn carriages to pass side by side. The road extends into the distance in one direction, and forks out in another direction, with the end of the forked road being the entrance of this manor.

  Now Zhang Hainuo thinks that this manor is not as small as it seems. The lawn in front of the house is about two standard basketball courts, a stone road divides the lawn into two halves, and some flowers are planted along the edge of the lawn against the wall. If it weren't for those chickens walking back and forth on the lawn, this place would have a bit of a noble manor flavor to it.

  Zhang Hainuo pushed open the window, allowing the air filled with rural atmosphere to flow into this room. After taking a bath last night and feeling very sleepy, combined with the candlelight not being ideal, he now had the opportunity to carefully examine this room. The wooden ceiling and floor, the chandelier made of wax candles, the walls built with large stones, the large fireplace, some oil paintings framed in wood, and the wardrobe that was as tall as a person all made the room's furnishings seem like they had returned to the Middle Ages.

  Zhang Hainuo found his shirt and military uniform on the clothes rack near the door, and next to it was a washbasin, towel and shaving kit, with water already poured into the basin. After washing up and dressing, Zhang Hainuo walked out of the room.

  With the attic, this house has a total of three floors. Zhang Hainuo's room is on the second floor. When he just walked into this house yesterday, he almost thought he had really returned to the 12th century - all the wall lamps and chandeliers here are lit with candles, the wooden floor, stone walls and the basic structure of the bedroom have no two harms, but what can reflect the noble status of the owner is the shields, long swords, family flags on the walls and the ancient armor standing in the corner of the hall!

  "Baron, you're up!"

  The old man with white hair wore a clean black suit today, and the collar of his white shirt was even tied with a black bow tie. What made Zhang Hainuo feel more exaggerated was that he actually wore a pair of white gloves, which was completely a professional butler who understood noble etiquette!

  A wooden long dining table had been set with breakfast, eggs, bread, pancakes and milk, but only one seat was set for Zhang Hainuo. After enjoying the meal alone, he started chatting with the old housekeeper.

  "How have you all been these past two years?"

  "Yes, Baron, thanks to your blessings, everyone is in good health! Last year, Ram's son went into the army, so she and Balend have to work extra hard. The harvests for these two years have been decent, but most of the grain was taken away by the government at a low price. I've written all this down in detail in the account book, please take a look!"

  The old butler took out a thick account book, Zhang Haino opened the first page, and saw that the beautiful handwriting showed that the year was 1873. It seemed that this account book was much older than himself. The things recorded in the account book were very simple, mainly the income and expenditure situation of each month, and unlike those formal company account books, there were no various certificates attached. This also explained the relationship of mutual trust between the nobility and the butler from another aspect.