Chapter 117: Found It?
Anyway, when Mr. and Mrs. Lee once again asked Arianna to stay a little longer, she agreed. On this day, York deliberately took a day off to show Arianna around. This season was a busy time for York. He wasn’t talkative.
Arianna could still feel that York was trying to compensate her as her biological father.
York taught Arianna to identify the varieties of the grapes one by one, and he took her to the winery and patiently explained to her every process of winemaking and the characteristics of each wine. Other than that, they couldn’t talk much to one another.
Arianna wanted to ask York if he knew some young man who looked like Vince Johnson. Because Travis Cooper left a note to her to find York, she believed York should know Travis.
When she finally found the right opportunity and asked, York smiled and asked her back, “Is there really a person who looks like Vince? If you do, you must introduce him to Vince. Vince always believes that there is someone in the world who looks exactly like him, and he’s determined to find the other party.”
“He is a freak.” Arianna was disappointed and confused.
“Yeah, ever since he was born.”
York said that Vince had been convinced of two things since he was a child. One was that he believed there was a person in the world that looked exactly like him; the other was that his mother was still alive.
No one had ever seen Vince’s mother. It’s said that his father had been to Country C in his early years. After many years, Vince’s father came back to Country A carrying little Vince, who’s just been born, saying that his wife had passed away. Later, Vince’s father also died young.
“Vince had no clues, but he had hired people to search for his mother in Country C for many years.”
“Did he find her?”
“Probably not. About 11 years ago, he said that he couldn’t feel his mom anymore, so he stopped searching. There is something weird about this child. Just like when he was in a coma, and the doctor had already claimed his incoming death, but he survived.” York became talkative when the topic was Vince. Then York asked, “Arianna, are you not feeling well?”
“Maybe the sun is too glaring. It doesn’t matter.” While she was dizzy, Arianna suddenly remembered why the white-dressed girl painting on the wall of the main mansion of the Johnson Family would feel so familiar.
Years ago, when she investigated the background of Travis, the private detective once provided her with a photograph of Travis’s mom shot at a young age. The time of Travis’s mom’s death was twelve years ago. And the girl in that oil painting in the mansion of the Johnson Family looked exactly like the photo of Travis’s mom.
Arianna hid his secret in her heart and went to visit the wine cellar of the estate with York.
It was dark and cool in the granite-structured wine cellar, and the air was filled with the smell of oak and wine. In the high and deep space, large oak barrels laid quietly on the shelves in rows. Bottled wines were placed against walls. There were labels everywhere, marking the vintage.Text © by N0ve/lDrama.Org.
Arianna touched the oak barrels and wine bottles and listened to York telling her about the interesting history of this place. For example, the oldest wine here had an age above 70, about the same age as old Lady Johnson, who gave this manor to her beloved grandson as a gift. Both the grandma owner and the grandson owner had their little quirks. The old lady objected to selling wine in the name of the manor, thinking that the wine was a fallen product, and she strictly defined the dates of wine prohibition. Vince opposed the brewing of red wine.
“A lot of years ago, Vince accidentally knocked over a bottle of red wine, and later, he began to hate the color of red wine.”
They talked and walked to the end of the wine cellar, and there was a hidden door there. York opened the secret door and said, “Let me show you the best quality wine in the manor.”
The secret room was dark. York reached out and turned all the lights on, and the room was glorious in a second. There were tens of thousands of bottles of wine under the light.
When the light was on, they saw a person sitting on the low ladder between the wine racks. It was Vince. He reached out and covered his eyes for a second because of the strong lighting.
“Uncle Lee.” Vince said politely, and he nodded to Arianna and said, “Hello, Miss.” He deliberately removed her last name. Then he slowly descended the ladder. York immediately went forward to help to hold him while saying, “Be careful.”
Then York said, “Your body is not in perfect condition yet. You should always bring a fellow to accompany you here.”
Vince pointed at the monitoring that had just been turned on, “There is monitoring and an alarm bell here.”
“Still, you shouldn’t sit on a ladder. It’s dangerous.”
“There are no chairs here.”
Arianna lowered her head to avoid her smile being seen. The previous conversation between the two men reminded her of her short experience of tutoring children many years ago.
“I’m showing Arianna around the wine cellar, and I didn’t expect to bother you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I just sit here and see if I can find the feeling I used to have.”
“Found it?”
“No.”
“Of course not. You have paid only two visits to this place. The last time was five years ago.”
Because of the interruption in the middle of the meditation, Vince came out with the two of them from the wine cellar, his steps very slow.
The sky was clear, and there was only a breeze in the air. They walked together for a short distance. Arianna walked ahead of the two, and she was moody. York and Vince occasionally talked to each other.
York’s phone suddenly rang. He answered the phone and said, “Know it. Now?” Then York paid a look at Vince and Arianna and hesitated, “I’m in the middle of something…. Can we change it tomorrow? Or, maybe two hours later?”
Arianna said, “Just go ahead with your business. I can have a good time by myself.”
York glanced at her with gratitude, “I’ll let Claire walk with you.”
“No need. I know the way now. Claire has an appointment with a friend in the afternoon.”
“Where were you going?” Vince asked politely.
“We planned to go to the town to watch the puppet show of the Vanilla Troupe,” York said.