Riding the wind of rebirth

Chapter 1623 Baton

This reminded Zhou Zhi of a joke that was used online to teach foreigners to learn Chinese: Foreigners, you have to remember that one hundred and fifty is right, two hundred and fifty is still right, and two hundred and fifty-eight thousand is still right; and taking the elevator is actually standing in the elevator, sashimi is actually dead fish, and waiting for the red light is actually waiting for the green light...

But before Zhou Zhi could think too much, Leah on the side exclaimed: "Johann Baptist Strau!"

"What?!" Zhou Zhi knew that this was a person's name, but he didn't know who it was.

"Johann Strauss Jr." The name Leah itself is a Jewish name, so it is not surprising that old Leah could speak German.

After translating it into English, Zhou Zhi finally knew who it was: "Hey, it's Johann Strauss Jr.... Wait! Johann Strauss Jr.?!"

Johann Strauss was a famous Austrian composer, conductor, violinist and pianist. His father, Johann Strauss Sr., was a self-taught musician who established a musical dynasty in Vienna, composed waltzes, galops, polkas and quartets, and published more than 250 works.

Johann the Younger was even more exaggerated. His works were numbered as high as 479, of which 150 were waltzes. Works such as "The Blue Danube" helped Strauss establish his status as the "Waltz King" and made him occupy a place in music history, surpassing his father's productivity and reputation.

Johann Strauss has the same name as his father, and both are famous for composing waltzes. To distinguish them, people add the words "old" and "young" in front of their names respectively.

In addition to composing, he was also a great conductor. At the beginning of his career, during the revolution in Vienna, he was the captain of the National Military Band and conducted the Marseillaise and his own revolutionary marches and waltzes. Later, he served as the conductor of court balls and the captain of the court ball band of the Austro-Hungarian royal family. He basically reached the pinnacle of the position of conductor.

Johann Strauss II died in Vienna in 1899. For some reason, decades later, his baton became part of Leopold Stokowski's collection.

After the baton was discovered, the lively scene suddenly became quiet.

Johann Strauss II had a nickname, called "Napoleon of Music". When his funeral was held, hundreds of bells in Vienna rang sadly, and more than 100,000 Viennese people spontaneously took to the streets to bury him, which shows his status.

It may be easier to understand if we put it another way. Johann Strauss II is like Li Bai in the Western music world. Li Bai is known as the Immortal Poet in China, and Johann Strauss II is the "Sage of Music". His baton is like the pen that Li Bai used to write his poems. No wonder everyone was so shocked that he was speechless for a moment.

"If George wants to auction it, I can be your proxy." Leah finally cleared her throat: "I'm a director of the New York Collectors Association. I can give you priority in the big auction."

"On behalf of the principal and guarantor, the auction needs two recommenders, and I can be one." Red Hat Bonnie also suddenly spoke.

"Isn't that too hasty?" Zhou Zhi laughed and said, "Isn't it too rigorous to determine that it is Johann Strauss II's conductor just by the small gold-plated words on the baton? Then if we find an old shirt from that time and write the score of "The Blue Danube" on it, can we pass it off as one?"

Except for a few people like Leah who showed knowing smiles on their faces, most people present did not understand this allusion.

There is an interesting story about the creation of "The Blue Danube". One day, Johann Strauss II returned home and changed out of a dirty shirt. His wife found that the sleeves of the shirt were covered with staves. She knew that this was written down by her husband when he had a sudden inspiration, so she put the shirt aside.

When she came back a few minutes later and wanted to give it to her husband, she found that the shirt was missing.

It turned out that the moment she left, the washerwoman had taken it away along with other dirty clothes. She didn't know where the washerwoman lived, so she drove around looking for it. After running around for a long time, she still couldn't find it. At the moment she was in despair, fortunately, an old woman in the hotel led her to the washerwoman's hut. At this time, the washerwoman was about to throw the shirt into a bucket full of soapy water.

She rushed over, grabbed the washerwoman's arm, snatched the dirty clothes, and saved the precious music on the sleeve.

And this piece of music is none other than Johann Strauss’ immortal masterpiece – “The Blue Danube” Waltz.

"It's right to be more rigorous. If George is willing, we will definitely have an expert group conduct an appraisal before we auction it." Leah said, "We also need to sign a commission agreement with the help of a lawyer to determine the commission ratio, etc..."

"Thank you both for your enthusiasm." Zhou Zhi nodded to Leah and Bonnie to express his gratitude: "But I don't want to sell these things for the time being. After all, this is my first harvest as Curly Coat."

"If I need to go to an auction, I have my own fixed relationships. I can't abandon them for things like this, or we won't be able to be friends in the future."

Leah wanted to persuade her further, but Old John suddenly remembered the delivery address that Zhou Zhi had left in his store a few days ago. He was shocked and pretended to cough to remind Leah not to continue pestering her.

Old Leah was also a smart person. She received the hint from Old John in time. Moreover, she admired Zhou Zhi very much. The box had more than doubled in value in the blink of an eye, so she changed the subject and expressed her warm congratulations to Zhou Zhi.

It has been a while since the airport customs auction house has produced such good items. As a member of the organization, Red Hat Bonnie left everyone to stand in front of the opened folding desk suitcase. On the desk were placed the wine, batons, ink bottles and pens obtained from the box. Zhou Zhi, holding a collection box of shirts and tuxedos in his hand, was surrounded by everyone in the center and took a group photo together.

Next, the items must go through customs clearance procedures, pay taxes, and have a wax seal stamped by customs. Only then can they become legally owned by an individual and can be freely resold or put up for auction.

Fortunately, this tax is paid based on the auction price, so it doesn't cost much.

While Zhou Zhi was busy with the formalities, Leah quietly pulled Old John aside and whispered, "What did you mean by stopping me just now? If George agrees, I'm sure I can get a commission of $100,000."

In other words, Leah had already estimated the treasures unearthed by Zhou Zhi to be worth millions of dollars.

Old John shook his head slightly. “George has been buying porcelain in my store for the past two days. I just suddenly realized the delivery address he left for me.”

"What do you mean?"

"Just now he said he had his own connections, which reminded me of the delivery address he left. It was 62 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan Apartment."

"Manhattan Apartments?!" This time it was Leah's turn to be shocked: "No way? George? And him?"

"I heard that in order to repay Robert for donating the Oriental relief sculptures to China, someone helped the Manhattan apartment to restore two extremely precious Oriental artworks."

"Yes, I heard it was a young man from China..." Leah immediately reacted: "Could it be that the young man is George?"