MM Racing Chapter 202 Private Museum
Chapter 202 Private Museum
"Manager Liu, I'm planning to open a private museum in Beijing. I've collected quite a few antiques and artifacts in Hong Kong over the years."
Lin Zhou made up a story off the top of his head, and in doing so, he also found a way out for the antiques in his space.
"I plan to put these items, collected from all over the world, into a private museum and let everyone visit the exhibition!"
"A private museum?" Liu Yaolong forgot to light the cigarette he had just taken out, thinking he had misheard, and asked again with a serious tone:
"Boss, you just said you want to open a private museum? And you want to put all the antiques you've collected over the years in there?"
"This is a big deal. Boss, have you found a suitable location? Even if you have a location, you still need professional design and subsequent operation and maintenance. All in all, it's no simpler than building an office building."
Lin Zhou shook his head, gently tapping his left palm with his right index finger, and said in a calm and unhurried tone:
"I'll leave the location to you to find for me! I'm about to head back."
"However, the location doesn't need to be too remote. It's best to choose a location closer to Zhonghua Building. Firstly, it will be easier to manage, and secondly, it will become a unique sight in Beijing in the future."
"It would be best to invite experts from a design institute to design it, since the practicality and aesthetics of the collection need to be considered in the future. My collection mainly consists of ancient books, calligraphy and paintings, and porcelain. It is necessary to ensure the preservation conditions and also make it comfortable for visitors to view."
The conditions Lin Zhou mentioned were based on those proposed by many museums in later generations.
The items he had kept in his personal space for over a decade included porcelain, rare ancient books, and Ming and Qing dynasty calligraphy and paintings that he had secretly collected from the steel mill warehouse, as well as gold, jade, and porcelain vases that Director Li had privately collected.
There are also many cultural relics and valuables that were collected from the basement of Mr. Li's house during the Hong Kong riots, as well as antiques and cultural relics that Lin Zhou has slowly collected in Hong Kong over the years and that have been returned from overseas.
Each item represents a piece of Chinese history. While it's safe to pile them up in the space, there's always an awkward feeling. After all, he has so many collections, but no one knows about them. Wouldn't that be a waste of his time collecting them?
It would be better to build a private museum to display these artifacts to the public, thus giving them a home and ensuring the preservation of cultural heritage.
"If it's close to Zhonghua Building, there are a few vacant lots nearby that are yet to be developed. I'll talk to the district leaders about it and see if we can get them."
Liu Yaolong immediately took out his notebook and wrote it down, the pen tip tracing across the paper.
"If the design plan needs to be produced by a design institute, I feel that Zhang Guotao should be able to get in touch with a design institute, after all, his company is a state-owned construction company, a state-owned enterprise."
"He suggested that he try to find connections or contact higher-level authorities to arrange a collaboration between the design institute and the museum."
Lin Zhou nodded, fully agreeing with his consideration, and said to Liu Yaolong:
"Okay, first have Zhang Guotao's team come up with a preliminary site plan and architectural framework scheme, and then have them contact a professional cultural heritage design institute's expert team to work on details such as internal exhibitions, temperature, humidity, and security. This requires a strong combination of expertise; it needs to be both sturdy and professionally executed."
"Don't worry, boss. Security is a top priority. The collection is priceless, and we can't afford to make any mistakes."
Liu Yaolong emphasized his words.
"Our group has its own security company, which allows us to get involved in advance and design a customized security system, from perimeter patrols to internal alarms and keypad locks, to plan and deploy a comprehensive system to ensure absolute security."
This was exactly what Lin Zhou wanted to do. Zhonghua's security company had been taking on security tasks for many years and was extremely experienced.
Therefore, Zhonghua Security has always handled its tasks flawlessly, whether it's its headquarters in Hong Kong or its missions in various locations, without ever making a single mistake.
Moreover, having Zhonghua Security Company handle the museum's security is far more reliable than hiring external security personnel to work there.
"Then let's do it your way. You should directly liaise with Zhao Jianjun regarding the security team and have them come up with the most comprehensive plan."
After the two returned to the car, Liu Yaolong had the driver take Lin Zhou home, and then immediately had the driver take him back to his office. He first dialed the number of Zhang Guotao from Sijiucheng Construction Company.
Tell him there's a project and ask if he'd be willing to take it on. Then tell him about Lin Zhou's idea of building a private museum and his initial requirements.
Upon hearing that it was a new project from Zhonghua Group, and that Lin Zhou had personally proposed it, Zhang Guotao's tone instantly became even more enthusiastic.
He first let out a few hearty laughs, then quickly patted his chest and assured them:
"Mr. Liu, please rest assured, we will definitely do our best to handle this matter well!"
"Building a museum is a meticulous task. I'll immediately arrange for the company's most experienced design team to visit the area around Zhonghua Building tomorrow and produce a preliminary plan within three days for your review, Mr. Liu!"
After hearing Liu Yaolong's agreement, Zhang Guotao gently put down the phone and immediately contacted his network of contacts to ask who could speak with the experts at those design institutes.
After making a round of phone calls, the result was not satisfactory. No one knew any of the leaders there. How could we possibly borrow their experts to work?
Having no other choice, I decided to contact my former boss. I called him and explained my cooperation with Zhonghua Group.
"Haha, Xiao Zhang! You did the right thing. We finally managed to get outside companies to invest, so we should take the initiative to solve their problems. If we do a good job, there will be plenty of opportunities for cooperation in the future."
"Don't worry! Leave the matter to me. I'll have them transfer people over tomorrow. That's all. I'll contact them now."
As the capital city, Beijing has no shortage of professional cultural heritage architecture design talents.
Sure enough, not long after, a company that had participated in the design of many museums in China called Zhang Guotao and promised to send a designer to meet with him the next day to discuss the specific design details.
Meanwhile, after getting out of Liu Yaolong's car, Lin Zhou returned to the yard and, taking advantage of his wife Su Wanqing's inattention, went back to the bedroom, immediately locked the door, and focused on entering his portable room.
The three-bedroom, two-living-room house that serves as the space still retains its high-tech appearance from later times. Pushing open the door of a renovated room, one is greeted by a dazzling array of collectibles.
Opening a box against the wall revealed it filled with blue and white porcelain vases, Ru ware sky-blue glaze, and Shoushan stone seals, each piece lustrous and smooth.
The other boxes contained stacks of thread-bound ancient books, their yellowed pages still carrying the scent of ink from many years past.
Inside the box on top were some exquisite jade carvings, an antique bronze incense burner, and several framed ancient paintings, which, when unfolded, depicted distant landscapes and lively flowers and birds.
Lin Zhou walked slowly and came to a box made of Phoebe zhennan wood. Inside was a famille rose porcelain bowl with lifelike flowers and birds on the bowl. He had collected it into his space when he was in the steel mill warehouse.
At the time, it was covered in dust, but Lin Zhou wiped away the dirt in his spare time, revealing its original luster.
There were also those few fragments of Song Dynasty woodblock prints, which were the most precious items in Director Li's private collection. If they hadn't ended up in his hands back then, they would probably be long gone.
Each of these objects has its own story, and as Lin Zhou looked at them, a sense of emotion suddenly arose in his heart.
Throughout his life, he smuggled himself from Beijing to Hong Kong, and then used the technology and culture of later generations to build his own business empire. Along the way, wealth had long been an external thing to him.
Building a museum is not just about housing these collections, but also about letting more people see these things left by our ancestors, and letting those forgotten beauties be seen and cherished again.
Just like Zhonghua Group's establishment in mainland China, it's not only for business development, but also to fulfill a responsibility as a Chinese person.
Lin Zhou roughly sorted out the main collection, noting down the quantity and category, so that he could communicate with the design team about the exhibition layout later, and then left the space.