Chapter 977: The Oblivious One
"What are you looking at me for?" asked Mu Chenyan as she noticed the way Yue Yue had been looking at her.
Yue Yue just smiled sweetly in return.
Mu Chenyan's brows furrowed seeing this reaction. What was wrong with her best friend all of a sudden?
Yue Yue drank the tea before she focused on Mu Chenyan again and came to sit beside her. 'What's this calming smell in the air?'
Mu Chenyan pointed toward an antique bronze incense burner as she answered, "He likes to purify the air he breathes. So, the air around him needs to be cleansed by burning the incense."
'I feel so mentally relaxed,' said Yue Yue. 'What's this incense? Where can I buy it? I think I'll be able to sleep better with it around.
"I don't think you'll be able to buy it," said Mu Chenyan. "He must have made it himself. You better give up on that idea."
'Then I can just ask him for some,' was Yue Yue's response. 'I don't think he'll refuse me. If he does, you can ask him for some.'
"You think he'll give it to me?" asked Mu Chenyan.
Yue Yue gave her a knowing look, 'You and I both know he won't refuse if you're the one asking. Don't argue. It's pointless.'
Mu Chenyan swallowed whatever she wanted to say because she knew she couldn't argue on this point with Yue Yue. It was better not to say a word.
While Yue Yue's attention was wandering, Mu Chenyan's mind was very clear. Her focus was very clear as well. She already was familiar with Xia Zhao's clean and fine living style. But she still found it surprising that he lived an even simpler life than before. Was he practicing to become a living buddha? She couldn't believe that. It was not his style.
But it couldn't be denied that this place was truly like a hidden sanctuary.
Unlike Yue Yue, Mu Chenyan didn't want to tour this place. Maybe she wasn't curious at all. Or maybe she was just hiding from something. Whichever it was, only she'd know.
In the end, Yue Yue dragged Mu Chenyan toward the back garden to see what it looked like. She was blown away once again. The front garden was pure zen style but the back garden was contemporary zen. They walked on the crushed limestone pathway as they looked at the rock formations. There was a clear water stream with a wood slat bridge over it. A natural stone bench, rocks, shrubs mixed planting, and the water feature... Oh, the beauty.
She felt the effect was better when she looked at this scene with the sunset in the back.
It made a person feel like they entered a different world all alone away from the hustle and bustle of life.
Yue Yue turned around to find Mu Chenyan and noticed that Mu Chenyan had stopped following her at some point. Currently, she stood before a Japanese maple tree with a focused look in her eyes. Yue Yue didn't know what she wanted to see in that tree. Was anything special? She didn't think so. It looked pretty normal to her.
She came to Mu Chenyan's side and tapped on her shoulder to snap her out of her reverie.
"Huh? What is it?"
'What are you looking at?'
"Umm... Nothing," Mu Chenyan shook her head. "What did you want to say?"
'This stream is connected to the bamboo fountain in the front garden,' Yue Yue pointed out.
"Yeah, I can see," said Mu Chenyan.
Yue Yue didn't care about her response as she went on, 'What do these rock formations represent?'
"I don't know," answered Mu Chenyan truthfully. "Dry gardens are the symbolic representation of the world, the established order, and nature. I know they have a very abstract character. But I don't know much about its history or its features. I do know that is the trinity rock formation but don't ask what it represents. I really have no clue. I heard about it but since I was uninterested, I didn't pay attention to the lesson."
'So there are things that even you don't know.'
"I'm not omnipotent," said Mu Chenyan. "We should head inside. It's getting dark."
'Okay,' agreed Yue Yue as she walked inside with her.
When they came inside, Xia Zhao was serving the meal on the table, "I was just about to call you two."
'You have a beautiful garden,' complimented Yue Yue without missing a beat. She felt like she wasn't doing garden justice by just calling it beautiful. It definitely had more meaning but she obviously was a clueless person so she knew nothing about it. She'd just stick with being ignorant and calling it just beautiful.
"I also think it's beautiful," said Xia Zhao. "The designer put a lot of thought into it."
When he said that, Mu Chenyan raised her eyes to look at him and asked, "You kept her designs?"
"Why would I ask her to design something if I wasn't gonna build this place?" he asked in return. "It was her last gift to me. I had to do something with it."
Mu Chenyan fell into deep thought but didn't say anything. Her mood was fluctuating and Yue Yue could feel it but she couldn't understand their conversation once again. It was really annoying to sit between two people who shared a secret while she was the ignorant one. Why did she have to be stuck here?
Right, she asked for it herself!
What hidden meaning she couldn't understand was actually that the landscape garden was designed by Madam Xiang who was very fond of Japanese gardens and studied the landscapes in detail. Mu Chenyan remembered how her godmother spent months working on the design of the garden for Xia Zhao because this man asked for it.
That's why the moment she arrived here, her feelings were so complicated. She only had a glimpse of the designs, she never thought the blueprints turned into reality in Xia Zhao's hands. It left quite some impact on her heart without her realizing it.
Visit freewe𝑏n(o)vel.𝑐𝘰𝑚 for the best novel reading experience