“Interesting!That is very interesting! This Cheng Xiao Xiao is so interesting! Hmm, no, Ishould say, too amazing!”
Afterhearing Deacon Bai’s words, Zhu Xiangyu applauded.
“EldestYoung Master, the folks from the School of Divine Condor has yet to return!”
“HOHOHO…”Laughed Zhu Xiangyu lightheartedly. He squinted his eyes, they are full ofsparkles, “If I have to guess, it will be a while before they return. If that’sthe case, I am in no rush to interrupt her fun. I will let her have her funfirst, before she will have time to entertain me!”
“……”
The cornersof the two deacons’ mouths twitched, but they dare not ask any questions aboutwhat was going through their young master’s mind.
“Alright,you are dismissed. Keep your eyes peeled about what’s going on at the Cheng’s.Don’t miss anything, otherwise, there will be consequences to deal with!”
“Yes, weshall retire now!” The two of them cupped their hands in response.
Zhu Xiangyuwaved his hands, “Okay, dismissed!”
Inside theCheng’s new courtyard, Cheng Xiao Xiao was directing a few villagers to dig apond. After all, in addition to raising fish, it being aesthetically pleasingwas also quite important.
Right then, InnkeeperZhu was on a break and walked over to her. He noticed that the pond of theCheng’s looked almost like a small lake in that it was long and windy. If allwent well, that would become a very nice scenic spot.
He couldn’thelp but smiled at the person in front of him and said, “Miss Cheng, this pondis beautiful!”
“Beautiful?”said Cheng Xiao Xiao while raising her brows. She asked, “How could InnkeeperZhu tell it is beautiful? You don’t think it’s just a wannabe?”
“You must bejoking, Miss Cheng. How could you say this pond is a wannabe? It’s prettierthan any other ponds. I trust that Miss Cheng has it all thought out!” smiledInnkeeper Zhu.
“I don’thave any specific plans. You have any suggestions, Innkeeper Zhu?” NaturallyCheng Xiao Xiao wouldn’t share her ideas with him.
Now that theCheng’s are expanding and building from the ground up, most of the architecturewere built based on Cheng Xiao Xiao’s ideas. She had visited many courtyards inSuzhou in the past, naturally she had some ideas of her own. She planned tohave most of them built out here.
When shedrew out the blueprints, even her father Cheng Biyuan was surprised. After all,in this world, there were no such thing as picturesque architecture. Mostlythey were of grand and solemn style used for living s.p.a.ces for wealthierfamilies, nothing exquisite or elegant.
Usingseveral loads of soil to build a platform, build a fake mountain with peddles,and make a ring like pond
Platformsfrom soil, fake mountains from peddles, and ring-like ponds were the techniquesused by in Suzhou courtyards to embody the theme of “natural beauty”. Theyadopted different designs basing on the surroundings. Other techniques includedborrowing, facing, separating, and isolating the sceneries to organize thes.p.a.ce, resulting in windy and ever-changing sceneries. Allowing one to seelarger views from a small opening, and mixture of virtual and real landscapes.
Even asworldly as Cheng Biyuan had never seen these kind of style before. Granted, heliked it a not, as well as Mrs. Cheng, so the family decided to adopt ChengXiao Xiao’s ideas when building their new home.
Since mostof the structures were only in the early phase, n.o.body could really tell whatthe structures would look like. Contrarily, all they could see were holesscattering all over the place and a mess overall and they couldn’t understand.
EvenPatriarch Liu asked them once whether they were building a house or digging fortreasures. Otherwise, why would they be digging all over the place!
Cheng XiaoXiao had long since been aware of others’ opinions. She hadn’t expect InnkeeperZhu would have an appreciate for this and was surprised by that.
Facing ChengXiao Xiao’s question, Innkeeper thought it through for a second and said, “Ihave a small suggestion – build a few small kiosks around this pond and growdifferent colors of lotuses in the pond. I trust that it will provide anamazing scenery in the summer time!”
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