"Splash, splash, splash!"
"Splash, splash, splash!"
Today brought passing showers—not heavy, but starting and stopping at whim, teasing pedestrians on the streets below while lending a touch of refreshing coolness to the sweltering summer air.
It was mid-afternoon.
Gong Xue left the film crew early, hurried to buy groceries, and then rushed toward Lechunfang.
She wore a pink hooded raincoat and red rainboots, pedaling an elegant women's bicycle. In the front basket sat another woven basket packed to the brim with freshly bought vegetables and fruits.
Plastic bags were nowhere to be found in this era. People carried vegetables in wicker baskets, brought their own basins to buy tofu, wrapped meat in paper, hung fresh fish from lengths of straw twine, and carried fruit in string mesh bags...
After riding for a stretch, she pulled over.
The vegetables at the top felt as though they were about to spill out. She tucked them down, but they still teetered precariously, leaving her no choice but to lean forward, gripping the handlebar with one hand while steadying the front basket with the other.
She rode on for a while longer. Seeing she was almost at Lechunfang, she felt a burst of joy and picked up her pace. But then a wet squelch rose behind her as tires splashed through road puddles, followed by a loud:
*Honk—!*
The sudden blare of a bus horn startled her. Her balance wobbled, and with a crash, she tumbled to the ground.
"Ouch!"
Grimacing in pain, she rested for a moment before testing her limbs. Deciding nothing was broken, she scrambled up, propped her bicycle back on its kickstand, and gathered the scattered vegetables. Mud splatters covered them, and several had bruised and split.
"What a shame. They were so fresh, too."
Grieving the waste, Gong Xue hopped back onto her bicycle and set off once more. Luckily, she didn't have much farther to go.
Entering Lechunfang, she found Chen Qi already waiting for her in the alley. He led her to Courtyard No. 6, where for a moment she could barely believe her eyes. She hadn't been here in a while and had never seen the renovated compound completed. The old, battered wooden door had been dismantled, replaced by a brand-new entrance gateway.
Three stone steps led up to double-leafed vermilion doors beneath a grand Guangliang gate with five purlins and four rafters—exceptionally imposing.
"Come on, let me give you a tour first!"
The two walked inside, greeted directly by a screen wall carved with the motif of the Four Gentlemen—plum blossoms, orchids, bamboo, and chrysanthemums. Beneath it sat a large water vat, and to the right was a moon gate leading to a utility storeroom.
Gong Xue was familiar with courtyard houses; up to this point, everything adhered faithfully to the traditional siheyuan layout.
Turning left, however, revealed a completely different story.
In a traditional siheyuan, the front yard was quite small, holding only a single row of daozuo rooms and a festoon gate. But Chen Qi hadn't built a festoon gate at all. He held no great reverence for traditional styles, considering them a waste of space.
Instead, he had configured the compound into two complete, self-contained courtyards—one front, one rear.
Thus, the front yard consisted of three daozuo rooms fitted with wide, bright glass windows, already furnished with desks and chairs. It looked airy, modern, and dignified. He explained, "This is the magazine office. It can easily accommodate a dozen people."
Next came two rooms on the left, two on the right, plus an independent kitchen. A few corners were still unfinished, slated to be wrapped up completely by autumn.
"These are the staff dormitories. Each room can house four, but we'll start with two per room to keep it roomy."
The main building of the front yard comprised three large central rooms flanked by two side ear rooms.
"Of these three, one is an office for Old Liang and me, one is Old Liang's dormitory, and one is his living room, which can double as a reception room."
"My! This is even better than Old Liang's tongzilou apartment. He's bound to love it."
Gong Xue inspected the rooms with great curiosity, voicing heartfelt praise, then asked, "Wait, there's no doorway here to go into the back courtyard?"
"I told you, private space must be strictly protected. Would I just let anyone wander into the back courtyard? Come with me!"
Chen Qi took her hand and led her outside to the right, rounding the ear room and passing through a narrow corridor. There stood a door. Only after pushing it open did they enter the back courtyard.
"This door locks from the inside. Everything past here is my private domain."
The back courtyard had a similar layout, with two rooms on either side and a small kitchen. The key difference was that the main building had been built to a height of one and a half stories, complete with an attic and an open terrace. The terrace faced inward, and viewed from the front yard, it was neatly shielded by the roofline of the front main building, completely out of sight.
In these days, who policed unapproved building modifications? Regulations wouldn't catch up for decades. Even decades later, two-story courtyards would still sit inside Beijing's Second Ring Road, owned by the rich or the powerful—it all came down to connections.
Chen Qi led her upstairs. Because the rear faced the street, the windows weren't made oversized, though they let in plenty of light.
With a flick of his wrist, he drew open the curtain and grinned. "Look!"
Gong Xue leaned forward, her eyes going wide. "Shichahai?!"
"That's what you call a lake view room. What do you think?"
"I never imagined your place would turn out so gorgeous when finished! How many rooms are there altogether?"
"Over twenty. Traditional siheyuan waste too much space. Mine is great—both beautiful and practical. The whole plot is eight hundred square meters, with plenty of yard area. I'm planning to plant a pomegranate tree first."
"Mm, planting a tree is wonderful. And is that a small back gate I see?"
"Yep! You can come and go directly without ever walking through the front yard."
Just like Yu Xiuli, Gong Xue was enchanted by the place. Chen Qi then led her to see the large painting desk in the left room of the back courtyard. "This is the study and library. Take a look at this desk."
"Wow!"
Gong Xue hurried straight to the large painting desk, her eyes sparkling. She ran her hands over every inch of the smooth wood. "Is this... is this..."
"I bought it for you. Do you like it?"
"I love it, I love it! You know how cramped my family's place is. When I learned to paint as a girl, I had to sprawl across a wooden stool. I've always dreamed of having a spacious desk to paint on. A table this huge could fit several people!"
Overjoyed, she turned around and threw her arms around Chen Qi's neck.
The two shared an affectionate embrace. When their movements grew a bit more fervent, she suddenly winced with an "Ouch!"
"What's wrong?"
"My leg hurts a bit. I took a spill on my way here."
"Why didn't you say so earlier? Let me see!"
Chen Qi helped her sit on the Luohan bed and rolled up her pant leg. A distinct dark bruise marred her skin, clearly where the bicycle had landed on her. "Does it hurt badly?"
"It's nothing. Did you forget I used to march dozens of li a day on army field maneuvers?"
Gong Xue rubbed the spot and nonchalantly rolled her trouser leg back down, smiling. "It's getting late. Let's start cooking. The others will be here soon."
...
The rain stopped once more.
Shortly after dusk, Liang Xiaosheng and Jiao Dan arrived on one bicycle, while Li Lianjie and Ji Chunhua arrived on another.
Upon seeing the courtyard, they erupted in exclamations of wonder. Ji Chunhua was rough-and-ready by nature and took things in stride, but Li Lianjie looked on with sheer envy, and Liang Xiaosheng was particularly thrilled. Chen Qi had shown him, the editor-in-chief, utmost respect and consideration.
Brothers were brothers, but perks were perks—everything had to be properly accounted for.
Jiao Dan was even more delighted. Beijing Film Studio's tongzilou apartments were terribly crowded, with hallways jammed full. How wonderful this place was! Shut the doors and you had an entire world to yourself—and Old Liang was a leader here, too.
Gong Xue and Jiao Dan whipped up a full spread of dishes, and the six of them ate and drank together in high spirits.
During the meal, the conversation inevitably drifted to Chen Qi's upcoming trip to Hong Kong. But Chen Qi didn't want to dwell on that, steering the topic toward the magazine instead. "Since we're all here together, why don't you and I settle on a name? What do you think we should call it?"
"How about *Qidian*—Starting Point?" Liang Xiaosheng suggested. "It represents the starting point for our magazine, as well as the starting point for popular literature."
"Too plain. Give me another!"
"How about *Yuewen*—Reading Literature? In the sense of reading all the writings under heaven!"
"Nine is the pinnacle of numbers, and one is the beginning. That signifies a complete cycle from start to finish. Why not call it *91*?"
All six chimed in, tossing out one wild idea after another until Chen Qi finally made the call: "Earlier, someone mentioned the boundless world, and someone else mentioned tales of wonder. Why not combine them and call it *World of Wonders*?"
Chapter 214