Mei Yiqiu smiled, as if a traveler in the dark had finally seen the lights of an inn.
"I thought I wouldn't see you today!" he said. "Ah, how wonderful! The typhoon has changed course! The remaining wind and rain are insignificant; you and I can handle it."
Bi Shenghua sensed something was implied in his words and looked at him with confusion.
"Everyone says Shenzhou has a protective barrier, with two dragons emerging from the sea and Guanyin) presiding over it! Heh heh, but who knows that the real barrier isn't actually in Shenzhou, but in Wuzhong? Shenzhou is just benefiting from Wuzhong's influence!"
"Professor, you're not trying to tell me the barrier is right under this tree, are you?" Bi Shenghua said.
Why not?
"Then you really don't need to use an umbrella."
Mei Yiqiu laughed heartily, shook his full head of silver hair, and pushed the umbrella forward, saying, "I don't want to wait for dawn under this big tree either!"
Bi Shenghua knew that the professor wouldn't come looking for her without a reason; their only connection was with Qingmu, so she was both expectant and nervous.
She quickly took the umbrella from Mei Yiqiu's hand, politely shielding the professor from the wind and rain, and invited him to her home.
Mei Yiqiu reached out and lifted the willow curtain, her fingers tracing the willow branches as if plucking the strings of a harp. The dewdrops on the willow leaves shimmered in the night, like light from a distant starry sky.
Bi Shenghua seemed to hear melodious music.
She looked up at the sky, and in the thick, inky darkness of the stormy night, she vaguely saw Orpheus playing a sorrowful tune in the Lyra for his eternally lost love, Eurydice. His music had moved souls buried deep in hell, and Hades had given him a chance to return to the world of the living with his wife, but he failed because of his loving glance back.
The story is poignant and moving enough, but unfortunately it's a tragedy. Bi Shenghua prefers the China tale of the Niulang and the Weaver Zhinü, who at least meet every year. The magpies, belonging to the same family as Crow, help the lovers cross the Milky Way, giving people hope year after year.
Don't people live in hope?
Coincidentally, the stars corresponding to the two stories are in the same position in the sky. Zhinü Star is the main star of the Lyra, 25 light-years away from Earth. She shines the brightest in the summer sky, waiting across the distant Milky Way for her ideal lover to cross the Magpie Bridge.
He stepped out from under the tree and walked towards the lone house amidst the ruins.
"You're making good progress, aren't you? Have you encountered any problems?" the professor asked casually as they walked.
"There's nothing else, but we can't find any information about the Mulberry Garden before it was destroyed," Bi Shenghua said. "Also, the root system of that old tree is too extensive, making construction difficult."
"Well, I have some suggestions on this, I'll tell you in a bit," Mei Yiqiu said.
"Oh, thank you so much." Bi Shenghua hadn't expected the professor to pay attention to the renovation of the Mulberry Garden, which was exactly what she wanted. Given the professor's status, he would never offer some insignificant opinions to fool her; if he had suggestions, they must be excellent. Moreover, if he could help put in a good word with the higher-ups, many proposals that wouldn't have been approved might be.
As they walked to the back door, Bi Shenghua was taking out her keys to open it Mei Yiqiu accidentally kicked over Xing Beauty, who was standing at his feet.
He apologized repeatedly, bent down to pick up the flowerpot, and noticed a key underneath. Without making a sound, he wiped the mud and water off the flowerpot and the leaves of the star- Beauty, casually reciting, "New willows grow on the streets every year, old flowers bloom in front of the buildings every day..." Then he said, "Isn't it bad to let it get rained on like this?"
Bi Shenghua's hand, which was opening the door, paused for a moment. The poem the professor casually recited was a modified version of Yan Jidao's " Partridge Sky ": "Year after year, autumn grass grows on the roadside; day after day, the setting sun shines in the tower," followed by "Clouds are vast, waters are boundless. The journey home for the traveler is long."
She didn't know if the professor was being intentional or unintentional, hinting at something, or trying to use the last two lines of the poem to advise her, "Longing is inherently unreliable; do not waste tears on flowery stationery."
She took the flowerpot from the professor and said, "It's alright, maybe it will bloom after a little rain." Then she stubbornly put it back in its original place and quietly covered the key on the ground.
The star-like Beauty shone with a faint white light under the dim night lamp.
Mei Yiqiu didn't say anything more and followed him inside. Bi Shenghua led him upstairs. At the fork in the stairs, she hesitated for a moment, thinking that the professor's late-night visit couldn't possibly be to see her boudoir, so she led him to the place where Qingmu had once lived.
A row of empty chairs sat in the second-floor corridor, very clean, as if someone sat in them every day. The sign for Divine Crow Studio still hung on the door, and a couplet was pasted on the side of the door. "Only Qingmu can perch the divine crow," with another couplet pasted on the outer side.
Mei Yiqiu stood at the door for a while, then read aloud: 'A withered tree comes back to life in spring, flowers bloom in a humble alley unseen by anyone; a caged bird longs for its nest, sweeping and cleaning the old nest to await your return.' Hmm, the handwriting is good, but the paper is bad, it's all faded, it should be replaced with new paper."
As Bi Shenghua opened the door, she said, "Old things have their own charm, and besides, nobody else comes here. You're the only one who's seen it today."
The room was still the same as before, with many magazines scattered on the floor and sofa. On the desk, besides open books, there was an ashtray, a box of matches, and a pack of Paramount cigarettes.
Mei Yiqiu sat down on the sofa and casually picked up a magazine to flip through. The magazine was very clean, without a speck of dust, and the issue number showed that it was published this month.
Bi Shenghua took a cigarette from the pack on the table, handed it to Mei Yiqiu, and asked, "Do you smoke?"
Mei Yiqiu took the cigarette, sniffed it under his nose, and said, "Hmm, not bad, the tobacco is still fresh. It's a pity I don't smoke this."
He returned the cigarette to Bi Shenghua, took out his Veermaster box, poured some tobacco into his pipe, and just as he put the pipe to his lips, Bi Shenghua struck a match.
Mei Yiqiu brought the cigarette holder closer and saw Bi Shenghua's face through the flame. Her eyes were clear, like a mountain spring that had never been polluted a century ago. Her eyebrows were straight and strong, slanting into her short sideburns. Her whole face looked delicate and heroic, yet tinged with a hint of sorrow, like a plum blossom blooming in the cold winter.
"You're just like an old friend I know," Mei Yiqiu said, exhaling a puff of smoke.
"How old are you?" Bi Shenghua joked.
"Ah, that's hard to say." Mei Yiqiu laughed heartily. "Let's not talk about it anymore. Nostalgia is pointless. People should look forward; the future is where hope lies."
Bi Shenghua hummed in response, but didn't know how to reply. It was impossible for her not to be nostalgic, but she was also always full of hope. Nostalgia and hope are not always contradictory.
Mei Yiqiu took out a stack of papers from his pocket and handed them to Bi Shenghua, saying, "This is my advice to you."
Bi Shenghua took it and found it to be a stack of rather old landscape paintings, more than ten in total, each with a different scene: some depicted distant mountains shrouded in mist and rain, others showed pavilions and terraces nestled among flowers and trees, some featured winding railings and artificial hills and ponds, and still others featured green-tiled roofs and carved beams and painted rafters...
In terms of its form, this painting is somewhat different from ordinary landscape paintings. It is more like a garden painting, such as Shen Shichong's " Twelve Views of a Suburban Garden ". It can be appreciated as a painting and also used as a reference for garden layout design.
For some reason, Bi Shenghua felt that the scenes in these paintings were familiar, as if she had seen them somewhere before. When she saw the enormous mulberry tree in the last picture, she was taken aback and stared at Mei Yiqiu, speechless.
"Professor, this is..."
Mei Yiqiu smiled slightly, "That's right, this is the Mulberry Garden from back then."