ECG -Chapter 169 Guan Residence Private Cuisine

“Brothers, Lanlan came looking for me today. Guess! You guess? Come on, guess!” Meng Fatty laughed so hard that his eyes nearly disappeared. The moment he closed the door, he started shouting.

Wu Xiaozhou cursed unhappily, “You’re talking nonsense without any context. Guess your ass!”

Cui Gang chuckled. “What’s up? Is she going to marry you?”

Meng Fatty walked over in big strides and plopped down on his own bed. He kicked off his size 45 travel shoes, crossed his legs, and started laughing loudly again.

“Damn it!” Wu Xiaozhou cursed again. “What the hell is wrong with you? Either put your shoes back on quickly, or go wash your feet right now! Hurry up! Move!”

Cui Gang also had a look of suffering on his face. “Go! Fatty, you idiot, I’m about to pass out!”

Some fat people might be chubby but surprisingly flexible. Meng Fatty was undoubtedly one of those people. He easily lifted one of his own feet with both hands and gave it a strong sniff. Then his face became filled with a look of intoxicated confusion.

“It doesn’t stink? I only walked around the lake a few times. Really, it doesn’t smell. If you don’t believe me, you two can smell it…”

After saying that, he raised his foot toward Wu Xiaozhou.

“Whoosh—”

Wu Xiaozhou’s pillow flew over.

“You just can’t smell your own stink! Hurry up and go!”

Meng Fatty reached out and caught the pillow. He grinned, lowered his foot, bent down, and put on a pair of oversized slippers from under the bed.

Muttering to himself, he said, “We’re together! We’re together! You know? Damn! Lanlan came to find me today. We’re together! We’re really together! Hahaha! Damn! Holy crap…”

Meng Fatty walked out holding a basin in one hand and waving his fist in the other. Wu Xiaozhou and Cui Gang sat on the bed staring blankly, wondering if this guy had been secretly in love for so long that he had finally gone crazy.

……

Yang Qianyi’s silver Audi stopped in the parking lot in front of a residence.

After getting out of the car, Lin Hao quickly lit a cigarette. He had been holding it in the whole way and didn’t feel comfortable smoking inside a lady’s car.

The parking lot wasn’t large, but in the extremely expensive land of Yanjing, it was already quite rare. It could fit at least ten cars, and at this moment, it was almost completely full.

What came into view was a gray-green traditional Chinese courtyard wall. Looking past the top of the wall, one could vaguely see swaying green bamboo inside.

Yang Qianyi and Qin Ruoyun got out of the car, and the three of them walked side by side toward the gate on the southeast side.

In his previous life, Lin Hao had performed most often around Houhai, so for a period of time he had been especially fascinated by the culture of courtyard houses.

After seeing the direction of this courtyard’s gate, he nodded secretly in his heart.

The owner of this courtyard is not ordinary!

The gate was built on the southeast side of the courtyard, taking the meaning of “purple energy coming from the east.” This position corresponded to the Xun position in the Eight Trigrams, also known as the position of wind.

It was the place where gentle and harmonious winds entered. It brought in the southeast wind to block the northwest winter winds. This was considered an auspicious position and reflected the principle of “Kan residence with a Xun gate.”

The three of them arrived in front of the gate, and Lin Hao carefully examined it.

This type of gate was called a Guangliang Gate in courtyard houses, also known as a Guangliang-style gate. It was a type of courtyard entrance and was second only in status to the gates of royal residences.

In ancient times, only families of officials with considerable rank and status could use this kind of gate.

The vermilion double doors had two yellow-brass beast-head door knockers. They were the ninth son of the dragon, Jiaotu. Looking up, he saw four door studs, each six-sided cap carved with a bat.

On both sides were two drum-shaped mounting stones, and one step forward on the right side was a mounting stone for horses.

Everything was exquisitely crafted, as if it had suddenly opened a door through time, making people feel as though they had returned one or two hundred years into the past.

Lin Hao remembered that outside the West Fourth Ring Road, there shouldn’t have been any old courtyard houses in this location. It seemed this one was only a modern imitation.

To be able to build such a large-scale residence here, the owner clearly had a deep foundation.

Two tall red palace lanterns hung on both sides of the gate, with no writing on them.

A large natural wood plaque hung above the four door studs. On it, the iron-hook-and-silver-stroke characters read:

Guan Residence.

Lin Hao already knew beforehand that this was a private cuisine restaurant, but seeing these two characters still made him pause.

The owner of this restaurant was indeed quite creative. There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a restaurant around the entire courtyard. The only two characters were written in the style of a private residence.

Qin Ruoyun had been observing Lin Hao the whole time. Seeing him constantly examining the gate, she asked with a smile:

“Teacher Lin, you also know about courtyard houses?”

Lin Hao chuckled.

“Just call me Lin Hao. Otherwise, it sounds awkward!”

Qin Ruoyun giggled and extended her hand. “Please!”

Yang Qianyi climbed up a few steps and gently lifted the door knocker. The crisp sound of “clang, clang, clang” echoed.

About ten seconds later, the gate opened, and a beautiful young woman in her early thirties came out with a warm smile.

“President Yang, no wonder they say coming early is not as good as coming at the right time. I calculated that you should be arriving around now.”

Yang Qianyi smiled respectfully. “Hello, Sister Xue!”

Sister Xue nodded, then looked toward Qin Ruoyun and Lin Hao. “Ruoyun, it’s been quite a while since you last came!”

Qin Ruoyun giggled. “Your place is too expensive. I’m short on money!”

“You little brat!” Sister Xue was dressed very casually and ordinarily, and her words carried a bit of a straightforward, street-like air. After scolding her, she looked at Lin Hao.

Qin Ruoyun introduced them. “This is Sister Xue, the owner of Guan Mansion. Lin Hao, the songwriter signed with our company!”

Lin Hao smiled and nodded. “Hello, Sister Xue.”

“Good, good. This young man is really handsome!” As she spoke, Sister Xue gestured invitingly. “Come in, come in!”

Yang Qianyi followed half a step behind. Sister Xue and Qin Ruoyun walked side by side in front, while Lin Hao walked at the back.

After stepping over the tall threshold and passing through the gate, the first thing that came into view was a green brick screen wall sitting on a raised stone base. The wall was decorated with many auspicious brick carvings, and the top had brick-carved rafters with a smooth ridge. The craftsmanship was extremely exquisite.

The four of them walked around the screen wall.

Qin Ruoyun casually asked, “Uncle Five isn’t here?”

Sister Xue giggled. “Him? It’s already good enough if he comes once a week. He’s long forgotten the old for the new!”

“How could that be? Uncle Five isn’t that kind of person!” Qin Ruoyun shook her head.

“You’re the only one who always speaks up for him! Hmph!”

“……”

The two women walked ahead laughing and chatting, while Lin Hao looked around the courtyard behind them.

The courtyard had a cross-shaped path paved with green bricks. Every few steps, there was a half-meter-high ground lamp. There were several pomegranate trees, two huge fish tanks, and beneath the eaves on the right side hung a row of bird cages.

The courtyard was filled with the atmosphere of an old Beijing-style courtyard house. At this moment, a young woman wearing a blue-and-white qipao walked out from the moon gate leading to the backyard. She was holding a wooden tray, and a plate of food could vaguely be seen on it.

Seeing this, Lin Hao finally realized that this wasn’t someone’s private residence—it was actually a private cuisine restaurant.

The four of them passed through the moon gate and arrived at the second courtyard. The yard was deep and secluded, with greenery everywhere.

Sister Xue led the three of them into a room on the left. As soon as they entered, they saw a redwood Eight Immortals table with the Four Auspicious Dried Fruits placed on it: tiger-skin peanuts, strange-flavored large almonds, milk-white grapes, and Snow Mountain plums.

A slim girl, also wearing a blue-and-white qipao, stood to one side. Seeing them enter, she bowed slightly.

“Good evening!”

“Sit down. I’ll tell them to start serving the dishes.” After entering the room, Sister Xue didn’t sit down either. After saying that, she smiled and left.

Lin Hao stood with his hands behind his back, carefully observing the room.

Everything inside was designed in an antique style, including the furniture, which was all high-end redwood.

The living room was very spacious, with an Eight Immortals table, official-style chairs, a Luohan bed…

He slowly walked into the room on one side. It was a leisure tea room. A redwood tea table held a purple clay teapot and other tea utensils. The entire arrangement was also full of classical elegance.

After the three of them sat down and chatted for a few moments, the dishes began to arrive.

Lin Hao looked at the two dishes that had just been served—Blessing Character Braised Tenderloin and Stir-Fried Frog Legs. Then, thinking about the Four Auspicious Dried Fruits that had just been taken away, he couldn’t help but wonder:

Could it be that this private cuisine restaurant specializes in a Manchu-Han Imperial Feast?