A hundred flavors of life

Chapter 1452 Feudal Superstition? No, This is Science! (Please Subscribe!)
Lu Ming is a man who is dedicated to his career. Once he sets a goal, he puts in real effort. For the next month, apart from attending classes, he was practically nowhere to be seen at school.

Just before lights out that day, he rushed back to the dormitory and called out to Hua Shier, who was already lying down, as soon as he entered:
"Old Xiang, Brother Pengfei, get up and see what I've accomplished lately!"

Hua Shier sat up from the bed and said with a smile:

"Is it Lao Xiang or Brother Pengfei? You choose one, otherwise people will think you're calling two different people!"

Lu Ming chuckled awkwardly, "How can I choose? 'Old Xiang' represents the closeness between us brothers, while 'Brother Pengfei' represents my deepest respect for you!"

Hua Shier laughed heartily at these words, while his two other roommates, Chen Xin and Zou Yu, curled their lip in disapproval, thinking that Lu Ming was a sycophant.

Lu Ming didn't care about other people's opinions and placed the information he had collected over the past few days in front of Hua Shier:
"Look, all of this meets your requirements. The property rights are clear, and there's absolutely nothing messy about it!"

Hearing their conversation, Chen Xin and Zou Yu became curious, with the former asking:
"Pengfei, what are you and Lu Ming doing behind our backs?"

Lu Ming was immediately displeased when he heard him speak like that, and turned around to rebuke him:
"Chen Xin, who are you calling Pengfei? You're so disrespectful! Have you forgotten about the bet you lost? Call him Brother Pengfei!"

As we all know, regardless of region or race, a large portion of people living in big cities, especially natives, share a common problem: they look down on people from other places. Chen Xin is one such person.

Shanghai is a bustling metropolis, the Paris of the Far East. Chen Xin was born and raised in such a metropolis. Although he usually got along well with his classmates, he had a sense of superiority deep down and valued his reputation. Now, being accused by Lu Ming of being disrespectful, he lost face and his expression immediately darkened.

Zou Yu and Chen Xin usually played together and were very close, so he immediately tried to smooth things over:
"Hey, what bet? We were just kidding. Pengfei is the youngest among us. Even if we really called him 'brother,' he'd be too embarrassed to accept, right, Pengfei!"

Hua Shier smiled and said to Lu Ming:
"Yeah, Big Head, everyone was just joking around that day. Zou Yu and Chen Xin should be addressed as they normally would. Why are you taking it so seriously!"

He was just stating the facts, and that's what he really thought. Did he really think everyone had the right to call him "brother"?

Lu Ming nodded upon hearing Hua Twelve's response.

"Fine, if Pengfei doesn't mind, then do whatever you want. Anyway, I'm a man of my word!"

Seeing that Hua Shier wasn't pressing the issue, Chen Xin's expression softened considerably. Perhaps realizing he'd lost his composure, he tried to change the subject, pointing to the documents Lu Ming had given Hua Shier and asking:

"Pengfei, what are you two researching?"

Hua Shier was about to say it was nothing, but Lu Ming's mouth was incredibly fast. He stuck out his neck and said:

“My brother Pengfei wants to buy an old-style house in Shanghai. These are all the properties I found for him. By the way, Chen Xin, aren’t you a local of Shanghai? Have you ever lived in an old-style house?”

This is purely because this guy is dissatisfied with Chen Xin and is using these words to put him down!
Although Chen Xin is a native of Shanghai, his ancestors for three generations were all ordinary people. He had seen old houses from the outside, but he had never been inside one, let alone lived in one.

He immediately blushed and said:

"Hey, you're saying Pengfei wants to buy an old-style house? What a load of bull!"

Lu Ming looked completely bewildered: "What the hell are you talking about? Straighten your tongue before you speak!"

Hua Shier laughed and said, "Chen Xin is speaking the local dialect, which means you're bragging!"

Lu Ming immediately objected: "What? I'm bragging?"

Hua Shier interrupted him with a chuckle: "You're just bragging!"

He said to Chen Xin, "Lu Ming was just joking with you. I want to study the architectural style of the Republic of China era, so I asked Lu Ming to help me collect information on old villas so I can go and do some research!"

After listening, Chen Xin nodded in relief. Their architecture department often went out for field trips. Last semester, the teacher even assigned homework, asking the students in the class to go to the alleyways of Shanghai to learn about the architectural styles there.

Lu Ming wanted to say something more, but Hua Shier glared at him and immediately shut up.

Hua Shier immediately opened the documents that Lu Ming had obtained and began to read them.

These are some of the older villas from this era with relatively clear property rights and relatively well-preserved.

However, over 90% of well-preserved old villas are publicly owned, and there are not many privately owned old villas with clear property rights that can be traded, and most of them are small to medium-sized villas.

Hua Shier didn't want to buy a big house; he just wanted a private space where he could live comfortably. Suddenly, he saw a property and his eyes lit up.

He recognized the house; it was the old house of the Jiang family.

However, in this world, the owner of this house is not surnamed Jiang, but Wang, and there are not two families living inside, only one family.

Hua Shier felt he could buy the house. Firstly, he was used to living there, and secondly, no matter how much money he earned, it wouldn't be of any use. He might as well spend it and leave himself a memento in this world, since it could be considered his 'former residence'.

After extracting the document, Hua Shier selected two small but well-located villas and then said to Lu Ming:
"Come with me to see these three houses tomorrow!"

Lu Ming said there was no problem.

As they were talking, Hua Shier's gaze fell on the last property. It was a villa on Harbin Road, hidden in the bustling city. It was originally part of an old villa, but the property rights were later separated.

Hua Shier noticed the house not because it was particularly beautiful, but because he felt a strange sense of familiarity with it.

The house felt unfamiliar because he knew it shouldn't exist here. After all, he had lived in Shanghai in several worlds, and this house didn't exist in any of them.

As for familiarity, Hua Shier felt that he had seen this house somewhere before, but the impression was not deep. Maybe he had just glanced at it and hadn't paid attention to it. After seeing it again, it felt familiar.

Hua Shier immediately became interested, silently marked the place in his mind, and decided to go and see it tomorrow.

There weren't any major classes the next day, so Hua Shier and Lu Ming skipped class together and rode their bicycles to the Jiang family's villa.

After inspecting the location, Hua Shier was certain it was the same building where he had lived before.

I knocked on the door and spoke with the homeowner. He was initially wary, but he relaxed when he heard that I was a student from the architecture department of Tongji University.

After chatting for a bit, Hua Shier realized that the other party had no intention of selling the house at all. He wasn't in a hurry, and after saying goodbye, he rode his bike to another place.

Lu Ming, standing beside him, said:
"Brother, this house is nice. It's two stories with an attic. Except for the lack of a private garden, it's almost the same as those big garden villas. It's just a pity that the owner isn't planning to sell it!"

Hua Shier nodded with a smile:

"I think it's not bad either, but it's not right for him not to sell it. Most things in this world have their own price. If you can't buy it, it's just that the price isn't right. Don't worry, someone will take care of this for us!"

He went back to the few villas he had looked at before, but wasn't very satisfied with any of them. Of course, buying them as an investment was still an option. Finally, he arrived at the one he had circled in his mind yesterday. This house looked alright, but to be honest, it was just so-so.

But Hua Twelve just felt a sense of familiarity.

After looking at them, he went back to Tongji University with Lu Ming. He found a public phone nearby and called Lao Bai, asking Lao Bai to come back and help him get the two houses he had his eye on sorted out.

With Lao Bai's help, everything went smoothly, and the approval process was a piece of cake. After the midterm exams, Hua Shier had already obtained the property certificates for those two houses.

The owner of the old Chiang family mansion is said to have taken the purchase price and immigrated to Hong Kong Island.

On the first day Hua Shier received the property certificate, Lu Ming was overjoyed and discussed it with Hua Shier:
"Brother, how about some interior design? Let me give it a try. We studied architecture, so letting me design something would be a way to put our knowledge to use!"

Architecture majors inherently include courses related to interior design, so interior decoration is naturally not a problem.

Hua Shier looked disgusted and said, "Come on, do you think I'm not an architecture student?"

He dared not let Lu Ming design anything. With Lu Ming's aesthetic sense from the 1980s, the things he would design would be either too elegant or too vulgar. If he were to get a Western court style, he really couldn't stand it.

Hua Shier naturally wanted to design it according to the style of later generations and his own preferred approach, so he decided to do it himself.

Back in the dormitory, Hua Shier wanted to keep a low profile, but Lu Ming took the property certificate directly from his hand and placed it in front of Chen Xin;
"Look, an old Western-style house, a small Western-style building, you really think I'm joking with you? When have I ever spoken nonsense without proof? See? This is freshly made, the real deal!"

"So, Chen Xin, even you, a local from Shanghai, have never lived in a house like this before, have you?"

Seeing Chen Xin's bad expression, Hua Shier snatched the property certificate and smiled at Chen Xin, saying, "Don't be like this guy, he's just joking!"

Chen Xin asked Hua Twelve, "Did you really buy those two houses?"

Hua Shier didn't deny it: "I really liked it, and since I happened to have some connections, I asked someone to buy it for me!"

Chen Xin didn't say anything more, picked up the washbasin and went out, and Zou Yu quickly followed.

Hua Shier sighed and said, "What's there to brag about? You're just making people offend for no reason!"

Lu Ming looked outside and scoffed:
"I just can't stand his attitude. So what if he has a local household registration? What's there to pretend about? And he doesn't keep his word. Let's see if he'll still be so cocky this time!"

Hua Shier shook his head but didn't say anything.

Two days later, Lao Bai called Tongji University, saying that their house purchase had been reported for irregularities, but it wasn't a big problem. As a Hong Kong businessman who invested in and built the Guo family's property, he still had some influence, and he had already resolved the issue.

Hua Shier looked helplessly at Lu Ming; it was all this guy's fault.

But the matter didn't end there. Two days later, a professor who had returned from studying abroad directly asked Hua Shier a question in class:

"Xiang Pengfei, some people say you're doing unorthodox things, trying to combine feudal dregs like feng shui with architectural design. Is there any truth to that?"

Hua Shier glanced at Chen Xin, who avoided eye contact.

He stood up and said, “Teacher, I think what you said is inaccurate. Everything that has been passed down has its reasons. There is also a scientific aspect to Feng Shui. It is not accurate to call it dross. I think that combining traditional Feng Shui with architectural design is a very promising thing!”

The surrounding classmates burst into laughter upon hearing this.

The professor, who was in his forties, flashed a hint of anger in his eyes upon hearing this:

"So it's true. Alright, then you can talk about your research findings in tomorrow's open class. Let's see what's so special about this feng shui you've been talking about!"

After class, Chen Xin packed his things and quickly left with Zou Yu.

Lu Ming rushed over: "You bastard, did you do this?!"

Chen Xin directly denied it: "What are you doing? I don't even know what you're talking about!"

Hua Shier grabbed Lu Ming and pulled him away, saying, "Don't cause trouble here!"

Lu Ming was reluctant, but from a distance he pointed his finger at Chen Xin fiercely.

During dinner that evening, Lu Ming was still indignant: "It must have been that bastard who did this!"

Hua Twelve said irritably:
"So what if he is? Can you kill him? Just eat your food. Actually, this is quite good. Tomorrow I will talk to everyone about my research and let many people realize that feng shui and architectural design are inseparable. This is also the purpose of my research!"

The next day in the open class, the professor first criticized some students for not doing their proper work and for engaging in crooked practices, and then invited Hua Shier to the stage to talk about his feng shui research. It was self-evident who these 'some students' were.

Hua Shier stood calmly on the podium: "Respected classmates, teachers, and friends, good afternoon. I am the student the professor mentioned who is doing crooked things and not doing his job properly. My name is Xiang Pengfei!"

There was an awkward silence for a second, then bursts into laughter, followed by applause. Lu Ming even whistled, but the professor and Chen Xin didn't look too pleased.

After Hua Shier and the others calmed down, he continued:
"Standing here today, I want to start with the word 'misunderstanding.' Many of us have heard of the term 'feng shui,' which is often labeled as ancient, mysterious, an Eastern secret art, or even superstition. I want to say that this is very likely a misunderstanding, stemming from a lack of understanding!"

"In many people's minds, feng shui belongs to the past, to outdated compasses and talismans, to unspeakable taboos, while modern architectural design belongs to the future, to steel and glass, to rigorous mathematics and physics. They seem to stand at opposite ends of time, looking at each other, yet unable to communicate."

"But today, I would like to invite everyone to do a 'translation' together. Let's try to reinterpret the ancient wisdom of Feng Shui using the language of modern design. You will find that they are not contradictory, but in essence, they pursue the same goal: to create spaces that make people feel happy and healthy."

"Let's start with the core concept of Feng Shui: 'gathering and retaining Qi.' That sounds mysterious, doesn't it?"

"Imagine a scene: an ancient village nestled against rolling hills, facing a winding river, with sunlight shining on open fields."

"Doesn't this scene make you feel comfortable? That's right, because this kind of place is an auspicious place where the wind gathers and energy accumulates!"

"The ancients called this an 'auspicious site.' Why?"

"In today's terms: 'Sheltering from the wind' does not mean hiding the wind, but rather finding a microclimate environment that is not affected by strong winds and has a relatively stable temperature and humidity. The mountains behind it are natural windbreaks and ecological regulators."

"Gathering Qi does not mean gathering empty Qi, but rather creating a spatial layout that gathers vitality, offers a wide view, makes people feel relaxed and happy, and encourages them to stay and interact. The water system and open space in front provide scenery, humidity and activity space, making people living here more comfortable."

"Is this superstition? No, this is an excellent 'environmental assessment and selection system' that our ancestors summarized from their physical perception and generations of experience in an era without climate analysis and environmental impact assessment reports. It is about safety, health, and comfort, the most fundamental human needs."

Hua's 12 stories gradually drew everyone in, turning them from initial indifference and amusement to a deeper engagement. Even the professor began to furrow his brow, lost in thought.
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