Dream Guide

As a classical garden restored entirely with private capital investment, Mulberry Garden once attracted widespread attention. However, the focus of media attention is not the mulberry garden itself, but the significance of capital entering the public garden market. It is generally believed that such a new garden without much historical accumulation is difficult to stand out among the many famous gardens in Wuzhong, and it is unlikely to recover a large amount of investment through tourism revenue. Capitalists are never philanthropists and must have other purposes. .

Some analysts pointed out that this was a breakthrough in the real estate market, because with the completion of Mulberry Garden, the surrounding second-hand housing prices not only did not fall in the sluggish real estate market, but also rose steadily. And Hu Xing did take the opportunity to hoard two new pieces of land around Mulberry Garden for the development of real estate projects. One of the properties was already on sale and sold out quickly, making her a huge profit. She expects that the second and third phases of the project will generate more profits, and with the newly built pedestrian commercial district next to it being put into use, the funds invested in rebuilding the mulberry garden will soon be fully recovered.

Hu Xing's investment was not optimistic at first, and was regarded as a willful act that Mr. Xia made to allow her to try out the compromise he made in hoping that his beloved granddaughter would return to the business world. However, the development of the real estate market that was unexpectedly brought about after the putting into use of Mulberry Garden made her status in the Xia family rise sharply. Some people even half-flattered and half-truthfully touted Xia Wenyuan as a young business genius.

Of course Xia Wenyuan knew that this was just an accident, but he was also happy to see it happen. In order to help Hu Xing, he asked his subordinate real estate companies to join in. With the encouragement of the media and the tilt of government policies, the area centered on the original Liuying Lane quickly developed a new area that had never appeared in the past. development model.

In order to complement the mulberry garden, the roads, landscapes and public greening in this area are full of mulberry trees. People call this area the "mulberry forest area".

Despite this, compared to other gardens in Wuzhong, the Mulberry Garden is still deserted. On the one hand, because this is a new area, people who originally lived nearby have been moved out due to demolition. The environment has changed, but the popularity is no longer as strong as it was in the old city. On the other hand, Hu Xing and Lifespan Hua set the ticket price for Mulberry Garden as high as those famous gardens on the grounds of recovering their investment, which discouraged tourist groups who wanted to visit here. A new garden without any history, With such a price and no group discount, who would want to come?

Only a very small number of tourists will actually spend money to buy tickets to visit the mulberry garden, and Mei Ziqing is one of them.

The weather is still very cold, but the mulberry trees in the mulberry garden have already sprouted new buds. It seems that spring here comes earlier than elsewhere.

Mei Ziqing was not in a hurry to see Lifelong Flowers, but walked slowly in the mulberry garden, admiring the unusual scenery here like a real traveler.

The most eye-catching thing in the mulberry garden is probably the huge old mulberry tree.

Like other gardens, a sign will be erected next to each old tree with its name and age. If the person who planted it is very famous or something special happens at that time, there will also be a section dedicated to it. Its history is chronicled.

Mei Ziqing walked over and saw the three words "Red Silkworms" written on the sign in front of the tree, and the age of the tree said "more than 260 years old."

The following is the explanation in small print in Chinese and English:

Red silkworm mulberry is a very rare tree species, a deciduous tree belonging to the genus Moraceae. Folk legend has it that a red wild mulberry silkworm once lived in the tree and could spin out red silk. The silk made from its silk was once praised as exquisite.

As early as the Qianlong period, there is a record in "Wu Zhi": "The best silk is the red silk reeled in the Hua Mulberry Garden. Its quality is better than that produced in the Weaving House. It may be said that the wild mulberry silkworms are fed with human blood." , so the silk is red and the silk is like blood, so people dare not wear it."

According to the measurement of the trunk part, the tree is about 260 years old, but C14 measurement of its root system and soil found that it is more than 1,300 years old. Experts estimate that the main trunk of red silkworm mulberry was probably destroyed but later grew again.

…

Mei Ziqing read every word carefully, then looked up at the tall Hua Guan, stood there thoughtfully for a while, and then murmured two words to herself: "Qingmu..."

She kept walking. After passing through a small mulberry forest, we saw a lake with a nine-curved stone bridge. There is a willow tree on the other side of the lake, which is particularly conspicuous in the mulberry forest.

There are more green buds on the willow tree than on the surrounding mulberry trees, which makes it particularly vital. The wicker branches hang down, gently brushing the water, and swaying in the wind with thousands of amorous feelings, as if a shy girl is coquettishly showing off to her lover.

Mei Ziqing stood on the stone bridge and looked back, seeing the tall crown of red silkworms facing the willow tree across the lake.

She didn't know why, but she always felt that there was something strange in the air here, just like what was said in martial arts novels, this place was full of aura and invigorating.

There is a house not far from the other side of the lake. Although its architectural style is quite simple, it is obviously not in the same style as the other pavilions and pavilions in the mulberry garden and looks out of place.

Through the guide signs on the roadside, Mei Ziqing knew that it was the Mulberry Garden Management Office.

When she came to the house, she found that the door was closed. From the marks on the door, it seemed that it had not been opened for a long time. But the house was obviously occupied, and clothes were hanging to dry on the balcony upstairs.

She went around to the back of the house and found a back door. The doorway is paved with two bluestone slabs, and a pot of Star Beauty is placed next to the steps.

Mei Ziqing raised her hand and knocked on the door, but there was no response. No one is here? She didn't think it was such a coincidence.

She had researched Lifetime Flowers and knew that she rarely left the mulberry garden after it was built.

Mei Ziqing released her mental power and felt it. The building was not big, and if there was a living person upstairs, she should be able to feel it. However, the strange thing is that the abundant "spiritual energy" around her actually interfered with her. Only then did she realize that what was filled here was something similar to spiritual power, forming a field like a magnetic field, covering the entire mulberry garden.

"Holy land!" Mei Ziqing exclaimed inwardly.

One of her purposes in coming to Wuzhong was to find the holy land mentioned in her father's notes. She had an intuition that the holy land must be related to a certain garden in Wuzhong. It can be said that this intuition is very accurate, but her search has no results. In the past ten years, she has traveled to most places in Wuzhong and seen most of the gardens, including open and unopened ones, but she did not expect this new mulberry garden.

Mei Ziqing had also been to Liuying Alley when Mulberry Garden was not built, and had heard the rumors about it. If she had seen the huge red silkworm tree at that time, maybe she would have discovered the secret here. However, a clever grafting caused her to miss the clues to the Holy Land just like Kitano Zhenwu. There they saw only a century-old willow tree.

She looked up at the blue sky and imagined the spiritual power coming continuously from some unknown deep place in the universe. How was this channel established? Is Aoki's disappearance and sudden return related to this?

Mei Ziqing put down her hand on the door and prepared to leave temporarily and walk around in the garden.

When she turned around, she saw the pot of star beauty next to the bluestone slab. She always felt that the flowerpot was out of place here, as if someone had done it on purpose.

She bent down, picked up the flower pot, and saw a key under the flower pot.

She laughed. It turned out that the owner of this house was a forgetful person! Only a forgetful person would leave a key at the door. What age is it, why not install a smart lock with fingerprint, voice, face recognition, anything.

"Aoki..." She remembered the name again. Yes, Aoki was a forgetful person. Professor Mei Yiqiu often said during his lifetime that his brain was like an ancient disk full of bad sectors. Could this key be prepared for him?

Out of curiosity, Mei Ziqing picked up the key and planned to verify whether it was used to open the door. Suddenly I heard someone speaking behind me: "Are you here to find me?"