Chapter 279 Shangshan House

After a long drive, the Ferrari left the city and finally stopped at the shore of Nanhu Lake. Lu Mingfei opened the door and got out of the car, taking a look at the trees by the lake that had already turned golden.

The scenery of Nanhu Lake in autumn is different. Even when the sun is hottest now, there are still several boats on the lake. Most of these boats are small wooden boats owned by nearby farmers. When there are many people in Nanhu Lake, they can carry tourists for sightseeing. When there are few people, they can go fishing by themselves, which can be regarded as making full use of the boats.

Unlike the last time I came in the evening, when the pavilion in the middle of the lake was already hidden in the night and was not very noticeable, the pavilion in the lake was extremely obvious during the day. Standing alone in the lake, it was quite a sight.

Lu Mingfei had sharp eyes and saw some new construction work on the lakeside opposite the pavilion, which looked like they were building a bridge.

There is a plank road leading directly to the pavilion in the lake. Those who are too lazy to walk can just call a boat and go there. Those who want to experience rowing can row there by themselves. Lu Mingfei looked at the bridge that had been built in a small section. It looked like an arch bridge. He was probably envious of the Rainbow Bridge in the Magic City next door, so he wanted to build one himself.

Lu Mingfei didn’t have much to think about it. After all, it was human nature to follow the trend. Besides, building a bridge was indeed convenient. More importantly, it seemed that this matter had nothing to do with him.

"Have you heard?" Chen Motong, who had parked the car, walked to his side and looked at the bridge under construction with him. "The bridge hasn't been completed yet, but it has been named Canxue Bridge."

Lu Mingfei took a breath. The people of southern Jiangsu never let him down. It had been so many years before they remembered to follow the trend of Broken Bridge and Residual Snow. The key point was that the Broken Bridge had the story of Xu Xian and White Snake in The Legend of the White Snake as its foundation. What foundation did your Residual Snow Bridge have?

Chen Motong said with a strange look on his face: "Urban rumors, I mean urban rumors, if you look at the lake from the woods on the shore on a rainy day, you will see a bridge on the lake that was not there originally, and in the center of the bridge there is a girl wearing a classic white dress."

“…I’m a local, and this is the first time you’ve heard of this from an outsider like me. It turns out there is such a legend in my hometown.” Lu Mingfei didn’t know what expression to make.

Chen Motong replied calmly: "I've already said it's an urban legend. You can find it by searching it online."

Who knows if this is a marketing method that someone came up with, but the bridge hasn't even been built yet and the marketing is already everywhere. It really feels like they are treating the general public as fools.

Lu Mingfei had also seen similar urban legends, such as the No. 0 viaduct that could only be seen in heavy rain. Later investigation revealed that it was the city planning bureau's plan for the future of the expressway near southern Jiangsu, and someone had heard of it.

Then there are the roars in the underground of the abandoned heavy industrial zone late at night, the soul-like figures in the fog on rainy nights, and the black figures wearing gorgeous masks jumping on the high-rise buildings in the CBD area late at night...

Lu Mingfei couldn't help but slap his forehead. Well, judging from his own experience of becoming an urban legend, these urban legends might not be completely groundless.

Viaduct No. 0 might be the projection of the Nibelungen, which replicated the entire southern Jiangsu, in reality. As for the lost figure in the fog, there is no need to explain it. Lu Mingfei has already forgotten how many times he has seen it.

Thinking about it this way, is the rumor about the Canxue Bridge also...

Lu Mingfei took a careful look at the center of the lake and sniffed it, but naturally found nothing. He sighed inwardly, thinking that Su Xiaoqiang's mistaken entry into Nibelungen yesterday had caused him to be startled again.

Lu Mingfei felt bored and turned to walk into the forest behind him. Chen Motong did not follow him immediately. She stayed where she was, silently looking at the lonely pavilion in the middle of the lake, then shook her head and turned around to follow Lu Mingfei with a bit of boredom.

In the center of the lake, the air, which was originally empty, twisted slightly, and it seemed as if a pair of beautiful golden eyes flashed by quickly.

There was a wooden plank road in the forest. In late autumn, it was hidden in the golden leaves and was not very conspicuous. When he stepped on the dry leaves, there was a crisp sound. Lu Mingfei looked up at the forest ahead.

The classical Suzhou garden architecture is hidden in the deep woods, blending in with the autumn colors. It cannot be seen unless you look carefully.

Lu Mingfei had known for a long time that there was a manor on the edge of Nanhu Lake that looked quite impressive. It was said that someone in Southern Jiangsu had the urge to build a Suzhou garden-style theme restaurant and spent a lot of money to build this garden.

In order to fit the theme, it was specially built in the woods away from the world beside the South Lake, with an ancient flavor. In the end, the garden was built, and the advertisements that were spent a lot of money were also released, but on the opening day...

According to Chu Tianjiao, who had been there once, this theme restaurant was overly focused on restoring the theme and put too much effort into the show, so much so that it neglected the most important point in running a restaurant - your dishes have to be delicious. Even if they are not delicious, don't sell them at such a high price.

Anyway, according to the weird aunt Su Xiaoyan who was traveling with him at the time, only a cooking skill that was one level better than hers dared to open a restaurant and sell it at such a high price. If she worked a little harder for a while and learned one or two more dishes, wouldn't she be able to open a restaurant?

In short, Chu Tianjiao didn't know how much time it took him to persuade Su Xiaoyan, and then the theme restaurant that he had built at a huge cost was like sinking into the Nanhu Lake, without even a bubble.

Lu Mingfei originally thought that this restaurant had been "incorporated" when Nanhu was developed as a tourist attraction. However, after Uesugi Erii happily gave him the address of her current residence, he discovered that the theme restaurant had changed owners.

"This place is a good place for an autumn outing. Let's ask Qianniu to come over and play next time." Chen Motong was playing a game with himself in front of Lu Mingfei, "You lose if you step on the fallen leaves."

She stepped on the fallen leaves with her red high heels. Every time she stepped on the leaves, besides the crisp sound of the high heels hitting the ground, there was also the sound of dry leaves breaking apart, which sounded quite pleasant.

She invited Lu Mingfei to play with her, but the latter refused because it was childish. Then, by chance, a gust of wind blew, blowing away all the fallen leaves on the surrounding plank road. Lu Mingfei walked forward in a regular pattern, stepping on the seams of the wooden planks.

Chen Motong muttered who was being childish, then took off her high heels, stepped on the wooden board with her feet in black stockings, and quickly walked past Lu Mingfei with her high heels in her hands. When she reached a place with fallen leaves, she put on her high heels again and stepped on the fallen leaves happily.

Lu Mingfei also muttered something childish and continued to blow away the fallen leaves, moving forward along the regular seams.

When looking at the forest from the lakeside, I always felt that the manor was not too far away, but when I really walked further along the winding wooden plank road, I found that it was actually quite a distance.

It is said that this was the idea of ​​the owner who built the theme restaurant. If the road is long, people who come here will know how precious it is to come here, and if they are hungry, the food will be more delicious. For this reason, he built the parking lot outside the forest, and there is only this road to get up.

Lu Mingfei didn't know how to comment on this. He just wanted to say that if he was really hungry, he could just go to a fisherman's house by the South Lake, grill a fish, and stir-fry a few dishes. Isn't that better than taking the trouble to walk through the winding plank road to get here?
It can only be said that the sudden death of this theme restaurant is not without reason. Then, standing at the gate of the manor, Lu Mingfei looked at the smooth road in front of the gate that was not yet dry and led directly to the lakeside road below, and then looked back at the winding wooden plank road. Finally, he looked silently at Chen Motong who had parked his car in the parking lot outside the plank road.

"Why are you looking at me?" Chen Motong shrugged at him with an innocent look on his face. "Do you think I want to take the wrong road? You, a local, don't even know that there is a new road here, so how can I, an outsider, know about it?"

Lu Mingfei took a deep breath and decided not to bother with this psychopath.

He looked at the door of the manor and saw someone waiting there, an old man with gray hair and a meticulously dressed tuxedo.

"Is this Mr. Lu Mingfei and Miss Chen Motong?" The old man stepped forward, bowed after confirming their identities, and said, "My name is Inuyama He. I have served Master Uesugi Yue since I was a child. Now I am with the ladies and am in charge of the work related to the mansion."

Inuyama He spoke good Mandarin, and apart from his butler-style tuxedo, which was extremely exquisite, there was nothing out of place... Or rather, the fact that he was dressed in formal Western attire and standing in front of an oriental classical garden building was the biggest incongruity, so that he was easily overlooked.

"...Hello." Lu Mingfei nodded to Inuyama He. He didn't know why, but the housekeeper's meticulous dress gave him the feeling that he had seen him somewhere before.

After greeting Lu Mingfei, Inuyama He looked at Chen Motong, and after a careful look, he said in surprise: "Ms. Chen and Miss Eriyi really look alike. If Master Yue hadn't told me that his mother was from the Chen family, I would probably have thought that you were Miss Eriyi's sister."

"It seems like it's just what you think. I personally think there's a big difference." Chen Motong's face remained calm, and it seemed that he didn't take the relationship with this relative very seriously.

Lu Mingfei glanced at her, then nodded secretly. The difference was indeed quite big. It was rare for someone as tall as Uesugi Eriya to have such a plump figure. It wasn't that Chen Motong was a little worse, it was just that one was more slender and the other was more plump. It was up to you which one you liked.

"You don't have to look at me like that. I know I'm no match for them." Chen Motong glanced at Lu Mingfei and walked into the manor on his own.

"...I haven't said anything yet." Lu Mingfei looked at her strangely, without asking any further questions, but just sighed that the mental state of a mentally ill person was indeed inexplicable.

"Please follow me, the three ladies have been waiting for you for a long time." Inuyama He bowed slightly again and led the way in front.

The structure inside the manor was pretty much the same as Lu Mingfei had imagined. It was a classical Chinese garden structure with pavilions, rockery, bridges and streams, and... maids wearing Western-style black and white maid outfits.

Here it comes again, this strong sense of incongruity. Lu Mingfei looked strange, and then he thought about the identity of the manor owner, and then he suddenly realized.

As we all know, Japan considers itself not to be in Asia, but to be a European a little bit away from Europe. Since the Meiji Restoration about 200 years ago, it has been completely westernized, wearing suits, building Western-style buildings, drinking coffee and eating with knives and forks.

However, their weird national pride made them westernized, but not completely westernized. For example, they have good English, Japanese and Chinese characters, but they made Romanization that Westerners can't understand, and the East can't understand it. The Japanese themselves can't stand it, saying that only ghosts can understand it...

What seemed out of place to the people here might have already penetrated into their lives. Thinking in this way, Lu Mingfei was not so surprised to see the maids dressed in Western style in the garden.

But if he thought about it this way, wouldn't Shan Erili be wearing a beautiful little dress to receive him later? When Lu Mingfei thought about it this way, he didn't know why, but he inexplicably felt a little excited.

What surprised Lu Mingfei was that the maids busy in the garden were all very good-looking. They could debut as idols or stars in Japan. None of them had poor looks, and they were not much worse than Lucrecia's maids in white lace dresses.

Inuyama He saw his doubts and asked with a smile: "Mr. Lu, are you curious about my daughters?"

"Daughter?" Lu Mingfei was surprised. The father was a butler, and the daughter was a maid... What kind of family structure was this? However, in Japan, this did not seem so strange. It could only be said that this was a national condition.

Lu Mingfei glanced at Inuyama He again. He looked so old that even the grandfather of these beautiful maids might look young.

"Haha, as you can see, they are all adopted daughters. After all, at my age, if I really have daughters, I'd be old enough to be their grandmother." Inuyama He explained.

He continued, "Although you may not believe it, I am a student of Principal Angers. I was the one who received him when he went to Japan. We can be considered people of the same generation. Of course, he is much older than me."

Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered where the meticulous look on Inuyama He came from. Isn't he just a replica of Angers?
Inuyama He said, looking at the maids who claimed to be his daughters: "They are all girls from the former Tamamonomae Club. As someone who once controlled the Tamamonomae Club, it's not strange for me to call myself their father."

Tamamonomae Club... Why does this sound like a nightclub that is unique to Japan?

"No doubt about it, that's it." Chen Motong answered Lu Mingfei's question, "He serves the head of the Japanese underworld, how clean can you expect his business to be?"

Inuyama He smiled and did not refute, but just corrected her by saying: "Ms. Chen is right, but I can't bear to see them doing some sex trade. I originally wanted to train them to enter the entertainment industry, but the Eight Snake Families are gone, so it's meaningless."

He looked at his daughters and said with a sigh, "Master Yue didn't want to follow the ways of the Eight Snake Families, so I disbanded the Tamamonomae Club and gave them a severance package. With their abilities and looks, they can live comfortably no matter where they go."

"What a pity..." Inuyama He said it with regret, but his eyes were full of relief, "Just like I couldn't bear to leave them, they also couldn't bear to leave me. Like me, they stayed and continued to serve the Uesugi family."

"Ah, that's what happens when you get older. You start nagging without realizing it." He led Lu Mingfei and Chen Motong to the main room on the side, "This way, please. The ladies are inside."

The main door of the house was open. Lu Mingfei took a look inside and felt a little disappointed. Hei Eriya was not wearing a beautiful dress. But the disappointment was not that deep, because she was wearing a cheongsam.

(End of this chapter)