The Gatehouse Brother!

The Bai Family Courtyard had originally been the "Prince Li Garden," a princely estate and woodland garden that stood as a model of imperial landscape artistry.

Among the more than three-hundred-year history of princely gardens, its recreated Qing court cuisine, along with the revived court rituals, interior furnishings, clothing and adornments, banquets and dances, and household-gate culture of the Qing dynasty, gave the Bai Family Courtyard its one-of-a-kind imperial court dining experience.

The garden covers roughly 50 mu and stretches north to south in a rectangular layout, with symmetry as its main feature.

It is divided into front, middle, and rear sections. The front hall contains the main reception hall, the middle section is the Magnolia Courtyard, densely planted with magnolias and peonies, and the rear section consists of three triplex courtyards that served as the bedrooms of the prince and his inner household.

From this you can see that the front section was where the prince handled affairs and received guests, the middle section was a resting garden for stepping among flowers and enjoying the moon, and the rear section was the place for daily life and rest.

Beyond the houses and halls, the garden also features pavilions, terraces, waterside towers, small bridges, flowing water, rockeries, and lakes.

Its main buildings include Magnolia Hall, also known as Jade Hall and Prosperity, Silver Peace Hall, Benevolence and Longevity Hall, Hongde Hall, Waiting-for-the-Moon Pavilion, Yanjing Pavilion, and a small garden.

Each courtyard is built with piled rocks and layered hills. The front garden feels strict and orderly, while the rear garden feels lively and playful. Large areas of rockery in different forms are stacked throughout the natural space, separating the garden’s various scenic areas. With luxuriant flowers and trees and winding paths leading into hidden depths, it is a rare and exquisite garden setting.

At seven in the evening, Tang Yan arrived directly at the Bai Family Courtyard inside Lejia Garden, No. 15 Suzhou Street, Haidian District, Beijing.

This was the meeting place she had arranged with Tangren, and the location for today’s talks was Magnolia Hall.

By then, the Tangren people were already seated. Leading them was a sophisticated beauty in her thirties, none other than Tangren’s glamorous CEO, Cai Yinong.

When Cai Yinong saw Tang Yan, she smiled warmly and said politely, "Since everyone’s here, let’s order first. It’s the right time to talk before the dishes come out."

Tang Yan took the menu and looked it over. The recommended dishes included braised deer tendon, stir-fried shrimp balls, Empress’s Smile, toon sprouts with yellow croaker, imperial-style barbecued pork, rich-sauce four treasures, golden chestnut and baby abalone, Bai Family Kung Pao shrimp, imperial yellow chicken soup, and papaya with snow clam...

Menu

Cold dishes: Empress’s Smile, mustard-root cake, Bai Family almonds, toon sprouts with yellow croaker, imperial-style barbecued pork, spicy venison

Dim sum: pea-flower cake, bean-curd roll

Hot dishes: rich-sauce four treasures, golden chestnut and baby abalone, Bai Family Kung Pao shrimp, chicken drumstick with foie gras sauce and imperial mini corn bread, sweet-and-sour pineapple pork, crispy duck cubes, steamed turbot, stir-fried Chinese kale

Soup: imperial yellow chicken soup, papaya with snow clam

Dessert: imperial pastries

Fruit platter: seasonal fruit

Don’t be fooled by how grand and elegant those names sounded. In the end, it was nothing that special.

But the prices were another matter entirely. A single braised deer tendon cost 688, and as for whether it was really deer tendon, Tang Yan could guarantee it absolutely was not. Most likely it was just beef tendon dressed up under another name.

Tang Yan knew all the rules of the game. If the talks succeeded, she wouldn’t need to pay for it. If they failed, then she would definitely have to foot the bill herself. Otherwise, why would anyone lower themselves to meet you in person? That was the way of the world, and there was no shortage of places where money had to be spent.

Tang Yan had a little savings now, and this role was very important to her. So she decided to be generous for once and ordered braised deer tendon, stir-fried shrimp balls, Empress’s Smile, imperial yellow chicken soup, steamed turbot, and rich-sauce four treasures. She also ordered a serving of papaya with snow clam for everyone at the table.

Cai Yinong was fairly satisfied with Tang Yan’s appearance. More importantly, she had a big, open way about her. You could tell she had the makings of someone who could do big things, someone with the potential to stand out in this circle.

But the more Cai Yinong saw of that, the less likely she was to let Tang Yan slip away. The role could be given to her, but only after she became one of their own. Otherwise, the money spent today would be wasted, and there was no way she would agree.

After more than ten minutes of back-and-forth probing, and with the main dishes nearly all on the table, they still hadn’t reached an agreement.

Tang Yan wasn’t unable to accept signing with Tangren, but the profit split, the contract length, and the promises Tangren was making were far too harsh. It was practically a slave contract.

She really wanted this role, but she wasn’t going to sell herself just for one part. It simply wasn’t worth that much. Looks like this several-thousand-yuan meal was going to be wasted again, and she had been ruthlessly taken for a ride by that old woman Cai Yinong.

Knock, knock, knock...

A sudden knock came from outside Ye Yu’s door.

Ye Yu looked at the wall clock and saw that it was already ten at night. Seeing that very meaningful hour, the corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and he walked toward the door with a wicked grin.

When he opened it, he saw two little beauties he had not seen much before. The prettiest one looked a bit like a Uyghur girl, and she should have been one of the new freshmen from the 2008 class.

It seemed this year there was a new duo called the "Uyghur twin beauties," who had become one of the top ten beauties at the Beijing Film Academy as soon as they arrived. The one in front of him should have been one of them.

"Do you know what time it is? You should know the dorm rules. After nine-thirty, you’re not allowed in. And during your first year at school, you have to live on campus. If you get caught otherwise, you’ll lose conduct points, and you could even get a severe warning. After three times, you’ll be expelled outright.

Look at the time now. You should know the consequences. And how many times is this for you? Why do I feel like I’ve seen both of you before? This shouldn’t be your first time, right?"

"Gatehouse brother, this really is our first time. We tried our best to hurry back, but there was nothing we could do about the traffic jam. You know what Beijing traffic is like. You really can’t blame us. Please let it slide just this once, pretend you didn’t see us, and let us in, okay?"

"Such a cute little beauty. Your voice is so soft and sweet. Are you this year’s new student? What’s your name?"

"My name is Dilireba. I’m from Urumqi, Xinjiang, and I’m this year’s new student. Gatehouse brother, help us out, please... I’m begging you. You’re the best." Dilireba immediately hooked her arm around Ye Yu’s sleeve and started acting cute, cooing and pouting nonstop.

It had to be said that this girl really did have good conditions. Ye Yu had been the gatehouse attendant for half a year now, and he had already seen plenty of beauties.

After all, this place was known as the Beijing Film Academy, the school with the most concentrated pool of beauties in the country. Any random passerby here would be at school-heart level anywhere else.

But Dilireba was definitely above standard, and that was with a bit of baby fat still on her and not much development yet. Once she was fully developed, she would be something else entirely, a little temptress who could kill men without paying a price, a walking human juicer.