Carrying a Jurassic on me
Chapter 869 - 486 Someone in the Courtyard Going to Visit Relatives

Chapter 869: Chapter 486 Someone in the Courtyard Going to Visit Relatives

Those who have never seen a Duijie Tree would find it quite peculiar, as it completely upends the common perception of trees. We usually describe trees as lush and leafy, but Duijie Trees are the exact opposite. Even after centuries of growth and thick trunks, they are inherently unrelated to abundance of branches and leaves.

Furthermore, the Duijie Tree grows only in a very limited geographical area. Out of the country’s billion-strong population, only those living near where the trees grow would have seen them. There are no Duijie Trees in Provincial City, nor within the entire province, for that matter. Some places might have transplanted them as ornamental trees, but still, only a small number of people have seen them.

Boss Yan’s little villa, which had been built since the summer holidays until now, the National Day holiday, has not been around for a short time, and has even gained some minor fame, attracting onlookers.

It’s all because the house is too close to the zoo. Visitors leaving the zoo need only to look over here to see a few unusual and rarely seen trees across the street. Those who are curious come over to take a look, and seeing that the house is quite imposing with those uncommon trees in the yard, it’s natural for them to talk about it when chatting with others.

Not only are Duijie Trees uncommon, but the landscaping plant industry isn’t big yet. Most greening projects use familiar plants, such as Holly Trees and various pines and cypresses found everywhere from roadsides to campuses. And once these plants are planted, they are generally not replaced frequently, as evidenced by the plane trees in the city that are nearly large enough for two people to embrace.

As for the future, when they’ll be constantly replacing plants in beautification projects, often opting for rare varieties under the guise of beautifying the city—well, even the old men farming in the villages are well aware of what’s really going on.

Even Ginkgo trees are not commonly seen these days. Locations with a few old Ginkgo trees are well known within a hundred-mile radius. And then there are the trees in this little courtyard that also look uncommon, not quite like the usual pines or Cedars, at least not exactly the same.

For the people of Provincial City who are accustomed to monotonous living, this is a little spectacle. Coupled with the antiquated red-bricked and green-tiled architecture in the back, there are even those who seriously come to take a picture against the red wall. If one gets the angle right, they could pass it off as a photo taken in the Forbidden City.

Although there are two rather fierce dogs in the yard, these dogs are usually so lazy that they don’t even bark, so most people have no idea there are dogs inside.

Yan Fei and Xu Xiaoyan were sitting in the shade of the trees in the courtyard that morning, discussing where to go for fun during the holidays, when they heard the bustle outside and realized that people were treating the place as a photo spot.

Miss Xu Xiaoyan was grinning with delight, though it’s uncertain why; she just cheerfully agreed to whatever Yan Fei suggested for a place to visit, leaving him utterly speechless.

It wasn’t until Yan Fei was packing up to leave that Miss Xu Xiaoyan asked, "How about we visit my elder sisters today? The last time I called them, they both complained that I don’t visit them to hang out."

Yan Fei was truly puzzled, "I just finished talking for ages, and you didn’t say a word—I thought you’d agreed to go play by the river! Well, that’s fine, we’ll go see your elder sisters, and then we can head to the river."

He was considerate enough not to mention how the older sisters never came to see their younger sister. Previously when Xu Xiaoyan’s elder sisters had taken the opportunity to visit their younger sister during the weekends, they managed to meet her only once when Yan Fei wasn’t there, which just goes to show how hard it is to be an older sister. Eventually, they stopped coming altogether, sometimes just sending a letter to check in since they were all in the same city, and the mail wasn’t slow.

Yan Fei even suggested getting Xu Xiaoyan a pager, but she refused. At that time, it was rare to see one in school, unlike later when students would frequently compete over mobile phones and cars. Back then, the school was still a pure land, untouched by the culture of flaunting status. If there was any competition, it was in studying and grades, not the casual dropping of "my dad is XX" in conversation.

After dawdling and preparing some gifts, as they were about to head out, Xu Xiaoyan heard a group of youngsters outside the wall, actually coming up to the front gate and chattering excitedly about taking photos. Pouting, she asked Yan Fei, "There are people outside!"

Yan Fei was totally bewildered, "They come to take photos at our house’s front gate, and I’m not charging them a photography fee, so why wouldn’t they let us leave?"

He went straight up and opened the door.

"Ah..."

There was a chorus of exclamations outside!

Right in front of the gate was a young man who had just been reassuring—and boasting to—his friends, "It’s okay, you guys just stand there, nobody lives in this courtyard. Who would build such a majestic house for themselves? This must be some corrupt official’s doing, probably got arrested just as the house was finished. I’ve been here twice and never seen anyone inside."

"You all just stand there, don’t move, this angle is perfect. Yes, right there, my camera is imported from Japan, I had to plead and beg to bring it from home. You can rest assured, even if the light here doesn’t cooperate, I guarantee the photos will turn out top-notch..."