Casa de la Dama

Capítulo 12

She didn't drive today, which might prove that Mu Feng picked her up and brought her to Longemont.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the relationship between Youyou and Mufeng is extraordinary.

Qiqi sometimes hates her own sensitivity, being too good at making associations and analogies, which often makes her feel uneasy and uncomfortable.

Just like this time, Youyou sat in the passenger seat without hesitation, while Qiqi sat alone in the spacious back seat. Youyou, who had been having a hard time getting a word in edgewise, suddenly opened up and chatted with Mufeng about the rumors surrounding the three models they had met at the last dinner party. The two of them talked and laughed, which further reinforced Qiqi's speculation about the relationship between the two.

Qiqi, all alone, picked up the mermaid cushion from the car seat and couldn't help but feel a little lonely.

The excitement I felt from eating and chatting just now vanished instantly.

The car was parked at the entrance of Qinyuanchun residential area.

Youyou seemed to suddenly remember something and turned to ask the drowsy Qiqi, "Hey Qiqi, you didn't bring your violin, did you?"

Qiqi didn't answer, she just shook her head.

Youyou seemed completely oblivious to Qiqi's change in mood, and turned to Mufeng, saying, "Oh no, she didn't bring that wooden compass, so she can't check the feng shui of the house."

Mu Feng said nonchalantly, "With Qi Qi's skill and experience, do we still need a compass? We can tell whether a house has good or bad feng shui even with our eyes closed."

Qi Qi sat up straight immediately. She couldn't be sure if Mu Feng had called her "Qi Qi" instead of "Miss Yang".

Instantly, her mood improved again.

Qiqi chuckled to herself inwardly.

Although it was her first time visiting Qinyuanchun Residential Area, Qiqi was already quite familiar with the name of the area.

Because the feng shui of this property was adjusted by Yao Beibei.

As soon as they entered the community gate, Youyou smiled and said to Mufeng, "It's not easy, Mufeng. Our Qiqi is super difficult to please when buying a house. Many times, she can find ten or eight fatal flaws that make a house unbuyable, even if she only stands at the community gate and doesn't look at it a second time. It seems that I have found the right person this time."

Qi Qi retorted, "It's not as serious as you make it out to be! However, many residential areas are now built haphazardly, and the external feng shui of these areas already has serious flaws, so there's no need to go in and take a look."

With a long sigh, she said, "Feng shui masters also have their own troubles; it's easy to go a lifetime without finding a house you're satisfied with."

Qiqi and Mufeng both laughed.

The houses in Phases 1 and 2 of Qinyuanchun are strikingly different from those in Phases 3 and 4. Phases 1 and 2 are disorganized and chaotic, while Phases 3 and 4 are well-ordered and orderly.

Qiqi pointed to the several seemingly staggered buildings in the second phase not far away and said, "The edges and corners of the buildings should ideally be aligned. Otherwise, if they are misaligned, they will form 'wall knives' against each other. Even two buildings that are very close together over there will form a very narrow gap, which will create what is called 'sky-cutting evil' for the buildings in front and behind them! 'Sky-cutting evil' is extremely powerful among the forms of evil, and it is almost impossible to solve. Within three to five years of living there, the family will almost certainly suffer a misfortune."

Youyou stuck out her tongue and said, "That's ruthless. I'll have to be more careful when buying a house in the future."

The three of them strolled around the Qinyuanchun Phase III complex. Qiqi exclaimed, "Yao Beibei is truly talented. The design of Phase III and Phase IV is both aesthetically pleasing and in accordance with feng shui principles. I really want to buy a house here."

Mu Feng was delighted to hear this, feeling that the property he had chosen could actually satisfy a feng shui professional like Qi Qi, which would give him something to brag about to his friends, and at the same time please Youyou.

Upon hearing Qiqi say that Qinyuan Spring had good feng shui, Youyou immediately asked Mufeng, "Xiao Mu, do you think you can get three houses in Qinyuan Spring?"

Mu Feng hesitated for a moment, then said, "Yes... but... there's one set I've already decided to buy."

Youyou glared at him: "There are still two sets left!"

Mu Feng pondered for a moment and said, "Qi Qi said she wanted to buy one set... and the other set—"

Before he could finish speaking, Youyou shrieked, "I want the other set! If you dare give it to anyone else, I'll never forgive you!"

Mu Feng dared not say anything more, and said with a wry smile, "Alright, alright, everyone who comes to see the house today gets one, one house per person."

Youyou was finally satisfied. She said, "Then the three of us will be neighbors from now on?"

Qiqi said, "I might not be able to choose the right house for me from the three options. It depends on fate."

Mu Feng was very generous, saying that all three apartments were around 90 square meters, and Qi Qi could choose first, You You second, and the remaining apartment would be his.

She said leisurely, "Well, you little Mu, so you're planning to buy a house here too. This is like having Qiqi do a free feng shui consultation for you."

Mu Feng immediately said, "How could that be! No more than that, but you should at least give me a red envelope of five thousand yuan, plus dinner at the Yan'an Hotel tonight. How about that, Miss Qiqi?"

Qi Qi hurriedly looked away from his enthusiastic gaze, not expecting him to offer a red envelope. Of course, she wouldn't accept it, so she lowered her head and whispered, "If I accept your feng shui fee, then I'd have to pay you a brokerage fee in return. I'm not that stupid!"

Youyou clapped her hands and said, "Alright, if neither of us gives it, then we're even and everyone's happy. I haven't been to the Yan'an Hotel for a month, and I'm really missing their prawns."

Qiqi asked, "Which floor are the three apartments on?"

Mu Feng replied, "Two, eight, fourteen."

Qi Qi said, "There's no need to go see the eighth floor."

Mu Feng was startled: "Could it be that Miss Qiqi has a third eye and can see directly that the feng shui of the eighth floor is bad?"

Youyou immediately said, "I don't want the eighth floor, Mufeng, you keep it!"

Mu Feng smiled wryly and said, "You never seem to suffer a loss."

He snorted softly, his face full of smugness.

Qi Qi said, "No need to look. Here's the thing: I was born in 1988. The Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch of that year was Wu Chen. The year of Chen belongs to the Dragon, the year of Xu belongs to the Dog, the year of Chou belongs to the Ox, and the year of Wei belongs to the Sheep. All of these belong to the Earth element. Each floor of the building has its own element. Simply put, according to the Five Elements calculation of the Luo Shu, the first and sixth floors belong to Water; the second and seventh floors belong to Fire; the third and eighth floors belong to Wood; the fourth and ninth floors belong to Metal; and the fifth and tenth floors belong to Earth. In the Five Elements, Wood can overcome Earth, so I cannot choose a house on the third or eighth floor."

Youyou immediately asked, "What about me? I was born in the Year of the Tiger, so which floor should I avoid?"

Qi Qi sighed, "You know, I've told you more than once, haven't I? You were born in 1986, and your birth year is Bingyin. Tiger and Rabbit both belong to the Wood element, and Wood is most afraid of being countered by Metal. As I just said, the fourth and ninth floors belong to the Metal element, so just don't choose them."

Youyou nervously went through all the properties under her name, then breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Thank goodness, I haven't bought any apartments on these two floors..."

Qiqi rolled her eyes at her and said, "When have you ever bought a house without consulting me? Do you think I would let you buy a house that's not suitable for living in?"

Youyou nodded repeatedly, her face full of happiness.

Mu Feng laughed and said, "I was born in 1984, which corresponds to the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch Jiazi, and my element is water. The fifth and tenth floors belong to the Earth element, so I can't live on the fifth or tenth floor, right?"

Qi Qi nodded and said, "You are a scholar of the Book of Changes after all. You are very knowledgeable about the Five Elements and their interactions. You understood it as soon as you heard it."

Mu Feng, however, was not smug. Instead, he asked humbly, "What about those above the tenth level? How should the Five Elements be considered?"

Qi Qi said, "That's simple. Floors ending in 1 or 6, such as the eleventh or twenty-sixth floor, are also associated with the water element. And so on."

Having learned something, Mu Feng immediately applied it to other situations: "Then I should choose the fourteenth floor. The fourth and ninth floors belong to the metal element, and I was born in the Jiazi year, which belongs to the water element. Metal generates water, so this house was born just for me, haha!"

Qiqi smiled and nodded.

Youyou asked anxiously, "Does the eighth floor clash with me, Qiqi?"

Qi Qi sighed helplessly and said, "If you go out and say you have a feng shui master friend, people will laugh at you... You really can't learn anything in this area, you forget what I just said! Didn't I just say that the third and eighth floors, including those ending in three or eight, belong to the wood element? You were born in the year of the tiger, and the tiger and rabbit both belong to the wood element. Wood is harmonious with wood, and harmony means friendship, so of course you'll have no problem living on the eighth floor!"

Mu Feng said a little embarrassedly, "Then only the second floor is left... But fortunately, the second and seventh floors are both fire elements. You were born in the year of the dragon, and your birth year is associated with earth. The second floor is fire, which generates earth, so it seems that these three houses were prepared for the three of us perfectly!"

There's no need for the elevator to go up to the second floor.

As Qiqi climbed the steps, she closed her eyes slightly and squinted.

Mu Feng asked curiously, "I've heard that true Feng Shui masters can 'observe the Qi,' for example, Feng Shui masters in the past could tell which place would produce an emperor or a top scholar, all thanks to this skill. Miss Qi Qi, are you also 'observing the Qi'?"

Qi Qi said, "Yes. However, 'Qi' is not just about 'observing', but also about feeling. If you calm your mind and open up all the pores of your body, you can merge with the 'Qi' around you, and then you can feel the strength, weakness, auspiciousness, and inauspiciousness of the 'Qi' around you."

Mu Feng exclaimed, "Wonderful! Qi Qi, what do you think of the 'qi' of this building?"

Qi Qi opened her eyes and said, "At first, I felt a very gentle and comfortable aura, but later, I felt a bit tight in my chest. Let's look at the house first."

Mu Feng took out a large bunch of keys from the white bag, looked at the tags, selected one, and opened the security door.

Mu Feng and Youyou went through the door first.

Qiqi stood at the doorway, not moving an inch.

Mu Feng asked, "Are you measuring directions? How can you do that without a compass?"

Qi Qi smiled and said, "The ancients were already practicing feng shui before they invented the compass. Writer Mu, you are very knowledgeable, do you know how to measure directions?"

Mu Feng thought about it seriously for a moment, then shook his head blankly.

Qiqi nodded towards the bright balcony to the west.

Mu Feng glanced at it, even more bewildered.

Qiqi said, "Sunlight."

Youyou said reproachfully, "Qiqi, stop being so mysterious. What does sunlight have to do with a compass?"

Qiqi said, "The ancients were smarter than us in many ways; they could use sunlight as a compass. I'll demonstrate it to you."

After saying that, Qiqi took a mop from the hallway, wrung out the mop head, took the plastic handle of the mop and walked to the center of the living room, then stuck the plastic handle vertically into the white tile.

Sunlight streamed through the balcony, casting a shadow on the plastic pole.

"A sundial compass!!!" Mu Feng exclaimed excitedly.

Youyou, confused, asked Mufeng, "What 'sundial'? Qiqi doesn't have a compass at all..."

Mu Feng shook his head and said, "I'm so lucky to have seen the legendary method... Isn't there an idiom called 'instant results'? That's what it's about. The ancients would stick a wooden stick into the ground and use the different positions and lengths of the shadows cast by the sun to determine the time and direction. Once you know what time it is and where the shadow should be, you can use that position to deduce the location of other buildings! Compasses or magnetic compasses can be inaccurate due to magnetic declination or interference from magnetic materials, but this method doesn't have that problem. It's the simplest and most effective method, but it requires a lot of experience. Qi Qi is amazing!"

Qi Qi seemed not to hear his praise, muttering, "It's the Meridian direction again..."

Mu Feng asked with concern, "Is it bad for a house to face the meridian?"

Qiqi shook her head and said, "If a house facing the meridian is bad, then most houses in the world are bad. The orientation doesn't matter, but this meridian orientation is not suitable for me to live in."

Mu Feng asked, "You can't live in houses that face north and south? Then you're going to have a hard time choosing a house!"

Qi Qi said dejectedly, "Yes, I know. But today I wanted to try my luck. Usually, I'm too lazy to look at houses that face north and south, because most of them are oriented north-south. Actually, facing south doesn't necessarily mean facing south. In the twenty-four mountains, each of the eight directions of the eight trigrams has three mountains, and the three southern mountains include Bing, Wu, and Ding. If the house's orientation is slightly off, sitting on the Bing or Ding mountain in the south, I can live in that house. Only houses facing Wu are not suitable..."

Mu Feng asked, puzzled, "Looking at it from 360 degrees, the three mountains of Bing, Wu, and Ding aren't that far apart, are they?"

Qi Qi smiled wryly: "This is the 'Three Fiends Mountain' that I told you about at the Typhoon Shelter."

Mu Feng became interested and took out his notebook, pretending to listen attentively.

Qi Qi was both amused and exasperated: "Master Writer Mu, please stop doing this. You always take notes, which is making me afraid to speak freely."

Mu Feng said half-jokingly, "Miss Yang's words are so eloquent that even I, a writer, am ashamed of my own lack of talent. It would be a loss to humanity if I didn't record them. Now, please tell me, what is 'Three Fiends Mountain'?"

Qiqi had no choice but to let him keep the record.

"The direction of the three earthly branches that are opposite the three-harmony direction of the homeowner's birth year cannot be used as the sitting direction."

Mu Feng blinked and said, "Qi Qi, are you trying to test me? I also have some knowledge of the I Ching. Let me analyze what you said and see if it's correct: Taking you as an example, you were born in the year of Wu Chen, and Shen Zi Chen forms a water element, which belongs to the north. The north is opposite the south, and the three-way combination is Si Wu Wei, which forms a fire element. Ah, I see. Si, Wu, and Wei are the three directions that people born in the year of Chen should not choose, which is what you call the 'Three Killings Mountain'!"

Qi Qi nodded approvingly and said, "Absolutely right. Mu Feng, you are very smart. You would be a good student if you studied Feng Shui."

Mu Feng, seizing any opportunity, said, "Then, Qi Qi, please take me as your apprentice!"

Youyou pushed Mufeng and said unhappily, "Mufeng, you're being ridiculous again. Qiqi is several years younger than you. How can she be your master? Qiqi and I are sisters. Do you want me to be your senior uncle?"

Qi Qi quickly added, "I haven't even graduated from my own feng shui school yet, how dare I teach others?"

Mu Feng smiled, not pressing the matter, and continued to ask, "What are the consequences if the 'Three Fiends Mountain' is violated?"