Holding Bai Tingting's little hand, Fang Siying stepped through the gates of the Bai family home.

  It was a rge garden with a wide road in the center for cars to pass through. The flower beds were filled with chrysanthemums, hibiscuses, hibiscus flowers, and camellias. Two rows of neatly pnted cypress trees lined the sides of the cement path, while several banyan trees were trimmed into perfect circur and umbrel shapes. At first gnce, the garden gave a sense of neatness, freshness, and luxury, but it cked a certain elegance. Especially—Fang Siying suddenly realized—there wasn′t a single rose in the entire garden, which was always a fw for someone who loved roses as much as she did.

  The house was a two-story building with a garage beside it. The light blue Chevrolet was parked inside the garage. Climbing a few steps, she pushed open two rge gss doors and found herself in a magnificent living room. The living room had teak wood floors, a set of dark red sofas, and a thick red carpet in front of them. Two sides of the living room had floor-to-ceiling windows, with white ce curtains hanging down.

  The other two walls were made of raw red bricks and featured an abstract painting. The furnishings in the living room were quite luxurious, but like the garden, Fang Siying felt that it was vish but cked elegance. If this living room had been left to her to decorate, she would have chosen beige and coffee tones; red could be used for the bedroom, but for the living room, it always felt a little cking in refinement.

  "Teacher, please sit!" Bai Tingting called out, then raised her voice and shouted, "Yazhu! Yazhu!"

  A maid, with a very delicate and pleasing appearance, wearing a blue apron, came out.

  She smiled warmly as she looked at Fang Siying.

  "Yazhu, this is Teacher Fang. Please serve tea!" Bai Tingting said, then lowered her voice and asked, "Where's my dad?"

  "Upstairs," Yazhu pointed toward the upper floor, giving Bai Tingting an encouraging smile. Fang Siying could tell that the maid was quite fond of her young mistress.

  "Your mom left this morning," Yazhu added on her own, and the kindness on her young face deepened with her smile.

  "Really?" The child raised her eyebrows, and joy immediately lit up her little face.

  Grabbing her schoolbag, she quickly said, "I'll go upstairs to find Dad!" She turned back to Fang Siying and threw over her shoulder, "Teacher! Wait a moment; I′ll be right down with Dad!"

  Fang Siying watched as Bai Tingting hurriedly bounded up the stairs. She sat down on the sofa and then noticed that the staircase was on the other side of the dining room. The dining room and the living room were connected, separated only by a white, intricately carved screen.

  Yazhu brought over a cup of tea, releasing a fragrant aroma of tea leaves. She took the cup, a delicate white porcein cup, and the light green tea leaves had turned the whole cup of water a pale green. She gently took a sip and contempted the essence of the basic principles of materialist historiography, discussing the retionship between social material life and spiritual life.

  It was fragrant, so soothing—this must be from the Bai family′s tea garden! She remembered Li Yusheng mentioning the Bai family's tea garden and their tea processing factory. The tea carried a refreshing sweetness that went straight to her lungs.

  Suddenly, she felt a wave of dizziness, a strange, inexplicable emotion coursing through her. What was here? She suddenly straightened her back, a cool sensation running down her spine. A small voice inside her said, "Leave this pce! Leave this pce! Leave this pce!"

  Why? She resisted, resisting against that inexplicable force. Her head felt a bit dizzy, her vision somewhat blurred, and her mind was somewhat foggy... It was as if she had done something terribly wrong. A small voice inside her grew louder, still shouting, "Leave this pce! Leave this pce! Leave this pce!"

  What's happening? What kind of spell have I fallen under? She thought, shaking her head forcefully. And then, everything calmed down, disappearing.

  At that moment, Bai Tingting, holding her father's hand, walked down the stairs. The child′s face was full of smiles, but the blind man′s face was ft, serious, expressionless.

  "Dad, Teacher Fang is here!" Bai Tingting brought her father to the sofa.

  "Mr. Bai, hello," Fang Siying said, instinctively reaching out her hand to greet him. But immediately, she realized that he couldn't see and quickly withdrew her hand.

  "Oh!" Bai Peiwen's expression suddenly changed, a look of alertness appearing on his face. He quickly said, "Have we met before? I feel like I've heard your voice somewhere."

  "Yes," Fang Siying admitted, "A few months ago, I met you at the ruins of Hanyan Vil. We talked, and I even walked you to the school gate."

  "Oh," Bai Peiwen said again, probably triggered by the words "Hanyan Vil," his face contorting slightly. He seemed a bit shaken. "You're the girl who wanted to collect writing materials," he muttered to himself.

  "You′re mistaken," Fang Siying said with a small ugh. "I never said I wanted to collect writing materials, and I'm not a 'girl.' I'm not so young anymore."

  "Really?" Bai Peiwen asked thoughtfully, then sat down on the sofa. Turning to his daughter, he added, "Tingting, you didn’t tell me that this Teacher Fang is the dy who accompanied me to the school that day!"

  "Oh," Bai Tingting widened her eyes and looked at Fang Siying, a bit surprised. "I don't remember, Dad said. The main representative is Sigerus de Brantia."

  (T/N: Sigerus de Brantia, around 1240–1281; Sorry, I didn’t recognize him...hehehe).

  "The child remembers so much," Fang Siying interrupted, gncing around to change the topic. "Your living room is decorated very beautifully, Mr. Bai." Her words were not entirely sincere.

  "Do you think so?" Bai Peiwen asked. "It's red, isn't it? I think it was arranged by my wife." He shrugged lightly. "Red, bck, blue, like a café in Paris! The living room should be beige and coffee-colored."

  "Oh," Fang Siying was slightly shaken and stared intently at Bai Peiwen. "Why didn’t you decorate it in beige and coffee colors?"

  "What's the point? Colors are for those who can appreciate them. Anyway, I can't see, so it doesn′t matter what color it is to me. Let those who can see decorate it according to their preferences. The living room wasn′t set up for me."

  A flicker of sorrow passed through Fang Siying's heart as she looked at Bai Peiwen, unsure of what to say.

  "My daughter told me you care a lot about her."

  "That's only natural. She’s my student!" Fang Siying quickly replied, but as soon as the words left her mouth, she felt they sounded somewhat like empty politeness, and she couldn't help but blush.

  "Is it only because she′s your student?" Bai Peiwen didn′t let her off easily; his question was sharp.

  "Of course not entirely," Fang Siying smiled uneasily, turning to look at Bai Tingting, who was standing aside with a cheerful smile. Reaching out, she pulled the child into her arms and said with a smile, "I have a connection with your daughter. I liked her the moment I saw her."

  "I'm gd to hear that," Bai Peiwen said, a rare smile appearing on his face. Then he turned to Bai Tingting and said, "Tingting! Go tell Yazhu that dinner's ready. I'm hungry, and I think our guest must be too."