Chapter 455

"A sign of great luck."

Lin Yu said, taking pictures of all the diagram road signs.

This scene was just like going to a scenic spot, which made Yang Mi smile bitterly.

The two of them came to the Qian Courtyard during their conversation.

In the night, this courtyard looked even more imposing.

Under the eaves were colorful carved beams and painted rafters.

On both sides were lifelike, graceful, and luxurious sparrow braces.

"Wow! This door pier."

Yang Mi's heart moved, and she stepped forward to touch the two white marble stone carvings like wheels in front of the courtyard.

"The owner of this house is truly knowledgeable."

"This door pier is square for civil officials, meaning scholarly."

"Round for military officials, meaning war drums."

"My grandfather couldn't find such a regular scholarly stone pier in the whole of Beijing back then."

Yang Mi blinked, unable to hide her inner excitement.

This object cannot be imitated, so it must be real, at least passed down from the late Qing Dynasty.

"Sister Mi, you know so much."

"Too smart."

Lin Yu couldn't help but give a thumbs up and praise.

"Don't praise me."

"I should be the stupidest one in our family."

"In our family, even a fool can get into Tsinghua or Peking University; I'm a drag on the family."

Yang Mi shook her head with a bitter smile.

"This should be a screen."

Lin Yu pointed to a dark green, screen-like partition.

"Mm-hmm."

"The ancients tabooed seeing the courtyard as soon as they opened the door."

"This is called blocking evil."

"But if there were weddings or funerals, or if the emperor came to visit, this green screen door would have to be opened."

Yang Mi nodded slightly and whispered the explanation.

The further they went, the more shocked they were!

Yang Mi was both curious and a little timid.

However, Lin Yu was careless and directly pushed open the dark green screen door.

"Sister Mi, what does this 'several-entry courtyard' mean?"

Lin Yu looked at the signs in the house and asked curiously.

"The front and back of the Sihe Academy are called 'entry', and the left and right are called 'cross'."

"Entering several doors is several-entry courtyard."

While answering, Yang Mi specifically looked back.

On both sides of the dark green door, there really were the inverted rooms written in books; in ancient times, this was where nannies and security guards lived.

The owner of this house is really particular!

This house is basically repaired according to the configuration of a prince's mansion!

"Sister Mi, seriously, if you like this house, I'll work hard for a few years."

"If it doesn't work, we'll find a few rich women to keep me."

Lin Yu winked and said cheekily.

"Don't."

"Although I like this house, it's not necessary."

"Next time you invite me to dinner, just don't skip the bill."

Yang Mi pouted and said in annoyance.

When she saw the side rooms in the house,

Yang Mi's heart shrank, and her pupils trembled a few times.

On the eaves, dragons, phoenixes, lions, and unicorns were all lifelike.

Looking down, the colorful rafters on the beams, the century-old mahogany pillars, every detail was full of aristocratic atmosphere.

Looking through the night light into the hall of this Qian Courtyard.

"Ah!"

Yang Mi was so frightened that her legs went soft, and she collapsed to her knees.

"Lin, Lin Yu, this room has people!"

Yang Mi's eyes went dark, she felt a shiver on her crown, her whole body was enlightened, her pale lips trembling, she said in terror.

“How could there be anyone here?”

“Sister Mi, are you still stuck in character from the shoot?”

Lin Yu looked toward the main residence in the Sihe Academy with a feigned air of seriousness.

“Is that so?”

After being told this, Yang Mi felt a bit unsure. She had indeed been filming *Fox Spirit Matchmaker* lately, where many characters wore ancient xianxia costumes.

Could she really have seen wrong?

“Whoosh! Whoosh!”

At that moment, the pomegranate tree and the crabapple flowers in the courtyard rustled.

It was clearly just a pleasant evening breeze in spring, yet it made Yang Mi shiver all over.

“Sister Mi, that’s a pomegranate tree, right?”

“I heard Master Huang Lei say before that rich people love planting these.”

“Something about ‘Gold pomegranates in the east, silver persimmons in the west, noble people from the south and north.’”

“It signifies having many children and many blessings.”

“Blooming year after year, as festive as big red lanterns hanging from the branches.”

Lin Yu spoke eloquently on the side, explaining it all.

But Yang Mi didn’t take in a single word.

She cast another wary glance toward the interior of the main residence.

Yang Mi had heard from her grandfather before that in the Forbidden City, many palace maids and concubines were thrown into dry wells.

Many strange and eerie supernatural events had occurred there.

Looking at this Sihe Academy, it was quite possible it was once the residence of some prince.

Perhaps something scientifically inexplicable could happen here too.

In Yang Mi’s eyes, the spring breeze had turned into a ghostly chill.

The entire courtyard full of pomegranate and crabapple trees—

In her mind, they automatically transformed into ghost-filled locust trees.

“Let’s go. I feel a bit creeped out here.”

Yang Mi tugged at the corner of Lin Yu’s shirt and whispered.

At first, she had been curious about the furnishings of this luxurious Sihe Academy.

Once that curiosity passed, only fear and the urge to stay away remained.

“After all, this is someone else’s courtyard. It wasn’t right to come in and look around without asking.”

“And I feel like there really was someone inside just now.”

Yang Mi recalled the flickering shadows in the room again. She was certain she hadn’t seen wrong; there was clearly something in there.

“Alright.”

Lin Yu didn’t say another word.

Taking advantage of the night, he crept toward the dark green screen door.

As Yang Mi quickened her pace, she felt a secret sense of relief.

However,

At that moment, the main residence and the side rooms on both sides went *snap*. In an instant, they were brightly lit.

It was as if the whole world had been illuminated.

“Ah!”

Yang Mi’s eyes went wide with fright, and she stood frozen in place as if struck by lightning.

It’s over, it’s over. This time, she’d really stirred up a hornet’s nest!

Good news: it’s not a ghost, it’s a person.

Bad news: I’d rather it be a ghost!

“Lin Yu, you’re agile, run out first.”

“My status in the entertainment industry isn’t high, but I’m familiar with the big shots in the Beijing circle. They’ll give me some face, and I’ll explain it to them later.”

Yang Mi quickly calmed down.

She hadn’t spent all these years in Yanjing for nothing; by using her connections to apologize and calling in a few favors,

the other party shouldn’t make things difficult for her.

But Lin Yu was different; he was currently in the limelight, and his popularity was soaring.

If he were labeled with trespassing, his acting career would likely be cut short.

“If you don’t leave, Sister Mi, I won’t leave either.”

Lin Yu bit his lower lip hard, speaking with absolute certainty.

He was deeply moved inside.

Entertainment industry artists might seem high and mighty on the surface.

But everyone on the inside knows it’s a big dye vat. The "every man for himself" mentality is common practice and common knowledge.

He hadn’t expected that, in such a situation, Da Da Mi Mi would be so loyal and righteous toward him.

A friend in need is a friend indeed; this mansion was worth gifting.

“Lin Yu, don’t be like this. Go, listen to me.”

Seeing Lin Yu unmoved, Yang Mi hurriedly pushed him a few times, urging him.

“Hehe!”

“I’m afraid none of you are leaving today.”

The person speaking had a very magnetic voice.

This sound, cutting through the air, instantly shattered the silence of the Sihe Academy.

When Yang Mi heard this, her heart skipped a beat.

It’s over!

It seemed the owner of this mansion wouldn’t let this go easily.

???

But why did this voice sound so familiar?

“Qi, Brother Qi?”

Yang Mi blurted out, testing the waters.

“Hahahahaha!”

Hearing Yang Mi guess the person, bursts of laughter erupted from all around the courtyard.

Yang Mi looked around and was instantly dumbfounded.

How were all these people familiar faces?

Huang Mengying, Zhu Zhu Xudan, Zhang Zhang Binbin, and other employees of Jiaxing Media.

And Qi Wei, Jing Tian, Zhang Zhang Dada, and others were Yang Mi’s close friends in the industry.

Even Yang Mi’s manager, Zhao Ruoxiao, was among them.

What the f*ck!

What is this?

After a brief moment of thought, Yang Mi turned her head and locked her gaze onto Lin Yu.

“You brat, I said you were usually so steady, turns out you were setting me up.”

As she spoke, Yang Mi bit down hard on Lin Yu’s arm.

This bite was fierce and heavy.

It left Lin Yu with a deep red "Da Da Mi Mi" brand mark.

“Wow! Are you a dog?”

Lin Yu’s agility was enough to dodge Yang Mi’s bite, but he bit the bullet and took it.

If it could help Da Da Mi Mi vent, this bit of pain was nothing.

“Sister Mi, happy birthday!”

As he spoke, their friends pushed out a delicate three-tiered cream cake from the side of the room.

Lin Yu endured the sharp pain and stepped forward to light the birthday candles.

When the birthday song began to play,

Yang Mi could no longer hold it together.

Tears welled up and streamed down her cheeks.

Throughout her many years in the industry, most of Yang Mi’s birthdays had been spent on set or working overtime at the company.

Since entering the business, she had never really had a grand birthday party.

“Sister Mi, your actual birthday is when you’ll be on set, so Brother Yu had everyone give you a surprise to celebrate it early.”

“Surprise!”

“Confetti, confetti!”

Zhu Zhu Xudan took the lead and offered her birthday wishes.

???

This counts as a surprise?

It’s more of a shock!

Yang Mi sighed with a bitter smile, then blew out the candles, clasped her hands together, and made three wishes.

“Baby Da Mi Mi, it’s time to open the gifts.”

“We’ve all prepared exquisite gifts for you.”

Qi Wei’s eyes welled up; after all these years, only their friendship had lasted to the end.

She felt moved and held Yang Mi’s hand, speaking softly.

“Brother Qi, if you can’t help it, just pinch your voice.”

“This sounds too unlucky.”

Lin Yu joked while cutting the cake.

But soon, Lin Yu regretted it.

An overwhelming amount of cake was smeared all over him.

“Damn!”

“I was careless.”

“Forgot, these are all family!”