In Changqing Garden, Shen Weimin first returned to the kitchen. After casually washing the dishes and putting them back in the dish cabinet, he headed to the backyard, planning to go out from there and check on the mountain.
But before he had taken more than a few steps, he discovered the backyard had changed completely in the few days since he'd last been there. The most conspicuous thing was the massive, towering woodpile.
It was a long row of firewood logs, all annoyingly chopped to nearly the same length and thickness. The only inconsistent ones were those where the original wood itself had been irregular.
Someone had also built a pigsty and a chicken coop in the backyard at some point. Though they were currently empty—not even the chickens and ducks were penned up in them yet—he figured it was just because there hadn't been enough time.
