Hou Tianlong, with a chicken in his left hand and a soft-shelled turtle in his right, also carrying a piece of streaky pork, hummed a tune as he rode his little motorbike back to his own small courtyard.
The courtyard was fenced in, the ground partly paved with bricks while some parts still maintained their earthen look. Around the perimeter, pavilions and ponds had been built, and together with the dry-hanging stone structures of the houses, made the courtyard look delicate and beautiful.
Since his divorce, Hou Tianlong had moved back to his old family house. With the substantial income from his oil distribution business and the cash split from the divorce, he spent all of it on renovations. He would fix up a bit every month, doing much of the work himself, not to save money but for the fun of it.
Day by day, a brick at a time, the old house he renovated had a trendy design yet retained some symbols from his memory and the convenience of modernity.
