Chapter 47: Office Feng Shui Is Quite Particular

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Chapter 47: Office Feng Shui Is Quite Particular

These days, who in the city government wasn’t being watched by several pairs of eyes? Someone like Yu Shenliu was under even closer scrutiny, with practically everything he did being examined and analyzed. So when Yu Shenliu brought Chen Yuan along around noon, it took only a few minutes for practically everyone in the city government to know about it.

In short, the moment they saw Chen Yuan, someone immediately scampered off to the Party Secretary’s office to “report on the work.” Hearing that the Half-Immortal had come to the city government again, the Party Secretary thought it over and decided that, however he looked at it, there seemed to be something unusual about the relationship between Master Chen and Yu Shenliu. Perhaps Master Chen had come this time to give Yu Shenliu a hand with something… more metaphysical?

Thinking about all the things he’d seen on television—things like using someone’s hair and blood to curse them into madness, or wearing consecrated jewelry to bring good fortune—the Party Secretary felt that he couldn’t just sit back and let things develop like this. The key was that although Yu Shenliu was still only a deputy, he was already showing signs of being willing to go head-to-head with him.

He wouldn’t feel at ease without taking a look.

Of course, techniques involving hair and blood to curse people mostly belonged to Tame Head , while Chen Yuan had opposed the idea of using consecrated jewelry to improve one’s fortune from the very beginning. The Party Secretary knew none of this. As far as he was concerned, if he didn’t keep an eye on things, who knew what kind of trouble might arise?

The last time Chen Yuan had come to the city government, he’d been in a hurry, and it had also been at night, so he hadn’t had a chance to carefully examine the place or its feng shui. This time, however, they arrived around noon. They got out of the car outside the main entrance and took in their surroundings as they walked.

Compared with the stupidly neat rows of manicured greenery in the world he’d once lived in, the city government’s grounds resembled the garden-style park Chen Yuan had first seen in this world. Apart from the small square in front of the main building that provided convenient access, winding streams ran through the grounds amid lush green trees. The scenery was elegant and beautiful.

Chen Yuan gave the landscaping on either side a cursory glance. The layout was merely conventional. It was certainly beautiful, but from a feng shui perspective, it was far from ideal. At best, it could only be described as neither good nor bad.

However, there were advantages to keeping things conventional. These leaders loved nothing more than displaying their authority whenever they had the chance. They even wanted to decide for themselves what species of trees to plant. If some fool ever got it into his head to show off his authority by installing a fountain or something at the city government, wouldn’t that completely ruin the feng shui? If the original feng shui was merely conventional, then as long as they didn’t completely tear everything apart, it wouldn’t have too much of an impact. But if it had been carefully arranged in the first place, it was hard to say what might happen after someone came along and messed with it.

A lot of the time, practical factors still had to be taken into consideration.

The layout was good.

But things weren’t always that absolute. If someone altered the two wings, for example, the layout could easily change. Even the daily rising and setting of the sun could affect the overall arrangement. From a more scientific perspective, the reason this layout was considered good was that it took the direction of the rising sun into account. In summer, however, the sun’s path across the sky shifted somewhat toward the northeast, meaning the northern wing would have slightly stronger qi, while the opposite would be true in winter, with the southern side benefiting instead. Even minor changes could cause the feng shui to shift, so it was impossible to make an absolute judgment.

“Where’s your office?” Chen Yuan asked Yu Shenliu.

“The building in the middle. The Party Secretary’s and mayor’s offices are basically all there.” Although the two sides weren’t part of the same system and their offices theoretically shouldn’t have been located together, that was simply how things were done in Jincheng City.

“Is that the usual practice?” Chen Yuan asked.

Yu Shenliu nodded. It had been the practice for many years, and no one had been foolish enough to try to completely change it. Some rules in the city government could be changed, because doing so demonstrated a leader’s decision-making ability. But there were other rules that couldn’t be touched, no matter how insignificant they might seem.

Since it was an established practice, that meant someone in the past had either noticed the feng shui issue here or given instructions about it long ago. Chen Yuan made a rough assessment.

The city government building was clearly old, with an air of elegance that came with age. When Chen Yuan had been researching Zhuowen Academy earlier, he’d also happened to look up some of Jincheng City’s other attractions, only to discover that both the city government and provincial government were among them. Jincheng City had many old buildings, some dating back to the Ming Dynasty or even earlier. The city government building was one such structure. It had served as the seat of the city government for several hundred years, and because the state did not allow historic buildings to be casually demolished or rebuilt, it had retained the same appearance throughout all those centuries.

Chen Yuan followed Yu Shenliu upstairs to his office. Along the way, he noticed that during the daytime, there was basically no need to turn on the lights anywhere in the building; it was bright enough as it was. This was an excellent layout. From a psychological perspective, a bright environment could also reduce the darkness in people’s hearts. In terms of feng shui, it represented clear skies and broad daylight, acting openly and honestly, with uprightness and integrity.

Several people deliberately happened to pass by just to get a look at Chen Yuan. Yu Shenliu remained unfazed. He had known from the start that bringing Chen Yuan here would inevitably attract this kind of attention. However, he had calculated that no one with enough standing would come and intercept them.

If Chen Yuan were merely his friend, there would still be plenty of people willing to try to poach him. But now, practically everyone in the city government believed that he and Chen Yuan were lovers. How could anyone poach him then? Who would want the reputation of breaking up someone else’s relationship? So even if a whole bunch of people coveted Chen Yuan’s abilities, could they really run over and ruin the atmosphere while the two of them were being all lovey-dovey and intimate?

On this point, Yu Shenliu’s calculations had been extremely thorough—and extremely devious.

Chen Yuan walked into the office, and Yu Shenliu closed the door behind him.

“How is it?” Yu Shenliu casually sat down in a nearby chair and asked Chen Yuan. He had never really arranged his office himself in the first place, so he wasn’t sure.

Yu Shenliu’s office was simple, without much decoration. He knew a few basic taboos, so a screen had been placed immediately inside the door, preventing anyone from seeing directly into the room. Behind it were several sofas facing the desk. The desk stood in front of a wall of windows, with blinds blocking out the overly bright sunlight while still allowing enough light to illuminate the room.

Just to the left of the entrance was a small door, which was probably the bathroom. Opposite it stood two potted plants.

As for decoration, Yu Shenliu had hung two scrolls of calligraphy and paintings on the wall, giving the room a somewhat refined air. There was also a shredder against the wall. Some documents couldn’t be seen by people without sufficient clearance, so it was better to destroy them right there in the office.

Seeing Chen Yuan looking everything over, Yu Shenliu gave an embarrassed little cough. “I learned about the plants and screen from you.”

Chen Yuan had mentioned the benefits of placing plants and setting up a screen when he’d arranged his shop before. Later, Yu Shenliu had thought that the same principles should apply to an office, so he’d done just that.

“It’s fine.” Chen Yuan nodded. Neither had been placed anywhere inappropriate, so there was nothing to worry about.

“But it would be better to move those two plants to the bathroom door.” Chen Yuan pointed at the plants nearby. “They can transform foul qi, so if there’s a bathroom in the office, the best place for them is right outside it.”

Chen Yuan gave the instructions, and Yu Shenliu did the work. He went over and moved the plants himself. From the beginning, he hadn’t intended to have anyone else help arrange his office. After all, this was a rare opportunity for them to be alone. Besides, when other people were around, Chen Yuan rarely explained things in much detail and tended to say less.

“Let’s move your desk first.” Chen Yuan looked over Yu Shenliu’s desk and confirmed that its shape was fine—the three straight lines on the inner side surrounded the person sitting there, while the outer side formed a curved arc, creating what was known as an arrangement of mountains and water enclosing the person.

He examined the room once more before continuing, “Move the desk and chair against the wall, right there. When you sit down, your back should be against the wall. This is called having a mountain at your back.”

Chen Yuan pointed at where the desk had originally been. “A lot of people in business like having an entire floor-to-ceiling window behind them, but that can make people feel uneasy about what’s behind them and gradually lead to nervous exhaustion. The same principle applies to having a door or hallway behind you. You shouldn’t have a bathroom directly behind you either, or sit too close to things like printers. The area around your desk needs to be ‘stable’ and not easily disturbed.”

What Chen Yuan didn’t mention was that the direction he’d chosen faced east, which was favorable for someone in a deputy position and could provide support to a deputy. Once Yu Shenliu was promoted, they could worry about other arrangements then.

Yu Shenliu looked at the heavy desk and gave a wry smile. “Let’s get someone to move this later.” Given Chen Yuan’s small frame, there was no way he could move an office desk himself, so they might as well have someone else do it.

“The lighting inside should stay sufficient, but don’t make it too intense. Windows that are too large and expose too much of the outside environment aren’t good either, so cover some of them as appropriate.” Chen Yuan pointed at the blinds, making it clear what they were there for.

“And the sofas here.” Looking at the row of sofas, Chen Yuan sighed. “Sofas can represent a lot of things. Even at home, you have to pay attention to how you arrange them. It’s best not to place sofas in a straight line, because that isn’t conducive to unity. Arranging them in a circle, or around a central table, can make a family more harmonious. The same principle applies to an office. Arrange these sofas in a circle, with the center facing your desk. That way, they’ll provide you with additional support.”

No wonder Yu Shenliu’s fate had been such that hardly anyone had rallied to his side when he’d been sidelined before. Apparently, the layout of his office had been another contributing factor.

Yu Shenliu committed each point to memory and waited for Chen Yuan to continue.

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