Chapter 226: Thinking of the Gentleman, He Is Warm Like Jade

With the support of the higher-ups at the Forestry Bureau, undertaking the Deer Sanctuary project this time seemed very simple.

After returning to Qingfeng Temple, Ning Fei filled out the application and submitted it. Now, he just had to wait for it to go through the normal process.

That evening, feeling a bit excited, Ning Fei set up a table in the pavilion, brought out paper and a brush, and planned to design the layout of the Deer Sanctuary himself.

Inside the pavilion, the light from a solitary lamp shone down, falling perfectly onto the table.

All the little ones of Qingfeng Temple gathered around.

Ning Fei had been gone all day, and they had all missed him.

The table had four sides, and Ning Fei sat at one of them.

Little Fox rested her head on the edge of the table next to him, gazing gently at Ning Fei.

The fox's eyes were so expressive that just looking at her was enough to make the netizens cry out that they couldn't handle the cuteness.

Who could possibly resist such an adorable white fox?

Opposite Little Fox, Little Dog was far less well-behaved. The puppy planted both front paws on the table, tilting his head up as if trying to see what Ning Fei was doing.

Ning Fei scolded him lightly, and Little Dog immediately dropped his paws back down, sitting back obediently.

Little falcon perched on the armrest nearby, with Xiao Feng standing right beside him.

Over the past few days, Xiao Feng had gradually adapted to life at Qingfeng Temple and had settled in peacefully.

Little Fei remained inseparable from Little Dog. There was an old saying about chickens flying and dogs jumping in chaos, but here at Qingfeng Temple, the chicken and the dog had become the best of friends.

The drone hovered overhead, quietly broadcasting this tranquil scene.

Ning Fei took out his paper and brush. Just as he was about to start drawing, he looked up and noticed Little Fox.

"Come here,"

Ning Fei called out with a smile. Little Fox immediately trotted over and curled up obediently in the crook of his crossed legs.

Only then did Ning Fei begin to draw.

Before drafting the structural blueprint of the Deer Sanctuary, he had to have a complete understanding of its layout.

Ning Fei unhurriedly explained, Raising deer is divided into several areas: the deer sanctuary itself, the auxiliary production area, and the staff living quarters.

The sanctuary is further divided into fawn pens, rearing pens, birthing pens, and adult deer pens. They need to be raised separately.

"At the same time, the living quarters must be kept at a distance from the deer-rearing areas to prevent domestic wastewater from contaminating the deer's living space."

As Ning Fei spoke, he set his brush in motion.

He took out his brushes and laid out various pigments on the table. This time, he was going to create a traditional Chinese painting.

In his design, his Deer Sanctuary wasn't like an ordinary deer farm with strictly standardized factory buildings, a central feed trough, and a routine of tossing daily fodder to the deer.

He wanted to build a deer sanctuary that completely blended with the natural environment.

Therefore, the exterior design of his deer farm would look somewhat like an ancient palace or pavilion.

Ning Fei's painting skills were excellent. His first drawing depicted the overall layout of the Deer Sanctuary.

The netizens watched as Ning Fei's brushstrokes steadily landed on the paper, slowly revealing a majestic palace nestled among the mountains.

"Is Temple Master Ning really this amazing? This painting looks incredible!" a netizen exclaimed upon seeing this.

"Haha, Temple Master Ning is a true artistic youth."

"Don't use 'artistic youth.' That's practically a derogatory term nowadays."

"Temple Master Ning is a genuine master. The more you watch him, the more you realize just how capable he is."

"I'm completely won over by this painting. It's so beautiful!"

Ning Fei painted incredibly fast.

He didn't pause at all, translating whatever was in his mind directly onto the paper.

Whether it was the shading of the colors or the overall proportions, everything was just right.

The shape of the palace gradually emerged.

Then, he drew several lively little deer around the palace.

Those deer were remarkably lifelike. Some were lowering their heads to graze, some were gazing off into the distance, and others seemed to be keeping a vigilant watch.

Under Ning Fei's brush, everything in the painting seemed to come alive!

Seeing such a scene, the netizens were left in absolute awe.

The little deer in the painting simply looked far too real.

It took Ning Fei a full half-hour to finish the sketch of the Deer Sanctuary.

Looking at the final product, Ning Fei smiled in satisfaction.

He switched to another brush, dipped it in black ink, and wrote a few characters on the plaque at the very front of the palace:

Wenyan Deer Enclosure.

With that, the sketch of the Deer Sanctuary was complete.

The netizens, however, had already exploded in a frenzy.

"This painting is divine! Oh my god!"

"As expected of Temple Master Ning! This is a genuine master-level painting!"

"Such a treasure of a streamer! I absolutely love him."

"I love watching Temple Master Ning paint so much. Just looking at the stream feels beautiful."

"These little deer are so vivid. It really looks like they're moving."

"I've been studying painting for seven years, but faced with Temple Master Ning's foundation in traditional Chinese painting, I truly feel inferior."

The netizens continued to clamor in excitement.

Art was always a subjective thing.

Some people said that as long as a bunch of masters hyped up something normal people couldn't understand, it was art.

In reality, true art could be accepted by the public. People only needed a single glance to know that the piece was brimming with artistic value.

Take the painting in front of them, for instance.

The palace nestled among the mountains, paired with the lifelike little deer, was enough to completely captivate anyone's attention at first glance.

It was truly too beautiful.

At that moment, a netizen asked, "Temple Master Ning, why did you name the Deer Sanctuary the Wenyan Deer Enclosure? What does 'Wenyan' mean?"

"Yeah, when I hear the word 'Wenyan', I can only think of 'gentle words'."

"Please enlighten us."

Seeing the netizens' questions, Ning Fei smiled while stroking Little Fox.

There is a line in the Book of Songs from 'Xiao Rong' that goes, 'thinking of the gentleman, he is warm like jade.'

It describes an elegant and refined young master with an extraordinary aura.

"I really like this poem, so I took the characters 'Wen' and 'Yan' from this line to serve as the name for the Deer Sanctuary."

Hearing Ning Fei's explanation, the netizens murmured along, "'Thinking of the gentleman, he is warm like jade.'"

"What a great name."

"Isn't Temple Master Ning terrible at naming things? How come he picked such a beautiful name this time?"

"Temple Master Ning isn't terrible at naming things, he's just very casual about it. He usually just names things whatever comes to mind first."

"Haha, makes sense."

Ning Fei had only completed the preliminary sketch of the Deer Sanctuary. The rest of the structure still needed to be slowly refined.

Architecture had never been a simple discipline. There were countless things to consider.

For example, how to route the water and electricity logically, how to allocate the living quarters, what equipment to install in the deer-rearing area, how to handle environmental issues, and so on.

However, since Ning Fei had the 'Master Builder' skill, these problems weren't difficult to solve.

Thus, after finishing his traditional Chinese painting, the next step was to venture into the professional field of architectural design.

That meant drafting the structural blueprint of the Deer Sanctuary.

The area of the Deer Sanctuary was larger than Qingfeng Temple, and there were far more factors to consider.

He was the only one living at Qingfeng Temple, but the Deer Sanctuary needed to accommodate the living arrangements of the staff, as well as the layout of the deer-rearing zones.

In Ning Fei's design, his Deer Sanctuary wouldn't be like an ordinary deer farm—a crude enclosure where hundreds of deer were penned up without much room to move around.

Ning Fei hoped to turn the Deer Sanctuary into an environment resembling an imperial garden.

It would feature mountains, water, pavilions, and little deer.

It had to be said that his idea was incredibly unique. A normal person definitely wouldn't do something like this.

Because doing so required a massive financial investment. The Deer Sanctuary might operate for several years or even over a decade without ever recouping its costs.

But Ning Fei didn't care about making money; he just wanted to raise deer.

To put it bluntly, as someone not particularly skilled at business, he had long prepared himself for the Deer Sanctuary to lose money.

The most important thing was the joy of raising deer. As for money, he could always earn more later.

Afterward, Ning Fei focused entirely on his design work in the pavilion.

The little ones kept him company until very late into the night.

Midway through, Ning Fei bid the netizens goodnight and turned off the live stream.

After ending the stream, he continued designing the blueprints for the Wenyan Deer Enclosure.

It had been a long time since Ning Fei stayed up this late.

It wasn't until around one in the morning that he finally finished drawing the blueprints.

A solitary lamp in Qingfeng Temple shone in the pitch-black mountain forest, casting a soft glow.

The other little ones had already returned to their nests to sleep. Only Little Fox remained in his arms, keeping him company.

Ning Fei smiled gently. He stood up, cradled the sleepy white fox in his arms, and walked toward his room.