Spend the first half of your life earning money to support your family, and the second half growing vegetables and flowers in a rural idyll

The courtyard gate, enclosed with a wooden fence

Chinese trumpet creeper (Campsis grandiflora) climbing all over the outside of the courtyard

Inside, a wall of Chinese roses and a few jasmine plants

Hydrangeas clustered together, lilies fragrant

Ten miles of spring breeze, floral scent filling your sleeves

Dig a pond in front of the house

Release a few fish into the water, plant a pond of lotus

In leisure moments, sit quietly by the water

Watch the fish darting among the flowers

Behind the house, plant a patch of green vegetables, set up a few melon trellises

A garden full of green, evergreen through all four seasons

Fresh cucumbers, green beans, eggplants, amaranth... pick and eat whenever you like

If you feel it is not lively enough

Then keep a cat, and raise a flock of chickens and ducks

Listen to orioles by the willow bank, draw butterflies by the flowers

Add a few touches of life to the small courtyard

A beautiful morning begins with the scent of flowers

Mist shrouds the mountains, a stream murmurs beside the house

Two or three cats and dogs chase each other

A few chicks pace about in leisurely, measured steps

Take a deep breath, your whole being filled with fresh fragrance

Begin the day's work amid the chirping of birds

Watering, weeding, pruning faded blooms

The body may be tired, but the heart is full

At noon the sunlight spills over the small courtyard, green vines creep over the fence

Pull up a bamboo chair, lie down in the shade of a tree for a nap

Half-asleep, listening to the cicadas making summer clamor

Behind the house, brew a pot of flower tea

Leaf through two interesting books

Quietly savor this half day of leisure in a fleeting life

In the evening the afterglow spreads across the horizon, burning the small courtyard red

From the edge of the pond comes wave after wave of frog calls

The aroma of food drifts far out from the little house

The evening breeze is gentle, flowers and grass give off a faint fragrance

Before long, the night has deepened

Stars dot the sky, intoxicating the dreamland

The days pass neither too fast nor too slow

Even time seems to be stretched out

The second half of life should be like this

Only smelling the flowers, never discussing sorrow or joy!