Martin asked his future in-law, “Mr. Lafayette, do you play chess?”

Daisy chimed in, “He loves to play chess. He’s always asking me to play with him at home, but I’m not very good. I lose every single time, so I don’t really enjoy playing with him.

“Old Mr. Lafayette isn’t keen on playing against him either, and our son is busy with work. He seldom has anyone to play chess with.”

Martin laughed. “We’ll have a good few games later, then.”

He made a call to have someone bring a chess set to the gazebo by the lotus pond.

When the group arrived at the lotus pond, Daisy was impressed. She had seen lotus flowers before, and the Lafayette family even had some water lilies in their fishpond, but they did not have nearly as much space to cultivate so many lotuses.

Though they were just ordinary lotuses, their sheer number was breathtaking. As far as the eye could see, there were lotuses in full bloom, buds waiting to open, tiny tips just emerging, and even seed pods left after the flowers