"The snake swallowing the frog, the yellow weasel stealing chickens" are natural ecological activities. However, when strolling through the rockery garden of the Lakeside Hotel, known as Old Li Garden, if you carefully observe, you will discover two strange anti-ecological landscapes: a frog and two snakes glaring at each other, with a hen following behind, bowing its head and flapping its wings to cheer; a rooster pecking furiously at a weasel, leaving the weasel in a pitiful state. The sculptures are lifelike and extremely realistic. Particularly amusing are the frog's silly appearance and the hen's serious demeanor, which are both quite interesting. Yet, this also leaves one puzzled, with a question mark lingering in one's mind, thought-provoking.

　　The reason behind this lies in a little-known anecdote about the original owner of Liyuan Garden, Mr. Wang Yuqing (1879-1965). After Mr. Wang made his fortune, he was determined to develop his hometown, Qingqi Village - an unpolished gem waiting to be developed. Following Mr. Rong Desheng's construction of Meiyuan Garden, he also excavated ponds, piled rocks to create peaks, and planted plum trees and lotuses along the northern shore of Lihu Lake. He said that Meiyuan Garden was built against a mountain, while Liyuan Garden was constructed beside water. 'The benevolent love mountains, while the wise enjoy water,' each fulfilling their own needs. However, there were no mountains by the lake. Engineer Zheng Tingzhen, who was in charge of the overall garden design, understood Wang Yuqing's thoughts well and proposed using rockeries to compensate for it. Moreover, there is a saying that 'a study without rocks lacks elegance, and a garden without rocks lacks beauty.' Wang Yuqing was determined to make something remarkable with the rockeries. He wanted them to be 'ore beautiful than the Five Sacred Mountains and as mysterious as the Three Divine Mountains,' while also making the rockery group exude spiritual aura. He personally traveled to Suzhou and Yixing areas to purchase Taihu rocks, and specially invited craftsmen from Dongyang, Zhejiang, who were skilled in classical garden architecture, to undertake the project. The rockeries were arranged in a staggered and overlapping manner, with peaks and ridges interwoven, appearing elegant, unique, exquisite, and profound in artistic conception, with endless charm. The construction of rockeries is not only a technique but also an art, embodying the characteristics of 'thinness, permeability, transparency, wrinkliness, and beauty' described in the 'On Rocks' by the Northern Song Dynasty writer Mi Fu.

　　When the project was nearing completion, the craftsman invited the garden owner to appreciate his masterpiece, speaking eloquently along the way and occasionally showing signs of pride. Mr. Wang smiled with satisfaction. As they entered the "Cold Fragrance Pavilion," the craftsman excitedly introduced: "Here, a yellow wolf is attacking a rooster, causing the rooster to panic; these two snakes emerging from their cave want to swallow the frog to satisfy their hunger." Unexpectedly, upon seeing this, Mr. Wang shook his head and said: "This is an imperfect flawed work. I cannot bear to see such fear and trembling. Moreover, bullying the weak is not the act of a kind-hearted person, but rather that of a wolf. Seeing this scene saddens me and makes my heart heavy." Mr. Wang insisted on making changes, but the craftsman was unwilling. After some argument, they followed the owner's instructions: the frog was turned around to face the snakes coming out of the cave, glaring at them defiantly; then, a stone sculpture resembling a flapping hen was brought from elsewhere and placed behind the frog stone; meanwhile, the positions of the yellow wolf and the rooster were swapped, with the weasel running and the rooster chasing, creating an anti-natural landscape of the rooster bravely fighting the yellow wolf. Mr. Wang Yuqing was greatly pleased. The craftsman felt deeply ashamed and was convinced by Mr. Wang's benevolent heart.

　　My traces drift far from wolves and jackals,My heart follows fish and birds in tranquil ease.I gladly grow old in this realm,with no time for schemes and intrigues.