He mocked himself as a useless piece of trash. Faced with the tragic deaths of his parents and entire family, he still eked out a living in this world, unable to do anything. On the surface, others thought he was calm and collected, a hermit living in seclusion. But only he knew that it was his helpless escape from himself.
Falling from the clouds into the mud takes only a moment.
“When my mother died, she was still thinking about that maple tree, the one where my father used to build the swing,” Fu Yuchi murmured. The more he spoke of these sorrowful words, the deeper his smile became.
Sun Miao'er suddenly felt that the man in front of her, who was about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, seemed to have died sometime when he was sixteen or seventeen.
I never got out of it.
If he doesn't remove the karmic obstacles in his heart, he will never be able to escape, trapped in his own self-made cocoon, leaving bystanders helpless.
Wild geese flew across the sky overhead, their long "caw-caw" echoing through the air.
Suddenly, an idea popped into Sun Miao'er's mind. She wanted to help him. "Master, if there's anything you want to do, just try it. Look at me, I've never hesitated."
"We may fail, but if we don't try, we'll never succeed, right?"
Every choice she made was a challenge to the unknown. Although she lived in different times and circumstances, she never changed her principles and beliefs.
She concluded that one should face life like an unkillable cockroach after experiencing countless failures.
Fu Yuchi's fake smile froze, and his eyes suddenly welled up with tears. He was waiting, waiting for someone to push him forward, waiting for someone who could make him take this step against his own will.
Fortunately, he got his wish.
He suddenly laughed and said, "Let's go."
Seeing that his expression had softened considerably and his steps had become lighter, Sun Miao'er realized that they were of one mind, and she suddenly felt much more at ease.
After walking five miles with frequent stops, it took an hour, and they finally arrived at the valley that Fu Yuchi had mentioned.
However, the reeds along the river valley were so thick that the river could not be seen in the distance, and the riverbed was rugged with gravel, making it extremely difficult to walk.
Sun Miao'er chose an open spot to look out over the river. The river was several dozen feet wide, and fishermen were poling around it. Several cormorants were tied to the bow of their boats, diving into the water and catching a few fish, eagerly awaiting the fishermen's reward.
Once you're inside the reeds, you can't see them from the outside.
"Master, what does ochre look like?" Sun Miao'er asked impatiently. She didn't know how well the ochre was growing by the river valley, or how much she could harvest. If she needed a lot, half a day would definitely not be enough to dig it up.
Fu Yuchi observed the movement of the water plants and pondered, "Follow me."
He didn't fix his gaze on the reeds, but instead went to the woods on the other side of the riverbank.
Not long after entering the woods, Fu Yu suddenly squatted down and waved to Sun Miao'er, "This is Zhe Kui."
Sun Miao'er looked down and saw the vines winding their way up the branches, with black, blocky roots at the bottom.
It's so dark, how can it be used for dyeing?
Sun Miao'er was puzzled. Fu Yuchi took out a short dagger from his pocket and sliced off a thin slice from the root.
Inside, it was a striking reddish-orange color. The texture of the root was similar to that of a sweet potato, but the color was exceptionally vibrant.
Dark rhizomes grow in layers, close together, while vines cling to branches.
She came today only to scout out the situation first. Since the journey was not short and she hadn't brought any tools for digging ochre, she simply folded a burlap sack and put it in her sleeve, thinking she could take some back as dye for color testing.
Now that she has found it, she is worried about how to bring the ochre back.
Fu Yuchi broke off a tree branch about the thickness of a thumb from somewhere and started loosening the soil on the ground. As he worked, he said, "We need to dig up the soil around here first before digging up the roots of the ochre plant so that we can dig it out intact without damaging the root system."
Sun Miao'er found some tree branches to help him dig in the soil, and in no time, small pits were dug around the ochre.
It would be much more convenient if we brought a shovel; we wouldn't have to go through all this trouble.
Once the soil was dug up, the ochre stalks also loosened.
Sun Miao'er reached out to pull it out, but as soon as her hands reached out, her fingertips were pricked painfully.
"Hiss—!" She gritted her teeth and gasped, then quickly looked down at her fingers.
They've all bled from being pricked.
Upon closer inspection, tiny thorns could be found growing on the vines of the Ochre-King.
Fu Yuchi handed her a bottle of medicine, her eyes filled with undisguised heartache. "It's my fault, I didn't warn you, there are thorns on it. Let me do it."
When Sun Miao'er took the medicine, she noticed red blisters on his fair palms. Although there were traces of medicine, they were still very noticeable against his snow-white skin.
"Master, what happened to your hand?" Sun Miao'er asked with concern.
Fu Yu quickly withdrew his hand and said, "It's nothing, just a minor injury."
Sun Miao'er thought of the red bean soup from last night. Her master wasn't a skilled cook, so how could he have made such a thick and fragrant red bean soup?
It must have taken a lot of effort and resulted in injuries; the red blisters on my hands are the marks.
His thoughtfulness was so profound that she had never expected it.
Fu Yuchi carefully pulled the ochre from the soil, brushed off the dust, and threw it into a burlap sack.
"I'll try it when I get back; there are quite a few growing in the woods." Sun Miao'er weighed the burlap sack in her hand; it was indeed very heavy.
When they returned to the Wei family home, it was past noon, and the sun was high in the sky.
Sun Miao'er returned at the appointed time, and as soon as she put her things down, the steward came to the west wing.
"Miss Sun, Yunniang requests your presence at the workshop," the steward announced, standing in the courtyard waiting.
Sun Miao'er had wanted to find something to eat to fill her stomach, but there wasn't time now. She replied, "I'll be right there when I'm ready."
Upon entering the workshop, it was lunchtime for the workers. Some who lived nearby went home to eat, while others who lived far away ate some dry rations in the workshop.
When Yunniang saw Sun Miao'er coming to greet her from afar, she laughed and said, "You're already slacking off today?"
Sun Miao'er pouted and said, "No, something came up and I was delayed. I rushed over without even having a meal."
Yunniang was a completely different person in the workshop and in the inner quarters. At this time, Yunniang was vibrant, and every smile and frown was charming. Her clothes and makeup were much more refined, and she had a dashing air about her.
"Come in and take a look. The spinning wheel in the workshop is much better than the one in my attic. You can practice here every day from now on." Yunniang led Sun Miao'er into the workshop. After passing through the front yard, the back area was where the cloth dyeing was done.
Sun Miao'er glanced at it briefly and realized that the color matching was indeed problematic, with too much brightness. However, this dynasty valued simplicity and elegance, and these colors would probably not be fashionable among the nobles in the capital.
She hadn't forgotten her promise to Wei Rongchang. Since he had made Yunniang the master craftswoman in the workshop, she had to keep her promise and teach him weaving and dyeing techniques. Or rather, to help him make up for the Wei family's shortcomings in weaving and dyeing.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
