Chapter 78 Chapter 78 Double Update in One
Fang Tongjian not only said it, he was bold enough to try it!
"Can you give me some grass?"
It was obvious that Chou Lan got along well with the old man. She actually broke off a foot-long old leaf, rolled it up and handed it to Fang Tongjian.
"Don't!" Lin Xinghuo couldn't stop her. The old woman had already put the dark green blade into her mouth and chewed it twice. She used to wash these stinking orchid leaves into silk thread for weaving clothes, and the juice was refined into green dye. The leaves were not necessarily edible.
"Ah! Pah!" What is this? Sesame and tree bark taste better than these leaves. It's like eating a mouthful of chewable hair with only a little juice.
This little bit of juice was astringent and bitter, with a strange taste. This was truly the kind of Zhuyu grass that could keep you from getting hungry. How could you possibly eat something you couldn't even chew? Fang Tongjian, holding up the leek-shaped leaf he had taken a few bites of, began to doubt his own assumptions.
"Swish, swish?" Wu Nian summoned a ball of water and handed it to the old man. Fang Tongjian took it in amazement and shook it. It actually swayed a few times with his movements, but it remained solid. The little fox was also thirsty, so Wu Nian produced three smaller balls. Fox Two cooed twice, and Wu Nian flicked his finger. Several light purple lightning patterns appeared on her small ball of water. Fox Two narrowed her wide eyes and took a satisfied bite of the water ball.
"Hu Er has a strong palate and likes numb, numb water," Wu Nian explained to Fang Tongjian. The old man nodded, thinking, "It's like those sparkling syrups from abroad before the Liberation." Back then, when he was young, he particularly enjoyed the subtle thrill of bubbles exploding on his tongue.
He took a bite of the water ball, imitating the fox cub. The water ball instantly dissolved into a stream, just like drinking water from a cup. The old man, curious as he was, ate the entire ball.
As a fist-sized ball of water entered his stomach, the old man couldn't help but burp. Fang Tongjian felt his stomach and felt it was suddenly bloated. He was in a bad mood and hadn't eaten much for breakfast or lunch today. Now his empty stomach was suddenly full and he felt bloated. If the young man wasn't there, the old man would really want to loosen his belt buckle.
"...Is it really Zhu Yucao?" Lin Xinghuo pulled the stinky orchid that was clinging to Wu Nian.
Zhu Yu Ke is much better than Chou Lan, and it is also an ancient spiritual herb. But Chou Lan doesn't care, it just wants to return to its hometown to guard its little lotus.
Wu Nian had no choice but to take Jing Lian, who was peacefully sleeping in a white jade basin, out of the wooden box on the cart. Since the last lotus harvest, Jing Lian hadn't been able to produce another bloom. Furthermore, the frequent use of lotus heart water during that time meant that Jing Lian wasn't producing enough spiritual fluid for its own use, which had damaged its vitality. Therefore, Lin Xinghuo decided to keep Jing Lian by his side and care for her for a while.
Those inconspicuous wooden boxes on the cart are all made of yew heartwood. The boxes are integrated and rotate with internal spiritual energy. The moment the box is opened, the stinky orchid becomes aware of the fragrance of the lotus in its dream. The roots that were originally just superficially trying not to leave the flowerpot suddenly become feet. It pulls itself out with extreme skill and runs towards the white jade basin.
Of course, he hadn't forgotten his Golden Crow Stone either. He placed it against the wall of Jinglian's jar, densely covering it and wrapping it around the jar. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a dark green enclosure of jade-green grass. The silvery-green leaves shyly stretched upwards, curling and transforming twice, twisting into the shape of a peony flower...
"Hey, it even knows to hide its roots under the jar?" Fang Tongjian watched with great interest. It was indeed a magical herb, it had become a spirit.
"How much stuff have you brought?" Why even a lotus jar? The old man stood up and glanced at the jade basin that held the lotus. Hmm, the jade was decent enough, and the water looked quite warm. If it were clearer, it would be a great treasure. Fang Tongjian came from a wealthy family. He remembered that when he was a child, his family had a Feng Shui jar carved from a single piece of water jade. It was crystal clear and icy cold, one of the most famous treasures in the city. However, his mother later broke it to avoid disaster, and the fragments were exchanged for some silver coins.
Old Master Fang came from a truly wealthy family, and even the sight of the white jade lotus basin was a nonchalant act. Last year, he might have worried about being seen and causing trouble, but now he had his young apprentice's support. If the situation hadn't been completely clear, he would have wanted his apprentice to scoop up a chest of gold and silver from the backyard lotus pond and return to his leisurely life of researching antiquities and writing manuscripts.
But as more and more things were moved out, the old man became less calm. The water jade basins were placed casually on the ground without even a bit of straw to protect them. There were actually seven or eight of them as big as ordinary people's water vats. Were there fruit trees planted in them?
Fang Tongjian didn't care how such a large box could fit the jar and the tree. He walked around the jade jar a few times, knocked on it, and found it had a clear and distant sound. It was indeed better than the Feng Shui jar at home! The most important thing was, how big was this jar? How big was the jade? How could they bear to make it look like this? Not to mention the carving, it was so perfunctory that it looked just like the large pickle jars in Buxian Village.
Lin Xinghuo shook his head. The grade of spiritual materials was different from the evaluation of jade and crystal. The large vat used to plant peach trees was the lowest grade among them, while Jinglian's white jade basin looked more sticky and turbid than before, precisely because its grade had been upgraded. The sticky, bean-like sediment was a symbol of rich spiritual energy.
As for why the wooden box can hold more things than itself like a storage bag, we have to thank Haozhi for reminding us. Haozhi's sleeping stone can turn stones into water jade, and the monsters who live in one place for a long time will more or less affect the surrounding environment - even in the monster village under the water vein, the monsters who were starving to death still transformed some things, which were left by the monsters to the land that once protected them.
This is a skill inherited by spirits, like the ancient lands of dragons and phoenixes, where natural treasures abound. Qingji was just like this, unintentionally becoming the person most responsible for the move: He envied Haozhu's usefulness. Qingji, who already loved sleeping in his own cart, asked the spirits to help him move many wooden boxes into his house, imitating Haozhu's habit of sleeping in them. Who knew that two of the finest wooden boxes would be imbued with a spatial essence, actually shrinking to accommodate things like Qingji's cart... Qingji only discovered this during the move when his two favorite boxes wouldn't fit into the cart.
This greatly facilitated Lin Xinghuo. Unlike Qingji's innate magical powers, storage bags couldn't hold life. Storing living spiritual plants in them would cause irreversible damage. But Qingji's cart was different; the fish he hauled were always fresh. The yew heartwood boxes at Nanshan Retreat, where spiritual energy circulated endlessly, were originally her own food storage containers. She was overjoyed that day. The spiritual fruit trees favored by spirit beasts and spirits could now be brought directly from Buxian Village to the capital, saving the effort of re-cultivating them from the cores.
Of course, because the time was too short, the two boxes could only hold a few fruit trees, which was far inferior to Qingji's cart. But with this, they could solve the storage problem that had troubled Lin Xinghuo and Tuman for many years - Wu Nian had already started refining a palm-sized spiritual wood box, using the highest-grade yew heartwood. As long as Qingji carried the box with him long enough, he could assimilate a goblin version of the storage box, which was much easier than looking for the "empty stone" with spatial attributes mentioned in Lin Xinghuo's refining inheritance.
Fang Tongjian didn't care about these complicated details. Those crystal-clear jade pots and jars didn't hold the old man's attention for long. He was soon drawn to the various objects crafted by the caracals. But when he realized these exquisite, ancient artifacts were all "new," the old man, a devoted collector of antiques, lost interest. He quickly joined the fox cubs, looking at the gourd vine with seven small gourds hanging from it.
"Is this the gourd at the entrance of the mountain retreat?" Since he first saw this gourd vine at the entrance of the main house of his apprentice's house, the small gourd that was the size of a thumb took several years to grow to the size of a palm. If he wants to eat the famous dish gourd noodles in Buxiantun, how long will it take?
The old man licked his lips, craving gourd strips, but his stomach, which made it difficult for him to squat, constantly reminded him how full he was. Fang Tongjian had to think hard to digest the food, but after a long time of thinking, he couldn't come up with any strange stories about gourds. Instead, his mouth grew more greedy, but the feeling of fullness in his stomach remained undiminished.
It was not until three days later that Fang Tongjian, who had vomited out the stinking orchid leaves after just tasting them, felt less bloated. There was space in his stomach and he could eat a little. After another three days, his stomach was even emptier, and after another three days, he returned to normal.
Still apprehensive, Fang Tongjian tossed the reward from Choulan to Lin Xinghuo. During that ten-day period, the old man and Choulan had forged a deep, interspecies bond. As the old man's appetite grew, he'd even painted a "portrait" of Choulan and Jinglian. As expected, Choulan's portrait was exceptionally refined, perfectly matching the budding Jinglian, earning Choulan's admiration. Wu Nian, the ingenious craftsman, had even crafted a simple, elegant frame for the portrait, earning a nod from Fang Tongjian and half a leaf from Choulan. Surprisingly, Choulan had become much more astute, now offering her leaves in segments.
"Take this to give your Master Rong a snack." Since the beginning of summer, the atmosphere in Beijing has grown increasingly tense. Protests are constantly taking place in the streets and squares, and arrests are increasing. But privately, both the small courtyard and Elder Rong's place have become much more relaxed. This is especially true of the middle-aged man in charge of the courtyard, Ma, who is both slick and well-connected. After Wu Nian chatted with him a few times, he asked the transport team to get him some white flour, rice, and some rare fruits and vegetables. In return for his kindness, he opened a small way for him to visit Master Rong: he could visit once a week.
This is much better than Lin Xinghuo's sneaky visit, as he can bring things in openly.
"Give it to my uncle?" Two bites of this stuff can equal nine days' worth of food. He wanted to die for my uncle Rong before, but now he was teasing his brother in a mischievous way.
Fang Tongjian rolled his eyes, thinking that his apprentice was not smart enough, and held the chubby and new sweetheart Lin Beiguo away from her. "Boil some water with Zhuyu grass, take one or two drops and add it to the rice. That amount can only satisfy half hunger, so it's a good time to stop taking the cotinus coggygria pills." Seeing that the situation was about to turn around completely, if the senior brother still looked like a sickly person, the higher-ups would have concerns about reinstating him to work. After all, they couldn't let the tenacious old comrade risk his life on the job.
Lin Xinghuo narrowed his eyes: "Have you tried it yourself?" But Master Fang has eaten a lot of Wu Nian's cooking these days.
She walked around the old man and asked, "Master, you seem to have gained some weight?" His face was rounder, and his elegant and frail temperament was much less. There were fewer wrinkles, but his elegant demeanor was much more 'low-key'.
"No wonder the aunt next door doesn't come."
"Huh?" Fang Tongjian glared at his little apprentice. He realized that the girl had become bad since that black year.
Everyone said the old man was popular. Lin Xinghuo had seen that back in Buxiantun. But in her heart, Buxiantun was still a rural area. The aunts and wives didn't know much, so it wasn't surprising that they were interested in a rare scholar like Master Fang... But after Master Fang returned to the capital, Lin Xinghuo truly understood what "popularity" meant from the middle-aged and elderly women in the alleys! Compared to Master Fang, the few kittens she had attracted earlier were nothing.
Not to mention anything else, the guards standing guard at the door alone are enough to intimidate those young troublemakers, not to mention that after the rumor of "the girl in the small courtyard house in Sajin Hutong is strong enough to lift a tripod" spread, even fewer young men dared to break through the door. However, the enthusiasm of the aunties could ignore all obstacles. Since Lin Xinghuo came back in mid-March, the women who had an excuse to come to the door have been more diligent. They either asked Lin Xinghuo to go to the supply and marketing cooperative together to grab the newly arrived rare goods, or exchanged a handful of vegetable seedlings grown in their own yard for two onions and garlic... They didn't stay long. As long as they could catch a glimpse of Fang Tongjian working at his desk through the glass window of the south study, they would smile like flowers. "Anian! Cook early today!" Lin Xinghuo suppressed his laughter and shouted to the east wing. The old man who was carving something with his claws quickly transformed into a human form and responded, "What would Master Fang like to eat?"
After several months, Wu Nian was now able to maintain his human form for six hours a day. While in human form, he mostly worked outside the room, but once inside the east wing, he would transform into his base form to conserve his demonic energy. After the east wing was opened up, an isolation formation was set up. Lin Xinghuo usually stayed in the room to practice and work. When the spirits and beasts had had enough of Beijing, they would take Qingji's carriage back to Nanshanao. If they were craving something new, they would come back for a few days. The whole family had adapted well.
But that's right, another piece of news came out privately in Sajin Hutong -
Fang Tongjian raised his hand high, making Hu Da laugh. He glanced at Wu Nian who rolled up his sleeves and went through the hall to the kitchen in the backyard, and whispered to his apprentice, "Such a grown-up guy, and he just stays at home all day?" This young man was capable, and his hands were incredibly dexterous. Nothing could stump him. He only had to teach him the old wallpaper-pasting technique once, and he mastered it. The second time he did it, he did it better than Fang Tongjian, the old master.
Goldsmithing and silversmithing were no problem either. Fang Tongjian's favorite imitation of the Ming Xuande incense burner was made by this young man himself. His hands were shaking with excitement. The Ming Dynasty Xuande incense burners included 117 types of bronze ritual vessels, including ding, li, gui, and zun. Most have not survived, leaving posterity to infer and imagine from the vast expanse of ancient texts. The one made in Wunian was the one Fang Tongjian had mentioned to Lin Xinghuo while sorting through his notes.
Lin Xinghuo had no interest in antiques and was not very knowledgeable about them. However, Wu Nian, who was good at refining tools, learned very quickly from the old man. The crystallization of the ancient wisdom and the advanced craftsmanship brought Wu Nian a lot of inspiration. The concentration incense newly refined by Lin Xinghuo and the medicine beast, combined with the magical incense burner refined by Wu Nian, actually made the top-grade yellow-level incense pills have an effect comparable to the black-level ones.
Of course, Fang Tongjian was particularly drawn to the incredibly accurate reproduction of a Xuande incense burner. Its meticulous casting, the hollowed-out dragon and phoenix patterns, cloud motifs, majestic sea beasts, and delicate lotus petals all evoke a natural charm. Xuande incense burners are known for their profound charm, captivating both the overall design and the details. Their patina is rich and moist, imbued with a precious aura. Countless imitations have been made throughout history, but most are formless. However, this one, made by Wu Nian, would be almost indistinguishable from the original were it not for the inscription "Made in the Xuande Period of the Great Ming Dynasty" on its base. And this, thanks to a few sighs from Fang Tongjian, Wu Nian was able to recreate this beautiful and vivid sea beast tripod incense burner based on the extremely brief descriptions in ancient texts.
Although Fang Tongjian knew Wu Nian was a "monk" like his young apprentice, he still felt sorry for him. His hands were priceless treasures. Moreover, the old man was quite confident. After all, his apprentice was working hard to get a place to farm in the future. Doesn't this prove that monks are not just "recluses"?
Thinking back to the girl's boastful "farming career," Old Man Fang pinched his brows in pain. He didn't look down on farmers; he'd done farm work himself for ten years, but why was his only disciple, Fang Tongjian, so obsessed with becoming a farmer? And this girl was becoming more and more like a "little housekeeper," and even he, as her master, was unconsciously submitting to her control. How could this girl have smoothed over everything that Senior Brother Rong had been nagging about his whole life, without anyone noticing?
When Lin Xinghuo mentioned that he had secretly tried the efficacy of Zhu Yucao, Fang Tongjian's arrogance as a master was reduced by half. The disciple was still arguing: "Is it that the fruit is not delicious, or that the green rice is not to my taste? Or is it that the several layers of hundred-foot bamboo in your corner are not beautiful or smelly?" Didn't she grow all these?
Lin Xinghuo was quite proud of being able to grow the legendary "Baizhang Bamboo"—the kind of bamboo that phoenixes feed on—from the dwarf bamboo that grew alongside the Haozhu. Baizhang Bamboo grows differently from other bamboos. Its nodes resemble lotus root nodes, possessing a delicate fragrance. It grows extremely quickly, and the tender nodes are edible, offering a sweet, crisp, and refreshing flavor unlike young bamboo shoots.
Fang Tongjian, like Lin Daiyu in Dream of the Red Chamber, was passionately devoted to bamboo. While Lin Daiyu, "loving those bamboo poles," chose the Xiaoxiang Pavilion as her residence, Fang Tongjian, on the other hand, loved bamboo, plum blossoms, and elegance. In his notes, he recounted how he always planted several layers of bamboo groves around his residence, particularly embracing the aesthetic of "stalks of verdant bamboo cloaking a secluded path." When his parents were alive, they hired an old craftsman from the south to tend the bamboo grove. After his parents passed away, his senior brothers and friends took care of him, a gesture that always made him forget that the capital's climate wasn't ideal for bamboo. If he reached the end of his life, he wished only for the sound of the wind rustling through the bamboo forest to bid him farewell, as if his parents, senior brothers, and friends were still present... Of course, this was a casual suicide note Fang Tongjian had written down during his difficult years in exile. As his notes grew, he lost track of this passage himself. But when Lin Xinghuo, entrusted with writing down the contents, discovered it, she took it to heart.
The old man was actually a very free and easy-going person. He himself was not interested in reading his notebooks, which were thicker than bricks. When Lin Xinghuo wanted to recite them to him, Fang Tongjian said, "Just recite the useful ones." The old man's mind worked faster than usual. His serious academic notes were mixed with a lot of random thoughts and notes. If a publishing house had actively asked him to publish a book in the past, it would have required a big move.
The "Political Task" book created this time was even thicker. It was completed when the cultural group was almost desperate. It was a very thick book. Lin Xinghuo spent half a night sorting it out for the old man. The casual inspirations, diaries and even casual drawings accounted for a total of four-fifths of the length, while the serious script was only a few dozen pages.
In front of the cultural group's leaders, Fang Tongjian even compared two stacks of manuscripts, pointing to the thicker one without blushing or panting, and exclaimed, "Slow work, careful craftsmanship, meticulous attention to detail." Hu Da, who was then held in Fang Tongjian's arms, had widened his eyes, as if he were just getting to know the incredibly patient and loving Grandpa Fang for the first time. At least two scenes from that thin stack of manuscripts had been rushed out by Fang Tongjian the day before, while he held his chubby granddaughter in his arms.
"I heard that it has been rehearsed." Lin Xinghuo squatted in the backyard, with his arms open, waiting for Fox to stagger over. "But the gentleman is very ill, so it is not certain..." He can see this tribute performance.
Fang Tongjian bent down with concern and stretched out his hands to protect the little girl on both sides. After hearing this, he was silent for a moment and then said, "It's better if you can't see it." It was just a perfunctory work, so what's so good about it?
Even though the past ten years of the movement were difficult, and despite all the suffering and injustice he endured, in the hearts of Fang Tongjian and other older generations, he was still the blazing red sun in the East, a leader he respected and loved. He was simply deceived by those close to him. His original intention in launching the movement, and even his current love for the people, was still good...
"Okay, let's take some food to your uncle. It's pitiful, he only gets this good meal once a week." Fang Tongjian forced a smile and changed the subject. Recently, the private situation had improved. Fang Tongjian received a suicide note from a friend who had been exiled to the Gobi Desert. That friend was once a brave man, but he broke down in the deserted Gobi Desert, died of illness from overwork in a foreign land. The letter was filled with reminiscence, regret, sighs, anger and hatred, and the words were so intense that they could have affected a large group... But there was no resentment towards that friend. The most lengthy part was about the excitement when he was first received by Fang Tongjian, and he was still reminiscing about that three-second handshake.
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The author has something to say: Note:
Coca-Cola entered the Chinese market in 1927 and established its first bottling plant in Shanghai, my country. However, after the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, it withdrew from the Chinese market for political reasons. It was not until the reform and opening up in 1978 that it officially entered the Chinese market.
The lotus and peony flowers are small and exquisite, crystal clear, and shaped like a heart. And the heart is decorated with pendants.
"There are 117 types of bronze ritual vessels in the Ming Dynasty, including tripods, cauldrons, gui, and zun." - "The Ming Dynasty's 'Xuande Furnace' Worth Ten Million Yuan, There Are More Than 100 Types"
"It should be noted that the Xuande furnace emphasizes charm, and both the overall and details are worth appreciating. The genuine product has a warm patina and a precious aura..." Xuande furnace encyclopedia
Baizhang Bamboo: Zhang Hua of the Western Jin Dynasty compiled "Bowuzhi" (Records of Natural History): "On Zhixie Mountain, there are many bamboos, some a thousand feet tall, and phoenixes feed on their fruits." Baizhang bamboo is a hundred feet tall and grows in Zhixie Mountain. Its nodes are distinct, resembling lotus roots... It has a delicate fragrance that can waft for hundreds of miles. — "Mountain and Sea Grasses"
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