Chapter 80 Chapter 80 Double Update in One
Before the lunch in the small courtyard was over, Rong Bocen already understood why his junior fellow apprentice, who had remained thin for decades, had gained weight.
These days are comfortable.
Rong Bocen moved the celadon pot containing tobacco to his side and lit another pipe with a puff of smoke.
Fang Tongjian held Lin Beiguo in his arms, basking in the sun with his eyes half closed. The September wind was not strong, making the bamboo forest rustle, and the whole small garden felt particularly peaceful.
"What kind of tobacco is this?" Rong Bocen tasted it again and again before finally asking. He'd smoked for most of his life and had seen both good and bad, but he'd never experienced smoke this refreshing and cool to the lungs. And the smell wasn't pungent at all. The two fat foxes his nephew raised couldn't fit on Zhongqin's recliner, so they were willing to come over and nestle on his side, unbothered by the smoke.
Rong Bocen looked at the fox lying on its back, sniffing the air, and it was obvious that it liked the slightly cool and sweet smoke very much.
"Eggplant leaves." Fang Tongjian raised his chin and pointed to several pots of long purple eggplants hanging from the lotus pond. "With some mint added."
Could eggplant leaves have this flavor? Rong Bocen glanced at his junior with resignation. When he was young, he'd smoked to stay awake. A poor boy with a horrible foundation, he finally got the chance to study, eager to stay up all night studying. Back then, he'd tried every possible method, including smoking eggplant leaves, mint leaves, fennel leaves... anything that could perk up his mind, he'd tried.
Fang Tongjian raised his eyebrows: "Tsk! You haven't seen my apprentice's skills in mixing medicine and incense..."
These were originally Lin Xinghuo's new lung-moistening and refreshing incense pills, meant for Fang Tongjian to use on his new favorite incense burner. Each tiny peanut-sized pill could burn for two whole days, and after using it for about half a month, Fang Tongjian felt his lungs were three ounces lighter. When the old man learned that the main ingredient in these pills was the old roots of the Zhuyu grass, he became interested—Zhuyu grass is edible! If it can be eaten and smelled, could it also be processed into tobacco?
Senior Brother was a heavy smoker, his lungs failing in the fall. Fang Tongjian imagined his lungs to be pitch black, darker than his own heart. So, after his release, the old man traded his calligraphy and paintings for two taels of tobacco, and painted a small portrait for Chou Lan and Jing Lian in exchange for a long piece of old root, which he then began to tinker with... It was said that Fang Tongjian had been a lazy young man since childhood. Lin Xinghuo only stopped when he saw him expend so much effort, destroying both items he had painstakingly worked on.
Logically, Fang Tongjian's idea was simple, and the recipe was concise, consisting of only two steps: drying the zhuyu root, grinding it into a fine powder, and then adding it to the tobacco. But Fang Tongjian's "brilliant ideas" came one after another. He was so knowledgeable and over-informed that he even knew the intricacies of tobacco processing: initial roasting for improved quality, humidification and re-roasting for softness, and fermentation... And with all this, not to mention the strange-smelling, rag-like mess Fang Tongjian had created, Lin Xinghuo had actually learned how to make tobacco.
Zhu Yugen has the effect of clearing the lungs and moistening the qi, but because its small amount is so effective, this auxiliary ingredient must be complemented by a good main ingredient. Lin Xinghuo hadn't planned to use ready-made tobacco. After a few attempts, she set her sights on the leaves of two old eggplant plants that were being prepared for seed. Eggplant, like tobacco, belongs to the nightshade family. Fang Tongjian also said that an old friend of his on the farm, Ning Bangyan, who was also familiar to Lin Xinghuo, also used eggplant leaves to survive when he had a smoking itch.
The eggplants growing in the jade basins of the small courtyard were no ordinary vegetables; they were practically semi-spiritual materials, capable of reaching the level of spiritual food if cultivated. The lush green leaves, along with a few other ingredients like Zhu Yugen, were spun in Lin Xinghuo's alchemy furnace, resulting in a surprisingly golden, uniquely flavored "tobacco leaf." After being chopped and placed in the tubes of fresh Baizhang bamboo for a few days, the tobacco became increasingly pliable and pure, acquiring a refreshing, crisp flavor.
"Try this tea." Fang Tongjian handed his senior brother a cup of light-colored tea and said proudly, "This is the tea I made myself."
Rong Bocen paused as he took the teacup, but he still drank it in one gulp. The taste was refreshing and unexpectedly good. Old Rong looked at the small tea tree also planted in the ash jar. The leaves on it were still lush. He couldn't believe that Zhong Qin really made tea with these leaves.
Fang Tongjian shook his head in annoyance. His senior brother had been influenced by his parents for nearly twenty years, but he still didn't understand these "elegant" things. He couldn't even taste the tea in the pot. It was like a cow chewing on a peony. It was a waste of the two taels of good stuff he had worked so hard to get.
Rong Bocen was not particular about food and clothing, and he was practical in everything he did, but his brain was no less active than Fang Tongjian. Old Rong only glanced elsewhere, then turned back and lifted the lid of the small teapot. A few sword-shaped bamboo leaves were floating in the light green tea, which were the leaves of the lush bamboo forest behind them - no wonder Zhongqin could make tea by himself. Rong Bocen lifted the fat fox who was sleeping soundly and pinched its chubby little furry paws. The meaning was self-evident: any fox could do this job.
Fang Tongjian was still immersed in his own thoughts, recounting in detail how carefully he had selected the bamboo leaves, how he had dried and aired them, how he had been afraid that they would get wet by dew, and how he had gotten up in the middle of the night to move the winnowing basket... Old Rong lay on the soft chair and listened to his junior brother chattering on and on, describing a simple matter as a painting. After a while, he began to snore heavily.
At night, after a sumptuous meal prepared by Wu Nian himself, Rong Bocen rubbed his stomach, sympathizing with himself for months of worrying about his junior brother's lack of food. Fang Tongjian even stabbed his senior brother in the back, resenting his growing stubbornness as he aged, refusing to believe anything the maid told him. Every time the old man saw something Rong Bocen refused to touch after bringing back from the sanatorium, he would become visibly upset. The more he said his family was doing well, the less this stubborn senior brother believed him.
"We didn't dare show off in the first place, so we could only bring some steamed buns with pickled vegetables!" The sanatorium was going to be inspected, and although the steamed buns didn't need to be broken into pieces for inspection, they still had to turn over everything. As a result, the children had no choice but to chop the meat into very fine pieces and put them in the pickled vegetables. If they had more, they would just wrap some stuffing in the steamed buns. Forget about stewing or stir-frying the rest.
Rong Bocen, who tasted the flavor of meat from the pickled vegetables, thought that all the meat coupons he received every month were used on him.
Rong Bocen really changed the subject: "Okay, now that everyone is here, it's a good opportunity to take a look at the things I have saved for you over the years." By the way, it's time to give the younger generation two proper gifts.
When Mr. Rong and a few others walked to the edge of the lotus pond, Fang Tongjian exclaimed, "Tsk!" It was indeed this place.
Elder Rong lay on the edge of the pool, stretching his arms down to feel for the stones. "Where's the rope?"
Wu Nian and Lin Xinghuo hurried to help him up. Wu Nian walked half a circle around Zilianchi, poking and prodding under a rock with a branch, and with his other hand, he quickly caught the end of the rope that had flown out of the water. The rope was covered with moss, showing its age.
Rong Bocen smiled and said, "That's it. Pull it up, pull it up. Xiaonian, look for it again. There should be five or six more."
Seven rope ends, some very old, some fairly new, were found. When they pulled it up, one broke, and the heavy bag sank back to the bottom. Mr. Rong didn't care, waving his hand and saying, "It sank, so be it. It's still in the pool anyway."
Finally, six packages wrapped in oil paper and linen were brought up. Fang Tongjian counted them. The old man glanced at his senior brother and said, "I'm afraid there must be four or five more packages underneath." It would be strange if he hadn't started accumulating these things since the year he was sent down to the countryside.
"I learned this from my master's wife." Rong Bocen smiled.
Six packs of yellow croaker!
Rong Bocen pushed a packet in front of Lin Xinghuo and Wu Nian, then gave one packet to the little girl playing with the two fat foxes: "Keep this packet for the little girl, and give the remaining half to your master."
Fang Tongjian was laughing at his senior brother's crude method, saying it would be better to just sink it like his mother did. If the house belonged to someone else, someone with a lot of free time might actually find it - after all, his senior brother just tied the rope to a stone and stuffed the stone into the crack of the big stone under the edge of the lotus pond.
"If this courtyard falls into someone else's hands, then so be it." Rong Bocen smiled. He hadn't been able to protect his junior brother, nor had he been able to protect the Fang family's vast wealth for him. This small courtyard was like a home to his fellow apprentices. If it could still be taken away by someone, then they would all be doomed. With the people and the home gone, who would care about the things in this pit?
Lin Xinghuo thought to himself, no wonder this yard is so well preserved.
Yes, Mr. Rong has such a serious and upright temperament, but he has been able to stand firm in the wind and rain for many years. This is due to his skills and courage.
"...Girl?" Fang Tongjian stretched lazily in the evening breeze and lotus fragrance. He still had something to talk about with his senior brother. He handed the pile of golden things by the lotus pond to the young disciple to clean up and said, "Don't you want to change the yard and the land? Go ahead."
Don't give away those gold and silver items made by Wu Nian. The other day, I gave away that restored Qing Dynasty imperial phoenix hairpin with kingfisher feathers and pearls. It was such a pity for the old man. If it weren't for Tang Quanli from the nursing home, who didn't want money or yellow croaker, but only cared about Fang Tongjian's reputation and insisted on an antique, the old man really wouldn't have been willing to give away Wu Nian's things.
Why did Tang Quanli only want the antiques? Even Wu Nian, a demon cultivator with a straightforward mind, guessed it. He just wanted to get some leverage over them. Of course, he wasn't trying to harm anyone, but rather to create a way for the two sides to connect in the future. He was truly slick, and this was all for his own future. Firstly, he feared he would be left without a backup plan when he was finally dealt with. Secondly, he wanted to become more involved with Sanheyuan, to maintain a legitimate connection.
He was merely a minor figure. Thanks to Tang Quanli's scheming and slick nature, he'd often flattered others over the years, but he'd never dared to do anything truly treacherous. So, even though Fang Tongjian and the others saw through his ulterior motives, they still complied, only giving him a phoenix hairpin, a replica of a Qing dynasty phoenix hairpin made by Wu Nian. The hairpin wasn't an antique, so Tang Quanli wouldn't have any leverage over it if he tried to implicate someone. However, the beaded and jeweled gold hairpin weighed three taels, and the rubies and sapphires alone were worth a fortune, making it worth his while.
Furthermore, Tang Quanli's ancestral home was actually Tangwangzhuang. His family's roots there were no less profound than those of Lin Xinghuo's nominal maternal grandparents. Grandpa Tang's family was actually quite distantly related to the largest branch of the Tang clan in Tangwangzhuang, yet Tang Quanli belonged to the second branch of that branch. Tang Quanli's brother was also the captain of the Tangwangzhuang production brigade. If Lin Xinghuo still wanted to bury the remains of the family of three that had given her status back in Tangwangzhuang, she could do so through Tang Quanli's family, without Grandpa Tang's involvement.
Although Lin Xinghuo had no such plan, she was indeed willing to leave a clue. She had a hunch that the Tang family's affairs were not over yet.
This kind of "gift" was actually just right, but Fang Tongjian was reluctant to give up Wu Nian's craftsmanship. He was still talking about it and wanted Master Rong to compensate him for his apprentice's hairpin.
Lin Xinghuo blinked. Although her hair had grown longer and she had put away her fox ears, those heavy hairpins were really not her style. Why did everyone assume that those hairpins and hairpins were hers?
After the man left, the diligent and clever Wu Nian breathed a sigh of relief and instantly turned into a big mountain cat as tall as a calf. He rubbed Lin Xinghuo's hand and suddenly jumped onto the man's back, lying on his back like a plaster, with only his cat head sticking out from his shoulder.
The macaque's claws touched the bun that Lin Xinghuo had tied today. Macaque Anian also thought it would be better if a hairpin he made was inserted on it.
*
The Tang family's affairs are indeed not over, and Mr. Rong has always been concerned about the younger generation in the small courtyard. He does not know the inside story, but he has indeed made many plans for the children's future.
The two things happened almost at the same time.
In 1977, a lot of work was in ruins and the work of rectifying the wrongs and restoring order achieved initial results.
Many unfamiliar and weathered new faces appeared in the city. Some had returned from elsewhere, while others, once too ashamed to face the world, finally dared to show their faces. Some of the most shabbily dressed had their property suddenly returned to them. This sudden change from the lowest to the richest was completely unexpected.
The property was returned, but many people would rather let their houses lie abandoned, or allow unrelated people to turn their nice houses into shabby shantytowns, rather than dare to look at them or reclaim them. They were truly terrified, afraid that the movement would one day recur and they would be beaten into mud again.
Lin Xinghuo's plan to exchange gold for a house and a garden went smoothly, so smoothly that it was unbelievable. Many people would rather exchange their houses for gold and hide it. At least gold is easy to hide and can be protected.
The Fang family's assets weren't as good as the first batch, simply because they'd been passed down for so long that some of the things they'd used for generations had become antiques. The houses and other properties were easy to find, but the furnishings within them were difficult to count, with quite a few either lost or already in museum collections.
In the end, Fang Tongjian took the initiative to donate most of the antiques free of charge, which ended the staff's months of running to Sanheyuan, with a pile of property lists to verify and clarify - even though Fang Tongjian donated them, those staff members were busy, and Sanheyuan was finally quiet.
"Did you really hand in the list of dowries of Grand Master's wife and Master's wife... and the list of antiques in the warehouse?" Rong Bocen, who had resumed his work, took time out of his busy schedule to come and have a cup of tea with his junior fellow apprentice, a big smile on his usually serious face.
"How could it be false?" Fortunately, the young apprentice was capable enough to sort that out from the pile of old papers that had piled up in his cellar, otherwise Fang Tongjian would not have been able to remember it so clearly.
"That's just unlucky Old Zeng." Old Zeng, also known as Zeng Fuxiang, was the newly appointed team leader overseeing this mess. Despite his feminine name, he was known for his ruthless tactics. He was a stickler for details. With the Fang family's lists, no matter who tried to wait for the storm to blow over before taking out the Fang family's belongings, as long as the items were on display, Old Zeng would not let them off.
Although he was called Lao Zeng, he was actually younger than Fang Tongjian and they weren't the same kind of playmates. Of course, Fang Tongjian didn't get along with him either. Zeng Fuxiang, though also from a wealthy family, had always been a very strict person and couldn't stand Fang Tongjian's lazy and laid-back lifestyle. However, he got along well with Rong Bocen.
Fang Tongjian snorted and laughed, "He's just unlucky. Hasn't he always loved to offend people since he was little? This time I'm going to make him offend enough!"
"What else did you do?" Elder Rong asked. He understood that even if he submitted the list, it wouldn't be easy to say. Antiques, like a rosewood pen holder carved with twined flowers, could be called a rosewood pen holder by some, while others would simply list it as a rosewood pen holder on the list. It wouldn't prove anything, unless it was engraved with a secret mark like the one on the master's wife's dowry.
"I didn't do anything." Fang Tongjian smiled and said, "I just asked Wu Nian to draw a few drafts of the most important ones." Not only did he draw the drafts, Wu Nian also made them. Maybe the materials are a little different, but Fang Tongjian thinks it is better than the original, so he is willing to use it. When using it, he doesn't have to worry about whether this thing has been used for something else in the past. It is very comfortable.
"Oh, right," Fang Tongjian said, as if remembering something, "I'll also give Lao Zeng and the cultural relics group a copy of the drawings of the personal seals and stamps my family once used." Older generations used to love stamping their favorite items with seals, or having their skilled craftsmen mark them, as if imprinting their personal stamp on them. As a teenager, Fang Tongjian had disdained such practices, thinking them little more than wild animals occupying territory, but now they were becoming quite useful.
Rong Bocen was silent. With the list and the seal, he had taken away 70% to 80% of the Fang family's things. It was really vicious!
But the poison was wonderful! Everyone has their own little habits, especially talented scholars. Rong Bocen knew and had seen it all. There was the old man of the Fang family who loved to inscribe his signature on the topmost leaf or some other pattern. There was also the pair of plum vases that Master had particularly favored, which bore his golden mark. And then there was Master's love of wood and grapevines. At the end of each beautiful grain of Master's wife's precious step-out bed was a winding grapevine carved by Master's carving knife. The Fang family had countless quirks like this.
"...Why not leave some exquisite things for the two girls?" Rong Bocen asked.
Over the past year or so, Rong Bocen had noticed that even if Wu Nian's cooking skills had won Zhong Qin's heart, Zhong Qin's heart was still not biased. The eldest and the youngest girls were his favorites. Wu Nian basically had to take a backseat to those two fat foxes. Rong Bocen couldn't blame him. He really wanted a boy who could both work in the living room and cook. After living in a small courtyard for a while, the chefs in the state-owned restaurants would not even look down on him. Rong Bocen secretly felt that such a family-oriented child was not worthy of his master's niece. He came here today because he was afraid that Zhong Qin's "reluctant to marry off his daughter" temper would come out and cause trouble for the two children.
Fang Tongjian didn't say anything. He didn't believe that his senior brother didn't know that what Wu Nian had created was better, as long as his senior brother was not blind.
Rong Bocen coughed, cleared his throat, and said, "Xinghuo is twenty, right?"
Fang Tongjian looked at him sideways, and hummed through his nose as a response, wanting to hear what his senior brother had to say.
"..." Rong Bocen wasn't one to beat around the bush, so he just said straight out, "There's been a lot of discussion about education reform lately. The details haven't been finalized yet, but we do need to revert to the admissions system from ten years ago, which was through exams. I've looked at Xinghuo's file, and she meets the admission criteria. She's already very capable and has her own goals, but I think college life would give her some unique experiences... She's still young, so there's no rush for her to become independent. A few years of schooling would be good."
"Her parents?" When Fang Tongjian heard that it was about his beloved disciple, he no longer cared about his senior brother's desire to match them up and asked hurriedly.
"It's not a problem. The Tang family was the first group to be rehabilitated, and now most of their property has been returned. The Lin family's problem is relatively difficult to deal with, but her father was only labeled a rightist." This is thanks to the protection of the Tang family. It's hard to say about other members of the Lin family, but Lin Qingyi himself has not been accused of any serious crime.
Rong Bocen had only brought this up with his junior brother after he'd prepared the matter. Leveraging Zhongqin's donation of so many antiques, Rong Bocen had informed the Cultural Relics Office: Lin Qingyi and his wife had been killed in the snow while working, and now they had finally received their fair treatment. The brief "missing" in the file had been changed to "died in the line of duty." This cleared up Xinghuo's background.
Fang Tongjian naturally preferred to let his young disciple continue his studies for a few years. It wasn't for the false reputation of being a top student, but rather because a few years of quiet, formal schooling surrounded by peers was a rare and valuable experience. Furthermore, Fang Tongjian considered the bigger picture: his disciple was different from ordinary people, so he needed to be given a layer of "official status." This didn't mean she should become an official, but rather a respectable and reputable identity. This would allow her to live a stable life and more easily realize her lofty ambition of cultivating the land across China.
"It's time to calm down. This girl has been so busy tinkering with the land lately that she's been nowhere to be seen!"
The corners of Old Rong's mouth twitched. When had Zhongqin's youthful insincerity surfaced again? He should have been grumbling about this garden, which had expanded beyond his lifetime. The two children were quite thoughtful. Somehow, they'd exchanged the courtyards on both sides of the sanheyuan, adding the abandoned, dilapidated houses at the back, and quietly transformed the place. The three courtyards were connected, the eastern one directly merged with the sanheyuan. The western wall remained, but a large moon-shaped door was carved out of it. Now, when Xinghuo and the others moved in, it was like living in a separate courtyard.
"If Xinghuo wants to study, shouldn't we take care of the two children's affairs?" After that, he could take Wu Nian away with a clear conscience. He would help him for two years first, and then he could let him be independent and feel at ease. Rong Bocen had a clear conscience. He was also worried that Wu Nian would be popular, not only by the eldest daughter, but also by his father-in-law and mother-in-law. He was always worried if he didn't give his nephew a share of the bowl.
Rong Bocen's words were also very pertinent: "It will also prevent classmates from complaining about our girl, so that she won't be treated like those educated youth who abandoned their families." Now he was talking about classmates, and it was obvious that this uncle didn't think that his own child would fail the exam.
Fang Tongjian may have been tough on the outside, but he'd actually softened his heart a long time ago. But parents don't have the final say on this matter. The main thing is that sometimes the old man feels that the two of them are so close since childhood, and sometimes he feels that his daughter Xinghuo's love interest hasn't yet emerged. Anyway, there's something a little off about them. They just don't have that kind of clingy, all-in-one-eyes-at-you kind of look.
Old man Fang was a bachelor at this age and he really couldn't tell. He was just looking for someone to discuss it with when he heard a bell ringing outside. He asked Lin Xinghuo if he lived here.
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