Chapter 86 Chapter 86 Ning Heng's Pocket Watch
Ning Bangyan was immediately assigned to the military upon returning to work. While the military had indeed been relatively least affected by the recent campaigns, it nonetheless still faced numerous challenges. When his former leader returned in 1975, the comprehensive overhaul began with the military, achieving significant results. However, due to the ongoing campaign and changing circumstances, the streamlining and reorganization efforts were not completed. Ning Bangyan's primary focus prior to this was conducting in-depth internal surveys to prepare for the next phase of comprehensive military development by higher-level ministries and commissions.
This busy schedule lasted for more than a year. Ning Bangyan lost weight and became very dark, but the old man was in better spirits than before, and his voice was as loud as a bell, and that was no joke.
As soon as Lin Xinghuo and Wu Nian entered the house, they heard laughter coming from the East Garden. Old Ning was complaining about Fang Tongjian in a loud voice, saying that Fang Tongjian was like a white flour bun and was about to get rich.
Wu Nian twitched his ears and quietly pointed at the formation on the wall, instantly isolating the sounds from the East Garden. "Old Fang is fat, it's definitely not his fault!" Uncle Mao emphasized again, feeling guilty.
Wu Nian's cooking skills were improving, and Master Fang couldn't transform his energy into cultivation like them, so naturally, the consequences of his greed were somewhat noticeable. However, those spiritual foods wouldn't harm his health. Although the old man had lost some of his elegance, he was healthier and stronger than ever. Now, he could easily hold the plump little Lin Beiguo.
Did the whole family seem to have gained weight? At least the three fox cubs had gained a lot. Lin Xinghuo herself practiced diligently, so her figure hadn't changed much, but she still felt that her weight had definitely increased... This was normal for a cultivator, but their weight was a mystery! During her entrance exam, she had to hold her spiritual energy to avoid breaking the hospital scale. Even so, the female doctor in charge was so surprised that she had to retest her twice before finally admitting her, saying, "This saying about a heavy skeleton is actually true."
Lin Xinghuo rolled his eyes at him, waved his hand and sent out a stream of spiritual energy. Not only did the formation return to normal, but even the copper bell hanging under the corridor began to swing slowly: the formations of the two gardens were integrated, and the sounds from inside the gardens could never be heard from the alley outside. The East Garden and the West Garden also had barriers on both sides, it was just that the two cultivators, Lin Xinghuo and Wu Nian, had unusual hearing abilities.
After Lin Xinghuo traded gold for rooms, both gardens now occupied considerable space. While not as vast as Changsheng's own five-story compound, they were still quite large. Gardens like these lacked the luxury of hiring someone to tend them, making them inconvenient. The East Garden, where Master Fang lived, was particularly picturesque, with few rooms and even fewer permanent residents. Whenever Master Fang felt like visiting, he could simply retreat to one of the elaborate rockery caves or pavilions. Lin Xinghuo and the others would find him easily, but the old man would have to travel quite a distance to find anyone in the West Garden, a significant burden. Therefore, Wu Nian crafted a number of wind chimes. Despite their name, these copper bells were windproof and formed part of the entire courtyard's defensive formation. However, Master Fang's use was quite simple: the ringing of the bell beside him signaled Lin Xinghuo and the others had returned home or gone out; Fang Tongjian's own ringing signaled his disciples to come.
"This place is great, but it's so big it's hard to find anyone." Old Ning was led by his old friend through a beautiful view. The winding path truly offered a new scene every few steps, and even the corners were ingeniously designed. But Ning Bangyan simply couldn't appreciate the beauty of winding paths, small bridges, and flowing water. With Old Ning's excellent sense of direction, he mentally calculated: "If I straightened this path, wouldn't that save me a lot of effort?"
Why was such a fuss necessary for a place that could be reached in just three or five minutes? He still preferred a spacious, square courtyard. Even after nearly a decade of being influenced by the intellectual Lao Fang, he still couldn't understand the minds of these intellectuals. Why all the scenery? This complex terrain would have been useful for setting up a guerrilla base, but now it wouldn't be enough to feed or clothe them. It would be better to turn it into a vegetable garden like they did at the riverside farm, cover it with thatch, and at least they could have some fresh vegetables in the winter.
"This bamboo is growing well. There are few good bamboos that can grow this tall and thick in the north! Get me a bundle later so I can make a fence." Old Ning patted the emerald green bamboos near the glass greenhouse.
Fang Tongjian couldn't help but roll his eyes, letting Old Man Ning see. He was talking about Baizhang bamboo. Do you know what Baizhang bamboo is? It's the kind of magical bamboo with a pleasant fragrance that can be used as food for phoenixes! I'm building a fence for you, but you're not stupid, you picked the best one for me.
At this moment, the copper bell hanging in the corner of the glass greenhouse rang. Fang Tongjian was delighted because his apprentice and eldest granddaughter had returned from school.
Fang Tongjian pulled out a green silk ribbon from his wrist, flicked it, and rang the bell. Ning Bangyan and the other two dark-skinned teenagers saw the wind chime sway slightly, emitting a clear ringing sound.
"Why is only this one ringing?" Ning Heng asked his brother. Ning De carefully examined the octagonal glass eaves, confirming that there were no strings connecting the hanging wind chimes. He patted his brother's head and said, "The bells aren't connected. Grandpa Fang only moved this wind chime, so naturally only one is ringing."
Ning Heng squinted at his brother. His brother knew he was asking about the first chime of the wind chime. Why did only the one closest to them ring? If it was the wind, then the other bells should have rang too.
Fang Tongjian retied the silk ribbon made of leaves that Chou Lan had given him while calmly telling the child, "This is all mechanical. You've heard of the Qin Emperor's Mausoleum, where 'mercury represented the rivers and seas, and mechanical devices were used to infuse them.' This is the wisdom of the ancients. Don't just learn from your grandfather. Read more. In the future, you won't need anyone to teach you. You'll understand the principles behind this on your own."
The Qin Emperor's Mausoleum was discovered in 1974 and caused a sensation across the country. Fang Tongjian and several old comrades who were already at the Buxiantun Hetan Farm at that time were very interested in it and had many arguments with them. Naturally, the two children Ning De and Ning Heng who were with them were deeply impressed.
Ning Heng, who was very interested in wind chimes, stuck out his tongue when he heard "read more" and ran away quickly pulling his brother: "Let's go play with the little foxes." The two brothers had just discovered that there were many fox dens hidden in the landscape in the garden, some in the shape of egg, some in the shape of bird nests, and some in small wooden houses on big trees... They were so interesting that Ning Heng wanted to find them one by one and count how many there were.
Ning Bangyan glanced at the small, delicate copper bell, then at the hint of green peeking out from Fang Tongjian's cuffs, and said unhappily, "Just blow it! You can't even figure out some farm work, and you're trying to figure out some mechanical expansion—was this made for you by Xinghuo?"
Fang Tongjian shook his head. "It's the maid... Never mind. Wu Nian will be here soon." This wasn't some kind of mechanism. Hadn't he seen that he could only barely make a sound with a silk ribbon made of Zhu Yu grass? Never mind. He couldn't figure out the strange methods of those cultivators. As long as it worked, it was fine. Fang Tongjian, who had always been surrounded by maids and servants, didn't know much about this.
"Wunian?" Ning Bangyan frowned slightly. When Xinghuo girl brought a strange man back to Buxiantun, he had not resumed work at that time, so he met him. Ning Bangyan thought that it was the son-in-law that Lao Fang had chosen for his apprentice in Beijing City. He was also wondering why Lao Fang was confused. Why did he look for a second-married man with a baby for his child?
"What's that guy's background? Didn't you just have to give the girl a hand?" The situation was unclear at the time, and Lao Fang, considering his apprentice, made sense of providing a useful supporter with a secure position to protect the girl. But he thought that Lao Fang, with his ruthless heart, would have already given her enough benefits to throw this temporary umbrella of protection away. So, from what he heard, did Xinghuo really get together with this Wu Nian?
Surname Wu? Ning Bangyan thought about it, but still couldn't remember which family had the surname Wu. Or was it the surname "Wu"?
What could Fang Tongjian say? Old Fang waved his hand and said, "No! Well, don't worry about the children's affairs. Let's go into the warm room."
"But you really should think about Ning De and Ning Heng's studies." Fang Tongjian said. He said this to change the subject, but he really felt that it was a great waste of time for the two children to follow Old Ning around and not be able to go to school peacefully.
"Now that the college entrance examination has been resumed," Fang Tongjian said, "Old Ning, do you know what this means?" The diploma has become important in all aspects. Even if Ning De and Ning Heng follow in the old path of their fathers in the future, having a diploma and not having a diploma in the army are two different things.
As he spoke, Fang Tongjian tapped the glass wall, and in an instant the whole warm room became bright. Then, all kinds of stone lanterns, pottery lanterns, palace lanterns, etc. hanging on the winding path outside the house, under the corridor, and on the treetops lit up one after another, reflecting the setting sun in the west, which was particularly beautiful.
Ning Bangyan, who was about to nod and speak, nearly choked. He pointed at Fang Tongjian and coughed several times: "Old Fang! You...you are too capitalist...no, too extravagant and wasteful!"
Nowadays, most places still pay electricity bills by counting light bulbs. Beijing is more advanced. Each street has an "electricity bill announcement board", so people don't have to come to your home to count the light bulbs. However, this way of using electricity is too eye-catching!
He knew that Lao Fang's family was wealthy, but no matter how wealthy their family was, they couldn't treat them so badly. Ning Bangyan gritted his teeth. He was a rough man, and it was true that he couldn't see eye to eye with these cultured people.
Fang Tongjian raised his hands and said, "It's such a big garden, it's not appropriate not to light up lights at night. Besides, these lights don't waste national resources. If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense." The old man was very proud. These "lights" were all filled with the Dongming grass that was "like a golden lamp at night". This thing was identified by him. After being cultivated by Xinghuo for countless generations, it finally achieved the effect of a "golden lamp".
Ning Bangyan didn't understand these things, but he remembered that several large windmills were built in Buxiantun and supplied electricity to the whole village. He thought that his old friend's house was the same, using other methods to generate electricity by itself and not occupying the country's electricity resources.
"That's right." The rough old man, Old Ning, looked around with understanding. "If there's no light in this yard, it would be like a ghost garden. Walking on those winding roads at night would make you bump into the wall!"
Fang Tongjian simply didn't want to talk to him anymore. His family's garden was so well-maintained that it was envied by his old friends who used to be so fiercely competitive that he had piles of articles and poems about it. It's no exaggeration to say that if he were willing to charge admission, he'd definitely make more money than Old Man Ning's salary!
It was just that Old Ning arrived late today and didn't see the scene this morning where many guests were present to congratulate his beloved apprentice on his college entrance examination. However, the calligraphy and paintings left by those people are still collected in the study. Old Ning will have to see them later to see how good they are.
"It's just that there is no telephone, which is a bit inconvenient." Ning Bangyan took a sip of hot tea and smacked his lips: Old Fang is rich, and he holds the title of consultant in the government. Logically, his rank is high enough to afford a telephone. There used to be several telephones in the Fang Mansion, but now this stubborn old man just doesn't want to have a phone, and it's a bit difficult to find him when something happens outside.
"I'll install it when the phone no longer needs a wire and can be carried around in my arms." Fang Tongjian said casually without interest.
Install a phone? Where should he install it? He wasn't confined to his study anymore. This garden was his, and he was willing to change it up. Even if he installed ten phones, it wouldn't be enough. Besides, Fang Tongjian really didn't want to be at the mercy of the phone, so that anyone could call him. It wasn't as useful as the wind chime that Wu Nian had made.
"That might actually happen someday," Ning Lao casually replied. "We used to only be able to watch movies in theaters, but now we can watch them at home, with so many programs available. The TVs are small, so we can move them anywhere... Technology is changing so rapidly. I see the army changing in that direction, too."
The conversation turned around and then came back: "Ningde and Ningheng can't be delayed any longer. I want to send them to the middle school near you to try the seventh grade first. We'll deal with it later if they can't keep up." Ningde is fourteen years old this year, and Ningheng is two years younger. The two children had lived with him in the labor camp for the past ten years, but since they settled down in Bushantun, the two boys have caught up with their classes and have a good foundation. It's just that they have neglected a lot of time in the past year or so.
Without being asked, Ning Bangyan said, "I have to go back to the army later. Old buddy, please help me look after these two boys." In fact, Ning De and Ning Heng grew up by Fang Tongjian's side. He taught Ning Heng how to read and write, and he was no different from his own grandson. Old Fang Zheng felt that since his apprentice moved to Xiyuan, he had a lot more free time around him. It would be easy to take care of the two bald boys. If they didn't behave, he would ask them to have their aunt beat them up.
"Then Ningde has to call Xinghuo 'Auntie,'" Fang Tongjian, the unreliable one, asked nothing more but started to laugh at the child. Originally, Ningde and his brother had always called Lin Xinghuo 'Sister.' They'd witnessed Lin Xinghuo discipline the work group that had disrupted Hetan Farm and admired her immensely. Furthermore, it was Lin Xinghuo who had originally picked them up in his moose-drawn cart. Perhaps because of a bit of a baby-bird mentality, the two had always been very close to Lin Xinghuo. Their best playmates in the entire village weren't children their own age, but Lin Xinghuo's three fox cubs. This was why, after Lin Xinghuo accepted Fang Tongjian as his master, Ningde had to change his mindset and call her 'Auntie.' Children have that strange stubbornness in their minds that adults don't understand. For example, in Ningde's mind, a sister of the same generation seemed closer than an aunt of a higher generation.
"Ningde is already this old, he's already sensible." Ning Bangyan thought about his grandson's stubbornness and added, "If he doesn't call me aunt, let Xinghuo beat him up."
Speaking of beating people up, Old Man Ning suddenly chuckled: "You don't need Xinghuo to do it, that brat can't even beat those fat foxes in the girl's family."
"Grandpa!" Ning De yelled with a red face when he accidentally took out the sleeping foxes No. 2 and No. 3 while searching for the fox den. The two brothers had originally brought the little foxes over to show Ning Bangyan, but they didn't expect to hear his grandfather exposing his grandson's shortcomings before they even entered the warm house.
Old Man Ning was very rough in raising his children, and he never had the delicate thoughts to take care of the little man's self-esteem. Seeing that his grandson was angry, he added fuel to the fire: "I said Xinghuo would be reluctant to leave these cubs in the mountains. Come on, Ningde, show your little friend your new boxing skills."
"Hey! Don't fight! My two little fox cubs are hibernating. Don't fight with them!" Fang Tongjian hurriedly stopped them. Fox Two and Fox Three had just advanced and were a bit lazy. The old man was still hoping to have two more grandchildren one day.
Ningde rubbed Fox Two's soft fur, ignored his grandfather, and ran away with his brother.
"Ye! Ye!" Just as the two Ningde brothers went on another 'adventure', a tender little voice was heard.
Fang Tongjian rubbed his hands and hurried out to greet her: "Hey, Guoguo, grandpa's eldest granddaughter!"
"Grandpa Ning!" Wu Nian handed the Dabao Lin bagel in his arms to Fang Tongjian. Lin Xinghuo put down the things in his hand and hurriedly greeted Grandpa Ning.
Ning Bangyan squinted his eyes and took a closer look. The two men and the small one standing together really looked like a family of three, except that Wu Nian was even more outstanding than the girl Xinghuo. The tall and thin young man was holding a plump and delicate baby in his arms, while the girl Lin Xinghuo was walking in front, carrying things in both hands...
When Wu Nian turned around and took the basket off his back and put it on the ground, Ning Bangyan felt that something was wrong - how could it be as if their Xiao Lin had raised a "little husband"?
What the hell was he thinking about? He was really confused by his ex-daughter-in-law's crazy aunt! Old Ning shook his head and threw out the nonsense about his ex-daughter-in-law's aunt saying "a spoiled wife or not a spoiled wife".
But Lin Xinghuo sat down and chatted with them. After saying hello, Wu Nian took his things and went to the house on the corner. Ning Bangyan remembered that Lao Fang seemed to say that that was the tea room?
"Shall we have hotpot tonight?" Lin Xinghuo asked with a smile, "We have fresh mutton sent from the village." Qingji had just brought over Longjia, Bingcan and other monsters who were going to stay here for a few days, and brought a few live sheep with them.
Fang Tongjian's eyes lit up immediately: "Are they the sheep that Dahuang grazed in the mountains?" The sheep were particularly delicious, but Dahuang was very unruly. 'You can't keep oil cakes in a doghouse'. When he first became a shepherd a few years ago, he almost killed all the sheep. It was only in the last one or two years that he started to produce some.
Lin Xinghuo nodded. "The garden on the outskirts of the city is almost done. I'm planning to set aside a small flock of sheep to raise here." The suburban yard was only this big enough for now. She bought up everything she could from the abandoned "suburban resort estates" once owned by wealthy people in Beijing, piecing them together and turning them into a farm. She demolished the dilapidated houses and built a wall with the bricks and stones that were still usable... The land there was very barren, but thanks to the efforts of Lin Xinghuo and Wu Nian, they had harvested two crops. Their crops were different from those elsewhere; the leftovers were excellent for feeding livestock... But the farm didn't have many serious animals, so rabbits and sparrows inevitably overran. It just so happened that Da Huang had grown tired of staying in Nanshan, so they brought him and a few wolf cubs over.
Once the shepherd arrives, the sheep can naturally be raised.
As he spoke, Lin Xinghuo deftly rolled a cigarette for Mr. Ning, using the more fragrant and lung-soothing "tobacco" that Fang Tongjian and Wu Nianxin had developed.
Old Ning was a heavy smoker. Since he resumed his work, given his rank, he had been smoking high-quality cigarettes supplied internally. The old man also knew what was good. He first put the cigarette under his nose and sniffed the aroma. Then, like Fang Tongjian's reaction when he heard about mutton, he couldn't help but reach into his pocket for a matchbox.
But... he glanced at the fat girl in Fang Tongjian's arms, who was dressed like the Fuwa in the New Year picture. How could she smell the smoke with a child around?
Lin Xinghuo had already taken a plum-shaped porcelain jar with a lid from the table. He took off the lid that was made into a fruit stalk and twisted it somehow. Then a small orange-red flame emerged from the mouth of the chubby porcelain jar that looked like an ornament.
"Too particular!" Old Ning glanced at Tong Jian sideways, and he was very dissatisfied with his extremely meticulous style, but his left hand had already consciously grasped the small jar, and hey, it fit perfectly in his hand.
This thing was a combination of a lighter and a kerosene lamp that Wu Nian had invented. Aside from the intricate mechanism and the durable wick and oil used, there wasn't anything special about it. Fang Tongjian waved his hand, signaling Ning Bangyan to put it away and be done with it.
"...Girl, I came here this time because I have something to trouble you with." Old Ning put down the cigarette reluctantly. To be on the safe side, he directly pinched out the cigarette with his hand, and then carefully took out a paper bag from the inner pocket of his clothes.
The palm-sized paper package was smooth and neat, wrapped in several layers of waterproof oil paper, which clearly showed the cherishment of the opposite item.
Ning Bangyan patiently opened the paper package layer by layer. When he peeled off the innermost layer of soft yellow paper, the old man's hands were shaking slightly.
There were several photos inside, of different sizes, some of which had yellowed corners, and one family portrait had half of it burned away by fire.
Old Ning stroked the family photo: "This is the last photo of the family before Hengzi's father joined the army..." His nephew was in a hurry to leave at that time, and he took the photo before leaving, saying that he would leave it with him first and bring it back when he came to visit his family.
But his nephew never returned, thankfully leaving behind a child, Ning Heng. Ning Bangyan was grateful to his niece-in-law. Although she threatened to divorce him after giving birth and even sent the child to a labor camp... she had left a bloodline in Changwu. In Ning Bangyan's mind, everyone was adaptable, but his niece-in-law was far more thoughtful than his former daughter-in-law, who had claimed to have stood by her son all those years.
Below those photos is a small embroidered portrait by Lin Xinghuo herself. It was a "photo" she embroidered for Ning De and Ning Heng a few years ago. The two children were very happy at that time.
"It's so similar! Your embroidery skills are so good..." Old Ning was a little embarrassed: "I want you to embroider a family portrait. It doesn't have to be big, just a picture of me, Ning De and Ning Heng's father, and our two children..."
"Okay!" For Lin Xinghuo, this kind of thing was not as difficult as Old Ning thought. If she was not afraid of scaring Old Ning, Lin Xinghuo could embroider it on the spot.
Old Ning felt even more embarrassed: "If you can, first embroider a small portrait of Ning Heng's father and put it in this pocket watch." He took out a brass pocket watch. It was very old. When he opened it, there were some brown stains on the white dial. Lin Xinghuo knew at once that this must be a personal relic of Ning Heng's father...
But when she held the pocket watch and looked at the mottled rust on the cover, she suddenly remembered who Xiao Lanqin looked like!
It was like a beauty hidden in a gold-studded pocket watch hidden in a treasure chest hidden in the belly of a mountain by a yellow-skinned man! Especially since Xiao Lanqin had plucked her eyebrows into thin, curved shapes, her features were particularly similar to the woman in the pocket watch.
That woman seemed to be one of the concubines of the Jin family master who had murdered Xuan Hu and his father... Yes, it was Fei Xinli's deceased mother, the former prostitute, the younger version of Old Lady Fei. When Huangpizi possessed Old Lady Fei, he had told Fei Xinli that his mother had appeared in magazines in her youth, so famous that Old Master Jin had specially made twelve gold pocket watches for her, each one containing a picture of Old Lady Fei from a magazine.
Both Huangpizi and Mrs. Qu, Grandpa Jin's former granddaughter, said: Grandpa Jin's taste in women has never changed. It is said that he always looks for women by comparing them to the "original wife" who never appeared.
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Author's Note: I saw a comment where someone summarized it perfectly, so I'll quote: "The left hand is the real Lin Qiyun. Old Lin, who was vomiting blood after being attacked by the formation, took over his son's body and trapped him in his hand. But I didn't expect that the culprit, Old Master Jin, is still there. It's amazing that a whole family lives in one body."
Fei Xinli: He is the commune doctor who worships Huang Jianxi, the yellow-skinned man.
Fei's mother: Mr. Jin's last concubine, once the most beautiful courtesan, with both beauty and talent.
Qu Xiangjin: Fei Xinli's brother-in-law.
Qu's mother: Mr. Jin's adopted granddaughter. Chapter 26 mentioned that she had especially flattered Mrs. Fei: "At that time, the Jin family adopted many girls from the side branches of the family as adopted daughters, and used them for future marriages in order to gain more power. There were too many adopted daughters, and the families they would be betrothed to in the future would vary greatly. These girls had their own plans, and some of them especially loved to flatter Mrs. Fei." Of course, she changed her attitude later, because Fei Xinli paid tribute to Huangpizi and allowed his eldest son to marry Mrs. Fei's daughter, but she especially looked down on her eldest son's mother-in-law.
As for the original wife who didn't show up, everyone still remembers what Yu mentioned earlier: "The old man worshipped her like a queen, and seemed to be looking forward to marrying her and living his life with her. He didn't expect to accidentally discover that she was actually a man, a very handsome man with long hair!"
Note:
"Records of the Grand Historian: The Basic Annals of Qin Shi Huang" records that inside the mausoleum, "mercury was used to represent rivers and seas, and was pumped by machines."
Dongming Grass: The name of a legendary immortal herb. It glows; breaking off branches and lighting them on fire can illuminate ghosts; it is edible, causing the body to glow. According to Volume 3 of Guo Xian's Dongming Records from the Han Dynasty, "I traveled to the North Pole and reached the Zhonghuo Mountain... There was a radiant herb with stalks that shone like golden lamps at night. Breaking off branches and using them as torches could illuminate ghosts."
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