Chapter 541: Chapter 53: Buddha Light and Purple Bamboo (Part 2)
Entering the Reverse Genius Class has caught the attention of the authorities, ensuring that you and your family will survive," Mei Nian said word for word, her expression very grave.
"What about the school, and what about Aunt and the others, how should we explain to them?" The last few words from Mei Nian reminded Xiao Xian. This is just like why so many parents push their children to squeeze into prestigious schools.
"You don’t have to worry about this. The Reverse Genius Class is different from the Genius Class. To maintain confidentiality and students’ personal safety, students remain enrolled at their original schools, and the diplomas are issued uniformly by the Ministry of Education. If you find you’re not suited to the learning mode in the class, you can also choose to take the college entrance examination." Yu Gang and Mei Xiang themselves were from the Genius Class of Huake Institute, and they had some knowledge of how the Reverse Genius Class operated.
Yu Gang was left to handle the matter. More than half of August had passed, and counting the days, Zhuo Feng and Feng Xing should be returning soon as well.
Ever since Xiao Xian learned to weave mats, Mao Dazhu simply let her stay in the nursing home, selecting various weaving materials, but unfortunately, all of them were ordinary, none as satisfactory as the Korean Purple Black Vine desired by Xiao Xian and Mao Dazhu.
The materials for weaving mats must be chosen well; otherwise, Spiritual Power would be wasted. Xiao Xian was not in a hurry, occasionally lingering around Yu Shanyang, hoping to coax out some news from him.
Yu Shanyang had been a bit better compared to before, especially when he saw Xiao Xian weaving mats, he would sit with the other elderly people.
A few days earlier, Xiao Xian was just discussing tips on mat-weaving with the elderly in the nursing home. Since the Korean Black Purple Vine was not available, Mao Dazhu had to find other materials.
Ordinary flax and various bamboos. Until seven or eight days later, as August was about to end, Mao Dazhu finally found a type of bamboo they both liked after looking at it. Mao Dazhu liked an ornamental bamboo material called Purple Bamboo, which, he said, grows as a specialty bamboo on Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang.
Compared to ordinary bamboo, Purple Bamboo was neither as tall as Moso Bamboo nor as lush as Arrow Bamboo. Purple Bamboo had slender branches, and the stems hidden among the green leaves were purple-black, appearing noble and impressive. Mao Dazhu said the Purple Bamboo he brought was from Baoshan Temple, a revered temple on Putuo Mountain, imbued with the scent of incense from countless families.
The four or five clusters of bamboo brought back were kept still, each carrying a faint fragrance of sandalwood. The plants from famous temples and ancient monasteries were all blessed by Buddha’s Light and incense, and ordinary people, let alone trying to transplant them, would find it difficult to even touch them a few times. It was unknown by what means Mao Dazhu had obtained such bamboo.
The bamboo was air-shipped, with both the roots and leaves meticulously wrapped. Mao Dazhu, fearing that the bamboo might get damaged in transit, even carefully included some soil in the packaging bags.
From this, it was evident that Mao Dazhu was truly passionate about bamboo.
Xiao Xian didn’t want to use all the Purple Bamboo for weaving, and after consulting with Mao Dazhu, she decided to use only two stalks of Purple Bamboo. The remaining Purple Bamboo would be planted in pots, waiting to be used as decorations in the Agricultural Specialty Store when it opened, hoping that the reflected Buddha Light and incense would bring good luck to the store.
The bamboo strips were split by the most skilled elderly person in the nursing home. Purple Bamboo, with its extremely hard texture, was not only difficult to split but also challenging to weave. After these issues were raised by Mao Dazhu, Xiao Xian assured him with a pat on the chest, promising that as long as the bamboo strips were prepared, she could ensure they would be crafted properly.
The bamboo strips were quickly ready, each split very evenly. Xiao Xian felt that even with Spiritual Energy, she would only achieve this level of precision.
That same evening when the bamboo strips were ready, Xiao Xian asked Xuerou to help transport them home, filling nearly half of the vehicle with bamboo strips. The elderly people in the nursing home were unfazed, recognizing that crafting such a mat was a unique skill, understanding that some secrecy was not unusual.
Xiao Xian transported the bamboo strips back to the Zeng Family home. She was embarrassed to bring such a load of bamboo strips upstairs, so she piled the Purple Bamboo Strips in the north-facing garage.
Xuerou had already asked the Hourly Worker to clean up the garage in advance. The north-facing garage of the Zeng Family was the one previously used by Xuerou to park her Ferrari. The car was moved to one side, leaving a large open space.
This weaving session was smoother than the previous one with the Black Purple Vine. The people in the nursing home had already handled all the preparatory work. All Xiao Xian had to do was infuse the Purple Bamboo Strips with Spiritual Energy, a key step to soften the bamboo strips.
By dinner time, Xiao Xian had finally finished processing all the Purple Bamboo Strips. That evening, she spent an extra hour weaving a new mat.
The originally hard Purple Bamboo Strips, after processing, became softer than the Silky Bamboo typically used for weaving and came very close to the texture of the Black Purple Vine. "It’s even prettier than the Black Purple Vine. If you hadn’t said so, I really couldn’t have guessed this was woven from bamboo strips. Look, it even has silver-white specks," Xuerou examined a bamboo strip in the garage lighting. It turned out to be true what Xiao Xian had said before – "Once bitten, twice shy." This time around, the Spiritual Energy infused into the bamboo strips from the Silver-grade Space was very consistent in thickness.
The unexpected silver-white specks on the newly woven mat were an unexpected reward. The several stalks of Purple Bamboo, speckled with white spots on their surface, were left uncolored to maintain their natural beauty, as Mao Dazhu suggested that no coloring techniques should be used.
Now, the Spiritual Energy from the Silver-grade Space made the original spots on the bamboo become larger and brighter. The silver glittered like fine diamonds, shining even more brightly like starlight when hit by the light.
"It seems I can settle my debt to Uncle Mao earlier," Xiao Xian was very pleased with this Purple Bamboo Mat.
"This mat is too beautiful; it would be a waste to sell it in an ordinary mat shop," even Xuerou couldn’t let go of the mat.
**
Here I go rambling again,
A new week begins, and Fu Zi’s vitality is rallying for votes again,
An addition for every 10 fans, oh yes, about to set the mark,
Recommendation tickets, the more the merrier~
**(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian () to cast your recommendation tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)