Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1226 Transfer Order Approved, Five Poison Doctors Coming to Beijing (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
Upon hearing Fang Yan's polite tone, Zeng Wanli quickly replied:
"Thank you for your kind offer, Director Fang, but my son is too naughty and only speaks Cantonese, so I'll pass."

He said in dialect:

"Kids need to play with other kids more so they can adapt faster. There are still more than ten days until school starts, so let him go out and play. If he likes it, let him stay there. It'll save you the trouble of looking after him."

The dialect really makes people want to go there, mainly because now Zhengyi is surrounded by young girls, while Anton is much older. The fellow apprentices can learn things well, but they usually just play around, so there's a generation gap.

It just so happens that Zeng Wanli and his wife have to go to work and have no one to take care of their child, so they can go over and be a playmate for Zhengyi.

The other children are also older and don't play together, so this is actually quite good.

Hearing Fang Yan insist, Zeng Wanli knew that Fang Yan was not just being polite.

So he thought about it and agreed.

"Well... thank you for your trouble, Director Fang." Zeng Wanli smiled and rubbed his hands together. "I'll have my wife take him over to familiarize himself with the place and teach him the rules, so he won't cause you any trouble."

Fang Yan waved his hand and said with a smile:

"It's no trouble at all. It's not troublesome at all."

Fang Yan then chatted with Zeng Wanli for a couple more minutes. After they had gotten to know each other better, Fang Yan told him to go back to work.

“The people from Guangzhou are mostly acquaintances who greeted you, so they’re much easier to talk to than people from other places,” Zeng Luquan said to Fang Yan.

Fang Yan spoke to him:
“When people from other places come, as long as they are not the kind of troublemakers like last time, we should treat them equally and give them the same conveniences. We cannot show favoritism.”

Zeng Luquan said:
"Don't worry, I will definitely treat everyone equally."

Then, Fang Yan finished speaking, so he said goodbye to Zeng Luquan.

Then I went to the publishing house and greeted Editor-in-Chief Xia.

He told him that Dean Zhao Xiwu had already made arrangements and that work would be arranged as soon as possible, and then Fang Yan drove back to the courtyard house.

When the dialect arrived, they found that Lao Ji from the Forbidden City had come over.

It turns out that the seal I carved for the dialect last time has been finished.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I've made this errand late for you!" As soon as Old Ji saw Fang Yan, he put the brocade box he was carrying on the stone table, his face full of apology.

"It was supposed to be finished at the beginning of the month, but the palace suddenly needed to rush to make a new batch of exhibition labels. The master craftsman was borrowed to help out, and I had to urge him three times before I finally got your seal out."

As soon as Fang Yan entered the courtyard, he smelled the familiar sandalwood scent. Seeing the brocade box in Lao Ji's hand embroidered with lotus patterns, he knew it must contain the Shoushan hibiscus stone seal. He quickly smiled and said:
"No rush, no rush. I've been so busy with research lately that I forgot about this."

Old Ji unveiled the velvet lining of the brocade box, smiled as he opened it, and a faint scent of pine soot and ink mixed with the warm, smooth aroma of the stone itself wafted out.

The Shoushan hibiscus stone that Fang Fangyan had previously chosen had been polished to a lustrous, jade-like finish. On the originally pinkish-white stone surface, the sculptor had carved an orchid using a shallow relief technique. The three leaves stretched to the left, with the tips of the leaves naturally curled, as if they had just been touched by a spring breeze. There were still faint knife marks on the edges of the leaves, and upon closer inspection, the veins of the leaves could be discerned.

The seal is square and upright, about an inch and a half tall, and has a just-right weight when held in the hand.

The bottom is engraved with the four small seal characters "方言之印" (Seal of Dialect). The strokes are rounded but contain strength, and the subtle white strokes at the turns add a touch of liveliness to the originally regular seal characters.

The most wonderful thing is the natural texture of the stone itself. Below the character "言" (speech), a light yellow stone vein flows like moonlight, and the rouge-colored stone marrow seeping from the knife marks makes the whole seal look like it is wrapped in a rosy mist.

"This skill is absolutely amazing," Fang Yan exclaimed.

Upon hearing the dialect, Lao Ji smiled.

"You don't need to worry about the craftsmanship of the master craftsmen from the Palace Museum." He was quite proud of himself; anything from the Palace Museum was bound to be a masterpiece.

At this moment, Lao Hu took out a brown paper envelope and handed it to Lao Ji.

Old Ji was taken aback.

"Why are you giving me money?" he asked, puzzled. It was supposed to be given to Fang Yan.

“It’s not Zhang’s money!” Old Hu said.

Seeing Lao Ji's bewildered expression, Lao Hu continued:

“The last batch of court-patterned gift boxes was a huge hit in Hong Kong, the response there was excellent, this is one you should take.”

Old Ji then remembered that he had also helped Fang Yan and the others get a batch of gift boxes. Those things weren't worth much. He said, "Hey, I thought they were something special. Oh well, as long as you're satisfied."

"No, no, you have to take this," Old Hu said.

He said in dialect:

“Just take it. We also have custom gift boxes to make later.”

Upon hearing Fang Yan say this, Lao Ji finally took it down.

The envelope felt quite thick. Old Ji took the money and asked:

"What style of gift box do you want to order?"

Old Hu chimed in:

"The new prescription is packaged in a sandalwood box, with a mother-of-pearl inlaid Medicine Buddha on the lid. The lotus scroll pattern is interspersed with openwork carvings of the Eight Treasures, and the gold lacquer outlines the image of the ointment in a porcelain bottle placed in front of the Buddha's stupa."

Upon hearing this request, Lao Ji said:
"Changed your style again?"

Last time it was made in a dialect, this time it was made by an old monk, so of course the style has to be changed.

Lao Hu said:

"Our master craftsman this time is Master Hai Deng. Those wealthy people only appreciate this style. The more elaborate the gift box, the more precious the ointment seems. Besides, with a master craftsman from the Palace Museum involved, the artistic value of this gift box overshadows its medicinal value when it's displayed in the showcase. It's incredibly prestigious."

Old Ji nodded in realization; it wasn't a big deal for him.

The old monk standing to the side finally realized what was happening and said:
"I wondered why it could fetch such a high price in Hong Kong. It turns out it was thanks to the craftsmanship of the Forbidden City."

After saying that, he looked at Fang Yan's private seal and said, "This carving has the shadow of the 'Imperial Workshop.' The lines look soft, but in fact, every stroke contains strength. Ordinary craftsmen could never carve it like this."

Old Ji said:

"The master has a good eye; these master craftsmen all have a tradition of passing down their skills."

The old monk was convinced and put his palms together, chanting "Amitabha."

Old Ji had something to do next and had to say goodbye, so Fang Yan saw him to the outside.

Then he went home.

While Lao Hu accompanied the master, he went to his study to begin writing his speech, which he had prepared a few days prior.

I kept writing until dinner time, and finally finished the dialect piece.

Anton had already woken up. He had been sleeping all afternoon and hadn't slept well last night. He couldn't stay awake after lunch today.

After waking up, I sat in the living room and watched the video recording of Master Hai Deng making medicine that I had recorded today.

Old Hu brought all the film crew's video recorders and plugged them into the TV to play the footage.

However, this is still the uncut version.

That evening, after having dinner at home, Fang Yan asked Sophia to take the old monk back to his residence. Before leaving, she also prepared some food for him and some supplements given by Director Liao.

I packed two big bags for him to take with him. Actually, I wanted to leave him here, but he said he had other things to do and was going to give a sermon to a monk from another temple.

They can't get involved in the dialects, this is all they can do.

Actually, I was a little worried that it would be inconvenient for him not to have his disciples around, but Master Hai Deng said it didn't matter and that his two disciples could just take care of things at Wang Huiyuan's house.

After seeing Master Haiteng off, Fang Yan returned home, and then the phone rang.

It was Secretary Huang who called. The transfer order they submitted this afternoon has been approved, and Director Sun has also reached an agreement with Vice Minister Li after communicating with him.

Now all we need to do is wait for Tao Guangzheng to come back.

Then, as soon as Fang Yan hung up the phone, it rang again.

After speaking in dialect, I discovered it was Meng Jimin.

He spoke into the dialect over the phone:

"I just received a telegram at home. My master and senior brother are coming to the capital tomorrow."

Fang Yan was taken aback:
"Are Elder Zhu and Senior Brother Chen Youqing coming?"

Meng Jimin said:
"Yes, the telegram said they were taking the train and would arrive at 11 a.m. tomorrow. They're coming to attend the Ministry of Health's mid-year conference."

He said in dialect:

"Okay, I'll give you the day off tomorrow. We'll go pick someone up together and have lunch at my place."

PS: I've gained another 100 monthly votes, so I still owe you 3000 words after finishing this chapter.

That's all for today, please come early tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)