Imperial Treasure
Chapter 238 - 174: Mao Bamboo Village, Bamboo Carving!_2

Chapter 238: Chapter 174: Mao Bamboo Village, Bamboo Carving!_2

This caught Lin Yun and the others completely by surprise.

"Then why the hell did you bring people here?" Lin Yun remembered it was this guy who approached them first, only to end up just taking them in circles? No wonder she felt so exhausted from the walk!

"There was no choice... out of money, couldn’t help it, I had to lead. At least I could see what kind of people they were. If those people came up here on their own..."

Lacking money, what a helpless reality.

All three of them stopped in their tracks, and Sui Yi quietly looked at the big strong village official’s worn-out green cloth shoes, then after a moment, slowly said, "I never make promises for the future, but if today I’m satisfied with the bamboo carving in Mao Bamboo Village, then in the future, you won’t need to bring people up the mountain."

Could there be more direct, realistic, yet pleasing words than these?

There were none.

So half an hour later, four people arrived at the village located on a terrace-like platform sunken into the depths of the mountains.

Looking around, there were about thirty or so households scattered across the mountain, most of which were protected by dense bamboo forests, quiet, beautiful, but impoverished.

"Old Lady Mao San, Third Granny..." Mao Gang was shouting outside the yellow dirt courtyard, calling out from afar, and after shouting more than a dozen times and getting closer, an old lady in a grey coat sitting on a small bench in the courtyard finally reacted.

"Is that Xiao Gangzi... Do we have guests?"

Seeing Sui Yi and the others, she trembled as she got up from the chair. After Sui Yi helped her and greeted her, he sized up the quite ordinary village dwelling. There were two or three old hens in front of The Gate, pecking at the rice on the ground, and on both sides of the courtyard stood big clumps of Mao bamboo. Facing the house was the expansive and Dominating farm sea, blue sky and white clouds, truly pleasant.

What a great location, what a lovely place.

Lin Yun felt as though every cell in her body was screaming out in comfort.

Meanwhile, Sui Yi thought that such terrain, with its faint magnetic energy in the air, must have incredibly strong feng shui, a natural treasure. If it weren’t so deep in the mountains, it would surely have been snatched up by the wealthy... but if it were in ancient times, it would also have been an excellent place for hiding treasures and building tombs...

Hey, why did his thoughts go in that direction again.

Sui Yi couldn’t help but smile at his own thoughts.

Old Lady Mao San confirmed what Mao Gang had said - mountain folks were mostly simple and honest. Despite the hardships of before, she was busy setting down her bamboo carving, wiping her clothes, saying she would go into the house to get something to offer them,... and then go up the mountain to get something to eat.

It was actually mealtime now, and it seemed the old lady hadn’t eaten, unless she had skipped the meal.

Sui Yi and the others were aware of the situation.

Having come from a poor background herself, Li Jingyan could tell right after arriving that this family didn’t have much to eat; their largest asset was probably those three old hens. After a look from Sui Yi, Li Jingyan took down her backpack, opened it, and took out water, some bread, as well as packaged chicken wings, drumsticks, and beef jerky..

The old lady declined several times, and only when she really couldn’t refuse any longer did she and Mao Gang accept some water and food... but she only took the bread and absolutely refused to take any meat. In their eyes, the meat was too expensive since one package contained several pieces; they couldn’t afford it...

Accepting meat from others was even less affordable.

However, this made Old Lady Mao San warm up considerably to the trio, and any slight wariness in her heart faded away, so she started to chat happily with Sui Yi.

Meanwhile, Sui Yi also noticed the bamboo carving that Old Lady Mao San was holding.

"Old Lady Mao San is now the best carver we have here... Her bamboo carvings are far better than the bamboo carvings from the city, just look at this, Auspicious Clouds and Lucky Dragon..." Mao Gang picked up the bamboo carving at Old Lady Mao San’s feet that wasn’t finished yet.

"May I take a look at it?"

"Of course."

When Sui Yi took the bamboo carving, about seventy to eighty percent of the green layer on the surface had been peeled off, revealing the light green and creamy white bamboo underneath, which carried a crisp bamboo fragrance. A nine-clawed Azure Dragon was coiling around in the sky with nine auspicious clouds swirling around it. The dragon’s scales, patterns, and whiskers were already lifelike; only some details on the dragon’s head and body were unfinished.

Not only were Lin Yun and Li Jingyan astonished, even Sui Yi, usually hard to impress, was amazed.

To call it a masterpiece crafted by gods might be an exaggeration, but it was definitely the work of an elf-like master craftsman. Moreover, Sui Yi could feel a thin layer of white magnetic energy on this bamboo carving with his Magnetic Sensation.

That a freshly made craft could have such magnetic energy showed how rich its cultural essence and spiritual energy were!

Sui Yi was falling in love with the bamboo carving.

But she still put down the bamboo carving and looked towards Mao Gang, who was slightly nervous, and Old Lady Mao San, who subconsciously stopped eating the bread.

"Do you have more bamboo carvings?"

"Yes, yes, they are all inside the house. I was afraid the humidity would spoil them. Let me take you..." Old Lady Mao San got up without even finishing her bread.

Sui Yi stopped her, "Third Granny, there’s no hurry. Please finish eating... I’m a bit tired now, and we can look later. Here, eat... eat... these are all free. We brought too much from home and it would go bad if not eaten—that would be wasteful~~"

"Oh? Alright, alright..."

Sui Yi opened the package of beef jerky and, while making conversation, kept stuffing beef jerky slices into the old lady’s bread...

Lin Yun watched from the side, trying to stifle a laugh, while Li Jingyan also grinned. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it with a recommendation ticket or a monthly ticket at qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)