Untouchable Lovers-Chapter 85 - 82: Gathering like a Breeze through Gentle Folds
Chapter 85: Chapter 82: Gathering like a Breeze through Gentle Folds
Chu Yu was about to inquire further when Wang Yizhi shifted the topic, asking her about the distilled water she had mentioned the other day, “That thing you told me about a few days ago, everything else is fine, but there is one thing I simply cannot fathom, could it be that water, once boiled, becomes much cleaner than it was before?”
Chu Yu knew he probably wouldn’t elaborate further, so she followed his line of questioning, “Brother Yizhi may not know this, but although the water we use daily appears clear and transparent, there are many specks of dust in the world that our eyes cannot see.”
Wang Yizhi playfully retorted, “If they cannot be seen, how do you know they exist?”
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After carefully considering her response, Chu Yu said, “Brother Yizhi, at certain times in the morning, when sunlight pours in through the windows, have you seen the tiny particles of dust dancing in the air?” Since Chu Yu couldn’t produce something like a microscope, she had to use an example that everyone could see, “These are the particles of dust that we do not normally see. We only occasionally catch a glimpse of them. The same is true for water: just because we can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t there.”
Chu Yu immediately added, “If Brother Yizhi has often seen people boil water, he would know that if the kettle is used to boil water for long periods, without boiling anything else, a layer of scale will form on the inside. This is also evidence.” In fact, scale is a deposit of minerals in the water, but Chu Yu, wanting to prove her point, haphazardly used it to her advantage. As long as she could persuade Wang Yizhi, it didn’t really matter whether it was true or false; in the end, it was all good.
If Wang Yizhi still didn’t believe her, she could give him a live demonstration of precipitation and crystallization. If it were anything more advanced, she wouldn’t be able to handle it.
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After presenting two pieces of evidence, Chu Yu’s argument inevitably shook Wang Yizhi’s beliefs, causing him to frown, “So the water we use every day for drinking and cooking is that dirty?”
Upon hearing this, Chu Yu was greatly embarrassed, thinking it would be terrible if she fooled Wang Yizhi into being afraid to drink water. She quickly remedied, “That’s not exactly correct. There’s dust everywhere in the air every day, and yet we live just fine, don’t we? It’s just that for experiments, the purer the material, the better, and even the slightest error is not acceptable.”
“Experiments?” Wang Yizhi seized on the new term Chu Yu had uttered.
Chu Yu’s mind raced, but she calmly explained, “Yes, experiments, verification in practice. Without experiments, how can truth be obtained?”
“Brilliant!” After pondering for a moment, Wang Yizhi clapped in admiration, thoroughly appreciating Chu Yu’s explanation. His expression was full of excitement and pleasure, “Without experiments, how can truth be obtained? Just like strategy discussed on paper cannot be trusted. Brother Zichu, these words of yours truly should serve as an admonition to us all.”
Then Chu Yu reminded Wang Yizhi that when collecting distilled water, the equipment itself must be cleaned, and explained how to steam the water into vapor and then condense it with a clean container to collect. Although she was not a chemistry professional, the basic education she received in middle school gave Chu Yu this concept: for experiments, the purer the materials, the better.
After carefully explaining everything, Chu Yu was caught off guard by Wang Yizhi’s question, “What you’ve said makes sense, but I still have a doubt. As a princess, how could you be so knowledgeable about these things?” The guide had already left to receive new guests, so Wang Yizhi didn’t mind mentioning Chu Yu’s identity, but his question took Chu Yu by surprise as she realized her slip of the tongue.
Discovering dust floating in sunlight is something anyone can observe, setting that aside for the moment, but how would a princess concern herself with the boilers used for boiling water?
In that instant, Chu Yu couldn’t find the right words to fix the situation and inadvertently clutched at her sleeve, her fingers encountering something hard. She suddenly remembered something she was carrying and handed it over to Wang Yizhi to distract from the topic, “I must also thank you for the immense help you provided a few days ago, Brother Yizhi. I have a gift to offer in return.” She pulled a folded fan from her sleeve and presented it with both hands to Wang Yizhi as a gesture of sincerity.
Fans have been around since ancient times, but folding fans did not exist in this era. Chu Yu had specially inquired about this and found that almost everyone used feather fans and the like, but there were no paper fans or folding fans. She had one made for her own use a few days ago. It was the first of its kind in the world, only that when it was finished, the weather was not yet hot, so she played with it for a couple of days before putting it away.
A few days ago, she wanted to repay Wang Yizhi with a uniquely thoughtful gift. She thought long and hard and finally decided on the folding fan. After all, other items required too much technical skill, which she couldn’t manage, while this folding fan was merely a novel idea that craftsmen could replicate once she explained it.
She had a guilty conscience and her change of topic was rather unnatural, with a transparently forced air. Others could easily see through her, but Wang Yizhi did not pursue the matter. He simply smiled, accepted the folding fan, and upon examining it closer, he found its ingenuity. With curiosity, he took both sides of the fan’s frame and slowly pulled open the folding fan. Seeing the ink landscape painted on it, the surprise in his eyes deepened.
Chu Yu then took out another folding fan and with a flick of her wrist, she opened it with a swish, laughing, “Brother Yizhi, this is how it should be done.” She gathered up the fan and slowly demonstrated it again.
Wang Yizhi nodded his understanding after a glance. Mimicking Chu Yu, he opened the folding fan with one hand. His hands were nimble and strong, and he quickly managed to do it even more elegantly than Chu Yu. Closing the fan, delight was unmistakable in Wang Yizhi’s eyes, but he teased, “For a princess, isn’t it a bit too modest to give a gift made from a few pieces of bamboo and thin paper? Don’t you think it’s a bit dismissive?” Wang Yizhi never cared for wealth but had a great fondness for ingenious items. Chu Yu’s gift was exactly to his liking, making him very satisfied. His remarks were nothing more than playful teasing in his joy, unable to resist a little banter with Chu Yu.
Chu Yu smiled with pursed lips, “Of course not, the fan pendant also has its clever points. Brother Yizhi might want to take a closer look.”
The fan pendant at first glance appeared to be a strip of White Jade about an inch long. Although the jade was flawless, such objects were commonplace in Wang Yizhi’s home and he didn’t think much of it. He even found that the jade pendant detracted from the fan’s elegant air. However, upon Chu Yu’s comment, he examined it closely and discovered that the jade strip was also a folding fan.
A purely jade-made folding fan, it was so uniformly white and the joints so seamless that Wang Yizhi had not noticed at first.
Gently, he unfolded the White Jade Small Fan with his fingers, revealing its full shape. Each blade of the fan was polished uniformly thin and delicate. The White Jade was nearly translucent, exquisitely dainty, looking as though it would crumble with the slightest force.
On the surface of these White Jade thin slices, an elegant script was carved—an invitation, and on the reverse side, a landscape. It closely resembled the structure of the ink painting on the paper fan. The words were nestled within the landscape, complementing the artistic scene without any overlap. This invitation simply requested Wang Yizhi’s presence at a gathering in Chu Garden a month from now.
With the folding fan as an excuse, she cleverly delivered her invitation, and with the invitation as an excuse, she cleverly gave away the folding fan.
Although the folding fan was a product of later ingenuity, the concept of a fan within a fan, an invitation through the fan, with characters amidst the artwork, characters within art, was all Chu Yu’s own painstaking brainstorm. The intricate and delicate White Jade Small Fan was personally crafted by Rong Zhi over two nights of meticulous work.
Though there were craftsmen in the house, none could achieve such precise and detailed carving.
This seemingly inconsequential detail was where Chu Yu truly put in a great deal of effort.
