Chapter 249: Nineties: Spring Water Family Chapter 249: Applying for Intangible Cultural Heritage, Senior and Junior Disciples Unite

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Protagonist:

Lin Xiyu

"Grandma knows her own mind, no need for all that trouble, I've made it this many years, nothing's wrong......"

Hu Nainai, like most old people her age, was averse to seeing doctors, not wanting to trouble her children.

Lin Xiyu knew this perfectly well, and smiled as she coaxed: "How about this, let Guben accompany you to the hospital tomorrow, get an X-ray, a few days of IV drips."

"No need, no need......"

Hu Nainai waved her hand, not wanting to stay any longer: "Grandma's really fine, don't trouble Xiao Bin, you rest too, Grandma's leaving now."

"I'll see you out......"

Lin Xiyu swung her legs off the bed.

"Don't come out, Grandma can go out by herself......"

Hu Nainai hurriedly stopped her, walking away in quick small steps.

Lin Xiyu heard two muffled coughs through the door curtain, her right eyelid involuntarily twitched a few times.

"Guben......"

She couldn't suppress her alarm, and still chased out the door.

"What is it?"

Guben was just about to send Hu Nainai home, heard his wife call him, and turned back.

"You persuade Hu Nainai......"

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed worry: "Make her go to the hospital for an X-ray no matter what, from her cough it sounds like it's coming from her lungs, don't let her delay, go see a doctor quickly."

"Okay, I got it......"

Guben patted her shoulder soothingly, signaling her not to be anxious.

"You must make her go......"

Lin Xiyu still couldn't rest easy, said it once more.

"I'll personally accompany her, alright?"

Guben pampered his wife thoroughly, agreed to everything.

Facts proved Lin Xiyu's premonition was right, under Guben's patient persuasion, Hu Nainai finally agreed to go to the hospital for an examination.

The result was heart-wrenching, the doctor's diagnosis was late-stage lung cancer, give up treatment, couldn't last more than half a year.

——

"How could this happen?"

Lin Xiyu nearly collapsed hearing the bad news: "Hu Nainai is such a good person, why would she get cancer?"

"Hu Nainai is old......"

Guben, fearing his wife would grieve too much and affect the baby, tried his best to persuade: "Even without cancer, that day would come sooner or later....."

"That's not the same......"

Lin Xiyu still couldn't accept the cruel fact: "Right now is the critical moment for applying for Intangible Cultural Heritage, Hu Nainai falling ill like this, doesn't that mean there's no hope?"

"Hu Nainai is sick, but isn't there still you?"

Guben patiently persuaded, reaching out to pull her into his arms.

"I can't......"

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed panic: "Without Hu Nainai I panic, I don't dare think about it, one person facing this much pressure......"

"You're not alone......"

Guben, as reliable as ever, his wise brain spinning at top speed, reacted instantly, gave reasonable advice: "Aren't there still some Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters? They're all Hu Nainai's disciples, benefited from her teaching, now should be the time for them to repay the kindness."

"Junior Brothers, Junior Sisters?"

Lin Xiyu's eyes lit up at his reminder: "Those ten disciples Hu Nainai personally taught at the Youth Palace back then?"

"Exactly, them."

Guben nodded: "Do you still have contact with them?"

"There is contact......"

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed conflict: "But many of them already got into university, went elsewhere, very few stayed in Jinan."

"Count however many there are......."

Guben lightly patted her back, expressing support with his actual actions: "I can help you too, we'll work together, strive for it, no, we must help her complete her wish while she's still alive."

"You, you?"

Lin Xiyu looked up in surprise, gazing at him somewhat blankly.

"Could it be you forgot......"

Guben raised an eyebrow: "That your own husband runs a game company, with lots of computer design and drawing experts under him."

"I was stupid......"

Lin Xiyu's brow and eyes brightened, joy showing: "Should've thought of this long ago, still stupidly drawing by hand myself."

"If Hu Nainai were healthy I wouldn't mind you forgetting."

Guben's brow and eyes were pampering: "You having something you like, finding it meaningful, willing to put in effort for it, I'm genuinely happy for you too."

"But......"

The emotional moment was about ripe, he paused, then said: "Right now what's most important to me is you and the babies, not a bit of negligence allowed, so I've decided, no matter what Wife Adult thinks, I can't let you labor heart and mind, the rest of it, I'll handle the whole way, give me the phone numbers, I'll contact your Junior Brothers and Junior Sisters, Hu Nainai's side, I'll also arrange her hospitalization as soon as possible, proceed with the next step of treatment."

"I have no objections....."

Lin Xiyu's eyes showed emotion, her whole being leaning against him: "Just want to say one thing, having you here, it's really good......"

The corner of Guben's mouth curved up slightly, he used a bit of strength, pulling her into a tighter embrace.

——

Ten years ago, during the filming of the "Quancheng Water Family" documentary, Hu Nainai personally selected ten talented youths at the Youth Palace as her direct disciples, teaching them the art of paper-cutting.

In a blink ten years passed, the disciples of that year all grew up, some got into university, some went out to work, scattered across the country for various reasons.

As of today, only three people remain in Jinan.

Two men and one woman, 23-year-old Liu Ang, 21-year-old Wang Lei, 19-year-old Zhang Jie.

Wang Lei and Zhang Jie are both university students, studying at local universities.

Liu Ang got into a technical school, after graduation he kept doing odd jobs, working as a sales clerk at a supermarket.

Guben stepped in to make contact, the three agreed readily, and the next evening they came to the Old House to discuss helping Hu Nainai apply for Intangible Cultural Heritage status.

"Look, this is the pattern I designed......"

Lin Xiyu took out the long scroll she had partially drawn earlier, displaying it for her junior brothers and sisters to see.

"Quancheng version of Along the River During the Qingming Festival?"

"This creativity is amazing!"

"Even more perfect than we imagined."

The three junior brothers and sisters praised the scroll endlessly upon seeing it, all casting admiring gazes at her.

Lin Xiyu smiled humbly: "This was Hu Nainai's idea, I merely did the drafting."

"Such an intricate pattern, it can't be just cut with scissors, right? Need to use a knife to carve?"

Liu Ang was slightly older, his understanding of paper-cutting was a bit more than the other two junior brothers and sisters.

"That's right."

Lin Xiyu gave him an appreciative look: "Knife carving is also a paper-cutting technique, Hu Nainai also said, carving this long scroll requires solid knife skills."

"With scissors I'm still okay......"

Liu Ang was a bit discouraged: "Knife skills are barely satisfactory, probably can't help much."

"I can try......"

Wang Lei volunteered: "When Hu Nainai taught I liked using knife carving, these years I haven't neglected it either, often carving a few sheets when free, just can't reach that level of proficiency of hers."

"That's enough."

Lin Xiyu was pleasantly surprised: "The main part of the long scroll still needs Hu Nainai to complete personally, we're just assisting......"

Zhang Jie's eyes showed worry: "Can Hu Nainai's body hold up?"

"Hard to say......"

Lin Xiyu shook her head gloomily.

"Sigh."

Zhang Jie sighed, her eye rims turning red.

"If it really doesn't work we few will have to step up."

Wang Lei encouraged his two senior and junior sisters: "At worst we waste a few more sheets of paper, one month no good then two months, two months no good then a year, as long as we persist, sooner or later we'll succeed."

"Hu Nainai might not even be able to persist until that time......"

Zhang Jie glared at him with red eye rims.

"Uh."

Wang Lei choked, gave two awkward laughs, and had no follow-up.

"Lei Zi is right......"

Lin Xiyu affirmed: "What we need to do now besides drawing patterns is practice knife carving techniques, at critical moments we must step up, we must help her fulfill her wish while Hu Nainai is still alive."

"Good."

The three junior brothers and sisters were all moved by her, agreeing in unison.

"When can our JN City apply for Intangible Cultural Heritage?"

Zhang Jie thought of Hu Nainai's health, still very worried.

"Don't know......"

Wang Lei shook his head.

"Where do we go to inquire about this thing?"

Liu Ang was also puzzled.

"I have a suggestion....."

Guben had been listening in the room, interjecting at the right moment: "Our Lao Jinan has quite a few unique folk cultures, like dough figurines, clay sculptures, stilts, shadow puppetry, Shandong fast storytelling, etc., all have the possibility of applying for Intangible Cultural Heritage, you can contact other old craftsmen, cooperate with each other, establish a folk art organization, apply for Intangible Cultural Heritage together, this way information will be more timely too, success rate also higher."

"This idea is good."

Wang Lei's eyes lit up, laughing in agreement: "Thought of the same thing, I was just about to say it, Brother Bin beat me to it."

"Don't go taking credit for yourself."

Zhang Jie gave him a white eye, laughing as she scolded: "Better practice your knife skills properly, don't just talk without practicing, dropping the ball at the critical moment."

"No problem with that......"

Wang Lei was full of motivation: "Just happens I'm graduating soon, after handing in my thesis I don't need to go to school, can come to Sister Xiyu's house every day to help, as long as Sister doesn't dislike me, just give me a mouthful of rice to eat."

"I can't......"

Zhang Jie was a bit annoyed: "I'm only a freshman, still have classes, only free on weekends."

"Visiting other old craftsmen, leave it to me."

Liu Ang felt his carving skills wouldn't be of much help, so he voluntarily took on the role of liaison: "I know the Old City District well; finding someone won't be hard."

"It would be best if you could step forward......"

Lin Xiyu was overjoyed.

"Be polite when you meet them......"

Wang Lei said with a grin: "First announce who you are, make it clear you're Hu Nainai's disciple; most old-generation craftsmen know Hu Nainai, and out of respect for her, they won't easily take offense at your unannounced visit or chase you away."

Li Ang rolled his eyes: "I'm going to share good news with them; why would they chase me away?"

"You're still sharing good news......"

Zhang Jie found it amusing and teased with a smile: "The Intangible Cultural Heritage application hasn't even taken shape yet; what good news are you sharing?"

"I think you'd better be mentally prepared in advance......."

Guben kindly advised: "Applying for Intangible Cultural Heritage status isn't easy; we want to cooperate, but they might not feel the same way — they might even see it as competition, feel resistant, and not want to deal with us."

"No way......"

Li Ang refused to believe it and didn't take his words to heart.

In fact, not long after, he regretted it.

Reality turned out just as Guben predicted; some harbored resistance and weren't so willing to cooperate with them.

After hitting a wall at one old craftsman's home after another, he was quite discouraged and lost the confidence to persistently seek them out.

In the end, it was Guben who stepped in to negotiate and persuaded the other party, facilitating the cooperation.

Together with the other old craftsmen, they jointly established a folk organization spontaneously formed by craftsmen with distinct Jinan folk cultural characteristics — the JN City Mass Art Center.

——

Hu Nainai was very happy and donated several of her meticulously cut works free of charge for display in the art center.

With the assistance of her three junior fellow disciples, Lin Xiyu was no longer panicked and at a loss like before; she regained her confidence and designed patterns.

Wang Lei assisted her, hand-drawing the designs on the scroll according to the finalized patterns.

At Guben's persuasion, Hu Nainai also accepted his assistance and was hospitalized for treatment.

The first round of chemotherapy went well; the other disciples heard the news and called one after another to express their concern, and Hu Nainai was very comforted — everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.

——

In early July, Wang Fan and Li Qing's wedding took place as scheduled.

It wasn't as spectacular as the female cousin had predicted, with sensational news of elopement and provocation flying everywhere; instead, it was bland to the point of being dull.

The two mechanically completed the ceremony, and that very evening Wang Fan sent his mistress to the United States.

Zou Yan was very smart; she understood that before she had absolute leverage, she had to avoid the limelight and not confront Li Qing head-on.

Her obedience and sensibility pleased Wang Fan greatly; he bought her a luxury mansion in the United States and left a huge sum of money sufficient for the two of them, mother and son, to live very comfortably.

Li Qing was not unaware of Zou Yan's whereabouts; however, she didn't take a mistress who originated from a secretary seriously, thinking she posed no threat to her.

Her arrogant carelessness also planted hidden dangers for future lawsuits and fighting over the family assets.

——

The wealthy family's grievances behind the grand mansion gates had nothing whatsoever to do with Lin Xiyu.

Quadruplet pregnancy is no easy matter; after four months, her belly swelled up like a balloon, and her whole body became bloated and a full circle fatter.

Her body was too heavy, walking was inconvenient, sleep was restless; turning over required someone to help support her belly before she could roll over, otherwise she would feel terribly stifled and uncomfortable.

Guben attended to her with utmost care, not daring to slacken for a moment; whenever his wife made the slightest movement while sleeping, he would instantly open his eyes and ask after her comfort.

His wife grew fat from pregnancy, and he visibly grew thin.

After five months of pregnancy, Lin Xiyu could no longer persist in drawing patterns and had to hand the matter over completely to her junior brother.

Wang Lei did not disappoint his senior sister's expectations; after ruining over a hundred sheets of paper, he finally completed the final version of the hand-drawn pattern by late July.

Hu Nainai knew in her heart that her time was short; during her hospitalization she still insisted on personally cutting and carving, using her own carving knife to pour her life's devotion into it stroke by stroke.

Liu Ang and the two junior fellow disciples took turns staying at the hospital to keep her company and assist her.

Lin Xiyu occasionally went to the hospital to visit, but more often she wanted to but lacked the strength, and had no choice but to follow the doctor's advice and stay in bed.

Days passed one by one in torment and anticipation; finally, when she reached seven full months of pregnancy, the doctor recommended a C-section, and the couple finally obtained relief.

On September 17, 2005, Lin Xiyu successfully gave birth to quadruplets at the Maternal and Child Health Hospital.