Chapter 67: The Five Declines of Heaven and Man (Three)

  Seeing people finally gone, Song Wen hurriedly took out a copper mirror and shone it at the old potted plum blossom.

  The thoughts in her mind moved, but the copper mirror did not pass through her body transparently and enter the ground. Instead, it clearly reflected the inner scene of Laozhuang's dried plum.

  At closer inspection, it's a pitiful sight.

  In the trunk, the vitality is dull. The original vitality that should have been flowing was completely gone. Moreover, at the bottom of the old stump, a hole had actually been corroded out, and the roots were rotten, with only a few having any vitality, compared to the old Osmanthus tree he had cured, it was unknown how many times more desolate.

  His method of treating trees is nothing more than using the water from a Ruyi fan or hanging an IV bottle on the tree like giving glucose to a patient, which can't really cure the tree. Now looking at this old potted plum blossom, I'm not confident at all.

  Shook his head involuntarily.

  Actually, if you think about it carefully, what he said earlier about the five declines of heaven and man isn't entirely nonsense.

  "When a person is about to die, his words are good." However, "When a person is about to die, his body declines."

  When a person is about to die of old age, various symptoms will appear in his body. The same is true with trees.

  When a person's fortune is exhausted and their lifespan comes to an end, scenes of decline will naturally appear, such as the body naturally discharging some invisible impurities, hair becoming withered, armpits sweating suddenly, giving off a foul odor, and even feeling disgusted with things that were normally liked. All these are manifestations of the five declines of heaven and man.

  When a tree dies, the five declines are almost the same: the veins of the leaves wither and fall off; water loss makes it look like a dry corpse; vitality is dull, like rotten wood; the roots rot, and the vital energy gradually disappears; the heart of the tree is dry and lifeless.

  Song Wen was carefully examining the old potted plum blossom with a copper mirror when he suddenly heard a noise from behind, and hastily put away the copper mirror.

  Turning his head, he saw Chi Wan-nian and others surrounding an old man who had just come out.

  The old man's hair was white and sparse, his body thin and frail, his eyebrows furrowed in worry, and a sorrowful expression on his face, as if something was weighing heavily on his mind.

  The old man was Qiao Sheng, who had heard Huang Xiaojun say that he had found someone who could cure the tree and insisted on coming out to take a look.

  Coming up close, Chi Qiao Sheng shook off the hand of Chi Wan Nian who was supporting him and grabbed Song Wen, anxiously asking: "Young man, can this bonsai be cured?"

  In his eyes, just like Qin Fu before, were full of expectation, full of hope, and with a hint of prayer.

  "This... I..."

  Song Wen didn't know what to say either. Huang Xiaojun looked at him and hastily made eye contact, also not knowing what she wanted to say.

  Song Wen glanced at her, but didn't know what she wanted to say. However, looking at the old man's withered body like a dead tree, if he said there was no way to cure him, he might go see his ancestors tomorrow, and then his sin would be great. But if he let himself say that this tree could be cured, it would also be too difficult for him.

  Looking at the old man's eager eyes with hope.

  Helpless, Song Wen could only force himself to say: "I can..."

  We must leave some hope in the hearts of the elderly.

  The people around him breathed a sigh of relief. Whether it was true or not that he could cure the disease, they had to comfort the old man first.

  "But..." Song Wen continued.

  Everyone's heart was lifted up, and at this time, Qiao Sheng could no longer withstand any more stimulation.

  "But how?" Qiao Sheng hastily asked.

  "But this old thing can't be treated here, it has to be taken back to my home."

  "Take it away?" Qiao Sheng hesitated this time, this potted landscape had accompanied him for a lifetime and had never left his side, this time...

  However, seeing the nearly dead bonsai, Qi Jiao Sheng finally agreed with a heavy heart, and then asked: "How long will it take to cure?"

  "A month should be enough!" Song Wen thought for a moment before saying, if it can be cured, a month is more than enough.

  "A month? That's too fast! At least a year." Chi Wan Nian said beside him.

  He thought that if he could drag it out a bit longer, his old man's body might be cured.

  "What year is it? I think at least two years." Qin Fu also said.

  "One year, one year I've been in a coffin already, you're coming to collect the body for me!" Chi Qiao Sheng shouted at his son.

  Chi Wan Nian was scolded until he was covered in dog blood, but his eyes glanced sideways at Qin Fu, who had been saying for two years that nothing would happen.

  Who made him someone else's son? The persimmon has to be pinched soft, his old friend Qi Jiao Sheng knows that if he scolds him, he will hit people.

  Scolded his son, handed the old bonsai pot to Song Wen. Chi Qiao Sheng felt a bit overwhelmed and walked in with the support of his son and daughter-in-law.

  "Why don't you say one or two years? Maybe Grandpa can rest assured and get treated then." Huang Xiaojun didn't follow up, but instead complained to Song Wen on the side.

  Song Wen's eyebrows jumped, and he thought to himself: So these people were actually planning this all along, they weren't genuinely trying to save the tree. It had all been a waste of his effort.

  "Alright, alright, let's just leave it at that. But young man, can you really cure this old rheumatism of mine within a month?"

  Qin Fu didn't follow him in either, and instead asked uncertainly from the side.

  "It should be okay!" Song Wenyong said, he wasn't very confident either.

  "Grandfather Qin, Song Wen had previously cured a nearly dead old Osmanthus tree like this one before, it should be possible." Huang Xiaojun said.

  "Alright, you take it back and try, if it doesn't work, think of another way."

  After all, Qin Fu still didn't believe that Song Wen could plant the tree well. Not to mention him, even Song Wen himself was not confident.

  Qin Fu then chatted with Huang Xiaojun for a while and invited her to visit his home when she was free, before getting on the bus and leaving.

  Seeing that there was nothing else to be done, Huang Xiaojun went in to bid farewell to Chi Wan Nian and the others who were still taking care of Qi Qiao Sheng, then took Song Wen and carried Xiang Mei away.

  .............

  The car kept moving forward, the trees on both sides constantly retreating, like a silent movie scene, flashing by in an instant.

  The car window was open, and the wind whistled in, blowing Huang Xiaojun's beautiful hair into a dance.

  The car was silent, with no one speaking, a moment of stillness.

  Song Wen glanced at her and thought to himself, "Isn't she cold?"

  "Sorry, I shouldn't have called you over." Huang Xiaojun said.

  "Why did you say that?" Song Wen asked in puzzlement.

  "This old plum blossom tree has actually been seen by many gardening experts, and they all say it can't be saved. I originally wanted you to take a look, if it could be saved then save it, if not then forget it, didn't expect Grandpa to react like that."

  "The elderly are always particularly nervous about things they like."

  "Don't worry! Take it back and try to fix it. If you can't, it's no big deal. I'll just find someone to buy a similar one and fool them into thinking it's the same."

  "He can't find it."

  "What's the use of finding out? Drag it out for a while, and maybe his body will recover. After all, plants are used to vent emotions, who knows, after he recovers, he might not care anymore, or maybe he'll fall in love with someone else?"

  So many things are uncertain. Is she having a change of heart and falling in love with someone else? Song Wen glanced at her, his mouth curling up into a faint smile, thinking to himself that Huang Xiaojun was truly too talented.

  "What's so funny?" Huang Xiaojun looked at him laughing and asked strangely.

  "What's going on?" Song Wen hastily shut his mouth and said with a pretence of nonchalance.

  Huang Xiaojun looked at him suspiciously, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary, so she ignored him and carefully started the car.