Chapter 19: Fire-Resistant Flower
Chapter 19: Fire-Resistant Flower
Luo Wendi’s father-in-law, Liang Zhen, was one of the current standing committee members of the provincial committee.
Every month, Luo Wendi visited him and never brought anything tricky, only giving flowers and plants as gifts.
The Danmu that Bai Ge sold to Luo Wendi was delivered here by him right away.
Liang Zhen loved flowers very deeply, but when he first saw the Danmu, he didn’t recognize what it was.
It was not until Luo Wendi explained it using the original words from the Classic of Mountains and Seas that he suddenly understood.
“A magical flower from the Classic of Mountains and Seas! Does such a beautiful and strange flower truly exist in the world?” Liang Zhen couldn’t take his eyes off it, and after looking at it again and again, he said angrily.
“Who planted this? It’s totally wrong to do so! The roots and stems of this flower are thick and long; how could they fit in such a small pot?”
Liang Zhen didn’t pay attention to Luo Wendi. He quickly picked up the pot and went to the yard to fix it himself.
Noticing Liang Zhen liked it so much, Luo Wendi didn’t disturb him and quietly followed him.
After a while, Liang Zhen made the Danmu much neater and sat nearby happily admiring it.
“Xiao Luo, where did you get this flower?” Finally asked, Luo Wendi quickly replied, “I picked it myself from Shennongjia. I saw how special this flower was and knew you would like it…”
“You picked it yourself? No wonder it looks so messy,” Liang Zhen said with a pout.
Luo Wendi gave an embarrassed laugh; he knew nothing about flowers.
As he talked, Liang Zhen brought out a book from the room. After turning a few pages, his eyes brightened.
“Round leaves and red stem, yellow flowers and red fruit. Its taste is sweet like candy, eating it ends hunger, and it can resist fire.”
“It really is Danmu, just like the record… and it looks so lovely.” Liang Zhen smiled all over his face, liking it very much.
But then he sighed and said, “What a shame it’s so precious. This flower shouldn’t be kept by me.”
Hearing this, Luo Wendi wasn’t shocked.
If the flower was just ordinary and beautiful, it would be fine for Liang Zhen to keep it himself if he liked it.
But it was Danmu.
This flower wasn’t only nice-looking; it also had history meaning, culture meaning, and even research worth.
With all kinds of extra values piled on, and it might be the only one in the world, it made it a treasure without price.
A flower like this should clearly go to experts.
Luo Wendi got this point and said himself, “Shall we send it to the Chinese Academy of Sciences instead?”
Liang Zhen looked at the flower for a moment with sadness and nodded yes.
He picked up the phone and called his helper.
Soon after, the Danmu was taken to the Wuhan Botanical Garden.
About where the flower came from, whenever people asked, Luo Wendi always said he picked it himself.
In his mind, even though this flower was strange and rare, as long as he stuck to saying only one flower grew where he picked it, no one could show his lie was fake.
The title of the first person to find Danmu naturally went to him too.
Luo Wendi was glad about this. Over the next few days, he was often asked to visit different research groups at the botanical garden.
He bragged about how he found the Danmu, how he kept it safe and brought it here, and finally gave it quickly to the nation.
Leaders also praised what he did over and over.
This story was soon told by the news. When a picture of Danmu got out, it drew more notice.
For a little while, this flower became super famous. Its lovely looks mixed with the fame of the Classic of Mountains and Seas made its picture get shared millions of times in a short span!
The Capital suddenly got worried and sent an expert group.
What’s more, many scholars who study the Classic of Mountains and Seas, and old maps of places, rushed there too.
Everybody wanted news about this flower. On the web, guesses flew everywhere about what was true.
Especially about the fire-resisting thing from the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
Was it actually real? Did Danmu really have its own special bits?
If yes, could this be called a fantasy plant? Was it new proof for all the Classic of Mountains and Seas tales that couldn’t be tested before?
Researchers loaded with doubts started studying the Danmu.
The results of their study weren’t known outside.
But inside the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it caused a huge stir!
Luo Wendi, who was nearly ready to go back to Xiangfan City, was invited there again.
“Amazing flower! Such an amazing flower! Did you find it in Shennongjia? Exactly where? Hurry up and guide us!” Many Researchers with PhDs asked Luo Wendi eagerly.
Luo Wendi felt a bit lost and said, “What’s wrong? I’m sure there was only one plant where I spotted it.”
“It’s not about one plant or two plants! We must check where it normally lives! Do you know what we found when we tested the plant cells from that sample?” a Researcher said.
“What?”
“Heat resistance! Cell setup from that red fruit was super weird. The sample in the lab could handle heat up to 1,500 degrees! That’s like when iron melts!”
Hearing this, Luo Wendi froze right there.
The Researcher also said, “The old-time folk didn’t lie to us! Even burning Danmu with fire won’t harm it a bit! No wonder the Classic of Mountains and Seas says you can ‘eat it to resist fire’!”
Luo Wendi asked, “So the flower just doesn’t burn; eating it lets people shoot fire?”
The Researcher shook his head and said, “Who told you it has to shoot fire? But Danmu bits can mix with human cells. We think that if a person takes in Danmu fruit, their skin gets a layer of heat-shield stuff. It really blocks fire well!”
“People in old times often made things bigger, saying it helped against fire. Really, they just meant this flower could block fire. Maybe they loved the flower too much, thinking eating it stopped fire, but that mightn’t be true.”
To say it simply, if old folks told small lies or boasted, today people are okay with it.
At least they didn’t make stuff up from nowhere. Danmu truly doesn’t fear fire. So it was fine for ancient folk to dream that eating it guarded against fire. Perhaps eating to resist fire meant eating to block fire?
But while ancient people could be excused, Luo Wendi was stuck now.
Where it lived? He had no idea!
If the flowers were only neat to see, with history and culture meaning, he could just pick any spot to say.
But now, Danmu’s science use mattered more than all else. The whole job was far from before!
If Luo Wendi lied and the truth came out later, the bad result for him would be too big.
Everybody thought he picked the flower. He couldn’t just back off now and say, “Honestly, it wasn’t me.”
He had told his lie far too long—it was stuck like on a tiger’s back. Even his father-in-law trusted he found the Danmu and told him to aid the Chinese Academy of Sciences in going to look at the place.
“When do we leave?” Luo Wendi asked with gloom.
“Soon as possible!”
Luo Wendi nodded, remembering the real finder of the Danmu.
He had no other plan. At this point, he had to go to Bai Ge.
In the evening, Chen Song drove Bai Ge to the Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan.
Luo Wendi personally stood at the door waiting, and when he saw Bai Ge, he smiled broadly.
This smile allowed Chen Song to relax.
“Mr. Luo, I’ve brought Bai Ge.
”“Good, good, thanks to you, I didn’t expect you to come so soon. I’ll invite you for tea sometime, but I have business tonight, sorry,” Luo Wendi said politely.
Chen Song immediately felt satisfied; what he wanted was Luo Wendi’s connection, and for this, he had spent a hundred thousand yuan. At this moment, hearing Luo Wendi say he would invite him for tea, he didn’t feel it was a loss.
Luo Wendi exchanged a few more polite words and sent Chen Song away.
This was a research center, and unauthorized people couldn’t enter.
Even Luo Wendi was alone; he led the way and brought Bai Ge into a certain lounge.
Before Luo Wendi could ask, Bai Ge proactively said, “I’ve brought the photo. I don’t have a close-up photo, but it can tell you the location.
”“Good!” Luo Wendi didn’t expect Bai Ge to be so accommodating and immediately invited Bai Ge into the room.
They sat facing each other on the sofa, and Bai Ge handed the photo over.
Luo Wendi looked at it, opened Google Maps for a detailed comparison, and memorized that place.
“Do you actually know why I’m looking for you?” Luo Wendi asked.
Bai Ge said, “If you’re familiar with my profession, you should know I like to be fully prepared. Although we agreed that you wouldn’t look for me again about the flower, I was prepared for you to break your word.”
When he mentioned breaking his word, Luo Wendi felt a bit awkward.
But he argued sophistically, “Don’t we have a paper agreement?”
After saying this, he changed the subject himself: “What’s unusual about this place?”
Bai Ge shook his head and said, “There’s nothing unusual.”
“Huh? Then why did you strongly try to distance yourself back then?” Luo Wendi asked.
“This flower matches the records of Danmu exactly, just as you said, it’s a priceless treasure. I just don’t want to become famous; after all, my profession isn’t so honorable,” Bai Ge said.
“Oh, I see,” Luo Wendi felt somewhat disappointed.
He didn’t doubt what Bai Ge said because he never expected that the flower could be artificially created.
“Sigh, such an ordinary place actually grows such a marvelous flower.
”Luo Wendi looked troubled, as if he hadn’t expected the flower’s growing environment to be so ordinary.
Bai Ge asked, “What’s wrong? Why must there be something unusual?”
Luo Wendi said, “You don’t know this, but research has found that this flower has extremely high heat resistance; it can withstand temperatures of fifteen hundred degrees Celsius. And those who eat the fruit likely also have this ability, but the exact effect still requires live experiments.
”“What? Fifteen hundred degrees? Can one breathe fire after eating it?” Bai Ge said, looking ‘surprised.
‘This was clearly faked; in fact, he had anticipated it long ago.
When creating Danmu long ago, he only provided a general setup; it was Ling Dang who specifically created it.
Among the various minor settings, there was one: Fire Avoidance. Danmu’s ignition point is between fifteen hundred fifty and sixteen hundred fifty degrees, and those who consume it also possess such resistance.
Only this one was realized, while others probably weren’t, because he only lost forty pounds originally after all.
So Bai Ge wasn’t really surprised inside.
But seeing Bai Ge look surprised, Luo Wendi explained, “That’s why it’s a marvelous flower! The Chinese Academy of Sciences believes such a marvelous flower must have a unique growing environment.”
Bai Ge smiled and said, “Actually, you don’t need to ask me at all. You could just make up a place arbitrarily and say it has nothing unusual.”
Luo Wendi said regretfully, “Do you really think I don’t know that?”
“This flower is far more precious than I imagined! If I wanted to make something up, why would I bother asking you? Taking them to the real growing environment is also contributing to the country.”
Bai Ge understood; after all, Danmu was surprisingly precious, and Luo Wendi didn’t want to fabricate its origin. He intended to tell the Chinese Academy of Sciences the real location, which was reasonable.
Upon thinking carefully, Luo Wendi actually instinctively had a heart to serve the country.
Otherwise, he could have completely invented something to conceal the truth.
“What do you plan to do?” Bai Ge asked.
“What else can I do? Just take them there. Anyway, the research is their business; whether they believe it or not is up to them. What can they do to me?” Luo Wendi said.
Bai Ge smiled; this was exactly the result he was hoping for.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave,”
as he said this, Bai Ge was about to leave.
Suddenly, a sharp bell rang, and the research center of the botanical garden immediately became noisy.
Luo Wendi ran out of the lounge in surprise, and Bai Ge followed.
Immediately afterward, a voice was heard shouting in the dim garden, “Thief!”
“Someone has snatched Danmu away!”