Heavenly Dipper Bracelet

Gu Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

He never imagined that the trees in the forest behind the village would be Small-leaf Sandalwood. He remembered that villagers would chop branches and twigs from that forest to use as firewood for cooking.

"No wonder the steamed buns had a faint fragrance, it turns out they were burning Small-leaf Sandalwood for fuel," Gu Zhao mused, stroking his chin. "Were ancient emperors this extravagant?"

Thinking of this, Gu Zhao's eyes lit up.

"I remember the furniture we make doesn't use Small-leaf Sandalwood, right?" Gu Zhao asked.

Gu Qi replied irritably, "Small-leaf Sandalwood? Why don't you use Huanghuali then?"

Seeing Gu Zhao's rare interest in their family business, Gu Qi explained, "Small-leaf Sandalwood and Huanghuali are too expensive and rare. We have to fight to get them. We do make them, but mostly as decorative pieces sold with other furniture. Occasionally, a piece of furniture made from them is a showpiece.

Now, the materials we use for furniture are imported. We mainly use Black Dalbergia, Big-fruit Dalbergia, as well as Red Rosewood and Black Rosewood."

"I remember there's also Chicken-wing Wood and Huali Wood," Gu Zhao asked. "Is there a big difference between Huali Wood and Huanghuali?"

"Goldfish and sharks are both fish, do you think there's a big difference?" Gu Qi shook his head. "Chicken-wing Wood and Huali Wood are cheap materials, used for affordable furniture. We don't use those."

"Oh." Gu Zhao nodded as if he understood, then asked a question that almost made Gu Qi jump. "What if I could find a way to get a large supply of Small-leaf Sandalwood?"

Gu Qi looked at Gu Zhao, his gaze intense, then asked, "You haven't sent them any money yet, have you?"

Gu Zhao, "..."

"And they didn't lure you abroad to Siam, the Shan State, or India, did they?" Gu Qi's eyes were filled with worry. The Gu family had only had one son for two generations, and he only had this one son.

Gu Zhao was speechless. "Are you so sure I'm being scammed?"

"Whether it's Huanghuali or Small-leaf Sandalwood, they've always been in short supply. The suppliers are fixed, and there are rarely new buyers," Gu Qi said. "Unless you pay a higher price, newcomers can't get the goods."

"If someone tells you they can provide a large quantity of Small-leaf Sandalwood, don't hesitate, they're 100% a scammer," Gu Qi stated confidently.

Gu Zhao chuckled. With a shift in thought, he suddenly asked, "Do we have machines for making beads at the factory?"

"Yes, we sell bracelets too, of course, we have machines," Gu Qi asked. "What, you want to try your hand at it? I remember you didn't like these things before."

Gu Zhao nodded. "I like them now. Can you take me around tomorrow?"

"Sure." Gu Qi readily agreed. It was their family business, and he was very pleased that Gu Zhao was showing interest. "We'll go to the office tomorrow. We still have some stock at the factory. I'll pick out a piece of Small-leaf Sandalwood for you, and Dad will personally make you a string of beads."

Gu Zhao asked, "Can I carve on the beads?"

"Of course, but it's best not to carve. The natural grain of Small-leaf Sandalwood is already very beautiful," Gu Qi said. "Whatever you carve would be superfluous."

"I want to carve a Heavenly Dipper Talisman on the beads," Gu Zhao said, sitting up straight, a little excited. "Just a shallow layer, and then I'll fill it with Cinnabar!"

Gu Qi looked at Gu Zhao with a speechless expression. "If you want to carve a Magic Artifact, why not use Peach Wood or Jujube Wood? Why must it be Small-leaf Sandalwood?"

"Do we have Peach Wood and Jujube Wood at the factory?" Gu Zhao asked.

Honestly, he was also curious why Taoist wooden magic artifacts generally used Peach Wood and Jujube Wood. Were these two types of wood really different from other woods?

If possible, he also wanted to try making magic artifacts with Peach Wood and Jujube Wood versus Small-leaf Sandalwood to see the difference.

"Of course not," Gu Qi shook his head. "We don't do business with religious magic artifacts. If you want to use Peach Wood, Old Li next door makes solid wood furniture. We have Walnut Wood at the factory, will that do?"

Gu Zhao lay back on the sofa. "A Siberian Tiger and your Land Rover are both tigers, why don't you make do with a Siberian Tiger?"

"Hey!?" Gu Qi raised an eyebrow.

Just then, Li Man and the nanny came out of the kitchen with food. "Dinner's ready!"

The next day, Thursday.

Li Man went to inspect several stores, while Gu Qi took Gu Zhao to the furniture factory located in the suburbs.

Besides the office and workshop, the largest area of the factory was the warehouse, divided into a raw materials warehouse and a finished goods warehouse.

Gu Qi greeted the masters with Gu Zhao, then took him around the warehouse. Finally, in a small, card-access-only storeroom at the back of the raw materials warehouse, he retrieved a piece of Small-leaf Sandalwood.

"It's that secure?" Gu Zhao asked.

"The wood in this small room alone is worth more than all the wood outside. Do you think we need to be this careful?" Gu Qi held a piece of wood and walked with Gu Zhao towards the workshop.

Gu Zhao thought about what he had seen in that small storeroom. There wasn't much, and it looked like ordinary wood. He couldn't tell that this was the king of woods, Huanghuali and Small-leaf Sandalwood.

"If you want to play around, there's Huangtan and Black Rosewood over there. Feel free to handle them."

Arriving at the workshop, Gu Qi pointed to some leftover scraps. These would be made into small pendants or other items, either given away or sold. He didn't forbid the factory workers from occasionally taking some.

However, Gu Zhao wasn't interested. "I'll just watch you make beads. How many strings can these make?"

"Didn't you say you wanted to make two strings? One for me and one for your mom," Gu Qi grumbled. "You're asking me to make something to give to you?"

"But I'll draw talismans and consecrate them for you!" Gu Zhao said righteously. "I've achieved success in my cultivation with my grandfather. Consecrated magic artifacts can grant you a long life and keep you free from illness!"

Gu Qi chuckled, but didn't say anything.

As people from the vicinity of Yangcheng, and close to Hong Kong, they were all somewhat superstitious about feng shui and destiny. This was one of the reasons why Gu Qi and his wife never objected to Gu Zhao cultivating with his grandfather and occasionally acting mysteriously.

Now that Gu Zhao was earnestly talking about drawing talismans and consecration, Gu Qi thought of it as a good thing and a child's filial piety, so he no longer argued.

It was just a piece of Small-leaf Sandalwood!

After that, Gu Qi didn't ask for help from the workers. Apart from occasionally letting Gu Zhao lend a hand, he handled everything himself.

Cutting, drilling, polishing...

After all the beads were meticulously polished, Gu Qi picked up three of them. "Only one bead needs to be carved for each bracelet, right?"

"Yes," Gu Zhao nodded repeatedly. Then he took out a Heavenly Dipper Talisman and spread it out, saying, "Two is fine."

Gu Qi didn't say anything. He glanced at the talisman, put on his glasses, and sat down with the beads to start carving.

Gu Zhao came over to watch and saw Gu Qi using the small hole as the horizontal axis, holding a small knife and changing positions on the bead's surface. Lines quickly appeared on the surface of the bead.

A moment later, a Heavenly Dipper Talisman took shape, perfectly forming a circle on the bead's surface and filling it. At first glance, it looked like the bead was covered in Taoist runes, exuding a mysterious artistic beauty.

"It looks amazing!" Gu Zhao exclaimed.

"I've formally apprenticed and learned the craft," Gu Qi said proudly. "Yin-Yang line carving, relief carving, flat carving, round carving. Your simple sandalwood incised line carving is too easy!"

"Dad's awesome! Now it's my turn!"

As Gu Zhao spoke, he took out the cinnabar and brush he had prepared from his backpack. With a gentle dip, he began to draw the talisman. At the same time, mana flowed within him, injected into the cinnabar through the brush, and then merged into the sandalwood bead.

The father and son cooperated with tacit understanding and quickly finished the three beads with Heavenly Dipper Talismans drawn on them. They were then strung together with the other beads to make three bracelets.

"Three bracelets?" Gu Zhao asked.

"You get one!" Gu Qi replied irritably.

Gu Zhao chuckled, "Is that it?"

Gu Qi nodded. "Just one last polish, and they're done."

Feeling the faint spiritual energy emanating from the three bracelets, Gu Zhao was also exhilarated. These bracelets used a lot of cinnabar, making their effect even better than Heavenly Dipper Talismans drawn on yellow paper.

The Heavenly Dipper Bracelets were complete!