When the first wisp of plum blossom fragrance from Mount Zhongnan drifted through the lattice window of the Yi School, Zhang Yifan was using abacus beads to teach Huwa how to deduce the principle of "things flourish and then grow old" from the Tao Te Ching. Huwa's carving knife chiseled a statue of Laozi holding an abacus bead onto a bamboo slip, with the eyes of the abacus bead gazing at the trailing stroke of the word "old," looking just like a walking cane.
"Things flourish and then grow old. It is just like an apricot tree that is too robust and ends up infested with worms," Zhang Yifan's abacus beads bounced into the character for 'worm' across the apricot tree carved by Huwa. "If a Daoist temple becomes too prosperous, it also needs to guard against restlessness—Daoist Master, how do you suppose we should 'cure this restlessness'?"
Daoist Master Yuqing's whisk swept across the abacus beads on the lectern, the cloud patterns on her grey robe overlapping with the abacus bead patterns, resembling a painting titled 'The Joint Prosperity of Dao and Commerce.'
Chapter 129