Chapter 2432: Chapter 2335: Silkworm Breeding Research Project

Seeing this, Zhang Xiaomei couldn’t help but explain for her mother:

"Mr. Zhou, my mother never does anything she’s not confident about. Since she says she can handle it, she’s certainly capable. Rest assured."

Zhou Shitao actually knew Zhang Xiuchun well. This old granny was always very reliable, never making exaggerated claims, but because the importance of this matter was too significant, he continuously confirmed to prevent any mishap.

Upon Zhang Xiaomei’s explanation, Zhou Shitao felt a bit embarrassed:

"Xiaomei girl, I’m not doubting your mother’s abilities. I’m just genuinely surprised, wanting to clarify a bit more. But since your mother says she can manage, I’m definitely convinced she can!"

Being in her sixties and still referred to as ’girl,’ this scene should be awkward in any thought, yet Zhou Shitao’s words seemed perfectly harmonious, and Zhang Xiaomei responded naturally.

Even among the surrounding archaeologists, none felt awkward but rather respected these senior experts earnestly, curious and admiring the close relationships among them.

After thoroughly checking and confirming that this case could indeed proceed, Professor Zhang finally raised her head, but she was entirely unaware of Zhou Shitao and the other professors’ attitude, merely turning to her daughter:

"Xiaomei, how is that batch of silkworm breed we asked you to cultivate earlier?"

Over there, the smile on Zhang Xiaomei’s face faded immediately. Subconsciously glancing at Zhou Shitao, feeling a bit uneasy, yet after hesitating, she raised her voice:

"Why bring this up now? It’s still under observation, not stable enough for mass production."

Zhang Xiuchun obviously interacts daily with her daughter, so even while observing her daughter’s expression, she could read what Zhang Xiaomei was saying.

Upon hearing Zhang Xiaomei’s answer, Zhang Xiuchun instinctively frowned, turning to glance at several boxes beside her, clearly feeling the situation was tricky.

Standing nearby, Zhou Shitao noticed Zhang Xiuchun suddenly mentioning silkworm breeds and could not help but inquire:

"What silkworm breeds? Does it relate to the restoration processing of this batch of Cloud Brocade?"

Zhang Xiaomei also felt puzzled, turning to relay Zhou Shitao’s inquiry to Zhang Xiuchun.

Zhang Xiuchun sighed and explained:

"Upon review, the critical aspect of restoring this batch of Cloud Brocade lies not in extracting these items—this is not a challenging task for us. The crucial parts are weaving and dyeing processes."

"You all should have seen by now, these fabrics are severely damaged and corroded. Restoring them to their original burial state is extremely difficult, even a partial recovery."

"Our objective is to complete and repair the damaged portions. However, supplementing requires using original silk, or at least silk similar in quality to the original Cloud Brocade silk."

"Yet genetic changes pose a significant challenge. The current silkworm breeds in the textile industry are substantially different from those a thousand years ago."

"Genetic drift, mutation, coupled with changes in environment and mulberry leaf quality, have led to an evolved state in today’s silkworm breeds; the silk quality compared with silkworm breeds from over a thousand years ago is vastly different."

"Modern processes producing silkworm breeds and silk, although achieved in mass-production, cannot compare in texture with the past."

Zhou Shitao now somewhat understood; thinking of Zhang Xiuchun’s question to Zhang Xiaomei about silkworm breeds, a realization struck him, staring in disbelief at the mother-daughter duo:

"So, you’re cultivating original silkworm breeds to recreate silk fabrics from over a thousand years ago?!"

Don’t blame Zhou Shitao for being so astonished, it was simply unbelievable—Zhang Xiuchun, specializing in archaeological embroidery, suddenly crossing into bioscience research! This was absurd! What could they possibly achieve?

However, no sign of embarrassment was evident in Zhang Xiuchun and Zhang Xiaomei’s expressions in response to Zhou Shitao’s shock; the mother and daughter faced Zhou Shitao’s scrutiny openly.

"Mr. Zhou, you’ve forgotten, I studied at MIT, majoring in bioengineering."

Zhou Shitao now realized, laughing a bit awkwardly but still feeling incredulous:

"But how did you two come up with researching this?"

Zhang Xiaomei laughed:

"It was inspiration inadvertently sparked by my mum’s complaint while I was at university. Once, while embroidering Xiang embroidery, she suddenly sighed midway, stating current silk quality is far inferior to the silk of the Meditation Robe unearthed from the Han Tomb at Mawangdui."

"At that moment, I found this perplexing. Modern silk spinning technology should be far more advanced than during the Han Dynasty—the mechanical modernisation, could it be that products now are poorer than those from over a thousand years ago?"

"Then my mom explained, pointing out how environmental changes and the impact of mulberry leaves greatly influence cocoon formation, possibly implying silkworms from over a thousand years ago differed from those today."

"That got me thinking about researching original silkworm breed genetics."

"But being young, I barely scratched the surface of genetics at first. Later, when I went to Boston and met my mentor, I gradually refined this concept."

"My mum also supported my research concept, so over the years I’ve dedicated myself to this study. Now, the research project is more than halfway through, but achieving mass production might take more time."

Filled with astonishment and sentiment, Zhou Shitao couldn’t help but give Zhang Xiaomei a thumbs-up:

"I always thought your mother was a legendary woman, but now it seems you are equally remarkable. If this project results in fruitful research, it would be tremendous news for the archaeology realm!"

Zhang Xiaomei, however, lacked Zhou Shitao’s optimism. A trace of worry flashed in her eyes, and she sighed:

"Yet the research now faces a bottleneck, it’s uncertain whether the project can fully mature. The silkworm breeds we cultivated previously encountered issues during the final cocoon formation. It’s incredibly challenging to weave silk fabrics of similar quality, let alone mass production; the path is still long and arduous."

Rather than feel dispirited, Zhou Shitao lightly patted Zhang Xiaomei’s shoulder, encouragingly:

"No matter, failure is the mother of success. Research and projects inherently require overcoming immense hardships to achieve success; it’s impossible to accomplish everything in one swift move. Maintaining patience is essential for breaking through and ultimately achieving progress."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.