Volume 1: Who's New Swallow Pecks at Spring Mud Chapter 14: Skilled Craftsman (Part 2)

  Taking advantage of Qi Ge's busy work, Shen Mo walked to the front of the two county lieutenants and asked in a low voice: "I don't know when the next trial will be held?" That Wang Lao Hu had already stormed off, without even leaving a word.

  County Magistrate Zhang looked at Shen Mo with increasing fondness, and smiled: "Tomorrow at Chen time, let's meet at the Shanyin dock. Wang Guifa will announce the next question." He said with a smile as gentle as a daisy: "Don't be late again, okay?"

  "Definitely, definitely."

  Unconsciously, more than half of the time had passed, but no one said, "You're outdated." They stared at those hands in a daze. Under those ten rough fingers, gold was as obedient as dough, allowing the craftsman to shape it into various forms at will. Gradually, everyone saw that he was going to make a pair of golden hairpins, but what they looked like exactly would have to wait and see.

  After a long time, he finally let out a sigh of relief, put down the carving knife and scissors in his hand, and said tiredly: "A pair of golden hairpins with double lotus and longevity patterns, please take a look, young master." Someone presented a blue velvet tray, gently placed the pair of gold hairpins on it, and sent them to Shen Mo and the two county magistrates.

  Three people looked intently, and saw that the top of the golden hairpin was a plum blossom with delicate petals and stamens. On the center of the flower stood a pair of lifelike phoenix birds, one holding a longevity fruit in its beak, and the other holding a square victory sign. The bodies and wings of these two phoenix birds had beautiful layered patterns, just like real feathers, and on their tails grew several elegant long tail feathers, which set off the nobility of the pair of phoenix birds.

  This pair of mandarin ducks stand on the stamens, and as soon as the crest moves slightly, they can quiver at any time, as if they are about to fly high, which can be called a masterpiece.

  The three of them were in a state of ecstasy for a while, and then let the common people come up one by one to admire. The onlookers all sighed in admiration, and praised with reverence. Even those craftsmen who saw it couldn't help but stretch out their thumbs and praise: "Truly divine skill!" Although this work was not unusual in the eyes of several big masters, they were all unable to complete such a delicate task in such a short period of time.

  One of the big men with a serious expression said: "Your technique seems to be from the Imperial Court of the Former Song Dynasty."

  Seventh Brother nodded awkwardly and said, "Our ancestors once made a phoenix crown for the empress of Huizong."

  At this moment, people couldn't help but gasp in shock. Who would have thought that he was actually a descendant of a national hero...? Only then did they remember to ask: "May I ask your surname and given name?"

  "My surname is Tian, I've long forgotten my original name, just call me Tian Qi." said Seventh Brother in a low voice.

  "Seven Brother, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"

  "Later on, the Song Dynasty moved south, and our family became slaves of a fallen nation. Our craftsmanship gradually declined, and it's really shameful to think about it now." Seventh Brother said with his head hung low.

  He nodded silently and smiled, "Let's see how the bottle is doing?" As he spoke, he lifted the black cloth covering the bottle, and the slender-necked crystal bottle had indeed turned a uniform golden yellow.

  Seventh Brother used his little fingernail to press the gold paper on the inner wall of the bottle flat and even, and it was done. Shen Mo handed the bottle over to everyone, and they saw that the gold paper was tightly attached to the inside of the bottle, without any gaps.

  The craftsmen were thoroughly convinced and everyone asked in surprise: "What kind of material is this?"

  Seventh brother couldn't say it, so he had to ask Shen Mo for help. Shen Mo nodded and smiled: "This kind of glassware is very fragile and easily broken. How can you let hard objects hammer on it? Only mercury is soft and heavy, entering the bottle and shaking will not damage the glass, and can perfectly stick the gold foil on the bottle wall, and generate a thin layer of tenacious gold amalgam on the inner wall, which can not only support the gold foil from deforming and falling off, but also neutralize the toxicity of mercury." As he spoke, he tapped the golden bottle: "Although it will slightly corrode the inside of the gold foil, it still looks perfect from the outside."

  With this matter settled, the two county lieutenants had satisfied their curiosity and made an appointment with Shen Mo to meet again the next day before dispersing.

  Shen Mo and Shen Jing helped Tian Qi pick up the things, also wanting to leave. Who knew that several merchant-like people came over and asked if this bottle and that hairpin were for sale? Shen Mo let Tian Qi take out these things, wasn't it just to borrow some of the excitement? They had to strike while the iron was hot, taking advantage of this enthusiasm to sell them at a good price.

  After haggling over the price, the vase was finally sold for three taels and three mace, a pair of gold hairpins were bought for five taels and seven mace, totaling nine taels of gold.

  After one hand handed over the money and the other hand handed over the goods, with a huge sum of money in their pockets, the three men got on the car with satisfaction, embarking on the journey back to their hometown.

  All the way, Shen Qing laughed and Tian Qi just smiled. After deducting the cost of four taels of gold, they made a profit of five taels of gold. Five taels of gold is equivalent to forty taels of silver! What a huge sum of money!

  Next is the time for dividing the spoils.

  "Shen Mo smiled and said: 'This money will be split between Shen Jing and me, with each of us taking half. Seventh Brother, you take the other half yourself.'"

  Tian Qi hastily shook his head and said: "Can't be used, can't be used, I don't want any of it."

  "This is all Seventh Brother's craftsmanship, you should take the lead." Shen Mo shook his head and smiled.

  "Go ahead and accept it, aren't you thinking of opening a small shop? Use this as the capital, and persisting for a few months won't be a problem." Shen Jing also smiled: "With your craftsmanship, plus the signboard that was put up today, there's no worry about not being able to operate!"

  This was Tian Qi's long-cherished wish, but he was no longer moved. He said very seriously: "Young Master gave me a chance to start anew, this is more precious than thousands of gold and silver. If I still want to be greedy for money, it would be better for me to die by hitting my head against the wall!" His resolute expression made Shen Jing look at him with new eyes.

  Chen Mo knew what kind of person he was, and with a wry smile said: "But we haven't done anything, it's really embarrassing to receive this."

  "Since we're all feeling uneasy about taking this money." Shen Jingwei thought for a moment, then clapped his hands and said: "Alright, let's put all the money into the gambling den and bet on ourselves winning. If we win, we'll split the profits; if we lose, we'll just forget about it."

  "Good!" Shen Mo also applauded and said: "Now everyone can rest assured."

  "What if I lose?" Tian Qi asked timidly: "I mean just in case."

  "Can't we take a little risk?" Shen Mo laughed: "Anyway, we've already invested ten taels of silver, might as well have some fun!" Originally having nothing to begin with, losing would only mean going back to the starting point... This is the typical thinking of a carefree bachelor.

  "What's ten liang? I've already placed five liang, all of which were invested in Da Fa." Shen Jing was shocked and said: "You bet again?"

  "No. I don't have any silver left." Shen Mo was silent for a moment before saying, "I heard County Magistrate Hou say that Shan Yin Xing Fa also received five taels of bets? I thought you added three more taels yourself."

  "I left those two taels behind." Shen Jing furrowed his brow and said, "I'm afraid that if we lose, we can still have a good meal to comfort ourselves."

  "It turns out someone had high hopes for us before..." The only thought was that Shen Mo was silently incredulous, saying: "Who has such foresight?"

  Shen Jing almost fell off his seat and smiled wryly, saying: "Tian Qi, you saw that, right? If we're talking about having a thick face, I still can't compare to Shen Mo."

  But Tian Qi said very seriously: "I think what young master said is right, that person just has too much discerning eye."

  "Why has no one ever spoken up for me?" Shen Jing cried out in anguish.

  Across from the Huigui Phoenix Building is the Tianxiang Pavilion of Shanyin. The two wine buildings have the same height and layout, but differ in their internal style, one elegant and the other luxurious. Perhaps it's because different flowers enter different eyes, both shops are doing very well.

  It's already late, but many people today lingered to watch the excitement and missed their meal time. As a result, the hall is still filled with diners. People are eating while discussing loudly, the topic always revolving around what they saw and heard earlier, and they can't help but repeatedly exclaim in delight, savoring the wonderful details of the occasion over wine.

  In a corner of the hall, a man sat alone, wearing a large straw hat and coarse linen clothes. In front of him were a plate of stinky fried tofu with a strange smell, a plate of strong-smelling pickled fish, a small dish of moldy vegetable head, and a small jar of Huadiao wine, enjoying his solitary drinking.

  He stretched out his slender white left hand, picked up a piece of golden-colored stinky tofu with chopsticks, and started chewing very seriously. His expression seemed to be enjoying it immensely. He then picked up the wine cup and drank it all in one gulp, and amazingly, he felt so comfortable that his whole body shook.

  When he heard people around him praising that Shenmo as 'Qingteng Second', the man's mouth corner revealed a faint smile, and he only heard him whisper to himself: 'It turns out that "Yijianzhi" has records earlier, I thought this method was my original creation.'

  He took out a golden glass bottle from the bamboo basket beside him and played with it casually. He also heard him muttering: "I still think this one I made is good." After drinking a mouthful of wine, he saw a piece of paper on the ground, which was brought to the ground when he took out the bottle just now.

  He bent down to pick it up, and surprisingly, it was a betting ticket with the words "Five taels of silver will be lost if the tiger head is not won. If lost, Shan Yin Xing Fa will pay ten times the amount, no refund after purchase." He put the bottle and the betting ticket back into the basket, and the man chuckled and said: "Originally wanted to help you cheat, it seems I was overthinking." After finishing speaking, he threw down a piece of silver, pulled his hat brim down, and then picked up the basket and wine jug, swaying as he stood up, surprisingly quite tall.

  As he walked to a table near the entrance, someone suddenly exclaimed with surprise: "Wen Qing brother, you're back?" It was a scholar who was drinking wine and happened to catch sight of the pale face under the straw hat.

  The noisy hall suddenly fell silent for a moment, and people looked over in unison, exclaiming excitedly: "Is it Xu Shentong? Has Xu Shentong returned?"

  The man stood still in frustration, cleared his throat, and the hall fell silent again. Everyone waited for him to turn around, but unexpectedly, he suddenly let out a strange cry: "It wasn't me." Then he ran away quickly.

  Everyone in the house was stunned and speechless.

  Division line

  Something trivial has been bothering me all night, so I'm only posting the second chapter now. As for the third chapter, who knows when it'll be out? Don't wait up, everyone, you'll definitely see it tomorrow morning.