Chapter 71: Chapter 70 Cleaner Than You
Ye Shiqi picked up the chopsticks in hand. It had been a while since she used chopsticks and she was somewhat unaccustomed. In her previous life, when she studied abroad, she used forks and knives more often, but she could understand how to use them just by observing, thanks to the ancestral dining techniques passed down to her.
“Qing, you’re really amazing, haha,” Siwa said with a laugh, admiring Qing’s steady grip on the chopsticks, which was even more proper than her own eating posture.
Ye Shiqi looked up at her elder sister and at that moment heard the lively footsteps and voices coming from outside the courtyard.
She saw some of the villagers from last night, both elders and children, who had come to their courtyard, their attention entirely focused on their father working on the thatched roof.
Many people were facing away from their room. Ye Shiqi looked out the window and initially saw adults bringing children in, who quietly stood and watched their fathers work.
Gradually, the children began to get restless and started chasing each other around the courtyard.
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Then they noticed the two little girls in the room. Among these people were both boys and girls, all curious about the girls inside.
“Do you want to come out and play? Should I carry you out to play?”
The speaker was a girl about six or seven years old who had come with the adults and had also brought her siblings to take a look.
Noticing Ye Shiqi, who was cuter and more clever-looking than her sisters, and seeing her skillfully eating with chopsticks, the girl thought she was very impressive and smart.
Ye Shiqi shook her head and did not speak. Whatever she would say at this moment, others would not understand her anyway.
“Isn’t this Daya’s youngest sister? She’s much cleaner than her other sisters.”
The speaker was a boy who seemed to have a runny nose, about eight years old, continually sniffing it back.
“Gou Dan, you have the nerve to say she’s cleaner than her sisters, but I’ve seen her sisters working, and they are cleaner than you,” another girl disdainfully said to this boy, who was not only dirty in his clothes but also his face, and it was doubtful if he had washed his face in the morning, giving the impression that his clothes bore irreparable snot stains.
“Hmph, I won’t talk to you…” Gou Dan, laughed at by the girl and feeling shamed, huffed and continued chasing his brothers.
A few girls entered the room, teasing Siwa and looking at Ye Shiqi eating her breakfast.
Under the gaze of the elder sisters, Ye Shiqi finished her breakfast, set the bowl aside, and pointed with her finger.
While talking with the elder sisters, Siwa paid attention to Qing’s eyes and movements, understanding that she wanted her to pour some water.
The villagers watching Hongji carve were now in their slack farming period. Besides going up the mountains to chop wood and cut grass, there were no more significant agricultural tasks unless craftsmen went to the town or county for odd jobs.
More people stayed at home idle, doing chores like planting vegetables and chopping wood; out of curiosity, they had put off all other work for today.
They had come for the legendary wooden Bodhisattva, seeing the wood slowly taking shape under Hongji’s hands.
Initially, only a shadow of the statue was visible. As he neared completion of the carving, Hongji’s father helped to sand it, and then he picked up another piece of wood to carve.
The people’s eyes focused again on the object in Hongji’s father’s hands, gradually becoming smoother under his work. The wooden statue’s Bodhisattva form became clearly visible, and even without painting, one could discern the exquisite face of the Bodhisattva.
The onlookers continually praised in their hearts. Some came to mock, while others wanted to buy the wooden Bodhisattva. At that moment, some even thought about whether Hongji might take on apprentices.
“Hongji, your craftsmanship is so good, are you willing to take on an apprentice? Would you take my boy as an apprentice? We wouldn’t need you to provide meals or pay, he’d stay at your home and learn for three years without asking for a single coin, and we’d even offer a gift as a token of apprenticeship to your family,”
Hongji looked up at the man from the village, remembering the ancestral teachings that the craft passed down from generation to generation should not be taught to outsiders, that teaching more people would only lead the craft to spread and might starve the master.
Moreover, he already had plans to teach his own children the craft. There were already many responsibilities at home, and having other village kids around would only lead to more troubles.
As the young lad would be staying at home, the girls in the family were slowly growing up, and with an older daughter at home, it truly wasn’t convenient to let outsiders in as it could bring trouble for the girls.
“Sorry, brother, I don’t take apprentices.”
The man who had asked seemed a bit disappointed, and then others started to ask about the price of the wooden Bodhisattvas.
Hongji didn’t say any more. He had made the suggestion, and at that moment, his mother was watching among the crowd, meaning the money from sold items wouldn’t end up in his hands.
Mrs. Lai, upon hearing others ask about the price and discussing it, accidentally spat as she spoke.
Others carefully dodged in front of her to avoid getting splashed by the droplets from her mouth.
“20 coins for one wooden Bodhisattva is too expensive, isn’t it?” a woman in her thirties from the village remarked.
“The price is indeed a bit high. We don’t even pay as much for tables or chairs,” a village elder commented.
“Are you being shortsighted? This is a Bodhisattva, how can you compare it with a table or a chair? The craftsmanship is not the same, and besides, a Bodhisattva brings blessings; can a table or chair do that?”
Mrs. Lai rolled her eyes at these people, thinking they were selling too cheaply, recalling the prices in town or the county if sold in a fancy store, the prices could be many times higher.
Mrs. Lai’s remark made many in the village nod in agreement, feeling that the blessing of the Bodhisattva justified the higher price, making it worth buying.
Someone began to give Mrs. Lai a deposit, offering one cent as a down payment to pick up a finished wooden Bodhisattva in the evening.
Naturally, Mrs. Lai was willing to make the deal, but as she was barely literate and couldn’t write other people’s names, she had to use symbols she could understand to record the deposits she received.
With the first one came a second.
Hongji, hearing that his mother had already received five deposits, then told his mother:
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“Mom, we can only take bookings for five today, I can only carve out five, have them come pick them up this evening. We have to push the rest back, and if they think it’s too slow, rushing won’t help. We can’t force them to pay a deposit; we need to make that clear to them.”
Mrs. Lai, hoping her son with her husband’s help could do more in a day, was a bit heartbroken to hear they could only make five, losing the opportunity to earn more money. However, she had no choice but to say to everyone:
“Did you hear what my son just said? Any more bookings can only be pushed to tomorrow, and if booked, the day after tomorrow, and so forth. The early bird gets the worm, and who knows, maybe the price of these wooden Bodhisattvas will go up later. You can’t say we don’t take care of our villagers.”
Other villagers, feeling they had been too slow and couldn’t bring the Bodhisattva home that evening, quickly reported their names for the deposits.
Some who were hesitant, moved by Mrs. Lai’s words, also started to feel tempted.
Mrs. Lai then kept taking deposits until her hands were tired. Her inability to write and the necessity to use symbolic names instead gave her a headache.