CH 57

***

Li Changfeng took the bowl, and saw Xu Qing smacking his mouth with a bit of contentment, and felt happy in his heart. Xu Qing didn’t eat much these days, and today he has eaten so much, “Wait, I’ll add some salt and give you another bowl.”

Xu Qing nodded and waited for Li Changfeng to bring it over. After he finished drinking the second bowl, he was full. Xu Qing didn’t even feeling moving, but after Li Changfeng had finished eating, Xu Qing followed him to the courtyard. The ebony last time was not used up, and Li Changfeng was making some wooden dolls with the remaining ebony.

When Xie Yu got married, Xu Qing and Li Changfeng gave them a wooden doll couple. They liked it very much. They put it on the cabinet in the bedroom, and they could smell the ebony when they go to bed at night.

While making wooden dolls, Li Changfeng said to Xu Qing, “Before the autumn harvest, I plan to use the money from selling the wooden dolls to rebuild our house, so that you and the child can live more comfortably.” Everything is fine in summer, but during the autumn, there is too much rain sometimes, and the house leaks in some places!

Xu Qing had wanted to rebuild his home for a long time, and now the family has a total of forty-five taels of silver, which is considered relatively wealthy among the peasant families.

“You want to sell wooden dolls now?” Xu Qing had the idea of selling wooden dolls, but he had never thought about how to sell them, where to sell them, at what price, and what kind of words to make others be willing to buy such items.

Li Changfeng quickly finished a pair of little dolls. During this time, he has already made a few, “I will use the pile of pine dolls to practice my hands first, see the market, and then use this pile of scented dolls to sell to the respectable people in town.”

Xu Qing saw Li Changfeng’s work, although the dolls still have the color of wood, but their expression is of a simple and honest person and the slightly dark colored doll made of ebony is very novel at first glance. Some knowledgeable people, with some money in their hands, must be willing to buy such items made of ebony.

“You made this old man?”

Xu Qing looked at a wooden doll in the shape of an old man with a walking stick that was about to be completed in Li Changfeng’s hands, and felt that Li Changfeng was really good at this!

“There are a lot of people getting married these days. I have made enough new dolls. I want to make some dolls of old people and children, so that even if it is not the peak season for marriage, we will still have income.” Li Changfeng said while his hands continue working. When the old man’s doll was ready, Xu Qing took it over, the more he looked at it, the more familiar he felt, “This really looks like Uncle Lin!”

Li Changfeng twisted his stiff neck, “I just want to try to make wooden dolls according to the people in my memory. It seems that it is possible.”

Xu Qing looked at the palm-sized “Uncle Lin” and thought of a modern photo, this is simply an ancient version of the photo!

“Young man, I’m optimistic about you! Make one for us when you have time. When we get old, we can show it off to our children and grandchildren, let them see how we look when we are young.”

Li Changfeng put Pinewood dolls and Ebony dolls separately, “That’s for sure! Let’s sell these first, get our name out there, if the effect is good, and then make dolls according to people’s appearances. We won’t have to be afraid of others stealing our business.”

Xu Qing stood up and stretched; he nodded straight when he heard this, “Anyway, although you are fast, the ebony doll is so small it requires intricate work, the price must be raised, we can go to the mountain to see if there are other suitable wood for this type of woodwork.” When he first entered the mountain, he found a lot of nanmu, which is also a good wood.

(T/N: Nanmu, also known as Phoebe, is a large, slow growing tree. It was used extensively in construction and furniture making because it is highly resistant to decay, is very dense and comes in attractive colours from olive-brown to reddish brown. Source: Wikipedia).

In the end, the two decided. 8 taels for adult ebony dolls, 6 taels for old people, and 4 taels for children. There are a total of 8 dolls of adult, two dolls of old people, and six dolls of children. If everything is sold out, they would pocket one hundred taels!

Pinewood dolls come in pairs, one for the elderly, one for sixty-six, and one for the child. It could have been forty-four, but Xu Qing felt that it was not positive, so he changed it to forty-six.

“I’ll go to the town tomorrow to sell these. This afternoon,I’ll go to the mountains. Don’t follow me. Just stay at home.” Li Changfeng thought about Xu Qing’s stubborness and asking to make him stay obediently might be difficult, so he reluctantly added: “If you really feel that there is nothing to do, go to Xie Ama to chat.”

Xu Qing nodded, he was pregnant for the first time, and he didn’t know many things, so he had to be careful, “Okay, then I’ll describe a kind of wood to you, you look for it carefully, if there is any, then bring it back directly, you don’t have to look for anything else.”

What Xu Qing described Li Changfeng was nanmu. The wood of nanmu is hard, durable, and has excellent corrosion resistance. It will not be easily damaged by insects. Nanmu is an excellent choice for many woodworks.

Originally, Xu Qing thought that Li Changfeng would have a hard time finding Nanmu. After all, it was very difficult to get others to understand by explaining once. As a result, Li Changfeng again surprised him.

There are generally three types of nanmu: Jinsinan, Xiang Nan, and Shui Nan. Jinsinan is the best kind of nanmu. It is also the most distinctive lookging: under the light, you can see the golden thread flickering, bright and exquisite. It used to be the special wood for the royal family. It can be said that this Jinsinan is noble looking. The second is Xiangnan. The wood of Xiangnan is slightly purple, and the fragrance is very strong and persistent, so it is named Xiangnan. Its texture is beautiful, and the material is not as delicate as golden silk. It is a very good material.

The third type is Shui Nan, and it is the worst kind of nanmu. It is similar to salicylic and is suitable for small furniture such as stools. The two nanmu that Li Changfeng retrieved this time is Jinsinan and Xiang Nan, but Shui Nan has not been found.

“Did you go further up the back mountain?!” The chances of this thing being found in the border are pitifully small!

“No, it was not far from where we met the pair of “pheasants” last time,” Li Changfeng put the two nanmu tree logs by the courtyard wall, turned around, and said to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing almost twitched the corners of his mouth after hearing this, what pheasant! It was obviously wild mandarin ducks, it sounds better, but when he thinks of the way that Luo Jiao looked at Li Changfeng, Xu Qing also thinks that calling them “pheasants” sounds good too!

(T/N: mandarin ducks = affectionate couple)

“Were there a lot?”

Li Changfeng made a big gesture with his hand, “A few and they were all this big. I wasn’t sure if they were what you described, so I just pulled one each back and let you see. I’ll go back and cut more if they’re right.”

Xu Qing suppressed the joy in his heart and tried his best to restrain himself; he was told by the doctor not to get easily excited, “This is it. You can cut more!”

Li Changfeng made several trips in a row, and on the way, he happened to meet Wei Lao Er, who helped for a few trips. The wood is almost occupying the entire yard, causing Xiaobao to jump up and down. This is the place where he plays eh, and it’s all been occupied!

***

Early morning the next day, Li Changfeng carried a basket of wooden dolls, to sell on the street. He also brought Xie Yu’s clothes, that Xu Qing wore at the clinic, which been washed and dried, to return by the way.

Xu Qing stayed at home and learned how to make clothes from Xie Ama, “You child, why didn’t you say so earlier! Ten months will pass by really quick. You have to do these things while you can still move around. Once you learn, you won’t have to buy clothes for your family,” Xie Ama was planning to hand over his craft to Xu Qing.

Xu Qing shook off the finger that was stabbed by the needle again, and nodded painfully, “Learn, of course I have to learn.” Xie Ama saw Xu Qing’s situation and looked straight at him, making Xu Qing panic.

Seeing Xu Qing clumsily holding the needle, Xie Ama sighed, “Don’t say Xie Ama is demanding so much from you. Which farmer family’s clothes and shoes are not by their Ama? When they wear the clothes you personally made, let alone the joy they would get, you would also feel a sense of satisfaction.”

Xu Qing stared at Xie Ama who dexterously shuttled through the cloth, “Are all the clothes on Uncle Xie made by you?”

Xie Ama bit off the end of the thread and spit it out, with a proud look on his face, “Of course, I may not have any other skills, but when it comes to making clothes and shoes, in this village, I am the first, and no one dares to do take this place, only could call themselves number two!”

Xu Qing burst out laughing, “You’re the first, no one dares to take over this title!” Xie Ama waved his hand indifferently, “That’s not really the point! Anyway, what I want to say is that learning how to make clothes has only advantages and no disadvantages!”

“I know, don’t worry, I will learn honestly!”

Hearing Xu Qing’s strong reassurance, Xie Ama was also very relieved, so as long as he had nothing to do, Xie Ama would come to Xu Qing on time for the “class!”

Xie Ama had lunch at Xu Qing’s house at noon. After staying for a while, seeing that Xu Qing was a little sleepy, he took the initiative to say goodbye. Xu Qing was really sleepy, maybe because the weather was too hot or maybe because of pregnancy, the drowsiness caused Xu Qing to fall asleep just after getting on the bed.

Li Changfeng carried a bag of rice, a pair of pig bones, and some small snacks on his back. He wiped the sweat on his face from the scorching sun, and walked home quickly. Xu Qing was at home alone, and he was worried.

“Wife, I’m back!”

Li Changfeng opened the courtyard door, and what greeted him was Xiaobao’s excited wailing sound, but Xu Qing was nowhere to be seen. He looked at the scorching sun and thought that Xu Qing should be taking a nap, so he put the rice away quietly. After washing the pig bones, he put them in the pot on the stove, started the fire, and let it slowly boil. Afterwards, he poured a bucket of cold water and took a refreshing cold shower before walking into the room.

Sure enough, Xu Qing was taking a nap, Li Changfeng sat on the edge of the bed, bent down and kissed Xu Qing’s face, and after watching quietly for a while, he left gently and closed the door.

Xu Qing slept for an afternoon and a half, but it wasn’t like before where sleeping for too long would cause him feeling dizzy, but instead he felt that he was full of energy. After thinking about his body that had not completely gotten rid of the pregnancy symptoms, Xu Qing blinked; he entered the space that he hadn’t seen for a long time.