Grandpa’s back.
Yu Shishu sat in front of the woodshed, looking down at the unfinished small wooden carving in his hands, the carving knife in his hand remaining motionless for a long time.
Grandpa had returned to his hometown to recuperate due to a serious illness, and now that he was back, it meant he was cured. Logically, Yu Shishu should be happy, after all, Grandpa usually liked him the most. But now he had been kicked out of the house, and regardless of what the Yu family would say about him to Grandpa, just the fact that he had brought shame to the Yu family made him feel sorry for Grandpa.
Even if it wasn’t his fault.
But gossip is a powerful thing, and he didn’t know if Grandpa would believe those people if he listened to too much.
“…Sigh.” Yu Shishu sighed, concentrated, and continued his work. There was a little bird waiting beside him; he would focus on the present.
The sandalwood bird finally got its own small wooden carving. The carving had been specially coated with lacquer, and it looked exactly like it, only one size larger.
It stood enthusiastically next to the small wooden carving of a sandalwood bird, mimicking the carving’s posture by tilting its head high. Yu Shishu was selecting the next piece of wood when he looked up and saw it doing this. He immediately laughed and even reached out to touch the sandalwood bird’s head.
He Fangchuan, who was drinking tea not far away, almost choked when he saw this scene. Qingque wasn’t much better off, spitting out the tea in her mouth and exclaiming in surprise, “He’s not afraid of birds anymore?”
“How should I know…” Before He Fangchuan could finish speaking, several wild doves flew in from nowhere and landed at Yu Shishu’s feet, pecking at the wood shavings he had carved. Yu Shishu cried out in surprise and jumped up. The wild doves were immediately frightened and scattered in all directions, almost forgetting that they could fly.
Qingque calmly poured herself another cup of tea: “Looks like you’ve forgotten about being afraid of birds.”
He Fangchuan put down his teacup, slowly walked forward, and squatted down in front of Yu Shishu, who had just sat down. He picked up several half-finished products at his feet, examined them in his palm, and suddenly said, “Make some more. Make whatever you like, I can help you sell them.”
Upon hearing this, Yu Shishu pictured He Fangchuan standing by the roadside with a cold face, soliciting business. He curled his lips: “No need, anyway, no one will buy my things. My reputation is already tarnished.”
“I don’t need your reputation.” He Fangchuan twirled a round little wooden ball between two fingers, playing with it. “Azi knows how to do business.”
“Azi?” Yu Shishu was taken aback. “Who?”
He Fangchuan pointed to one of the red-crowned birds above their heads, showing off its small wooden carving to its brother: “They are siblings, the smaller one is called Azi.”
“Did you name them?” Yu Shishu chuckled, stood up, and reached out to Azi. The latter tilted her head, not knowing why someone so afraid of birds would reach out, but out of politeness, she carefully jumped into his palm—of course, she didn’t forget to bring her own little wooden carving.
Yu Shishu called out, “Azi?”
The little red-crowned sparrow immediately jumped up excitedly, “Chirp chirp!”
“So cute.” Yu Shishu stroked the little red-crowned sparrow’s wing with his other hand, then turned to He Fangchuan and said, “I’ve found that after spending time with these little guys, I don’t seem to be so afraid of them anymore.”
“What about this one?” Qingque, who had somehow come over to eavesdrop, interjected. Yu Shishu glanced in the direction he was pointing; a hawk was staring at them expressionlessly. Meeting those hawk eyes, Yu Shishu froze, his free hand trembling repeatedly, “This won’t do, it won’t do… I already used up all my courage dragging it down.”
Qingque laughed and squatted down to examine the small wooden carvings closely, “The Yu family’s woodworking skills are renowned throughout Dachen. Is this all you use them for?”
“I’m not that famous,” Yu Shishu said, scratching his head sheepishly. “I’ve been learning carpentry from my grandfather since I was little. My older brother used to learn with me too, but he didn’t stick with it for long and went to learn accounting from my father… I’m not as smart as my brother, so I just learned and did it. I don’t have any orders right now, so making some small toys for the birds is not bad.”
Qingque nodded: “Make one for me too?”
He thought a small wooden carving of a bluebird would be nice. Unexpectedly, Yu Shishu picked and chose among the wood, and in no time at all, he had carved the whole bluebird onto a small piece of wood. Watching Yu Shishu take out a hard cloth strip for polishing from a small box of golden silk wood, polish the small wooden carving until it shone, and hand it to him, Qingque stood up in shock: “So fast?”
“Young Master Qingque is so handsome, of course he can carve quickly,” Yu Shishu casually praised. He Fangchuan, standing to the side, was displeased: “Then what about me? Why did my wood carving take all afternoon?”
Yu Shishu didn’t think much of it, assuming he was joking with Qingque, and teased in return: “You’re a great beauty, so naturally you have to put your heart into carving.”
Qingque glanced at his best friend’s ears, which were indeed bright red. However, while the little phoenix was blushing with embarrassment, the carpenter over there hadn’t noticed anything and continued working on the next bird’s wood carving.
“Listen to me, make more, and I’ll definitely help you sell them tomorrow,” He Fangchuan said, getting up. Yu Shishu responded, but Qingque thought it looked like it was going to rain, so he had to go home first. He tucked the small wood carving into his clothes, turned around, and was about to climb over the wall when He Fangchuan pulled him down and led him through the front gate.
“Remember to knock next time, don’t climb over the wall, you might scare people,” He Fangchuan instructed. Qingque chuckled and whispered, “Are you worried I’ll scare your clueless sweetheart? I think he used to like Shuang’er, so he probably won’t be interested in you. Listen to your brother, don’t get too involved.”
He Fangchuan shoved him out impatiently, “Be careful you don’t get soaked when you get home late!”
Cangying, listening nearby, clucked happily. He Fangchuan, unable to bear it any longer, went over and pried open Cangying’s mouth, only to find half an apple core stuffed inside.
No wonder it was quacking like a duck.
“It’s really raining!” Yu Shishu saw a patch of wood soaked by the rain and quickly stood up to bring things inside. He Fangchuan also ran over to help, and they finally managed to gather all the small tools before the rain got heavier.
The two stood side by side at the door of the woodshed, watching the torrential rain. He Fangchuan moved, and their shoulders leaned together. He pretended not to care, leaning casually against Yu Shishu, and asked, “You… if you weren’t engaged, have you thought about the future?”
Yu Shishu hadn’t expected this question, but after careful consideration, she replied, “I haven’t thought about it. Liang Le and I got engaged only because we grew up together, our families know each other well, and my father wanted to use the Liang family’s trade routes to further his business… They didn’t even ask Liang Le and me. It’s normal that Liang Le ran off with someone else.”
She added after a moment’s thought, “It’s normal that he has resentment towards me. I’ve never communicated with him.”
“If he comes back, would you still want to marry him?” He Fangchuan asked softly.
“No,” Yu Shishu replied without hesitation. “But I’ll ask him what he wants to do. If I can help, I will; if not… well, that’s fine too. I don’t owe him anything.”
He Fangchuan hummed in agreement: “It’s good that you think that way.”
“So, the landlord also cares about the tenant’s feelings?” Yu Shishu realized their conversation was a bit odd and nudged He Fangchuan with his shoulder with a smile.
Little Phoenix looked into those bright eyes, suppressing the urge to kiss him, and nodded teasingly: “Of course I need to care. If the tenant is depressed and can’t earn money to pay my rent, I’ll starve.”
Yu Shishu’s smile widened, his movements becoming even more casual. He put his arm around He Fangchuan’s shoulder, stood on tiptoe, and touched foreheads with him: “I never expected you to joke like that… Hey, why aren’t you saying anything?”
His forehead was burning hot.
The autumn rain was like a child’s mood; yesterday it rained so hard no one dared to go out, but today the autumn sky was clear and the sun was shining.
Dongyang Street in Junzhou City was bustling with people, all rushing to buy groceries or go out for meals. No one noticed the extra table on the street, with some strange little trinkets on it.
Some people walked by without looking, while others stopped to glance at it, then walked away if they weren’t interested. No one paid attention to this extra little stall.
Until a flock of colorful birds landed on the table, each with something in its beak or claws, finally attracting a crowd of onlookers.
Suddenly, a young girl of about sixteen or seventeen, dressed in a red dress and with an exquisite red silk flower in her hair, appeared at the previously unattended table. She greeted passersby with a vibrant smile: “Wood carvings, whatever you want, we have them!”
“How much for your little wood carving?” someone asked, pointing to a cute little toad on the table. The girl held up two fingers: “Two copper coins~”
“This is useless stuff, it’s not worth two copper coins,” someone interjected. The girl continued, “I can make it into a bracelet for you, what do you think?”
“A bracelet?”
The sandalwood bird on the table kicked open a small wooden box, pulling out a braided red rope. The girl took the toad, poked a hole in it with an iron spike, and with a flourish of the red rope, quickly made a bracelet.
The customer who had just wanted to buy the small wooden carving immediately reached out, excitedly saying, “Then tie it on for me.”
“Alright! The toad brings wealth, wishing you abundant fortune!” The girl’s sweet words made the customer laugh heartily, and he then bought a small bird carving, saying he would take it back for his little daughter.
People around who witnessed this exchanged glances; some scoffed, while others joined in the fun. One by one, red strings were strung onto the cute and delicate wooden carvings, and the little birds chirped as they picked up coins and put them into the money box.
The girl—who was actually the Vermilion Bird transformed into Azi—smiled as she watched the money box grow fuller and fuller, thinking, “The Phoenix Lord is truly amazing; she can even think of such a way to make money!”
Meanwhile, at home, He Fangchuan sneezed, and his hand slipped, accidentally touching Yu Shishu’s lower abdomen while applying medicine.
So soft.