When Shen Xing arrived at the store early the next morning, not long after Shen Xing opened the store door, a man walked in.
He was wiping the glass cabinet with a rag in his hand. He looked back and said casually: "Wait a moment, sir, the store has just opened. You can take a look first."
"I'm the customer who called you last night to order a mask. My name is Zhuo Datong." The man said.
While speaking, he looked into the nearby glass cabinet containing the wood carvings to see if the mask wood carvings were still there.
Shen Xing was stunned and looked at him carefully. He had some impressions. Although this man had a very ordinary appearance, about sixty years old, he had big bags under his eyes.
But in order to confirm, Shen Xing still said: "Please show me the transfer record of the deposit you paid that day."
Zhuo Datong nodded, took out his mobile phone, brought up the transfer page for the prepaid deposit at that time, and gave Shen Xing a look.
Shen Xing put down the rag, took the key to the storage cabinet inside the counter, opened the cabinet and took out the wooden mask sculpture that had been placed there.
In order to prevent dust, he also specially wrapped it with a special layer of gray gauze and placed the mask on the small table in front of Zhuo Datong.
Zhuo Datong's eyes were a little straight, staring straight at the wooden mask sculpture in front of him, speechless for a moment.
Shen Xing knew that he might have to watch for a while, but without saying anything, he picked up the rag again and continued cleaning.
After a while, he turned around and saw Zhuo Datong reaching out to touch the mask. Then he asked, "Did you think of someone when you saw the mask?"
Zhuo Datong nodded silently: "The mask looks very much like my wife who just passed away."
Shen Xing suddenly realized.
Zhuo Datong continued: "My wife has been bedridden for a long time since two years ago, and all the family's savings were used up to treat her illness, until she passed away two days ago."
Shen Xing knew why he just paid the deposit first. It turned out that all the money at home was spent on treating his wife's illness. No wonder Zhuo Datong, although he liked the mask wood carving very much, had delayed buying it until now.
After thinking for a while, he said: "Actually, you don't have to be in such a hurry. Since I promised to keep it for you, it doesn't matter if it takes such a long time. Well, I will give you another discount. The original price is 18,000, and I will give you 15,000."
Zhuo Datong was stunned for a moment, then showed an awkward smile and said, "Is this... okay?"
"What's wrong?"
Zhuo Datong didn't say anything more. He took out a bulging handkerchief from a waist bag, opened it layer by layer, counted three thousand yuan out of it, and then handed the remaining money to Shen Xing.
It was originally agreed to be 18,000 yuan. Zhuo Datong paid a deposit of 1,000 yuan first, and then Shen Xing reduced him by 3,000 yuan today. He only had to pay another 14,000 yuan.
After the transaction, Zhuo Datong couldn't put it down, holding the mask and looking left and right, as if a stone had fallen from his heart, and praised: "Master Shen, your craftsmanship is amazing! I don't know why, but I always feel weird when I see this mask. I have the illusion that my wife looks like a young woman. The more I look at her, the more she looks like me, and the more I look at her, the more she looks like her, and so many memories arise in my heart!"
"That's probably because I'm destined to be with you." Shen Xing smiled and poured him a cup of tea.
Zhuo Datong did not leave immediately. While drinking tea, he chatted with Shen Xing. The topic mainly focused on taking care of his wife after she became ill over the years.
He and his wife had a son, and life was also very difficult after they got married. Later, his wife Jiang Guirong fell ill and was unable to get out of bed for two years.
I had no filial son before I was sick for a long time. At first, my son would give me a little money and come to take care of me. Later, he gave me less and less. In addition, my life was not easy, and he gradually stopped giving me money.
It was very hard for Zhuo Datong to take care of his wife on his own every day. With his meager pension, he had to go out to do part-time work and reluctantly bought treatment medicine for Jiang Guirong. This lasted for two years.
Now that Jiang Guirong has passed away, Zhuo Datong feels very complicated. He neither wants his wife to suffer anymore, nor does he want her to leave him. Until one day when he happened to pass by Tingwu Woodcarving Shop, he saw this mask.
In his opinion, this mask looked too much like his wife. The more he looked at her, the more she looked like her. It brought back many good memories of his past.
That's why Zhuo Datong decided to buy this mask without telling his family. He didn't have any extra money at all. It wasn't until he received some gifts from the wedding after his wife passed away that he had the confidence to buy it.
After paying off the foreign debt he borrowed to treat his wife's illness and buying masks, Zhuo Datong only had two thousand yuan left.
According to him, after receiving some gift money, his daughter-in-law encouraged his son to come to him two or three times and forcefully took away 5,000 yuan from the old man.
After listening to Zhuo Datong's account, Shen Xing said nothing. He stood up and went behind the counter to take out the four thousand yuan he had just collected and put it in Zhuo Datong's hand.
"I only charge you ten thousand for this mask, and you take the rest of the money back. Don't give it to your son anymore. You can eat whatever you want, wear whatever you want, and live a good life."
Zhuo Datong was stunned. After a moment, his eyes became wet, his lips trembled, and he was speechless for a long time.
Shen Xing comforted him with a few words and gave him another cup of tea.
This mask wood carving is indeed the best wood carving in the store at the moment. Just because a person who is destined to see it will see the face of a familiar person in it, it is destined to be impossible to discount.
And this is just the first mask put up for sale. When it becomes famous in the future, the sales price will definitely be more than this.
Although Zhuo Datong's experience is indeed somewhat special, it cannot be given to him in vain, and the hard work Shen Xing put into making the mask cannot be ignored.
Of course, for Zhuo Datong, he was already very grateful.
After chatting for a while, at noon, Zhuo Datong ordered some food to be delivered to the store, and the two of them had a meal together to express his gratitude to Shen Xing.
For Shen Xing, this is just a small episode. If the wood carvings he sells not only bring income to himself, but also bring different psychological comfort to others, this can be considered a big achievement.
In the afternoon, Li Naijing called. She was currently working on a case with Zheng Ruijun. They were checking whether a criminal case involved any abnormalities, and they couldn't get away for the time being.
Earlier, they received a call from a student at Yungu Vocational College, saying that the dormitory and apartment were haunted. Thinking that this might be related to the incident in the library annex building that night, Zhao Wenbo went alone.
Li Naijing felt that it was necessary for Shen Xing to go there and help Zhao Wenbo find out what was going on.
The big bumps on their heads haven't healed yet, so they can be considered injured while handling the case.
Shen Xing said: "But I can't open the store in the afternoon, what should I do?"
"If it is proven that there is indeed something wrong with the college, the amount of the case will still be 3,000 yuan, plus compensation for the loss of you being unable to open the store in the afternoon." Li Naijing said without thinking: "What is your usual half-day turnover?"
"Whatever... there must be... two... two thousand." Shen Xing thought that he didn't make any money selling mask and wood carvings in the morning, and now he had to collect a handful of money from the Sheriff's Department.
"Your little shabby shop has a half-day turnover of two thousand?!" Li Naijing asked in surprise.
"That's the maximum estimate." Shen Xing forced a smile, feeling that he couldn't be fooled, so he lowered the standard, "One thousand, one thousand is still possible."
"Two hundred." Li Naijing said firmly.
"Eight hundred."
"two hundred."
"five hundred."
"two hundred"
"I won't tell you anymore, a customer is here, and he is a big customer, a repeat customer!"
"Okay, five hundred."
"make a deal!"
