"It is my duty to investigate cases and punish criminals. You don't need to thank me for this." Du Xiuzhu refused with a handsome face. No matter how Liu Shichu tried to persuade him, he refused to accept the fox wood carving.
Liu Shichu had no choice but to give up and asked him where he could buy wood carvings. She wanted to be a regular supplier to the shop. After all, setting up a stall on the street was not a long-term solution, and it was easy for her to be a woman doing business. Ruffians.
When Du Xiuzhu heard her asking, although he still had a straight face, he patiently told Liu Shichu all the places he knew where the wood carvings might be collected, without feeling at all that it was beneath his status to tell her this.
What Liu Shichu got from Du Xiuzhu was similar to what the old man who bought sugar paintings said, so she decided not to set up a stall the next day. Only now that she could carve better works at home would she have the confidence to compete with those in the shops. Dealing with people.
After that, she actually tinkered with the wood behind closed doors at home. If the wood carvings wanted to be sold at a good price, they had to be in line with the preferences of the rich? Who would like wood carvings? Literati who like elegance and collect art, as well as some businessmen who pursue excellence.
Liu Shichu thought hard, and finally decided to be lazy and make carvings based on various legends and scripts, such as "Chang'e Flying to the Moon", "Three Brothers in Taoyuan", "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage", "Thatched Boat Borrowing Arrows"...
However, it took a lot of energy to carve these wooden carvings of classic legends. Liu Shichu had to sink his mind and study them carefully, even leaving his curiosity about Du Xiuzhu behind.
Fortunately, she was not short of money, so she was able to study wood carving behind closed doors at home for several months.
It's just that after Du Xiuzhu passed by the place where Liu Shichu once set up a stall several times, he never met her again, and he was a little worried. Although she said she wouldn't set up a stall again, she still had to worry, so he He asked the man selling sugar paintings: "Master, Miss Liu, who was selling wood carvings next to you before, hasn't come to set up her stall these days. Do you know what happened to her?"
Although the uncle could talk about Du Xiuzhu's affairs with Liu Shichu behind his back, he was still a little worried when facing him directly as an official of the imperial court, so he said nervously: "I, I don't know... But I heard her say before that setting up a stall to sell wood carvings here won’t make much money, and she said she wanted to sell them in some antiques store..."
"Then do you know where she lives?" Du Xiuzhu asked again.
"I don't know about this old man..." The old man shook his head quickly, and Du Xiuzhu had no choice but to leave.
For some reason, Du Xiuzhu always felt that there was something very contradictory about Liu Shichu. For example, although she acted timid, weak and helpless in front of him, she dared to go out alone after her parents were gone. He came to the capital from afar; even though he was frightened and frightened after being almost abducted by human traffickers, he dared to find an inn to stay by himself for half a month; even though he said he had no ability, he could carve out various lifelike wood carvings to earn money...
These things happened to her, and although they seemed quite reasonable, Du Xiuzhu somehow always felt that she felt a sense of disobedience, but he didn't know what was wrong for the time being.
If Liu Shichu knew his thoughts, he would probably be very impressed by his high professional sensitivity, very accurate intuition, and sharp enough. It's just a pity that he met Liu Shichu, so he was destined to not get the answer.
Liu Shichu stayed at home for more than three months. After she finally completed the wood carvings of several famous allusions, she felt as if she had just been released from a cage that had never seen the light of day. It looks the same...
This is the sequelae of staying at home for a long time, but it is all worth it. Liu Shichu looked at the wood carving of "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" in his hand, a simple and crude thatched house, a big yellow dog lying on the ground, and the wooden carvings in the house. Zhuge Liang was working nearby, and Liu Bei was respectfully bowing his hands outside the courtyard gate. They were completely intact, lifelike and vivid, and no one could dislike them after seeing them.
There were several others that Liu Shichu carved with great effort. Her fingers were calloused and her skin was scarred, so she could make these wooden sculptures that looked like works of art at first sight.
Of course, Liu Shichu couldn't sell such a perfect work of art at a low price. She wanted to use these works to build her reputation as a woodcarving master and increase her worth so that she could take on jobs at home in the future, easily and making money.
There is no future as a young carpenter. Only by becoming a master wood carver can you have money, leisure, and fame.
Liu Shichu followed the advice of Mr. Tanghua and Du Xiuzhu and went to look for shops that collected wood carvings. After comparing several times, he decided to sell his wood carvings at a cultural and antique shop called "Gewu".
There are all kinds of strange and interesting things in "Gewu", all kinds of strange things, of course, there are also wood carvings, but in Liu Shichu's opinion, they are not at all comparable to his own level.
Therefore, she confidently brought her "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" to "Gewu" and asked the shopkeeper if she could sell her works in the store.
When the shopkeeper saw the "Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage" in her hand, he couldn't believe his eyes. He got closer and looked around again, and he was still full of admiration: "Is this really a wood carving? This person carved it just like the real thing. Even the beard is clearly visible, and there is this yellow dog whose tail seems to be wagging..."
The shopkeeper of "Gewu" stared at the wood carving with gleaming eyes and couldn't put it down. After a while, he clapped his hands and said to Liu Shichu: "Miss Liu, I want this wood carving! Please give me a price! By the way, you said this Did you carve it yourself?"
The shopkeeper said at the end, looking at Liu Shichu with a doubtful look. There was nothing he could do. Liu Shichu was still a little girl in her late teens. No one could believe that she could carve such a work.
"Little girl, you didn't lie to me, did you? A master who has practiced wood carving for decades would not be able to make such a level of wood carving. You are only a teenager, do you really have such skill?" The more the shopkeeper talked, the more Liu Shichu felt. It can't be the original author.
His eyes suddenly narrowed and he said, "Little girl, did your elders in your family ask you to sell this wood carving? Or did you sell this wood carving without telling your family?"
"I carved it myself. I'm not lying to you. My father used to know wood carving. I have learned from him since I was a child. I am very talented and can carve such a work. Besides, what's the use of me lying to you? If I can't continue to produce works of this level, it's useless even if I lie to you." Liu Shichu said.
The shopkeeper was dubious after hearing this, but Liu Shichu was right. The most important thing is to continue to sell works of this level in the future. As for who carved it, it is not that important.
