Chapter 41 Treasure Island (10) "1221, he has a name..."

As the days went by, the person who couldn't even do the most basic shaping and would easily get angry at unruly clay has gradually become more skilled.

I don't know how many bags of clay were used up, and the discarded and burnt pottery was piled up in the corner and then emptied.

Ah Kun's palms had developed calluses, and like Uncle Lin, there was always some muddy residue between his fingers that he couldn't wash off.

The sharp, violent edge he once had as a street thug had been worn down by the daily kneading of clay and shaping of pottery.

“Look, he used to be unable to sit still for even half an hour, but now he can sit for an entire afternoon without moving.”

Chichi leaned against the windowsill, basking in the sun, and looked at the boy's focused profile before speaking to the system.

“This kind of handicraft that requires a high degree of concentration is very effective in cultivating patience.” 1221 flew from next to the kitten to above Ah Kun’s head. “He seems like a completely different person now.”

Even Ah Kun himself didn't realize that his daily training, where he would sit in front of the potter's wheel for hours at a time, and the various patterns that Uncle Lin taught him to draw, all of these things infused his originally anxious heart with a calming power.

It made him much more composed.

This subtle change, in front of the rotating potter's wheel and in the strokes of ink, allowed the once restless heart to find its footing.

Uncle Lin also noticed the change in the other party. At least when he was instructing Ah Kun, he was no longer as stern as before, and his eyes would occasionally reveal a satisfied look.

"The lines of the cloud pattern here should be more flowing, and the wrist of the brush should be relaxed in order to complete the stroke in one go."

Ah Kun was still working at the potter's wheel when he turned his head to look at it and hummed in response.

After looking at the patterns the other person had drawn today, Uncle Lin picked up the notebook that was casually spread out on the table. The strokes on it were very messy, and it contained all sorts of strange and bizarre drawings.

There are hot spring kittens wearing sunglasses and smoking cigarettes, dogs with huge wings and sticking out their tongues and grinning, red and green apples with eight-pack abs, ugly-cute cartoon characters with distorted lines but inexplicably expressive features, and monsters covered in irregular scales and spikes...

Uncle Lin's brows furrowed as usual.

What are these drawings? They're a mess, completely disorganized, and some are even so ugly they're an eyesore.

The traditional patterns he learned from childhood to university—flowers, birds, fish, insects, wood, beasts, clouds, and the sky—are from completely different worlds.

"That's called being in a different dimension."

1221 said to the kitten, "Kids these days like to play with abstract art. Look at how he drew the cat."

Chichi also went over to take a look at the pattern on it. The pattern on the frontmost little cat was exactly like her own, and on the other person's notebook, it became a "don't mess with me" gangster boss.

This is quite different from the kitten's usual soft, cute, and elegant appearance, creating a strong contrast.

Uncle Lin flipped through two more pages and even saw ceramic bells with cockroach and fly patterns. This was no longer just ugly; it was so disgusting that the old man's brow twitched.

"It's quite interesting." Chi Chi blinked, looking at the motorcycle-shaped ceramic bell and ceramic shard patterns. "His imagination is really rich."

Ah Kun had just finished making a mold when he turned around and saw Uncle Lin frowning as he flipped through his notebook. Ah Kun's face showed a childish embarrassment at being caught in the act. He rushed over and took his notebook.

"I just drew it for fun, it's not like I'm going to burn it."

Just when Ah Kun thought he was about to be lectured by the old man about his frivolous scribbling, Uncle Lin simply let him take the notebook away and casually tossed out a sentence.

"Just sculpt it, don't waste your creativity."

With Lin Bo's words, what was originally just a design for his own amusement finally became a real idea. After finishing making normal pottery every day, A-Kun began to create his own "works".

These oddly shaped, casually drawn objects are not as simple to mold into pottery as they appear in drawings.

Some of them were so wildly imaginative that the finished product didn't look as good as the drawing on paper; they were so ugly that even Ah Kun himself couldn't bear to look at them.

Some details are too meticulous, making them prone to cracking. Either the tail breaks off, or the thickness is uneven, and after firing, the strange and wonderful charm is lost.

"The clay here is too thick, it traps air inside, and it's easy to ruin it when firing. And this clay is too fine, it's unbalanced..."

When Uncle Lin passed by, he couldn't help but participate in the other's childish creation, teaching Ah Kun how to transfer the vividness of the paper to the clay.

Ah Kun kept improving, enlarging the proportions of certain parts in the lines of the clay, just like Lin Bo taught him, to make these things look cuter. He even fired those strange ceramic bells shaped like insects and reptiles in coarse pottery.

Before going to the temple night market with Uncle Lin to set up a stall, Ah Kun carefully packed all the pottery that Uncle Lin had selected to sell into boxes and loaded them into the car.

Uncle Lin pointed to his pile of "works" on the shelf: "Are you planning to keep them for your own collection? Why don't you bring them to the stall and try to sell them?"

Ah Kun scratched his head: "I made it too ugly, no one will buy this kind of thing."

"All the profits from selling it are yours."

Upon hearing this, Ah Kun eagerly moved everything to the car, even using a lot of padding material underneath, afraid of damaging his masterpiece.

Upon arriving at the night market, after setting up their stall, Ah Kun helped Uncle Lin arrange his pottery works neatly before taking out his own cardboard box. After hesitating for a moment, he placed it in the most inconspicuous spot on the far side.

Compared to rows of grand or exquisite ceramic works, his little things looked even rougher.

As dusk settles, the crowds increase, and customers begin to linger and browse the stalls.

While helping Uncle Lin greet the guests, Ah Kun would occasionally glance at his pile of ugly ornaments out of the corner of his eye. He didn't have high expectations, but he was also afraid that no one would actually buy them.

"It seems like nobody saw the pile of ugly things he made." Chi Chi squatted behind the stall, observing the situation as well.

"The main problem is that Uncle Lin's pottery pieces in the middle are so beautiful that guests don't notice his corner pieces," 1221 commented objectively.

Seeing Ah Kun's seemingly indifferent but actually somewhat disappointed expression, she hesitated before deciding to help him out.

Just then, a young couple and a mother and daughter came over and were attracted by the various colors and shapes of the pottery on the stall, examining them closely.

After waiting for the right moment, I jumped precisely in front of Ah Kun's artwork and squatted down next to the social cat wearing mini sunglasses.

She sat upright, her tail tip swaying gently, her head tilted back, staring with her clear, round eyes at the young couple whose attention she had drawn, and patted the ceramic cat beside her with her paw.

The young couple immediately spotted the kitten, which was almost identical in color and pattern to the ornament.

“Honey, look!” The young wife smiled and tugged at her husband’s hand, pointing to Chichi and the ornaments beside her. “This handmade ornament was made based on this kitten, wasn’t it? It’s so creative.”

The husband looked down and was amused by the coincidence: "It really is! It's so cute!"

The little girl next to her also came over to play with the kitten, but before she could even ask if she could play with the kitten, she immediately took a liking to the dog with wings.

“I want this, Mom.”

With Chichi acting as a traffic driver, the previously neglected corner instantly became the focus, and in the blink of an eye, both the social cat and the winged dog were taken away.

This wave of popularity broke the curse of being ignored, and then young people were attracted by the unique ceramic bells. Although the shapes of fly ceramic bells, cockroach ceramic bells, and moth ceramic bells are really abstract, they are cheap because they are made by Akun.

Even ugly items that he thought would never sell have found a market. He even sold several of the box of ornaments and ceramic bells he brought.

The person who had little confidence to continue "creating" suddenly gained confidence and decided to go back and burn the monster series that he hadn't had time to sculpt yet.

Just as Ah Kun was busy greeting customers, a young man in his twenties strolled up to the stall.

"Uncle Lin, are you still fiddling with these broken bowls and jars?"

The other person picked up a ceramic bell made by Ah Kun, flicked it with his knuckles, and made a rough sound: "What kind of rubbish is this? You dare to put this up for sale? Your skills are getting worse and worse."

Uncle Lin's face darkened, and he ignored him.

The other party persisted: "No wonder Lin Hao would rather run away from home than inherit that dilapidated workshop back then. You forced him to take it over back then, now you regret it, don't you?"

Uncle Lin remained silent, simply picking up the ceramic bell that the other person had casually placed down and putting it back in its original position.

Ah Kun's temper flared up: "Who are you? Are you deliberately trying to cause trouble?"

“Yes!” the other person raised their voice, “You were the one who drove my friend away back then, Lin Hao died so unjustly—”

"What nonsense are you spouting?" Ah Kun walked around the stall, grabbed the other person's collar, and glared at him angrily. "If you dare say that again, don't blame me for beating you up!"

The other person was taken aback by his imposing manner, then began to mock him, saying in a harsh voice, "Back then you complained that your own son was good-for-nothing and idle, but now you're willing to take in this kind of hoodlum? What, are you afraid that no one will inherit your old-fashioned skills, so you're adopting any Tom, Dick, or Harry as your godson, huh..."

"Shut up."

Ah Kun's fist was already clenched, about to swing, when he quickly jumped onto the other person's shoulder and bit the other person's right hand and clothes hard.

"Ah Kun!" Uncle Lin shouted sternly, forcefully pressing down on his raised fist.

Ah Kun was pulled away, but he still glared at the other person: "It was his own accident caused by speeding. What does it have to do with Uncle Lin? You're not one of their family members, so stop meddling in other people's business and mind your own business!"

The other person's face darkened further, and they left cursing.

The area in front of the stall fell silent for a moment, the atmosphere heavy. Uncle Lin tidied up the stall that had been messed up and said to Ah Kun, who was still angry, "Let's go, pack up and go home."

The two remained silent on the way back until they entered the house. The warm yellow light dispelled some of the chill, and Uncle Lin sat down on the stool in front of the workbench, his gaze falling on the ceramic figurine that Ah Kun had made.

“That clay figurine was given to me by my son when he was six years old and learned to make pottery. He said that it was me he made.”

Ah Kun also looked over. He had sculpted it entirely based on the rough clay figurine that Uncle Lin was playing with, and he had learned about 90% of its appearance. However, his skills were poor when he sculpted it, and it was about the same as what a six-year-old child would make.

"When he was a child, he loved to stay in the workshop. His hands and clothes were always dirty, and he liked to sculpt all sorts of strange shapes." Uncle Lin's gaze became long and drawn out, as if he were reminiscing.

"Later, when he grew up and went to junior high school, he met some people from outside the village. He found clay sculpting boring and uninteresting, and he disliked pottery. I wanted to teach him all my skills so that he would at least have a skill to rely on in the future. We argued about this many times, and the last time we had a very fierce argument."

“I scolded him for being idle and useless, and he slammed the door and left, saying he would never touch mud again…”

Lin Bo paused, took a deep breath to steady his voice: "Not long after that, the accident happened, and I didn't get to see him one last time."

The room was filled with the sound of suppressed breathing. He sat quietly on the table for a long time, looking at the old man's slightly trembling hands.

Upon hearing these words, Ah Kun felt as if something was tugging at his heart.

He thought of himself.

If his parents and relatives were still around, seeing him in that confused and muddled state, they would probably have endless arguments with him.

He walked over slowly, gently licked Ah Kun's hand, and gestured for him to go and comfort Uncle Lin.

Ah Kun clenched his fist, stepped forward, and said awkwardly, "Teach me, and I'm willing to learn."

Unexpectedly, he would say such a thing. Uncle Lin looked up at him, and the boy met his gaze. His tone had never been so serious before: "I am willing to learn how to throw a potter's wheel, fire a kiln, and learn your skills. I don't mind getting dirty, tired, or suffering."

"I'm willing to learn anything as long as you're willing to teach me."

At this moment, he wasn't doing it to pay off debts or make money, but genuinely wanted to take on something to fill those deep regrets.

Uncle Lin looked at him, and a long-lost sincerity appeared in the boy's eyes. After a long while, he sighed deeply, reached out, and patted Ah Kun's shoulder heavily.

They said nothing, yet it was as if they had said everything.

From then on, Uncle Lin became even stricter with Ah Kun than before.

Ah Kun spent more and more time in front of the potter's wheel. The other party found all his manuscripts from over the years for him to refer to, as well as his exclusive notes on firing the kiln and glazing.

Besides studying, all that's left is repetitive practice.

The training was so tedious that even a kitten would find it boring, but the boy persevered without uttering a sound.

When bored, Chichi would often leave the workshop and go to the cat village with the system to play with other cats, taking walks with the friendly cats along the railway tracks and on the rooftops.

Most of the time, she was still willing to take a longer route to visit someone.

Although every time she uses the guise of taking a walk and exploring, 1221 always exposes the cat, saying that her real intention is not what she seems.

But he didn't care for a long time.

They, like cats, want to do things their own way. If something is inexplicably pulling them along, they will naturally go with the flow.

Chichi skillfully hopped onto the other's knees, settled into a comfortable position, and let the sunlight filter through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled light on the other person.

I slowly raised my head and saw the human's serene profile in the light and shadow.

A question suddenly popped up.

"1221, does he have a name?"

"——"

1221 Remain silent.

He turned back to the person beneath him, reaching out a paw to touch the back of their hand, trying to get their attention: "What's your name?"

The kitten tilted its head, its honey-colored eyes filled with pure curiosity.

"You don't need to know."

He raised his hand, which was covered by furry paws, his voice clear and detached, as if his name was just an insignificant label to him.

"Okay." Chi Chi was a little disappointed, and her ears drooped slightly.

This feeling came and went quickly, and was quickly forgotten by the kitten.

The kitten readjusted its position, then rested its head on the other person's arm and closed its eyes for a nap.

The wind rustled through the courtyard, and just before she was about to fall asleep, a sudden yet clear thought flashed through her mind—she seemed to know him.

It's not speculation, nor is it curiosity; it's a more certain understanding etched deep in my memory.

It's as if she was born knowing what foods are edible, what places are safe to go, what kinds of people are approachable, and what kinds of people are malicious.

I just can't remember.

The system once told her about a concept that only humans understand, called déjà vu.

People often have flashbacks, suddenly realizing that they have experienced a certain scene before.

Being there again felt like reliving yesterday.

The kitten understands now.

This sense of déjà vu has been very strong ever since we met.

It was as if many years ago, in a forgotten place where time and space had become blurred, she was staying by someone's side in this way.