Chapter 14: Lady Lantern
"Senior Sister, come over here and tell them who made the colorful lanterns that the Lantern Master Hall is releasing this time."
Yu Huatang smiled after hearing this, knowing that her junior brother Xu Fu was building momentum for her.
"Hey, guess what? This year's batch of colorful lanterns are all made by my senior sister. You can buy them with confidence. My senior sister's craftsmanship is second only to Quanzhou. Apart from my master, no one dares to claim to be the best." Someone in the crowd echoed, "Yes, we recognize Miss Yu's craftsmanship."
Ever since she became Li Xuguang's disciple, she has been studying diligently and striving for knowledge.
Following her master, she not only mastered the difficult skills, but also developed several skills on her own. In just three years, her craftsmanship has been recognized by the people of Quanzhou.
And because she uses solid materials, she does not skimp on anything from tying the frame to needlework and carving.
Ordinary people seldom have money to buy a lamp once a year. Unlike other merchants, she did not use materials that were easy to break or burn. The lamps would break when people bought them, and they would have to buy new ones the next day.
She often asked others what the lamp was for.
For some scholars whose families were poor, she recommended table lamps and even specially made fuel-saving mechanisms and painted them with waterproof and fire-proof materials.
Often one lamp can be used for a long time.
Over time, most people wanted to buy lamps from her.
She was also given a title, "Lady Qiaodeng"
This year's Lantern Festival is the same as usual, with riddles and colorful lanterns.
But this year is a little different.
In addition to the conventional styles of birds, animals, flowers and landscapes, Yu Huatang also creates works of art.
She also made some colorful lanterns for famous mountains and ancient temples to suit the preferences of wealthy families.
The master was willing to take her in and pass on his skills selflessly. She was grateful and hoped that wealthy families would buy more of her products.
After being busy from morning to afternoon, the crowd finally thinned out.
Yu Huatang sat down and drank a few sips of water, then heard someone crying.
She stood up and looked outside. There was a child about ten years old, holding a lantern that had been stepped on and crying heartbreakingly.
Yu Huatang comforted, "What's wrong, this is..."
The child cried and sobbed, saying that all his sisters at home were sick.
His mother finally gave him two cents so that he could buy a lantern to get rid of the bad luck in the house and for his younger brothers and sisters to play with, but the lantern was stepped on and broken by someone.
After hearing this, Yu Huatang smiled and said to him, "I have several other kinds of lamps here. I usually use them for practicing. If you don't mind, I'll bring them to you. Don't cry."
Soon Yu Huatang came with the new lanterns he had made this year, some in the shape of tigers, some in the shape of rabbits, and some in the shape of puppies.
There were seven or eight lanterns in total, all of them exquisite and unusual. The child was dazzled by them and blinked away two tears, "Thank you, Lady Qiaodeng."
Seeing this, Xu Fu couldn't help but complain, "Senior Sister, the materials for those lamps are not cheap, and you don't have much money this month. If you give them away, how are you going to live?"
Yu Huatang smiled and ignored him.
After sitting for a while, the servants of the county magistrate's house in front hurried over again, "Madam Qiaodeng, Madam Qiaodeng..."
"Hurry... hurry... there's a problem with the lantern festival arrangements in the Heyuan Street area. Many of the lights aren't lighting. And some of the lights, the servants are afraid to touch for fear of breaking them."
Xu Fu, who was watching from the side, said, "I'm going too."
Li Ruotong, who walked out from behind the door, disagreed, "What are you going to do? Make trouble."
Xu Fu was dissatisfied, "Brother, how did you know that I couldn't help?"
Li Ruotong is Grandpa Li's eldest grandson and also her and Xu Fu's senior brother. He usually takes good care of them.
Yu Huatang glanced at Li Ruotong and said, "Why don't you let Junior Brother go with us? I might not be able to handle it alone."
He turned around and said, "However, Junior Brother, you really can't make trouble this time. After all, this is the county magistrate's official business. If something goes wrong, you will be held responsible."
Xu Fu, who was only fifteen years old, nodded calmly, "Don't worry, Senior Sister, I will never talk nonsense and will only do my work."
A few people took their things and followed the servant into the county magistrate's carriage.
Three years ago, when Yu Huatang became her apprentice, Xu Fu was also sent here by his family due to family changes, just one day later than her.
Later, as the master grew older, he was unable to handle the business, so the business of Dengshitang was basically handed over to his senior brother. It was not until this year when there was a shortage of manpower that Xu Fu was asked to come and help.
According to the previous saying, his skills were not up to par yet and he could not be allowed to make lanterns.
But with Yu Huatang checking up on him from behind, Xu Fu made greater progress, and his master agreed.
When they arrived at Heyuan Street, County Magistrate Yan Quan, who was 42 years old, was already waiting there.
Since ancient times, people have suffered misfortune in times of crisis, while they have been promoted easily when people are happy.
Yan Quan attached great importance to this Lantern Festival. The order from his superiors was that the new governor of Quanzhou would arrive in the next two days. If the new governor saw how prosperous Quanzhou was under his governance, he would definitely say a few good words for him.
After paying their respects, Yu Huatang and the others began their inspection. "These lamps aren't broken. They just fell to the ground when they were just being raised, and the frames have moved a little. We just need to inspect them."
"However, even if the frame of the lamp is very solid, it is not recommended to throw it directly upwards."
County Magistrate Yan knew Yu Huatang's character and would speak up if there was anything to say. Last year's Lantern Festival was overseen by her, which helped it to be a complete success.
"I'll tell them to handle it gently later. These guys are so clumsy and it's really annoying."
Then he softened his tone and said, "Your sister-in-law is watching the lights up ahead. She just mentioned you."
Yu Huatang nodded and said, "I'll go over after I check the lights on the other side."
Speaking of my fate with County Magistrate Yan’s wife Hua Furong, it was two years ago.
Mrs. Hua is now thirty-five years old and has a son and a daughter. Two years ago, her youngest son fell ill and was incurable. Hearing that there was a miraculous doctor in Pharmacist Valley, she went to seek treatment.
But the miracle doctor in Pharmacist Valley has a habit of requiring people to use something he has never seen before before he can treat them.
When Yu Huatang heard about this, he was grateful to Mrs. Hua for her eagerness to save her son, so he used the principle of the lantern frame to improve the Lu Ban lock and gave it to Mrs. Hua.
As expected, the doctor had never seen such an exquisite object and immediately agreed to treat the patient.
After a few visits, Yu Huatang became familiar with the county magistrate's family.
At first, County Magistrate Yan was afraid that she had some plans.
But she was neither humble nor arrogant, and she did not act deliberately. Later, she helped the county magistrate hold several lantern festivals.
Mrs. Hua wanted to adopt her as her sister, but she refused.
After Yu Huatang took Xu Fu and explained to several workers how to hang large floor lamps, water lanterns, and hanging lamps and how to operate the mechanisms, they found Mrs. Hua.
Madam Hua asked the servants to look after the children while chatting with Yu Huatang, "Have you heard that a new governor is coming?"
Yu Huatang shook his head. "I usually don't care about these things."
"Ah, I don't know what this new governor is like. Our old Yan has been the county magistrate in Quanzhou for about ten years. Those with less seniority and younger age have all been promoted. Only he can't speak or give gifts, so he has remained a small county magistrate for ten years."
"I'm not afraid of you laughing at me saying this. I'm also feeling bad about this, but I don't dare tell anyone else about this, so I can only nag you."
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