Chapter 14: Birthday Banquet, Spirit Infant's Furious Eyes
"Master Li, congratulations! Happy first birthday to Xixi!"
The white snow flakes flew in the air and fell on the black tiles, making them extremely conspicuous.
The gate of the courtyard was wide open, and the sound of footsteps on the snow could be heard one after another, as well as the sound of congratulations, which continued continuously.
One after another, figures came out from outside the yard and presented their birthday gifts.
They were all familiar faces in the woodcarving shop. Li Che and Zhang Ya were dressed in gorgeous clothes and stood at the door to welcome the guests.
In the yard, the waiters of Chunfenglou had already set up the tent and arranged the tables and chairs. The chef set up the stove in a corner and started the fire. The fragrant appetizers were delivered to each table early.
There are nine tables in total, which is not too few. After all, many of the master chefs in the shop come with their families, and they just want to have a festive and lively occasion.
Chen Dabao was holding Xixi, a very adorable girl wearing a red coat and skirt, and was showing her off to a few old guys. His face was full of smiles, and his love for her was so strong that it overflowed.
My uncle's family also came. The old scholar held a pipe in his mouth, but did not light it. Beside him was a young couple, who were holding a chubby baby, a boy, who looked around with curious eyes.
"Uncle and aunt, cousin and his wife, please come in!"
When Li Che saw this family, a gentle smile appeared on his lips.
Li Che was grateful to his uncle's family. If his uncle had not adopted and raised him, Li Che would not have been able to live such an easy life in this chaotic world.
And it was my aunt who helped arrange my marriage with Zhang Ya.
The old scholar had a smile on his face as he looked at Li Che, who had now made a name for himself, and felt deeply moved.
"You have made progress. You have made progress, Che."
"If your parents knew about this, they would be very happy."
The old scholar patted Li Che on the shoulder with a smile on his face.
The eldest aunt took out the silver jewelry wrapped in red sleeves and handed it to Li Che: "Ah Che, this is Xixi's first birthday gift, you must accept it."
Li Che did not refuse and took it seriously. He then looked at his cousin Li Zhengran and his cousin-in-law Liu Chunming who were holding the boy in their arms.
"Zhou Zhou is half a year younger than Xixi, right? He's almost one year old now. Can he turn over easily now?" Li Che asked with a smile.
"It's very nimble. He just kicks his calves and turns over like a windmill. So lively and energetic!" Li Che's cousin-in-law Liu Chunming said to Li Che with a smile.
My cousin Liu Chunming is well aware of the importance of being a woodcarving master in Xuji Woodcarving Shop, so her attitude is much more enthusiastic than before.
Li Che exchanged pleasantries for a while, then led his uncle and his family to the table.
As the time arrived, the banquet began. The waiters at Chunfeng Tower shouted out the names of the dishes and brought one dish after another to the table.
Li Che now has the [Immortal Craftsmanship] Dao Fruit. His wood carvings are extremely popular because of their rich meaning. Although not as good as those of old masters like Lao Chen, he has sold a wood carving for fifty taels at the highest price! His wealth is no longer the same as before. Although the banquet at Chunfeng Tower is expensive, he can still afford it.
In addition, the old masters in the compound would bring gifts when they attended the banquet, so in fact, after a one-year-old banquet, not only did they not lose money, they even made a lot of money.
"Brother Che, the third shopkeeper is here!"
Li Che, who was drinking with several masters, heard that the third shopkeeper had arrived, so he hurriedly picked up Xixi and took Zhang Ya to greet him.
"Hahaha, Xixi is one year old. I came here specially to take a look. This is a one-year-old gift for Xixi."
The third shopkeeper, Xu You, was a humble person with a very good reputation in the shop. Of course, it was not ruled out that he was trying to win over Li Che.
After all, Li Che is able to create wood carvings with great charm, and has become very popular in the inner city.
"Thank you, shopkeeper. Xixi, come and thank your uncle Xu." Li Che hugged the delicate and graceful Xixi and shouted with a smile.
Xixi had lively eyes, long eyelashes, and skin as white as jade. Xu You took one look at her and liked her very much. He took her from Li Che, held her in his hands, teased her for a while, and even returned her to Li Che reluctantly.
"I won't be attending this first birthday banquet. I have other things to do. Recently, there has been unrest in the strange temple in the outer city, and many evil things have emerged. The major families in the inner city have organized teams to clear them out... I have to go there too."
Xu You explained.
Then he said goodbye and left.
"Shopkeeper Xu is such a good person..." Zhang Ya said softly from the side.
Li Che nodded. Xu You was indeed a nice person. He was humble and modest, and he didn't have any airs. He lacked the arrogance and extravagance of aristocratic families.
However, Li Che heard that Xu You was not favored in the inner city and was sent to the outer city to take charge of Xu Ji, which was equivalent to being transferred away from the power center of the Xu family.
Compared with the industries in the inner city, Xu Ji Woodcarving Shop in the outer city is not a big business after all.
"In this world, the more gentle you are, the easier it is to suffer. Bad things...are always aimed at honest people and they'll be abused."
Old Chen walked over holding the wine cup, and shook his head with a complicated expression.
"Like this dangerous matter of going out of the city to eliminate the evil spirits that roam outside the strange temple, who among the major noble families would send their true core children to go..."
"Xu Beihu, who has extremely strong cultivation, was not sent, but Xu You, who has weaker cultivation, was sent instead. Isn't it because Xu You is not well-received in the clan?"
Old Chen sighed.
Li Che held Xixi in his arms and remained silent as he watched Xu You's lonely back disappear in the snow.
…
…
After some toasts.
Old Chen was in a very good mood today. He got drunk and fell asleep early.
Zhang Ya took Xixi to the inner room to coax her to sleep.
Li Che wiped the cold snow on his face, sobered up, and then sat in the workshop in the side yard of the wing, lit the oil lamp, and continued to make the mechanism.
With a thought, information appeared before my eyes.
…
There is no wrong version in the 1619 book forum!
【Name: Li Che】
[Bond: Daughter (Li Nuanxi)]
[Tao Fruit: Immortal Work (lv2, 89%), Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv1, 2%)]
…
His eyes fell on the [Immortal Crafts] Dao Fruit. In one year, the maturity of the Immortal Crafts Dao Fruit had increased to 89%, and it was almost time to reach the lv3 level.
Just complete the production of one more mechanism.
He stood up, walked to a corner of the workshop, gently rotated the wood carving, and suddenly a secret compartment emerged.
A statue of Guanyin sitting on a blood-red lotus mountain was taken out from it.
Guanyin has kind eyes and benevolent features, but if you look closely, you can find that this Guanyin statue is actually made up of thousands of thin wooden spikes stacked together!
This is exactly one of the three mechanisms in "Tang's Mechanism Records" that does not require internal strength, the Guanyin Blood Lotus.
In addition to the Guanyin Blood Lotus, there were two square matchboxes next to it. He took out a square matchbox and covered it on his palm. Suddenly, a subtle mechanical sound came from the matchbox, and eight slender spider legs grew out and embedded into the membrane in Li Che's palm.
Li Che waved his hand lightly, and instantly an extremely thin silver thread shot out silently, cutting a piece of wood several meters away very smoothly, with an extremely bright cut.
As the five fingers danced, silver threads danced wildly all over the room, and the wind whistled, which was the sound of the air being cut and broken.
After a long time, countless silver threads returned to the matchbox as fast as lightning.
"What a Thousand Silk Spider! With my minor level of skin polishing skills, even an ordinary warrior with strong muscles will find it difficult to resist the spider silk strangulation."
"But when a martial artist reaches the stage of opening the tendons, he will cultivate internal strength. If he strengthens his internal strength, according to what Lao Chen said, his strength will be 30% to 40% stronger. Moreover, if he cultivates internal strength and combines it with internal strength martial arts, his lethality will be even stronger..."
“It should not be taken lightly.”
"I still have to focus on strengthening my own martial arts. Once I can cultivate my internal energy and use it to activate the Thousand Silk Spiders, their power will surely be even greater!"
Li Che put the Thousand Silk Spider and Guanyin Blood Lotus back into the secret compartment.
He sat in front of the oil lamp again and began to try to make other mechanisms in "Tang's Mechanism Notes".
Due to the lack of internal strength and sufficiently strong qi and blood, the production of other mechanisms during this period all ended in failure.
However, it is not a big problem. Failure is also a way to learn from experience. Once you have cultivated your inner strength, you will be able to complete it in one go.
suddenly.
Li Che, who had just picked up the carving knife, frowned slightly.
He walked out of the workshop and came to the gate of the yard in a few steps. Looking into the distance, he saw a black shadow that broke through the darkness as fast as lightning and disappeared into the night.
Li Che's eyes suddenly became sharp and he slowly lowered his head to look.
Then I saw a familiar...
Statue of a spirit baby with three heads and six arms.
However, this time the three-headed, six-armed spirit infant statue did not have its eyes closed and open like before, but had its eyes wide open angrily.
As if staring at him! (End of this chapter)