Chapter 90
"You are so amazing. You can speak so confidently in front of me!" I said to him while looking at him.
"Haha, if it works, we'll split the profits 50-50."
I was thinking about this deal in my mind, and it didn't seem like a loss.
"Jade is not wood. It is very difficult to carve. If there is even a slight mistake, the entire material will be ruined," I said.
"Don't worry about this. If it breaks, it's all my responsibility." Xin Jie said, patting his chest.
I am really tempted, mainly because I can practice with jade. As a master of making magical instruments, I will definitely use jade to make an exquisite magical instrument in the end.
Jade is a gentleman and has the function of restraining evil spirits. If a magic circle is engraved on the top-quality jade, it can be used as a treasure of the Xuanmen sect.
"If that's the case, I can accept it, but I need to make it clear that it might take a long time," I said.
"No problem, I'm not in a hurry," said Xinjie.
"Thank you." I thanked him.
In order to make jade instruments, I specifically found a jade carving master. I asked He Man for the master, and when she heard that I wanted to learn jade carving, she was very surprised.
I explained to her on the phone that I wanted to use jade to make a ritual instrument.
She seemed to be very interested in this and said that we could cooperate. In Hong Kong, there is a big market for magical instruments. She can set up a special company and purchase the products from me, and she will provide the raw materials.
I thought to myself: How come her ideas coincide with Xin Jie's? Is this the business talent of rich kids?
He Man and I chatted on the phone for quite a while, mostly her talking while I listened. She had been having some problems at the company recently, and I could tell she was very upset.
It seems that no matter what your status, you will have troubles. I remember a sentence I once read: A person who earns 100 yuan a day worries about how to make 200 yuan a day, and a person who earns 10,000 yuan a day worries about how to make 20,000 yuan a day.
I comforted her, and finally she seemed to be busy. Before hanging up the phone, she hurriedly told me that she would find a jade carving master to teach me, and when she was done with her work, she would come to the mainland to find me.
I told her the new address on the phone, and within two days, a jade carving master came over.
Judging from his appearance, he is already in his sixties or seventies. His name is Meng Yutang. His family has been engaged in jade carving for generations. He has been learning jade carving from his grandfather and father since he was a child. Now he is the most experienced and skilled jade carving master in He’s Jewelry.
He Man told me in a text message that Mr. Meng had largely retired, and that most of the jade carvings for He's Jewelry were done by his son, Meng Guangyuan. She also specifically told me not to express any dissatisfaction directly, but to tell her and she would mediate.
I have been asking so many requests of help from such a skilled jade carving master, how could I be dissatisfied with him?
Mr. Meng has a kind personality. He did not take advantage of his seniority and taught me wholeheartedly.
While teaching me the knowledge and techniques of jade carving, he lamented that his son, Meng Guangyuan, lacked talent. If He Man hadn't noticed that he had worked for He's Jewelry all his life, Meng Guangyuan wouldn't have been qualified to be the chief jade carver at He's Jewelry.
He was being modest. Even if Meng Guangyuan had no talent, with his daily guidance, he would definitely be far superior to ordinary jade carvers.
I've devoted myself to learning jade carving, a skill that takes time and effort. Mr. Meng explains that jade carving requires designing based on the characteristics of the jade material to maximize its use. A skilled jade carver can leverage the jade's natural color or imperfections, transforming them into highlights through design, transforming decay into something magical.
As he taught me, he used a jade knife to carve a walnut from a flawed piece of jade. The texture of the walnut was as fine as a real walnut. The most amazing thing was that he had used a streak in the original jade as the edge of the walnut. This was what he called transforming decay into magic.
Under the guidance of Mr. Meng, my jade carving skills improved by leaps and bounds. He sighed repeatedly and said that I was extremely talented and asked if I would like to be his last disciple.
My ambition was not to carve jade, so I had to turn him down. He thought it was a pity and said he would stay in Shishi for a while and teach me all the jade carving skills inherited from his family.
Mr. Meng was very fond of talented people and taught me many skills that were not passed on to others.
Although I am not very skilled now, every stroke of my craft bears the traces of Mr. Meng. He is very satisfied with my work and said that he believes that it will not be long before I can become a famous jade carver.
The master leads the way, but the practice is up to the individual. After he taught me all the techniques of jade carving, he prepared to return to Hong Kong.
He taught me sincerely, and before he left, I wanted to give him a gift.
I greeted Xin Jie and told him I wanted to use his palm-sized piece of mutton-fat jade to make a jade carving, and I would buy it at the market price. He offered to give it to me directly, but I refused. In the end, I bought it for 740,000 yuan.
I carved with my chisel, stroke by stroke, meticulously. The object I was carving was a dragon blood tree, also known as the "immortal pine" in the local culture. As the saying goes, "Live as long as the pines of the southern mountains," the "pine" here is a synonym for the dragon blood tree.
The dragon blood tree has a unique shape, grows slowly, and has an extremely long lifespan, symbolizing "health and longevity."
During this period, I didn't even go to Fuyuan Hall and carved at home every day.
I found that as I carved the Evergreen Pine with great care, my skills became more and more proficient, and in the end I even felt that I was doing it with ease.
After finally carving the last leaf, I carved cloud patterns around the entire edge of the crown and then filled it with energy.
The peach wood I carved before was almost full of energy at a glance, but this time the jade carving was a hundred times more than the peach wood.
Seeing the entire treetop glow with silver light, I knew the instrument was complete. That's right, I wasn't just going to give Mr. Meng a jade carving; I was going to make it into a magical instrument.
I looked at this work and played with it for a long time. The more I looked at it, the more satisfied I became. I believe Mr. Meng would like it.
When I gave this magic tool to Mr. Meng, he was very happy.
"Although I cannot become your apprentice, I know that what you have taught me these days is real kung fu. I hope you like this gift." I said gratefully.
He looked at the "Eternal Pine" and said, "From this work, I can see your daily progress. The texture of the trunk is still a little rough, but the leaves at the end show the style of a master."
After saying this, he whispered a few words of pity, and finally kept comforting himself.
"Mr. Meng, to be honest, I am a member of the Xuanmen sect. This jade carving is not only a jade artifact, but also a magical tool. Please do not give it to others."
"Don't worry, don't worry. Every time I see this jade carving, it's like seeing your progress, each stroke of the knife. How could I give it to someone else?"
I saw Mr. Meng off on the plane, watched him leave, and then drove back to Fuyuantang. I never imagined I'd mastered jade carving in just two or three months. It was incredible, even to myself.
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