Chapter 9 009. Can you give me a chance to integrate into your life...?
Chen Zhoudu's lips moved, as if he was about to speak.
Just then, another group of people came by. A young couple carrying a child walked up to the stall and asked curiously what all these things were.
Xia Chan glanced at him and went to attend to customers. Business was the priority, so Huang Mao glared at him fiercely but then stopped and squatted down by the stall to enthusiastically promote his wares.
"How much are all these?" The wife in the young couple seemed tempted and asked, pointing to several toys.
“This one is 29, and this one is 39,” Xia Chan replied.
"Ah...this is too expensive." The wife seemed to hesitate again and put down the two toys she had originally chosen.
Just then, the child she was holding grabbed a piece of a toy and refused to let go. When his mother tried to coax him to let go, the child cried even louder.
The young couple seemed at a loss for a moment, so one of them tried to coax and persuade the child while the other tried to pry his hands open so that he would let go, but the child cried even more heartbreakingly.
Chen Zhoudu, who was standing nearby, thought for a moment and then squatted down next to the couple. He picked up a mortise and tenon toy and said to them, "This isn't expensive."
Siyi, Huangmao, and Lian Xiachan all looked at him with slight surprise. He continued speaking to the couple, "This is a mortise and tenon structure, and it's made entirely by hand. It can stimulate the brain and has no harmful chemicals."
Huang Mao paused for a moment, then frowned sharply, as if to shoo him away. Xia Chan quietly stopped him, shook her head, and then glanced at Chenzhoudu with a slightly intriguing look.
The wife in the young couple asked, puzzled, "Aren't these just ordinary building blocks?"
"It's a Luban lock."
He then began to disassemble the toy, his fingers flying across the surface. Like a magician, he perfectly extracted the wooden blocks one by one and reassembled them into a new shape.
Squares, circles... even the tiny Luban lock seems to come alive in his hands.
Under the lights of the night market, his fingers flew across the screen as quickly and beautifully as if he were working on a work of art, leaving Huang Mao speechless for a moment, and Si Yi's eyes lit up with surprise.
A faint smile silently appeared on Xia Chan's lips.
Finally, after assembling a round Luban lock into a perfectly fitting ball, Chen Zhoudu smiled and handed the wooden ball to the child.
The child had stopped crying and was happily clapping his hands after dropping his original toy. Chen Zhoudu smiled and said to the young couple, "That's what Luban locks are like. They can help with brain development and intelligence. Moreover, this one is purely handmade. The labor cost alone is definitely more than this price. Natural wood is also safe for children. You can smell it."
The young couple took a sniff of the Luban lock and indeed smelled a light, fresh woody fragrance, unlike the paint smell of most wooden toys on the market.
He then offered them a chance to try disassembling and reassembling the parts. The young couple initially thought it was simple because he seemed to be doing it easily and quickly, but they got stuck after only a few steps.
In the end, Chen Zhoudu patiently taught them the steps to disassemble it. The moment the shape was put back together, the young couple exclaimed excitedly as if they had achieved something great.
"Buy one for your child to play with; it can also increase parent-child interaction," Chen Zhoudu said at the end, the warm light highlighting the boy's features.
The young couple's emotional value had been completely supported, and they ultimately chose two of the most classic Luban lock shapes. When paying, they couldn't help but haggle, "Could... you make it a little cheaper?"
Chen Zhoudu paused for a moment, then looked at Xia Chan. Xia Chan met his gaze meaningfully, curled her lips, and said, "I'll give you 27 for each of you, plus a handmade keychain."
The husband, who was short of keychains, happily began selecting one upon hearing this. He eventually chose a wooden keychain shaped like a flying eagle, and the two of them, carrying their child, left satisfied.
After helping him close a deal, Huang Mao felt a little awkward and uncomfortable facing Shen Zhoudu again, but he still couldn't lower his head. He just choked on his words, snorted at him, and turned away from him.
Chen Zhoudu just stared at Xia Chan silently without saying a word. Xia Chan met his gaze for a while, but still maintained her usual calm expression, and asked, "How did you get here?"
"Grandma said...you're here." He didn't say much, just whispered this sentence.
He wondered if she would kick him out immediately, just as two young girls came over to look at the stall together.
Xia Chan immediately waved to him, and he went around to the back of the stall and said, "Move over here a bit, don't block the customers."
Chen Zhoudu paused for a moment, then Si Yi quickly and cheerfully beckoned him over. A slight smile unconsciously curved his lips, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
The two girls had noticed this place earlier when Chen Zhoudu was fiddling with the Luban lock. Although they were looking at the stall and picking things out, their eyes were actually glancing at Chen Zhoudu intentionally or unintentionally. One of the girls looked around at the items on the secondhand stall and asked shyly, "Sister... are all these things secondhand?"
"Hmm," Xia Chan replied casually, pretending not to see the look in their eyes that seemed to want to fly away.
"So...whose are they? Are any of these belonging to this handsome guy?"
The sunken boat paused slightly. Xia Chan answered decisively, "No."
The girl immediately looked disappointed.
Xia Chan's eyes narrowed into a playful smile. "But if you like, I can let him touch each of them, and then they'll be his. If that's not enough, see what you've got your eye on, and I'll rip it off for you right here and now. Hands are ten yuan a pound, arms are twenty, thighs are fifty."
Sunken Boat Crossing: "..."
The two girls were instantly amused, covering their mouths and laughing heartily. The other girl, with a joking smile, pretended to be serious and asked, "Really?"
"Hmm, buying them all is fine too, we can sell them monthly for 2,500 yuan a month."
"..." Shen Zhoudu was truly helpless. He took a deep breath, wanting to say something, but when he met her amused and teasing gaze, he suddenly couldn't speak. Siyi also laughed for a while, taking the opportunity to promote her product.
"Ladies, would you like to take a look at our handmade wood carvings? We have bracelets, pendants, keychains, ornaments, and more—they're cheap and beautiful! If you have a specific design in mind, we can send you a picture to order. The production time is usually three days. It's really cheap and a great deal!"
The two girls were already in high spirits. They each picked out a bracelet at the stall, and before leaving, they deliberately teased Chen Zhoudu so that he could touch it with his own hands.
"Go ahead and touch it! I'm waiting for you to consecrate it."
Chen Zhoudu was initially at a loss, staring at Xia Chan, when Xia Chan raised her eyebrows and teased him.
Helpless, he grabbed the packaging bag, packed the two bracelets into it, and handed them to them, watching the two of them leave together.
"I always said you're my family's cash cow."
The night market was brightly lit and shimmering. When there were no customers at the stall, Xia Chan stood lazily next to him with her arms crossed and said something with a half-smile.
Chen Zhoudu felt that her words were full of sarcasm and mockery, but he still stared into her eyes with a half-smile and said, "Then you're going to worship me?"
Xia Chan scoffed, "My courtyard is too small to support a towering tree like yours."
The blond-haired guy next to him glanced at Chenzhoudu with a look of disdain and rolled his eyes.
That night, they made quite a bit of money. As the night market was about to close, Siyi took out a calculator to do the math and found that they had earned more than on their best previous day. She was so excited that she exclaimed that she wanted to buy an egg burger to celebrate.
Although Huang Mao was also pleasantly surprised and happy, he couldn't feign joy in front of Chen Zhoudu. He scoffed, "Tch! Selling your body..."
"If you have the looks to sell yourself, you could just stay here and cricket..."
Siyi scoffed, and Huangmao immediately rolled up his sleeves and pretended to grab her. She giggled and ran away, and the two chased each other around the motorcycle.
Xia Chan watched them chase and play for a while with a light smile, then lazily got up and said she was going to buy an egg burger for Si Yi, and asked Chen Zhoudu to pack up the things.
When she returned with four egg burgers, she saw that Chen Zhoudu had neatly gathered everything together, even small accessories like bracelets and pendants were sorted into different plastic bags. She couldn't help but smile, handed him an egg burger, and then called Huang Mao Siyi back.
On the way back, the night was quiet, the hustle and bustle of the night market had faded away, and there were only the stars in the sky and the sound of cicadas chirping by the roadside.
Siyi and Huangmao walked ahead, one holding two large sacks of things on the motorcycle and the other pushing it, while Xia Chan and Shen Zhoudu followed slowly side by side behind.
Upon discovering that this road was not the way back to the ferry, Chenzhoudu couldn't help but ask, "Where does this lead?"
"The warehouse," Xia Chan said. "These things are usually stored in the warehouse. It's close to the night market, so it's convenient."
That night, Chenzhoudu had countless questions, such as why she and Huangmao Siyi set up a stall at the night market and why he had never seen them bring these things back to "Du".
Xia Chan had already noticed the doubt in his eyes and took the initiative to say, "Huang Mao learned some carpentry before, from the best mortise and tenon wood carving master in town. But Master Qi is too old to set up a stall now, and there are not many people who need handmade wood carvings anymore, so we help him set up a stall and take a portion of the money he earns. It's like helping out while earning some money."
“Master Qi has no children, so Huang Mao is the only apprentice who is willing to stay by his side. Huang Mao usually goes to the surrounding towns and counties to do work during the day and sets up a stall when he comes back at night. It’s quite hard work. Siyi and I help him out sometimes when we can.”
Chen Zhoudu understood immediately, suddenly realizing why she always left early and returned late, and also guessing what she was planning to do when she asked him if he needed the suitcase. He then asked, "Is there anything you made there?"
"No, I learned a little mortise and tenon carving from Huang Mao and Master Qi before, but I only learned it so-so, it's not good enough to be presentable. I was just trying to fool you, an amateur."
She looked up and winked at him mischievously. Chen Zhoudu paused for a moment, then couldn't help but lower his head and chuckle. The stars, moon, and streetlights cast long shadows.
They arrived at a place that looked like a bungalow warehouse, where Huang Mao used a key to open a roller shutter door.
Behind the roller shutter door was indeed a small, cramped, and simple private courtyard that looked like a converted warehouse. Wood was piled up everywhere in the yard, but it was kept fairly tidy, and the air was filled with the fresh scent of wood.
An elderly man was sitting under the eaves lamp, resting with his eyes closed. Hearing the noise, he exclaimed "Oh!" and got up, moving slowly but still coming forward, muttering, "Why are you here so late tonight..."
Huang Mao called him "Master" and chatted with him for a while before giving him the money. Master Qi counted it and kept saying, "There's too much! Is this because they didn't take their cut today?" It took Huang Mao and Si Yi a lot of persuasion before they finally convinced him that they had earned a lot of money today and accepted the money.
As the group was about to leave, Master Qi kept urging them to come back for dinner another day, and he treated the newcomer Shen Zhoudu with kindness and gentleness.
After leaving Master Qi's house, the group was troubled about how to get back to the ferry. Normally, there was no sunken boat to ferry them back, so Huang Mao's motorcycle could carry one person in front and one person in the back, but it could only carry a maximum of three people.
After thinking for a moment, Xia Chan finally let Huang Mao take Si Yi back first, while she and Shen Zhoudu walked back together.
Huang Mao assumed that the cause of all this was still Chen Zhoudu, glared at him again, and quickly left.
When they were the only two left on the path, they remained silent the whole way.
Throughout the journey, Chenzhou seemed to have something to say but hesitated. Xia Chan's lips also twitched, but she ultimately kept quiet and remained silent.
Back at "Ferry", the entire Mountain Wind Alley was as quiet as if it had fallen asleep.
Xia Chan casually told him to rest early and was about to go back to his room. Chen Zhoudu gently called out to her, "Xia Chan."
She turned around.
The courtyard was dimly lit, but the moonlight seemed unusually bright at that moment, shining on the boy's white shirt as pure as a stream.
His voice was as clear as a babbling brook.
“What you said during the day was right, I’m not from here. Perhaps because I didn’t grow up here, I might have some unconscious arrogance. But I’ve never looked down on Qingshui, much less on you…”
Xia Chan looked at him and didn't say anything for a moment.
"I want to try to fit in with you. Maybe I'll do well, maybe I'll fail; but could you please give me a chance and let me try?"
The same moonlight shone on the girl's pale face, and her deep gaze revealed no emotion whatsoever.
But in the end, she seemed to smile, a smile even lighter than the wind.
"OK."
A note from the author:
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See you tomorrow! [rose][heart] Goodnight~
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