Chapter 46 Treasure Island (End) Temple Fair.
After being discharged from the hospital, Uncle Lin rented a small courtyard on the street and moved all the things that hadn't been destroyed in the fire there.
During the renovation of the workshop, Uncle Lin worked day and night. First, he cleaned up the rented courtyard, then he re-equipped the kiln and potter's wheel, and began to immerse himself in pottery making.
The pottery ordered by online customers is nearing its delivery date, and he needs to work overtime to prevent customers from canceling their orders.
"Take a break." Uncle Lin brought a glass of water and looked at Ah Kun, whose hands were covered in clay, and said seriously, "Don't work yourself sick."
Ah Kun looked up, his palms growing increasingly rough: "It'll be ready soon. Once this is burned and delivered to the customer, we'll have enough money to buy a new display stand."
I lingered by the workbench, watching Ah Kun's increasingly nimble fingers move through the mud.
Uncle Lin also sat in front of another potter's wheel, picked up Ah Kun's drawings and studied the strange shapes that young people had recently been liking, and then started to sculpt them with clay.
With Uncle Lin's help, Ah Kun's online shop made one sale after another and accumulated some positive reviews.
Some customers even posted pictures of the handicrafts they received, which boosted their traffic and orders, and Uncle Lin's wrinkles gradually smoothed out.
The workshop repairs lasted for several months. Chichi followed Ah Kun around every day to supervise the project and observe the reconstruction process. He was so busy that he didn't have time to visit the magnolia tree yard.
As the new workshop gradually took shape, and the studio and store began to take shape, Uncle Lin and Ah Kun worked up dark circles under their eyes every day.
“Uncle Lin is so old, yet he’s started a business again with Ah Kun,” 1221 said. “That’s really not easy.”
“But they seem even more motivated than before,” Chi Chi said, watching the two potter's wheels turn simultaneously. Uncle Lin, wearing his reading glasses, was carefully adjusting a spout, while Ah Kun was engrossed in his new creation.
"That would be more fulfilling."
After completing a batch of orders in a flurry of activity, Ah Kun and Uncle Lin enjoyed a brief respite.
"The weather's nice today, let's go to Badouzi for some fresh air." Ah Kun washed the mud off his hands and put on his coat.
Uncle Lin shook his head: "You all go ahead, I'm going to burn this batch today."
"No rush, it'll be more comfortable to go see the sea and feel the breeze." Ah Kun grabbed Uncle Lin's arm without further ado. "Sitting in front of the potter's wheel all day, your limbs are going to atrophy, don't you think?"
He asked the kitten.
Chi Chi nodded repeatedly, and when he heard that he was going out to play, he was more enthusiastic than anyone else. He went up and bit Lin Bo's trouser leg and pulled him out.
As the car drove along the coastal highway, the sponges glistened in the sunlight. Upon arriving at the Badouzi Lookout, a refreshing sea breeze greeted us.
"ah--"
Ah-Kun leaned on the railing and shouted into the distance, as if to release all the accumulated busyness and fatigue. He pointed to the beach of Keelung Harbor and said to Uncle Lin, "I did sixty hours of community service here. The fact that it is so clean over there now is also thanks to me."
Uncle Lin laughed at him: "You're not ashamed, but proud."
"Of course!" Ah Kun said matter-of-factly, "Labor is the most glorious thing."
Chichi peeked out from Ah Kun's shoulder, also captivated by the magnificent view from the observation deck. She jumped onto the platform next to the railing, squatted down, and gazed at the boundless sea stretching out before her, the waves crashing against the classrooms below with a deafening roar.
The sea before me displayed different colors under different lighting conditions: deep blue, emerald green, light gray...
Ah Kun took out his phone and took several pictures from different angles, showing them to Uncle Lin: "I want to make the color of the sea into the color of a glaze and fire it out."
"The color of the sea is hard to capture," Uncle Lin said thoughtfully, pointing to the boundary between light and shadow in the photo. "Look here, it's blue with a hint of green, not a single color. It's not easy to control it well."
Ah Kun became even more excited: "We can use polychrome glazes, or try the kiln-transformation effect."
Seeing the other person's eager look, Uncle Lin said, "Sure, go back and draw it down, and we'll figure it out together."
"By the way," he thought for a moment and said to Ah Kun, "The Yingge Pottery Exhibition will start after the New Year. Should we start preparing a piece to participate in the exhibition now?"
"I?"
Ah Kun didn't even dare to think about it, and shook his head: "With my level, I'd rather not participate in the exhibition."
"If you're afraid of losing, then forget it," Uncle Lin glanced at the other person and said deliberately, "You don't even have this much courage? I thought your temperament had been tempered enough. It seems there's still a lot to be done."
Ah Kun gritted his teeth: "Who said I'm afraid of losing?"
“Exhibiting isn’t about getting first place,” Uncle Lin said calmly. “Go see what others have to offer, and let others see what you have to offer. What kind of future can you have if you just shut yourself away and work on your own all day?”
"Don't you want more people to see your artwork? Don't you want to hear what experts have to say about it?"
To amuse oneself in one's own world is indeed like a frog at the bottom of a well.
Ah Kun was still a little uneasy, but at least he stopped dodging.
"Let's see, and see if I can create a piece."
After having a meal by the sea, it got dark as we drove back. Before we even entered the alley, I spotted a cat sitting on the street corner, its fur blending into the shadows.
The black cat's greatest advantage is that it walks in the night as if wearing a cloak of darkness, becoming completely invisible except for its ever-burning eyes.
Chichi kept peeking out the car window and looking back. It was the first time Ah Kun had seen her like this: "What's wrong? Did you see a friend?"
The kitten nodded.
Uncle Lin stopped the car early to let her out, then jogged over to the black cat, tilted his head back, and his honey-colored eyes appeared round and bright in the dim light.
"You've arrived."
As she approached, the tip of its tail twitched very slightly behind it.
"Why didn't you say goodbye last time?" Chi Chi asked. "I thought you went back to Pingxi."
The other party didn't speak, but simply lowered its head and gently touched the kitten's ear with the tip of its nose.
Chichi shook his ears, feeling relieved. They were like cat heroes, always going wherever they wanted, and their opponents were sure to appear and disappear without a trace.
“But you’ve come at just the right time,” Chi Chi said cheerfully. “I was very busy before, but now I’m finally not so busy. If you’d like, I can show you around.”
"good."
He hesitated for a moment before taking over the tour guide flag from 1221 and embarking on the journey with them.
They climbed the winding stone steps of the mountain town, where tourists thronged. They slowly and skillfully led each other away from the crowds, watching the throngs of people and the red lanterns lit up along the way under the eaves of the Shengping Theater.
After exploring the mountain city, Chichi took the other person to Houtong Cat Village to find other cats of the same kind.
Cats are everywhere here, and the air is filled with their scent. A chubby orange cat is dozing off on a chair, a nimble tabby cat is doing parkour on the abandoned minecart tracks, and there are even timid little kittens.
"Look! There are so many friends here."
I've been here a few times and I'm quite familiar with some of the local cats.
The cats that used to get along well with each other were very wary of the new friends, their eyes filled with scrutiny and distance, unwilling to get any closer.
"I didn't expect you to be so unpopular with cats," Chi Chi said softly. "They're a little afraid of you."
The black cat reacted calmly, without arching its back or threatening the "outsider" with its eyes like other cats. It simply remained seated, its gaze fixed on the honey-eyed kitten.
After several unsuccessful attempts to integrate the other person into the same ethnic group, they eventually gave up completely.
Over the next few days, I took her to a quiet park, walked past Ruifang Railway Station, and went to Xiahai City God Temple, watching the hurried passersby and tourists.
During the journey, the workshops also changed rapidly.
The new studio is bigger and brighter, with huge floor-to-ceiling windows that let in plenty of sunlight. The front hall has also been transformed into a neat little shop, where teapots, bowls, plates, and ceramic vases made by Uncle Lin are gradually being displayed on the shelves, along with Ah Kun's own works that he is satisfied with.
The house and yard were filled with the smells of wood, lime, and paint.
As the year draws to a close, the air is filled with a festive excitement, and what I'm looking forward to even more is the temple fair that I had arranged to visit with Uncle Lin and Ah Kun.
This time it's different; it's not just the two of them and the cat, she also has another cat with her.
The City God Temple we passed earlier was decorated with lanterns and colorful streamers, turning into a long, dazzling dragon. When the two cats arrived at the scene, they were surrounded by deafening noise.
The air was filled with the aroma of food and the sounds of laughter from various game booths.
The other person was clearly not used to joining in the commotion and hesitated about whether to follow the throng of people.
Chichi nudged the other person affectionately with her head, encouraging them: "Come on, let's find a high place to look at it."
Look over there!
Once we reached the top of the wall, we gazed longingly at the dragon dance troupe approaching us. The brightly colored dragon head, with its long body, weaved through the path parted by the crowd, accompanied by deafening drumbeats.
Hearing the cheers from the people below and the excited cries of the human cubs, the ground trembled with joy.
Chichi's ears perked up, and a feeling of overflowing happiness welled up inside her.
"How was it?" Chi Chi asked the other person. "Interesting, isn't it?"
Even in his usually calm golden eyes, the warmth and everyday life of humanity were reflected, as he looked at the lively scene before him: "Do you like these?"
"Um!"
Without hesitation, Chi Chi nuzzled against the other person and said, "I also like watching these with you."
She liked to snuggle together in a pile of fallen leaves, to share the same sun-baked rooftop, and to wander together in places both familiar and unfamiliar, always accompanied by a silent yet reliable companion.
These small moments are more fulfilling than simply sightseeing.
The thought of leaving this place made her secretly wish that time would slow down.
"If I leave, will you miss me?"
"I will come to find you."
*
Uncle Lin and Ah Kun moved back to their original courtyard in the spring. At the Yingge Pottery Exhibition, Ah Kun's work "Cracked Life" won the third prize and was exhibited along with other handicrafts.
The artwork is a plate.
Ah Kun burned the sea he saw in Badouzi.
The glaze presents a deep and ever-changing blue-green tone, which encapsulates the tranquil sea surface. Ice crack patterns are added on top of it, and a faint golden luster shines through the depths of the cracks.
Like sunlight piercing through the seawater, it meticulously repaired the surface of the sea that had been torn apart by fishing boats and cargo ships.
"The color tone of the sea combined with the fragmented texture is like the sea surface being broken and then reassembled."
"The use of gold is excellent; it doesn't represent shattering, but rather the reunion and hope after shattering. It's quite interesting..."
Ah Kun stood at a distance that wasn't too far, pretending to look at the other exhibits, but actually listening intently to all the praise and comments.
Seeing this, Uncle Lin slapped the boy who was starting to get cocky, and said in a serious tone, "Don't be arrogant, there's still a lot to learn."
He himself clearly had a lot of pride in his eyes.
After settling into his new workshop and shop, Uncle Lin felt it was time to pass on his skills to more young people, so he began to recruit apprentices.
In the workshop, an elderly man wearing reading glasses was instructing a young apprentice, about ten years old, on how to make pottery. The boy was so nervous that his palms were sweating, and the clay on the potter's wheel was always unruly and crooked.
“Sink your wrist,” Uncle Lin said in a low voice, guiding the other person to feel the soil. “If you panic, it will panic too. Calm down and feel its shape.”
The young apprentice took a deep breath, tried to relax, and followed Uncle Lin's strength. Sure enough, the unruly mud was tamed and gradually took shape.
Ah Kun is doing something even bolder.
He followed the other party to the youth education center where he had previously attended classes. He approached the staff there and suggested that the juveniles who had made mistakes attend their handmade pottery class in the workshop.
The class wasn't taught by Uncle Lin, but by him.
He watched helplessly as Lin Bo forced him into the situation. He had practiced his opening remarks several times in front of the mirror before class, but when he arrived at the venue and saw seven or eight teenagers sitting there, he became so nervous that he forgot everything.
The eyes of those young people held the same wariness, restlessness, indifference, and a hint of curiosity that he had once shared with them.
“We’re not going to do anything complicated today.” He picked up a lump of clay and kneaded it in his palm.
"Sculpt whatever you like, use the mud as a way to vent, sculpt whatever you want, or just feel whatever you want."
The others looked at each other, hesitated, and then began to act.
The soft touch relaxed their tense nerves, and soon some people began to sculpt the shapes they wanted. The more competitive ones even tried to sculpt a ceramic bowl, just like Ah Kun.
As first-timers, the mud in their hands was naturally not easy to achieve their desired results.
Just as a boy was about to mold the bowl into the shape of a container, the rim of the bowl began to tilt and crack.
He clicked his tongue in annoyance and slammed the whole lump of mud onto the wheel.
“It doesn’t matter if they’re crooked.” Ah Kun walked over, repeating what someone had once told him, “Do you dare to knead them together again and shape them into something else?”
After Ah Kun finished his class, he went into the inner room to help Uncle Lin teach his young apprentices.
The child's hand trembled, and the neck of the once intact bottle collapsed. A sense of frustration welled up, and tears welled up in his eyes and fell into the mud.
"I broke it again."
“What’s there to cry about?” Before Uncle Lin could speak, Ah Kun said, “I was even slower to learn than you back then.”
He pulled up a stool, sat down next to the other person, shaped the clay and put it back in the center, teaching the other person to feel the rhythm of the rotation: "Let's start over."
Looking at Ah Kun's patiently guiding profile, Uncle Lin suddenly saw a reflection of himself and Ah Kun from back then.
Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on them, and they could see the light emanating from them, gathering into dancing little shooting stars, and coming to their side.
The orb of light flew around and played with the fragments for a while, absorbing their light.
Chichi noticed that 1221 was radiating an even brighter light: "You seem to be even brighter now."
1221 considerately toned down its brightness, adjusting it to a level that would be comfortable and not glaring for the kitten: "Yes, once we collect them all, we can make our wishes come true. Have you thought about what you want to wish for?"
The question arose again. A multitude of images flashed through Chichi's mind in an instant: the silhouette of him in a wheelchair under the shade of a tree, his black, satin-like fur and golden eyes—too many images, too fragmented to grasp.
"If it were you," Chichi asked 1221, "what would you wish for?"
"Of course I wish you would be happy forever!" 1221 landed happily on the kitten's head.
The kitten pressed its head against the warm, glowing orb.
“But I can’t make a wish. The wish is for you, only you can make it,” 1221 said. “I can feel that the fragments are almost collected. You need to seriously consider this issue.”
He gave a soft "hmm" and rested his chin on his crossed front paws.
Its tail swept across the ground unconsciously.
She looked at the carefree ball of light before her and thought about the entanglements in her heart caused by those images.
The light of the soul still flickers quietly in the clear depths of his eyes, reflecting those thoughts that have not yet been sorted out.
I kept thinking, even if I made a wish that was too greedy, would it really come true?
If it could be achieved...
Please use a long thread to tie her and the people and things she cherishes together forever.
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