Despite being a farm girl, Zhou Tao has always loved the seven-stringed zither. When she was a child, she came to town with her mother and saw a young lady sitting in front of a shop playing the zither. At that time, she thought the sound of the zither was simply heavenly music.
From then on, her dream was to have her own piano and to learn to play it.
But after asking her mother, she learned that the zither was very expensive, costing anywhere from ten to several tens of taels of silver, and some even cost hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands of taels. It was said that the more expensive the zither, the better and more famous it was, and it was simply beyond the reach of farming families like theirs.
“This isn’t a very expensive instrument, and you don’t know how to play it yet. Use this for now when you’re learning. I’ll find you a teacher in a few days, so you can learn when you have time. I can’t let you help me watch the shop all the time. In your spare time, you can learn something you like.” Li Mai reached out and patted her head, smiling as she spoke.
One day, when Zhou Tao was having dinner with her, she asked Zhou Tao if there was anything she liked or any wish she could help her fulfill before she got married.
Zhou Tao thought for a moment and then told Li Mai about it. Only then did Li Mai realize that her seemingly carefree girl actually had such an elegant dream, and she was determined to help her realize it.
Seeing how valuable Zhou Tao's gift was, Zhou Lin's hand trembled slightly as he placed the box in front of him, wondering what his sister-in-law would give him.
He looked at Li Mai, and seeing that she was looking at him, Zhou Lin coughed lightly and slowly opened the box in front of him.
Inside the box lay a wooden stump, about a foot long, half a foot high, and seven inches wide, but upon closer inspection, it seemed to have patterns on it.
"Is this... a Luban lock?" Zhou Lin asked, guessing.
“Yes, there are some special Luban locks that can transform into various shapes. They are made up of a thousand small wooden blocks. When you have free time, you can take them apart and study how to put them back together. When you put them all together, they can form a rectangular wooden block like this. But when you take them apart, you will find that each piece is different, and they each have their own clasp. You can also use some of them to create different shapes. You can study them slowly.” Li Mai said with a smile.
As Zhou Lin slowly reached down and picked it up from the box, he could clearly see the gaps in the various patterns on it. However, because they were squeezed so tightly, they were not noticeable unless you paid close attention.
“Finding a way to disassemble it takes skill, let alone putting it back together. Second brother, you can spend your whole life slowly playing with this thing,” Li Mai said with a smile.
Zhou Lin gave a soft "hmm," his eyes never leaving the wooden stump. If you didn't look closely, it really wasn't conspicuous, but the more you looked, the more you could see its wonder.
"Was this made by Lu Ban himself?" Zhou Lin asked in disbelief.
Li Mai was taken aback for a moment, then laughed, "Of course not, this is just an evolution and extension of the principle of Luban lock. However, there is only one in the world. Don't lose it, and don't give it away easily. Your sister-in-law won't be able to get you a second one."
She found this in a box; she had thought of giving it to Zhou Lin someday, and today was the perfect opportunity.
She once tried to dismantle it, but couldn't completely take it apart, and eventually silently put it back together.
"Thank you, sister-in-law. I really like it. This is too precious." Zhou Lin said to Li Mai sincerely.
Li Mai smiled and said, "I'm glad you like it."
After reading his second brother and sister's gifts, Zhou Lei was also looking forward to his own gift.
He slowly opened his box, revealing a palm-sized square block made of various colored small pieces.
"Sister-in-law, what is this?" Zhou Lei asked Li Mai curiously, having never seen it before.
“Rubik’s Cube, now you see that each face is a different color, right? You can scramble it and then slowly piece it back together,” Li Mai said.
"upset?"
As Zhou Lei spoke, he raised his hand and threw it on the ground with a thud, but it didn't make a mess.
Pfft!
Zhou Quan couldn't help but laugh, leaning on Li Mai's shoulder.
This silly little brother is so cute.
Zhou Lei quickly squatted down to pick it up, then realized he might have misunderstood. He gave Li Mai an awkward smile and said, "Uh, that's not how you mix them up, is it?"
Li Mai's shoulders twitched a few times, but she managed to suppress a laugh and said softly, "Let me demonstrate for you."
Zhou Lei quickly handed it to his sister-in-law with both hands.
Li Mai took it and quickly scrambled it so that no two sides were the same color.
Zhou Lei finally learned how to do it, gave another awkward smile, and tried to spin it again, but no matter how he spun it, he couldn't get it back to how it was before.
"Sister-in-law, can this be pieced back together?" Zhou Lei had been turning around for a while and was getting impatient. He felt that no matter how he turned around, it was impossible to put it back together.
Li Mai took it, looked at it for a while, then quickly spun it around in her hand, and in a short while, she turned it back.
Zhou Lei stared in disbelief. "Really?"
Suddenly, he discovered its charm, "Sister-in-law, I've shuffled it again and put it back together!"
Li Mai nodded, "Yes, it's yours now. Play with this when you're not studying; it can help you improve your mental agility and memory."
"Okay, thank you, sister-in-law!" Zhou Lei was delighted.
Is this a toy? He'd never seen one before.
These were toys that Li Mai used to play with when she was bored. She found them in her own box. There were two of them. She gave one to Zhou Lei, who was eleven years old and still in school. It was the time to develop his memory.
Nan Su opened his and found that it was the same as Zhou Lei's, also a Rubik's Cube, only the size and color were slightly different.
Li Mai gave the other one to Nan Su. She didn't know what the child liked, so she gave him the same one as Zhou Lei. Nan Su was very happy.
He had just watched how to play, and after happily thanking Li Mai, he also lowered his head to study it.
"Alright, you can all go back now. Your sister-in-law needs to go for a walk too. Xiao Tao, have your second brother carry your zither for you. You can practice on your own when you get back. Your eldest brother will teach you how to find the notes Gong, Shang, Jiao, Zheng, and Yu."
Zhou Quan stood up and stood next to Zhou Tao. He taught her to play each note one by one, and then told her to go back and practice her fingering on her own.
Zhou Tao happily followed behind Zhou Lin, wanting to help her second brother carry the box, but her second brother wouldn't let go, holding his own box in one hand and her violin case in the other.
"Second brother, will you think I'm too noisy if I play the piano tonight?" Zhou Tao asked excitedly, as she wanted to play as soon as she got back.
"I don't mind!" Zhou Lin shook his head, feeling that he probably wouldn't be able to sleep tonight either.
“But Third Brother still has to go to school tomorrow,” Zhou Lin reminded him.
"Besides, my sister-in-law is pregnant and needs to rest!" Zhou Lin reminded her again.
"Waaah, stop talking, I know." Zhou Tao was immediately discouraged. She decided to get up early the next morning to practice for a while before going to the shop.
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