Chapter 12: The First Pot of Gold
After the trip to Jiuhua Mountain, Wei Minghai took Alex home. Tomorrow was Labor Day, and the school would be on vacation for three days.
After eating the home-cooked dishes prepared by Wei Minghai himself, Wei Minghai asked Alex to sit down on the sofa and began a thoughtful counseling conversation
Qin , the college entrance examination is only a month away. Do you have a particular school you like? Wei Minghai said in a soft voice, with a concerned expression of a parent.
Alex sat on the sofa in a very proper manner, pretending to be a good student, blinking his eyes and longingly replying, "Fudan University." He had already learned online that this school was located in the most prosperous international city of trade and commerce in China, so it was certainly the first choice.
Wei Minghai laughed and said, "Ha-ha! Good, you have ambition. I believe you can pass the exam."
Alex lowered her head and made a shy gesture, whispering, "Thank Uncle Wei for his encouragement. I will try harder."
Well, what else do you need for your life? We can go shopping tomorrow.
Alex tilted her head slightly and gazed at Wei Minghai with worshipful eyes, saying, "I owe my chance to go back to school to Uncle Wei's kindness and great generosity. I will repay him for sure."
Staring at the boy's watery eyes, Wei Minghai felt his blood rising, more excited than solving a case. The boy's rosy cheeks, beautiful eyebrows and eyes, and slightly pursed lips made him unable to take his eyes off him. He slowly lowered his head, and when his lips were about to touch the boy's lips, he suddenly jerked back, stood up quickly, and said "have a good rest" before rushing back to his bedroom.
With a sigh, Alex kicked off her slippers and stretched out on the sofa. Ah, what a man! He had such determination! He licked his lips and thought to himself. His Wanshen Huayan Method required absorption of yang energy to balance the practice and ensure smooth progress. The Qi-gathering period was not necessary for the time being, but if he could absorb pure yang energy, his cultivation would grow even faster.
Alex stayed in the living room for a while, then walked back to the house and took out the black-green stone he bought today. He had to explain to Wei Minghai why he liked this stone, which seemed to indicate that it was necessary to make money quickly.
This black and green stone is indeed not jade, but Xuanjue stone. The function of this stone is to make objects that can be stored in a space. The size of the space depends on the ability of the refiner. Before, he didn't even care about this stone, but now, he can only use it as a makeshift.
After coming to this world, it is very inconvenient to store things. When he reaches the middle stage of gathering qi, he plans to make a storage tool.
Now the key is the problem of money. He is only 16 years old and belongs to the minors. There are limitations on what he can do. Moreover, he disdains to do some things like stealing, cheating and swindling. To help people see a doctor? Who will believe him? To buy and sell antiques? He doesn't understand it at all, only knows those with spirituality and those without. To help people see divination and fortune-telling? It will lower his status.
He saw an advertisement a few days ago, and there is a method that can be tried.
Chushan Carving Shop is a place for buying and selling carved ornaments. It is an old shop with several decades of history. The owner, Chushan, is skilled in wood carving, a family tradition. In recent years, Chushan has expanded his business and taken on many apprentices to undertake the production of stone carvings, jade carvings, and other crafts.
He is famous in Qingyang County and even the whole city, and CCTV has interviewed him specially. Many people come here to seek the help of Master Chu Shan to carve things.
Although there are branches in the city and counties, Chu Shan still prefers to stay in the old shop in Qingyang County. He leaves the rest to his apprentices, and his only daughter is studying abroad. He doesn't like carving and production, so he has taken on many apprentices in recent years to prevent the craft from being lost.
Manual carving is a very patient and careful job. In addition to shaping the form, it is also necessary to convey the essence and delicacy. Unfortunately, nowadays, young people are impulsive and restless, and the things carved by these apprentices can only be barely acceptable.
"Ding Dong!" The sound of a brass bell ringing at the door indicated that a visitor had arrived. Chu Shan was concentrating on carving the wood in his hands in the inner room of the counter, while the staff outside greeted the guests.
There was a murmur outside, but the inner room couldn't hear it clearly, and it didn't matter. Chu Shan didn't even think about it. He was thinking about the strength of the knife, when he heard the shop assistant yelling, "Go, go, the hairy boy from there, come here to make trouble. Is that sculpture in your hand? It's just for sale. It's nonsense!"
Chu Shan was interrupted and felt unhappy, so he stopped his actions, put down the wood, and got up and walked outside.
Alex frowned slightly and watched the young man staring at him with a snub nose and squinty eyes, thinking about giving him a little lesson. An elderly man in his fifties came out of the interior of the counter and said to the clerk with a serious face, "Don't be rude to customers. Everyone who enters the door is a customer."
The young shop assistant quickly explained, "Master, this child is causing trouble. I just want him to go out and play, not to mess around here."
Alex said lightly, "I saw from the advertisement that you accept carvings here, so I came to have a look."
In recent years, Chu Shan's health has not been very good, and even his disciples' carving products cannot reach the level of elegance. He is not capable of mass production in factories. In addition, with the high living standard in recent years, people have a great demand for handicrafts. In addition, he also wants to draw some essence from other folk carving crafts, so he advertises all stores to purchase pure folk hand carvings, wood carvings, stone carvings, jade carvings, etc.
It's hard to say that there are no hidden talents in the folk. Chu Shan's move did attract many people who came to sell. Unfortunately, most of them had poor craftsmanship, and some even brought carvings produced by factories. The staff were trained and had certain carving knowledge, but they were still annoyed by various fakes.
Chu Shan could understand the clerk's feelings, so he turned around and said to Alex in a calm tone, "Little brother, this is not a place to have fun. Go home quickly!
"I want to sell sculptures." Alex held up the object in his hand and said with a calm expression, "You're an expert. What do you think of this one?"
Chu Shan looked closely and saw a vivid phoenix spreading its wings and ready to fly, as if it were alive. He raised his reading glasses and blinked vigorously, feeling as if the bird were about to fly away. He quickly said excitedly, "Little brother, can you show me the carving in your hand up close?"
Without hesitation, Alex presented it to him. Chu Shan carefully took it and opened his eyes wide. Oh my God! He had never seen such a skillful carving technique. This wooden bird had not been polished or painted. It was just a common cypress wood carving. The knife flowed down like a cloud, and there was no sign of any hesitation or imperfection. It was just like nature itself.
Chu Shan looked up and down the mountain for a long time, and was amazed like finding a treasure.
After Alex came to this world, he felt that craft jewelry and the like were simply ugly to death. Because he loved making jewelry and the like very much, his craftsmanship in carving things was said to be extraordinary, not to mention that he had infused magic into the carving, which gave the items a pure and spiritual aura. The old man looked very knowledgeable at first glance, but after looking at it over and over again for such a long time, he impatiently said, "Are you going to accept it or not?"
Chu Shan finally came to his senses, clutching the object in his hand tightly, and shouted urgently, "Take it! Take it! Definitely take it!"
Then he looked at Alex with a fiery gaze and said, "Little brother, who carved this?"
"My grandfather!" Alex casually made up a story and said that he had carved it himself. That was just asking for trouble.
Chushan quickly asked, "Who is your grandfather, may I meet him?"
The old man lives on Jiuhua Mountain and doesn't care about the worldly affairs." If I didn't lack money for studying, I wouldn't sell this thing." He said it could be worth a lot of money.
Of course, this is a masterpiece. Upon hearing this, Chu Shan felt rather sorry. If he could meet the artist and ask for advice on his sculptures, it would be a great honour. He sighed and said, "How about this, young man? I'll buy this wood sculpture for 100,000 yuan."
"Grandpa said he wouldn't sell it for less than 500,000 yuan. It's his lifelong work," Alex shouted, but she was laughing to herself. Didn't he know? Even if he was short of money, he wouldn't sell it cheaply. His work is not only the top in China, but also in the world. It's unique.
The young shop assistant gasped in horror. The boss's offer of 100,000 yuan for a palm-sized wood carving was already shocking, but this young man was even more extravagant.
Chu Shan hesitated for a moment, but then he gritted his teeth and replied, "Five hundred thousand, five hundred thousand!"
The young shop assistant's mouth opened wide in shock and disbelief.
Alex snorted in his heart, thinking that he had picked a bargain, as the original statue would have cost millions, not to mention hundreds of thousands.
"What's your card number? I'll transfer it to you," Chu Shan asked, looking at the object in his hand again.
Alex provided a bank account number, as he had already obtained a bank card with his ID card.
Chu Shan is a businessman and is very fast. After a short period of time on the phone, he made a call and got the matter done.
After verifying the phone information, Alex waved goodbye.
After Chu Shan waited for him to leave, he quickly asked the clerk to bring the best nanmu box and carefully placed the wood carving inside. Then he locked it in the safe. After doing all this, he took a deep breath and dialed a phone number. "Yes, this is Chu Shan. I have found the work for this exhibition, and I will fly over in a few days to deliver it."