Chapter 194: Miss Zhu Jing, Please Guide Me More

Under the sunlight, the fragments in Soya's hand gleamed with a similar luster. 

In the past few days, Yang Shuzhen had fired a set of black pottery as a demonstration for her students. She had also previously displayed her older works for reference. Soya had closely observed these works.

However, the texture of those black pottery pieces was fundamentally different from the fragments in her hand.

The first difference was the tactile sensation.

The black pottery craft has been passed down for thousands of years, and many of its processes have changed or even been lost. The black pottery that Yang Shuzhen had shown before, while fine, was noticeably soft. But now, the black pottery in her hand felt solid and appeared quite dense and hard. Yet, this was just her own impression and couldn't be taken as certainty.

One distinct difference from traditional black pottery was the pattern on the fragments.

The places on the shards that had been splashed with water had developed cracks, but the patterns on them, resembling feathers, were clearly visible. The dominant color was green, with outer rings of purple or blue halos, which captured Soya's full attention.

Her excellent memory recalled that Yang Shuzhen had once mentioned some lost types of black pottery. Among those lost varieties, a type called "sparrow feather black pottery" sounded particularly beautiful, and the image gradually aligned with the pottery fragments before her.

Without much hesitation, Soya picked out several fragments with obvious patterns from the ground and immediately rushed back to the association.

Seeing Soya running away with the fragments, Zhu Juan was stunned. Zhu Jing, who was beside her, looked worried and asked, "Sis, do you think she's going to tell Mom?"

Zhu Juan had just vented her frustrations, and her resentment had already diminished significantly. With her resentment dissipated, she was now feeling a bit anxious.

"Afraid? What's there to be afraid of? Even if she tells Mom, so what? I... I'll just get a beating!"

Seeing her sister's guilty expression, Zhu Jing sighed.

"Sis, is it really worth it?"

...

When the two sisters returned to the association, they indeed saw Soya holding the fragments and making gestures to Yang Shuzhen.

A large crowd had gathered around, discussing the pottery shards.

Yang Shuzhen was excited, brushing the dirt off Soya and urging her, "Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Little Ya, tell me slowly! How were these patterns on the fragments created?"

Seeing that she couldn't explain clearly through gestures, Soya looked around and happened to spot Zhu Juan trying to escape.

The situation was too complex, and Soya didn't really understand why the pottery fragments were like this. Frustrated, she stomped her foot and chased after Zhu Juan, pulling her to Yang Shuzhen despite Zhu Juan's attempts to resist. She pointed to the pottery shards and then at Zhu Juan.

"Juan'er, what's going on?" Yang Shuzhen understood Soya's intention and spread the pottery shards in front of Zhu Juan, asking.

"Ah... Oh no..." Zhu Juan, seeing that she couldn't escape, took a deep breath and confessed how she had ruined the bottles yesterday and bullied Soya today.

Upon hearing the entire story, the senior craftsmen in the association looked rather embarrassed.

Yang Shuzhen's face turned red—she didn't expect that asking about the pottery shards would lead to such an ugly incident.

Embarrassed, she handed the shards to the surrounding craftsmen and instructed, "Uncles, follow the process Big Juan described—fire them as she said, let the bottles soak in carbon in the drying room, and splash water on them when they come out of the kiln. Sparrow feather black pottery has been lost for a hundred years. If we can restore it, it will be a great achievement!"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Juan was stunned—what? Isn't this the method I used earlier?

Did I just recreate the long-lost sparrow feather black pottery?

Huh?

Ha!

Haha, what a surprise!

Just as Zhu Juan was grinning and celebrating this sudden happiness, Yang Shuzhen picked up a kiln hook from the ground.

At this time, the kiln hooks used for removing furnace ash were made from No. 8 rebar and were quite heavy. Before Zhu Juan's smile could even reach its peak, she felt a solid blow to her back!

"Ow! It hurts! Mom, what are you doing?"

Before she could enjoy her moment of happiness, Zhu Juan experienced the real pain of the kiln hook.

Seizing the opportunity, Yang Shuzhen struck Zhu Juan's backside with the kiln hook. In the summer heat, wearing thin clothes, the sharp and solid kiln hook left a visible mark on her buttocks.

This hit caused Zhu Juan to fall to the ground.

Yang Shuzhen continued to strike her buttocks while angrily shouting, "Let me teach you a lesson for being such a troublemaker! I'm going to make sure you never bully anyone again! Did Soya provoke you? Huh?"

...

When Li Xian arrived after hearing the commotion, he saw Zhu Juan on the ground, clutching her backside and crying loudly.

Such a scene left him in disarray—his childhood memories were too deeply ingrained.

In Li Xian's tragic childhood, there were two things that left an indelible mark: his father's leather shoes and his large hands, and his mother's kiln hook, feather duster, clothes rack, broom, and various long objects.

Leather shoes and large hands were limited in their power, but the real nemesis of Li Xian's backside were those long objects.

Summer beatings were bad enough, but spring, autumn, and winter beatings with the removal of all kinds of pants were truly... one strike leaving a mark!

Now, Zhu Juan's face buried in the dirt in a state of disbelief was strikingly similar to his countless childhood experiences.

So at this moment, even though Zhu Juan had bullied Soya, Li Xian couldn't bring himself to be angry—he could deeply empathize with the pain. In his subconscious, no matter how great the transgression, such suffering was unwarranted!

Seeing this, he quickly stepped forward to stop the apparently still enraged Yang Shuzhen.

When he learned that Zhu Juan had accidentally recreated the long-lost sparrow feather black pottery while bullying Soya, Li Xian was even more distressed.

And when he saw a girl by the side crying and pleading for Zhu Juan, he was even more troubled!

Even though the girl's face still had baby fat and looked quite fragile, Li Xian couldn't help but tense up.

He swallowed, pointed to the girl, and asked Yang Shuzhen, "Who is this..."

Yang Shuzhen, although still angry, was exhausted and panting. She leaned on the kiln hook and replied, "Oh, this is my little troublemaker, the third Zhu Jing. She just returned from Hailin. I had planned to bring her back earlier, but since she had just finished her apprenticeship and it wouldn't be good to let her leave her master's side, I let her stay there a bit longer."

After the introduction, Yang Shuzhen beckoned to Zhu Jing, "Jing'er, come over and greet your Brother Xian."

In the past two days, Zhu Jing had become very familiar with the name Li Xian. Curious about the man who had seemingly changed their fate, she was eager to meet him.

Hearing her mother's call, she wiped her tears and approached, bowing to Li Xian, "Brother Xian, hello..."

The sound of Zhu Juan's wails and sobs made Li Xian take a step back, feeling uneasy facing the familiar yet unfamiliar face.

Seeing his awkward reaction, Yang Shuzhen frowned and asked, "Xian, what's wrong?"

Gazing at Zhu Juan, who was still doubting her life on the ground, and then at Zhu Jing, who hadn't yet turned into a tigress, Li Xian swallowed again and said, "Aunt Yang, I think... Zhu Jing was also present when Zhu Juan bullied Soya. Not only did she fail to stop her sister from making mistakes, but she should also be considered an accomplice."

Upon hearing this, Yang Shuzhen slapped her thigh!

She immediately grabbed Zhu Jing by the collar and, instead of using the kiln hook, pinched her thigh with her hand, saying, "I would have forgotten about you if Brother Xian hadn't mentioned it!"

"Ah! Mom, it's not my fault! It was all my sister's doing! I'm innocent!"

Watching Zhu Jing squirm under Yang Shuzhen's pinch, Li Xian swallowed once more.

Miss Zhu Jing, your welcome gift has been received.

Please take care of me in the future!