Free Web NovelChapter 279: Chapter 281: Wood Carving
An Ning arrived early, getting to Antique Street around eight in the morning.
She wasn’t in any hurry to sell her things, so she decided to browse for a while first.
Alone and free, she could wander wherever she pleased.
She passed under a large, decorative archway. The street beyond was quite wide.
Shops with an old-fashioned charm lined both sides of the street. They were mostly made of unpainted wood or painted red, with ancient wooden signs bearing red or green lettering.
The ground was paved with small, rectangular stones. Worn by time and weather, the uneven surface seemed to whisper of its long history.
The street stretched for about three or four hundred meters. The far end seemed to hold some mystery, and An Ning ambled slowly in that direction.
The street was filled with people clutching bundles, tucking ragged clothes under their arms, or carrying bamboo baskets on their backs.
Of course, there were also well-dressed people, dripping with jewels or holding ornate fans, but they were few and far between at this time of day.
An Ning’s outfit today was nondescript, making it hard to tell if she was well-off or not.
An Ning didn’t want to attract trouble by dressing in rags, so she wore the clothes she had bought in the south.
Dressed neatly, with a backpack slung over her shoulders and a youthful face, she looked like a student who had wandered in by mistake.
To the surrounding shopkeepers, a person like her was either broke or an easy mark.
An Ning entered the first shop, one that sold wood carvings.
A wooden sculpture by the entrance caught her eye. It depicted a miniature landscape of mountains and flowing water, with flowers, grass, and trees so lifelike she had to step inside for a closer look.
If not for the color of the raw wood, it could have passed for the real thing.
The Shopkeeper inside greeted her amicably.
"Here to see the wood carvings?"
An Ning, who had been bent over observing the piece, looked up with a smile. "This is my first time seeing something like this. It’s incredible. The craftsmanship is superb. I’m truly impressed."
Her words were full of genuine sincerity.
They put the Shopkeeper in such a good mood that he wouldn’t have minded even if she didn’t buy anything.
"There’s more inside. Care to come in and have a look?"
An Ning accepted the invitation without the slightest hesitation. She thanked him graciously and followed the Shopkeeper inside.
The Shopkeeper found himself quite impressed with An Ning. For someone so young, she was poised, graceful, and polite—qualities that elders always appreciated.
There were no other customers that morning, and the Shopkeeper was a man who truly loved wood carving, so he eagerly began showing An Ning around and explaining the pieces.
He explained the origin of each carving, the master who made it, their techniques, and their skills—he told her everything he could.
An Ning listened attentively, not only keeping up with the conversation but also asking insightful questions.
The old man and the young woman—one speaking with passion, the other listening with focus—complemented each other perfectly.
"Thank you for the enlightening explanations, Shopkeeper. I’ve learned a great deal."
An Ning said gratefully.
The Shopkeeper set down the carving he was holding and said dismissively, "It’s rare to find a young person like you who’s willing to listen to an old man ramble."
"It’s not rambling. It’s knowledge."
An Ning’s words made the Shopkeeper laugh heartily. He walked happily behind his counter and took out a finger-sized wooden trinket.
"A gift for you, young friend. Take it with you."
The trinket was a carving of a bamboo stalk with an adorable panda clinging to it, looking as if it were gnawing on the stalk.
It was unbelievably cute.
An Ning fell in love with it at first sight, but she felt it wouldn’t be right to accept a gift after he had already taught her so much.
"I’ll buy it. I can’t just take it for free."
An Ning’s tone was firm. Not wanting to impose, the Shopkeeper only accepted two yuan from her as a token payment.
"Thank you. I love it. It’s just so adorable."
The way An Ning couldn’t take her eyes off it made the Shopkeeper feel as though he had found a kindred spirit.
Few people truly appreciated the art of wood carving, and his business was only so-so. If not for his passion, he probably would have closed up shop long ago.
As An Ning admired the little carving in her hand, the Shopkeeper took out a red cord and personally braided a decorative knot, helping her tie the panda to her backpack.
Delighted, An Ning thanked him again.
"Hm?" Her spiritual power suddenly surged out excitedly, and An Ning saw something she wasn’t supposed to see.
"What is it? If you don’t like where it is, I can tie it somewhere else for you."
"No, that’s not it."
An Ning shook her head.
She walked over to a wooden statue of the Maitreya Buddha and pointed. "I remember you said this was one of the bargains you scored, didn’t you, Shopkeeper?"
"That’s right. It’s one of my few prized possessions."
The Shopkeeper’s affection for the piece was plain to see.
An Ning’s brow furrowed. She sent her spiritual power seeping into the Maitreya Buddha’s belly, her expression puzzled.
"Should there be something inside a Maitreya Buddha’s belly?"
"How could that be possible? This Maitreya Buddha was carved from a single piece of wood. How could anything be inside?"
The Shopkeeper chuckled as he cleared the leftover red cord from the counter, looking at An Ning with amusement.
An Ning came up with a pretext. Her entire demeanor shifted, suddenly resembling the village mystic who had built her coiling dragon waterway.
When An Ning turned back to face him, the Shopkeeper was taken aback.
’How is she different?’
’She’s the same person, but I feel like I’m looking at someone else.’
"Shopkeeper, you and I are strangers who have only just met today, but we have had a most pleasant conversation."
Sounding very formal, An Ning did her best to play the part of a master emerging from seclusion for the first time.
"It is only because fate has brought us together that I will tell you this, and I will say it only once."
"A blade hidden within a Buddha is a most inauspicious omen."
Having said her piece, An Ning gave herself a mental thumbs-up. ’I’m such a good bullshitter.’
Before coming here, she hadn’t even known what a Maitreya Buddha looked like.
The reason she called it inauspicious was because the aura coming from inside made her feel deeply uncomfortable.
After delivering her message, "Master" An Ning clasped her hands in a formal gesture toward the Shopkeeper, turned, and strode out of the shop with an air of importance.
By the time the Shopkeeper behind the counter snapped out of it, An Ning was gone.
Sweat instantly beaded on the Shopkeeper’s forehead.
’Where’d she go?’
’In broad daylight... It’s not a ghost, is it?’
Meanwhile, An Ning was squatting behind a stone lion at the corner across the street, using her spiritual power to keep an eye on the Shopkeeper. ’Did he believe me or not?’
’This "Master An Ning" persona is pretty fun.’
Of course, the main reason she did it was to repay his kindness; after all, she had accepted the panda.
The wood carving Shopkeeper stood in the sun at his doorway for a good while, as if to ward off a sudden chill.
When he finally turned and went back inside, he thought back on what had just happened and shook his head with a self-deprecating smile.
"Getting old, getting old. My guard really isn’t what it used to be."
The Shopkeeper hadn’t believed her.
He went back behind the counter, took out his abacus, and started flicking the beads with a CLACKETY-CLACK. After a long moment, he realized he’d made a mistake in his calculations.
The Shopkeeper glanced up at the Maitreya Buddha. ’Why does it suddenly look so sinister?’
"What the hell... Just a little girl..."
The Shopkeeper lowered his head again, but his mind wouldn’t quiet down. He shouldn’t be letting this get to him. That statue was a signature piece in his shop; if he broke it open, there would be no going back.
But who on Antique Street didn’t have a healthy dose of belief in Mysticism?
’Could she really be a master’s apprentice?’
The Shopkeeper was uncertain. He tried to convince himself to have someone else look at it first. He couldn’t just smash his shop’s most valuable piece of merchandise based on a single sentence.
That would have been the most rational course of action, but a nagging feeling in his heart wouldn’t let him rest.
’To hell with it, I’ll smash it!’
