Baozi Xishi's Struggle

Chapter 108: Qiaozuoju, Master Song with personality

Shen Yu looked into the yard and lowered his voice and said, "Although we let them come here because we feel sorry for them, since they are working for our family, they have to do it cleanly, even if they only work for a few days, right?"

Li nodded and whispered, "I have the same idea. If there are lice on such dirty and torn clothes, it will be troublesome. Besides, we cook at home. I won't let them enter the kitchen if it is not clean."

When Shen Yu thought of lice, his face changed color and his body began to feel itchy.

After finishing his meal, Shen Yu said something to Li, then took the mold that he had spent half a day carefully drawing yesterday and left, heading straight for Qiaozuoju in the east of the city.

Following the instructions of the old couple running the porridge stall, Shen Yu easily found the shop on the corner of the street.

The shop front is not big, and the most attractive thing is the four carved wooden doors at the shop entrance. They are finely carved with extremely delicate patterns of landscapes, flowers and birds, figures, and cordyceps.

Shen Yu couldn't help but get closer to take a look. The smallest insect was no bigger than a fingernail, but its antennae and claws were clearly visible and lifelike.

As Shen Yu was watching, a middle-aged man saw someone at the door of the store and walked out.

Seeing Shen Yu standing at the door and looking closely at the four wooden doors, he was quite complacent and didn't say anything. He just stood there with a smile and waited quietly.

Shen Yu looked carefully for a while, then he felt someone beside him. He quickly stood up straight and smiled embarrassedly.

The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Hello, young lady, but what should I do?"

Shen Yu nodded and smiled, "I want to make some cake molds. I wonder if Master Song is here."

The man said, "Miss, please look for my master. He is here. I don't know what tricks you want to do, but you must ask my master to do it."

Shen Yu took out a stack of papers from his cloth bag and handed it over.

The middle-aged man looked through it for a while, and his relaxed expression disappeared, replaced by a serious one. He said politely, "Wait a moment, young lady. I'll go get my master to come over."

After saying this, he handed the paper pattern back to Shen Yu and went to the back door of the shop.

Shen Yu stood in the shop and looked around. The shop was full of wooden utensils, some of which were normal-sized, and many of which were scaled-down miniature samples.

Shen Yu looked at them carefully one by one. Although the wooden samples were small in size, they were not distorted at all. They were all carefully made according to the proportions and were extremely delicate.

Shen Yu sighed in his heart, the ancient woodworking technology was really good. A pavilion like this one did not have a single nail, and was made entirely of mortise and tenon structures, yet it was strong and stable and could withstand wind and rain.

Just as he was thinking about it, an old man with gray hair walked in from the back door of the shop, and the middle-aged man followed the old man respectfully.

The old man walked up to Shen Yu, bowed politely and asked, "Miss, I heard that you want to make a cake mold?"

Shen Yu stood up straight, smiled and nodded, and handed the paper in his hand to the old man.

The old man took the paper samples and walked to the door of the shop. He looked at them one by one with a look of surprise on his face.

The paper pattern was drawn by Shen Yu according to modern people's aesthetics. Although she didn't make many mooncakes in the past, she loved collecting mooncake molds, which came in various shapes and patterns.

This time I just drew some interesting and auspicious patterns based on my memory.

After reading the pattern, the old man exclaimed: "I have been carving patterns for most of my life, but this is the first time I have done this kind of carving..."

He considered the words and thought for a while before saying, "This is a seemingly simple, yet childlike trick."

Shen Yu smiled slightly and said, "Excuse me, you must be Master Song, right? I heard from others that you are the best master in this industry."

Master Song waved his hand modestly and smiled gently, "Miss, you are too kind to me. I don't deserve it. I just worked here longer."

Shen Yu pointed at the carving pattern in Master Song's hand and said, "Master Song, I want to make three sets of cake molds according to this carving pattern. I wonder how long it will take and how much money it will cost."

Master Song pondered for a while and gave a deadline: "The girl's pattern has simple lines and is not difficult to make, but I have never made anything like this before. I don't know if it will turn out to be satisfactory in the end."

Master Song held up two fingers and gestured: "How about this, in two days, please come to our store to check out the samples. As for the money, I have a rule. If I encounter a pattern that I have never made before, I will only charge you for the materials for the first trial. If the customer likes it after it is made, you can add some more."

Then he began to look through the paper patterns intently again, turned his head and ignored Shen Yu, and went back to the back of the shop.

Shen Yu stared blankly at the back door of the shop where Master Song disappeared.

The middle-aged man next to her explained to Shen Yu with a big smile on his face: "Don't blame me, young lady. My master has this kind of temper. When he encounters something he has never done before, he will not care about anything else and will focus on how to make it look good. If he can't do it, sometimes he won't even sleep."

Shen Yu finally understood and said with a smile: "How can I blame you? This is my blessing to have met a master like Master Song who only wants to study his skills."

After hearing what Shen Yu said, the middle-aged man looked proud and said, "That's right. My master hasn't taken on new work for a long time. If he doesn't like a pattern, he won't make it himself no matter how much money you give him. If he thinks a pattern is new and unique, he will make it for you wholeheartedly, even if he doesn't charge for the materials. The wealthy families who want to make their own unique new patterns always ask my master to do it."

Shen Yu looked at the middle-aged man's proud expression and knew that she had found the right person to ask Master Song to make cake molds. She also complimented him a few words and then said goodbye.

When I got home, the buns were already in the steamer and the porridge was cooking in the pot.

Yutao was tending the fires on both sides. Li heard the voice and came out, followed by a woman wearing clean gray-blue clothes and with neatly combed hair.

Shen Yu suddenly saw someone following Li and was about to ask Li if there were any guests at home.

The woman came up to Shen Yu with a big smile on her face and said, "Miss Yuzhi, you're back."

Shen Yu took a closer look and found that the woman was actually Jiang.

Jiang was originally wearing tattered clothes and had messy hair. Now she had taken a bath and changed into Li's clothes. Shen Yu did not recognize her at first.

Shen Yu smiled and said, "It turned out to be Aunt Jiang. Aunt Jiang looks really good in this outfit."

Upon closer inspection, Jiang had dignified facial features and a calm temperament. She was actually a very comfortable and pleasing middle-aged woman.

Jiang was praised by Shen Yu, she smiled gently and quietly stood aside.

At this time, Yucheng came out of the house pulling Dundun.

Dun Dun also took a shower and changed into clean clothes, but he looked awkward and uncomfortable.

Shen Yu felt strange and looked at him carefully. He almost couldn't help laughing. It turned out that Dun Dun was wearing Shen Yu's old clothes. Although the clothes were plain and just a set of light blue trousers and jacket, they were obviously women's clothes.