Lu Liu accepted it and thanked him.
Luckily, they had not come empty-handed. They had brought some fresh mushrooms and spring bamboo shoots from the mountain village, along with some wild vegetables. Otherwise, Lu Liu would have felt uncomfortable accepting such a gift.
Lu Liu looked again at the characters carved on it. The craftsmanship was truly excellent—letters carved with a knife looked even better than his own handwriting.
“Is this skill hard to learn?” he asked.
Old Master Lu smiled. “Not hard. Your older brother learned it. He knows a bit of the craft, but he’s busy now and doesn’t have time for it. Do you want to learn?”
Lu Liu waved his hands. “I can’t even write properly yet. I’m afraid I wouldn’t manage. Is your craft passed down through the family? Did you start practicing when you were very young? I’ve read some books this past year, but the characters in the books aren’t as nice as the ones you carve. Yours are much more beautiful.”
At this, Old Master Lu was very proud.
“It’s a family craft. For several generations, my ancestors were all carpenters. My great-grandfather even worked for the Ministry of Works and made furniture for the palace. The patterns he left behind—don’t even mention how exquisite they were.”
Later on, the family had fewer people and could no longer take on heavy carpentry work. Starting from his grandfather’s generation, they gradually shifted to woodblock carving. By the time it reached his generation, he had become a skilled and seasoned craftsman.
Good carpenters were hard to come by. When wealthy families built houses or commissioned furniture, they all wanted pieces that were refined and imposing—grand yet tasteful. Taking on a single job could earn a great deal of money. Woodblock carving, however, was different. It brought in only small sums. The workshop wasn’t big enough; it was just enough to make a living.
Lu Liu had seen the bowls and chopsticks Old Master Lu had given to Lu Yang. The patterns on them were very pretty, and the chopsticks were carved in the shape of poplar branches. They looked so nice that people almost didn’t want to use them.
Lu Liu felt that Old Master Lu could also make small wooden items to earn money. Old Master Lu said, “In earlier years, I did just that—making bowls and chopsticks on the side, carving seals for people, and earning some money that way. Now it’s better. Yang has made something of himself. I’ll have a place to retire in the future.”
There were woodblocks being carved here every day. Lu Yang was going to open a bookshop, and once the commonly used books were finished, they would also carve popular poetry and essay collections. Life ahead would be comfortable. Doing familiar work, without running around outside, they could earn silver steadily.
When it came to talking about his older brother, Lu Liu was very happy. He chattered away excitedly for quite a while.
His older brother was the most capable—whatever he did, he did well. He was also kind-hearted, remembering kindness and repaying it.
After chatting for a while, Li Feng bought some paper and ink from Lu Xiaoshui, as well as a paper-cutting knife, and then took his leave.
They delivered the woodblocks and paper to the shop and had San Miao and his wife get busy.
Li Feng had asked his sister-in-law to cut a lot of paper and brought it all today, letting Miao Xiaohe print a batch of packaging paper first, to wrap some dried mushrooms and try selling them. They didn’t stay at the shop and instead went out to stroll around the county town.
Lu Liu had always wanted to visit the blacksmith’s shop. He had said long ago that he wanted to have Li Feng’s weapons repaired, but Li Feng refused. So Lu Liu said they could at least go to the blacksmith’s shop and see what else they could buy.
Iron prices fluctuated a lot—anywhere from fifty copper coins to one tael of silver. When Li Feng asked around, the price was sixty to eighty copper coins per jin. If the iron was forged into specific items, the price would increase further. The iron arrowheads he had bought before cost one hundred copper coins for just three pieces.
The blacksmith’s shop was very hot. The men inside worked shirtless, hammering iron.
Lu Liu grabbed Li Feng’s arm and hid behind him as he looked around the shop.
Li Feng was an acquaintance of the blacksmith. Seeing him, the owner told him to look around freely and said, “Iron is sixty-two copper coins per jin. Finished goods are a fixed price.”
Li Feng took Lu Liu to look at the goods hanging along the wall. There was an iron wire stretched along it, with various iron tools hanging from it. Most were kitchenware and farming tools; weapons were fewer and piled in a corner.
They didn’t lack kitchenware or farm tools at home, but Lu Liu had never seen so many new ones before. As he walked along looking at them, he became completely absorbed.
If all the tools in their home were made of iron, how much effort that would save.
Large farm tools couldn’t be hung and were placed on the ground, so they had to walk around them.
When they reached the pile of weapons, Li Feng picked up a small knife to look at.
Among Li Feng’s hunting tools, there was already a similar small knife, useful for preparing small ingredients and for self-defense. He asked Lu Liu if he wanted one.
Lu Liu said no.
With his slender arms and legs, a knife would be useless to him.
If Li Feng couldn’t protect him, even holding a cleaver wouldn’t help.
As he looked further back, he noticed a suit of iron armor.
Lu Liu had heard that soldiers wore rattan armor or leather armor, but he had never seen iron armor before.
Li Feng said, “This was probably custom-made by someone. The owner wouldn’t dare make iron armor privately.”
The light in Lu Liu’s eyes dimmed. He had thought the armor looked good—clearly sturdy—and that he could buy one for Li Feng.
He stared at the suit of armor for a long time, examining all the details. He noticed that there was a round iron plate on the front that could be removed, tied on with leather straps.
He asked what that iron plate was for.
Li Feng said it was a heart-protecting mirror, “to protect the chest.”
Lu Liu was tempted again and asked, “Can we buy just this mirror?”
Li Feng turned around and asked the owner, who said yes.
“Two hundred copper coins per piece. How many do you want?”
Lu Liu had eight qian of silver on him. He looked at the heart-protecting mirror, then at Li Feng, and said to the owner, “Two pieces.”
He even circled around Li Feng and gestured for the owner. “One for the chest, one for the back of the chest. You have to look carefully—this big!”
Li Feng was tall and broad. Making heart-protecting mirrors sized for his chest meant the owner wanted to raise the price.
Lu Liu widened his eyes. “Didn’t you say it was a fixed price?”
The owner first joked with Li Feng. “Is this your husband? Look how he treats you like the apple of his eye—he even wants two heart-protecting mirrors for you. He’s made you into a fool.”
Then he said to Lu Liu, “Two hundred copper coins per piece can be done, but if you want them bigger, they have to be made thinner. Do you cook at home? You know iron woks, right? Thick ones are durable; thin ones get punctured easily. The same goes for heart-protecting mirrors.”
Getting pierced would be unacceptable—it was meant to protect the chest.
Lu Liu had already finished his confinement period and had gone out and about. He knew the horse had been taken by force.
Making a living outside was no easier than life in the mountains. He wanted to buy good-quality heart-protecting mirrors.
Fortunately, the price increase wasn’t much. They needed an extra jin of iron and an additional labor fee. For two heart-protecting mirrors, the total came to five hundred and fifty copper coins.
Lu Liu paid the money and asked about the time needed. They would have to wait until Li Feng came back next time to pick them up.
He still had two hundred and fifty copper coins left. After leaving the blacksmith’s shop, he took Li Feng to a candied-fruit shop to buy dragon-beard candy.
This candy was very expensive. This was only the second time he had bought it. The last time, he had bought just one piece and fed it to Li Feng on the street.
This time, he could buy a few more pieces. He let Li Feng eat one on the spot, saved one for his mother, and kept the rest to take along and eat on the road.
Lu Liu tipped his money pouch upside down. “That’s it—my private stash is all spent. Once I save up again, I’ll buy you even more candy.”
Li Feng held the dragon-beard candy in his mouth, savoring the sweetness, reluctant to bite into it. He took another piece and offered it to Lu Liu as well. Lu Liu had never eaten dragon-beard candy before. He stared at it, swallowing several times, until Li Feng brushed the candy against his lips. Only then did he smile and eat it.
It was very, very sweet. Sweeter than sugar water, sweeter than candied fruit, sweeter than the malt sugar they had bought. They hadn’t eaten other kinds of candy before. This was the sweetest candy Lu Liu had ever tasted.
The sweetness was rich without being cloying. If you savored it slowly, it didn’t leave a harsh aftertaste.
The shop assistant said that this candy was also called dragon-beard crisp. You had to bite into it to taste the crisp layers.
They let the outer strands melt in their mouths. Once the candy softened, biting into it really did feel like eating a flaky pastry—layer after layer, each one distinct.
Lu Liu cupped his face as he ate and spoke indistinctly, “Da Feng, you really had good taste. You picked out such a delicious candy even when you were little.”
Seeing how satisfied he looked, Li Feng wanted to buy more for him, to keep at home and eat slowly.
Lu Liu refused. “It’s so precious. Even eating it, you should choose a special day.”
Li Feng took him back to the shop and bought another two jin.
There was no need to choose a day anymore. Lu Liu’s birthday was coming soon, and Li Feng wanted him to have something sweet.
“Eat it whenever you like. Save one piece for your birthday. I won’t be by your side to celebrate with you. Sweeten your mouth, and don’t cry.”
Lu Liu wouldn’t cry. “I already understand—distance doesn’t count for much. I have you in my heart, so you’re always by my side. As long as you’re with me, I won’t cry.”
Li Feng touched his face, took another piece of candy, and fed him again.
Lu Liu wanted to go home at this point, but Li Feng took him around for a bit longer and went to buy a small comb.
