The next day, the sun shone brightly.
The advantage of living here was that no one dared to get up at night, no one dared to leave their rooms. Especially with the occasional strange cat calls, it greatly improved the quality of sleep.
Lang Yue arrived early, bringing local delicacies for breakfast. Afterward, she signaled Director Huang, "I'll wait for you at Adi's place."
"Okay."
After Lang Yue left, everyone turned to look at Director Huang, letting out a meaningful "Oh~".
Director Huang buried his head in his porridge and mumbled, "I'm in the same group as the village chief. Today we're going to Adi's place to help make paper."
The others: "Oh~~"
After breakfast, Su Yuxi still hadn't waited for Xia Weiliang to come out. Seeing Aning, he quickly went up to ask, "Aning, where's Weiliang?"
"My sister left early this morning!"
Su Yuxi froze. He was almost certain that he had offended her.
At this moment, Uncle Qu pushed the door open, his footsteps faltering. He looked at the tidy courtyard, the tools and materials neatly sorted, and the steaming breakfast on the stone table in the middle.
The young girl who had arrived yesterday was sitting nearby, trimming bamboo sticks. She accidentally pricked her finger, yelped in pain, took out a band-aid from her bag, applied it, and continued trimming.
"Master, come and eat breakfast quickly!"
Seeing Uncle Qu, she quickly put down her work and respectfully invited him over. Su Dan Novel Network.
Since she was to be his apprentice, the proper etiquette could not be skipped, especially for these old traditional artists who valued respect for their teachers.
"You eat too."
Uncle Qu finally spoke.
"Thank you, Master!"
Xia Weiliang did not stand on ceremony and started eating with her chopsticks.
Seeing that the girl's fair and tender hands were covered in either adhesive tape or band-aids, Qu Guanxiang lowered his gaze again. "After breakfast, follow me to stretch the umbrella ribs."
Xia Weiliang was stunned, then delighted. "Yes, Master!"
This meant he accepted her, didn't it!
But she still asked cautiously, "Master, aren't you afraid I'll be like the others before?"
Qu Guanxiang didn't look up, took a bite of his flatbread, and said, "If I misjudge someone, that's my problem. As long as you are sincere in learning, I will be sincere in teaching."
The elder's simple words brought tears to her eyes. She put down her bowl and chopsticks, stood up, knelt before him, and formally kowtowed three times, calling out respectfully, "Master."
"Mm."
Qu Guanxiang took out a red cloth bundle from his embrace and threw it to her.
"Yours."
Xia Weiliang took it and opened it. It was a wooden carving of an oil-paper umbrella. A red string was threaded through the tip of the umbrella, perfect for wearing around her neck as decoration.
"It's so beautiful! Thank you, Master!"
She quickly hung the umbrella around her neck and tied the red string into a knot.
"Master, does it look good?"
Seeing her happy expression, Qu Guanxiang wiped his mouth and got up. "Let's get to work."
"Alright!"
When Su Yuxi arrived, Xia Weiliang and Uncle Qu were already sitting in the courtyard, diligently learning to stretch umbrella ribs.
He and Xiao Shuai carried in rice, flour, oil, and a bamboo basket of meat, eggs, and fresh vegetables.
Seeing that Xia Weiliang didn't even spare him a glance, Su Yuxi inexplicably felt a bit wronged.
He knew it was already difficult for Uncle Qu to teach Xia Weiliang, so he wouldn't bother him further. Moreover, he himself wasn't very interested in it. He might as well help Uncle Qu with some of the heavy labor, finding rainproof cloth to cover the roof, and then chopping new bamboo to make a fence.
"Time to eat!"
At noon, Xiao Shuai came out with a steaming large pot of stewed dishes, with corn cakes pasted around the sides. It smelled delicious.
"Xiao Shuai, your cooking skills are more than enough to open a restaurant!"
"Heh heh, my dad runs a restaurant."
Uncle Qu heard this and looked up, asking him, "Why aren't you helping him at home?"
Xiao Shuai shook his head vigorously. "I have something I like to do. But thankfully, my dad is very supportive!"
Uncle Qu fell silent again after hearing this.
Xia Weiliang opened the bamboo tube of wine. "Master, here."
"Mm."
As they were eating, Lang Yue came in.
"Uncle Qu, there's a letter for you."
Xiao Shuai exclaimed, "People still write letters these days!"
Lang Yue explained, "Uncle Qu doesn't have a phone, so his daughter writes letters to him."
"Oh oh oh!"
Xia Weiliang saw clearly that Uncle Qu's eyes lit up. He quickly put down his wine cup and wiped his hands on his clothes repeatedly before taking the letter.
He opened it, but the characters were too small, and he couldn't see clearly even when squinting.
"Let me read it for you."
"Yes, yes, yes."
Xia Weiliang took the letter. Xiao Shuai invited Lang Yue in and handed her a pair of chopsticks. "Try my cooking."
"Okay." Lang Yue was not shy and ate a few bites with a smile, exclaiming how delicious it was.
Meanwhile, as Xia Weiliang read the letter, her brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
Su Yuxi also listened in silence.
Xiao Shuai and Lang Yue also understood what was going on, and neither of them spoke.
Only Uncle Qu listened silently, his head bowed, his expression unclear.
"...Dad, I know I was wrong, but Xiao Zheng's mother values family status very highly. I can't tell her that my dad is just an umbrella maker, so I lied. I said I come from a family of artists and that my family is very wealthy, and that you are a highly respected figure in the industry... Dad, they are suddenly coming for an engagement. I was also panicked when I heard it. What should I do? You must help me no matter what!"
Xia Weiliang put down the letter, her feelings genuinely complex.
On the other hand, Lang Yue slammed down her chopsticks and said angrily, "Tian Mei is really acting out! Family of artists? How can you hide something like this? If Xiao Zheng cares about these things, then he doesn't truly love her!"
Xiao Shuai looked around. "But what should we do now?"
Xia Weiliang looked carefully. "The date on the letter is tomorrow?!"
Qu Guanxiang looked up and murmured, "Tomorrow, tomorrow..."
He didn't say anything else, poured himself another cup of wine, and drank it down in one gulp.
Perhaps it was the wine he had drunk at noon, but his words became more numerous. He kept saying, "I'm sorry to them, mother and daughter... I'm incapable. I only know how to make umbrellas, but now there are nylon and steel-framed umbrellas everywhere, and no one uses oil-paper umbrellas anymore... I made so many umbrellas but couldn't sell them... A factory once offered me a high salary to be their consultant, but it wasn't about making umbrellas, it was just using my name for advertising... So, I returned from the city, but they left..."
"I can't provide my daughter with good living conditions, making her unable to hold her head high in front of outsiders and be looked down upon. It's my fault, all my fault..."
"In this life, besides making umbrellas, I only have this one daughter to worry about, but I can't help her with anything..."
Xia Weiliang felt uneasy seeing her master's sadness.
She helped him into the house. After seeing him asleep, she came out to get more information from Lang Yue.
Lang Yue sighed. "Uncle Qu had this daughter only in his middle age. All his thoughts are on her. He usually doesn't spend his money and sends it all to her."
Xia Weiliang furrowed her brows, thought for a moment, and said seriously, "The other party is coming for an engagement now. There's no reason not to let them come."
Outside the village, a car stopped.
Yan Zhi couldn't bear to wake the person behind him, thinking of letting him sleep a little longer.
He had received a call from Niangniang yesterday and then compressed three days' worth of work into one night. Who could handle that!
"Are we there?"
Xiao Yi opened his eyes, his voice hoarse.