carved heart

Chapter 5 The first appearance (2)
Yan Mo said: "Master Hou, the Luo family has sent people to investigate the Yin family."

"Cut it off."

"Yes!"

After the two retreated, Shen Changtang's eyes fell on the little monkey presenting the peach core carving on his palm, and his long fingers with distinct phalanges stroked the carving lightly, adding a bit of depth to the usually unpredictable eyes, which was too much. The pleasant voice lightly opened.

"Hands are skillful, lips... are also fragrant."

But on the other hand, Luo Jiao sent someone to inquire about Ah Yin, who knows that it has been two days, but there is no news at all.The only one who could find out was Ah Yin's name, and she couldn't even find out the name of the girl who followed her.

Luo Jiao fell into deep thought.

If you inquire about a person, you can't find anything. There are only two situations.Either the other party has a lot of background, or the other party has nothing to check.Obviously under the current circumstances, Luo Jiao prefers Ah Yin to be the latter.

Luo Jiao frowned.

Ever since her elder brother became a celebrity in front of Prime Minister Wang, she began to like to pay attention to ostentation.

Going out requires ostentation, and winning people naturally also requires ostentation. She originally thought that with her talent, it would be an easy task for that ignorant wild girl to lose all her face.There are not many talented people, and she has never seen a girl better than her since she was a child.

But now she couldn't find out her background, which made Luo Jiao feel a little flustered.

She never fought an uncertain battle.

"...Where's Jiaojiao?"

As soon as Mrs. Liang entered the house, her daughter disappeared again.The maidservant replied: "The third girl hurried out before burning incense, she said she was going to Hediao Town, and she would return before the curfew." Mrs. Liang was a little worried at once. Thinking of a good relationship between the two.Now that my daughter is gone, what should I do?Mrs. Liang patted her forehead, thinking that she was to blame for doting on her daughter too much, and when her daughter married to Xie's family, she must not be like this.

Mr. Huang from Nanpai Street is also a little worried.

He had just sent away the third girl from the Luo family, and now he was even more worried about the small box of money when he came back.But when he thought about it, he didn't seem to worry that much. Anyone with a discerning eye knew which one he couldn't offend, a wild girl who appeared out of nowhere, and the third girl from the Luo family in Gongcheng.

Huang Lao closed the small cage, which was as big as two palms, and called for a servant.

"Take it away."

Ah Yin took out her nuclear carving utensils.

When she carved her first nuclei, her grandfather asked a craftsman to make six knives and gave them to her on her tenth birthday.She has been using it ever since.For a whole ten years, as soon as these six knives were held in my hands, I felt so familiar, as if they had been deeply integrated into my flesh and blood.

The door was pushed open with a "squeak".

Jiang Xuan walked in and said in a low voice: "Sister, just now Fan Xiaolang, everyone outside said that the third girl from the Luo family is the best at carving rosary beads." She said worriedly: "I also heard that Huang Lao from Nanpai Street and Luo family There is a lot of friendship, and I don’t know if it will be biased.”

"Sister, don't worry, everyone's eyes are discerning, and don't be prejudiced against Miss Luo San. She is different from me, she is the jewel in the palm of the family's favorite, and it is inevitable that she will be a little bit arrogant. I think she is very much like the young man in the martial arts storybook that my grandfather told us before. The proud and arrogant young man is very good at martial arts. [-]. Although she has a strong desire to compete, she also has a true temperament. I think Miss Luo San really likes nuclear carvings, and the reason for fighting nuclear carvings with me is also for the hearty process." A Yin smiled, and said: "Besides, Regardless of whether Douhe wins or loses this time, the entire Hediao Town now knows my name, A Yin, and I will not be at a disadvantage."

Jiang Xuan only said: "Not everyone really likes nuclear carving like my sister."

Ah Yin asked back: "Your sister doesn't like it?"

Jiang Xuan put her arms around Ah Yin's arm, and said coquettishly, "I like my sister better, and the nuclear carving is not as important as my sister."

Ah Yin was happy: "Your little mouth is so sweet."

As soon as the three days arrived, there were no empty seats in the inn, even the windows were crowded with people, it could be described as a sea of ​​people.In order to make it easier for Luo Jiao and A Yin to compete, the owner of the inn specially removed all the tables and chairs in the middle, and chose the best two square tables to put in the center.

The boss also specially prepared a lot of high-quality melon and fruit snacks for two people to eat.Although it is free, but the boss is already happy in his heart, the two of them fight the core, carving the rosary of eighteen arhats, and the people around them have to sit for at least a whole day, watching the two beautiful girls with melons and fruits for snacks. Inevitably, Xiaoer should be asked to get a share. Thinking about it, today's silver income is quite impressive.

In front of the two square tables, there is a grand master's chair and a yellow pear wood table, sitting on the seat of today's judge Huang Lao.

The boss prepared a pot of wolfberry tea for Mr. Huang, which is most effective for improving eyesight and clearing liver.I saw Mr. Huang took a sip of wolfberry tea, put down the teacup, and patted his palms. Immediately, two servants came out with trays, and prepared identical peach pits for Luo Jiao and Ah Yin at the square table.

However, there is only one.

Everyone was a little confused, but this carving was made of eighteen arhat core carved rosary beads. There must be eighteen peach cores of similar size, and there is only one, so only one rosary can be carved.

Mr. Huang raised his hand slightly to signal everyone to be calm.

"At the beginning, it was just a small test. Let the two carve have fun first. After a little relaxation, the remaining seventeen arhats are the real start. As a core carving artist, the first step is to learn how to pick the core. , if you don't know how to pick the core, how can you be called a core carving artist? That's why I set up a new difficulty. Because of the large number, it only needs to be carved, without the steps of grinding and polishing." He clapped his hands, and a young servant came out with a basket in his arms.

When everyone looked at it, it turned out to be a basket full of peach pits.

Everyone became excited immediately, and someone said: "It's the first time I see such a bucket core, it's interesting, really interesting."

Huang Lao caressed his white beard lightly, and exchanged a look with Luo Jiao indiscriminately.

The level is set up like this, not for fun.The girl named Ah Yin couldn’t be found out. The only nuclei carving I saw was a monkey offering peaches, and it wasn’t completely carved by herself. Know.

The small test is to see Ah Yin's level.

If it's average, that's great; if it's a threat to Luo Jiao, then there's something to do here.The boy had hidden nine good nubs in his sleeve, and there were only 25 good nubs in the basket, and Luo Jiao had already seen them, and could quickly find the location of the good nubs.

If Ah Yin's performance is mediocre, the ten good cores in the servant's sleeve will be put back into the basket without anyone noticing.

"start."

Following an order, Luo Jiao took the lead to pick up the brush she had prepared, and drew a happy arhat on the rice paper, which was none other than Venerable Kanoka Daixuan among the eighteen arhats.Huanxi Arhat has a smiling face, with down-eared ears and compassionate eyebrows. He is the easiest one among the eighteen Arhats to write.

In order to save money and be more precise, nuclear carving artists nowadays often draw on paper first, and then start to carve with a knife after the painting is finished.

A good nuclear engraver can often make a good painting.

Luo Jiao has always been proud of this. She has practiced her hand speed in drawing arhats. She doesn't even need a moment. With just a few strokes, the arhats jump on the paper with expressive joy.When she put down the paintbrush, others were surprised and sighed: "It's so fast!"

Satisfied, Luo Jiao raised her chin slightly, and when she stretched her hand towards the flat file, she incidentally cast a glance at Ah Yin who was not far away.

Looking at it, Luo Jiao felt extremely ridiculous.

That ignorant wild girl didn't even have a pen and paper ready, fixed the peach pit with two fingers in her left hand, and held a conical knife in her right hand, staring at the peach pit with a slight concentration, as if in a daze.She didn't even know the most basic knowledge of nuclear carving, not to mention that she didn't draw a picture. The first step with a knife was naturally to flatten both ends of the nuclear tip with a flat file.

Simply an outsider.

Where did she get the confidence to compete with her in the past few days?

Luo Jiao sneered from the bottom of her heart, looked away, and was about to start shoveling the tip of the core, when everyone suddenly gasped, the sound was so loud that even Huang Lao, who was drinking tea, stopped moving.

Luo Jiao thought that Ah Yin had done something unprofessional again, so she didn't want to pay attention to it, until the second exclamation came out, and she glanced over.

At this glance, Luo Jiao's hands froze.

Ah Yin actually moved the knife directly, and dropped six knives on the peach pit at an extremely fast speed, two for the eyes, two for the ears, one for the nose, and one for the mouth.Because of the small size of the peach pit, people around couldn't see exactly how Ah Yin's knife fell, but Luo Jiao was very close to Ah Yin, and from her angle, she could see that Ah Yin was eradicating it at an astonishing speed. The skin of the peach pit, and with the first knife, holding a conical knife to carve out the leisurely eyebrows and eyes of Venerable Tanshou Arhat Bantoga.

Amazing knife skills!
Luo Jiao was stunned. It wasn't until Huang Lao coughed heavily that she suddenly came back to her senses and realized that she was fighting Ah Yin.But even though he regained his senses, the right hand holding the flat file was still trembling slightly.

terrible!

Luo Jiao forced herself to calm down, but even so, because of trembling hands, she accidentally made a wrong stroke, and it took more time to repair it.When she finished carving the left eye of Huanxi Arhat, Ah Yin had put down the knife, stood up, slightly bowed to Huang Lao, and then walked towards the boy holding the basket.

Not to mention Luo Jiao, even Huang Lao was a little confused.

I didn't expect Ah Yin to finish first.Luo Jiao's complexion was slightly pale, she gritted her teeth, she could only carve out this scene quickly.

Ah Yin concentrated on picking the peach pits, and there were many peach pits in the basket that were not suitable for carving.Her slender fingers fiddled with the peach pits. When she saw a good pit, her eyes lit up. Just as she was about to pick it up, the basket suddenly moved, and the good pits sank into the sea of ​​pits again.

The boy said apologetically, "I didn't stand firm just now."

Mr. Huang scolded him in a low voice, and Ah Yin smiled and said, "It's okay." Then Ah Yin's speed of picking out the pits was much slower, and she almost touched all the peach pits in a basket.Ah Yin's slowness made the people around a little puzzled, but in view of Ah Yin's performance before, everyone had some expectations. Could it be that this girl wants to do something amazing?
However, Ah Yin disappointed everyone.

She picked very slowly, until Luo Jiao finished carving the Huanxi Arhat nucleus, she finally picked the third nucleus, and it seemed that she was struggling.

This makes people wonder, could it be that Ah Yin doesn't know how to pick the core?Otherwise there is no reason to explain her slowness.

Finally, Luo Jiao also came over.

Her complexion was extremely ugly, looking at the messy pile of peach stones, her complexion sank a bit.But when she caught a glimpse of Ah Yin picking three pits and two of them were not good peach pits, she regained her composure and began to pick the pits.

The peach pits that are suitable for carving pits, Luo Jiao had already touched them last night, and even made some manipulations, she could easily recognize which ones were the most suitable ones.

Gradually, the two of them finished picking.

Luo Jiao took thirteen good cores, but Ah Yin only got twelve.

Luo Jiao regained her confidence and continued to carve arhats.

At this time, Ah Yin looked at Luo Jiao, looking at the first happy arhat she carved, and she was fascinated. After a while, she looked back and lowered her head slightly. Others couldn't see her expression, let alone what she was thinking at this moment. What.

After a long time, Ah Yin started to move the knife.

This time it was much slower than the first time, but still no need to use the map, only six knives were needed at the beginning.On one side, Ah Yin carved the core slowly, while on the other side, Luo Jiao carved as fast as her butt was on fire.

Carving the core requires patience and more time.

In the blink of an eye, two hours passed.

Ah Yin stopped to eat pastries, and the people around also asked Xiao Er to order food, and some people leaned over on tiptoes, wanting to see how well Ah Yin carved.It's a pity that the nuclear carving is too small for everyone to see clearly.

After Ah Yin ate the pastry, he drank another cup of tea.

She was probably full after eating and drinking, but she seemed a little sleepy, and she sculpted more slowly.On the contrary, Luo Jiao didn't eat, and she became more and more courageous as she fought. In the evening, she had to finish carving the eighteen arhat core carving rosary before Ah Yin.

But it was only a little faster, after Luo Jiao put down the awl knife, just stood up, A Yin also finished.

Huang Lao came to watch the two nuclear carvings.

The bad nucleus splits at the touch of a knife, and it cannot be carved at all.Of the Eighteen Arhat Core Carvings, Luo Jiao has fourteen, while Ah Yin only has thirteen, one less than Luo Jiao.At this moment, everyone gathered around to watch.

Luo Jiao's Arhat core carvings have a distinct Southern style, delicate and elegant.

And Ah Yin's Arhat core carvings are very similar to her carving style. For a while, she couldn't tell the southern school or the northern school, but it was more like a fusion of the two schools.

Huang Lao was a little embarrassed.

In terms of knife skills alone, Luo Jiao performed better, except for Luo Han who was the first to make a wrong knife and then repaired it later, the rest were at the same level.But the girl named Ah Yin is different, only the first one is super performance, and the remaining thirteen levels are good or bad.

The people below were arguing endlessly, some said Ah Yin was good, and some said Luo Jiao was good.

Finally someone asked: "Old Huang, who will win?"

Huang Lao really did not expect such an accident today.

Luo Jiao's carving skills are not bad, and she is indeed a bit talented.When he received the money that day, he thought it was just a icing on the cake, and he could get a favor from the Luo family.But the situation is different now. If we only talk about the first Arhat carving, the girl named A Yin is really high-level, not suitable for her age at all.

However, the next dozen or so Arhat core carvings are mediocre.

But even so, what she showed first hand cannot be ignored.With so many eyes looking at him, his judgment must never be wrong, otherwise it will make people laugh, especially the side of Beipai Street is stalking, and if something goes wrong, Zhang Lao of Beipai can laugh for a month.

Thinking of Zhang Lao's face with mean words written on his mustache, Huang Lao focused his attention, picked up A Yin's nuclear carving again, and looked at it carefully.

……finally.

Mr. Huang found obvious flaws in one of Ah Yin's arhat carvings, and he finally breathed a sigh of relief. He cleared his throat, looked at Ah Yin, and asked, "Who did you learn from? How long did it take to learn nuclear carving?" Year?"

A Yin frowned and replied: "A few years ago, I got the guidance of an expert before I learned the nuclear carving."

As soon as these words came out, the people around couldn't help being surprised.

A few years, only a few years, there is such a proficient knife skills!
Huang Lao asked what everyone was thinking: "I don't know who is the master?"

Ah Yin replied: "The master does not want to reveal his name and surname. I only learned the fur of the master. The carving is so vulgar that Mr. Huang laughs at it."

Answering modestly and politely, Huang Lao couldn't help but look at her more, stroked his beard and sighed: "The Arhat carvings have long been known to people. The key to carving Arhats lies in the different expressions of the eighteen Arhats. Among your thirteen Arhat carvings, I confuse the happy arhat with the happy arhat, although the two are happy, but the expressions of the eyebrows are different."

Huang Lao unfolded Ah Yin's two arhat nuclei carvings so that people around him could see them more clearly.

"Arhat core carvings are the most taboo to be similar. In terms of overall knife skills, Luo Jiao is better; and in terms of overall charm, the same is true. This time the theme of fighting cores is the rosary carved with eighteen arhat cores. The comparison is exactly the whole, so I officially declare the winner for……"

Although the answer is obvious, there is still silence around at this moment.

At this moment, there was a sound of opening the door, which was particularly loud in the silent inn.Many people subconsciously follow the prestige.This inn in Hediao Town is the best. The second floor is divided into two halves, one half is the upper room for resting, and the other half is the private room for eating.

And the voice came from the private room.

A white-faced gentleman leaned his arms on the railing on the second floor, his two slanted eyebrows were a little sloppy, and he laughed and said: "Hey, do you sell the stone carvings of Douhe?"

Luo Jiao was in a bad mood today, and said angrily, "No, no, nothing. Who are you, how dare you disturb our Douhe?"

The white-faced gentleman still looks like a hippie smiling face.

"I didn't ask you if you could sell it. What's your answer? Hey, girl in apricot dress, my master is looking for your arhat core carving. Can you sell it for ten taels of silver?" Everyone was shocked when he said this.

Ten... ten taels of silver?
Did they hear correctly?The exquisite core carvings carved by the masters who are recognized as having a high level of carving in the town of nuclear carvings can't be sold for less than ten taels of silver!Everyone couldn't help but look at the probing Arhat carved by Ah Yin for the first time. Previously, they only felt that the knife skill was profound, and after being polished and polished, it must be an excellent nuclear carving. Now, with ten taels of silver as a backdrop, the relaxed eyebrows and eyes of the Arhat seemed It was shining with golden light, and even the knife skill became so exquisite.

(End of this chapter)