Peach Blossom at the Bottom of the Fan

Chapter 23 Apprenticeship
The chopsticks in her hands stopped, Gu Sixiao raised her head, looked at Gu Shishi, and smiled after a moment of silence, "I'm a bad guy—I want to be a bad guy..."

Tilting her head, she bent her eyebrows and looked like she was smiling brightly but without any warmth, "These days, good people are not rewarded, just like the original owner of this house..."

The shadow cast on her face, the bamboo leaves swayed slightly, and her face was also gloomy in the light and shadow.

Gu Shitou felt a little panicked in his heart, like a heavy stone was pressed down, he wanted to say something, but he couldn't.

"My old master, Mr. Young Master, Young Master Sun—the members of the Gu family are all good people..." Wiping the corner of his eyes, he turned his head and caught a glimpse of Gu Sixiao's smiling face from the corner of his eyes, feeling depressed.

As if he didn't hear what Gu Shitou said, Gu Sixiao didn't put down the bowl and chopsticks until he put the last grain of rice in his mouth, stood up, and turned his head away intentionally or unintentionally.

Not far away, there are several cut bamboos lying horizontally, and another half-split bamboo.

Sniffing, Gu Sixiao turned her head to look, and saw the stove burning on the side. There was an iron pot on the stove, and what was boiled in the pot was not food, but lime.

With bright eyes, Gu Sixiao turned around and asked anxiously, "Grandpa Shitou, are you going to make a fan?"

Gu Shitou raised his eyebrows, and looked at Gu Sixiao strangely, "Hey, you girl, how do you know that I'm making a fan? Well, if I chop bamboo, it's not like making a flute?"

Smiling, Gu Sixiao said with a smile: "That can't be Gu Fu! Besides, I think the tools you set up, Grandpa Shitou, are for making fans! Now, are you making fan heads and bones?"

"Ha, this girl really knows a little bit..." Gu Shitou strode over, looked at Gu Sixiao with a hint of consideration, "Then tell me, what do I boil lime water for?"

"I know this. After the bamboo is split, it needs to be cut into pieces, then boiled in lime water and then dried in the sun. This is to prevent moisture and moth."

"It's amazing, I really know..." Gu Shitou nodded his fingers and said in a deep voice, "Tell me, what else do you know?"

With a flicker of eyes, Gu Sixiao said with a smile: "It's not difficult for me to say it, but, Grandpa Shitou, if I say it well, what reward will you give me?"

"Reward? I'm an old man, where can I give you something—ah, here it is..." Gu Shitou clapped his hands, and pulled out a paper fan from under the bamboo stool beside him, "If you speak well, I will Just give you this paper fan."

Unfolding the paper fan casually, it turned out to be a white paper fan. Although the workmanship was excellent, there was no writing or drawing on the fan. According to the rules of the fan industry, this is an unfinished fan.

Seeing Gu Sixiao sizing up the fan carefully, without saying a word, Gu Shitou smiled, "Don't look at this fan as inconspicuous, but the workmanship is definitely comparable to that of the big fan shop. Back then, I was also the one in the fan shop. ..."

Looking at Gu Shitou's upturned thumb, Gu Sixiao laughed, "Grandpa Shitou, you did a good job with this fan, but I don't want this as a reward - I heard a story before that a fairy changed A piece of gold was given to a man, but the man shook his head and said he didn't want it, he wanted to..."

"I want the fingers of an immortal—right?" Gu Shitou laughed, "So, you don't want a fan, you want to learn how to make a fan from me!"

Looking at Gu Sixiao, he shook his head, "Little girl, making a fan is not as simple as you think, look at my hand..."

Staring at the hands spread out in front of her, Gu Sixiao blinked her eyes.

Those big hands are full of old scars, scratches, burns, stab wounds, rough and old, with wide joints, and even a little deformed. Even if the owner of these hands is an old man, it still makes people feel worried, let alone a little girl. .

Staring at Gu Sixiao, Gu Shitou smiled, "With hands like this, you can't get married."

Gu Sixiao smiled, didn't speak, but stretched out her hand that wasn't holding the fan.

Although small, her hands are not very smooth, and one can tell that they are used to rough work.

"Grandpa Shitou, my hands can only hold embroidery needles!"

Gu Shitou's eyes flickered, and after a moment of silence he smiled and said, "Okay, if you really want to learn, I'll teach you, but you have to tell me how much you know about fan making—I won't accept a stupid apprentice!"

Gu Sixiao nodded, and with a wave of his hand, he opened the folding fan, and then said: "Although this folding fan looks inconspicuous in your hand, it is not easy to make a folding fan. It's such a simple matter. To make a fan, starting from chopping and splitting bamboo, it takes dozens of processes to say the least, like what you are doing now, Grandpa Shitou, it's just the initial preparation work. Wait for this film After drying, it needs to be soldered with a soldering iron, and then arranged according to the color and texture. The selected fan ribs are then drilled on the fan head to connect the tips, and then the bare shoulders are polished. After these processes, it is only a good job. The bones of the fan are removed. Next, the fan surface needs to be pasted, pins replaced, etc., just like Grandpa Shitou’s. Although it looks like it’s finished, it actually needs to be painted—I heard that some fans even need hundreds of lines. Only the process can be done!"

Although she doesn't know how to make fans, she can explain the fan-making process clearly and logically. She even painted this fan before.No matter what, he is also a child of Shan Wang's family...

Concentrating, Gu Sixiao closed the folding fan, turned around to look at Gu Shitou, and asked with a smile, "Grandpa Shitou, how did I say it?"

"Well, it's pretty good for a little girl." Gu Shitou narrowed his eyes and looked at Gu Sixiao, "I'm a little strange, who told you this?"

Could it be that some enemy specially sent him to set up his skills?
This idea was only a lifetime, Gu Shitou immediately shook his head.

For these years, he has been guarding the old house of the Gu family. Apart from the members of the Gu family, probably not many people know him at all, right?What's more, now that the Gu family has been defeated, how could someone come here to secretly learn the craft?
Unaware that Gu Shitou had become suspicious, Gu Sixiao lowered her eyes and said in a low voice: "I like fans very much—those little ladies from rich families hold round fans and half cover their faces, they are very pretty..."

Half of it is true and half is false. When she was a child, she pointed to the pictures of ladies and asked with a smile, "Why do the girls in the pictures of ladies all have round fans?"

"Well, that's because our Gu family's round fan is so beautiful, they couldn't bear to throw it away!"

Thinking of his brother's joke, Gu Sixiao couldn't help but smile.

This smile made Gu Shitou immediately dispel the doubts he had just had.

Perhaps, this girl really simply likes fans!
"Okay, since you want to learn, then I'll teach you. But let me tell you first, if you don't want to learn because of the hard work halfway, then I won't recognize you girl..."

"I'm not afraid of hard work!" Forcibly suppressing her ecstasy, Gu Sixiao turned around and poured a cup of bamboo leaf tea, and solemnly held it in front of Gu Shitou, "Grandpa Shitou, no, master, please drink tea."

Before Gu Shitou could speak, she knelt down on the ground.

When she returned to her old house, she didn't expect such a situation to happen again, she just wanted to find some clues and take revenge on the villains who cheated his Gu family.

It was a pleasant surprise to meet Grandpa Shitou and learn how to make fans.Perhaps, like her eldest brother, she can also become a generation of fan makers, and can, can once again hang up the plaque of the Gu Family Fan King.

After taking the teacup, Gu Shitou hesitated, but still drank it down.

"Although this fan-making is not an amazing skill, it is not so easy to learn." Looking at Gu Sixiao, he said in a deep voice, "It's also a coincidence that I learned this skill from my master and passed it on to Gu Sixiao. You are all surnamed Gu, and it is not considered to be passed on to outsiders——Huaer, I am confident in my craftsmanship, not to mention the younger generations, even among the older generation, my craftsmanship is also one of the best. However, my master once and As I said, fan-making is not all about craftsmanship, but also about the word 'heart'..."

"Heart?"

"Well, three-point skill, seven-point heart, the so-called heart, in addition to the heart when making it, it also means that there must be a dexterous heart and an elegant heart-fans are originally an elegant thing. , only elegant people can make the best fans..."

With a wry smile, Gu Shitou smiled and said, "I am not an elegant person, Grandpa Shitou. Those two characters are the same as a dog's paw, let alone painting a fan. So, my master said, no matter what I do, Gu Shitou will just You can be regarded as a craftsman, but there is no way to become a generation of fan-making masters. Girl, I will not hide my secrets from you, but I guess, you can only learn to be a craftsman from me..."

Blinking, Gu Sixiao hesitated again and again, and said: "Grandpa Shitou, no, master, I can draw..."

"Can draw?" Gu Shitou was startled at first, and then relieved, "Yes, you were assigned to the back study room, said to be literate, draw, haha, your name is Hua'er, so you can draw..."

Even though he said that, Gu Shitou didn't take Gu Sixiao's ability to paint seriously at all.

Gu Sixiao didn't explain much, just put the white fan into her sleeve pocket with a smile, "Master, I also accept this fan..."

Before Gu Shitou could speak, she had already run away to pack the food box, "Master, don't worry too much, when I come back from delivering the food box, you can continue to make fans, so I can follow suit!"

"This girl—you run slowly..." Seeing Gu Sixiao running away, Gu Shitou shook his head, sat down with a smile, and grabbed the bamboo, but after thinking about it, he put down the bamboo knife in his hand and turned around. Back at the stone table, pour a cup of bamboo leaf tea and sip it carefully.

Thinking of going back to the bamboo forest as soon as possible, Gu Sixiao picked up the food box in the back study, and ran straight to the kitchen without waiting for Caiyi to speak. Before he reached the courtyard of the kitchen, he was blocked at the door.

Looking at Mei Xiang sitting on the bench, Gu Sixiao paused, although a timid smile appeared on his face immediately, but he could not help but slander in his heart:
It came too fast!What a delay...

(End of this chapter)