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nThe next day, Mo Qianxue took a ride in Azhao’s carriage to downtown.

nAzhao silently drove the carriage while Xiaoqizi was a talker, but after being given a cold shoulder for a few times, he shut up too. Mo Qianxue gained quiet finally.

nShe didn’t follow them to Baiyunju, but got off the carriage and thanked Azhao immediately after they arrived at downtown area.

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nWandering on the street and passing pawnshops one after another, she just couldn’t make the decision to put the jade in pledge and never entered one.

nShe thought of Ning Shaoqing’s sadness in his eyes when he handed her the jade and felt grudged to sell it.

nNing Shaoqing was a person who regarded money as dirt. Therefore, the sadness in his eyes mustn’t be produced by the money it worth but some special significance behind it. otherwise, he wouldn’t always wear it. She strolled aimlessly on the street. Every time she became determined to sell it and when she came at the door of a pawnshop, she stamped her feet and left.

nActually, she could go to Baiyunju and drooped down to lend money from the seventh young lord. But on the one hand, she felt shameful to lend money. On the other hand, she had to consider Ning Shaoqing’s face.

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n“Can’t you carve a bigger piece for the birthday party? It’s so small, how could our master present it…”

nAt the door of a pavilion of high-end furniture and wooden pieces shop. Mo Qianxue planned to take a browse, but when she entered, she saw a person, looking like a long-term servant, shouting at the shop assistant.

nMo Qianxue was about to get out when she glimpsed at a wooden sculpture of about a meter high before the shouting servant.

nSculptured pieces? Big ones? A group of stars shone in her mind.

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n“Don’t be angry, brother. Frankly speaking, your master’s standard is really hard to reach. A piece as big as he wants even can’t be made by a master hand from the capital city, let alone our small shop…”

n“In seven days, it’ll be the old madam’s birthday. We spent three hundred taels of silver to buy just this thing as the gift?”

nMo Qianxue, on a whim, regarded the wooden sculpture carefully. That was in an ordinary shape of a-boy-offering-birthday-felicitations. Because of the raw root which was relatively thin branches and limited in the shape, less skillful carving technique of the carver, and poor color scheme, the sculpture looked rigid and dull.

nIf the raw material was tree root, it would be much better, because root itself was flexibly-shaped, so the sculpture made of tree root would look livelier.

nRight! Root sculpture! Root sculpture!

nNo matter how thick a trunk could be, it couldn’t be as flexible and broad as root.

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nAnything will be alright!

nHer late grandfather was a root sculptor. When she was a child, she often imitated grandpa and learned to sculpt for a few years. Her painting skill was exactly trained at that time.

nHuge tree roots were rare in modern times, but here there were loads of them. Just yesterday on the way to the dock, she saw numerous roots which were left after the trunks were chopped off as building materials for the construction of the dock. Even the roots as thick as several people’s waists together were more than a dozen.

nMo Qianxue rolled her eyes. It seemed that she didn’t need to sell the jade.

nMoney came to find her itself!

nScolding the shop assistant, the servant stepped out, puffing. Mo Qianxue followed him out.

nOutside stopped a luxurious carriage. The driver stood up straight. Even if for someone who knew nothing about horses like Mo Qianxue could tell this was a strong pretty horse. Therefore, the owner of the carriage couldn’t be an average person.

nThe servant walked right to the carriage. If she didn’t seize this opportunity to talk business, it would be too late if they left. She sprinted over and asked out loud, “This brother, can you spare a moment?”

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nThe servant was just about to bow down and report the situation to the person in the carriage, so he was pretty impatient once he was disrupted. He turned around and found it was a girl, so he held back his impatience and asked with doubt, “You are?”

n“Nice to meet you. Just now I saw you checking sculptures in that shop, so I summoned up my courage to recommend you a master hand who has unparalleled sculpting skills…”

nMo Qianxue’s voice was loud and steady. The people in the carriage listened clearly of what she said and at the same time didn’t annoyed by her abrupt presence.

n“Where does this master hand work? He’s better than the workers of that shop? Miss, you must be kidding. Our master has things to handle. Sorry!” Though the servant didn’t believe her, his tone was polite, which indicated the character of his master.

n“The world is too big for you to know everything. Never hearing something only means your little knowledge but can’t prove that it doesn’t exist. ”

nBeing talking back by her, the servant got grumpy, “You…you’re so rude…”

n“Gao Lang. Don’t be rude! Miss, could you please tell me where this master hand lives? I can’t thank you more!” The sound flew out of the carriage, clear, courteous and confident.

n“The master has always lived in seclusion and he dislikes to be disturbed by others. I came to know him by accident. He has trusted me to take orders for him. Today, I can, on behalf of the master hand, take your order in the theme of birthday-celebration. We shall quote five hundred taels.”

n“Five hundred? Are you crazy? The master of that shop asked only three hundred, and their material is scented wood…”

n“Is that a master? I believe the three hundred is all for the good wood. The works of our master are many times better than the dull rigid sculpture. Of course the price is twice higher.” The implication was that she charged too low.

nMo Qianxue wasn’t bragging. Root sculpting was an art, utilizing roots’ original natural and wild shape to make exquisite handicrafts which featured in its unique charm of crudity and originality.

nCompared with the dull rigid a-boy-offering-birthday-felicitations, the master’s works were hundreds of times better. If she had top-quality raw material, she would charge even higher.

n“Bragging won’t break the law. Just continue. A woman…”

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nThe young lord sitting in the carriage at once stopped Gao Lang’s disrespectful words, “Miss. Since we never saw the works, but you charge five hundred. Isn’t it too…”

n“It doesn’t matter. By then, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to keep it. I won’t charge guarantee deposit. What we need to do is to set a delivery time.” Hearing his word, Mo Qianxue was delighted. The business was ninety-nine percent settled. Ancient people valued trust and honesty, let alone a gentle and courteous young lord like him. He must value his fame more than his life.

nWhether her work would way surpass that produced by the shop, Mo Qianxue was full of confidence.

nOn the flip side, even if he didn’t like it, she could sell the sculpture to others, such as the wooden-piece shop. Though it might worth less, it’d better than nothing.

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