Arriving at the strange jade stone yard, Xu Wen habitually looked at the gatehouse, and an old man with an unfamiliar face looked up and saw him, immediately pointed in, and said with a smile: "The boss is waiting for you inside." ”

In the open space where the big civet was tied yesterday, Meng Ping was squatting and petting the cat, and the big civet was lying lazily on it, following him.

Between the old man and the cat, there is a warmth that makes people smile.

"Coming?" Meng Ping saw Xu Wen, said hello, got up, and walked in with him.

Qiuqiu lay on Xu Wen's shoulder, and at this time he was a little eager to jump down, Xu Wen quietly reached out and held it down.

"If you mess around again, I won't take you out next time. Xu Wen squirmed his lips and whispered a warning to Qiuqiu.

Qiuqiu moved tentatively again, and Xu Wen's holding hand did not relax, and it honestly fell back again.

"I was a little curious the last time I came, why did you want to tie it up?" Xu Wen asked curiously.

"It's so fierce. When it first arrived, the birds in the field caused it a lot of trouble. If you don't agree with each other, you will bite someone, and if you bring a dog, you will bite someone's dog and bite it. I thought this was better than a dog, and it was good to watch the door, but I had to keep it on a leash on weekdays. Meng Ping's words sounded like all complaints, but after careful investigation, they were actually a bit ostentatious.

"It's normal to have a bad spot, it used to be a wild cat, and it fought with other cats outside every day. Later, I came here, fed me a few times, and stayed. Before I knew it, I had lived there for seven or eight years. I'll do the math...... Seven and a half years, it's old!"

"Look at how close it looks to you, are you feeding?"

"Yes, but it's just with me! no one else is allowed to touch it!"

Behind the yard is a row of bungalows, and the sound of processing comes from inside, as if it were several workshops.

The chainsaw rubbed against the stone, the sound was a little harsh, Meng Ping took Xu Wen around to the back as usual, and across a forest and lawn, there was a bungalow, and the shape and structure looked different from the previous one.

There is a vacant lot in front of the house, made of bluestone slabs, and a shadow wall in the middle, on which are carved extremely exquisite brick carvings.

Xu Wen stopped in front of this shadow wall, and as soon as Meng Ping's words ended, he also stopped.

The shadow wall is a section of wall independent of the house, separated from the door by a certain distance, and its main function is to block the view, creating a space separation between the inside and outside, so that the noise from the outside will not intrude into the inside, and maintain the concealment and tranquility of the inside.

The shadow wall is located outside the gate, and there is also located inside the door, which is called "hidden" and "avoided" respectively, and is collectively called "hidden", and then gradually evolved into the shadow wall, also called the light wall.

The same is true of the shadow wall in front of you, and when you bypass it, the sound of the workshop in front of you seems to be much softer, and this place seems to have become a peaceful space of its own.

There may be some psychological play to this, but the hints of the environment are interesting in themselves.

The roof of the shadow wall is usually the same as the roof of the house, with the roof surface, ridge, eaves, rafters, and arches under the eaves, but it is usually not made of wood, but masonry is used.

The decoration on the surface of the shadow wall is very simple, just use white plaster to form a decoration compared with the gray brick surface, and put a few Taihu Lake stones, a pot of water lilies, and a few pots of autumn chrysanthemums in front, which is not interesting. This is especially common in the Zhaobi in the area of Wanyuan City.

But some are very complicated, the center or the whole surface is a complex brick carving, meticulous and majestic.

However, because the brick color itself is relatively simple and simple, the complicated masonry carvings do not feel messy or too luxurious, and there is another feeling.

The shadow wall in front of you clearly belongs to the latter, and its surface is carved with a Bogu shelf, and each grid on the shelf has different displays.

Xu Wen looked up and couldn't help but get closer.

These displays include incense burners, vases, pen holders, book boxes, bonsai and many other types, take the incense burner as an example, its shape is symmetrical, there are carvings on the belly of the stove lid, and even the incense burner seat below has fine patterns. The level of sophistication is stunning.

In the lower right corner is a stack of books, and on the left there is an open book, the text on the page is clearly engraved, and even the calligraphy style can be seen.

There are also a lot of fine decorations around the Bogu shelf, up and down the wall, there are moire, curly grass pattern, swastika pattern, etc., they are delicate and symmetrical, the main and secondary are distinct, although complex and diverse, but not exaggerated at all, but it is more lined with the strong bookish atmosphere of the Bogu shelf.

Such a shadow wall, which is qualified as the main exhibit in a special museum, appeared casually in such a stone yard!

"This is ......" This shadow wall is so beautiful, Xu Wen stared at it for a long time, and finally couldn't help asking.

"How about this when it was first built, is it okay?" Meng Ping said casually.

"It's so beautiful!" Xu Wen praised sincerely, and the corners of Meng Ping's mouth curled, a little happy.

But he quickly smiled and said with some regret: "Actually, it seems that it is a little stagnant now, not mellow and vivid enough, and it can be better if it is changed." But people have lived to the present, and they really don't have the physical strength to do such a big thing. It's hard to have it both ways. ”

Xu Wen's gaze still couldn't take his eyes off this shadow wall, he looked at it for a long time, and nodded, "There is indeed room for improvement. ”

"Tell me about it?" Meng Ping was a little surprised.

“...... It's hard to say, I'll try it when the time comes. Xu Wen thought for a while and shook his head.

Meng Ping raised his eyebrows, didn't ask, just said, "Go in." ”

As soon as he entered the door, Xu Wen stopped again.

Before coming in, he had slightly guessed what the place was inside, and thought it should probably be Meng Ping's studio.

Unexpectedly, this is an exhibition hall, which is divided into several areas, and various stone and brick carvings are displayed in different categories.

Unlike ordinary museums, these displays are densely packed one after the other, so that they look like grocery stores in a wholesale market.

Xu Wen thought that these were all Meng Ping's works at first, but after a closer look, they were of different shapes and styles, and they were obviously not from one person's hand, but were collected by Meng Ping.

"Don't look at that yet. Meng Ping interrupted Xu Wen, who was beginning to admire, walked to a corner, and took out something.

"Your task today is to accomplish this. He handed the thing to Xu Wen and said.

It was a stone ball, the size of a pomegranate, extremely round, with an extremely smooth surface without a trace of superfluity.

"Use these two tools, and nothing else. Meng Ping handed the ball to Xu Wen, and went to get two more tools, a hammer and a chisel, and nothing else.

"Only these two?" Xu Wen glanced at and confirmed to him.

"Yes. Meng Ping nodded and replied very crisply.

The surface of the ball is as smooth as a mirror, which is usually smoothed and polished with sandpaper or a grinding wheel, and it is not easy to create such a symmetrical shape with a hammer chisel alone, let alone this smoothness!

This difficulty is really extraordinary, and you have to practice the eight methods of Mengzi to the point of being superb.

"Okay, I'll try. Xu Wen's eyes flashed with interest, and he threw the wooden box in his hand to Meng Ping and took the two tools.

"What is this?" Meng Ping looked at the wooden box suspiciously.

"For you, thank you. There was a workbench in that corner, Xu Wen walked over there, and the voice came from afar.