The two statues sat in the corner like garbage, and it looked like they hadn't been taken care of for a long time.

Master Kong: That's right, we're getting married, and we want to get two statues, and it's probably the one you're getting now. Do you guys get it here? I thought about it for a moment, and asked with a quiet smile.

Hehe, you don't need to call me any master, just call me Lao Kong. That's the best! Kong Jiasheng immediately nodded: We have a tradition here in the early years: when the newlyweds get married, the old people on both sides should prepare a statue for each other: the woman's will prepare the man's statue, and the man will prepare the woman's.

Speaking of this, Kong Jiasheng said with some emotion: The most recent one was several years ago, there are fewer and fewer young people in this place, they all go out to work, and no one inherits the craft, I am 55 years old this year, after all, I am a young stonemason here, and there is no successor

Oh, is that the case? I immediately asked, pointing to the pair of stone statues in the corner.

Well, yes, that's it.

When he saw us pointing at this pair, Lao Kong's face was also a little unnatural.

It seems that Zhao Shanfu and Ji Yueqin's affairs. It's quite famous here, and there must be hidden secrets in it that we don't know. The most // fast // more // new // on // in

I pretended to be very interesting and directly grabbed the two statues and put them on the table to look at, Lao Kong wanted to stop it, but he didn't say anything when he saw that I seemed very interested, probably for business.

The weight of these two pure stone statues is quite heavy, each has a height of 30 centimeters, and it weighs at least a dozen catties when it is lifted, because it is estimated that the appearance is black for a long time after being placed there, I frowned and said: Why is it so dirty? Does Mr. Kong have something to scrub?

Actually, these two things are not samples, but I put them there, so you can wait for me to get a rag.

After saying that, he went straight into the back room.

It didn't take long for him to find two pieces of damp cloth and wipe the two statues vigorously, and I could see that the man was wearing a traditional garment. Between the eyebrows, there is a vague appearance of Zhao Shanfu, and the other woman is also wearing traditional clothes and can't see her figure. But Meiyu is indeed very similar to Zhao Shihan.

This woman is Ji Yueqin?

This statue is well carved, huh? How much does a pair cost? Liu Yuwei and I asked with great interest.

In this case, a pair is cheaper for you: 10,000 yuan for 1 is good. Lao Kong said with a smile.

Of course, the stone carvings outside are much cheaper than this, but those stone carvings are produced mechanically, which must be much faster and rougher than here, and Shihua Town is all hand-carved. The price is naturally much more expensive, and to be honest, a pure hand-carved 30 cm high fine stone carving, 10,000 yuan a is really not expensive.

But I don't know if it's like it, right? Who are the real people of these two statues? Do you have a photo for us to compare? I looked at it jokingly and pointed to the two statues and said to Lao Kong.

These two statues are a little embarrassed, but it is estimated that there are not often big customers like us, he thought about it and said: This is a sculpture of a couple who got married more than 20 years ago, and it seems that there was only one wedding photo left at that time, so I went to look for it. You wait for me.

With that, he went into the back room again.

Whatever the case, should we really order a pair of statues here? Liu Yuwei played with the statue and looked at me with a smile and said.

I think so, too, and I want to order one for my grandfather. It's really well done here. I smiled and nodded.

While the two of us were discussing, two people came out of it.

In addition to Lao Kong, another older old man walked out of it.

When I saw that face, I knew that this old man must be Zhao Shanfu's uncle, that is, the old Zhao who was mentioned at the beginning.

The bloodline of the Zhao family seems to be quite strong: all of them are Chinese faces, and when they arrived at Zhao Shihan, it was probably because of Zhao Shihan's mother, they finally became a melon seed face, but the width of the face was still a little wide, and the old man was about 1.8 meters tall, and his figure was very thin, but that face was the iconic Chinese face of the Zhao family, although there were a lot of wrinkles and beards, but the basic framework had not changed.

Are you going to buy a statue? Uncle Zhao also wore a pair of old glasses, and after looking at us, he asked with a somewhat puzzled look: How do you two know that we are here? Do you know to come here to buy figurines?

We know Mr. Zhao Shanfu. I thought about it and said.

Do you know Zhao Qianma? Uncle Zhao smiled: Then you should be able to see who this sculpture is, right?

We only know Mr. Zhao Shanfu, and the other one should be his wife, right? I said tentatively.

Well, how many years have passed, but let's see for yourself.

Uncle Zhao took out a photo and handed it to us.

It was a yellowed old photograph of two married young men dressed exactly as on the statue.

On the other side of the photo is written in traditional Chinese characters: Congratulations to Zhao and Ma Ji Yueqin for tying the knot.

You don't have to worry about our carvings and statues, we are also a century-old shop, and there is absolutely no problem with our reputation. It's just that this kind of statue is very fine and troublesome, and it takes at least 2 months to do it, pay a deposit of 10,000 yuan first, and then pay 10,000 yuan when it is delivered.

I looked at the photo and nodded: It is indeed very similar, is this statue made by Grandpa Zhao before?

I made the one with my own hands, but now I'm too old to hit a stone. Xiao Kong's craftsmanship is no worse than mine, so you can rest assured.

Liu Yuwei nodded excitedly: Then we are decided! But I don't have that much cash with me, so can I withdraw the money tomorrow and pay half of it upfront?

When the deposit arrives, we will start work when it comes. Uncle Zhao said lightly: In this case, ask the dog to take them to choose the stone first.

Dogs?

Seeing that a big business was about to be completed, Lao Kong was very happy and shouted outside: Dog! Get back!

I thought there would be a dog, but it turned out to be a little boy about 10 years old who rubbed his nose and ran in barefoot.

It's winter, and the boy is wearing a torn cotton jacket, and his bare feet are covered in dust as if he has just come out of the mound, and he looks at Lao Kong with snot: What?

Take two guests to pick up the stones! Pick and label! Don't make a mistake or break your dog's legs, do you hear?

Oh! The little boy called Dogan looked at me and then at Liu Yuwei: Let's go!

What the hell is this? I didn't understand a little, looked at Lao Kong and asked.

That's right. Lao Kong immediately explained with a smile on his face: We usually do not reserve stone here, and we also have a lot of different stones here, all in the wilderness outside the village, and the general custom carving has to be customized by the customer to choose the stone in the quarry outside the village, and then put the label, we will go to collect the stone that meets the specifications according to your requirements to use, this kid will take you to find the stone, you yourself take a good look at the stone of your favorite color and texture.

I see, we nodded.

So Liu Yuwei and I went out with this little boy.

Goudan rushed to the front with bare feet all the way, looking at this Liu Yuwei couldn't help but ask him why he didn't wear shoes, but Goudan turned around and said: It's too expensive for me to wear shoes, so it's more comfortable not to wear them!

I thought about it, smiled and said to the dog: Uncle please ask you to eat, okay? What do you want to eat?

The dog turned to look at me, looked at me with a look that made me feel a little strange, and said, "Give me money!" I'll take you to a better place to see!

Liu Yuwei and I glanced at each other: What do you mean?

The stone outside the village should be divided into several grades! If you give me money, I'll take you to the best places, or I won't take you!"

The 10-year-old children in this village are very financially savvy, huh? Lollipops can't fool you

Good, good, good. Take it! I directly took out a red ticket and threw it over, and the kid looked at the watermark very professionally, and then touched the grid friction on the chairman's collar on the banknote with his dirty fingers. After confirming it, he immediately put it into his torn cotton jacket.

Walk!

The boy led us straight out of the village, and met many old people along the way.

It is estimated that there are no young adults over the age of 40 except for children aged 10, and we can only see some old men and women who are at least 60 years old sitting in front of their homes and watching us.

Their houses are not dilapidated, and they may be seen to be living without material things, but they feel very lifeless: some old people sit in front of their doors, and when we pass by their doors, they almost follow our footsteps with their eyeballs, and the rest of their bodies do not move at all.

I feel that they are also like statues.

When I walked out of the village, I felt like I had arrived in a fairy tale: all kinds of stones of various shapes were everywhere, and it was like a magical paradise of stones!

A lot of the stones looked like they had been carved partially, and then I didn't know why they didn't move, and many of them were half-finished, and I was a little puzzled when I saw this situation, so I asked the dog.

Many elderly people in the village come here when the weather is good, ready to carve a statue for themselves, and it becomes like this, and the people in the village who are going to die are like this. Dogan didn't explain much: the stones here are the worst! It's good inside! I'll take you there! Except for the ghost stone cave, you can choose!

Ghost Cave? What is that?