I was staring at this little man in a daze, when a voice suddenly came from behind:

"Grandpa, I'm here."

When I turned my head, I saw that it was a girl in her twenties wearing suspenders, although the girl looked mediocre, but she gave people a very clean and refreshing feeling.

I don't know why, when the girl saw that it was the head of the ball, she gave him an impatient look.

"Xiao Zou, go to the back room and load up the goods that were carved last night and bring them over"

"Okay," the girl named Xiao Zou turned around and went into the house to pick up the goods for the balls.

Seeing that I had been staring at the wooden figure in front of me just now, Maruko asked:

"I see you've been staring at that row of wood carvings for a long time, and you've been in the spot?"

Before I could speak, Master Zou raised his head and said with a smile:

"Unfortunately, if it were anything else, I could send you one as a souvenir, but that row of wooden people can't be sent"

I nodded and smiled and replied:

"Master Zou, your row of wooden people is so good, just like real people, are you carving their faces out of thin air?"

Master Zou changed a carving knife, shook his head and said:

"The root carving is not the same as the wood carving, the root carving is to imagine the carving according to the natural shape of the wood root, the wood carving is carved at will, the row of villains is wood carving, not I carved it out of thin air, there is a reference"

"If you have a reference, just like a painter paints a model, do you also carve it based on a real person?"

"Yes, I don't need the model to be there all the time, I just saw it at a glance"

After Old Man Zou finished speaking, I picked up this little wooden figure in confusion and looked at it, although it had no eyes, but this silhouette and expression were really too similar to Bai Fan!

I was just about to ask Master Zou if he had seen Bai Fan, when his granddaughter Xiao Zou walked out of the back room with a big box and threw it to the ground with a "clang".

This frightened the head of the ball, and he hurriedly went up and said while looking through it:

"You girl have a grudge against me, don't you? Every time you come to pick up the goods, you fall and click."

Xiao Zou seemed to be very familiar with the head of the ball, and patted his bald head and said:

"Bald Lao Liang, my fall is light, you said last time I gave me an iPhone for my birthday, what happened? It's been a month since my birthday, not to mention mobile phones, Apple hasn't seen one! ”

Maruko bowed his head embarrassedly and said:

"The last time I came to pick up the goods, didn't I drink too much? Forgot, can Brother Qiang send you an apple? Next time, it's on time! ”

I couldn't help but laugh when I heard Xiao Zou call him bald Lao Liang, it's okay if you don't drink balls, as soon as you drink wine, you forget who you are!

The two of them were arguing, and Master Zou put down the wood carving in his hand and said:

"It's over"

Taking advantage of this step, Maruko hurriedly beckoned me to come over, picked up the box and ran out.

Miss Zou chased him out of the door and scolded him twice, and the head of the ball laughed twice and drove away with one foot on the accelerator.

On the way to the sister-in-law's carving shop to deliver the goods, the ball head whistled hooligan and seemed to be in a good mood.

I asked:

"I just took a look, and the box of animal wood carvings I just picked up has no eyes, so I pulled it back to the store and sold it like this?"

Maruko shook his head as he shook his head on the steering wheel.

"This old man Zou never carves his eyes when he carves living things, and he has to find a master to carve his eyes when he pulls things back."

"Do you have to hire someone to do it twice? Is it still possible to make money with such a toss? ”

"Can you make money? Guess what, just this box of wooden roots, how much we sell it for after carving the eyes, guess"

I leaned back, thought for a moment, and said:

"I don't have much culture or art, but I know it's not cheap, I guess.... 500 a? ”

As soon as my voice fell, Maruko Tou laughed twice with a disgusted face and said:

"The purchase price is 500, and the sale price is more than 5,000"

I was stunned when I heard this:

"Tenfold? Why is it so expensive to just order a small piece of wood? ”

"It's not enough to sell, but in a month, Mr. Zou will send us a box of goods, and there is no more."

While chatting, the car drove into the commercial block, stopped at the door of a luxuriously decorated wood-carved storefront, and just moved the box into the house, the phone rang.

He saw the caller ID, pouted and handed me the phone and said:

"Old man Zou called, I guess it's still that little girl, you take it, ask her what's the matter?"

I took the phone and picked it up, and as expected, as expected, as soon as the phone rang, Xiao Zou's eager voice came:

"Bald Lao Liang, it's broken, I loaded the wrong goods, you hurry up and send the goods back"

I was stunned when I heard this, and said:

"I'm a friend of Bald Lao Liang, did I get the wrong goods?"

Miss Zou hurriedly replied:

"Yes, I got the wrong item"

As he spoke, his voice was lowered, and he whispered:

"I pretended to be the wrong person to carve it in, can you please help me send it back? If grandpa finds out, he'll have to beat me to death."

I didn't want to embarrass her and said:

"No problem, then I'll send it to you, you tell me about the one who pretended to be wrong, what's different from the others"

"The wood carving I pretended to be wrong is carved with eyes, it's easy to recognize, send it back before the evening, please"

Wood carving with eyes!

Didn't Mr. Zou carve all wood carvings without carving eyes?

I heard that Miss Zou was very anxious, so I agreed, saying that I would find the wood carving and send it back to her.

After hanging up the phone, Maru Zitou worriedly asked me if Xiao Zou was looking for him to ask for a mobile phone, and after listening to me talk about the content of the call, he was relieved.

I was rummaging through the side of the box for the carved wooden carving, when the head of the ball suddenly slapped me on the edge of the box and said:

"Hey, buddy, don't look for it"

"Why don't you look for it, Miss Zou is frightened and anxious."

Maruko pouted and said:

"I'm scared, didn't you hear the little girl call Old Man Zou grandpa? It's a grandson relationship, it's okay"

I was still churning with my head down, and replied:

"That's not good, I've promised people, I'll go over and send this back, and change the one that doesn't have carved eyes"

When Maruko heard this, he came up and grabbed me by the arm, and whispered:

"What to send, I've been cooperating with Mr. Zou for so long, I haven't seen Mr. Zou carved a wood carving with eyes, although we have a special master to carve the eyes, but those who know how to say that Shen Yun can't keep up, this old man Zou personally carved the wood carving of the eyes, how can it be sold for fifty, seven or eighty thousand"

"Don't you say that this wood is carved and the eyes come to life? Aren't you afraid? ”

Maruko sneered and said:

"I said I was the number one in the city, can you believe me? A lump of wood can still become a fine."

Although I deliberately sent back the wrong wood carving, after all, this is the goods of the ball head, and he won't let me move it, so I really can't do it.

In this way, after staying in his store for another half hour, Xiao Zou's call came again.

Maruko smiled and handed me the phone and said:

"Or you pick it up, just say I'm not there, you can't find the goods"

"Oh" Maruko saw that I agreed, so he went to the back of the store to get busy.

I picked up the phone and before I could speak, the little Zou girl cried out with a "wow".

"Did you send it?"

I said slowly:

"It's still me, Zhang Qiang is not in the store, I didn't find that batch of goods, I don't know where he put it, I'm sorry"

I usually lie, but for some reason, I feel uncomfortable when I lie.

Xiao Zou cried more and more on the phone when she heard this, and I didn't know how to comfort her, so I listened to her cry quietly.

After a while, Xiao Zou calmed down his emotions and said in a hoarse voice:

"Can you please do me a favor?"

"Well, what, you say"

"Are you far away? If it's not far away, help me go to the raw material market to buy a piece of wood and come back, it's not convenient for me to go out."

I had promised her to send the wood carving back, but now that I had broken my promise, I felt guilty in my heart, and when I saw that she asked me to help me buy something, I agreed.

I carefully recorded the address and specifications I needed to buy timber at the market, hung up the phone and returned my phone to the ball, and then took a taxi to buy wood.

The wood that Xiao Zou asked for was not difficult to find, so I bought one according to the request and sent it to the store for her as soon as possible.

When I came back, the door of the wood carving shop was closed, and Xiao Zou opened the door for me and welcomed me in in a whisper.

She took the wood, happily took out a carving knife from the cupboard, sat down and began to carve the wood intently.

I looked around and didn't see Master Zou and asked:

"Where's your grandfather? Not at home? ”

Xiao Zou didn't look up, and said in a low voice:

"Grandpa carved something in the backyard and came out late"

I sat opposite Xiao Zou, and when I saw her skillfully carving the prototype of wood with a carving knife, I suddenly understood in my heart and asked:

"Do you want to carve a villain yourself to deceive grandpa?"

Xiao Zou nodded, and said with both hands:

"Yes, grandpa counts the number every day before going to bed, and if he finds that one is missing, then I will be miserable"

"Your carving shop is full of wood, why should I buy one?"

Xiao Zou replied:

"Every piece of wood Grandpa has a number in his heart, and he can't move it"

"Oh" I answered, and when I saw Xiao Zou carving wood, I wandered around, and then I saw the wooden man who looked like a white sail, and picked it up and asked:

"Xiao Zou, do you know who this wooden figure is carved from?"

Maybe I always bothered her by talking to her, Xiao Zou looked up impatiently and said:

"That's what my grandfather carved when I was very young, in the image of an older sister."

I turned on my phone and found a photo of Bai Fan, and was about to hand it over to her to see if it was Bai Fan.

Xiao Zou waved his hand without raising his head and said:

"Don't bother me yet, I'll talk about it after I'm done"

I reluctantly put away my phone and said "um", then sat down quietly.

It may be difficult to imitate the craftsmanship of Old Man Zou, she carved very slowly, until it was dark, and only carved the whole piece of wood into the shape of a small person, the only difference is that there are no eyes.

Xiao Zou wiped the sweat from her forehead, smiled and took the wood carving to look left and right, but for some reason, the more she looked at it, the more angry she became, and finally threw the wood aside in frustration.

I asked, puzzled:

"What's wrong, isn't it?"

Xiao Zou lowered his head and said:

"No, I guess it's enough to get by"

I listen to it quite depressed, dare to love this afternoon in vain?

After a while, Xiao Zou went over and picked up the wooden man, handed it to me and said:

"Let's try, but you have to carve your eyes"

"What?" I said in disbelief:

"Don't be funny, how can I do this, don't you carve your two eyes in a few clicks, you can just come yourself"

Xiao Zou said in a low voice:

"No, grandpa told me when I was young, I can't carve eyes on wood, I'll paint them for you, you can carve them according to the position I painted, try it"

As he spoke, he found a pencil and took the wooden man to sketch out the outline of his two eyes.

I saw that Xiao Zou was quite strong, and asked suspiciously:

"Why can't you carve your eyes?"

Xiao Zou didn't reply, turned around and entered the back room, and after a while, he took out a leather wallet with three carving knives and put it in front of me, pointed and said in turn:

"These three carving knives are grandpa's treasures, one is to carve human eyes, one is to carve animal eyes, and one is specially carved dragon eyes and phoenix eyes"

I was stunned when I heard this, it was so finely divided, it was really like it!

Xiao Zou glanced at the time, and hurriedly urged me to say:

"Grandpa is coming out soon, hurry, hurry"

"Okay" I'm barefoot and not afraid of wearing shoes, let me carve I'll carve, I picked up the carving knife and carved it according to the position of Xiao Zou's painting.

Xiao Zou asked me to engrave it first, and she went to the backyard to see how long it would take for her grandfather, so she turned around and went out.

Not to mention, I really have a bit of a carving talent, although it is the first time to hold a knife, but I don't feel the hand at all, ten minutes of effort, I followed Xiao Zou's instructions, and pulled out two eyes.

Although these two eyes do not have charm, but the outline of the outline let's talk about the past, I think, the old man has so many wood carvings, if you don't look closely, maybe you can really let the two of us get by.

I was happily admiring my work, Xiao Zou ran back and said that grandpa would come out in ten minutes, and when she saw that I had finished carving my eyes, she was also smiling and praising in her hand.

I was getting carried away and happy, Xiao Zou's face suddenly changed again, stared at the carving knife in my hand, and asked in a panic:

"Didn't I tell you to use a knife that carved into the human eye? Why did you use the knife that carved the animal's eye?! ”