Riding the wind of rebirth

"I...I'll pay for one too!" Yan Xiao picked up his cup as well.

"Grandpa Chiri, let him drink less." He Shiqing pleaded with old Chiri, "Uncle Tu, they're really close to the limit."

Tu Liangzhi looked at Yang Honghui on the other side; the child had already leaned back in his chair, head down, and fallen asleep.

“Then let’s finish this cup!” Old Chi Ri said, “Yan Xiao can still drink; we’ve failed to entertain him properly.”

"No, no, it was just that you were too enthusiastic." He Shiqing quickly snatched the cup from Yan Xiao's hand: "Yan Xiao really can't go on, I'll drink this cup for him!"

"Good lads, you're all good lads." Old Chi Ri laughed, "Alright, Yan Xiao will drink this cup of poetry in your honor. You're welcome to come to the countryside for a visit!"

Yan Xiao and Yang Honghui were completely drunk. Zhou Zhi and Yang He weren't drunk, but they weren't much better; they could only manage to go upstairs.

Yang Honghui was alright after getting drunk, similar to Zhou Zhi; he fell asleep as soon as he lay down on the bed. Yan Xiao, however, was in a bad state, vomiting violently. After vomiting, He Shiqing had to give him honey water, and then he would vomit again.

After going through this several times, I finally fell asleep.

When Zhou Zhi woke up again, it was past five in the afternoon. When he came out of the room, he found that Yang Honghui was also awake and was sitting in the corridor drinking tea.

"Old Yang, you're amazing!" Zhou Zhi exclaimed in surprise, "You were so drunk at the table that we couldn't wake you up, but you sobered up so quickly!"

Old Yang winked at Zhou Zhi: "Didn't you tell me to do this?"

Zhou Zhi gave him another thumbs up and whispered, "Impressive. You've faked more drunk than me and Yang He by a lot. We all thought you were really drunk. Turns out, the most honest drinker among us is the most cunning one, Salt Rat, who's still not sober, right?"

"He's still asleep," Yang Honghui said with a smile. "But Yang He seems to be really drunk; he hasn't woken up either."

"Hmm?" Zhou Zhi picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea. "I didn't expect that. Yang He's alcohol tolerance used to be about the same as mine."

"You've honed your skills here over the past two years, haven't you?" Yang Honghui said. "I've certainly experienced the Yi people's drinking capacity firsthand."

"So, can you still box at night?"

"Please spare me, another day, at least tomorrow."

Where are the girls?

"Xiao Miao led them to the river to collect stones."

“The water has been receding for quite some time now. Almost all the red agate that could be picked up along the riverbank has been taken,” Zhou Zhi said. “Why don’t we go pick some from my collection later? I have several large buckets of fine pieces.”

"Xiao Miao said she knew a place where there were definitely stones to pick up, so she took them there."

"Huh? People who arrived later than me already have secret bases?" Zhou Zhi was a little incredulous.

"They'll be back soon, right?"

"Oh dear, I need to go check on the kitchen," Zhou Zhi said.

When they arrived at the kitchen, they found Feng Xueshan busy working with Azi and Aunt Gillie.

"Hey, Xue Shan, didn't you go collect stones?" "I had to take care of the two of us, so I didn't go," Feng Xue Shan said with a smile. "Anyway, I have quite a few Southern Red Agate stones already."

That's the truth. Feng Xueshan looked after Suihuaxuan for Zhou Zhi, and Zhou Zhi sent many things there for storage. As for other things, Feng Xueshan wouldn't be polite to Zhou Zhi. She would take anything she liked, such as small jade carvings and small red agate carvings. When she was in a good mood, she would give Zhou Zhi a price based on cost.

Fortunately, Feng Xueshan has rather picky tastes. She doesn't really like exquisitely crafted carvings, but only the "innovations" of masters, such as Mickey Mouse, Smurfs, and Little Fat Rich Man—themes that Zhou Zhi thinks are just unusable. At most, she also likes some cats and dogs, so Zhou Zhi just goes along with her.

Feng Xueshan carried a blanket on her back, wrapped Xiao Shunzi up, and also wrapped a handkerchief around her head to cover her hair so that Xiao Shunzi wouldn't pull it. A fashionable and beautiful young woman suddenly exuded a rustic charm.

"Is this bundle of cloth the one you use to carry Azi, Auntie?" Zhou Zhi laughed. "It's quite suitable for carrying Xiao Shunzi now."

Little Shunzi seemed quite comfortable on his mother's back, neither crying nor fussing. He looked around curiously, occasionally reaching out to shake her, which amused Azi greatly.

"Yes, I carried Azi around in this kitchen when she was little," Aunt Gillies said with a smile. "It seems like Xiao Shunzi likes her quite a bit too."

"It's actually quite nice." The entire garment was made of blue cloth, with a thin felt sewn into the center for reinforcement. The felt was yellow and cut into the shape of a small tiger, and then the tiger's stripes were embroidered with colored thread, which also served as a way to secure it.

After all, tigers have existed in the Yi region for a very long time, so the tiger pattern is very abstract, just like the cloth tiger that my grandmother made for the Dragon Boat Festival. It has big eyes, a big mouth, big teeth, small ears, short legs and big paws, and a tail that is about the same length as its limbs, giving it a strange beauty that combines cartoon and abstract art.

Feng Xueshan really liked this style, and even turned to Zhou Zhi and did a disco move, causing the tiger on her back to wiggle its butt and wag its tail, which made Zhou Zhi laugh: "This is great, it's almost like a work of art."

"We had a lot of leftovers from lunch, so we listened to Xue Shan and kept it simple," Aunt Gillie said. "We stir-fried two vegetarian dishes, served the chicken soup, and used the leftover cold dishes and preserved meats from lunch. We also cooked some of the potato flowers that everyone likes, and made a fried rice with round pickled cabbage and crispy pork crumbs using the leftover rice."

"I knew it smelled so good!" Zhou Zhi laughed. "Sauerkraut and crispy pork fried rice, it's amazing!"

"Zhouzi, we're back! Hurry up and eat, then we'll go dancing in town!" Liang Hong and the others had already returned by the time she finished speaking.

"So, did you find it?" Zhou Zhi asked.

"I found one! Shiqing, you're lucky, you found one the size of an egg!" Liang Hong said. "I found several too, now it's up to you to process them!"

"Let's see what Shiqing picked up first," Zhou Zhi said.

Water-seed stones are the highest quality among Southern Red Agate stones, but they are generally quite small. It's considered quite remarkable to find one the size of a quail egg. Zhouzhi has only collected three or four stones the size of a chicken egg. Even if they are not solid colors, their unique patterns make them exquisite.

“Here.” He Shiqing took a red pebble out of her pocket and placed it on the table: “Heilong dug this out for me.”

Zhou Zhi took a metal tube about the size of an index finger off his keychain, pressed the button on the back, and it turned out to be a small flashlight.

When the strong beam of a small flashlight is pressed onto the pebble, the beautiful red patterns on the pebble immediately become clearly visible.

"Wow..." Liang Hong couldn't help but exclaim, "This is so beautiful! It looks just like the pebbles I've seen on TV."

"Rain flower stones are actually agate, but they have richer colors and patterns, unlike the agate here, which is mainly red and black."

"The quality of this one that Shiqing picked is excellent. The flame pattern, a mixture of oxblood red and persimmon red, is like flowing lava. Among water-worn seeds, only pure persimmon red can surpass it. Moreover, it's rare to find one this big. It will look very beautiful after being polished."

"How about we design something?" He Shiqing asked.

“No need. Designing and carving would be superfluous.” Zhou Zhi carefully rotated the stone to check for cracks, saying, “This stone only needs to have its surface polished to reveal the internal texture. The natural pattern is beautiful enough. If you want a more extreme approach, you can keep the original shape of the stone, put it on a stand as a display piece, and polish it when you have time. Then, like I am now, you can admire it under the light. That would be quite nice.” (End of Chapter)