Eternal madness

Chapter 37 We're Craftsmen Now

After eating the elixir, Zhang Laifu collapsed to the ground.

Li Yunsheng quickly got up and helped Zhang Laifu up.

Zhang Laifu felt as if a balloon full of nails had burst in his stomach, first with a sharp, bloating pain, followed by endless stabbing pain.

"Now that the spirit of craftsmanship has been swallowed, your soul and body must transform into the essence of craftsmanship. This suffering will not be easy to endure!" Li Yunsheng took out a talisman and handed it to Zhang Laifu. "Brother Laifu, hold it tight!"

Zhang Laifu gripped the talisman, and Li Yunsheng began chanting the incantation:
"Fire does not scorch the heart, cold does not invade; advance and retreat with moderation, and your breath will naturally be even; regulate yin and yang and open the three orifices; a skill is never a burden..."

Zhang Laifu, biting the talisman, stretched out his hand, looked at Li Yunsheng, and said with difficulty, "Listen, listen..."

Li Yunsheng nodded and said, "You have to listen carefully!"

He continued chanting the incantation, but Zhang Laifu thought to himself that this time the incantation was too obscure and incomprehensible.

Li Yunsheng didn't understand Zhang Laifu's meaning and just kept chanting the incantation. In less than two minutes, Zhang Laifu fainted.

This is trouble.

Li Yunsheng dared not wake him or move him, for disturbing him might disrupt his dream and jeopardize everything.

But it wasn't appropriate for Zhang Laifu to lie on the ground like that; this was Zhuzi Street, one of the most bustling streets in Heishakou.

Li Yunsheng quickly lit three more incense sticks, hoping that Zhang Laifu would wake up soon.

Some people need to sleep for a month before entering the profession, while others only sleep for a few hours. With such a high-quality craftsmanship, he shouldn't need to sleep for too long.

A wooden box fell out of Zhang Laifu's arms, and Li Yunsheng picked it up and looked at it.

The pale yellow wooden box, about the same size as a mooncake tin from another state, was unpainted, unoiled, and unpolished, yet it felt incredibly smooth and delicate to the touch.

This is no ordinary thing!
Li Yunsheng held the box in his hand and examined it for a moment, noticing that Zhang Laifu's eyelids twitched intermittently.

In his dream, Zhang Laifu saw twinkling lights that came and went before his eyes.

The firelight was sometimes clear and sometimes hazy, as if there was a barrier between it and Zhang Laifu.

The pain in his stomach gradually subsided, and Zhang Laifu gradually calmed down. The flames stopped flickering and were no longer dazzling, turning into a soft white light that kept magnifying in front of Zhang Laifu until it filled his entire field of vision.

Zhang Laifu opened his eyes and looked at Li Yunsheng.

Li Yunsheng stepped forward to help Zhang Laifu up and brought him a chair to sit down: "Brother Laifu, your skills are truly excellent. You only slept for less than half an hour."

Zhang Laifu wiped his sweat. He wanted to speak, but his tongue felt stiff. He wanted to stand up and walk around, but his legs felt weak.

Li Yunsheng fanned Zhang Laifu with a fan: "Don't rush to speak or move around. Let me ask you the most important question first: Did you have a dream just now?"

"Do it!" Zhang Laifu squeezed out a single word.

"Did you remember everything that happened in your dream?"

“I remember!” Zhang Laifu nodded vigorously.

Li Yunsheng's brows relaxed: "Good, Brother Laifu. You're a craftsman now, and your profession lies within this dream."

"Good!" Zhang Laifu was genuinely happy. After a long pause, he finally managed to utter a complete sentence: "Craftsmen should not be bullied!"

Li Yunsheng nodded and smiled, "That's right, we won't be bullied! Brother Laifu, what did you dream about?"

Zhang Laifu thought for a long time: "Fire, lots of fire."

Li Yunsheng was a little troubled: "Fire is a complicated thing, because there are too many professions that use fire."

Blacksmiths use fire, cooks use fire, bricklayers use fire—think about it, is there anything else in your dream?

Zhang Laifu rubbed his forehead, recalling the appearance of the flames in his dream.

“Don’t rush, think it over slowly,” Li Yunsheng lit three more incense sticks. “Some people become craftsmen and spend several years without finding the right trade. This is something that really can’t be rushed.”

"After years of trying to find a profession, is finding a profession just a matter of dreaming?" Zhang Laifu really didn't expect this situation to come to this. He had become a craftsman but didn't even know what profession he was in.

Li Yunsheng nodded: "Is it really just this one dream? There are no other clues. What's so special about the fire in your dream?"

As Zhang Laifu was racking his brains, a shout came from afar: "Wontons, ready to serve!" The wonton vendor was back again, and the aroma of his wontons was so tempting that Zhang Laifu couldn't concentrate on his work.

Perhaps eating a bowl of wontons could offer some insights. Just as Zhang Laifu was about to buy some wontons, he glanced at the firewood under the pot and remembered the shape of the flames in his dream: "It's not this kind of fire. The fire in my dream was very small, not this big."

Li Yunsheng looked at the wonton stand: "The fire is smaller than the stove, so it can't be a food business. Charcoal burning, brick making, and blacksmithing all use big fires, so there's no need to think about it. Brother Laifu, just how small is this fire?"

Zhang Laifu glanced at the incense burner.

Li Yunsheng asked, "Is it similar to an incense burner?"

Zhang Laifu shook his head and said, "It's bigger than incense."

Li Yunsheng then asked, "Is it similar to a candle flame?"

Zhang Laifu thought for a moment, then shook his head: "It's a bit bigger than a candle flame, and it's always right in front of me, floating around."

Upon hearing the mention of floating around, Li Yunsheng thought of a special kind of fire: "What color is that fire? Is it green?"

Zhang Laifu understood what Li Yunsheng meant: "It's not a will-o'-the-wisp. I've seen will-o'-the-wisps before. This flame is quite steady and even, but it's also a bit blurry, like..."

In broad daylight, it was really hard to find a fire. Zhang Laifu was still looking around when Li Yunsheng guessed something was wrong.

"Brother Laifu, are you talking about lanterns?"

lantern?

Zhang Laifu recalled the back-and-forth movement in his dream, the clear yet hazy firelight, and nodded repeatedly, saying, "It was probably a lantern."

"Brother Laifu, saying it might not work is wrong. You need to be sure of what's going on. There are many lamp shops on Zhuyou Road. Take some time to go and take a look. After you see the lanterns, do you feel anything?"

If you see it and truly feel a connection, then you should learn the craft. But if you've entered the wrong field and want to turn back, it's not an easy thing.

A top hat, with snuff in it, planted a drum maker and a Taoist priest, and the fruit it bore was a lantern maker?
In any case, I've finally found my niche.

Zhang Laifu took out ten silver dollars and placed them on the table.

"What does this mean?" Li Yunsheng was taken aback.

"You helped me a lot in becoming a craftsman, and this is the reward I should give you."

Zhang Laifu got up to go to Zhuyou Road, but after taking only two steps, he almost fell to the ground again.

"Brother Laifu, take a rest. You're new to this job and still a bit weak."

Li Yunsheng poured Zhang Laifu a cup of tea and pushed the ten silver dollars back to him, saying, "We're friends, I won't take your money."

Zhang Laifu insisted on giving it to him: "If I'm always causing you trouble and don't even help you make money, what kind of real friend am I?"

That makes sense. Li Yunsheng held up ten silver dollars and laughed, “It’s good to have a big tree to lean on. With these ten silver dollars, I don’t need to set up my stall for three days.”

"Brother Laifu, please sit here for a while. I have something important to tell you."

Li Yunsheng took a wooden box out of the table: "This is the box that fell off you just now. I didn't open it and don't know what's inside, but this box itself is not simple. Brother Laifu, do you know the origin of this box?"

Zhang Laifu did not hide anything: "When I used the bowl to grow the 'Craft Spirit' plant, I not only grew this 'Craft Spirit' plant, but also this wooden box, which I guess is some kind of miscellaneous item."

Li Yunsheng shook his head: "Nothing ever comes out of the bowl, only useful things. The fact that you can grow such a skillful spirit and still have the energy to grow this box shows that you used a rare and good bowl."

Zhang Laifu held the box and examined it for a long time, but couldn't see anything special about it: "How do you use this box?"

Li Yunsheng was also unsure: "I can only see some spirituality in it; as for its specific uses, you'll have to figure it out gradually."

What is spirituality?

"Everything is ever-changing and has a spirit. Craftsmen can see the spirit, so they can make things quickly and well."

Zhang Laifu still doesn't understand: "Now that I'm a craftsman, why can't I see any spirituality in him?"

"That's because you're a beginner, your skills are still too basic, and you need to hone and refine them."

Zhang Laifu staggered to his feet: "That place is called Candle Oil Road, right? I'll go and beat it up right now!"

P.S.: The wonderful life of a craftsman has begun, and now no one can stop Zhang Laifu!
(End of this chapter)