After Chen Pingan returned to the courtyard, his eyelids twitched incessantly, his left eye for wealth, his right for misfortune.

So Chen Pingan sat on the doorstep and began to imagine himself pulling clay, his hands hovering in the air. Soon, the straw sandal-clad youth entered a state of selfless concentration. The boy’s diligence was one aspect, but the ability to stave off hunger was also important, so Chen Pingan had developed the habit of pulling clay whenever he was troubled. The matter of firing porcelain was heavily reliant on fate, because before the kiln was opened, no one knew whether the glaze and shape of a piece of porcelain would ultimately match their desires; one could only resign oneself to fate. However, before firing the kiln, pulling the clay was undoubtedly of utmost importance. It was just that Old Man Yao considered Chen Pingan to lack talent and mostly assigned him to physical tasks like kneading clay. Chen Pingan could only carefully observe from the side, then practice kneading clay and pulling it himself, seeking the right feel.

The sound of a wooden gate opening echoed from the neighboring courtyard. It was Song Jixin, returning from the academy with his maidservant, Zhigui. The handsome youth made a dash and easily leapt onto the low wall. After squatting down, he released his palm, revealing a collection of pebbles, each the size of a fingernail, in a variety of colors, such as mutton-fat white, celadon, and lotus-root white. These worthless stones, of varying sizes, were readily found in the streams around the small town. Among them, a stone that resembled being saturated with chicken blood, a vivid red, was the most pleasing. Master Qi of the academy had carved an imprint for his disciple, Zhao Yao, from such a stone. Song Jixin found it quite appealing and had wanted to trade something for it several times, but the other party stubbornly refused.

Song Jixin tossed a pebble, not with much force, and it struck Chen Pingan in the chest. The latter remained unmoved.

He threw another, this time hitting the straw sandal-clad youth on the forehead, yet Chen Pingan stood as firm as a mountain.

Song Jixin was not surprised by this. He threw a handful of pebbles, seven or eight in total, one after another. Although Song Jixin intended to distract Chen Pingan and cause him pain, he still avoided directly hitting Chen Pingan’s arms or fingers, because Song Jixin felt that would be an unfair victory.

Song Jixin, having finished throwing the pebbles, clapped his hands. Chen Pingan let out a long breath, shook his wrists, and completely ignored Song Jixin. After thinking for a moment, he lowered his head, forming a carving knife shape with the five fingers of his left hand.

The technique of 跳刀 (Tiao-dao, or skipping-knife) was not exactly a unique skill among the old kiln masters of the small town, but Old Man Yao’s 跳刀 method would make anyone who saw it give a thumbs-up.

Old Man Yao had taken several apprentices, but none had truly satisfied the old man. It was only with Liu Xianyang that he felt he had found someone who could inherit his mantle. In the past, when Liu Xianyang practiced, Chen Pingan would squat nearby, watching intently whenever he was free.

Liu Xianyang, being concerned with face, only knew that Chen Pingan was discreet, so he often used Old Yao’s secret oral formulas to intimidate the latter, for example, “If you want the knife’s path to be steady, your hand must not be rigidly steady. In the end, it is the heart that must be steady.”

However, when Chen Pingan asked what was meant by a steady heart, Liu Xianyang was at a loss.

Song Jixin watched for a while, found it uninteresting and dull, and jumped off the wall into the house.

The maidservant, Zhigui, stood by the wall. If she did not stand on tiptoe, only the upper half of her face would be visible. Even so, it was already clear that the girl was a budding beauty.

She thought for a moment and gently stood on tiptoe, her gaze falling upon the impoverished youth. Finally, she found two favorite pebbles on the ground, one a scarlet and translucent color, the other a snowy white and lustrous one, both discarded by her young master just now.

She hesitated, lowered her voice, and timidly said, “Chen Pingan, could you help me pick up those two pebbles? I like them very much.”

Chen Pingan slowly raised his head, his hand movements did not stop, still very steady, his eyes indicating for her to wait a moment.

Zhigui smiled sweetly, like the first sprig of green on a branch after spring, extremely beautiful.

However, the youth had already lowered his head, missing this touching scene.

The corners of her mouth turned up, her eyes shone with brilliant light, as if there were tiny living creatures leisurely swimming within.

When Chen Pingan stopped what he was doing and asked which two pebbles she meant, the maidservant Zhigui’s eyes returned to normal, as soft as spring mud after rain, as always.

Chen Pingan, following the direction of her finger, picked up the two pebbles, walked to the wall, and as she raised her hand, the straw sandal-clad youth had already placed the pebbles on the wall.

She picked up the two pebbles, holding them tightly in her palm.

For someone with a deliberate heart seeking out such an item, it would be like searching for a needle in the ocean, rarely encountered even in ten years.

For someone with fate, even without intention, it would be like a rotten, valueless thing found everywhere, easily obtained, depending entirely on whether one felt like collecting it.

Chen Pingan smiled and asked, “Aren’t you afraid of that snot-nosed kid blocking your door and scolding you for a long time?”

She did not admit that her young master had stolen other people’s things, but she also seemed too embarrassed to deny the fact, so she smiled without speaking.

Mud Bottle Lane was home to a mother and son, their skills in arguing unmatched in the small town, with only Song Jixin able to spar with them. Among them, the child was particularly naughty, always with two snot-nosed strands, he loved to fish and pick up stones in the stream. The fish he caught were all kept in a large water tank, and the stones were piled next to the water tank. Song Jixin insisted on provoking this little thorn, occasionally pilfering a few stones. One or two days wouldn’t be noticeable, but Song Jixin often stole them. Once the child confirmed that his treasures were missing, he would explode, like a little wildcat whose tail had been stepped on. He could scold outside the courtyard door for an hour, and his mother would never advise him, instead, she would enthusiastically fan the flames, deliberately exposing the fact that Song Jixin was the illegitimate son of the former Supervisor, repeatedly enraging Song Jixin until he was nearly itching to go out and fight with a bench in his hand. Only with the good words of the maidservant Zhigui could she dissuade him.

Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out, “Song Jixin, Song Jixin, come catch them in the act! Your maidservant is flirting with Chen Pingan, obviously hooked up! If you don’t manage your concubine, maybe she will climb over the wall tonight to knock on Chen Pingan’s door! Hurry up and get out here, tsk tsk tsk, Chen Pingan’s hands have even touched that little hussy’s face, you didn’t see it, Chen Pingan’s smile is so disgusting…”

Song Jixin did not show his face at all, he shouted directly from the house: “What’s so great about that? I saw Chen Pingan hooking up with your mother last night. After I bumped into them, Chen Pingan forcefully ‘pulled’ his paws out of your mother’s collar. It’s all your mother’s fault, her assets are too magnificent and too full, poor Chen Pingan was exhausted with sweat…”

Someone in the alley kicked Song Jixin’s courtyard door fiercely, shouting angrily: “Song Jixin, come out and fight one-on-one! If you lose, you give me Zhigui as a maidservant, to feed me, make my bed, and wash my feet every day! If I lose, I will give Chen Pingan to you as a servant, what do you say? Just asking if you dare, whoever doesn’t dare is a cowardly turtle!”

Inside the house, Song Jixin said lazily: “Go cool off! Your father, I, flipped through the almanac and today is not suitable for beating my son, Gu Can, consider yourself lucky!”

The child outside hammered the door hard, “Zhigui, you are so aggrieved following such a coward young master, you should elope with Liu Xianyang, anyway, that silly big guy looks at you like he wants to eat you.”

The maidservant Zhigui turned and walked towards the house.

Inside, Song Jixin was carefully wiping a green gourd, an old object of unknown origin, also one of the “family properties” left by that Song adult. Song Jixin initially didn’t care, but later accidentally discovered that every time it rained, the gourd would buzz. However, after Song Jixin unplugged the lid, no matter how he shook it, he did not see any things slide out. When he poured water and sand into it, poured it out it was still water and sand, not a bit more, not a bit less. Song Jixin was really helpless, plus once he was scolded by Gu Can’s shrewish mother outside the door with such phrases such as “illegitimate child raised by his mother without a father” which made him feel upset, Song Jixin hacked at the gourd with a knife, but what made the boy dumbfounded was that the blade had curled over, and the gourd was still intact, without leaving a trace.

An earlier letter that had been burned by Song Jixin wrote: “The gold, silver, and copper coins moved from the government office to the small courtyard will ensure that you two masters and servants can live without worry. In your spare time, you can search for some antiques that you like, as a way to cultivate your temperament. Although the small town is small, coarse grains can nourish the stomach, books can nourish the spirit, scenery can nourish the eyes, and loneliness can nourish the heart. From today on, do your best and leave the rest to fate. A hidden dragon is in the abyss, there will be good fortune in the future.”

Although Song Jixin resented that man, money was meant to be spent, or heaven would punish him. In the simple small town, it was difficult to spend money lavishly. Over the years, Song Jixin had actually taken a liking to the occupation of collecting junk, filling a large vermilion lacquer box, all such quirky things like the green gourd. However, Song Jixin had a mysterious intuition. Among the large box, with its varied items, more than thirty pieces, this gourd was the most valuable, followed by a rusty purple-gold bell. When shaken, one could clearly see the hammer striking the inner wall, which should have made a crisp sound, but it was silent, making Song Jixin both frightened and amazed. Finally, there was an antique teapot with the inscription of “Mountain Demon,” the remaining items, Song Jixin liked crudely, it could not be called love at first sight.

A child named Gu Can stood outside the door, cursing loudly, full of vigor.

Before long, the cursing stopped abruptly.

Then Chen Pingan saw that the guy suddenly pushed open his own courtyard door, his face full of panic. After bolting the door, he squatted by the door, constantly winking at himself, wanting himself to squat next to him.

Chen Pingan did not know what was going on, but he stooped down and ran to the child’s side, squatting down and whispering, “Gu Can, what are you doing? Did you make your mother angry again?”

The child sniffed hard, lowered his voice, and said: “Chen Pingan, I’m telling you, I just met a strange man, the white bowl in his hand can keep pouring water out, you see, such a small bowl, I personally saw him pouring water for an hour! That guy seemed to have stopped when he passed the entrance of our Mud Bottle Lane just now, could it be that he saw me? Oh no, oh no…”

The child gestured the size of the white bowl with both hands, and then patted his chest, sighing: “It really scared Song Jixin’s dad.”

Chen Pingan asked, “Are you talking about the storyteller under the pagoda tree?”

The child nodded vigorously, “Of course, the old man doesn’t have much strength in his hands, he can’t even lift me up, but that broken bowl is really scary, very scary!”

The child suddenly grabbed Chen Pingan’s arm, “Chen Pingan, I really didn’t lie to you this time! I can swear, if I lie to you, may Song Jixin not die well!”

Chen Pingan raised a finger and made a silent gesture.

The child immediately shut his mouth.

There was a sound of footsteps outside the door, gradually rising, gradually falling.

One thing subdues another.

The child, who was originally not afraid of anything, sat down on the ground with his bottom, and wiped his face indiscriminately, his face pale. Obviously, this snot-nosed Gu Can was really scared to death.

The child suddenly asked: “Chen Pingan, that guy wouldn’t have gone to my house, right? What should I do?”

Chen Pingan said helplessly, “I’ll go back to your house with you to take a look?”

The child was probably waiting for Chen Pingan to say this, and he suddenly got up, but slumped down again, with a crying face: “Chen Pingan, my legs are so weak that I can’t walk.”

Chen Pingan stood up, bent over and grabbed the back of the child’s collar, lifted the child in one hand, and opened the latch in the other, and walked out of the courtyard.

The child’s home was not far away, only a hundred steps away. Sure enough, Gu Can saw that the old man was in his courtyard, and his mother had even taken a stool for the old man.

At that moment, the child felt that the sky had fallen, so he chose to hide behind Chen Pingan, letting the taller one step forward.

Chen Pingan did not disappoint the child, intentionally or unintentionally protecting him in front.

When the mischievous child Gu Can held Chen Pingan’s sleeve, he immediately felt full of pride for no reason.

The old man didn’t care about this, sat on the stool, pondered slightly, and the white bowl in his hand disappeared into thin air.

Gu Can immediately became weak again, hiding behind Chen Pingan, trembling.

The old man glanced at the unexpectedly calm villager, and then at the straw sandal-clad boy with a frown, and finally said to the cowering child: “Little baby, do you know what is kept in your water tank?”

The child shouted from behind Chen Pingan, “What else can there be, fish, shrimps and crabs that I caught from the stream, and loaches and eels that I fished from the field! If you like it, take it, don’t be polite…”

The child’s voice became lower and lower, obviously lacking confidence.

The woman brushed the hair on her temples, and looked at Chen Pingan, softly: “Ping An.”

Chen Pingan understood her meaning, rubbed Gu Can’s head, and then turned and left.

In the depths of the woman’s eyes, there was a hint of guilt hidden for the straw sandal-clad boy.

She put aside her thoughts, turned to the old man and asked, “This immortal master who has come from afar, are you going to buy this opportunity, or rob it?”

The old man shook his head and smiled: “Buy? I can’t afford it. Rob? I can’t rob it either.”

The woman also shook her head, “It was like this before, but it may not be in the future.”

The old man, who was originally leisurely, heard these words, as if struck by lightning, suddenly flicked his sleeves, and his fingers flew quickly.

The old man sighed deeply: “Why go to such an extent!”

The woman’s face was indifferent, mocking: “Does Immortal think there are any good people in this small town?”

The old man stood up, took a deep look at the ignorant child, and seemed to have made a huge decision. With a flick of his wrist, the white bowl reappeared.

The old man walked to the half-person high water tank and quickly scooped a bowl of water with the tank spoon.

Although the woman pretended to be calm, her palms were full of sweat.

The old man sat back on the stool and beckoned to Gu Can, “Little baby, come and take a look.”

The child looked at his mother, and she nodded, her eyes full of encouragement.

After the child approached, the old man gently blew a breath towards the water surface in the bowl, causing ripples.

The old man smiled: “Open your mouth.”

At the same time, the old man casually wiped a piece of Sophora japonica leaf from the child’s body from somewhere.

The two fingers were falsely pinched, but not actually held.

The child subconsciously gave an “ah” sound.

The old man flicked his finger, and the verdant Sophora japonica leaf entered the child’s mouth.

The child was stunned on the spot, and then found that there seemed to be nothing unusual in his mouth.

The old man did not give him a chance to ask, and pointed to the white bowl held in his palm, “Look carefully what is there.”

Gu Can widened his eyes and looked intently, first seeing an extremely tiny black spot, and then gradually turning into a slightly conspicuous black line, and finally slowly growing, as if turning into a loach of loess, happily tumbling in the ripples of the water surface of the white bowl.

The child, whose mind was in a mess, had a flash of inspiration and exclaimed: “I remember it! I got it from Chen Pingan…”

The woman slapped her son in the face, and said angrily: “Shut up!”

The old man was not surprised by this, and said indifferently: “We cultivators, in order to prove longevity, are rebellious. This struggle is nothing. Don’t be so nervous, what is yours will not escape, and what should not belong to that boy, he will not be able to keep it.”

The child named Gu Can weighed less than forty pounds.

But the weight of his “bone” was unbelievable.

So when the old man holding the bowl with supernatural powers, exceptionally used his ancestral secret technique to weigh his bones, he naturally could not lift Gu Can.

This was his prerequisite for accepting disciples.

Otherwise, would it not be courting death for a three-year-old child to walk around with gold?

The old man smiled freely, but his eyes were cold, and he said slowly: “Of course, even if it originally belonged to that boy, so what? Now that I am personally in charge, it is no longer his.”

The child was silent, his teeth chattering.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief.

The old man changed back to his kind and amiable face, “Child, this bowl contains the entire river, and it is now also raising a little Jiao dragon. From now on, you will be my direct disciple.”

“I am a ‘True Lord’, only half a step away from being the ancestor of the ‘Opening Sect’, although it is a lower sect… in short, you will naturally understand the weight of the four words ‘True Lord’ and ‘Opening Sect’ in the future.”

The old man laughed and said, “It will only be heavier than this bowl of river water.”

The child suddenly cried, “This is not right! It belongs to Chen Pingan!”

The woman was ashamed and angry, and raised her arm high, intending to teach this pig-oil-covered stupid son a lesson.

The old man waved his hand, smiled, and said lightly: “Having this heart is not all bad.”

The child lowered his head and wiped away his tears and snot with the back of his hand.

The woman quietly looked at the old man.

The old man smiled understandingly and nodded.

Comrades, everything is unspoken.

After the child raised his head, his mother, and the half-way master who inexplicably fell from the sky, were already smiling faintly.

The child turned his head. When Chen Pingan left, he did not forget to close the courtyard door.

————

The small town is like a field of crops, catching up with a big year, the season of harvest.

However, some people are just a weed mixed in with the rice, seen once and never seen again.

For example, the straw sandal-clad boy walking alone in Mud Bottle Lane.