Bei Feng leisurely threw some more firewood into the flames. Soon, the merrily crackling sound of burning wood could be heard. 30 minutes pa.s.sed, and Bai Xiang also began to wake up. He pushed open the door and saw Bei Feng cooking with the large cauldron.
"Boss, you"re still at home?" Bai Xiang asked with some surprise.
According to his memory, Bei Feng would spend majority of his mornings outside, only returning around 7 or 8 am.
Bei Feng tossed a piece of firewood lightly into the fire and nodded. "Aren"t you leaving soon? I wanted to let you have a taste of my cooking one more time before you go. This food... you won"t be able to taste it for a long period of time after today."
Bai Xiang did not know what to say at this moment, but he felt a strange warmth in his chest as he looked at Bei Feng. Apart from his master, no one else had ever treated him so kindly. Of course, that was excluding his parents. Both his parents had pa.s.sed away early while he was still small, so even his memory of them had become fuzzy.
Bai Xiang went to bring over the table and set it under the Banyan tree silently. The meat was almost finished cooking.
The breakfast felt extremely long this time but alas, everything had to end eventually. "Boss, I"m leaving now. I... will definitely return after completing my apprentices.h.i.+p!" Bai Xiang smiled and said.
"En. Give me your account number; I"ll transfer some travel fees for you to spend," Bei Feng swallowed the mouthful of meat in his mouth and said. "Don"t refuse or say that you don"t need it. Money is a man"s a.s.surance when traveling outside!"
Bai Xiang was about to open his mouth and refuse when Bei Feng directly cut him off, causing him to blurt out his account number dazedly.
Bei Feng nodded and keyed in Bai Xiang"s account number, transferring 100 thousand yuan to him. Then he wagged his hands nonchalantly at Bai Xiang. "Alright, get lost now. You"ve been freeloading here for so long, but the amount of food you eat for every meal is too scary! Now that you"re gone, I can finally save a bit on ingredients."
Bai Xiang revealed his usual honest smile. By now, he naturally knew that Bei Feng was just messing with him. Going back into his room, he retrieved the few pieces of clothes he"d previously packed and left.
Bei Feng continued eating in silence, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. While he was busy immersing in the feelings of friends.h.i.+p and brotherhood, he"d forgotten something very very important... who was going to wash these dishes?!
Bei Feng had a sudden impulse to run after Bai Xiang and make him wash the dishes before letting him leave!
But ultimately, he remained seated as he raised his head to the sky in lamentation. "Life is truly as lonely as the snow!"
After wallowing in despair for some time, Bei Feng still got up and collected the dishes honestly.
"Meep!"
The little fox bounded over when it saw Bei Feng was.h.i.+ng the dishes. Seeing that the activity looked very fun, it also hopped onto the sink and reached for a plate. However, the little fox was suddenly blocked by Bei Feng.
"Is this a joke? If I let you do the was.h.i.+ng, I might as well leave the dishes unwashed!"
Bei Feng grabbed the furry creature and put it back down on the ground. Whether it knew how to clean the dishes properly was one thing, but Bei Feng had not completely forgotten the trauma in his heart caused by the calamity incident. Perhaps it was just a psychological barrier, but he wouldn"t dare to use the plates which had been washed by the furry paws of the little fox.
Just when Bei Feng was done with the ch.o.r.e, a knock sounded on the mansion"s door.
It was the workers who had come to continue their renovation works. Bei Feng let them in and continued reading while playing with the little fox and the two little wolfdogs from time to time.
Because of the presence of the workers, Bei Feng was unable to practice the Minor Illumination Body Tempering Technique. In addition, there were too many secrets hidden in the mansion. Thus, Bei Feng had to personally oversee the workers.
Two days pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye and the rooms were finally reconstructed. But as it had only been recently completed, the rooms were empty and plain. The new rooms looked coa.r.s.e and basic compared to the rooms beside it.
Under the Banyan tree, a few pieces of yellow leaves floated down. The previously luscious crown of the tree was now shedding over half of its leaves due to the incident with the helicopter.
"Ring ring"
Bei Feng was jolted awake by his mobile phone. Yawning lazily, he reached for it.
"Xiao Feng, the bracelet you wanted me to make for you is ready. Come down if you"re free to take a look."
Bei Feng was momentarily stumped before he recalled the root which he had handed to Uncle Xia. "En, thank you Uncle Xia, I"ll come over later!"
If Uncle Xia Zhen had not called, he would have forgotten about the matter entirely. Due to the events over the past few days, Bei Feng had almost forgotten that he had given Uncle Xia a strange root.
He got up and locked the mansion securely, entrusted the two little wolfdogs with the security and headed towards the village.
It so happened that he needed to buy more daily necessities like rice, oil, and salt. When he reached Uncle Xia"s shop, there was an old man and a youth sitting together, chatting with Uncle Xia. Bei Feng did not go to interrupt them and sat down at another corner of the shop to wait.
"Boss, your workmans.h.i.+p is indeed pretty good. It"s a pity that these materials are a bit too ordinary."
The old man who looked to be around 60 years old said. The silver on his head already filled over half of his spa.r.s.e hair. He let out a sigh after looking over all the furniture in the shop.
Xia Zhen laughed bitterly. Not mentioning the fact that he did not have the financial capabilities to purchase the best materials, just his fame was not sufficient to a.s.sure his customers of the quality. Thus, although his craftsmans.h.i.+p was not bad, not many people would show an interest in his wares.
"I wonder... how is the boss"s carving skill?"
The old man looked at Xia Zhen with keen eyes. Xia Zhen was not intimated at all and quickly produced an elaborately carved falcon from a wooden box beside him and set it on the table.
Using his actions to prove his skills showed the amount of confidence Xia Zhen had in his carving skills.
Seeing this, Bei Feng also became interested. Since he was already chilling out, there was no harm in joining in the fun. The little fox on his shoulders also leaned forward excitedly, its beady eyes looking about curiously.
This wooden carving was graceful and lifelike. The falcon"s wings were long and sharp, its tail also looked long and strangely agile. It"s posture captured a feeling of a falcon in the middle of a flight, looking both nimble and speedy. The beak and claws of the falcon looked sharp and keen. The belly of the creature was in the original color of the wood. It was a pale white wood with gray patterns.
A sharp curve could be seen on its beak, perfectly ill.u.s.trating the tearing force of the creature. The scarred and spotted part of the wood was shaped into the falcon"s head, becoming the dark spots in its feathers.
One could sense a strong ferocity and the killing force of a falcon just by looking at the carving! The spirit of a real falcon was perfectly brought out by the carving!
"Good! Great carving! Although this piece of wood is not any particularly valuable material, after being carved into this form, the value had skyrocketed by at least a thousand times!" The old man observed the falcon for a moment before clapping his hands in delight.
Song Wen never expected that he would meet a master level character in such a random shop. This falcon in particular caused him to fall in love with it immediately after seeing it. "I wonder if boss would be willing to part with this falcon and sell it to me? I"m willing to pay 30,000 yuan for it!"
30,000! This amount of money was something that he would only be able to earn if he enjoyed a good period of business for a few months! However, this falcon carving held some special meaning to him.
Xia Zhen appeared conflicted for a brief moment before shaking his head quickly. This carving was the most perfect of all his works. Perhaps he might never be able to produce another carving which could be compared to it for the rest of his life!
Seeing Xia Zhen shake his head, Song Wen felt some regret in his heart. "Since it"s like that, I will not insist on making you part with your treasure anymore. But I wonder, if I were to provide the materials, would you be willing to carve one for me as well?"
"No problem. But as for what I"m going to carve, that will have to wait until I see the material before I can decide. I will then let you know at that time. If you think that"s reasonable, we can do it."
This arrangement was fine by Xia Zhen, and he did not hesitate to agree in a cool manner.