Chapter 14: Birthday Banquet, Spirit Infant's Furious Eyes
"Master Li, congratulations! Happy first birthday to Xixi!"
The white snow flakes flew and fell on the black tiles, which was extremely conspicuous.
The gate of the courtyard was wide open, and the footsteps on the snow were heard one after another, and the congratulations were endless.
Figures came from outside the courtyard and presented their first birthday gifts.
They were all familiar people in the woodcarving shop. Li Che and Zhang Ya were dressed in gorgeous clothes and stood at the door to welcome these guests.
In the courtyard, the waiters of Chunfenglou had already set up the shed and arranged the tables and chairs. The chef set up the stove in a corner and started the fire. The fragrant appetizers were delivered to each table early.
There were nine tables in total, which was not too few. After all, many of the masters in the shop came with their families, and they just wanted to celebrate and have fun.
Chen Dabao was holding Xixi, who was wearing a red coat and skirt, and was extremely cute. He was showing off to a few old guys, with a smile on his face. The love was so strong that it overflowed.
The uncle's family also came. The old scholar held a pipe in his mouth, but did not light it. A young couple followed him, holding a baby boy in his arms. It was a chubby boy, looking around with curious eyes.
"Uncle and aunt, cousin and cousin, please come in!"
Li Che saw this family and smiled gently.
Li Che was grateful to his uncle's family. If it were not for his uncle's family to adopt and raise him, Li Che would not be able to live so easily in this chaotic world.
And the marriage with Zhang Ya was also arranged by his aunt.
The old scholar's face was full of wrinkles and smiles. Looking at Li Che, who has now completely made a name for himself, he felt emotional.
"You have made progress, you have made progress, Ah Che."
"If your parents knew about this, they would be happy."
The old scholar patted Li Che's shoulder and smiled.
The eldest aunt took out the silver jewelry wrapped in red sleeves and handed it to Li Che: "A Che, Xixi's first birthday gift, you must accept it."
Li Che did not refuse, and took it seriously, and then looked at his cousin Li Zhengran and his cousin Liu Chunming holding the boy in his arms.
"Zhou Zhou is half a year younger than Xixi, right? He is almost a year old, can he turn over now?" Li Che asked with a smile.
"Very fast, with a kick of his calf, he turned over like a windmill, lively and energetic!" Cousin Liu Chunming said to Li Che with a smile.
Being able to become a woodcarving master in Xuji Woodcarving Shop, cousin Liu Chunming knew the importance of this, so her attitude was much more enthusiastic than before.
Li Che greeted for a while, and then led the eldest uncle's family to the table.
As the time came, the banquet began, and the waiters of Chunfenglou shouted the names of the dishes and served the delicacies to the banquet table.
Li Che now has the [Immortal Craftsmanship] Dao Fruit. His wood carvings are extremely popular because of their rich connotations. Although he is not as good as old masters like Lao Chen, he has sold a wood carving for fifty taels at most!
His wealth is no longer the same as before. Although the banquet at Chunfeng Tower is expensive, he can afford it.
In addition, the old masters in the compound will bring gifts when they attend the banquet. In fact, after a birthday banquet, not only will he not lose money, but he will even make a lot of money.
"Brother Che, the third shopkeeper is here!"
Li Che, who was toasting with several old masters, heard that the third shopkeeper was here, and hurriedly hugged Xixi and took Zhang Ya to greet him.
"Hahaha, Xixi is one year old, I came to see it specially, this is a birthday gift for Xixi."
The third shopkeeper Xu You is humble and has a very good reputation in the shop. Of course, it is not ruled out that he has the intention to win over Li Che.
After all, Li Che can make wood carvings with great charm, and now he has become popular in the inner city.
"Thank you, shopkeeper. Xixi, come and thank your Uncle Xu." Li Che hugged the delicate and graceful Xixi and shouted with a smile.
Xixi's eyes were lively, her eyelashes were long, and her skin was as white as jade. Xu You took a look and liked her very much. He took her from Li Che and held her in his hands, teasing her for a while, and even returned her to Li Che reluctantly.
"I won't eat this birthday banquet. I have something else to do. Recently, the strange temple in the outer city has been restless, and many evil things have sprung out. The major families in the inner city have organized teams to clear them out... I have to go there too."
Xu You explained.
Then he said goodbye and left.
"Shopkeeper Xu is really a good person..." Zhang Ya said softly on the side.
Li Che nodded. Xu You is indeed a very good person. He is humble and not arrogant. He rarely has the arrogance of aristocratic families.
However, Li Che heard that Xu You was not favored in the inner city. He was sent to the outer city to manage Xu Ji, which was equivalent to being transferred away from the power center of the Xu family.
Compared with the industries in the inner city, the Xuji Woodcarving Shop in the outer city is not a big business after all.
"In this world, the more gentle it is, the easier it is to suffer. Bad things... are all for the honest people to be abused."
Old Chen walked over with a wine cup in his hand, and shook his head with a complicated look.
"Just like this dangerous matter of going out of the city to eliminate the evil spirits outside the strange temple, who among the major noble families would send the real core children to go..."
"Xu Beihu was extremely powerful, but he was not sent, but Xu You, who was weak in cultivation, was sent instead. Isn't it because Xu You is not welcomed in the family?"
Old Chen sighed.
Li Che hugged Xixi and looked at Xu You's lonely back disappearing in the wind and snow, and was silent.
...
...
After a round of drinking.
Old Chen was in a very good mood today. He got drunk and fell asleep early.
Zhang Ya took Xixi to the inner room to coax her to sleep.
Li Che wiped the cold snow on his face, sobered up, and then sat in the workshop in the side yard of the wing, lit the oil lamp, and continued to make the mechanism.
As his mind moved, information emerged before his eyes.
…
[Name: Li Che]
[Bond: Daughter (Li Nuanxi)]
[Tao Fruit: Immortal Work (lv2, 89%), Dragon Elephant Vajra (lv1, 2%)]
…
His eyes fell on the Tao Fruit of [Immortal Work]. In one year, the maturity of the Tao Fruit of Immortal Work has increased to 89%, and it is almost close to the impact of lv3 level.
As long as one more mechanism is completed, it will be done.
He stood up and walked to a corner of the workshop. He gently rotated the wood carving, and suddenly a secret compartment emerged.
He took out a statue of Guanyin sitting on the Blood Lotus Mountain.
Guanyin has kind eyes, but if you look closely, you can find that this light and shadow statue is actually made of thousands of slender wooden thorns stacked together!
This is one of the three mechanisms in the "Tang's Mechanism Records" that does not require internal strength, Guanyin Blood Lotus.
In addition to the Guanyin Blood Lotus, there are two square matchboxes next to it. Take out a square matchbox and cover it with your palm. Suddenly, a subtle mechanical sound comes from the matchbox, and eight slender spider legs grow out and embed into the membrane in Li Che's palm.
Li Che gently waved his hand, and suddenly, extremely thin silver silk threads shot out silently, cutting a piece of wood several meters away very smoothly, and the cut was extremely bright.
Between the five fingers, the room was full of silver threads dancing wildly, and the whimpering wind was whistling, which was the sound of air cutting and breaking.
After a long time, countless silver threads returned to the matchbox as fast as lightning.
"What a Thousand Silk Spider! With my cultivation of a small level of skin grinding, even an ordinary martial artist with open tendons will find it difficult to resist the strangulation of spider silk."
"But martial artists will cultivate internal strength after reaching the state of opening tendons. If they add internal strength, according to Lao Chen, their strength will be 30% to 40% stronger. Moreover, if they cultivate internal strength and cooperate with internal strength martial arts, their lethality will be even stronger..."
"Don't take it lightly."
"It is still necessary to strengthen your own martial arts. When I can cultivate internal strength, I can use internal strength to drive the Thousand Silk Spider, and the power will definitely be even greater!"
Li Che put the Thousand Silk Spider and Guanyin Blood Lotus back into the secret compartment.
He sat in front of the oil lamp again and began to try to make other mechanisms in the "Tang's Mechanism Records".
Because there is no internal strength and strong enough blood and qi, the production of other mechanisms during this period has all ended in failure.
However, it is not a big problem. Failure is also a summary of experience. Once the internal strength is cultivated, it can be made directly in one go.
Suddenly.
Li Che, who had just picked up the carving knife, frowned slightly.
He left the workshop and came to the gate of the yard in a few steps. He looked into the distance and saw a black shadow that broke through the darkness as fast as lightning and disappeared into the night.
Li Che's eyes suddenly became sharp, and he slowly lowered his head to look.
He saw a familiar...
Three-headed and six-armed spirit baby statue.
However, this time, the three-headed and six-armed spirit baby statue did not open and close its eyes like before, but opened its eyes angrily.
It seemed to be staring at him!