Dulu was a carpenter in Tami Village, and the only one at that. Unlike the others, he did not follow the older generation into the mountains to hunt. He had been frail since childhood and was often bullied by the other children in the village. His timid nature made them all mock him as a coward.
However, he loved making handicrafts. Especially after watching his father turn a piece of wood into a little wooden figure for him, he fell in love with carpentry. Every day, he pestered his father to teach him the craft.
But Dulu's father was not a carpenter. He was merely a skillful hunter who had picked up a few carpentry techniques through life experience. He could not teach Dulu much, after all; his main work was still farming and hunting.
Before long, Dulu had learned all the carpentry skills his father knew. Then, through his father, he sought advice from others in the village. Yet few people in that poor little village understood carpentry. Like Dulu's father, they only knew a few superficial tricks.
The young Dulu was deeply saddened. No one in the village could teach him carpentry anymore. To continue learning, he would have to go to a large city. He had heard that Twain City, the nearest city, had highly skilled carpenters. But Dulu had never left Tami Village and had not even been to nearby Crison Fort. How could he dare travel alone to Twain City?
Besides, his family could not afford it. They were already poor, and Dulu did not dare enter the mountains to hunt, so their life grew harder by the day. Watching his increasingly aged father still go hunting in the mountains day after day for the sake of the family, only to gain little, Dulu knew he should do something for them.
Dulu gave up on the impractical idea of going to Twain City to learn the craft. He remained in the impoverished Tami Village that had raised him and began using his abilities to support his family.
First, he began helping villagers repair and build houses. Relying on his skills, he also made furniture such as wooden tables and chairs. Since the villagers did not have much money, they could only trade game and grain with Dulu. Though the income was not much, it was enough to keep the family fed.
Moreover, Dulu's skills truly surpassed those of the others in the village. The furniture he made was not only sturdy and durable but also attractive, while the houses he built were more solid as well. Gradually, the villagers came to recognize Dulu as a carpenter. Whenever they needed something done or lacked a piece of furniture, they would seek him out.
Yet Dulu never gave up studying carpentry. With no one to teach him, he figured things out for himself. Although he often made mistakes, he never tired of it.
Dulu had now married and had children: a son of seven or eight and a daughter of four or five. His happiest moments were when his children watched him work with wood, their eyes full of admiration. The family was doing fairly well, barely able to cover everyone's food and drink. Like most villagers, however, there were still days when they went hungry. Just when Dulu thought he would live out his entire life this way, he heard that a noble lord had arrived in the village.
The next day, Village Chief Colin came to Dulu's home and told him that the noble lord who had arrived yesterday was their Lord. He would be staying here and intended to build a Noble Estate. Since Dulu was the most skilled carpenter in the village, Village Chief Colin planned to have him lead the villagers in constructing the estate.
Dulu was beside himself with joy. Building an estate for a noble lord—what an honor that was! And he would be in charge of it himself. His years of study had finally found a use. Dulu thumped his chest and promised that he would build the noble lord a beautiful estate.
Early the following morning, Dulu rose before dawn and went to Village Chief Colin's home. Village Chief Colin introduced him to Lord Nord's steward, Abel. Abel was in charge of constructing the estate. When Colin said Dulu was the best carpenter in the village, Dulu noticed Steward Abel give him a few extra looks. Dulu puffed out his chest, lifted his head, and showed what he believed was his most confident smile.
Steward Abel did not say much. He had Village Chief Colin gather the villagers at the estate construction site, then took Dulu there.
Along the way, Steward Abel asked Dulu many questions about estate construction. Dulu racked his brains to answer them, but Steward Abel merely nodded without much reaction. This left Dulu rather discouraged.
When they reached the chosen site for the estate, Steward Abel explained his vision for it and pointed out the shortcomings in Dulu's earlier answers. Dulu was greatly surprised. As expected of a noble's steward—he was far superior to country folk like them. So Dulu shamelessly asked Abel many questions about estate construction. Seeing that the villagers had not yet arrived, Abel answered them one by one.
Just as Dulu listened intently to Steward Abel's explanations, he suddenly realized that Abel had stopped speaking. The villagers had mostly assembled. Dulu still wanted to hear more, but he knew he could not waste time, so he followed Steward Abel in assigning work to the villagers.
Not long afterward, Lord Nord arrived at the construction site and divided the villagers into six teams. As expected, Dulu was chosen as a team leader and assigned to logging.
Dulu was highly experienced at logging. Having dealt with wood every day, he naturally knew how to fell trees quickly. He did not keep his knowledge to himself, teaching the villagers every logging technique he knew, including those in another team.
As a result, over the next two days, both logging teams exceeded their quotas by a great deal, far beyond Steward Abel's expectations. Seeing Steward Abel's surprised expression, Dulu felt rather proud.
After learning that all the credit went to Dulu, Steward Abel praised him in front of everyone and directly kept him by his side as an assistant. Dulu was overjoyed. Compared with being a team leader, he wanted far more to stay beside Abel and learn more. Steward Abel's simple answers to a few of Dulu's questions yesterday had excited him so much that he could not sleep. Questions he had once failed to understand were now easily resolved, while ideas that had once confused him suddenly became clear.
Afterward, Steward Abel called Dulu aside, opened the wooden chest at his feet, and said to him:
"Following Lord Nord's orders, every villager will receive ten Copper Be and one jin of grain as wages. In a moment, you will come with me to distribute them."
While Dulu was still dazed, Steward Abel took twenty Copper Be from the wooden chest. After thinking for a moment, he took a Silver Thaler from his pocket as well and handed them all to Dulu.
"These are your wages for the past two days. This Silver Thaler is your reward. The techniques you contributed can shorten the estate's construction time. From now on, as my assistant, your daily wages will increase to fifty Copper Be."
Looking at the Copper Be in his hand and the gleaming Silver Thaler, Dulu's eyes grew moist. After all these years, this was the first time he had received wages. The villagers' Copper Be came from selling furs and were extremely precious, so they were reluctant to pay him with them. They had always traded game or grain instead. Thus, Dulu had never received even a single Copper Be before. The wages in his hands now felt heavy, weighing heavily upon his heart.
Abel patted Dulu on the shoulder before walking toward the villagers. Dulu wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, placed his hard-earned wages into his pocket, picked up the wooden chest, and followed Abel. Dulu understood that the greatest reward of his past ten-odd years was not the Silver Thaler in his pocket, but the figure walking not far ahead. He had to follow in Abel's footsteps closely.
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