At dawn, milky-white mist spread through heaven and earth like shredded cotton batting. It wrapped around the endless fertile fields in the distance and soaked the bluestone roads and gray-tiled eaves of Xihe Town, filling the air with the damp, chilly stink of earth.
Su Fan rose early. After eating some warm rice porridge from the stove and gnawing down a pile of leftover multigrain cakes from the night before, he picked up his adze and got to work beside the woodworking bench in the corner of the small courtyard.
Wood shavings fell with a rustle as the adze rose and fell, scattering into fine white fluff in the morning light.
Recently, as word of his superb craftsmanship spread farther and farther—from Xihe Town to the nearby villages—the work coming to his door had gradually increased.
Every customer who received one of his wardrobes, tables, or chairs praised the sturdy mortise-and-tenon joints and smooth polish.
They would then recommend him to their relatives and friends. Before long, people seeking to commission his woodworking had become a constant stream, and several logs awaiting cutting were piled up in the courtyard.
Even so, although the shop's earnings had risen somewhat, after deducting the high rent in town and the cost of buying timber, there was barely any silver left each month—just enough to scrape by.
Su Fan had now been in Xihe Town for nearly a year. The calluses on his hands had grown two layers thicker, and even his speech carried a hint of the local accent. He had long since fully immersed himself in the identity of a carpenter.
As his craftsmanship became more refined, his name had spread beyond Xihe Town. Even merchants from Lishui Commandery City, more than ten li away, had sent people to ask him to