Little Ink Marker Can Form a Team and Start Working? (Seeking Follow-ups)

Shen Le stepped back, step by step, until he was outside the crowd. He sighed inwardly:

After all, a wife loves her husband. She would rather forgo her son's chance at a hopeless high school education just to save the money for her husband's minimally invasive surgery;

To save a hundred yuan or so, she would rather swallow her pride and drag her husband along to return a newly purchased pair of shoes...

Yet, those arguments, those vicious insults... one can only say that for a poor couple, everything is a tragedy. Under the long-term pressure of poverty, it is hard for anyone to keep their temper in check...

Is there any way to improve their relationship and keep the wife from being so irritable?

This... old habits die hard...

"I have a way!"

A thin voice suddenly emerged from his backpack:

"I have a way!"

Huh?

Was that Little Ink Marker speaking?

Oh my! You can finally talk!

Shen Le's eyes lit up. Thank heavens, he wouldn't have to be hit on the head by the Lead Weight or watch it dance wildly with the Silk Thread to struggle through guessing the Ink Marker's meaning anymore!

Being able to speak and communicate—this was wonderful!

He offered a few ritualistic words of comfort, such as "You'll be fine once you've recovered" and "Rest well, you'll surely get better," then quickly excused himself to head home. The moment he stepped through his door, the Ink Marker leaped out:

"Watch me!"

"What are you planning to do?"

"Make them a piece of furniture!" The Lead Weight flew high, pulling the Silk Thread toward the ceiling as if performing a proud, chest-out display:

"The furniture I make will have the effect of regulating emotions! It will surely make them calm and peaceful, no longer irritable, and improve their relationship! They are both good people; they just need their bond to mend!"

It was full of confidence, the Lead Weight tilting left and then twisting right, as if scanning the house for wood that could be used to craft furniture. Shen Le couldn't help but feel a headache coming on:

"What kind of furniture do you want to build?"

"A bed! A double bed is best! Arguments at the head of the bed are resolved at the foot; for a couple, as long as they are willing to lie on the same bed, there is no obstacle they cannot overcome!"

"Setting aside the fact that the man has a bad back and might need to sleep on a hard board alone..." Shen Le rubbed his temples:

"Even if they did sleep in the same bed, how do you expect me to give it to them? Come on, give me a reason?"

As a stranger he had only dealt with twice, a small gift or a token of appreciation could be given without difficulty;

But such a large bed? Even if I were willing to give it, they wouldn't be willing to accept it!

"..."

The Ink Marker fell silent. Why was he asking it such a difficult question?

It was just an ink marker!

It didn't understand human social nuances at all!

After a long while, the Silk Thread hummed and twitched twice. It asked hesitantly:

"Then... build a large wardrobe? I remember they sold their old one, and they probably haven't had time to buy a new one yet..."

"Still the same problem—what reason could I possibly use to give them a large wardrobe?"

The Ink Marker suggested a few more plans, such as a desk, a nightstand, or a shoe cabinet, all of which were rejected. Hearing it suggest increasingly impractical ideas, Shen Le finally lost his patience and issued an order:

"It has to be something small! Small! Something that can be held in both hands! I can give it to them as a gift to congratulate the man on his recovery! Don't even think about anything larger than that!"

"Al...right."

The Ink Marker's voice was dejected, and even the Lead Weight sank, hanging limply against the floor. Shen Le looked around, opened a box in the corner of his workshop, and took out two pieces of Chinese Fir Timber Block, four by four centimeters and twenty centimeters long:

"This is all the material you get! Think carefully about what you want to make!"

The Lead Weight stood upright, spinning wildly on the floor using its pointed tip as an axis. After spinning for a good while, the Silk Thread tightened, pulling the Lead Weight high into the air until it hopped onto the Timber Block:

"I've got it!"

With a shuck, the Tool Box opened. The Ink Marker's old colleagues—the chisels, the planer, the saw, and the hammer—filed out and set to work on the Timber Block.

Zigu zigu, shasha shasha—the sounds merged into a chorus.

Shen Le was dumbfounded.

The Little Puppet could only command itself to dance, but this Ink Marker had leveled up; it could command other woodworking tools to work!

This... this one Ink Marker was an entire woodworking crew...

In the future, whenever I need furniture, as long as I provide the raw materials and give an order, it can do the work itself and produce a finished product for me?

Wait, these tools—they haven't become sentient too, have they?

He quickly channeled his energy in silence, activated his Spirit Eye, and looked closely. A strange aura swirled around the box of woodworking tools, rising and falling, connected to the Ink Marker;

Fortunately, however, apart from the Ink Marker, the aura of the other tools was quite faint, not even a tenth of the Ink Marker's strength.

So, they haven't gained sentience yet; they can only act under the guidance of the Ink Marker?

Shen Le felt slightly relieved. Looking closer, the Ink Marker "twanged" to snap an ink line, and the saw immediately hopped onto it, working hard to cut along the line.

Once a timber block was sawn into four wooden strips, the chisel and hammer followed right behind, clack-clack-clack, carving mortise and tenon joints into the ends of the strips for assembly.

The Ink Marker and saw moved on to another timber block, slicing it into one-centimeter-thick wooden sheets. Then, the chisel and carving knife took the stage, maneuvering nimbly across the sheets to carve shallow reliefs.

A third chisel had already deployed, spinning 720 degrees to wrap itself in a sheet of sandpaper, poised and ready to rush in for sanding at any moment...

"What are you trying to make?"

"Making a picture frame!" the Ink Marker replied righteously.

"I'll make a picture frame, put a photo of the young couple inside, and whenever they look at it, they'll remember their past sweetness, stop arguing, and calm down."

The Ink Marker grew more smug as it spoke, spinning in place and pointing to the wooden sheets.

"Look, on the back of the frame, I've carved the wedding photo of the old couple so their parents can watch over them.

That old couple supported each other for so many years and their relationship was always great; with their blessing, the young couple will be just fine!"

"You make it sound like the old couple hasn't been watching over them all this time..." Shen Le muttered under his breath. After venting, he tried to argue back.

"This won't do! It's too creepy! Just imagine, one day, the old couple suddenly crawls out from the back of the frame...

Or what if their souls are sealed inside the frame, and if the frame breaks, they die? That's straight out of a horror movie!"

"...Then should I change it?"

He argued with the Ink Marker for a few minutes before finally forcing it to revise the design. Around the edges of the frame, they carved lily patterns, symbolizing a hundred years of harmony.

On the back of the frame, they carved a scene of mandarin ducks playing in lotus flowers—the ducks in pairs, the lotus flowers blooming from a single stem—to bless the middle-aged couple with unity and harmony.

Shen Le simply sat back with his hands in his sleeves, offering a few ideas. He even asked if they needed to go online to find reference images, but the Ink Marker flatly refused.

"No need! I've done all these before! I know exactly how to do it! I don't need your help!"

"Fine, fine, fine..."

Shen Le shook his head and turned to leave. Behind him, the clack-clack of wood being chiseled, the creak-creak of wood being carved and planed, and the swish-swish of sanding merged into a single symphony.