Shen Le slowly backed away, retreating beyond the crowd. He sighed to himself:
In the end, the wife did love her husband. She would rather keep their son from attending that high school with no future than let him spend the money, saving it instead for her husband's minimally invasive surgery;
To save a little over a hundred yuan, she was willing to swallow her pride and drag her husband back to return the new shoes...
But those arguments, those furious tirades... All he could say was that poverty made life miserable for married couples. When people lived under constant financial strain, it was hard to keep their tempers in check...
Was there any way to improve their relationship and keep the wife's temper from flaring so easily?
This... Old habits were hard to change...
"I have an idea!"
A tiny voice suddenly came from inside his backpack:
"I have an idea!"
Huh?
Was that Little Ink Marker speaking?
Oh! You can finally talk!
Shen Le's eyes lit up. Thank goodness! He wouldn't have to guess what the Ink Marker meant by getting hit on the head with the Lead Weight or watching it drag the Ink Line around in a wild dance anymore!
It could talk and communicate. That was wonderful!
He offered a few perfunctory words of comfort, like "He'll be fine now that he's pulled through" and "Get some rest. I'm sure you'll recover," then quickly took his leave and went home. The moment he stepped inside, the Ink Marker sprang out:
"Watch this!"
"What are you going to do?"
"Make them a piece of furniture!" The Lead Weight flew high, pulling the Ink Line taut as it pointed skyward, looking as if it were proudly puffing out its chest:
"The furniture I make will help regulate their moods! It'll calm them down, stop them from losing their tempers, and improve their relationship! They're both good people. If their relationship gets better, everything will be fine!"
Full of confidence, it tilted the Lead Weight to the left, then swung it to the right, as if looking around the house for lumber it could use to make furniture. Shen Le couldn't help feeling a headache coming on:
"What kind of furniture do you want to make?"
"A bed! A double bed would be best! Couples might argue at the head of the bed, but make up at the foot. As long as they're willing to lie in the same bed, they can get through anything!"
"Not to mention, the man's back is bad. He might need to sleep alone on a hard bed..." Shen Le rubbed his temples.
"Even if they slept in the same bed, how am I supposed to give it to them? Come on, give me a reason."
As strangers who'd only crossed paths twice, they could easily give someone a small gift or a little souvenir;
But a bed was huge. Even if I were willing to give them one, they probably wouldn't accept it!
"..."
The Ink Marker fell silent. Why was he asking such a difficult question?
It was just an Ink Marker!
It didn't understand social niceties at all!
After a long while, the Ink Line twanged twice. It asked hesitantly:
"Then... how about a big wardrobe? I remember they sold theirs. They probably haven't had time to buy another one yet..."
"Same problem. What reason could I give for giving them a wardrobe?"
The Ink Marker suggested a few more things, like a desk, a bedside table, and a shoe cabinet. Shen Le rejected them one by one. As he listened to its increasingly impractical ideas, he finally lost patience and gave it an order:
"It has to be small! Small! Something I can hold in both hands! I can give it to them as a gift to celebrate the man's recovery! Anything bigger is out of the question!"
"All... right."
The Ink Marker's voice sank, and even the Lead Weight drooped, listlessly slumping onto the floor. Shen Le looked around, opened a box in the corner of the workshop, and took out two Chinese Fir blocks, each measuring 4 by 4 centimeters and 20 centimeters long.
"These are the only materials you've got! Think carefully about what you want to make!"
The Lead Weight straightened and spun wildly on the floor, balanced on its pointed tip. After spinning for quite a while, the Ink Line went taut and pulled it high into the air, where it leaped onto the wooden blocks:
"I've got it!"
With a swish, the Tool Box opened. The Ink Marker's old colleagues—the Chisels, Planers, saws, and Hammers—filed out and got to work on the blocks.
Creak, creak, scrape, scrape—the sounds all blended together.
Shen Le stared, dumbfounded.
The Little Puppet could only direct its own dancing. The Ink Marker had advanced to the point where it could direct other woodworking tools!
Th-this Ink Marker was a whole team of carpenters...
From now on, whenever I need furniture made, all I have to do is provide the materials and give an order. It can do the work on its own and make a finished piece for me?
Wait, had these tools developed spirits too?
He hurriedly channeled his energy and opened his Spirit Eye, studying them closely. A mysterious aura shimmered over the box of woodworking tools, rising and falling in waves that connected them to the Ink Marker;
Fortunately, though, the auras of all the other tools were quite faint—less than a tenth as strong as the Ink Marker's.
So they hadn't developed spirits yet; they could only move when the Ink Marker directed them?
Shen Le relaxed a little. Looking more closely, he saw the Ink Marker snap out an Ink Line, and the saw leaped onto it, cutting diligently along the line;
After sawing one wooden block into four strips, the Chisels and Hammers immediately joined in, chiseling mortise-and-tenon joints into both ends of the strips so they could be assembled;
The Ink Marker and saw moved on to the other wooden block, slicing it into pieces one centimeter thick. Then the Chisels and Carving Knife went to work, moving back and forth across the pieces as they carved shallow Relief Carvings;
A third Chisel had already joined in. It did a 720-degree spin, wrapped itself in Sandpaper, and stood ready to leap in and polish the wood at any moment...
"What are you making?"
"A picture frame!" the Ink Marker declared confidently.
"We'll put a photo of the young couple inside. When they look at it, they'll remember how sweet they used to be, and stop arguing. They'll be calm and get along."
The Ink Marker grew more and more pleased with itself. It spun in place and pointed at the wooden piece:
"Look, on the back of the frame, I've carved a wedding photo of the older couple, so the grandparents can bless them.
The older couple have supported each other for so many years and always had a good relationship. With their blessing, the younger couple will be fine too!"
"You make it sound like the older couple haven't been blessing them already..." Shen Le muttered. After that, he tried to argue against the idea:
"No, that won't work! It's too creepy! Imagine the older couple suddenly crawling out from the back of the frame one day...
Or their souls getting trapped inside it, so that if the frame gets broken, they'll die? That's straight out of a horror movie!"
"...Then should I change it?"
He and the Ink Marker argued for several minutes before he finally forced it to change the design. Lilies, symbolizing a long and happy marriage, would be carved around the frame;
On the back, a pair of mandarin ducks would be carved playing among lotus flowers, with the ducks as a pair and the lotus blossoms joined at the heart, blessing the middle-aged couple with unity, harmony, and a happy marriage.
Shen Le simply sat back and offered a few suggestions. He even asked if it wanted him to look for reference pictures online, but the Ink Marker flatly refused:
"No need! I've made these before! I know how to do it! I don't need your help!"
"All right, all right..."
Shen Le shook his head and turned to leave. Behind him, the sounds of chisels chopping wood, tools scraping and planing it, and sandpaper polishing it all rang out together.