"Old Gu, how much to fix this chair?"
The gaunt old man, his eyes hazy with drink, looked at the badly broken chair and shook his head. "It's fallen apart this much. Why fix it? Have a new one made."
"I can't do that." The middle-aged woman who had brought the chair smiled. "Three years new, three years old, and another three with a little patching. This chair—"
"That chair's at least twenty years old," Old Gu interrupted. "That's seven rounds of three years already. Get a new one."
The woman sighed. "The harvest isn't looking good this year. Who knows how much grain we'll get... Best to save where we can. Old Gu, take a look. How much to fix it?"
Old Gu sighed too. He took the chair and examined it carefully. "Twenty coins."
"That's far too expensive! How much would a new chair cost?"
"Thirty coins," Old Gu said. "That's why I told you to get a new one."
The woman looked torn. After wavering for a long while, she sighed. "Fix it anyway. Once next year's grain is in, I'll think about getting a new chair."
"All right. Leave the chair here and bring the money when you pick it up tomorrow."
After the woman left, Old Gu looked at the chair, which was all but falling to pieces, and shook his head. A wry smile crossed his wrinkled face.
"Fixing this... won't be easy!"
He muttered to himself as he went to fetch his tools. Passing through the main room, he suddenly stopped and looked at the portrait hanging on the side wall.
As a carpenter, the figure he honored there was naturally Grandmaster Lu Ban. But now, something behind the yellowed portrait seemed to be glowing faintly.
He froze. "Can it be?" he murmured,