Unlike Wen Cai Qiu Sheng, Uncle Nine didn't spend a fortune on his flower cards; the character "Fang" in the middle was just pieced together from a few copper coins.
"Very good, very fitting for your status as a Daoist master, Master." Lin Yu, who wasn't a fan of celebrities, praised him against his will.
"Master, do you want me to tell the truth or a lie?" Wen Cai wasn't as quick-witted as Lin Yu. He asked nervously, mimicking Lin Yu's earlier manner.
Uncle Nine was gesturing with the flower cards, admiring them from left to right, when he heard this, he didn't even turn his head. "What does it matter if it's a lie or the truth?"
"It's just a lie," Wen Cai said with a grin. "Just like what my junior brother said, Master, you are a highly respected master, and the copper coins in the flower cards have profound meaning; they are clearly not ordinary items."
"And the truth?" Uncle Nine stopped what he was doing, turned around, and looked at him with a hint of expectation in his eyes.
While the lie was tempting, Uncle Nine was even more eager for the truth to follow.
Wen Cai scratched his head and said cautiously, "The truth is... this flower card looks a bit shabby. The character 'Fang' in the middle is made of copper coins, which jingle when the wind blows. It's not authentic at all!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Yu almost burst out laughing, and quickly lowered his head to pretend to study the talisman on the ground.
Finally, Wen Cai wanted to show off what they had made, but Qiu Sheng stopped him.
Uncle Nine's face instantly darkened, and he lightly tapped Wen Cai on the head with his Wen Cai hand. "You brat, can't you learn to be a little sweeter with your words like Lin Yu?"
"Cough cough..." Lin Yu coughed a few times and gestured with his lips to indicate that his master should look behind them.
Uncle Nine instantly understood, put on a serious face, and cleared his throat. "Qiu Sheng, go and get my seal!"
When Qiu Sheng was sent away, he kept turning back to wink at Wen Cai, signaling him not to take out the flower cards.
Without Qiu Sheng's obstruction, Uncle Nine's gaze passed over Wen Cai and caught a glimpse of the corner of the huge floral plaque behind him.
Having distracted Qiu Sheng, Uncle Nine gestured for Wen Cai to continue, "What truly defines 'perfect'?"
Wen Cai, clearly oblivious to Qiu Sheng's subtle hint, immediately pulled out the enormous flower card from behind his back and proudly displayed it like a treasure. "Master, look, this is what you call perfect!"
Uncle Nine looked at the enormous heart-shaped floral plaque and raised his eyebrows almost imperceptibly.
When Qiu Sheng brought the seal, the first thing he noticed was that Wen Cai was showing off their hard work.
Startled, Qiu Sheng quickly ran over and stood between his master and Wen Cai, because if his master saw it, the flower card would belong to him.
These flower plaques are similar to the light sticks used by fans of celebrities in later generations. The idol sings on them, and you wave your light stick below. Whoever's light stick is bigger and prettier will naturally attract the idol's attention.
The master only made such a small one, and you, as the disciple, made such a big one? Doesn't the master have any pride?
"Get out of the way!" Uncle Nine reached out and pushed Qiu Sheng aside, who was blocking his view, his entire attention focused on the huge floral plaque.
Qiu Sheng glared angrily at Wen Cai: "Aren't you betraying me? Master's is too small now, he'll take ours later."
Lin Yu watched the farce unfold, shaking his head helplessly, thinking: This is going to be good.
Wow~ Perfect!
Uncle Nine's eyes lit up. He circled the floral plaque twice, clicking his tongue in admiration, "Hmm, not bad, not bad! The size, the color scheme, the aura... it's practically tailor-made for me!"
Upon hearing this, Qiu Sheng turned pale and immediately stepped forward, clutching the flower plaque tightly. "Master, this is the culmination of our brother and me! If you like it, we'll make another one for you, but this one... this one is for us!"
"That's true, after all, it's all your hard work. It would be a bit heartless of me to take it away." Uncle Nine, afraid that the flower cards would be damaged in the struggle, changed the subject and casually placed the flower cards on the table.
Uncle Nine first changed the subject. "That way, when we burn paper money tomorrow, the fourteenth of the seventh lunar month, you can only go out to watch the play after you've folded all these paper money pieces properly."
While Qiu Sheng and Wen Cai were focused on the large basket of gold ingots, Uncle Nine slowly picked up the seal beside him and first gestured with it on his small flower card, seemingly considering where to stamp it most appropriately.
And beneath his small flower card was Qiu Sheng and the others' huge flower card.
Wen Cai was completely unaware of Uncle Nine's strange behavior. As soon as he heard his master say that he could only go to see the play after folding all the gold ingots, he immediately ran to check how many gold ingots there were and figured out how to finish folding them as quickly as possible.
Only Qiu Sheng kept a close eye on their work, fearing that something unexpected might happen.
He watched as his Uncle Nine moved the seal back and forth between the two flower cards, and alarm bells rang in his mind. He always felt that his master's gaze would occasionally drift towards his own flower card.
"Hey! Wait a minute." Just as Uncle Nine was about to cover it up, Qiu Sheng hurriedly called out to stop his master, wanting to take his big flower card first.
As a result of that shout, Uncle Nine's hand inadvertently twisted, and with a "thud," the seal engraved with his name "Lin Jiu" was stamped onto Wen Cai and the others' large floral plaque.
When Wen Cai returned and saw that their work had been transformed into Uncle Nine's shape, he looked at Uncle Nine with heartache and said, "It's all over~ Our savings are gone."
"Oh dear! I'm so sorry, I covered it wrong." Uncle Nine feigned surprise.
"It's alright, it's alright, it's for Sister Fang anyway, it's all the same." He said, while stuffing his little flower card, along with its stamp, into Qiu Sheng's hand, who was still feeling sorry for him.
"Take this; it's the thought that counts."
Before he could finish speaking, Uncle Nine picked up the large playing card and tried to slip away as if his feet were greased.
"Great!" Uncle Nine said as he strolled along, admiring the floral plaque bearing his name.
Lin Yu, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but laugh. He patted the two on the shoulders and comforted them, saying, "Take it easy, senior brother. At least... Master delivered your condolences on your behalf, right?"
"Delivered? It was delivered to him himself!" Qiu Sheng said angrily.
"It's alright, it's alright, there's still a little one left," Lin Yu said, picking up his master's small flower plaque to comfort the two.
"It's all your fault!" Qiu Sheng glared angrily at Wen Cai.
"Alright, senior brothers, your most important task now is to fold the paper money properly, otherwise even if you have the flower cards, you won't be able to go." Lin Yu pointed to the large basket of paper money and silently mourned for the two of them.
"Junior brother~" Qiu Sheng looked at Lin Yu with a pitiful expression.
"Get lost! I won't help you, and you're not allowed to help them either!" Lin Yu got goosebumps, terrified of being drafted, and turned to run away. Before leaving, he didn't forget to instruct the clay figures of the spirit children, "Don't help them!"
Some of these reincarnated children were found by Uncle Nine when he went out to find them. Whenever one of them successfully reincarnated, Uncle Nine would go to find a new one to live in.
Of the group of reincarnated children from a year ago, some left, some stayed, and only three remained. These three were extremely unlucky, being aborted time and again each time they were to be reincarnated. Their resentment accumulated over time, and they became "extremely vicious."
Of course, this is only true for ordinary people. In the Spirit Illusion Realm of this era, Lin Yu and Uncle Nine are like two clear streams, leading the way and having no rivals.