Flowers in full bloom

Chapter 727 Connivance

When drawing, you need to be careful not to move the paper at will like when drawing on paper. After the drawing is finished, spray it with a kettle and it can be preserved for an hour.

At the age of five or six, Jinnian was already able to control the strength of his fingers very well, so some simple animal drawings soon appeared on the sand table.

Donkeys and cows are common animals in Xichang, and Jinnian also painted ducks and pigs that he saw in Shangjing.

After each painting was completed, Hua Lei would comment on it carefully, pointing out the good parts and the parts that needed revision, and then let him spray it with a kettle to preserve it.

However, Jinshi, who was only two years old, did not have such good control over his fingers. The donkey he drew had four legs of different lengths, and the duck he drew also looked weird.

Fortunately, Jinshi's aesthetic taste and discernment abilities had not kept up, so as long as he drew a sand painting that he thought was good, he would grab the kettle in Jinnian's hand and spray the sand painting with it to preserve it without hesitation.

Hualei also clapped her hands to encourage Jinshi's liking for her "paintings". Then she gave the child a big kiss on the face to show her approval, which made Jinshi very happy.

Rong Jin, who was standing next to them, looked at the two children's horrible paintings and turned his head away. Sometimes, he really couldn't understand why Sister Hua indulged her children so much.

In the capital city, parents of many children from aristocratic families would not take the initiative to let their children play with these things. These young masters wear clean clothes every day.

Even if a drop of grease accidentally got on the clothes while eating, the maids and old women would help change the clothes, otherwise it would be considered dereliction of duty.

However, Sister Hua took the initiative to bring the children to play in the sand. But before coming, she asked the two children to change into a half-new and half-old robe, and then tied up the trouser legs and cuffs with a belt, and let the children play in the sand pit.

Alas, Hua Meimei doted on her children too much, and Rong Jin had to be a "strict father" in the future. Otherwise, the two children would be raised astray by Hua Meimei, Rong Jin secretly planned in his heart.

Hua Lei, who had no idea of ​​Rong Jin's thoughts, was kneeling in the sand pit and playing with the sand.

She wet the sand with a kettle, piled it into a rectangular block, compacted it, and then carefully cut it with a shovel. There were also brushes, carving knives, and other tools beside her.

When Jinnian and Jinshi wanted to go over to help, Hualei, who had originally indulged the children, forbade the two children to get close and just let them watch from the side.

In this way, Hualei used the carving knife, the brush, and the watering can. Half an hour later, a cute little pig lying down appeared in front of the father and his two sons.

Hualei sprayed water with the kettle again before standing up with satisfaction. Here, there was no glue to fix the sand, nor any professional tools.

Therefore, many details of this sand sculpture pig are not fine enough, but the general outline is very vivid.

"Sister Hua, this......." Rong Jin was stunned. He knew Hua Lei's painting skills very well. It could be said that they were not very good, but the piglet in the sand pit was lifelike.

This is a perfect combination of painting and sculpture. It is three-dimensional and unique. It requires not only patience but also skills. Rong Jin believes that he can't do it.

The two children surrounded the pig and exclaimed in amazement.

"How is it? Not bad, right?" Hua Lei said proudly.

"Well, Sister Hua, please teach me. I want to try it too." Rong Jin, who had been standing by the sand pit, squatted down and asked for advice humbly.

"Okay, the apprenticeship fee is one thousand taels." Hua Lei said jokingly.

"Okay, I'll give it to you when I have the money." Rong Jin said readily.

"I want it too. I want it too. Mom, I'll give you all the money my great-grandparents gave me." The two children also rushed to ask.

"Okay, no problem." Hua Lei waved her hand and collected all the private money of the father and his two sons into her own money box on New Year's Eve.

So, the father and his two sons knelt down in the sand pit and began to learn sand sculpture. Of course, the result was not satisfactory.

After a while, Jinshi started playing with sand. In less than half an hour, Jinnian started his own sand painting again.

Rong Jin had not yet finished carving the pig's head when Qingzao came over and called for lunch, so he had to leave regretfully halfway. The family returned to the house with their two children to wash up and eat.

After all, sand sculpture is a difficult skill that requires many years of practice. Even though Rong Jin is good at painting, he still hasn't finished sand sculpture.

The one who returned with a great load was Hua Lei. In the evening, she counted the private money of her two sons and found that it was quite a lot, several thousand taels of silver. Before returning to Beijing, Marquis Pei had given his two children a lot of silver bills and silver ingots.

As for Rong Jin, he only had a few dozen taels of silver on him and no banknotes at all. His salary and rewards always reached Hua Lei on the evening of the day he received them.

The dozens of taels he had on him were given to him by Hua Lei. Therefore, the 1,000 taels apprenticeship fee became a debt. Rong Jin even wrote an IOU for Hua Lei to keep.

Looking at the IOU in her hand, Hualei was overjoyed. Sometimes, happiness is when I am making trouble and you are laughing.

The next day, the whole family slept in, then slowly got up and had breakfast. Then Hualei took Jinnian and Jinshi to look for Uncle Zhao.

Yesterday, she took the two children to play with sand for most of the day. Today, she decided to let the two children learn to make red lanterns. Of course, this bud is not proficient.

So, she invited Uncle Zhao, who was very skillful with his hands, to come over and let him take the two children to do it. To make a lantern, you first need to make a frame.

Considering that the two children were still young, Uncle Zhao had already cut the bamboo strips needed to make the lantern frame and polished them until they were smooth.

After putting a smock on the child, Uncle Zhao started making it with the two children. Of course, the most important thing was to take Jinnian with him.

Jinshi was still too young and couldn't sit still. After a while, he went off to play by himself, so Hualei didn't force him. She just asked the girl to watch over him from behind and pay attention to his safety.

I saw Uncle Zhao first use bamboo strips to build the frame of the lantern, fixed the joints with fish glue, and then tied it with thin silk thread to make it firm.

Because the bamboo strips had been polished smooth, Jinnian started working directly. With the hands-on guidance and help of Uncle Zhao, the skeleton of the lantern slowly emerged.

Before making the skeleton, Hua Lei asked Jinnian to choose the shape of the lantern. Therefore, at this time, the skeleton of the lantern in Jinnian's hand was the simplest cube shape.