frightfiction Chapter 729 Noble Man
Chapter 729 Noble Man
Lin Bufan's impassioned speech left Yang Tao completely bewildered. She opened her mouth, her mind a jumbled mess, unable to find a rebuttal. It seemed... to have some merit? But something just felt off...
Seeing Yang Tao's speechless and conflicted expression on the other end of the screen, Lin Bufan knew the time was right. He immediately stopped while he was ahead, adopting an expression that said, "I've done more than enough for you," and spoke in a heavy and expectant tone:
"Alright, I think what I've said today has been enough to touch your soul. Comrade Yang Tao, you should really reflect on your underlying, not open and inclusive mindset."
Okay, to help you gain a deeper understanding of your problems, write me a profound self-criticism of at least 500 words tonight. The topic should be "On How to Establish Firm Cultural Confidence in a Globalized Perspective and Reflections on My Own Narrow-Minded Thinking." It must be handwritten, insightful, and genuinely heartfelt! Take a picture of it and send it to me when you're done!
After saying that, without giving Yang Tao any chance to refute or ask questions, Lin Bufan hung up the video call decisively with a sorrowful expression, as if he were "reluctantly executing Ma Su."
Yang Tao listened to the busy tone on her phone and stared at the black screen, completely bewildered. She blinked, then blinked again, her mind replaying Lin Bufan's "righteous" accusations and his inexplicable demand for a self-criticism.
"No... I... how am I culturally insecure? I have to write a self-criticism?" She pointed at herself, staring at the phone screen where the call had ended, both angry and amused, but mostly bewildered and confused: "Don't let me see you again, or I'll show you what I'm made of!"
Inside the wood carving workshop, Lin Bufan calmly put away his phone, as if he hadn't been the one who had just been passionately speaking into it. He turned around, a polite smile returning to his face, and looked at Xie Heshun and his two apprentices, whose expressions varied. He asked naturally, "Excuse me, I was dealing with some personal matters just now. Master, what did you say? I didn't hear you clearly."
Xie Heshun was a little stunned by Lin Bufan's impassioned speech about "cultural confidence" and didn't react for a moment. It wasn't until Lin Bufan turned around and asked that he pushed up his reading glasses, looked Lin Bufan up and down, frowned slightly, and asked with obvious doubt and wariness, "I am Xie Heshun, the craftsman of this wood carving workshop. Who are you? What brings you here?"
Lin Bufan revealed a mysterious smile. He did not answer Xie Heshun's question directly, but stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze slowly sweeping over the exquisite works in the wood carving workshop, and spoke in a leisurely tone.
“Master Xie, who I am… is actually not important.” Lin Bufan paused, deliberately creating an atmosphere that piqued curiosity, before continuing, “What is important is that I will be your benefactor.”
"A benefactor?" Xie Heshun frowned even more, his doubts undiminished, even showing a hint of wariness towards a charlatan. His two apprentices behind him exchanged a look that seemed to say, "Is this guy crazy?"
“Indeed, a distinguished guest.” Lin Bufan nodded firmly. He took two steps forward, his fingertips lightly brushing against an unfinished wooden carving. His tone suddenly became passionate and infectious:
"Or to be more precise, I am the benefactor of your entire wood carving industry! Master Xie, look at these!" He waved his arm, pointing to the wood carvings filling the room: "What are these? These are not just products of wood and carving knives. They are the crystallization of the wisdom passed down from our ancestors, the cultural genes flowing in our blood! They are art that allows people to touch time and feel tranquility!"
But what about now? These treasures, carrying on millennia-old craftsmanship, are confined to a small corner, guarding these tiny workshops, facing the predicament of a lack of successors and a shrinking market! Don't you feel sorry for them? Don't you feel heartbroken?
Lin Bufan suddenly turned around, his gaze fixed intently on the somewhat dazed Xie Heshun: "But I came! I saw all of this! I can't just sit idly by! My mission is to revitalize this ancient craft! To make wood carving no longer just a niche hobby, but something that reaches the masses and the world! To make wood carving—great again!"
"Make it...great again?" Xie Heshun repeated the phrase unconsciously. He was stunned by Lin Bufan's sudden grand declaration and surging passion, and his mind was momentarily blank. He had been making wood carvings all his life, thinking about inheritance and promotion, but this was the first time he had heard the idea of "making wood carving great again."
Um--
It feels really awesome!
Lin Bufan gave Xie Heshun no time to think, continuing his "blueprint description," speaking faster and gesturing more forcefully:
"Just imagine, Master Xie! When our wood carvings are no longer gathering dust in the corners of tourist souvenir shops, but instead grace the halls of top international art exhibitions, astonishing the world! When our wood carving skills are no longer merely passed down orally from master to apprentice, but combined with cutting-edge technology and design concepts, sparking revolutionary innovations! When our wood carving culture is no longer just a historical symbol in museums, but integrated into every corner of modern life, becoming a symbol of fashion, taste, and status!"
He opened his arms as if to embrace a bright future: "By then, who will dare to say that wood carving is a sunset industry? By then, craftsmen with such superb skills as you will be the most sought-after artists of this era! By then, your two apprentices," he pointed to the two young men beside him who were already dumbfounded, "will be proud to be inheritors of wood carving, and their future will be as vast as the stars!"
Lin Bufan's words came out like a machine gun, a mix of grand visions, technical jargon, and emotional descriptions, leaving Xie Heshun and his two apprentices completely bewildered.
Xie Heshun opened his mouth, but something seemed to be blocking his throat, preventing him from making a sound immediately. He subconsciously opened his mouth again, his facial muscles twitched, but he still couldn't utter a word.
An eerie silence fell over the workshop, with only the faint chirping of birds outside the window and the lingering, infectious voice of Lin Bufan seemingly still echoing in the air.
After a long pause, Xie Heshun finally found his voice. He cleared his throat forcefully, and with deep doubt and a hint of barely perceptible wariness, asked the most crucial question: "You've said so much... what exactly do you want to do at the wood carving workshop?"
Seeing that Xie Heshun had some comprehension difficulties, Lin Bufan could only try to make his point clearer.
"I'm here to learn wood carving!"
cut--
So it turns out you came here to learn a craft. You're acting all high and mighty, like you're the reincarnation of Lu Ban!
Upon learning Lin Bufan's purpose, Xie Heshun immediately reverted to his air of being the top woodcarver in Yunmiao Village and the three surrounding villages, and said in a high-pitched tone, "Young man, you should go back. Woodcarving is not something that just anyone can learn. This thing requires patience and the ability to endure loneliness. Every cut and every stroke takes skill; you can't rush it or be impatient. It also depends on your aptitude. It's not enough to just have strength and enthusiasm; you have to know how to communicate with the wood, understand its grain, and its temperament."
Xie Heshun paused, his gaze sweeping over his two dejected apprentices standing to the side. He raised his voice slightly, as if speaking to them as well: "Besides, I don't accept just anyone with this skill. People who want to learn from me line up from one end of the village to the other, and many come from outside who have heard of my reputation. How can I have the time to teach everyone one by one? Time and energy are limited. It depends on fate and whether the person has the talent."
Although Xie Heshun's words contained a hint of praising his two apprentices!
But it was clear that his two apprentices did not approve of this, and remained dejected, as if to say – all the apprentices are about to leave, and I don’t know what you’re so proud of!
Looking at his two good-for-nothing apprentices, Xie Heshun really wanted to kick them. Don't they know how to give their teacher some face in front of outsiders?
This is why Xie Heshun is unaware that his two apprentices are already planning to go out and work. If he knew, it wouldn't be as simple as just kicking them; at the very least, he would have to pull out a small leather whip and give them a good thrashing!
Hearing Xie Heshun's refusal, Lin Bufan did not give up, but continued to deceive him: "Master Xie! You have misunderstood!"
I learned wood carving not just to learn a skill, but because... I want to understand it more deeply so that I can better promote and carry it forward!
"Think about it, if I didn't understand wood carving, didn't know its intricacies, essence, and difficulties, how could I have the confidence and qualifications to tell others how good wood carving is? How could I plan international exhibitions? How could I promote cultural exchange? Wouldn't that just be an outsider trying to instruct an expert, building castles in the air?"
Lin Bufan felt increasingly justified as he spoke, and straightened his back a bit: "This is what they call 'no investigation, no right to speak,' or 'practice makes perfect'! I need to become a semi-expert first before I can more effectively promote the grand goal of making wood carving great again. Don't you agree?"
Xie Heshun, arms crossed and eyelids drooping, listened to Lin Bufan's "profound" remarks and snorted, "Easier said than done. Publicity? Promoting and developing? I've carved wood in Yunmiao Village for half my life and seen plenty of young people like you. They all start off with grand pronouncements about revitalizing tradition and promoting culture… and what happens? They pick up their carving tools for less than three days, complaining about being tired, bored, and not getting any results, and then they run away faster than rabbits. You're just a three-minute wonder!"
"How can I be the same as them? They are them, and I am me! I, Lin Bufan, have always been clear about my goals and have amazing perseverance! I am here with a sense of mission and a grand plan. Can our motivations be the same?"
"A sense of mission and a blueprint can't be used as a carving knife. Wood doesn't respond to that. It only recognizes effort and patience. You don't seem like someone who can calm down and work with wood."
"Master Xie, you can't judge a book by its cover just because I'm handsome! Look at my eyes, how focused they are! Look at my fingers, how nimble they are! Give me a chance, and I'll prove it to you!"
"An opportunity?" Xie Heshun lifted his eyelids, finally looking directly at Lin Bufan, a faint, elusive smile playing on his lips. "It's not entirely out of the question..."
Lin Bufan's eyes lit up: "Tell me! What are your conditions?"
Xie Heshun held up two fingers, rubbed them together slowly, and uttered two words: "Tuition fee!"
Upon hearing this, Lin Bufan's eyes widened instantly, his face filled with shock and heartache that he felt "you have defiled art." He pointed to the wooden carvings filling the room, his voice rising an octave:
"Tuition fees?! Master Xie! How...how could you mention money?! Look at these! Are these just pieces of wood? No! This is art! It's a cultural treasure flowing with a thousand-year-old bloodline! It's spiritual nourishment that can purify the soul! How can something so noble and pure, its inheritance and its development, be measured by mere money and vulgarity?! You are desecrating this sacred cause!"
Xie Heshun crossed his arms, his eyelids drooping, and didn't even lift them. His tone was as calm as if he were commenting on the weather: "Young man, even artistic treasures need to eat. Cultural heritage and spiritual nourishment are good things that can fill you up, but they can't be eaten as food. All this wood in my house won't magically come down from the mountain; I have to buy it. My carving knives need sharpening when they get dull and replacing when they break; that costs money. My two apprentices may have lofty ambitions, but they still need to put rice in their rice bins when they get home; that costs money too."
Besides, how can I know if you genuinely want to learn, or are just here for novelty and to amuse this old man, if I don't charge you? This tuition fee is a touchstone, testing your sincerity and your determination. If you can't even afford this small investment, how can you talk about making wood carving great again?
Sincerity?!
I rely on!
Are you keeping a distance from me?
If you give me money, do you just pocket it and then say I'm not sincere if you don't? Isn't this the same tactic you use to ask for a bride price?
Unwilling to be corrupted by money, Lin Bufan argued forcefully: "Sincerity and determination are shown through actions, perseverance, and talent! How can you test them with something as superficial as money? You've set the bar in the wrong place! This will bury truly talented and passionate individuals who may not be financially well-off right now! You're hindering the development of the wood carving industry! You are the eternal sinner of the wood carving industry—"
“It can’t be buried. If he really has the will and the talent, he’ll come even if he has to sell his pots and pans. As for hindering his career? Young man, I’ve been running this wood carving workshop for most of my life, and I’ve seen more storms than you’ve eaten rice. Whether wood carving can be great or not doesn’t depend on whether there is one more or one less apprentice who can’t afford the tuition. What matters is whether the people who stay can truly settle down and spend their whole lives with this wood.”
Xie Heshun slowly picked up a piece of wood next to him and ran his fingers along the grain: "You said you have clear goals and amazing perseverance. Well then, prove it to me. This tuition fee is the first test. Once you get past it, we can talk about your lofty ambitions."