Lu Xiaoshi watched anxiously; he scratched his head and ears. Even though he had ears and a mouth, he couldn't help, as no one would talk to him about what was happening inside.
You're a child, your father is a mute, you can hardly take care of yourselves, what else do you want to do?
Lu Xiaoshi listlessly walked home, and for the next few days, the boy didn't eat much, nor did he sleep well. Day or night, he just sat on the threshold in a daze, not saying a word.
The Mute Carpenter watched anxiously too, but he couldn't make a sound, not knowing what problem his child was facing.
Pushed to the edge, Lu Xiaoshi would turn his head blankly and, mimicking the words of the elders from the girl's family, say to the Mute Carpenter:
"I'm a child, you're a mute, we can hardly take care of ourselves, what else do you want to do?"
Lu Xiaoshi seemed to have lost his soul, he murmured to himself: "Can't even take care of myself, why live like a piece of wood."
"..."
The Mute Carpenter was briefly stunned, then a look of struggle appeared in his eyes, as if waging a battle within.
Two days later, the Mute Carpenter took out a book and handed it to Lu Xiaoshi.
He gestured for a long time, and wrote and drew on the ground, until Lu Xiaoshi finally understood what his father wanted to say.
The Mute Carpenter said, if you want revenge, if you want power, study this book, but the deeper you delve, the deeper you sink.
At this point, the Mute Carpenter pointed to his own throat, then gestured at the positions of Lu Xiaoshi's seven orifices.
The meaning was that if you delve deeper, you will become like him, or even pay a greater price.
Lu Xiaoshi didn't care at all, as long as he could save the girl, gain the power to not be bullied, and protect those he wanted to protect, even at the cost of becoming mute or blind!
From that day on, Lu Xiaoshi went to the school by day to secretly learn literacy, and at night he would carve wood under the moonlight, learning woodworking skills.
Seasons changed, and years passed.
In the blink of an eye, seven years had gone by, and that year the carpenter's house lost a Mute Carpenter, but gained a new carpenter with skills.
Only, this new carpenter was silent and reticent; since handling the Mute Carpenter's aftereffects, he hadn't spoken again. When others called him, he didn't respond.
Later, as more people sought Lu Xiaoshi for carpentry work, folks realized the young carpenter had become deaf, and like his father, a mute.
But the young carpenter's skills were the best in ten miles around, even surpassing his mute father's by far.
One day, Lu Xiaoshi received a job, carving flowers for the new house windows, and making some doors and cabinets for the landlord Lu Yuanshu's family.
Lu Xiaoshi had heard of this landlord Lu Yuanshu before he became deaf; townspeople gossiped that the landlord's young master had a rare illness that caused his body to gradually shrink and age.
No one could cure this illness, most had never even heard of it before; later Lu Yuanshu found an expert who claimed to be a Celestial Master from the Celestial Master's Mansion, who gave him an idea.
It was to find someone of the same age as the young master and born under the same moon, then perform a ritual to transfer life essence and destiny onto the young master to dispel the illness.
About seven years ago, the sickly master of the Lu family suddenly transformed overnight, able to run and jump, looking healthy just like any normal person.
At first, townsfolk didn't sense anything until a drunkard wept and wailed outside the Lu family mansion, demanding the return of his daughter's life; only then did people connect the young master's sudden recovery with the drunkard's daughter.
Yet, no one had evidence, and Lu Yuanshu was once a County Magistrate elsewhere, with power and wealth, nobody wished or dared to offend him.
As for the drunkard, it was said that he was found drowned in a river one day, the officials last ruled it as an accidental drunken drowning.
Now, the silent Lu Xiaoshi came to Lu Yuanshu's house with a inkpot, a plane, and an axe.
The inkpot measured the length and quality of wood, the plane was to remove the attire of beasts, the axe was to refine the wood; anything bad had to be removed and discarded!
In addition to these, in his toolbag, Lu Xiaoshi carried second-hand coffin nails. Over the years, he hadn't done much other carpentry work, mostly making coffins for the dead!
Lu Yuanshu was a harsh and unkind man. When construction first began on the new house, this old thing always picked faults. Though his words weren't vulgar, they were more unpleasant than cursing.
Workers were often criticized, but there was one person Lu Yuanshu couldn't find fault with, which was the carpenter Lu Xiaoshi.
This person's skills were indisputable, with joints fitting perfectly, beams and pillars straight and sturdy, and the carved wooden windows seemed alive!
Even the wooden sculptures in the Imperial Palace couldn't compare to what Lu Xiaoshi made with ease.
The Lu family's new house rose quickly.
However, nobody noticed the deaf-mute carpenter buried many secret suppressive objects within the grand and imposing exterior of the mansion.
Placing the main beam was the most crucial part of building the house top.
On that day, firecrackers exploded, red banners adorned everywhere.
Lu Xiaoshi personally climbed the beam framework, and single-handedly placed the beam representing 'family head' in place.
Amidst the cheers and while Lu Yuanshu proudly offered incense in worship, Lu Xiaoshi, under the cover of his body, flipped his wrist and took out a three-inch long well-used coffin nail.
This coffin nail was one he had hammered in making coffins these past years, personally driving it in, then extracting the most crucial nail a month and a half after the dead were buried, on a dark, windy night.