The next day, Shen Yuequn continued his business as usual, and many people came to watch the show as always. Everything seemed to be going smoothly, and in the morning, a leather jacket was revealed, leaving everyone in awe.
However, around 11 o'clock, an old man appeared near the stall. The old man first looked at the stall with interest, then touched a few wallets, and then chuckled, "It's genuine leather, no doubt, but it's a pity!"
"What's a pity?" someone nearby overheard and asked curiously.
"It's just made too poorly. It's obviously a product of the assembly line, soulless!" the old man shook his head.
"Soul!" Hearing these words, some people pondered, while others sneered, "What soul can a broken wallet have?"
"Superficial!" The old man shook his head. "All things in the world can have souls, from a whole planet to a small pebble. But why do some things have souls and others don't? Because they lack the element that bestows souls, which is us, humans!"
"These machine-made things, no matter how exquisite, have no soul. I can't feel any resonance from these wallets!" The old man looked somewhat wistful. Everyone thoughtfully nodded, as if having gained great insight, their gazes filled with admiration.
Many people might not have understood at first, but seeing that everyone else seemed to grasp it, they also nodded along. Though they couldn't comprehend it, they could see the effect.
Their gazes turned to the old man, with added respect.
"Oh!" Suddenly, the old man walked to another corner of the stall and exclaimed, "How can two such profound souls be here?"
"Huh?" Everyone was stunned. Then they saw the old man practically rushing towards two pairs of leather shoes, his eyes filled with surprise.
"This is Italian craftsmanship, Italian techniques... and this way of stitching the thread, as well as the uneven distribution of glue... this is absolutely the work of Italy's top masters!" The old man's expression was almost entranced.
"Damn, this old man is amazing, he can actually tell these were made in Italy?"
"But to me, they look no different from ordinary shoes!"
"You wouldn't understand, you know? There's soul in them, soul! Those who understand will understand, and those who don't, well, they just don't!" someone rambled on, appearing very knowledgeable.
"Could this be the work of Master Kaka from Italy?" the old man finally asked solemnly.
"What a connoisseur! He even recognized Master Kaka!" Everyone showed shocked expressions in unison. Shen Yuequn quickly stepped forward, his face full of admiration, and said, "That's right, these are the works of Master Kaka!"
"I thought as much, but it's a pity this pair of shoes doesn't seem to have been made in Yaning... or even in Italy!" the old man said with some regret.
"How did you know!!" Shen Yuequn was even more astonished.
"Because the water used in the manufacturing process is not right!" the old man sighed. "The water in Italy is rich in H2O, making it the best water for shoemaking."
"Water from other places doesn't have that much H2O, so the shoes made have an impure taste!"
"This is truly miraculous!!!" Shen Yuequn was completely convinced. Then he heard the old man ask, "What's with the '500' tag you've hung? Is this Master Kaka's 500th pair of shoes?"
"No, this is a customer's consignment. The selling price is 500 yuan!" Shen Yuequn replied.
"What!" The old man's beard almost bristled. "The work of the great Master Kaka, and you're selling it for only 500 yuan? This is an insult to art, an insult to us shoemakers, and an insult to our craftsmanship!!!" xxs壹贰
"What is craftsmanship?" someone from the crowd asked, confused.
"It's the spirit of a craftsman!" someone else explained.
"Oh, I see. Amazing!"
"No, actually, our selling price was 5000 yuan, but it's just because our Jiangnan Leather Factory went out of business!" Shen Yuequn explained with great effort, and only then did the old man sigh, "If that's the case, then I'll buy these shoes. Here's 500 yuan!"
Saying that, the old man quickly took out five hundred-yuan notes and bought the pair of shoes under everyone's watchful eyes!
"My goodness, they actually bought it!!" Everyone was stunned. They thought this pair of shoes, which would never be sold, had actually been sold.
"Oh, there's another pair here." The old man carefully placed Master Kaka's work into a box and then noticed the shoes tagged at 800 yuan.
"This! This is!!" Suddenly, the man trembled all over. "Could this be the legendary greatest female shoemaker in history, Ms. Gal Gadot, who vowed to remain unmarried for the sake of shoemaking, her handcrafted leather shoes!!"
"You can recognize this too!!" Shen Yuequn was stunned.
"Good heavens, through this Angora calfskin, I can feel the scent of Paradise Island perfume on Ms. Gal Gadot. What a beautiful, soul-soothing fragrance!" The old man held the shoes, almost intoxicated.
"Do you want these shoes?" Shen Yuequn asked cautiously.
"Of course, these are 800... I never imagined I could buy shoes handcrafted by Ms. Gal Gadot for 800 yuan. It would be worth dying for!!" The old man paid and, without looking back, ran off, as if afraid someone would snatch the shoes from him.
"By the way, if you have any more works by these masters, save them for me. I want them all!" After walking a dozen meters, the old man suddenly remembered something and shouted to Shen Yuequn in a loud voice. The surrounding spectators, naturally, heard it clearly, leaving Shen Yuequn, who was holding 1300 yuan, somewhat bewildered in the wind.
After the old man left, there was a brief silence at the scene, and then almost everyone rushed forward, wanting to buy a blind box to see if they were lucky enough to unbox a pair of top-quality handcrafted leather shoes made by an Italian master.
The climax of the story came an hour later. The young man who had opened the pair of white leather shoes yesterday returned. The first thing he did upon arrival was to pay Shen Yuequn the missing 1 yuan. This was truly a proud young man.
"Huh? Where are my shoes?" After paying, the young man looked at the consignment stall and found that his shoes from yesterday were gone.
"Young man, your shoes have been sold. Here is your money!" Shen Yuequn said, patting the young man's shoulder with emotion, and handed the young man eight crisp, new Mao Zedong bills from the fifth set of RMB.
"What's going on?" The young man was dumbfounded.
"Silly boy, your shoes were consigned for 800 yuan, so of course you get 800 yuan!" Someone who had been there all along looked at the young man with extreme envy, but mostly at the 800 yuan in his hand.
"Someone who knows their value bought your shoes. Hurry and take your money and go, be careful!" Shen Yuequn gave the money to the young man and then ushered him away, bewildered.
Seeing Shen Yuequn actually give 800 yuan to someone else, those who had suspected some sort of scheme immediately threw away many of their things, their eyes only focused on the blind boxes.
On that day, Shen Yuequn's first batch of 500 blind boxes sold out completely in just one morning.