Granny Qian’s hands began to tremble as she gripped the bronze mirror, her lips whispering the name of her granddaughter: “A-Nian, A-Nian…”
It took a long time for her to collect herself and look back at White Night.
“Girl, can you give me this bronze mirror? It is far too important to me.” Granny Qian looked at White Night with a solemn expression.
“What is its specific function? Granny Qian, please don’t bully a child. Our White Night risked her life to bring that mirror back.” Mu Yingying spoke up, not wanting to let White Night get the short end of the stick.
“I can feel the lingering aura of my granddaughter in this mirror. It is a ticket to another world. My granddaughter is in that world, and I must go find her.”
“It’s useless for you to keep this mirror. That world is even more dangerous than this one; given your strength, you would hardly survive.”
Granny Qian explained patiently, her hands cradling the bronze mirror with extreme care; she had no intention of returning it whatsoever.
White Night realized how much importance Granny Qian placed on this mirror.
She thought that if she truly didn’t hand it over, Granny Qian might turn hostile on the spot for the sake of her granddaughter.
Besides, she didn’t want to go to more dangerous places anyway.
After all, it is better to believe it exists than to assume it does not.
“You can have the bronze mirror, Granny Qian, as long as you fix my bike.”
White Night decided to go with the flow.
“That won’t do. We can’t just give it to you for nothing. Granny Qian, I’ll say it again, you can’t take advantage of children.” Mu Yingying argued stubbornly.
“I know it’s not right to force things from others, and this item is indeed worth a great deal. I won’t take it for free. You can make any request, and if I can do it, I will try my best to satisfy you.”
Although Granny Qian was stronger than the three of them, she was a reasonable person.
White Night felt relieved at the sight of this.
“Granny Qian, based on what you said, your strength must be greater than ours. Why did you need our help to retrieve the bracelet? If you had retrieved it earlier, perhaps you would have discovered the bronze mirror sooner.”
White Night didn’t bring up any conditions yet; she wanted to get these questions cleared up first.
“I practice the Yin Killing Technique among the Artisan Killing Techniques. Using this ability consumes my lifespan. I don’t have much time left, and I want to live long enough for my granddaughter to return.”
Granny Qian explained.
“Can your craft be learned? Could you teach us?”
Mu Yingying’s eyes lit up. If she learned this craft, she could fix White Moon herself whenever she broke down.
“Little Bicycle, Granny Qian just said it shortens her life. You shouldn’t learn it…”
White Night rushed to dissuade her.
“Little Bicycle is saying that I’m old and withered, Auntie is very sad.” Mu Yingying teased, feeling warmed by White Night’s anxious attempt to talk her out of it.
“That’s not what I meant. What I meant was…” White Night still wanted to explain.
“Auntie understands; you hold Auntie in your heart, and Auntie is so moved I could just cry.” Mu Yingying said, tapping the back seat with her hand.
Slap.
Little Frost frowned and swatted Mu Yingying’s hand away. “You loose woman, stop being so shameless.”
“Granny Qian, I also want to learn more skills.”
Little Frost didn’t care about the loss of life span. This world was too dangerous, and to protect White Night, she had to become stronger.
White Night could only sigh when she saw she couldn’t stop the two aunties.
“Whether or not this bike repair craft suits you depends on your own aptitude. I will fix it once for you to see.”
“I’ll start with White Night, just as I promised you.”
As Granny Qian spoke, she carefully tucked the bronze mirror into her clothes and began to work on the bike.
She hovered her palm one inch above White Night’s frame, sliding it slowly from the head of the bike to the tail.
Her hands were covered in thick calluses, yet they moved with more precision than the finest measuring tools.
When she reached the break in the front fork, her fingertips paused, feeling it carefully.
She moved to the middle of the main beam, her fingertips rubbing gently for a moment.
“There is a crack here, and the rear axle is off by a hair.”
The three of them watched intently.
Granny Qian withdrew her hands and said nothing.
She turned around and squatted in front of the pile of scrap metal to search through it.
Her fingertips raked through the rusty parts, and without even needing to look down, she could discern the material and size of every object.
Mu Yingying squatted to the side, resting her chin on her knees and watching quietly.
Soon, Granny Qian pulled out two old spokes, a piece of black iron, and a section of old rubber.
In short, they were all antique-level scrap parts.
They watched as she straightened the spokes with her bare hands, bending them little by little to create the perfect arc.
She rubbed them repeatedly with her fingertips, as if calibrating something.
Next, she used the iron piece to chisel out the outline of a rim, trimming the edges until they were perfectly straight.
Finally, she wrapped the rubber tightly around the rim to serve as a temporary tread.
With just a few taps and strikes, a fairly well-formed, temporary front wheel took shape.
She wedged the wheel into the front fork and tightened the nut with a wrench.
With a gentle flick of her finger, the wheel spun steadily without a hint of resistance.
“Materials are too scarce, so make do with this. Don’t rush up slopes, be slow on gravel roads, and it will hold up just fine until you find proper materials.”
Mu Yingying stared at the wheel made from a pile of junk and couldn’t help but click her tongue.
“That’s incredible, Granny Qian. Even this you can patch up.”
Granny Qian picked up a rag to wipe the grease off her hands, her movements crisp and efficient.
In her eyes and brows was the steady composure only a master artisan could possess.
“Did you see clearly? Have you learned it?”
Granny Qian asked Little Frost and Mu Yingying.
Both of them shook their heads.
“Granny Qian, you did that all in one go, tapping and striking; I couldn’t even see what you were doing, how could I learn it just by watching?” Mu Yingying complained.
“How about you fix it again on another bike? I’ll go smash one for you.” Little Frost was undeterred.
“You lack the talent, so why force it? But for the sake of the bronze mirror, I will still teach you.”
Granny Qian saw how persistent the two were and nodded in agreement.
“Granny Qian, do you have a place to rest? Let’s just rest for the night and then start the lessons.”
White Night felt much better now that she was repaired, but she was still exhausted and wanted her two aunties to get some rest first.
“I have rooms. We’ll start the lessons tomorrow; I’ll be leaving this place tomorrow as well.” Granny Qian nodded.
The three were then shown to a guest room.
The guest room wasn’t large, but it was clean and tidy.
The night grew deep.
Outside the shop, the sound of a Lantern Ghost passing by could be heard occasionally. Tap, tap, tap.
The sound stayed far away and never approached the building.
Mu Yingying got a bag of cookies from Granny Qian. The date on the package was long faded, but they still felt hard to the touch.
She broke the cookies into two portions, handed one to Little Frost, and kept the other for herself.
Mu Yingying chewed on the cookie, her speech slightly muffled.
“My dear Frost, here is something to eat. Stop thinking about hitting my backside all the time.”
Little Frost rolled her eyes at her, though she was indeed hungry.
She took the cookie, finished it in a few bites, and brushed the crumbs off her hands.
After eating and drinking some water, the three fell asleep.
The next day, they woke up early.
Granny Qian was up even earlier than they were.
“Granny, have you ever heard of anyone who can fix damage to a soul?”