chapter 10

Six in the morning, the sky was just beginning to brighten.

I tied my hair into a ponytail, put on my work clothes, and headed to the back mountain.

But someone was even earlier than me.

As soon as she saw me, she practically jumped for joy, waving at me with a wide, happy grin.

“Sister Ning.”

“Why are you here so early?”

She quickly pulled out a small bag of soil.

“I knew you were coming, so I wanted you to take a look at this. How’s this soil?”

I took a small pinch, rubbed it between my fingertips, and then held it to my nose to catch the scent.

“This is red clay from the west slope, right? It has a high iron content; it’ll turn a reddish-ochre after firing.”

Qiqi nodded and took note of it.

I looked through the other samples she had collected one by one. She had clearly put in a lot of effort.

“Not bad. Shall I teach you how to mix the clay today?”

“Yes!”

Qiqi was a guest in the village, but she was also learning pottery from Master Chen, having paid a tuition fee of 1,888 yuan.

Once, when Master Chen took a leave of absence, I filled in for one of her lessons.

Whenever I came by during my free time, she would always follow me around.

She was a young girl who could really settle down and focus.

Inside the studio, there were two large wooden tables in the center, covered with soil samples of various colors.

I took five ceramic jars down from the shelf.

“These are the base soils I collected from five different locations in the village. They’ve already been dried, crushed, and sifted.”

“The character of a piece of pottery is determined the moment the clays are mixed.”

As I spoke, I brought over a scale and some small bowls to begin the proportions.

“Teapots need good breathability, so we add more sandy soil.”

“Vases need to be smooth and delicate, so we use more clay.”

Mixing, adding water, stirring.

The rhythm was slow and steady, yet it had a way of calming the mind in no time at all.

Qiqi and I spent the entire morning in the studio.

Until Lin Yuan appeared and knocked on the door.

“Time to eat.”