Chapter 56: Customizing the Miniature Figure's Face
A silver ring, a head taller than a man in diameter, was clearly unusable for San Shier and his companions.
Li Daoxuan had placed it inside merely to make an impression, but after the dramatic display, he still needed to reduce its size for practical use. He retrieved the silver ring, opened his household toolbox, and with a pair of pliers, *snip*, he snipped off a minuscule granule, then placed it back into the diorama box.
What appeared before San Shier was now a fist-sized block of silver, incredibly dense and heavy.
San Shier cradled the hefty silver chunk in both hands, a look of profound regret on his face. "Such a magnificent celestial ring, to be snipped into mere fragments like this, what a tragic waste!"
Li Daoxuan chided him with a smile, "If I hadn't cut it, could you even carry it?"
"Er... this... I still feel it's such a terrible shame."
Li Daoxuan instructed, "Once you've seen your wife safely back to the county town, there's no need to rush. Take the silver with you, and find a scholar to bring back. If he refuses to come, offer him a fist-sized chunk of silver. If he still hesitates, offer him two."
As he finished, he placed another silver piece into the box. "If he *still* refuses..."
San Shier immediately caught on. "Then I'll offer him two *more*!"
San Shier was speechless.
Even the Heavenly Lord enjoys a jest with mortals sometimes!
San Shier bowed profoundly towards the empty space above. "Thank you, Heavenly Lord! For the sake of my daughter's education, you even sacrificed the celestial ring. Your boundless kindness and immense grace, this humble servant will carry in his heart forever!"
Li Daoxuan stated softly, "It's not solely for your daughter. I intend for that scholar to come to Gao Family Village and instruct everyone in reading and writing. Men or women, elders or children—anyone willing to learn shall be taught."
San Shier froze for an instant, then immediately comprehended, bowing low until his forehead nearly touched the earth. "This humble servant will certainly not betray your trust."
*Ding-ding-ding!* Li Daoxuan's phone suddenly chimed.
He shifted his focus from the diorama box, answered the call, and was immediately met with Cai Xinzhi's exasperated voice. "Daoxuan, seriously? You're ignoring QQ, ignoring WeChat, completely incommunicado these days. Must I resort to calling just to reach you? I detest talking on the phone!"
Li Daoxuan replied, "Ah, I've been utterly engrossed in 'SimCity 1627' lately, so I haven't had time for QQ or WeChat. What's the urgency? Why the frantic tone?"
"'SimCity 1627'? What on earth is that? I've only ever heard of 'SimCity 2000,' never a 1627."
"An obscure mod."
"Oh, right, never mind that, let's talk business," Cai Xinzhi said. "I've got a bizarre client who's placed an order that's frankly giving me a headache. I've wracked my brain, and you're the only person I can turn to."
Li Daoxuan prompted, "Lay it on me."
Cai Xinzhi explained, "This customer wants a custom robot, one that's exceptionally complex, painstakingly detailed, and remarkably advanced. Every single armor plate on it must be detachable and interchangeable."
Li Daoxuan questioned, "And how does this involve me?"
Cai Xinzhi continued, "He then made an incredibly specific request: the robot's cockpit canopy must open, revealing a pilot seated inside. This pilot needs to be a miniature replica of *him*, with his facial features—eyebrows, eyes, nose, and all—rendered with startling clarity, an exact likeness of his own face."
Li Daoxuan now understood. "You want me to sculpt this miniature figure?"
Cai Xinzhi confirmed, "Exactly! A one-centimeter figure. Honestly, he expects me to replicate his face? I don't have that kind of expertise! But if I tell him I can't, he'll pull the entire robot commission."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Alright, alright, I can certainly take this on. What material are we thinking of this time?"
Cai Xinzhi explained, "Plastic, naturally. I've already completed the pilot's body, leaving only the face. You just need to handle those facial details for me. We're old friends, so let's cut to the chase: the robot's total price is twenty thousand, and he specifically commissioned an extra two thousand for this miniature pilot, just to have his own face on it. If you help me with this, I'll keep the robot's fee, and the two thousand for the pilot is entirely yours."
"Two thousand, huh?" Li Daoxuan's initial reaction was that it was too little. But upon reflection, the Jeweled Saintess statues were, after all, quite costly, and their sales were inherently limited. After a few commissions, that work would cease, leaving the two sculptors without a steady income. Merely sustaining them would likely render them complacent.
The true path to assisting them lay in providing long-term, secure employment, so that even more sculptors could eventually arrive in Gao Family Village and find meaningful work. This was, for them, the most beneficial arrangement.
Certain old state-owned enterprises would, at times, accept unprofitable orders. Why? Simply to keep their workers active and employed.
Cai Xinzhi pleaded, "I know two thousand isn't a lot, but consider it a favor for an old friend."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "Didn't you just call me too magnanimous for my own good last time? A smaller profit is still a profit; how could I not help you? Consider it done."
Cai Xinzhi was overjoyed. "You're a true friend!"
Li Daoxuan mused, "Actually, your client's idea is quite intriguing—sculpting his own face onto a miniature toy figure. I believe there's an untapped market here. Why don't you promote custom miniature faces at your shop? Many people might be interested. Lower prices are perfectly acceptable; it's all about high volume, low margin. And for any other tiny components or bespoke details on various models, we'll take those orders too."
Cai Xinzhi considered this thoughtfully. Indeed! Customizing microscopic model parts might well carve out a niche market; it was worth exploring. After all, she wouldn't have to expend much effort herself. She'd simply accept the order, pass it along to Li Daoxuan, and collect her commission.
"Consider it settled then."
The call ended. Before long, Cai Xinzhi drove over, delivering a small plastic figure to Li Daoxuan.
The figure was posed in a seated position, clad in what appeared to be a futuristic military uniform. The uniform's details were woefully indistinct; it was simply too minuscule for Cai Xinzhi's capabilities to render with precision.
The figure's face, however, was a blank, flat slab, completely devoid of features.
"The face is all yours now. Here, I've got the customer's facial photos right here—front view and both side profiles."
"Consider it handled. Don't you worry."
After Cai Xinzhi departed, Li Daoxuan activated his color printer, rendering the customer's face onto a corner of photo paper. He then carefully snipped it out with scissors, raised the lid of the diorama box, and called out, "Yiye, please fetch the two sculptors."
Soon, Gao Yiye returned with the two sculptors, all three poised to respectfully receive the Heavenly Lord's command.
Li Daoxuan gently placed the seated plastic figure before the two sculptors, alongside the printed photograph. "Do you understand? Sculpt this face, precisely replicating the likeness in the image."
The two sculptors, of course, immediately grasped the task at hand, but a question lingered...
One sculptor couldn't help but voice his concern. "Heavenly Lord, what strange material is this? It is neither metal, nor wood, nor stone... What tools should we humble artisans employ to sculpt it?"
"You can carve it with jade-carving tools," Li Daoxuan instructed. "Exercise extreme caution when carving; do not make a mistake and damage it. This is unlike a damaged clay form that can be patched; once marred, it is irreparable."
The two sculptors were startled, then immediately understood. *This* was a celestial rarity, found only in the heavens! If they damaged it, even their lives wouldn't suffice as recompense. They would have to be incredibly meticulous, committed to producing a masterpiece of exquisite detail.
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