Comprehensive film and television: The Queen of Rolls Opens the Roll Again

"Tick."

In the small square courtyard of the east side hall of Zheng Palace, beside a small pond, there grew a tree over seven feet tall, with branches growing horizontally and straightly, and leaves spreading out wantonly. Occasionally, mist gathered into water droplets, sliding down from the green leaves, creating ripples on the water surface.

Zhang Xueming watched Gong Yuanzheng, who was leading the way, open one sliding door after another inlaid with plain silk and wooden lattice.

The East Side Hall was where Gong Yuanzheng lived. Gong Yuanzheng had brought her here several times, but each time they were either in the tea room or the dining room. This was the first time she knew the structure of this hall was like this:

The entire palace is shaped like a giant Chinese character “回” (U). It has countless wooden lattice sliding doors installed inside.

When you close the sliding doors, you will see many small rooms, some open and some closed: a tea room and reception room, a dining room, a study, a pharmacy, a bedroom, a utility room... everything you can think of.

If you open all those sliding doors, all the rooms from the living room to the bedroom will be connected into a huge corridor with unobstructed access.

Unfortunately, because of the dark cloud-like canopy of the big tree in the courtyard that blocks out the sun, the lighting in the temple is not very good even on a sunny day.

Therefore, even though the tea room and dining room, which were surrounded by only a few thin railings on the side facing the patio, where one could turn around and enjoy the lush greenery and picturesque scenery, Zhang Xueming did not appreciate this place very much.

Being able to keep smiling is just a courtesy to the host. If she is asked to stay, she will definitely refuse three times immediately: I don’t want to, I don’t want it, I don’t want to.

Having lived in such a dim and gloomy place for many years, which was like the background of "Onmyoji", and living alone, Gong Yuanzheng did not get depressed. He could get up early every morning, braid his own pigtails and wear little bells carefully, live every day seriously, and smile brightly in front of his brother. Zhang Xueming admired him so much.

"Zhao Zhao... don't you like it here?" Gong Yuanzheng hesitated and slowed down his pace.

"Ayuan, you are the master here, just do as you like." Zhang Xueming smiled gently.

She was very satisfied with the brightly lit little hall. Maybe Gong Yuanzheng was just the opposite of her? Don't dictate other people's preferences. This was the first lesson her good friend taught her in her previous life.

Gong Yuanzheng opened another door: "Actually, I don't like it either, I'm just used to it."

"Have you lived here since you were a child?" Zhang Xueming asked him. Not everyone in this world is lucky enough to meet parents who love their children in the right way, and tiger fathers and wolf mothers are not just legendary figures.

"My mother passed away when I was five years old, so my father asked me to move out of the main hall and live here alone." Gong Yuanzheng replied, "He still lives in the main hall, not far from here, so it's convenient for him to teach me."

Zhang Xueming discovered that, for some unknown reason, as soon as he entered this palace, his footsteps would become lighter and his voice would unconsciously be lowered, as if speaking louder would alarm something terrifying.

These strange little habits contributed to the dark and depressing feeling, which made Zhang Xueming very uncomfortable: "Why are you speaking so quietly? Is there anyone else here?"

Gong Yuanzheng looked back at her, pursed his lips, and smiled a little embarrassedly: "If the sound is too loud, it will seem empty here... I'm afraid there will really be an echo."

This answer was quite unexpected. Zhang Xueming was stunned for a moment before she realized that she had made a mistake. His answer reminded her of what she had said in Jiao Gong, so she couldn't help but lift her sleeves to cover her mouth and laugh: "I thought this was a habit you had developed since childhood."

"I can't even speak by myself." Gong Yuanzheng glanced at her in surprise and said frankly, "My father always taught me by calling me to the pharmacy in the main hall or taking me to the pharmacy in the medical hall. No one would visit me here, and the servants would not stay here after cleaning. Later, when my father passed away, Zheng Palace became even quieter."

He also explained: "I like quietness and don't like noise. Noise makes me feel irritated. But the quietness here, how should I describe it... It's like there's always a very thick quilt pressing down on you, so you can't breathe properly. Most of the time I regard this place as a place to sleep and work."

He took Zhang Xueming to the room closest to the big tree, which was a storage room filled with a lot of messy materials and strange objects.

The most common things there were thin hemp ropes, bamboo strips, plain silk cloth, and crookedly tied...lanterns?

Zhang Xueming's face froze as he thought of the lanterns of various shapes hanging from the roof of the teahouse. So it wasn't some kind of souvenir popular in a certain place and time period that Gong Shangjiao brought back from outside the palace gate for Gong Yuanzheng, but the proud work of the owner of the house, Gong Yuanzheng?

The former gold medal salesperson, who was very poor at various art schools, felt a little numb on her scalp. She prayed in her heart that Gong Yuanzheng would never ask her what she thought of the film, and definitely not ask her what a certain object looked like. Please forgive her lack of imagination, and that she could not imagine anything better than money.

Fortunately, Gong Yuanzheng did not do so.

He just closed the sliding door and asked Zhang Xueming to sit anywhere. But there were only two long benches, so they each took one.

"When I don't want to go out and sleep at night, I will come here to make lanterns for a while." Gong Yuanzheng casually picked up a lantern frame made of thin bamboo strips and thin hemp ropes with a very strange shape and hung it on the wooden frame in front of him, and began to make it. "I want to make a big dragon lantern, but every time I make it, it is not quite the same as I imagined."

His movements were skillful, yet clumsy. It was obvious that he had no professional guidance and had to rely entirely on his own exploration.

Zhang Xueming was itching to try: "Can I try?" She has learned weaving and carpentry, so it shouldn't be difficult, right?

Gong Yuanzheng happily gave up half of the bench and asked: "Have you ever made lanterns before?"

"I have made small orange lanterns, pumpkin lanterns, paper lanterns, wooden-framed glass lanterns, and Kongming lanterns, but I have never made bamboo lanterns." Zhang Xueming picked up a piece of bamboo strip and felt something was wrong as soon as he started working. He changed to another one but it was the same.

In her opinion, making bamboo-frame lanterns should have something in common with bamboo weaving craftsmanship. The bamboo strips used must be depilated, cut, planed, soaked and dried before use, otherwise it will be difficult to shape them.

The bamboo strips used by Gong Yuanzheng were only roughly processed. They were OK for making round and long cylindrical bamboo lanterns, but to make other shapes... no wonder there were so many deformed finished products.

"Did you handle these bamboo strips yourself?" Zhang Xueming didn't intend to make things difficult for himself and decided to make a simple portable mushroom lamp.

With her inner strength protecting her clothes, she was not afraid of being hooked, and her body had been tempered so well that she was not afraid of getting scratched even with her bare hands.

"No, I asked someone to buy them for me from a family in Old Dust Valley that specializes in making and selling lanterns." He asked curiously, "What kind of lanterns are those you are talking about? Are there lanterns that can be made without bamboo?"