Feature Shows Extravaganza - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Old Qiao the Craftsman

Old Qiao was a craftsman.

In his youth, Old Qiao used to work as a carpenter and a mason, and the practice had given him very nimble fingers. He was very good at constructing miniatures out of walnut shells, and with that skill, he had earned enough money to build a two-story house and buy himself a car.

As he grew older, he couldn’t do that kind of work anymore.

He no longer carved any walnuts, but spent his days taking care of his grandchildren with his wife.

It wasn’t an easy job either, especially when his grandchildren were all primary school age. Not only were they uncontrollable, they would pester him unceasingly, asking him to buy them new toys.

His grandson loved the yo-yo, and wouldn’t get up until he bought him one.

His granddaughter was into Balala the Fairies. She would plead in a sobbing voice for a Fairy Crystal Necklace. Otherwise, she would start crying.

What was Old Qiao supposed to do?

Old Qiao knew perfectly well that his grandchildren were only trying to have what every other kid of their ages had.

However, the awareness didn’t change the fact that his grandson was rolling around on the floor while his granddaughter was tugging at his sleeve with teary eyes. How could he say no to these kids?

On the day of the fair, Old Qiao went to town alone after promising the kids that he would come back with the toys they wanted.

Old Qiao found that Photon Fairy his grandson had been begging for in a stationery store in town, as well as the Fairy Crystal Necklace that had made his granddaughter sob…

One was 250 and the other was 55!

OMG!

Old Qiao hadn’t spent many years in school, so as soon as he saw the price, he lashed out at the shop owner. “What kind of business are you running here? How can you ask for so much money for a piece of plastic?”

He probably wasn’t the first person who had accused the shop owner of that, so the man wasn’t offended and only explained with a smile. “Uncle, I didn’t set this price; the manufacturer did. It’s the same price everywhere. If you can find any shop that sells this at a lower price, I’ll give you ten times this much money!”

Old Qiao wouldn’t believe the profiteer.

He went to a stationery store outside a primary school instead.

All the students were in class at the moment, and the store looked deserted. The shop owner came out in a hurry to greet Old Qiao. “Hello, how may I help you? Are you looking for a pencil case or schoolbag? I’ve just had some fairy pencil cases and Blazing Teens bags in. Your kids will love them!”

“I’m not looking for that! Do you sell toys here?”

The shop owner chuckled. “Of course. All stationery stores in town sell toys as well.”

By selling stationeries and toys together, they would be able to empty the pockets of every kid!

Old Qiao nodded and asked, “This yo-yo called Photon Fairy, how much is it?”

“Photon Fairy?”

The shop owners darted around and said, “Well, it’s a really expensive toy, 9,999 yuan at least! And we’re having trouble restocking them. For every piece, I’ll have to pay 200 yuan extra. You know what? If you really want one, I’ll sell you for 10,000!”

10,000?!

Old Qiao thought he was going to have a heart attack.

“What kind of evil businessmen do kids have to face nowadays!?” Old Qiao sighed.

He had found the previous shop owner who tried to sell him a piece of plastic for 250 yuan, but this one was asking him one for 10,000 yuan?!

“You! This is pure extortion…”

Old Qiao was so mad that even his beard was shivering, and he wanted to choke this shop owner, whom he had deemed full of bullshit.

The shop owner felt wronged and tried to explain himself. “Please don’t say that! I’m only giving you the retail price suggested by the manufacturer!”

It’s priced by the manufacturer again?

Old Qiao smirked. “Don’t you try to fool me! No manufacturer can be that shameless! How can anyone ask for such a price for a piece of plastic?”

“Well, such a manufacturer does exist!”

The shop owner took out his most valuable item, a Photon Fairy S, out of the safe under the counter.

The suggested retail price was printed clearly on the package: 9,999 yuan!

Old Qiao was baffled.

What kind of evil company was this Pengda?

At such an exorbitant price, did they have no plans on selling the toy, or were they just trying to make some quick money and take off?

Seeing that the old man wasn’t going to buy the expensive toy, the shop owner sighed inwardly and said, “Uncle, please don’t be mad. This is a limited edition yo-yo, so of course, it’s expensive. If you don’t have that kind of budget, how about this regular edition one? This Photon Fairy will only cost you 250 yuan!”

“Only an idiot will buy it!”

Old Qiao couldn’t accept the prices, be they 10,000 or 250.

After leaving this store, Old Qiao went to all the stores selling toys in town.

And the price was indeed the same everywhere!

Old Qiao was very angry. Instead of buying a Photon Fairy, which only an idiot would pay that much money for, he only bought a 55-yuan Fairy Crystal Necklace.

The necklace was still an expensive piece, but at least it was within 100 yuan.

But that wasn’t the reason Old Qiao bought it!

He had only bought the necklace but not the yo-yo because…

Compared to the grandson who was rolling around the floor, he pitied his teary little girl much more!

Girls were supposed to have everything they wanted!

Forget the boy. It frustrated Old Qiao just imagining buying him such an expensive toy.

Lunch was ready when he reached home.

His grandchildren had also come back from school for lunch.

Seeing the Fairy Crystal Necklace she had been longing for, the girl ripped the package open, put the necklace on, and twirled around, feeling like the most sparkly fairy in the whole universe.

Seeing the sweet smile on his granddaughter’s face, Old Qiao found the 55 yuan well spent.

As for…

“Grandpa, where’s my yo-yo?”

What a little brat!

Heaving a sigh, Old Qiao stroked his grandson’s head and said patiently, “Boys shouldn’t be playing yo-yos. What happened to your marbles? And what’s wrong with sticks?”

The look on the boy’s face changed so abruptly that he seemed to have been training for this moment. Lying down on the ground, he started rolling around like a human gyroscope…

“No! I want a yo-yo! Grandpa, you’re not fair!

“You don’t love me!

“I want my yo-yo!”

All hell broke loose.

“These goddamn toy makers! Someone should shoot them to death!”

Old Qiao gave in eventually.

It wasn’t because he felt sorry for the boy, but because of something his wife said.

“Make him happy, or else, you’re washing his clothes!”

Seeing his grandson’s dirty clothes thanks to his rolling around on the ground, Old Qiao sighed.

He wouldn’t know how to do it!

However, he decided that he didn’t have to buy this ridiculous toy to make his boy happy.

Only a fool would pay 250 yuan for it.

He wasn’t going to buy it, but had decided to come out of his retirement. As an excellent craftsman, he was going to make his grandson a yo-yo that was identical to Photon Fairy!

It wasn’t too difficult to make either!

The bearing components gave him a hard time, but the rest was a piece of cake.

It took him three days to make the plastic parts and four more days to figure out the design of the bearings. In total, it took him a week to duplicate a Photon Fairy.

However, before he could give it to his grandson, a lawyer’s letter was delivered to his home.

The letter was stamped with the red seal of the legal department of Jiangchuan Pengda Pictures.

Old Qiao was speechless.