A Craftsman’s Sole Devotion

At eighteen, Su Nian thought meeting Lu Shen was the greatest fortune of her life.

He was a leading authority in the world of cultural relics, yet in a small workshop in her hometown, he looked at a porcelain piece she had ruined and said, “There’s a soul of gold in this glaze.”

Over the next four years, he gave her the finest minerals, introduced her to reclusive master artisans, and kept every wolf who coveted her talent at bay. In the ivory tower he built for her, she grew from a girl with clumsy technique into the brightest rising star in the world of intangible cultural heritage. He remained as gentle as jade, always respecting the boundaries between teacher and student.

Until her twenty-second birthday, when she made her name with a stunning “Golden-Threaded Yaobian Tianmu Tea Bowl.” After the celebration banquet, he took her back to the ancient-kiln studio he had built for her. For the first time, he crossed the line, blocking her at the doorframe and refusing to let her in.

“Su Nian,” he said, his voice hoarse. All his gentleness fell away, revealing the possessiveness and pain he had kept hidden for so long. “I taught you pottery, and I’ve protected you through life. Now, could you teach me...”

He took her hand, stained with glaze, and pressed it against his heart.

“This place has been burning for nearly four years. How do I put it out?”

Only then did she notice that the shelves in the studio were lined with prototypes and flawed pieces from every work she had made over the years. Each one had been meticulously restored and carefully preserved by him to the highest standards.

So this was what it meant to cherish one person with an artisan’s devotion: before the world even knew her name, he had already regarded her as the one priceless masterpiece he would pass down for generations.