CHAPTER 282: CHAPTER 282: JUST ONE BREATH AWAY

The vendor wanted to challenge Lin Fan’s craftsmanship, but Lin Fan was not very interested. He didn’t need to defeat this vendor to prove himself, nor did he rely on this for a living.

"Forget it, I have no interest in competing with you," Lin Fan said blandly, and just wanted to ride away.

The vendor sneered, "What, kid, are you feeling guilty? I bet you don’t even understand wood carving. You’re just showing off in front of me. The moment I suggest a competition, you chicken out."

Lin Fan said, "You can say whatever you like."

Upon hearing this, the vendor became increasingly convinced that Lin Fan knew nothing about wood carving and grew even more arrogant. He began to shout, "Ladies and gentlemen, don’t miss out, come judge for yourselves! My wood carving skills are passed down through the generations, and I consider myself quite good. Yet this kid claims my skills are mediocre and says he knows how to carve wood. But when I propose a competition, he flatly refuses. Doesn’t this show he’s guilty?"

This call drew quite a crowd.

Among them were people jealous of Lin Fan. How could this poor dude on an electric bike have such a beautiful girlfriend!

Why not them!

"Oh please, this kid looks like he has no real skills at all!"

"Needless to say, he’s definitely guilty!"

"He’s just all looks, completely useless. He’s only good at deceiving little girls with his face."

The crowd pointed and whispered, many making snarky remarks.

Why did Lin Fan get such a beautiful girlfriend while being so poor? It’s just not fair.

Lin Fan couldn’t care less. Sure, he could show off a little and shut these people up, but he felt it wasn’t necessary. A true master doesn’t need to pay attention to such petty challenges. The best response to an opponent as insignificant as an ant is to ignore them completely.

Indeed, even though Lin Fan refused to compete, the vendor thought less of him for his reluctance but felt quite unsatisfied and almost wanted to grab Lin Fan to compete right there and then. This agonizing feeling was far more intense than being proven wrong by Lin Fan.

Lin Fan was just about to start his electric bike to leave.

Suddenly, Su Jinjin said, "Fan, I suddenly want a wood carving. Why don’t you carve one for me now?"

Su Jinjin couldn’t stand it anymore. This vendor was too despicable, trying to publicly humiliate Lin Fan.

Lin Fan could endure it, but she couldn’t!

She trusted Lin Fan’s character. Lin Fan was never the type to boast. If he said he could carve wood, he could definitely do it. If he judged the vendor’s work as average, he surely had his reasons.

Lin Fan said lightly, "You want it now?"

Su Jinjin said, "Yes, Master, could you give him a piece of wood?"

The vendor said, "No problem, I will provide both materials and tools!"

The vendor handed a set of tools to Su Jinjin.

Su Jinjin said, "Thank you. Fan, make a wood carving by my likeness, let’s see how close you can get?"

The vendor was delighted and quickly fetched a piece of wood and tools, saying, "Everyone watch closely, I’ll make a carving by the likeness of this lady too, let’s see who finishes faster, who gets a closer resemblance!"

As he spoke, the vendor eagerly picked up his tools and began carving, with clearly practiced movements.

It didn’t take long before the outline of the carving had emerged.

On the other side, Lin Fan took the tools and wood but instead of starting immediately, he studied them.

Lin Fan’s progress was clearly slower than the vendor’s.

While the vendor continued to work, he glanced at Lin Fan and snickered, "Clearly, you don’t know what you’re doing, stunned aren’t you!"

The crowd also pointed and commented.

"It’s hilarious, he clearly doesn’t know how to carve!"

"He was ready to bail, his girlfriend is practically his wingwoman! Making him embarrass himself publicly!"

"Hahaha... got betrayed by his girlfriend!"

"He shouldn’t have shown off."

Lin Fan seemed oblivious to the comments, suddenly smiled slightly as if he had a plan, and unexpectedly, his hands began to move, the knife touched the wood, swiftly chiseling away. Wood shavings flew everywhere.

Top-notch craftsmanship unleashed!

Upon seeing this, the vendor laughed, "And you call that carving? Not even drafting, randomly cutting away, clearly you don’t know what you’re doing. Keep pretending, you won’t be able to hold it for long anyway."

The vendor believed Lin Fan was just putting on a show trying to scare people because Lin Fan’s technique seemed downright wrong.

The vendor felt assured and no longer concerned with Lin Fan, focusing wholeheartedly on his own carving. He wanted to finish his carving to show Lin Fan what true wood-carving skills looked like.

Unbeknownst to him, ten minutes went by.

The vendor had carved the outline of a figure, resembling Su Jinjin’s physique quite well.

Seeing this, the crowd started praising.

"The master’s skills are impressive!"

"Really amazing, no wonder it’s a family heritage skill!"

"It must look great, I want to carve one as well."

Just then, Lin Fan, who had been swiftly cutting away with the knife, suddenly said, "I’m done."

He then stopped working.

At this sudden announcement, the vendor’s hand shook, nearly chopping off the head of his own sculpture.

What the heck!

Lin Fan must be deliberately trying to scare him!

The vendor was a bit ticked off, he looked up at Lin Fan, ready to curse him, but when he saw Lin Fan’s carving, he froze.

Lin Fan declared he was finished, yet his carving was a jumbled mess, not resembling a person at all. The cuts were exceptionally rough, as if it’d been randomly hacked, leaving a desolate mess.

The vendor nearly died laughing, holding his belly, "What? You call this done? You carved something like this, what is it?"

The surrounding people burst into laughter.

"It’s too funny, is this supposed to be a wood carving?"

"I could do better than that!"

"He clearly doesn’t understand wood carving, just a clown!"

"It’s hilarious, how embarrassing!"

"Vendor wins effortlessly!"

The crowd unrestrainedly ridiculed Lin Fan.

Lin Fan chuckled, "Oh, just missing a finishing touch."

Then, Lin Fan looked down and blew a breath at the statue before him.

Poof!

A swirl of wood shavings was blown away, revealing a sculpture.

A lifelike sculpture emerged from the scattering and falling wood shavings, with looks and posture identical to Su Jinjin, practically like a miniature version of Su Jinjin herself!

It seemed as though Lin Fan’s extraordinary craftsmanship had given it life. If not known to be a wood carving, one might even feel that in the next moment, the sculpture would move!

Amazing indeed!

Seeing this scene, the entire place suddenly fell silent.

As though bewitched, everyone was drawn to the sculpture.

All those who had ridiculed Lin Fan silenced themselves, replaced by expressions of shock.

The vendor was directly dumbfounded, with a clang the carving tools in his hand involuntarily fell to the ground, unnoticed by him, as all his attention was now fixated on the sculpture before him.

Oh my God, someone can actually carve wood to such an extraordinary level!

Inside, the vendor’s mind was already blown.

Lin Fan casually picked up the sculpture, handed it to Su Jinjin: "Here, it’s for you. Do you like it?"