Reborn Troops

Zhou Wanwan was sitting in the jewelry store, holding a pencil in her hand. The light in the store was dim, shining on her slightly tired face.

There was a piece of white paper spread out in front of her, with a few scattered strokes on it, which looked like branches covered with frost, or like the tangled thoughts in her mind.

She looked out the window. It was already dark outside, and there were only a few people on the street.

Occasionally a few cars passed by, and the light from their headlights drew streaks on the glass.

"How is this thing designed?" She sighed, threw her pencil on the table, leaned back, and the chair creaked.

At this moment, the door of the store was pushed open and a gust of cold wind rushed in. Zhou Wanwan looked up and saw

It was her friend Qianqian. Qianqian was wearing a beige windbreaker, holding a paper bag in her hand, with a smile on her face.

"Why, you look so sad?" Qianqian walked to the counter and put the paper bag on the table. "I brought you some food. Don't think about things when you are hungry."

Zhou Wanwan took a look at the paper bag, which contained several steaming hot buns. She reached out and took one.

After taking a bite, he mumbled, "Don't mention it. A customer wanted me to design rime on a necklace. How can I do that?"

"Rime?" Qianqian raised her eyebrows. "Is it the kind of icicles that form on trees in winter?"

"Yes, that's it." Zhou Wanwan swallowed the bun in her mouth and sighed.

"Tell me, how is this thing designed? You can't really hang ice flowers on it when you wear it around your neck, right?"

Qianqian smiled and pulled a chair to sit down. "Aren't you making things difficult for yourself? Rime is a natural thing. If you want to turn it into jewelry, you need some imagination."

"Imagination?" Zhou Wanwan rolled her eyes. "I almost forgot what rime looks like, let alone imagination."

"Then you have to go and see it." Qianqian said, "Find a place and see the rime with your own eyes, maybe inspiration will come to you."

Zhou Wanwan was stunned for a moment, then shook her head, "How can I have the time? Business in the store is already bad, and if I run out to see the rime, won't that delay things?"

"So what are you going to do?" Qian Qian asked, "Just sit there and wait for inspiration to strike?"

Zhou Wanwan didn't say anything. She lowered her head and took a bite of the bun. After chewing it for a few times, she suddenly raised her head and said, "How about... you help me design it?"

"Me?" Qianqian pointed at herself and smiled, "I don't know anything about jewelry design."

"Aren't you studying fine arts?" Zhou Wanwan said, "You're better at drawing than me, right?"

Qianqian thought about it and nodded, "Okay, I'll try. But you have to give me some time, I also need to figure it out."

Zhou Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief, and finally a smile appeared on her face, "Then I'll leave it to you."

Qianqian stood up and patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, eat first. I'll go back and think about it, and give you a rough sketch tomorrow."

The next morning, just as Zhou Wanwan arrived at the store, Qianqian came in. She was holding a piece of paper in her hand and smiling.

"So fast?" Zhou Wanwan was a little surprised.

"I drew it when I got home last night." Qianqian handed her the paper, "Take a look and see if it works."

Zhou Wanwan took the paper and looked at it carefully. On the paper was a sketch of a necklace with a few small crystals dotted on the chain.

It looks like ice crystals from rime, while the pendant is a thin piece of silver with a few fine lines engraved on it, like ice flowers on a branch.

"This... is pretty." Zhou Wanwan nodded, "But the customer wants rime, will this work?"

"Rime is a natural thing, and we can't completely replicate it." Qianqian said, "but we can express it in the language of jewelry.

These crystals represent ice crystals, and the patterns on the silver flakes represent the frost flowers on the branches. The whole thing looks like a small rime tree.”

Zhou Wanwan thought about it and nodded, "You are right, customers want the feeling, not the actual product."

"Yes, I feel like that." Qianqian smiled. "Show him this sketch. If he thinks it's okay, we can refine it."

Zhou Wanwan nodded, picked up her phone, and sent a message to the customer, Mr. Jiang Chao. Not long after, the other party replied: "It looks good, can you refine it?"

Zhou Wanwan breathed a sigh of relief, turned to Qianqian and said, "He said yes, what should we do next?"

"The next step is the details," Qianqian said. "We have to adjust the proportions of the crystal and silver pieces, and also consider the material and length of the chain."

Zhou Wanwan nodded, "Then... let's get started.

In the next few days, Zhou Wanwan and Qianqian spent almost every day in the store discussing the design of the necklace.

They tried crystals of various materials, adjusted the thickness and texture of the silver sheets, and even found several books about rime and studied them carefully.

"The ice crystals of rime are hexagonal." Qianqian pointed to the picture in the book and said, "We can cut the crystals into hexagons, which is closer to nature."

Zhou Wanwan and Qianqian were concentrating on studying how to cut crystal when the door of the shop was suddenly pushed open.

A cold wind mixed with fine snow drifted in. The two looked up and saw that it was Zhou Wanwan's teacher, Master Zhongshan.

He was wearing a dark gray wool coat, carrying a black leather bag in his hand, and had a gentle smile on his face.

"Teacher!" Zhou Wanwan stood up quickly and patted the pencil dust on her hands awkwardly. "Why are you here?"

Master Zhongshan smiled, walked to the counter, and his eyes fell on the sketches and several crystals spread out on the table. "I heard that you were designing a rime necklace. I came to take a look."