In the spring of 1984, the repercussions caused by "Practice is the only criterion for testing truth" had radiated from cities to most rural corners of the country. Although Yangshi Town was often affected by the sea breeze, the spring breeze of reform and opening up did not awaken people like other coastal areas. Like the people in the city, they were the first to bring more fresh air here, and the air is still filled with the ever-present damp and salty sea breeze. Most villages in the town have less than five cents of land per capita, and they still lack food and clothing. Low-voltage electrical appliances are a mystery to most villagers in the town. Young adults and even women in their 17s and 18s have gone away to work as masons, Carpenters and shoemakers came to make a living.
At the home of carpenter Yang Liugen in Liunan Village in the west of the town, a simple apprenticeship banquet was being held. Sixty-watt incandescent lamps emitted dim light. One-third of the small hall was occupied by wood, with small wooden tacks made of scrap wood. The square table is placed slightly in the middle. On the table, there are already fried eggs with vegetable skins, shrimp meat (a local shrimp paste made by grinding shrimps and adding salt in Wenzhou) mixed with green vegetables, cucumber, jellyfish skin, and fried meat with pea sprouts. Silk, four dishes of fashionable dishes. On the back wall of the main room is a portrait of Lu Ban, the founder of carpentry, and on the table against the wall are the tablets of his deceased parents carved by Yang Liugen himself.
50-year-old Yang Liugen is sitting upright on a small stool on the west side. Teacher Liu Wencai, Yang Liufang’s head teacher who teaches in the town middle school, is sitting on the east side as a witness of the apprenticeship banquet. Yang Liufang’s father, Yang Liushui, is accompanying him below. . The old lady of Yangliugen (the name Yangshi Town calls his wife) and her daughter Liu Xia are still busy making old duck soup stewed in wine in a kitchen made of felt and wooden boards outside the house. At this moment, 15-year-old Yang Liufang lowered his head and stood awkwardly beside his father, peeking at the dishes, smelling the aroma, and swallowing silently. The three adults were chatting, and no one seemed to notice Yang Liufang's humble gesture.
"The commune (although the Yangshi Town division was adjusted to a town in 1984, the older generation still habitually calls it a commune) in Zhangyang (a village affiliated to Yangshi Town), a new winding coil (a square low-voltage The transformer (transformer) factory needs to transport 100 wooden boxes every month. I am too busy, so Liu Fang can come over and learn slowly." Yang Liugen said slowly.
"Hey, Liu Fang is a very smart kid. It's not because of family difficulties. He will be promising if he takes the high school exam and continues studying. Since you have decided to come to Uncle Liu Gen's house to learn a craft, then study hard and love what you do." Liu Wencai answered.
"Thank you. Alas, seeing that Liu Fang is getting older, I can no longer afford to send him to live in Yueqing to attend high school. I have to let him learn how to eat. Brother Liu Gen, I will leave Liu Fang to you. If you don't obey me, you should be beaten or scolded, no mercy." Liu Genshui said timidly.
At this time, the old woman from Yangliugen brought the stewed duck soup and placed it in the middle of the small square table. Walked from behind Willow Gen, took a brazier from under the table, placed it on the inside of the threshold, lit a pile of prepared yellow paper, and yellow flames accompanied by green smoke instantly jumped in the pot.
"Come here, Liu Fang, and kowtow to our ancestor, your master and grandma."
Liu Fang followed Liu Gen to the threshold and followed what Abba (the local name for his father) taught him at home. He knelt down behind Liu Gen and kowtowed.
After getting up, Liu Wencai had already brought three glasses of white wine on a red plate. He walked up to Liu Fang and said, "Liu Fang, come and toast your master and his wife." Liu Fang timidly took the wine glasses one by one, knelt down and handed them to his master Liu Gen and his wife with both hands, and watched his master and his wife drink the wine. Finally, he kowtowed three times piously. The master helped Liu Fang to stand in front of him, and then handed Liu Fang an ink fountain as a return gift. This simple apprenticeship ceremony was completed.
Liu Gen's daughter, Liu Xia, who was in the second grade of junior high school in the town, was snickering next to her parents. Liu Fang looked up and saw her, and instantly blushed.
Liu Fang helped his drunken father home very late that day. From then on, Liu Fang learned carpentry skills from his master Liu Gen.
Liunan Village, where Yang Liufang was born, is located in the west of Yangshi Town. Unlike the villages near the sea in the south of the town, the west of the town is far away from the coast. In order to protect against annual typhoons and the heavy rains they bring for drainage, the rivers and ditches here are criss-crossed. The vigorous willows, like the villagers who have lived here for generations, are intertwined with their roots and branches on the shore, creating a quiet Jiangnan landscape. It is even more beautiful, the sunlight passing through the willow branches and leaves is delicate and soft, and together with the swaying willow trees, they guard this land and water. Therefore, most of the wood here is willow.
As spring passes and autumn comes, the grass grows and orioles fly, and catkins are flying all over the sky. After two years, Liu Fang, who could not even lift a piece of wood when he first arrived at Master Liu Gen's house, has been trained to be able to carry a three-meter-long diameter tree on his belly. A thirty centimeter section of willow tree, and then fixed it to two carpentry benches, holding a tape measure in one hand and an ink fountain in the other, like a master craftsman, skillfully measuring the ruler, making marks, and drawing lines... .finished in one go. Then according to the made size, the material is cut into standard size willow squares, willow boards and laths. As if destined, after two months of studying with his master, Liu Fang worked alone with these willow tree segments, and then repeated the cutting process day after day. He really lived up to the name given by his father.
The life of an apprentice in a rural family is very hard. On weekdays, apart from eating, drinking, and going to the toilet, he comes to the master's house after breakfast and has almost no rest time from seven o'clock in the morning until before dinner. Fortunately, Liu Fang is young and seems to have some rest. Endless efforts. The hands have also changed from the tender hands for reading and writing to rough hands with thick flesh and a layer of calluses. The upper lip has gradually grown a beard. The 17-year-old Liu Fang secretly cut it with scissors, but after cutting it, it became thicker. It was so thick that it pricked my hands, and later I didn’t dare to do it anymore, but like age, I couldn’t stop its growth.
Seeing Liu Fang's hard work, the master also felt distressed. Two months ago, he spent a lot of money to buy a small electric planer from Yueqing City, so that Liu Fang and the master would not have to use a big saw or a small saw to cut wood. A particularly thick piece of willow wood, an ordinary piece of willow tree, Liu Fang picked up one end and put it on the planer, holding the other end in his arms and pushing it forward, accompanied by the "squeaking..." the harsh friction between the saw teeth and the wood. The sound resounded like music throughout the courtyard of Master's home. Liu Fang saved time and effort by cutting the willow tree segments into the materials he wanted. Master Liu Gen also freed up his hands to buy some finished furniture such as wardrobes and desk stools and send them to the town for sale. He also took on some wooden frame packaging and production work at the small low-voltage electrical appliance factory in the town.
The willow wood squares and willow wood slats 1cm thick and 5cm wide produced by Liufang are used for transportation and packaging of these low-voltage electrical appliances. Now Liu Fang also knows that the professional name of the coil wrapped by Zhang Yang from the commune, which his master said when he was a disciple, is a "small transformer". This kind of small device is used in TVs, radios, or some chargers such as miner's lamps.
