"Don't worry, you frisky one. Take these 10 yuan and give it to the village chief. You can't let anyone spend it."
"Master, no need, we have money."
"Yes, Master, we should pay for our apprenticeship!"
"What are you paying for? Use the money you earn to support your family, take it." Yang Liugen ordered in an unquestionable elder tone.
"I understand, Master, Master." Shi Yong took it obediently.
"Then let's go."
"Go, go. And don't forget the red candle."
"Okay, incense burner, incense and candles."
The next day, Yang Liufang and his master still got up before 5:30 according to their biological clock and continued to work on their furniture. Shi Yong and Shi Fang also came over to help them smear the opened mortise and tenon joints with cowhide glue and assemble them. There was a harmonious and busy scene in the factory.
After breakfast, Yang Liufang asked the master chef to cook a few dishes for lunch, and then blanch a cube (pork belly piece) in water. Shi Yong, Shi Fang, and Da Ga and Xiao Ga in the spray painting room were going to hold an apprenticeship ceremony. After he finished explaining, he continued to lead everyone to work with the master. In the past few days, he had benefited a lot from following the master's woodworking techniques such as mortise and tenon joints, carvings, and lines. It was more time-consuming and labor-intensive than just following the books. Much more.
For example, the dovetail tenon, the "mother of all tenons" invented by Mr. Lu Ban, says in the book: "The dovetail tenon has a narrow root and a wide end, and is in the shape of a big head. This method is called 'Zha' in ancient architecture, dovetail The tenon is larger at the top and smaller at the bottom, which is called a 'slip'. The purpose of opening it is to make the tenon and tenon have pulling force; to retract the slide is to make it tighter and tighter when it is dropped to increase the stability of the node." In the end, Yang Liufang did not understand the "stuck" and "sliding" in this. The furniture he made was just based on the patterns in Wang Shixiang's "Records of Ming-style Furniture" and repeated attempts to make them.
After the master came, he told him that the dovetail is a trapezoidal structure connected at right angles. It uses a swallowtail-shaped structure and the force is even after the synthesis. Old furniture uses half dovetails and trapezoidal structure mortise and tenon joints to form a perfect dovetail. Mao, furniture will never fall apart unless you violently dismantle it. The master made and explained at the same time, combining easy-to-understand theoretical knowledge with practice. Both Yang Liufang, Shi Yong and Shi Fang benefited a lot from it.
After receiving the assignment from Yang Liufang, the master master prepared the tribute early. While he was busy blanching the meat, he also carefully washed a few large, round tomatoes and placed them on a white plate instead of fruit. Near noon, Village Chief Shitou rushed back from the countryside with incense candles and incense burners. It was time to get off work at this time. Yang Liufang took them and took them back to the bedroom. Let Shi Yong, Shi Fang, Da Ga, and Xiao Ga wait for the master to take a bath, and let them wash their heads and faces and come in together.
By the time they finished washing, Yang Liufang had prepared incense candles, tributes, and wine on the Kang table. He remembered that he asked his middle school teacher to be a witness when he became a disciple. This time he left the head of Shitou Village to witness the ceremony, and explained the process of his apprenticeship to the head of Shitou Village.
"Brother Shitou, we will keep it simple this time, and you will be responsible for letting them offer wine. Each person will have three glasses of wine, first to the ancestor Lu Ban, then to my master, and finally to me."
"Okay, I took note of it."
When the master and the four apprentices who were going to be apprentices today came in, Yang Liufang stepped forward and said, "Master, everything is ready. Do you think there is anything else to explain?"
"Go to my bag and bring out the tablet of the ancestor."
"Okay, Master."
"When I was taking a shower just now, I told you that we carpenters inherit a skill. If your master's family is not here, I will accept the ceremony for them. Let's perform three obeisances. One is to the ancestor, the other is to the elders, and the third is to your master. Even if the ceremony is completed."
Yang Liufang took out the memorial tablet and placed it behind the tributes on the kang table. He asked the village head Shitou to light the incense candles and fill the nine cups. He followed the master and toasted the ancestor first, then knelt down and worshiped. Then the master and Yang Liufang received the ceremony in turn. Yang Liufang gave the tools he first bought at a supply and marketing cooperative and the hand tools he started his own business to his apprentices as a return gift, and the ceremony was completed. After removing the tributes and putting away the memorial tablet of the ancestor, everyone sat together and had a reunion dinner. During the dinner, the master asked to go home.
"Afang, Master is very pleased to see your achievements, and is also happy for your parents. You are pretty busy here, so I have to go back quickly."
"Master, if there is nothing going on at home, please stay here a little longer."
"Oh, you and my junior sister are the only ones at home, and you haven't finished the work you promised others, so you can't violate the contract."
Yang Liufang repeatedly tried to persuade him to stay, but finally reluctantly agreed to send his master back to Wenzhou tomorrow. While they were working in the afternoon, Yang Liufang called Li Tongfu and asked Zhang Feng to come pick him and his master up tomorrow. He wanted to take his master back to Wenzhou.
"In such a hurry, why not stay longer?"
"There are only junior sisters and junior wives at home, and they are still doing the work they promised others to do."
"Oh, okay, I'll inform him."
"By the way, I also want to buy a sleeper ticket for my master."
"Okay, I'll put down the phone and call Zhang Feng. It's more convenient if he's nearby."
"Okay, brother, goodbye."
"goodbye."
After making the call, he quietly put a thousand dollars at the bottom of Master's bag. If you can't find it now, you will find it when your master or mistress is packing your bag after you go back.
The next day he did not let the master work, but guided them from the side. After breakfast, Zhang Feng's car also arrived. After saying goodbye to everyone, Master and Yang Liufang got on the car and headed to Xizhou.
"Boss Yang, uncle's train ticket is for five o'clock in the afternoon. We have to wait seven or eight hours now. Do you want to take uncle to Xizhou to see the Yellow River?"
"Looking at the Yellow River, that's great. I've been here for two years and I've been busy so I haven't seen it yet. Master, do you think this arrangement is okay?"
"Okay, look at the big rivers in the north. The Yellow River is the mother river of us Chinese."
"Well, let's go and take a look. The First Bridge on the Yellow River and Baita Mountain Park are both quite spectacular. In the past two years, the government has built a walking trail on the Yellow River beach, using stone pillars and iron cables as guardrails. Walking on it and watching the turbulent waves of the Yellow River is fascinating. My heart is filled with gratitude.”
"Hey, Brother Feng, the more you talk about it, the more I want to see it, so let's do it. Let's have dinner by the river at noon."
"Well, let's take Zhaomagou Beach Road later. That road can lead directly to the bank of the Yellow River."
"Well, you are familiar with the road and I will listen to you."
At the three-way intersection, the car turned in the direction of Hongtuzhuang, passed Zhaomagou, and walked onto Hetan Road. After nearly a year of repairs, Hetan Road is flat and wide. After widening and deepening, Zhaomagou is now less watery than There used to be more, and although it was still turbid, the flow rate had accelerated. There are many new guillotines on both sides of the river. Although the leaves have begun to fall, they still look green. There are no tractors transporting sand back and forth on the road, so it looks a lot cleaner.
"Master, this is a newly built road by the government. In the past, this was a dirt road filled with yellow sand. The village in front of it fetched sand locally, and trucks transporting sand came and went."
"Well, the government is paying more and more attention to the west. The news also talks about focusing on the construction of the "Three West Projects"!"
"Yes, Master, the Three West mentioned in the news: Dingxi City, Hexi area and Xihaigu area are one of the poorest areas in China. This is the Hexi area among them. The year before last, I and the man who worked in our supply and marketing cooperative Wang Shan, the first time he went out to sell goods, he encountered a sandstorm on this road. We hid under the carriage for half a day and one night. It was really scary at the time."
"It's much better now that it's been renovated. Xihaigu is also planting a lot of trees there, so it will get better and better."
As the three of them talked, they arrived at the intersection of Zhaomagou and the Yellow River. On a forked road, the car drove onto the Xizhou Chengguan Yellow River Bridge. Zhang Feng deliberately stopped the car beside the bridge and asked them to get off the car and stand on the bridge to look at the Yellow River.
"Is this the Yellow River Iron Bridge?"
"No, this is the first highway bridge we built ten years ago. It connects Nanbinhe Road to the south and Yellow River Bridge North Road to the north. It is an important transportation hub in Xizhou City and provides transportation to Baiyin, Ningxia and other places. It is a choke point. The Yellow River Iron Bridge has now been renamed Zhongshan Bridge. It has become a tourist attraction and cannot be opened to traffic."
"Oh, the current of the Yellow River is so fast. Look, there are still whirlpools."
"This is the upper reaches of the Yellow River. It flows very fast. It's getting cold now, and it's the dry season soon. You can't see it anymore. If you can still see sheepskin rafts in the first half of the month, there's an old saying, 'Sheepskin rafts race warships.' It's about the West." The sheepskin rafts floating on the Yellow River in the state were faster than warships."
"Sheepskin rafts. When we first planned to set up a tannery, Afu once told me that sheepskins and cowhide from Qinghai and Xinjiang were transported from here to Inner Mongolia and then to Hebei and other places through sheepskin rafts."
"I don't know. There are many tourists on sheepskin rafts here, and there are also many people selling goods."
The three of them drove down from the Chengguan Yellow River Bridge and drove a distance. From a distance, they saw a huge arched bridge connected with a steel structure on the Yellow River. On the bridge, tourists in twos and threes lay on the railings to look at the Yellow River below.
"This is the Zhongshan Bridge, the first bridge on the Yellow River. You and your uncle will get off the car and walk to the bridge first. I will find a place to park the car and go over to find you."
"Okay, Master, let's get out of the car."
After getting off the bus, the master and apprentice walked towards the Zhongshan Bridge. Soon they arrived at the iron bridge across the Yellow River, which was isolated and blocked by stone piers.
"In terms of structure and shape, the Zhongshan Bridge is similar to the Waibaidu Bridge in Shanghai. They are both arched steel structure bridges."
"Oh, Master, you have been to Shanghai."
"Yes, I just got married to your junior wife. When we were not yet your junior sister, we had to go out to work after finishing the autumn harvest. We have seen this kind of bridge in Shanghai."
As they talked, the two walked under the arched steel structure in the middle of the bridge. Tourists all around the bridge held on to the railings and looked down at the swirling rapids of the Yellow River. They also found two empty spaces with no tourists and squeezed to the edge. They stood in the middle of the bridge, holding on to the railings and looking down. The river water was like a yellow mud soup, rolling and hitting the stone piers under the bridge. They seemed to be on a bridge moving forward. On top of the big ship that is moving hard.
