Ji's courtyard is very similar to Chu Heng's. It also has three main rooms and an inverted terrace, with no east and west wing rooms. There are a few ridges in the open space in the middle courtyard, but it looks like it has been abandoned for a while, and it is all bare.
When Chu Heng came in, there was a snot-nosed kid squatting on the ground under the eaves. He didn't know what he was doing. When he saw a stranger coming, the little guy looked up. He was a little afraid of strangers, so he ran back to the house in a panic, and opened his crotchless pants. A shoe sole mark can be vaguely seen on the two buttocks exposed from the bottom.
It seemed that he had just been beaten, and it had not been more than an hour.
"This is my grandson. He is a little afraid of strangers." Ji Ye explained to Chu Heng with a smile, and raised his hand to lead him to a small room built with broken bricks and tiles next to the inverted house: "This way please."
"good."
Chu Heng carried the bag and walked into the room with a smile.
The house had no windows and the light was not very good. The first thing the old man did when he entered the house was to pull down the light cord on the wall. With a click sound, the high-wattage light bulb on the roof lit up.
Under the strong orange light, Chu Heng could see the room clearly.
The room is not big, only about ten square meters. There is a row of simple wooden workbenches next to the south and east walls. There are various tools on them. One of the vise also holds an unfinished hammer head. .
"Sit down."
At this time, Old Man Ji diligently moved a bench and placed it next to Chu Heng.
"Thank you." Chu Heng sat down next to the workbench, took the drawings and the box out of the bag, put them on the workbench, and said to the old man with a smile: "Master Ji, these are the style drawings of the jewelry I want. You can take a look at the materials first."
"I'm not busy. I have a few words to ask you first." Ji Ye didn't look at those things. He politely took out a cigarette and handed it over, and asked about his doubts: "Sir, I'm quite curious. This I don’t like to wear these things anymore, why do you still think of doing this?”
"Hey, you're talking about this." Chu Heng smiled and said patiently: "I work in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You should also know that in a job like ours, we have to come into contact with foreigners from time to time. , sometimes I have to attend some banquets, and I have to get some jewelry to support the occasion."
"You don't know, these foreigners are very particular. You can't always use the same kind of jewelry, and the style can't be too old, otherwise it will be easy to be laughed at. But we don't have money to buy new ones, so I will ask others if I can. I found you and wanted to ask you to give me some."
"Oh, I understand." The old man nodded suddenly, with a sense of national honor in his heart. He patted his chest hard and promised: "Don't worry, I will make this batch of jewelry for you well, and I will not let those foreigners do it." joke."
"Thank you for your trouble." Chu Heng smiled, puffed on his cigarette, reached out and pushed the things on the workbench towards the old man.
"Let me take a look first." Ji Ye took the drawing first, and as soon as his eyes met, he instantly froze.
He looked at it again and again, and finally scratched his head and asked him with a sad look on his face: "Sir, please forgive me for my poor eyesight, but what is this picture of yours... about?"
"Can not read it?"
Chu Heng glanced at him strangely, leaned forward, pointed at the first pattern on the first piece of paper and said: "This is a bracelet, roughly the same as a watch chain, a total of one hundred and eighty-six yuan." It is composed of connected rectangular fragments, each fragment must be inlaid with broken gems, and there must be a flower made of gems and gold in the middle part..."
Ji Ye is worthy of being a leader in the industry. He can tell the truth with just one point. After Chu Heng described it for a while, he already had a rough idea in his mind, and his eyes became bright: "This one is quite new. I have been doing this for so many years, and this is the first time." I see, but the process is not difficult and can be done."
Chu Heng felt relieved after hearing this, and then continued to explain the second paragraph to him.
"This is a brooch, inspired by the redbud flower. Oh, by the way, do you know the redbud flower?"
"I've heard of it, but I've never seen it."
"Then can you just listen to my description and make it?"
"You really think highly of me."
"Tsk, let's change it to peonies. Have you seen peonies before, right?"
"That's for sure. Who among the people in Sijiucheng has never seen this?"
"Okay, then it's peony, but the previous design needs to be changed... In this way, this brooch mainly highlights the word "colorful", but it can't be too flashy. Too easy is not enough. Come on, come on, take a look at these gems I have. , which color do you think is better?”
"Hmm... It's red, it's red, and it looks noble."
"Okay, let's study the leaves below. I also want to use gemstones for this leaf. You have to polish it very thin, make it translucent, moist and full, and verdant, and then use enamel to polymerize it. Is it possible to have row upon row of layers of beauty?”
"It's a bit difficult, but it's not a big problem. It can be done."
"What about the next one?"
"Wait a minute. I'll draw these first. You can see if it looks like what you want."
"well."
…
There were more than twenty kinds of jewelry that Chu Heng wanted to make. The two of them studied in the small studio for more than two hours, checking for omissions and omissions before finally settling on the final style.
"It's over."
His mouth was dry as he spoke, and he let out a long sigh of relief. He picked up the tea brought by Ji Ye's wife on the work table and took a sip. When he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered that there was something he had not explained, so he quickly said: "That's right. , Master Ji, I remember that a master like you must mark the jewelry he makes, right?"
"Yes, I have this habit, so it's easy to tell." Ji Ye nodded.
"Then don't forget to mark it." Chu Heng warned, then stood up, took out a hundred yuan from his pocket and put it on the table. He smiled and said: "This is the deposit. You keep it and leave the rest." I'll give you a piece when it's finished.
"Okay, thank you." Old Man Ji took the money with a smile on his face, counted it in front of him, and then carefully put it into his pocket.
"That's it, I'm leaving first."
After saying that, Chu Heng picked up his bag and turned around to leave.
Old Man Ji hurriedly followed him out to see him off, his attitude even more flattering than before. It was true that he was a master, but a master also had to eat, right? When it comes to your parents, you can't please them too much.
A few moments.
Chu Heng returned to the car, raised his hand to look at the time, and saw that it was almost time to get off work. After pondering for a while, he drove away quickly.
Not long after, the grandson came to the road that Zhang Yan must pass before getting off work.
"Crunch."
He parked the car on the side of the road, then Shi Shiran got out of the car, smoking while waiting for Zhang Yan to pass by after get off work.
More than ten minutes passed like this.
With a mess of hair, wearing tattered clothes, dirty and stinky, Zhang suddenly appeared on the street corner with this little bag.
The old man immediately spotted the saucy Volga and the man with a jade-like face beside the car. He grinned and quickly walked over.
(End of chapter)
