Northern Song During the Xining period, there was a carpenter named Guo Cheng in Guolou Village. He had very exquisite craftsmanship and was known as "Sailuban".
Guo Cheng is as famous as his name, honest and trustworthy, and he is looking for him to do work in all neighbors. The price is very fair and he never bids everywhere. Therefore, almost all the tables, chairs, benches, and cabinets in the villagers' homes within a radius of about ten miles were made by others.
Carpenters are physical jobs, they are axe, chisel, saw and plan, and they can't do it without a single piece of strength. Carpenter Guo has worked carpentry work all his life. As he grows older, he becomes increasingly unable to do these heavy work, so he wants to take an apprentice. First, there is someone to help you when working, and second, I hope that your good skills can be carried forward.
Although being a carpenter cannot be rich, if you have good skills and have always had work to do, you will still be more than enough to support your family. If he had a son, Guo Cheng would be willing to pass on his skills to him. If you have a skill, no matter what the world is, you will always have a bite of food and will not starve to death.
Unfortunately, Guo Cheng only has one daughter. Although he and his wife love him very much, it is very unrealistic to let a girl inherit his mantle, which is something he has always regretted.
Guo Cheng was born in a poor family and only became a disciple at the age of nearly 20 to learn from his skills. Since then, he has been studying hard and polishing his skills. After he finished his studies, he went to villages and households day and night and worked hard just to earn a few taels of silver to support his parents.
It was not until he was in his thirties that Guo Cheng had a little savings. With the help of enthusiastic villagers, he married Chen Lamei from Chenjiazhuang . Soon, his wife gave birth to a daughter for him, and the two named her daughter Guo Shuzhen.
In a blink of an eye, Guo Shuzhen was eighteen years old, and at this time, Guo Cheng was over fifty years old. At this time, Carpenter Guo had two wishes: one was to find a good apprentice and inherit his good skills; the other was that his daughter could marry a good family and have a good home.
But realizing both wishes is not an easy task. Just say that his daughter is looking for a family in-laws. If a family of average family is not favored by Carpenter Guo, he is afraid that his daughter will suffer if she marrys him; and if he gets married into a wealthy family, he is worried that his daughter will lose her status and will suffer if she gets married.
Besides, looking for an apprentice requires not only good character, humble and down-to-earth, hard-working, but also spiritual and high understanding. All kinds of skills can be understood at a glance. It is best to learn from one example. In this way, those who learn will make rapid progress and those who teach will be relaxed.
No gold is pure, no one is perfect, and it is impossible to satisfy all aspects. As he gets older, Carpenter Guo can no longer wait. So when Lin An's father sent him, Guo Cheng reluctantly agreed to accept him as his disciple.
For Lin An, Carpenter Guo has some understanding of it. In short, Lin An is his distant relative. When Lin An was young, his father wanted to send him to the school of Mujiang Guo to learn skills. But Guo Cheng always ignored it and kept hesitating.
According to Guo Woodman's observation, Lin An is good at everything, but he lacks spirituality and lacks understanding. In his opinion, if such a person works hard, he may be able to learn his skills and become a good craftsman, but such a person has enough integrity and lacks innovation, can inherit his skills, but cannot carry forward it. It is almost impossible to surpass him.
The facts are also as Guo Cheng expected. Since Lin An came to Guo’s family to learn from him, he has worked very hard. Lin An is already eighteen years old. He is tall and big, magnificent, full of youthfulness, and seems to have endless strength every day. Even if I was tired of working during the day, after sleeping, it seemed like nothing happened the next day, and when I got up, I became lively again.
With Lin An as an apprentice, Carpenter Guo was really relaxed, and he rushed to do many heavy and tiring tasks. There was some heavy wood, which was very difficult for both of them to move. Lin An carried it on his shoulders alone and could still walk as fast as he could.
At the beginning, Carpenter Guo taught him to open the wood, saw the round wood from the middle, and then used an axe to roughly cut off the edges and corners of the sawed wood, and then taught him to use a plane to plan the surface of the wood into flat and smooth wooden blocks.
These are all physical work, but Lin An never complains about being tired. Seeing his apprentice shirtless, sweating profusely, and busy busying himself, Carpenter Guo often sighed: It’s good to be young!
Kuo Carpenter spared no effort in his apprentice's work, and he was both satisfied and distressed. The child's mind is real. When he couldn't stand it, Carpenter Guo said to him, "If you are tired, take a break. If you don't have to hurry, you can take your time!"
Lin An answered every time, "Master, I'm not tired!" Then he grinned and showed a silly smile. This made Guo Cheng speechless.
After the carpenter's basic work was done well, Guo Cheng also taught his apprentices to chisel eyes, drill holes, open mortise and tenons, assemble them, etc.
Lin An doesn't learn quickly, and often the master can't learn it once, but he has tenacity and drilling strength. If he doesn't work once, he will do it twice until he learns it. In less than three years, he had learned Guo Cheng's skills almost everything, and he could do ordinary jobs even if he had no choice.
In addition to learning craftsmanship, being an apprentice also has to take care of the food and daily life of the master's wife. Lin An has nothing to say about this. Since he came, he has contracted more than half of the housework of the Guo family, and the other half of it is done by his junior sister Guo Shuzhen.
Every morning, Lin An got up early and cleaned the house inside and out. At night, he would even prepare the foot wash water and bring it to the master to serve him to wash his feet.
Homes carry water, chop firewood and other heavy work, so they are naturally Lin An. His favorite thing is that when his junior sister cooks, he goes to help.
Sometimes, accidentally, Chai Hui got on his face, and Lin An "changed" into a big face, but he himself didn't know it. Seeing this, Guo Shuzhen couldn't help laughing and laughed "puff".
Junior Sister Lin An smiled and would also grin and laugh.
"What are you laughing at?!" Guo Shuzhen would ask him.
"It's nothing, I saw you laughing, there must be something happy. I can't help laughing if you are happy." Lin An replied.
"Look at you so stupid!" Whenever this happened, Guo Shuzhen would scold Lin Ansha while taking out a handkerchief to help him wipe off the dirty things on his face.
In fact, Guo Cheng and his wife are also very good to this apprentice, but perhaps because of their respect for their master's wife, Lin An is always very restrained in front of them. Only in front of this junior sister who is not much different from his age can he completely relax and speak and do things.
After nearly three years of living together, the two young people who had just started to fall in love had both thought about each other. Although neither of them had broken the window paper, when they were together, some intimate little moves were telling their thoughts.
Mrs. Guo is a careful person. She can see the clues from the words and deeds of her two children. So he said to Guo Cheng: "Have you noticed something wrong with these two children recently?"
"What's wrong? Is something wrong? Is something happening?" Men are always careless in these things and are not sensitive to women. When they heard the wife's question, Guo Cheng thought something was wrong.
"You! You only know how to do your work, and you don't care about your two children!" Mrs. Guo complained.
"I think they often play and play now, and their movements and speeches are getting closer and closer." Mrs. Guo said: "The two children have grown up now, so it is not a norm for this to continue? When neighbors see it, they will inevitably gossip!"
"Children are joking, it is not normal to play and play! Don't make a fuss!" Guo Cheng said disapprovingly.
"Shuzhen is eighteen years old and is already a big girl. How can she get married in the future if she lets her do anything?" Mrs. Guo rolled her eyes at her husband and said, "We are only one daughter. If something happens to them, it will be too late to regret it!"
"What can they do?" Guo Cheng said, "Besides, my daughter always wants to get married when she grows up. If she likes it, I think Lin An is a pretty good child, and the two are quite compatible."
" Lin An is a child who is down-to-earth, motivated, and has a good character, but his family is too average. If his daughter marrys him, she may suffer a lot in the future. "Mrs. Guo said: "Our daughter deserves a better person. "
" In recent years, there have been many people who come to propose marriages. You always complain about this and that. I wonder what kind of son-in-law you want to choose. "Guo Cheng said: "I am over fifty years old. I hope my daughter gets married sooner and I can hold my grandson earlier. It's almost the same, don't pick it all. We know Lin Angen's true nature. If these two children are interested in each other, it's better to let them go. "
" Lin An is good at everything, but he is too honest and often suffers when dealing with others. "Mrs. Guo said: "He has learned almost all the skills, but I don't know if he can support his family alone without you as a master and earn money to support his family. If not, I wouldn't agree even if my daughter is interested. "
Guo Cheng thought about it and felt that what his wife said made sense. He thought about it for a while and said to her, "Let's give him a try! Panjiazhuang There is a Mr. Pan who wants to invite me to make some furniture at his house, but I have never agreed. Because Mr. Pan is famous for being hard to speak, he often deducts wages from his family. It’s better to let Lin An try it. If he can get the salary he deserves from Mr. Pan’s house, it means he has the ability to make money to support his family. If Shuzhen marrys him, we can rest assured. "
" is a good idea. "Mrs. Guo said: "We only have one daughter. If she really likes Lin An, I will follow her wishes. I just don't know if she has this meaning. "
" Then you go and ask her! If my daughter has this meaning, I will arrange for Lin An to work at Mr. Pan’s house. "Guo Cheng said.
Mrs. Guo followed her husband's advice, so she found Guo Shuzhen and said to her indirectly: "Zhen'er, you have grown up and have reached the age to talk about marriage. Recently, more and more people have come to propose marriage. A few days ago, Mr. Liu asked someone to propose to his son. What do you think? "
" Is "Mr. Liu from Da Liuzhuang's family? I won't marry him! "Guo Shuzhen said without hesitation: "I heard that his son is a fickle radish. After talking about it for a few times, he dumped him! "
"It is normal for young people to love to play, and they will get better after getting married. Their family is in good condition and they are very satisfied with you. Don't you think about it? "Mrs. Guo asked.
"I am marrying, not the conditions for marriage, I don't agree! "Guo Shuzhen refused decisively.
" You are not satisfied with this, what about the second son of Zhang Wajiang's family? His family also asked a matchmaker to kiss him. "Mrs. Guo asked again.
"He is even more incapable! "Guo Shuzhen said: "I have seen this person. He is short and ugly. If I marry him, I can't stand it when I face such an ugly monster every day! "
" This doesn't work, and that doesn't work, so what kind of person are you going to find? "Mrs. Guo said pretending to be angry.
"I want to find someone like Senior Brother Lin An! Although sometimes it is a bit stupid, it is tall, handsome, diligent and down-to-earth, and has a good character! "After saying that, Guo Shuzhen realized that she had missed her mouth, and then she blushed with shame.
After listening to her daughter's words, Mrs. Guo understood eight or nine points, and then said, "Although your senior brother Lin An is good, she is too honest. I'm afraid he will suffer a loss outside! If you marry him, your mother is worried that he will not support you! "
" What's wrong with being honest? "Guo Shuzhen said disapprovingly: "Senior brother has the skills, so he will not starve to death. Didn’t my dad support the family outside by working as a carpenter? "
" is mule is a horse, just take it out and take a walk. "Mrs. Guo said, "I heard from your father that Mr. Pan from Panjiazhuang wants to find him to make furniture. It will take one month to get him. After the preparation is done, he will give him five taels of silver. Let Lin An go this time. If he can make the money back, your father and I will agree with you. How about it? "
" is a decisive one! "Guo Shuzhen said happily: "I believe Senior Brother Lin An can do it! ”
Then, Mrs. Guo told Guo Cheng about the results of the conversation with her daughter.Guo Cheng asked Lin An and told him that if he could earn back the five taels of silver, he would marry his daughter to him.
Lin An couldn't help but danced with excitement, grinning at the big mouth only knew that he was just a fool. Then he packed up a few pieces of clothes to change his clothes, and set off for Panjiazhuang with tools early the next morning.
Pan Yuanwai is a businessman who runs a cloth business and has a big family and a big business. When Lin An arrived at Pan's house, he saw that the Pan family's house was magnificent, with exquisite and unique decorations everywhere. After meeting Mr. Pan, he immediately explained his purpose.
Unexpectedly, after seeing Lin An, Mr. Pan was very unhappy. He looked at him with suspicion and said, "I invited your master Guo Cheng, and he was interested in his good skills. I didn't expect that your master is so difficult to invite. What I want to do is some exquisite furniture. Maybe you do it well?"
"It must be no problem. I have been studying with my master for three years. I can do it if my master knows it!" Lin An patted his chest and said confidently.
"Since you are so sure, let you do it. I hope your skills can be as good as your master. However, I am also saying ugly things ahead. If you don't do it well, I won't pay for it!" Seeing Lin An's confident look, Mr. Pan reluctantly said it.
"What my family wants to do this time is several sets of cabinets, and they want to carve the most popular patterns at the moment. The construction period is one month and the price is five taels of silver." Mr. Pan said: "The wages are very high. I hope you can do a beautiful job and don't let me down."
Lin An calculated, and there was no big problem in one month. Then he nodded and agreed and started working that day.
This is the first time since the apprentice that he left his master to work independently. It is the test of his master's wife for him, so he can't mess it up. Lin An worked very hard and carefully, and took out all the work he had learned in recent years.
Because he is far away from his master's house, in order to save time from back and forth, he eats and lives at Mr. Pan's house, which is also a carpenter's unwritten rule.
Lin An worked hard during the day and rested early at night to restore energy. Nearly half a month passed quickly.
On this day, when Lin An was working, a black dog suddenly ran past in front of him with a piece of meat in his mouth. Then he saw Mr. Pan holding a wooden stick and following behind him while chasing: "Beat you to death! You are the one who raises you to guard the house, but you know that eating all day long is not enough to eat a few large bowls in one meal! Eating like this, you will be poor at home!"
Lin An was a little dull, but not stupid, and immediately heard what Mr. Pan said. He was referring to mulberry and scolding the locust, thinking that Lin An ate too much every meal.
He felt very uncomfortable, but he still held it back. People are under the eaves and have to bow their heads. In order to get the wages smoothly, Lin An didn't want to have any troubles, so he swallowed his anger and still worked as if nothing had happened, but he only ate five or six points of fullness for each meal.
unknowingly, it was three days to one month left, and Mr. Pan’s family’s work was almost done. Thinking that he would get the wages soon, Lin An was very happy and hummed a small song while working.
After dinner in the evening, Lin An was about to rest. The housekeeper of Mr. Pan's house found him and said that someone was looking for him outside the door and asked him for help if he had something to do.
Who is looking for him at this time? Lin An felt a little strange. When he went to the door, he saw an old man in his fifties standing next to a carriage.
"Old man, are you looking for me? I don't know you? What's the matter with me?" Lin An asked straight to the point.
"Yes. It was my master Zhou Xiang who sent me here." The old man smiled slightly, bowed to Lin An, and said, "Although we don't know each other, my master has heard of your master and you, and knows that your master and apprentice skills are very good. My master has something to ask for help."
"If you have anything, please say, as long as I can do it, I will definitely help!" Lin An replied.
"It has been raining these two days, and my master's house leaked. After checking, I found that the roof was broken. After asking a bricklayer to repair the roof, I found that the beam was no longer useful because it was leaking. I wanted to find a carpenter to change it, so my master sent me to ask you for help change it."
" But I haven't finished my work at Mr. Pan's house. "Lin An said embarrassedly: "The work here will be over in two days. How about I'll help in two days? "
" I'm afraid it will be too late to wait for another two days. "The old man said, "The house beam should be changed very quickly. You should work hard tonight and tomorrow night. Work for about an hour every night before coming back, which will not affect your work at Mr. Pan's house during the day. "
" It's okay to go to the evening, but I have to say to Mr. Pan, and I can only go if he agrees. "Lin An said.
"That's natural, you go and tell him that I'll be waiting for you here. "The old man nodded in agreement.
Then, Lin An told Mr. Pan. Mr. Pan said that as long as he did not delay the rest of the work.
After a while, Lin An went out with the tools and took the carriage brought by the old man to change the beam of the house. After about an hour of repair, the old man sent Lin An to Mr. Pan's house in the carriage.
The next day, Lin An worked at the Pan's house as usual. Mr. Pan said to him: "Master Lin, you can finish my work tomorrow. Let's calculate the wages today! "
" OK! I've finished your work in just one month, just give me five taels of silver tomorrow! "Lin An said.
"Five taels of silver? I'm afraid there aren't so many. "Pan Man Wai said: "Let's calculate it! Overall, I am satisfied with the furniture you make, but the materials are a bit wasteful, so some money is deducted. In addition, you have food and accommodation in my house, and the food expenses must be deducted from the wages. "
" What? Do you also need to deduct food expenses? "Lin An said: "We work for others, and those who are far away usually eat and live at their employers' homes. This is an unwritten rule! "
" We didn't say that food and accommodation were not money at the beginning! "Pan Man Wai said: "The monthly food and accommodation fee is not a small amount, and I can't suffer too much. I don’t count too much, just deduct half of my wages. I’ll give you two taels and five cents of silver, so we won’t suffer any losses. "
Lin An was shocked. Only then did he realize that Mr. Pan's true face was true. He argued with reason, but Mr. Pan always insisted that he only gave half of the wages and was unwilling to give one more child.
Lin An wanted to cry without tears, and was in a very bad mood. He didn't know how to explain to his master's wife when he went back.
At night, the old man came again. What happened during the day made people uneasy. Lin An didn't want to go, but yesterday he promised others that he couldn't regret, so he went with the old man again.
Hit to Zhou's house and worked for about an hour. Fang Liang finally changed. Zhou Xiang took out three taels of silver to Lin An as a wage.
"Mr. Zhou, you gave too much. I worked at Mr. Pan's house for a month, and he only gave two taels and five cents of silver. I only worked at your house for two nights, and it was not worth so much money, so I can't collect this money. "Lin An said nothing, and said, "I have only been working in your family for more than two hours in total, but I will not accept the money. Just take it as a helping you! "
" You are such a good person! "When Mr. Zhou saw that Lin An insisted on not accepting it, he immediately said, "I can't let you work for nothing." Let’s do this. I’m in the cloth business, so I’ll give you two pieces of cloth! "
" Two pieces of cloth are worth a lot of money, right? If it is worth a lot of money, I can't accept it either! "Lin An said.
"I am doing a wholesale business, and the cost of two pieces of cloth is not much! "Zhou Xiang said: "My cloth wholesale is very cheap. If you want to do business in the future, you can also come to me. I will give you a discount. You will only charge you one tael of silver for ten pieces of cloth. "
" I only know how to be a carpenter, I don't know how to do business! "Lin An replied.
Zhou Xiang insisted that he accept two pieces of cloth as wages, but he refused to accept it politely. Then, the old man took a car and sent it back to the Pan family.
On the last day, Lin An finished his last work at Pan's house, packed up his things, and took the two taels and five cents of silver given by Mr. Pan and two pieces of cloth given by Zhou Xiang, and prepared to go back to the master's house, thinking in his heart how to explain it when he went back!
Also a cloth business, Mr. Pan, who is also engaged in cloth business, saw the two cloths in Lin An's hand, his eyes shone brightly, and his eyes could no longer leave him. He hurriedly asked him: "Master Lin, where did you come from?"
"This is what he gave to me after I worked in the Zhou family." Lin An answered honestly.
"These two cloths are very exquisite in color, so beautiful, they are not available here, and they should be worth a lot of money! Zhou Xiang you mentioned is so generous." Mr. Pan said.
"Zhou Xiang said it was not worth much." Lin An said, "He also told me that if I do a cloth business, he will only charge me one or two silver for such cloth."
"Ten cloth one or two silver? Are you sure you heard it wrong?" Mr. Pan asked in disbelief.
"Absolutely heard it wrong, that's what he said!" Mr. Pan was so excited that his eyes shone: "Can you take me to find him?"
"I went to his house, and I was riding in a carriage back and forth. I don't know where his house lives!" Lin An replied.
Pan Man Wai thought Lin An was deliberately not telling the truth, and then said, "You don't let you tell me in vain. I'll give you another 2 taels and 5 cents of silver as an introduction fee. How about it?"
"Don't let these 2 taels and 5 cents of silver be used for vain. It was originally the wages he made for excuses to deduct." Lin An thought for a while and said to Mr. Pan, "Okay! I'll take you there, but I only know one general direction, which is to leave your house and go north. It's about half a cup of tea. I'm not sure where I'm going. I only saw a big locust tree where I got off the bus."
"Hurry up, let's go now!" Mr. Pan said impatiently, and quickly took out 2 taels and 5 cents of silver and gave it to Lin An. Then he ordered the housekeeper to prepare the carriage, and the three of them went out together and headed north.
About half a cup of tea, the housekeeper said he saw the big locust tree. Mr. Pan and Lin An got off the car and saw a magnificent house coming into view.
"It's here!" Lin An said. Mr. Pan was very happy and immediately stepped forward and knocked on the door.
door opened, it was the old man who had picked up and dropped off Lin An earlier. The old man quickly welcomed the two of them in and informed them.
After a while, Zhou Xiang came out. Mr. Pan didn't say nonsense, but directly explained his purpose: "I heard from Master Lin that you are also in the cloth business. I think the cloth is of good quality. Can you buy some goods from you?"
"It's okay to buy goods, but my cloth is not cheap." Zhou Xiang said.
"Isn't it a tael of silver and ten pieces of cloth?" asked Mr. Pan.
"That's the price for Master Lin, if you give it, it's not the price!" Zhou Xiang said.
"How much does it cost?" Mr. Pan asked again.
"One tael of silver per piece!" Zhou Xiang replied.
"This is too different from the price given to Master Lin!" Mr. Pan opened his eyes wide and said, "For Master Lin's sake, can it be cheaper?"
"Okay! I think you really want it, so I will sell it to you cheaply, right?" Zhou Xiang said reluctantly: "One tael of silver and ten pieces! I will sell it to Master Lin! But this time, I won't be the case."
"Let's talk about the next time!" Mr. Pan said, "But this time you have to give me more goods. I brought a carriage over, give me fifty pieces of goods."
"Okay! Who told me to promise you!" Zhou Xiang gritted his teeth and said. After the negotiations were made, Zhou Xiang asked the old man at home to pack fifty pieces of cloth for Mr. Pan. Mr. Pan paid five taels of silver and went home happily.
"Thank you, Mr. Zhou! I don't know that he wants so many goods at once, you won't lose money, right?" Lin An said, "I will bring Mr. Pan to you, and he promised to give me two taels and five cents of silver.If you suffer a loss, I will give you the two taels and five cents of silver, and I will use it as compensation! "
" won't lose money! "Zhou Xiang smiled and said, "It's getting late today. You can rest here for one night and leave tomorrow! You are a kind person, we will stop drunk tonight! "
" OK! "Lin An also readily agreed.
Then the two of them drank and talked happily. After a while, Lin An was unable to drink and got drunk.
The next morning, Lin An woke up and found himself lying in a piece of weed. He was shocked and thought in confusion: "What's going on? Did he come out of the Zhou family after getting drunk? "
He looked at the clothes and tools again, and they were all around him, and there were two rolls of paper next to him. He touched his pocket, but there were ten taels of silver in it. "Why did you have five taels of silver more? "Lin An couldn't figure out where the money came from.
Look around again, the big locust tree still stood, but the Zhou family's courtyard disappeared for some reason.
Lin An was about to go back, but he didn't know which direction to go. In the distance, Lin An saw an old man in the morning light. So he stepped forward and asked, "Old man, how to get to Guolou Village? "
The old man pointed out the direction to him. Lin An kept thanking: "I drank too much at Zhou Xiang's house last night and couldn't tell the direction for a while. Fortunately, I met you. "
" Zhou Xiang? You can't be awake yet, are you? "The old man said: "Zhou Xiang has passed away for many years! He was a good person. He did a lot of good things for his fellow villagers during his lifetime. "
Lin An's scalp was numb when he heard this. He packed up his things and turned around and was about to leave. Before leaving, he saw a tombstone not far behind the big locust tree, with the words Zhou Xiang on it.
Lin An's back was sweating profusely, and finally understood how two pieces of cloth became two rolls of paper. I guess the cloth bought by Mr. Pan for five taels of silver has also turned into paper.
He touched the ten taels of silver in his pocket, thought about it, no longer afraid, bowed deeply to the tombstone, and then turned around and walked towards the master's house...
