Courtyard House: A Great Musician! Red Songs Resound Worldwide

"What's wrong, please tell me..." Jiang Datong was truly a shrewd person. Seeing Li Chaoyang scrutinizing the desk again, he could tell that Li Chaoyang probably had some opinion about it...

"Well, I think this table..." Li Chaoyang was still slowly thinking about how to put it.

Jiang Datong asked directly, "You don't like this style?"

"Hmm, it really is!" Li Chaoyang's eyes lit up. This old carpenter was too good at reading people...

"Here's the thing, I'll give you a drawing, and you can make it for me according to the drawing. Is that okay?"

"Well... if your drawing is correct, it can definitely be made." Jiang Datong hesitated slightly, took another puff of his cigarette, and said, "But Section Chief Li, you know that most of the desks in the factory are like this..."

"The materials used are basically fixed..."

Li Chaoyang smiled and said, "Don't worry, there won't be any major changes. The table frame doesn't even need to be changed."

"It's just a slight modification to the drawers and desktop...it won't cost much more material."

"Maybe we can use even less material..."

"Then there's no problem." Jiang Datong readily agreed when he heard Li Chaoyang say that.

Without further ado, Li Chaoyang returned to the main office, found an empty table and some white paper, and began drawing blueprints.

As a graduate of the Mechanical Engineering Department of Harbin Institute of Technology, drawing a simple blueprint is incredibly easy for him.

It was finished in just a few minutes....

Chapter Twenty-Six: Where to get the wood to make furniture?

It seemed that the old carpenter Jiang Datong was intentionally showing off his skills in front of Li Chaoyang.

After briefly glancing at the blueprints, he simply nodded and began to operate the machine.

Soon, the old-fashioned writing desk, which had just been set up, was improved in the direction of Li Chaoyang's drawings.

To be honest, Li Chaoyang could tell that Jiang Datong's cooking skills were truly exceptional.

I watched it with great interest for a while.

After telling Master Jiang that he would wait for him at the gate after get off work, he left with peace of mind.

I should go and thank Sister Li from the HR department, since she helped me a lot today.

If possible, I should treat them to a meal another day.

However, things didn't go as planned. When Li Chaoyang arrived at the personnel department, he found out that Sister Li hadn't been there all afternoon.

I don't know if it was Xiao Song's doing, but she was the only one in the entire personnel department.

He had originally planned to invite them to have a meal together, but Sister Li wasn't there.

But Xiao Song's fiery gaze made him feel a little awkward.

So Li Chaoyang only chatted with Xiao Song briefly before quickly leaving.

After checking the time, Li Chaoyang realized it was almost time to leave work, so he decided to go check on the security post at the factory gate.

The license plates should have been issued by now...

Sure enough, as Li Chaoyang approached the destination, he spotted the old bicycle with its license plate already on from afar.

Without any hiccups, he smoothly obtained the bicycle with all the necessary paperwork.

The license plate, stamp, and bicycle license are all included.

Furthermore, bicycles were registered at the gatehouse, so there will be no more obstacles in entering and exiting the steel rolling mill in the future.

As we were about to leave after getting the car, the factory's loudspeakers started playing the song "We Are Walking on the Road."

The stirring song was like a bugle call.

The once empty entrance to the steel rolling mill was instantly transformed into a bustling hub of people...

Suddenly, there were people wearing blue-collar work clothes carrying lunch boxes, and people in Zhongshan suits wearing badges and pushing carts.

There were also people wearing arm sleeves and with long braids swinging back and forth...

Li Chaoyang watched with amusement the bustling scene at the gate of the factory, which housed tens of thousands of employees, as they left work.

Not long after, Master Jiang also came out pushing a bicycle.

However, when he saw Li Chaoyang pushing a brand-new Phoenix 28-inch bicycle...

The joy in his eyes was impossible to hide.

Jiang Datong thought to himself that someone who bought a car so soon after starting work must come from a wealthy family...

And you can also tell this from the pack of Daqianmen cigarettes mentioned earlier...

Master Jiang has made up his mind to win the furniture job from Li Chaoyang...

This junior section chief must be very generous...

After the two left the factory area and entered the main road, Jiang Datong was no longer as careful as before when he spoke.

Riding his bike, he went straight to the point and asked, "Section Chief Li, your room must be missing a lot of furniture, right?"

"If you need any furniture, just let me know, and I'll bring my apprentices to your home to make a set for you..."

Seeing that he was so direct, Li Chaoyang stopped hiding his intentions.

"That's why we asked you to come and take a look."

“You said you had furniture made for that room before... but now there’s just a broken bookshelf, a table, and a few chairs.”

"Plus, a creaky wooden bed..."

"We still need to add a lot of furniture, not just the bed, which needs to be remade."

"We'll need to make another set of tables, chairs, and benches."

"A whole bunch of messy things, like desks, wardrobes, and cabinets."

"If possible, I'd also like to have another sofa made..."

Li Chaoyang immediately offered a huge order, which completely astonished Old Master Jiang...

He didn't even dare to speak much after that...

I chatted with Li Chaoyang on and off the way, but I kept wondering what kind of background this Section Chief Li was.

But he himself, unintentionally or unintentionally, revealed all his secrets.

Actually, I don't have much of a history.

Originally, Li Chaoyang thought Jiang Datong's skills were quite good and assumed he was a descendant of a master craftsman.

But Jiang Datong was quite frank, stating directly that his ancestors were neither master craftsmen in the Ministry of Works nor had any renowned masters to guide them...

His family had been ordinary carpenters for generations, just trying to make a living in this area near the capital.

The craft has been passed down for several generations, but it's not that long ago.

He even worried that if Section Chief Li didn't think much of his skills, he knew many old carpenters who secretly did the work.

Not only are the guarantors reliable... but the fees are also low; they'll even work if you give them food.

Moreover, he was a craftsman who was very famous in Beijing in the past.

However, craftsman Li Chaoyang didn't have any special requirements at all.

As long as you can make it according to my drawings, that's fine...

It's not like we're making some legendary masterpieces... just some simple and comfortable furniture.

The steel rolling mill wasn't far from Qingyun Hutong, and the two of them arrived in no time.

After leading Jiang Datong to his room, Li Chaoyang suddenly remembered a troublesome matter.

How do I prepare this wood...?

Now there are carpenters, but wood is simply unavailable on the market.

Timber is a planned means of production... it can only be purchased with industrial production supply tickets and by production units.

However, he felt that since Jiang Datong wanted to take on this job, he must have a way to get the timber.

So he asked Jiang Datong directly, "Master Jiang, the furniture I mentioned on the way here requires a lot of materials."

"So much timber is quite a challenge. Do you have any solutions?"

Jiang Datong glanced outside before cautiously speaking in a low voice.

"Section Chief Li, if you don't mind, I have a way to get some from the logistics department."

"But not too much, just enough to make a cabinet or a table or something."

"As for the wardrobe, bookshelves, sofa, and stuff you mentioned, we'll have to collect those gradually..."

"It will only take a few months to collect them..."

But Li Chaoyang was a little reluctant when he heard that it had to be obtained from the logistics department of the steel rolling mill.

After all, this constitutes theft of public property... Furniture made from stolen wood is really unpleasant to use...

After thinking for a moment, he asked directly, "To be honest, Master Jiang, I'm not comfortable using the timber from the factory."

"If something goes wrong... it's not worth getting into trouble over some furniture."