Colorful years

When Congcong finally reached the top of the mountain after overcoming numerous hardships, he was stunned by the sight before him. He had originally thought that his father's place of work and life would be a simple hut that could at least provide shelter from the wind and rain, but what he found in front of him was just a thatched hut built against a steep cliff.

The thatched roof of the hut was tilted, as if it might collapse at any moment. It was supported by only four wooden pillars, making one worry about whether it could withstand the onslaught of strong winds and heavy rain.

The tree branches that form the framework of the house act as beams and rafters, intertwining together in a chaotic yet resilient manner.

Even more surprisingly, in order to obtain sufficient light for daily work, this hut only has a roof, and its three sides are completely unobstructed.

In this way, although it can ensure that there is enough light inside the house, it also means that it can only serve as a shelter from the rain and cannot block the cold, biting wind at all.

It is easy to imagine the immense suffering and torment that such harsh living conditions would bring to the people living here during the frigid winter.

Moreover, besides facing the challenges of natural elements such as wind, frost, rain, and snow, wild animals and venomous snakes frequently roam this mountain forest. Perhaps in some unexpected moment, a ferocious beast or a highly venomous snake will suddenly leap out, posing a serious threat to people's lives.

However, in such a harsh environment where danger and hardship lurk everywhere, from this day forward, young Congcong will have to rely on his father and embark on a journey of arduous labor filled with sweat and trials.

This was Congcong's first time experiencing the outdoors since he grew into a teenager, and the memory was quite vivid.

That very day, filled with curiosity and anticipation, Congcong eagerly begged his father to teach him the techniques for digging up gourds. For this child, everything was so new and mysterious.

The activity of digging up gourds, which was popular in the wild before the 1980s, is far more complex than it appears on the surface. In fact, the process involved is quite intricate and complicated.

The sheer variety of tools required is dazzling: not only are there common axes for chopping down thick branches; saws for cutting wood to obtain materials of the right size; chisels for carving holes or grooves in hard objects; and planes for polishing rough surfaces to a smooth finish.

In addition, a series of professional tools are indispensable—the large digging knife is suitable for deep digging according to the mold, while the small digging knife can precisely handle the details; the large shaving knife is responsible for removing excess skin, while the small shaving knife can carve out more delicate shapes; and there is also the unique round rolling plane, which can make the surface of the gourd present a smooth and rounded line.

The process involves six complex and meticulous procedures: wood carving, material collection, modeling, sampling, excavation, and shaping. Only after all these steps are successfully completed can the entire process be considered finished.

Next, we will take the making of a water ladle, a common item in daily life, as an example to explain the specific process in detail.

The first step is to select the material, which requires carefully choosing trees with fine grain and soft texture. After selecting the material, it is felled and cut into pieces that are roughly one foot and five inches long and eight inches thick.

Next comes the modeling and sampling stage. At this point, the carpenters rely on their superb skills to use tools such as axes and chisels to carve and refine the wooden blocks according to the approximate shape of the water ladle, thereby obtaining a rough model that is relatively close to the finished product.

Then comes the most crucial and demanding stage, which requires the most patience and skill. The craftsmen will use various tools, such as digging tools, shaving tools, and planes, to meticulously carve the rough model round after round.

They need to operate these tools with complete concentration, carefully removing the excess parts and constantly adjusting the curvature and thickness, striving to make every cut just right, until the water ladle is finally presented perfectly.

Fortunately, Congcong has sharp eyesight and is dexterous, so he learns quickly. The next day, he could handle all the other processes independently, except for the heavy work of cutting and quarrying wood.