The Romance of a Young Painter

When Zhou Nianjiu came back and saw the blisters on Meng Xing's hands, he took out the medical bag for him to deal with without saying a word.

"I won't thank you for doing this." Meng Xing said.

Zhou Nianjiu held his hand stubbornly, wrapped a circle of gauze around him after treating the blisters, and said, "Why do you always act like you reject everyone?"

Meng Xing said: "I never believe that there is goodwill without a reason in this world."

"Believe it or not, I don't have any purpose in doing this, and I don't need your gratitude." Zhou Nianjiu packed up his things, took out some of the cold medicine after thinking about it, and handed the rest together with the medical bag to Meng Wake up and say, "This is for you, we'll be in different places for the next few days, I'm sure you need this more than I do."

Seeing that Meng Xing didn't answer, Zhou Nianjiu simply stuffed the things into his backpack, turned around and went to the kitchen to help.

Aunt Li carefully prepared this meal at noon. In addition to the two dishes mentioned to Zhou Nianjiu, two meat and one vegetarian were added. This is simply too much for Zhou Nianjiu who prefers meat but has eaten a lot of vegetarian food in the past few days. It couldn't have been better, this time for lunch it was the first time that everyone was present in the past four days, and the old man who was usually in the house also came out and drank a bowl of chicken soup.

After lunch, Aunt Li sent Zhou Nianjiu to another family down the mountain. The owner was Zhao, a carpenter in the village.

"Master Zhao, my name is Zhou Nianjiu. I will trouble you in the next few days." Zhou Nianjiu greeted people politely.

"The old man told me that you can live here with peace of mind these few days. I am usually alone in this room. You don't have to be restrained. What should you do? By the way, put the things first, and I will show you first." Look at what I've made." Carpenter Zhao's face was ruddy, and he spoke with full of air.

"Okay." Zhou Nianjiu liked this straight-talking craftsman, he put the suitcase by the door, and followed Carpenter Zhao into the workshop.

The workshop occupies more than half of Carpenter Zhao's house. It is divided into upper and lower floors, both of which are of wooden structure. In the middle of the first floor is a huge workbench, which is not round or square, and looks a bit strange. There are blueprints and tools on it. There are also a few oddly shaped wooden products, which look unfinished. On the ground beside them are some finished tables, chairs and shelves. The style looks ordinary and the workmanship looks very regular. Zhou Nianjiu remembers the old man's wheelchair. It is also this style, not fancy, typical pragmatism.

Carpenter Zhao didn't even look at these, and took him directly to the second floor, which is another world.

If the first floor shows simple pragmatism, then the second floor shows ingenious craftsmanship. On the right side of the stairs, there is a complete regional landscape, with mountains and mountains. There is a village in the mountains, and several families live in it. There are a few young children playing outdoors. They look naive. Whether it is a mountain, a village, or a child, they are all made of wood.The next one is a half-face of flowers and birds. Looking at it, it should be a pendant on the wall. Osmanthus osmanthus is in full bloom, half a full moon is exposed on the treetops, and a bird is fluttering its wings, which is lifelike.

Zhou Nianjiu was completely attracted, he didn't need Carpenter Zhao to lead the way, but looked at each piece carefully, and half a day passed before he knew it.

"Young man, the light is not good enough now. If you like it, you can continue to watch it tomorrow. Anyway, my place is not locked. You can come in at any time." Before the young man came out at dusk, he came to look for him.

"That's great! Master Zhao, I haven't paid much attention to woodcarving before. I never knew that a piece of wood can be so exquisite. I noticed that the colors of several objects and the texture of the wood itself are subtly blended together. It's really beautiful. Already!" Zhou Nianjiu couldn't help being a little excited when he discovered the New World.

When he heard this, he spent his time observing his works. Carpenter Zhao was very happy and couldn't help sharing his wooden scriptures with Zhou Nianjiu: "Every piece of wood has its own different growth experience. The variety, region, and age of the wood , and every season it experiences during the growth process will make it form a unique texture. In the eyes of people who understand wood, the texture of wood can speak, and it makes people who touch it follow its mind To shape it, to make it happen."

"It's the first time I've heard such a statement." Zhou Nianjiu was very interested in this.

Carpenter Zhao picked up an uncarved log from the wall and said: "A piece of wood is a dead thing in the eyes of ordinary people, but to us craftsmen, it is a baby with an immature mind. How can this baby grow up?" To be successful, and to look beautiful, this is what craftsmen pursue in their life.”

"When you get a piece of wood, you should understand its whole picture immediately, and then go deep into every detail to predict the possible changes that may occur outside the core under the surface. beautiful,"

"This kind of beauty makes you marvel at the wonderful workmanship of the Creator, and then it will guide you and let you present it. In fact, it is not I who sculpted it, but it chose what it should be."

Zhou Nianjiu was in awe of this old craftsman's comprehension, but he still had doubts, and asked: "A hundred people may have a hundred different opinions on the same thing, how do we know who is closest to the thing itself?" What about one?"

Carpenter Zhao said with a smile: "For a craftsman, you have to study hard and practice hard. When the time comes, you can see the part that is closest to the truth. But, for wood, it is a treasure when it meets a good craftsman. Get those ones, ahem, then it will just be a piece of rotten wood."

Zhou Nianjiu said: "Master Zhao, you are a good craftsman."

Carpenter Zhao laughed loudly and said, "You are quite good at talking, I like it."

Zhou Nianjiu was a little embarrassed, this was the first time someone praised him so much, obviously he usually spoke the truth, and the effect he got was really different according to the situation.

Carpenter Zhao's family doesn't usually have a party, and the two went to the restaurant in the village to eat together at night. They chatted for a long time at the dinner table, and Carpenter Zhao was basically talking about it, and Zhou Nianjiu listened carefully and occasionally asked a few words.During the period, the waiter reheated the dish twice, and then rudely reminded Carpenter Zhao that the dish would be too hot to eat, so Carpenter Zhao took it away.

Back at his residence, Carpenter Zhao was still in good spirits. He lit a charcoal basin, smoked a bunch of old pipes, and said comfortably, "Xiao Zhou, this man talks a lot when he's old. They I think I'm talking endlessly, and I don't usually communicate with anyone. Fortunately, the old man arranged for you to come over. Unfortunately, you can only stay here for a few days..."

Zhou Nianjiu felt that this half-day was the most fulfilling in the past few days, and Zhao Carpenter's casualness also freed him from the constraints of being in other people's homes, so he couldn't help suggesting: "When the event ends, the school hasn't started yet. If you want, I can stay in the house." Stay here with you for a few more days."

Carpenter Zhao said with a smile: "I can't decide this, I have to ask Mr. Fang."

Zhou Nianjiu asked suspiciously, "Who is Mr. Fang?"

Carpenter Zhao realized that he had made a slip of the tongue, and quickly explained: "It's the secretary of our village party committee. This activity you held this time was approved by him. You don't know him, so I'll ask him tomorrow."

Zhou Nianjiu nodded, but didn't delve into it.

For the rest of the time, Zhou Nianjiu spent time in Carpenter Zhao's small workshop building. His attention was always attracted by the ingenious wooden handicrafts on the second floor. Each piece has its unique beauty, which made Zhou Nianjiu addicted to it and couldn't extricate himself.It was only when he went downstairs in the evening of the third day that Zhou Nianjiu pulled away from it. He inadvertently set his eyes on the first floor. Usually at this time, Carpenter Zhao was waiting for him at the workbench and called him to eat, but today Carpenter Zhao Not there.The whole workshop was very quiet, only the sound of footsteps and the creaking of the wooden stairs could be heard. Zhou Nianjiu suddenly felt that the seemingly ordinary objects and semi-finished products on the first floor were talking to him, asking him to stay.Zhou Nianjiu really wanted to stay for a few more days, he wanted to learn more from Carpenter Zhao, but the winter camp was closed on the second day, and all the students had to gather and return, and they were not allowed to stay after the activity without permission, and because of the confidentiality agreement, He didn't even know the location and name of the village, so it would be difficult to find it later.

The farewell dinner was eaten at Aunt Li's house. Although Aunt Li said that she was not good at cooking, Zhou Nianjiu was still absent-minded about eating this meal. Several times when chopsticks picked up vegetables, they poked holes on the table, and even Meng Xing next to him gave him an extra look. .

Finally, the old man spoke and said, "Xiao Zhou, you should go to Lao Zhao's place after dinner."

"Huh?" Zhou Nianjiu didn't recover for a while.

The old man smiled and said: "Old Zhao, a big wooden idiot, finally met a bosom friend. He knows you are leaving, and he may be sighing right now. Tonight, you should hurry up and have a good chat."

Zhou Nianjiu understood the old man's intention at once, and couldn't help but said with joy: "Okay! Thank you!" He picked up the rice in the bowl twice, greeted the people present in a hurry, and ran away without looking back out.

The rest of Carpenter Zhao’s house was dark, except for the workshop where the lights were on. Zhou Nianjiu ran over and knocked on the door, and then pushed in. He saw Carpenter Zhao sitting behind the oddly shaped workbench, holding tools and wood in his hands, working silently. with one thing.

Zhou Nianjiu didn't bother him, he sat quietly and watched the outline of the object in Carpenter Zhao's hand, and then processed it into shape bit by bit. It was a long thing, and he could tell it was the barrel of a paintbrush at a glance.

Carpenter Zhao handed him the penholder and said, "See if it's in your hand."

Zhou Nianjiu quickly took it and tried to draw it.

"I'm used to holding the pen at a lower position, so here," he indicated the position, said, "It's better to be a little thinner here, but not too much."

Carpenter Zhao quickly changed it according to his intention, then polished it smooth, handed it to him and said, "Try again."

Zhou Nianjiu took it with both hands carefully, and this time it felt better than ever before, and she couldn't help but praise: "Master Zhao, your craftsmanship is really amazing, the brush holders I made outside before are not as easy to use as this."

Carpenter Zhao said "hmm". This time, he did not say much, uncharacteristically, but picked up another piece of wood and continued to work on it. For a while, he only heard the sound of tools touching the wood.Zhou Nianjiu still stayed quietly aside, he knew that he should not disturb a dedicated craftsman at such a time.

The old and the young got along like this all night, and at dawn, Zhou Nianjiu got the farewell gift from Carpenter Zhao—a set of paintbrushes.

Zhou Nianjiu wanted to say something thankful, but in the end he only said one sentence: "I will make good use of the things you gave me."

"That's it. You have to make the best use of everything when you make it," Carpenter Zhao patted him on the shoulder lightly, and said, "Xiao Zhou, it's dawn, you should start, and have a good journey."