Ethan Li's Lantern Love Chapter 10

The jade workshop founded by Xavier Zheng is located on the west side of a cross street in the middle section of Chengxi Road and South Gate.

This piece of housing land has several street-facing stores in front of it, which can be used as shop fronts. The courtyard and houses at the back have been renovated and transformed into a spacious jade grinding workshop.

In the workshop courtyard, there are two rows of houses in the north and south. There is a brick wall as high as a person around the courtyard. Behind the courtyard, there are two tung-lacquered wooden gates. In front of the gate is a street crossing. There is no threshold under the gate. There is a half-foot-high gate stone in the middle, making it easy for carriages to enter and exit.

In the yard, there are some jade materials piled up against the wall on the left, and a pile of discarded scraps against the wall on the right. In the corner next to the wall, there are some stacks of mechanical equipment and a pile of firewood for heating in winter.

Moyu's room has wider doors and windows and better lighting. Inside the room, there are several rows of foot-operated jade grinding machines and corresponding stools. Near the door, there is a rectangular brown table and a chair.

A wooden jade grinding machine; about three feet long, two and a half feet high, and about two feet wide. The shape of the machine is low on the left and high on the right, with four legs supporting it below. The right half of the machine is shaped like a table, and the left half is shaped like a stool, which is often called a "water stool."

On the left side of the water stool, there is an iron pot holding water, and some jade-resolving sand is placed in the water stool. Under the water stool, there are two pedal-type wooden boards. On the right side of the water stool, a rotating bearing is installed. The pedals and the bearing are connected by a corresponding belt. On the left end of the bearing, a round wheel-shaped iron grinding tool is installed. The grinding tool is also commonly called a "weight". "磠子" come in different shapes and sizes, with different specifications and thicknesses. When used, the jade grinder can install and replace the "stones" by himself according to the specifications and types required for the job at hand.

The jade grinders are all men. When working, they hold the carved jade work in their left hand, and grab some wet jade sand in their right hand. The two feet below have to step on the pedals in turn, and the belt drives the bearings and weights to rotate continuously. . At the same time, the jade grinder needs to align his hands with the part of the jade piece that he wants to carve, coordinate his hands and feet up and down, move flexibly and freely, and add sand to the weight in a timely manner, followed by a "rustling" jade grinding sound.

With clumsy machinery and primitive labor, the progress of carving jade is very slow. Carving and polishing a piece of jade is labor-intensive and time-consuming, ranging from a few days to several months. Large-scale jade carving work can take years and months.

In the craft of carving jade, every step contains special skills. Xiuyan jade has crystal clear texture, sparse texture, and beautiful color, but it also has natural characteristics such as hard, brittle, and no toughness. To carve and polish a piece of jade, you not only need to master the carving techniques and operating techniques skillfully and freely, but also need to be physically and mentally engaged, concentrated and focused when working. Otherwise, if you are negligent during operation and do not take care for a moment, the hard and brittle jade will be easily damaged. In particular, the jade pieces are so delicate that if you are a little careless, the jade work will be scrapped together with the work and materials. When all the previous efforts have been wasted, it is too late even for the elders to cry.

Xavier Zheng is young and promising, with an open mind. Since he started his own business, he has identified the potential development opportunities and profit margins in the jade carving industry, and is determined to break the rules, broaden his business scope, and start a jade carving business, so that his own jade resources can be supplied for export and export. development, determined to carry forward the magical jade carving craftsmanship of China.

When he started his business, Xavier Zheng relied on his wisdom and strategy to break the closed conservative practice of using individuals or families as units, and took the lead in establishing a combined Moyu management system. First, he recruited a group of young apprentices locally, and then recruited a master surnamed Cao from Hebei Province with comprehensive carving and painting skills to take charge of this group of people.

On this morning, the rising sun rose from the east, and the sunlight just shone in through the door and window. In the jade grinding room, the jade grinders had already sat on several machines and started their day's work. The sound of "rustling" jade grinding could be heard in the room.

At this time, Master Cao, dressed in dark blue Han Chinese cloth clothing, sat at the rectangular table. He was holding a piece of jade about the size of a ruler, soaked in water, with both hands. Facing the light coming from the door, he was intently analyzing the texture and fineness of the piece of jade.

Master Cao’s name is Cao Benqi, who is in his thirties. He is of medium build, medium height, square face, dark eyebrows, and a pair of bright eyes, which always reveal a look of wisdom. This man was born into a famous jade carving family, and his ancestor was a master jade carving craftsman who worked in the palace manufacturing office during the Qianlong period. Since he has learned art since childhood and has a strong family tradition, he also knows some writing, likes to read, and has a brief knowledge of literature and history, which further enriches his design skills and imagination and creation ability.

Xiuyan jade has fine texture, crystal clear color, and beautiful sparseness. However, the pieces of wool excavated from the mines have different shapes, types, colors, and sizes. They often contain dirty strands, impurities, and blemishes, and the surface is weathered. When weighing and designing jade materials, Master Cao uses his unique intelligence, extraordinary wisdom and vision to patiently and meticulously interpret and analyze every piece of jade. On the basis of a full understanding and conception of each piece of jade material, he applies techniques according to the materials, uses unique ingenuity, and skillfully uses materials to achieve the excellent quality of jade and the artificial artistic effect--- -Reveal fully and perfectly.

After analyzing the jade wool on my hand through perspective. Based on the texture, shape, color and other factors of the jade, Cao Benqi, after repeated thinking and deliberation, picked up the brush on the table, dipped it in ink, and painted on the jade blank --- -Outline a pair of unicorns. Immediately, he arranged the jade work of the pair of unicorns to Xiao Zhang, a jade grinder who stood beside him and had outstanding carving skills, and roughly explained the creative intention of this piece of jade. Then, the missing parts on the stone were planned in detail, and then Xiao Zhang was asked to take the water stool back and shape it.

After the jade grinder understands the creativity of the work, he goes through a series of operations such as cutting out the material, taking out the blank, shaping, finely inserting, and polishing. It is necessary to use and replace different abrasive tools, use various operating techniques and techniques to gouge out dirt and remove impurities and residues, and perform some selection and purification of the jade blank.

During the carving and grinding period, especially after the jade work has basically taken shape, Cao Benqi, as the overall designer of the jade, must use a brush to carefully draw and copy the prototype of the jade, and provide guidance to the carvers at any time. When necessary, the plan must be modified and adjusted at any time according to the texture and changes of the jade material, so that the finished jade can achieve the expected artistic effect of reasonable layout, compact structure, harmonious tone, and realistic image.

During the Qianlong period. Cao Benqi's ancestor was a jade carving craftsman in the palace building office in the capital. Because of his superb skills, he became famous for a while. At that time, due to corruption in the officialdom and low social morals, craftsmen devalued and rejected each other. In addition, they were loyal and kind-hearted, spoke straightforwardly, and were particularly upright in their dealings. As a result, they were slandered and jealous by some of their peers. When dealing with a certain official matter, because I adhered to my principles and was unwilling to distort the facts or act against my conscience, I offended an official who was in power at that time and was framed and persecuted by the bad guys. As a result, my whole family suffered. He was implicated, hunted by bad guys, and forced to live in a foreign land. From then on, the descendants of the Cao family kept their names anonymous and lived a wandering life. Cao Benqi had to travel all the way from Hebei and went through many hardships to escape the disaster and came to Xiuyan in the northeast.

At first, after arriving here, Cao Benqi did not say lightly that he had jade carving skills. At first, he just worked some part-time jobs at a landowner's house north of the town. In the winter of freezing weather, ice and snow, he was single, penniless, without a stable place to live, and sometimes he could not have enough to eat for several days in a row.

One morning, the north wind was howling and the wind was carrying snowflakes. Cao Benqi was walking in Chaicao Street at the northern end of the town, planning to go out to find some work and earn a meal. However, because of the cold weather, no food in his belly, and being freezing and hungry, he felt top-heavy and a little dazed. He fell down in the roadside market and couldn't get up.

At this time, Xavier Zheng's wife rode a carriage driven by Feng Tou from the mining area to the city for medical treatment. On her way back, she happened to pass by here. At that time, Feng Tou stopped the carriage. His wife poked her head out from the curtain and saw someone lying on the ground. He was wearing thin clothes and was weak. He was shivering from the cold and breathing slightly. Mrs. Yu was kind-hearted and kind-hearted, so she quickly took out a heating blanket from the car, and then took out some remaining broken silver and asked Feng Tou to give it to the poor man who was suffering from the cold.

Feng Tou is also kind-hearted and compassionate. After listening to his wife's instructions, he jumped out of the carriage and stepped forward to help the strange passerby up. He also went to a nearby restaurant, bought some hot soup and food, and fed him into his belly while it was still hot. Cao Ben was a genius. I finally regained my strength slowly and saved a life.

Shortly thereafter, after Xavier Zheng's father Zheng Shiqing passed away, he moved from his old house in the mining area to the city, planning to start a jade business and a jade grinding workshop.

During this period, by chance, Cao Benqi met Feng Tou, the driver of the Zheng family, on the street. During the brief exchange of greetings between the two people, Cao Benqi naturally wanted to inquire and greet him, and by the way, he said thank you to the lady who had rescued him! Occasionally, Feng Tou told the other party casually: The husband of the lady who once rescued you is Xavier Zheng, the famous jade mine owner in Xiuyan. Now, the Zheng family has moved to the city and plans to start a jade carving industry. Xavier Zheng is actively recruiting jade carving masters with jade polishing skills.

At that time, what was said was unintentional, but the listener was intentional. After hearing a few words from Feng Tou, Cao Benqi had an idea in his mind; in order to repay Mrs. Zheng's life-saving grace, he should dedicate his unique craftsmanship and not let it go to waste any longer. So, he found out the residential address of Xavier Zheng's boss, went directly to the Zheng family's house, introduced himself, frankly told the Cao family's jade-making background and his technical talents, and decided to apply for the job of starting the jade carving industry.

At that time, when Xavier Zheng started his business, it was the time to find and activate talents. After learning about Cao Benqi’s ancestral family history, his own carving skills and craftsmanship, and his life background and reality at that time. Xavier Zheng had a keen eye and decided to spend a lot of money to hire talents and take in this jade carving craftsman with comprehensive painting and carving skills and superb craftsmanship. Moreover, he was entrusted with an important task and asked to come to the Zheng family's jade workshop and hand over all technical matters of the jade grinding workshop to this person for management.

Mrs. Zheng saved a life, and Cao Benqi got acquainted with Xavier Zheng, and was praised and appreciated by the owner of the jade mine. From then on, Cao Benqi's ancestral carving and painting skills were put to use, he was given space to display his talents, and his life became stable. After many years of hardships, Master Cao is loyal and loyal, knows how to repay kindness, and is very calm-minded. He is treated kindly by his employer in life, and he quietly develops his potential at work.

Master Cao has extraordinary carving and painting skills and a high level of design. His employer also appoints people based on their merit and makes good use of their talents. In the spring of the new year, Xavier Zheng sold Cao Benqi a high-quality, spacious single-family house on North Street in the town. In the autumn of this year, he asked a reliable person to introduce him to a local girl named Zhang who was good-looking and worthy of her family. After winter, the two parties decided to get married. With the help of the owner's funds, the couple held a wedding at the end of the year and married Miss Zhang into the Cao family residence.

After one year of marriage. Cao Zhang became pregnant and gave birth to a fat boy for the Cao family. When Cao Benqi came here, he was originally alone, living a difficult life, and was single. Now, my life is stable and I have a wife and children. The family's life is rich, peaceful and happy, and the husband and wife are loving and loving.