The Pentium Era - South to North

This was the first time Zhang Chen met Mr. Xie. Mr. Xie was short and thin, with a long slicked back hair and a thin layer of hair that was meticulously combed back, exposing his entire broad forehead.

He wears a silk floral shirt on the upper body, a pair of light gray thin trousers on the lower body, and a pair of white leather shoes on the feet. On the ring finger of his left hand is a large jade square ring. This outfit, at first glance, is in accordance with the Hong Kong style. Create your own business image.

Mr. Xie's chin is clean-shaven, there are no wrinkles in his clothes and trousers, and the shoes on his feet are spotless. When he speaks, his voice is neither soft nor serious, and all his expressions are restrained and shallow. Whether he laughed to express appreciation or surprise, he stopped as soon as he reached that point. It was obvious that he was a very careful and measured person.

Liu Ligan said that he was a carpenter, but Zhang Chen felt that he was more like a watchmaker or a private seal engraver. Zhang Chen remembered that when he was a child, he often liked to go to the cooperative. Zhang, no matter how noisy the streets outside are, once inside, everything becomes quiet instantly.

Their behavior and movements are always light and small. When talking to others, there is not much verbal or eye contact. Any loud sound may startle a person who is immersed in correcting himself. The watch hairspring, or the customer's name is written on a small piece of horn or plexiglass in regular script the size of a mung bean.

Even if he is a carpenter, Zhang Chen thought to himself, Mr. Xie should be a cabinetmaker like Qi Baishi, who specializes in making wood carvings for beds of wealthy families.

Mr. Xie shook Zhang Chen's hand. His hand was soft, and he didn't look like someone who had done heavy physical work. He smiled softly and said, "I've admired you for a long time."

Zhang Chen didn't know where this long admiration came from. He looked at Liu Ligan. Liu Ligan smiled and said, "It's me. I often mention you to Mr. Xie."

"Then there will be no good things to say." Zhang Chen joked.

Mr. Xie grinned: "They are all good words. I can prove it."

While the three people were talking, someone came in with a piece of paper, looked at Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan, hesitated, and Mr. Xie said to her, tell her what happened, these two are not outsiders.

The visitor then smiled at Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan. Zhang Chen could see from her eyebrows that this person must have been an actor before. When she looked at people and smiled, her eyebrows would rise up, and her eyes were clear and warm. Agile and shining, these are all acquired through years of training and are displayed subconsciously.

She told Mr. Xie that the notice regarding night snack subsidies for KTV staff requires your signature.

Her speaking voice was very crisp and pleasant. Zhang Chen felt that she should be among the people who had their voices raised just now.

Mr. Xie said yes.

What surprised Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan was that this person said he wanted Mr. Xie to sign, but he did not give the piece of paper to Mr. Xie. Instead, he waited for Mr. Xie to return to his desk and sit down before taking it. He picked up the piece of paper and started reading. After reading, he looked at Mr. Xie.

Mr. Xie said yes. The man then put the piece of paper in front of Mr. Xie. At the same time, he took out a pen from the pen holder, unscrewed it, put the pen cap on the pen holder, and handed it to Mr. Xie. Mr. Xie put the piece of paper in front of him. signed.

Mr. Xie returned the pen to the person. The person tightened the cap of the pen and reinserted it into the pen holder. Then she straightened her body and naturally stood in a T-step with her feet. She bent slightly toward Zhang Chen and Liu Li. He bent down, nodded with a smile, and walked out.

Both Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan were silent, still thinking about what had just happened. Mr. Xie chuckled softly and said, "You're curious, aren't you? To tell you the truth, I am illiterate and my family was poor when I was a child. Four brothers could only If we can afford two people to study, the third child and I will learn trades, I will learn carpentry, he will learn pig butchering, and the eldest brother and the youngest will go to school."

Only then did Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan realize. Liu Ligan said, "Then I admire Mr. Xie even more."

“What do you admire?” Mr. He was the first college student in our village to go to Bing University, and later became the county magistrate, so he was able to study well."

"What's the use? This county magistrate is not working for you now." Liu Ligan said.

"It's different. When the county magistrate can honor his ancestors and visit the grave, he can put a gun on the grave. No matter how much money he makes, at most it will come in handy when you need to repair the grave and let you pay for it." Mr. Xie said with a smile. .

"Where is Mr. Xie's brother?" Zhang Chen asked.

"You mean the youngest? Alas, when I was in high school, I went home to help harvest rice and was electrocuted to death by an exposed wire of a rice beater in the field. It's a pity, he was also good at reading."

Mr. Xie sighed repeatedly, and Zhang Chen quickly said sorry.

Mr. Xie said it didn't matter, it had happened decades ago. Now that I think about it, sometimes I can't remember his face clearly.

The woman who had just gone out came in again. She nodded and smiled at Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan, and then told Mr. Xie that Master Fu said that the banquet can be started.

Mr. Xie stood up and said to Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan: "Let's go and try the craftsmanship of our master."

Liu Ligan had been here several times before, always eating at the restaurant next to their entertainment city. This was his first time eating in their cafeteria. Mr. Xie told them that the master chef had just come from Changsha, so he wanted to invite You guys try my hometown food.

The area of ​​the staff canteen is not large, about sixty or seventy square meters. There is only one large round table and six or seven square tables. What is different from the staff canteens of other units is that each table here is covered with tablecloths and the floor is very thin. It was clean and looked more like a restaurant. Zhang Chen felt that such a neat canteen would go well with Mr. Xie's people.

There are not many people eating regularly in the canteen. They are the management and logistics personnel of their company, as well as the management personnel and security guards of the entertainment city. They will rush here to have dinner. Other people in the entertainment city, the young masters and ladies, and the staff, They all come to work after having dinner at home, and this canteen is not open to them.

When they entered, there were two or three people dining. When they saw Mr. Xie, they all stood up. Mr. Xie greeted them in Changsha dialect.

Mr. Xie led them into a door at the end of the restaurant. When they opened the door, Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan felt like they were in a cave.

Inside the door is an exquisitely decorated antique box. In the middle of the box is a round table made of huanghuali, more than one meter wide. Surrounding the round table are six high-backed official hat chairs. For sitting comfort, the chairs The surface and back of the chair have satin cushions.

On the side of the box next to the outside window, there is a row of red sandalwood screens, covering the entire window. On the screen, there are red birthday pictures.

On the other side of the box is a Huanghuali raglan table with an upturned head. In the past, it was used to place corals, seat screens and vase flowers. But now it has been turned into a wine and tableware table, which is quite unique.

All the furniture looked genuine and dated.

Mr. Xie asked Zhang Chen and Liu Lipole to sit down.

When he saw Zhang Chen staring at the circle of Wanfu patterns on the edge of the table, he smiled and said to them, this table is called Lark Terrace in our jargon, because it looks like the one in a lark's birdcage where the lark rests and sings. The round tabletop was originally equipped with four poufs. I found it uncomfortable, so I replaced it with these chairs.

"It's quite coordinated." Zhang Chen said.

Mr. Xie pressed his hand on the tabletop and gently touched it. The whole tabletop actually rotated. Liu Ligan shouted: "Damn, is this still a rotating tabletop?"

Mr. Xie smiled proudly and said, "How about it? We carpenters aren't stupid, are we?"

"Mr. Xie, did you collect all of these?" Liu Ligan asked.

"Yes, after all, he was born as a carpenter. He can't help but see something good. People nowadays think it is too old and too old, thinking it is a rag. In fact, you see, it is neat and tidy, but it is not quite beautiful."

Mr. Xie and Liu Ligan said: "I forgot to take you to see it last time. There were a lot of junk like this in my warehouse. When I first arrived in Hainan, when houses were demolished in the old city, I sent people to demolish them if they didn't want them. Go pick it up and give some money for firewood, and people will be so happy that they will ask someone to take it away and throw it away, and it will cost money. It has been missing in the past two years, but Taiwanese are collecting it, and they know the goods."

"I didn't expect that Mr. Xie would have such a paradise here." Liu Ligan said.

"A few fellow Hunan fellows encouraged me and said that in Hainan, I can't eat authentic hometown food. The main reason is that I am greedy and want this one." Mr. Xie looked at them and said with a smile: "I don't have other hobbies. I am young. I still liked women when I was young, but now I am old and can no longer climb up and down, so all I can do is eat."

Mr. Xie spoke so frankly that both Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan couldn't help but laugh. Liu Ligan said that Mr. Xie still looked charming and suave, but he didn't look like he couldn't crawl.

"No, no, no, let me tell you, when I was 17 or 18 years old, I was really fierce. I followed my master to build furniture in other people's houses. On the straw pile of the pig pen, I killed someone's guest, but the man found out about it. , armed with a rake, he chased me all over the fields and tried to kill me, but that one escaped quickly."

Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan laughed.

"What happened next?" Liu Ligan asked.

"I was scolded half to death by my master, and I worked in someone's house for a month, but in the end I didn't even get a penny of wages."

Mr. Xie said that Zhang Chen and Liu Ligan couldn't help laughing again.

The door opened, and a little girl with a round face put her head in and asked: "Mr. Xie, Master Fu wants to ask you, can we serve the food?"

"Okay, you help us serve the food." Mr. Xie said to her.