20 years of restarting life

Chapter 2666 The Line of Destiny

"Zheng~"

Zhao Changan unsheathed his iron sword, and in the red light of the setting sun, the mirror-like surface of the sword reflected the skylight.

He held one end of the wooden stick in one hand, and used the other hand to cut it quickly from the third part of the way there.

Long, thin wooden strips left the wooden stick one by one, just like cutting bamboo. First they were thick bamboo strips with big openings and closings, then they became thinner like bamboo strips, and finally they were bamboo paper as thin as a cicada's wing, which were swept away by the river as they fell.

The whole process lasted for three or four minutes. Zhao Changan said, panting a little, "It's done."

He cut off one-third of the length of the wooden stick in his hand and handed the rest to Zheng Wenzhen.

The river breeze blew away the fine sweat on his body, and he suddenly felt cool.

What Zheng Wenzhen held in his hand was not a uniform round wooden stick of fifteen centimeters long, but it was round enough.

I feel the delicate and clean wood texture as I stroke my palms and fingers. I don't know why I feel comfortable and relaxed.

This is the genetic imprint that has been formed and deposited deep in the blood of the Chinese people over thousands of years, the pursuit of harmony between man and nature and a return to nature.

Looking at the sweat on Zhao Changan's forehead, Zheng Wenzheng asked in confusion: "You didn't sweat after chopping so many pieces just now, but you're sweating after only three or four minutes of chopping one piece?"

"Just now I was following my heart, free and easy like an antelope hanging on a branch, so it was very easy. Now I am deliberately pursuing it with a purpose, the difficulty between the two is simply incomparable."

Zheng Wen Zheng seemed to understand, but he couldn't let go of the wooden stick in his hand.

At that time, neither of them knew how great a stir and upheaval this pine log handle would cause in the entire aesthetic sculpture world in the near future.

What Zhao Changan didn't know was that he was actually the first person in the world to reach the level of a gentleman who concealed his talent.

While waiting for the rice to cook and the fish soup to be cooked, Zhao Changan and his disciple Zheng Wenzhen sat down to drink tea and chat, gazing at the ethereal tranquility of the distant mountains and nearby waters. The azure blue sky gradually darkened just like in the Quicksand Record.

I feel that life is like this, what else can I ask for.

Zhao Changan and Zheng Wenzhen both enjoyed the fish soup and rice with cracklings made by Yehuo. They shared a bottle of Wuliangye liquor. Zhao Changan drank more and Zheng Wenzhen drank less. They both drank until they were slightly tipsy, which was just the right amount.

After finishing the meal, Zhao Changan first cleaned the cooking utensils, then dug out the roasted chestnuts and sweet potatoes from the sand and placed them on the table. He opened a bag of melon seeds, and the two of them drank tea, ate chestnuts and sweet potatoes, smoked and chatted.

"In fact, your master and I have dreamed of living a secluded life in the mountains many years ago. But at first, I was obsessed with fame and the excitement of banquets, and all kinds of women, fat and thin. Chang'an, do you know why your master likes you so much? Because you are like me at that time."

Zheng Wenzheng was still playing with the round wooden stick in his hand under the starlight and moonlight, with the shadows of the mountains reflected on the river surface and the stars and crescent moon in the sky. He felt the wonder of the wood texture that was in harmony with nature. He felt relaxed and happy, and under the influence of the wine, he couldn't help but open his heart.

“You know Zheng Chi’s family, and I helped them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to work in the brewery and would have to continue living and fishing in Taohua River.

We are a river dweller, we live and eat on the boat, we don’t have any land on the ground, we have no place to stand. Many of my childhood friends still live on the boat all year round.

You may never know that those beautiful women despise us. Even those coarse women in the riverside villages look down on us.

My first woman was an illiterate woman who treated me like a piece of shit because I was a live-in son-in-law. I was beaten to death by her family of three. In winter, the lazy woman didn't want to get out of bed to pee, so she took a basin and peed in the bed. I told her that if she really wanted to pee in the bed, she had to pee accurately and not make the bed smelly.

There was a large area of ​​old graves on the back hill of that village. Whenever I had time, I would go there to practice calligraphy. They thought I was possessed by evil spirits and fed me manure.

Until this time, your master really couldn't stand it anymore, so he left there alone and went to the city to tell fortunes for people."

"Pfft~"

Zhao Changan couldn't help laughing, and the tea in his mouth sprayed out: "Master, I thought you went to the city to write for people, and changed your fate from then on. My fate is in my own hands."

"Then you are no longer my master. You would have starved to death long ago. But most people are kind-hearted. They know that I am just like this and they can't force me to starve to death. So later on, whenever I had tears in my eyes and ran away, they would just turn a blind eye."

Zheng Wen Zheng was also laughing: "When I have money, I will buy calligraphy books, good brushes, ink, paper and inkstone. In Shancheng, your master has been fortune-telling for three years, and all the money has been spent on this. I live at the backyard wall of the old sawmill that you built. Why do I live there? Because only there are wood and sawdust shavings, and I can assemble bed boards, tables and wooden houses, and I can also make fires to cook.

It was not until three years later that I encountered an opportunity. The province held a provincial youth calligraphy competition. This was when I, your master, had a chance to turn things around.

Your master has suffered so much in that stupid woman's house over the years, but it can't be said that it was all in vain. At least he learned to be flexible, to read people's expressions, and when necessary, he could use his face as a cushion for other people's butts.

  But your sister is your master's life~

Especially your senior sister, she was like crazy in those seven or eight years, buying all kinds of expensive clothes for Xu Songlin. Xu Songlin's monthly salary was only a few hundred yuan, and any shirt he wore was worth half a month's salary. He would wear ten or so such shirts, long-sleeved or short-sleeved, every year, and he would never wear them the next year. And suits, one set was three or four thousand, and he would wear at least two or three sets a year.

Your master's wife and I actually saw it clearly, but we dared not say much. We just thought that after your senior sister gave birth to a child, life would slowly return to normal. Xu Songlin's mind was sinister and vicious, but even a tiger would not eat its own cubs. Who would have thought that he had no intention of having a child with your senior sister.

These years I have wanted to stop worrying about these trivial matters and be able to be as relaxed and content as I am now, just like the happy and fulfilling days behind the sawmill.

This idea is just an idea, I never thought it could be realized, because I, your master, have to work for other people's restaurants, companies, and write to make money, so I dare not waste my time like this."

Zheng Wenzheng ate the sweet and sticky chestnuts and sighed, "Your master is already 66 years old this year. In the past two years, he could still rock with your master's wife on the bed, but he became more and more powerless. By this year, he no longer had the desire to do so. He liked to talk to those pretty girls, and he just liked to look at pretty girls to prove that your master is not old. But in fact, he is old."

Zheng Wen Zheng seemed to be a little drunk, and his words were incoherent, but he still let Zhao Changan know why he was so good at building stoves, and that he had such a deep connection with Yijian Wood Saw Factory.

However, by the time his father was recruited by the First Construction Company, Zheng Banxian had changed completely and became a famous young calligrapher in Zhengzhou City.