The Era of Hard Work

   Chapter 403 Chopsticks Bracelet

   During the May Day holiday, several key management personnel of the company took turns on duty. Lu Dong and Du Xiaobing were both on duty, so Lu Dong was on vacation for the first few days.

   Lu's Catering Company has established a framework and established a relatively complete system, so there is no need to worry too much about its normal operation.

  After eating in the morning, Lu Dong went to the North Side Food Company for a walk and took two packets of dried fruit and roasted seeds and nuts to try.

   Walking back and passing by Uncle Tie's factory, Lu Lanlan came out of the gate while sipping on the crispy and fragrant melon seeds.

   "Brother Dong, stop!" Lu Lanlan stopped Lu Dong and stared straight at Lu Dong...the bag in his hand: "Be honest, what a good meal!"

   Lu Dong gave her something: "That's it."

   Lu Lanlan immediately smiled and raised his eyebrows: "Brother Dong, you are so kind."

   She ran home, took out a few and stuffed them into her pocket, then ran out and followed Lu Dong, smashing the sunflower seeds as she walked, two dimples on Mei's face.

  Lu Dong asked casually, "Where's your dad? I went out for a run this morning, and I didn't see him running around."

Lu Lanlan said, "I got up early in the morning and went to the north to talk about business." She complained, "Brother Dong, you judge, every time my dad goes out of town, he doesn't even buy me anything delicious. How can he be such a dad? Yes, isn't it?"

   Lu Dong said deliberately: "You, eat carefully and become a fat man."

   "Cut." Lu Lanlan didn't care: "I don't get fat no matter what I eat."

Entering the old street from the north entrance, after walking a few steps, I saw a few people standing in front of an old house gesturing. In a series of made-up stories, there is a big rabbit in this house.

Among the    people who made gestures were Lu Zhenfei and Fan Qingshan.

   Lu Dong went over to say hello, and Lu Lanlan followed him curiously, listening to the adults.

  Lu Zhenfei went over, took the key to unlock it, and pushed open the wooden door full of cracks. The blue brick floor inside was full of weeds, and the old-fashioned tiledang shadow wall was full of cracks.

   "Fifth grandpa, is this time to prepare?" Lu Dong asked.

  Lu Zhenfei said: "I and Fan Gong first come to see and determine the maintenance plan. After a while, Li Shan and Jianming bring people back from the south, and then the construction will officially start."

  Fan Qingshan shook his head and said, "The old man is a little stubborn, so he has to see our results."

   Lu Dong said: "Professor Fan has principles and persistence."

   Lu Zhenfei answered: "Let's convince Professor Fan with our skills!"

   A few people walked around the courtyard. When Lu Dong came out, he saw Lu Lanlan standing at the door and didn't come in at all.

   "What's the matter?" Lu Dong asked, "Aren't you curious when I saw it?"

   Lu Lanlan said: "Seventh uncle said there is a big rabbit spirit in it..."

  Lu Dong said nonsense: "The big rabbit meat is delicious, you can grab it and put it in the pot, braise it or simmer it. The meat is very fragrant, you have never eaten it."

   "Really?" When it comes to eating, Lu Lanlan is no longer afraid: "Brother Dong, does the big rabbit come out at night? Why don't we come over tonight and catch the big rabbit? How many more people are you calling?"

   She then shook her head: "No, if there are too many people, there will be more meat left, and there are not a few pieces left."

   Lu Dong continued to talk: "You go and ask Seventh Uncle first, he raised the big rabbit spirit."

   Lu Lanlan scratched his head: "This way... I'll ask at night."

   By the way, Uncle Seven told the story of the skin fox before, saying that this thing can be charming, I wonder if it can be eaten? taste good or not?

   Lu Dong told Fifth Grandpa and Fan Gong, and was about to go home, probably to get delicious food from Lu Dong, Lu Lanlan continued to follow him.

   "Brother Dong, are you going to the university town?" Lu Lanlan asked.

   Lu Dong understood what she meant: "Whatever you want to eat, just go directly to the store in the county seat. Didn't Miao Yu recognize you? Just put it on my account in the store."

   Lu Lanlan stopped eating melon seeds: "Okay, I'll call Nails to go!"

   She hurriedly walked back, calling on Nails to ride a bicycle in the factory.

   Back home, Lu Dong took the things he bought yesterday and went to the south of Jijie to find Lu Zhending.

  Because it was agreed long ago, Lu Zhending turned off other tasks today and specially helped Lu Dong make silver bracelets.

   Came to the yard with the stove, pedal polishing machine and other objects. Lu Dong first greeted the people in Lu Zhending's family, and then took out the things: "Master Zhending, see if this is enough."

  Lu Zhending took the small ingot and said, "I can't use it, it's too much."

   Lu Dong is very particular about giving money, so he simply said, "Isn't my Uncle Jianming just had a second child? The extra is to make a gadget for the child."

  Lu Zhending said: "This is not good!"

   Lu Dong insisted: "I won't buy it specially when the child is over the full moon."

   Hearing what he said, Lu Zhending didn't insist any longer.

   Burning the charcoal stove, he took out several aluminum styles and let Lu Dong choose them.

   Lu Dong didn't know much about this, so he said, "It's worn by a girl my age."

  Lv Zhending is very particular, and he specially found a style with more materials for Lu Dong to see: "Dongzi, look at this, it's called a chopstick bracelet. It pays attention to square bars and squares, with edges and corners, and is most suitable for young people."

  Lu Dong took the aluminum model and looked carefully: "It feels like a silver chopstick is bent."

Lv Zhending smiled: "Yes, that's why it's called a chopstick bracelet!" Lu Dong told him that he wanted to do it himself, so he took this into consideration: "The bracelet is not closed, it is easy to remove and wear, and there is no too much attention to craftsmanship and too much Complicated patterns, simple and simple, and easy to make.”

  Those are too complicated, Lu Dong can't do it, and can't do it well, he asked: "Can you engrave?"

   "Yes!" Lv Zhending said: "The requirements for lettering are high, so I have to do it!"

   Lu Dong said: "Also."

   Although he wanted to make it by himself, Lu Dong knew that the whole process still had to focus on Lu Zhending.

  Under the guidance of Lv Zhending, he put on thick work clothes, first made a mold with Lv Zhending, and after the model was finished, he sat by the stove and pulled the old-fashioned bellows hard to raise the temperature of the stove and make the silver nuggets melt faster.

   Old-fashioned traditional handicrafts are naturally not efficient, but they are full of experience, especially this old-fashioned bellows, which Lu Dong pulled before he was ten years old. It seems that after entering junior high school, it is difficult to see again.

  The bellows was panting heavily, Lu Dong was wearing thick clothes, and was in front of the stove again, and soon he was sweating.

   This job doesn’t look very heavy, and it’s not brisk to repeat it.

  I don't know how long it took before Lv Zhending shouted, "Fujiko, it's alright!"

  Lu Dong stood up and looked inside the stove. Inside the small container, the silver ingots had already melted into a pool of silver water.

  Lv Zhending handed over a short-handled tongs, Lu Dong took it to clamp the mouth of the container, and brought it up to the side of the placed mold.

   "Hands must be steady!" Lu Zhending urged: "Fall!"

   Lu Dong's hands are relatively stable. He has worked a lot since he was a child, and he pours the silver water into the opening of the mold relatively quickly.

   Lu Zhending lit a cigarette: "Keep your breath, wait a moment."

  Lu Dong put away all the tools, sat on the horse and waited patiently.

   After smoking a cigarette and chatting for a while, Lu Zhending picked up the tool, opened the mold, took out the bracelet that had been shaped inside, and came to the table on the side.

   "Dongzi, what characters are you engraving?" Lu Zhending asked.

   Lu Dong had already thought about it and said, "One end is engraved with Lu Dong, and the other is Song Na, both are engraved on the inside."

  Lu Zhending put on his reading glasses: "Song Na? The name of Sun's daughter-in-law?"

   Lu Dong smiled: "Yes."

  Lu Zhending got busy, and Lu Dong went to take out the fine sandpaper and charcoal prepared in advance.

   After waiting for a long time, Lv Zhending finished the engraving, handed the bracelet to Lv Dong, and instructed him to do the polishing by himself.

   Lu Dong first used fine sandpaper to do rough throwing. This job looks simple, but it is not easy at all. Fortunately, someone next to him taught him, and Lu Zhending still called to stop from time to time, telling Lu Dong to calm down.

   In other words, Lu Dong was self-aware and chose a chopstick bracelet without any patterns and the simplest style.

   If there are patterns and inlays, and there is no professional practice, this work can't be done at all.

   Even so, Lv Zhending helped him a few times in the middle, polishing the inner side or the corners and other difficult areas.

   It was almost noon, and the rough throw was not done yet. Lu Dong, a novice, was too slow to do it.

  Go home and have lunch, continue after returning, apply polishing wax after rough polishing, and further polish with a brush on the pedal machine.

   I have to say that the traditional old craftsmanship is really time-consuming and labor-intensive compared to the assembly line machine production.

After the    medium tossing, it is necessary to fine-throw it. Many processes cannot be done by Lu Dong at all, so Lu Zhending can only do it himself.

"There are machines now, and the manual production is cumbersome and inefficient." Lv Zhending was doing the last few steps and said, "No one has done it in this industry. When I kick my legs, my family's craftsmanship will be gone. ."

   Lu Dong said with relief: "Master Zhending, you are in your prime, don't worry."

  Lu Zhending said: "I'm in my fifties, can you be in a hurry?"

  Lu Dong thought about it for a while, and then said: "When everyone has a good life in the future and has more money on hand, they will feel that the things processed by machines are the same, and the pure hand-made ones may be popular."

  Lu Zhending didn't quite believe it: "I hope so."

   After working for a while, all the bracelets were finished. Lu Zhending wrapped it in a piece of red cloth, and put the rest of the silver in his hands.

   Lu Dong put down the remaining materials: "Master Zhending, we agreed, if you want me to take it, I will have to pay you the processing fee."

Lu Zhending didn't insist any longer, and waved his hand: "Okay, my grandfather, I won't be polite to you." He also warned: "The older generation often said that wearing silver, health and wealth will accompany you, and your daughter-in-law will often wear it. When not wearing, find a better airtight bag or box to put it in to prevent it from turning black."

   "Understood." Lu Dong said a few more words and went back with the bracelet.

   When I got home, I didn't have a suitable box, so I wrapped it in thick red cloth.

   Lu Dong, a novice, personally participated in the production. Naturally, the bracelet is not very beautiful, but it is purely handmade, and it is estimated that you will not find a second one that is exactly the same.

  The end of the May Day holiday is Heidan's birthday, and I will give it to her at that time.

  Lu Dong was thinking when Hu Chunlan rushed in from the outside and shouted, "Dongzi, hurry up and go to the county hospital with me."

   "What's the matter?" Lu Dong ran out, seeing that the old lady was fine, so he felt relieved.

   (end of this chapter)