60s: I have a store

Chapter 10 Pasting Matchboxes
The second uncle was eating steamed bread. Other people in the family who were not working did not have breakfast. In this day and age, having two meals a day was considered good.

"Second uncle, are you eating?"

"It's Yimin? What's the matter?" The second uncle looked at Zhou Yimin with a little surprise.

Zhou Yimin handed the eggs in his hand to Second Auntie and said with a smile: "Second Auntie, you can keep these eggs. I have something to ask Second Uncle."

The second aunt was overjoyed and quickly took the egg: "Okay, you guys chat."

Since she was the one who was in charge of the matter, it was reasonable to collect a few eggs, and she quickly put the eggs away. As the saying goes, eggs and meat, eggs and meat, in the eyes of many people, the nutrition of eggs and meat is similar.

"Uncle, do you know anyone who does decoration?" Zhou Yimin went straight to the point.

Oh?
The second uncle was surprised: "I know someone from the next street. What? Yimin, you want to repair your house?"

If I remember correctly, there seemed to be nothing wrong with Zhou Yimin's two rooms, and they could be lived in, right? These days, everyone is used to saving money, and if they can barely live in them, they won't bother.

Zhou Yimin nodded: "Yes! I want to make the house better. You know, at my age, I'm about to find a partner and get married, so..."

The second uncle nodded and understood.

Then you really should build a house.

"I'll pass by his house on my way to work. I'll call him and ask him to come to our courtyard to talk to you. You won't be going to the factory so soon today, right?"

"I am free. It's up to me whether I go to the factory today or not. I'll trouble you, Uncle."

The second uncle is a little envious, working in purchasing is so good!

"Okay, I'll go out now, you wait at home."

After saying that, the second uncle went out with the steamed bread in one hand and the lunch box in the other.

Zhou Yimin didn't have to wait long before a dusty man came to the courtyard, brought in by the second aunt.

"Yimin, this is Master Gu, you two can chat."

"Okay, thank you, Second Auntie!"

Zhou Yimin casually pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes, took out a cigarette, and handed it to Master Gu: "Master Gu, please come and have a cigarette."

Master Gu smiled and said, "What's the point of bothering? We are in this business, and we have to thank you bosses for your support. Comrade, what are you going to do? Do you have any ideas?"

Zhou Yimin took him into the house and began to talk about his decoration ideas.

First, smooth out the uneven ground, either by laying cement or tiles.

Secondly, if you want to make the room brighter, make the window bigger, or open another window, and paint the walls.

"Can you install a suspended ceiling?" Zhou Yimin asked.

Master Gu nodded: "Sure! It's not that difficult. It depends on what materials you use."

Don’t think that suspended ceilings are very advanced, and don’t think that they are a modern invention.

In fact, it has existed for hundreds of years. To put it simply, the suspended ceiling is a kind of decoration on the top of the living environment of a house.

Since ancient times, humans have attached great importance to roof decoration, among which the most popular one is the "caisson".

The shape of the "caisson" is unique and varied, with square, polygonal or circular concave surfaces, decorated with various patterns, carvings and paintings around it. It is the essence of ancient Chinese architecture.

The main ceiling materials in modern my country are very simple. One type is woven bags and plastic colored paper ceilings, which are mainly made of plastic nylon fibers and adhesives and dried. The overall ceiling appearance lacks aesthetic appeal and is not practical.

In the 50s, lime ceilings became popular. They used prefabricated panels and were whitewashed with lime water. However, lime ceilings had many noise points, a rough surface, and were prone to mold and blackening.

"Pick some lightweight materials and go for a bright style." Master Gu nodded after hearing this. He roughly understood what kind of decoration style the client wanted, which was mainly "bright".

Next, it’s time to build the bathroom.

"That would require laying a sewage pipe, which would be a bit costly, and we would also need to notify the street office," Master Gu reminded.

"It doesn't matter! Master Gu, just do it and calculate how much it will cost."

Since the boss said so, Master Gu stopped talking nonsense.

"It's about 400 yuan for labor and materials. The materials are more expensive." Master Gu explained. For example, if you want to lay floor tiles, and you want shiny ones, then it's not cheap.

There is also a bathroom, and sewage pipes need to be laid, which is also a bit expensive.

"Okay! I'll give you 200 first, and then I'll pay you another 200 when the work is completed. When can you start the work?" This price was within Zhou Yimin's expectations.

"I can find someone to start the work anytime. It depends on when you want to start. At least we have to put the things in the house in place first."

"Then let's do it tomorrow! I will gather all the items in the house into one room. You guys finish that one room, then move over and decorate the other side.

I understand your rules, I will prepare a lunch for you at noon, you can eat at the second aunt's house across the street, I will make the arrangements."

"Okay, no problem!" They like this kind of straightforward boss the most, who doesn't waste time or haggle over trivial matters.

Zhou Yimin took out 200 yuan, counted it for Master Gu, sent him out, and then went to Second Aunt's house. Second Aunt was pasting matchboxes.

Making matchboxes is a casual job assigned by the street. Families in need can apply for it. Although the income is not much, it can help to support the family expenses.

"Second Aunt, I have reached an agreement with Master Gu. Aren't you going to provide lunch for them? I want to ask Second Aunt to help with the cooking, and then have them come to your house to eat. After the work is done, I will give you 5 yuan, or help you get 5 kilograms of meat. Is that okay?"

When the second aunt heard this, she was overjoyed.

That’s awesome!

You know, she made matchboxes at home and only earned 6 cents for one thousand of them.

You heard it right, that is, you only get 6 cents for pasting 6 matchboxes, and only dollars for pasting matchboxes.

Don’t think that making matchboxes is simple. You can say it requires no technical skills, but it is not easy.

There are many steps to make a small matchbox.

First, you need to make the paste. The paste for the inner box should be thinner, and the paste for the outer box should be thicker.

When pasting the inner box, divide the long and thin strips of paper into ten piles and stack them in a row. Use a soft-bristle brush to dip the paste and apply it evenly. Then, stick the small strips on the right side of the paper one by one, and then peel them up one by one, sealing the right side first and then the joint. Leave the left side of the paper unsealed and leave it on the table for use.

The next step is to place the sealed inner box in a wooden mold, then put a small square piece of wood in it, slide the paper with your index finger to seal the bottom, take out the mold, and dry it for later use.

Pasting the outer box is relatively simple. The outer box is printed on a large cardboard, with ten sheets horizontally and five sheets vertically, totaling fifty sheets.

Then use a knife to carve the marks, which seem to be connected but not connected. Gently bend the paper and the whole piece of paper will separate one by one.

After printing, the outer box is engraved with a preset mark with a knife. When using it, first pick up a stack of outer shell papers, twist them open one by one, scrape the paste on them with a bamboo stick, pass them one by one from the right hand to the left hand, bend them closed, and hold them tightly with the left hand for a few seconds to prevent them from bursting.

After drying, the inner box and the outer box should be put together to be basically pasted.

And helping to prepare lunch for a while only earns 5 dollars, so why not do it?
"The second aunt wants 5 jin of meat."

If you have a choice, of course you would choose 5 kilograms of meat!

Zhou Yimin nodded: "Okay."

(End of this chapter)