jade carver

There is often heavy fog in the early winter in the north, and the reeds taller than a person on the side of the road are shaken by the wind and make a rustling sound. Just looking at the layer of hoarfrost on it, you feel cold and flustered.

Whenever there is fog, it is probably the happiest time for the students.The schools in the military sub-district have a bit of a militarized style. They have to do exercises in the morning, and they have to run for an hour from six o'clock, which means that they have to get up at 05:30 every day.It's nothing in summer, but it's really hard to get up in winter.

When Li Rui got up in the morning, he looked out the window first. When he saw the heavy fog and couldn't see the door of his yard clearly, he hugged Cheng Ye and went back to sleep.

Cheng Ye was afraid of the cold, and would often wake up as soon as Li Rui moved. Without opening his eyes, he would squeeze towards Li Rui in a daze, mumbling about the cold in a low voice.

Li Rui hugged him with the quilt, stuffed him with the corner of the quilt, and hugged him to keep warm. "Cheng Ye, after class today, are you still going to Uncle Xia's place?"

Cheng Ye was covered warmly, and rubbed against Li Rui, "Go. Uncle Xia said that he will teach me how to use a knife today, I want to go early..."

Li Rui squeezed Cheng Ye's hand. The child was learning to use a brush recently, and his hands had thin calluses.That's right, Cheng Ye wasn't a naturally intelligent person, and Lao Xia was picky, and he would only praise him if he did a particularly good job. Cheng Ye would inevitably have to work harder to learn these things.

"It's really an eyesore." Li Rui rubbed it a few times, frowned, grabbed Cheng Ye's hand, and took a bite of it to his mouth.The teeth rubbed against the thin calluses a few times, but they didn't dare to use too much strength, but it made the child laugh out from itching.

The two lingered on the bed for a long time before getting dressed.Cheng Ye's clothes were pressed together under the quilt, and they were still warm when they were taken out.After he got dressed, he went to the foot of the bed to get a warm water bag. The water was already cold last night, and it was lukewarm to the touch.

There was no one in Li Rui's family. After arguing with his father for a while, his mother finally reconciled and went to the forest farm to tidy up the new house together.After Li Rui washed up, he took Cheng Ye to the back for breakfast. His house was very deserted these days, and no one came except Cheng Ye.His dad's friends and buddies followed him to the new house, I don't know if they helped, but his mother gradually lost her good mood.Also, she has never been used to these people, always feel too rude.

Grandma Cheng got up early, and now she had ready porridge waiting for them.She watched the two children finish eating, sent them out, and told Li Rui, "The weather forecast says that the temperature will drop, and the road is likely to be icy. Go slowly, don't worry too much."

Li Rui responded, waiting for Cheng Ye to climb into the car and take him away.

Grandma Cheng didn't dare to wait at the door. Since she was ill, her health is not as good as before.In previous winters, I could still drop by to chat with my old sisters, but this year I only made some shoes at home and didn’t go out.The house was warm, too. Boss Cheng brought a lot of coal in his car and piled it in the corner, and the small stove had already been lit.

Grandma Cheng makes small shoes. She is good at handwork, and the old ladies with small feet on the farm like them, and they even ask someone to buy them.In winter, she can earn some money. She always feels that she is not in good health, and she is afraid that Cheng Ye will suffer in the future. For money, it is better to save more money.

Cheng Ye went to Lao Xia to study for half a day after school every Friday.Lao Xia came to the farm halfway, and he didn't have many good things in his hand, so he could only take Cheng Ye to start with the sketch and lay the foundation little by little.When I came across a good jade in my hand, I also asked Cheng Ye to help, mainly to follow and learn more.

When Cheng Ye came here today, Lao Xia was repairing a small piece of jewelry, which was a ring covered with gold and jade.In the past half a year, Lao Xia has also gotten used to Cheng Ye and Li Rui being inseparable. When Li Rui came in, he no longer hid as usual. He did some trivial work in front of Li Rui, and taught Ye Ji by the way sentence.

Lao Xia didn't wear glasses, so he sat on the desk and greeted Cheng Ye to have a look, "Look, this is a piece of old Hetian jade. After sending the horses, the elders still have a few pieces of good jade in their hands.

Cheng Ye carefully remembered, and asked from time to time. He rarely saw Haoyu, so he inevitably had to ask more questions.

If it had been someone else, Old Xia Xin would have walked away arrogantly. He was in Pingyang, and now he kept asking how to identify good jade. Isn’t it a slap in the face? The person who asked was Cheng Ye. Lao Xia didn't think so.He not only patiently answered one by one, but also praised Cheng Ye, "Yes, I know how to ask questions! Ask more in the future."

Li Rui was reading idle books, flipped through a few pages and lost interest.He couldn't stand it, put the book on the table and got up to see what Cheng Ye was doing.

Lao Xia didn't want Li Rui to see it. He was hiding too many things, and he was afraid that the child would find out.He asked Li Rui to wait in the hall, which was already at his limit, but if he stopped to watch, Lao Xia would feel uncomfortable.Cheng Ye was honest, he didn't ask too many questions, and he didn't leak anything out; Li Rui was too sophisticated, he didn't look like a teenager, and Lao Xia subconsciously wanted to dismiss him. "Li Rui, why don't you read that book? Let me see, it's Lao Ben's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, right?"

Li Rui hummed beside him, showing no sign of moving away. Instead, he touched Cheng Ye's small face with his hand, and he let go only when he realized that the child was not frozen.

Lao Xia was talking to Li Rui on the sidelines, and after a few words, he referred to the book, "I heard from Lao Wang that this old version of the book is quite valuable, and many people from the city came here to confiscate it and have no place to buy it. Here , Lao Wang’s old edition book that got stuck the day before yesterday sold for 8 yuan.”

Li Rui snorted, "Is it so expensive? Do you want all the books?" They have a lot of old books with curled pages and yellowed paper, so they can only be sold for scrap paper money by the catty.

Lao Xia was busy with the work at hand, and didn't tell him thoroughly, "I don't know about this, you can ask Lao Wang from the next door, he happens to be at home today. Oh, by the way, when I go By the way, help me get that chess set back."

Li Rui agreed, took his coat and went to the next door to ask Old Wang about old books.Before going out, he took another look at Cheng Ye and saw that the child stayed there obediently, so he didn't ask him any more.

Taking advantage of Li Rui's absence, Lao Xia took out a small wooden box the size of a palm and said, "Come on, Cheng Ye, didn't I say I will teach you how to use a knife today? Come and have a look."

Cheng Ye got closer, and only then did he see clearly the ten small bamboo knives neatly placed in the small wooden box. They looked old and polished to a shiny shine.

"It stands to reason that you don't need to touch a knife so early, but your body is not good, and it will be troublesome to take large pieces in the future, so let's practice in advance." Lao Xia took one out and gave it to Cheng Ye, teaching him how to use a knife. "Use this set of bamboo knives first, and when your arms have some strength, then... let's talk about it."

Lao Xia smacked his lips, looked at Cheng Ye's small arms, shook his head and sighed, every time he was moved by the child's hardship, but he couldn't bear to see his bones.Jade carving is a laborious task. If it was changed in the early years, children from poor families would not come to learn it.While I was young, I could have a few more pieces, but after the age of 30, my physical condition declined, and it was not so good.The body problems accumulated over the years came one after another, especially the eyes, which was really unbearable.

Lao Xia was thinking a lot, and Cheng Ye was a little flustered holding the knife, but he saw that the box was still inlaid with silver, "Uncle Xia, isn't this expensive? I don't want it."

Lao Xia put away the box of bamboo knives and put them all in Cheng Ye's pocket, "Take it, it's given to you by Uncle Xia. Don't delay at home, practice your hands more. You don't need to carve very hard things, just take them. Practicing ingenuity with potatoes and melons and fruits, just in time to help your grandma cook, ha ha."

Cheng Ye touched the small box in his pocket, his face was flushed, his heart was beating fast, and he wanted to go back and try it now.He thought about what Lao Xia said just now, this is the knife for him, and he can carve things by himself, and when he thought about it, he felt bursts of joy in his heart. "Thank you, Uncle Xia! I will definitely cherish it."

The author has something to say:

Li Rui: Cheng Ye, you have been laughing all day, what are you happy about?

Cheng Ye: Brother Rui!Uncle Xia gave me a set of knives, hehe!

Li Rui: Tsk, what a good thing I am.

Old Uncle Xia with a full face in the distance: ...Cheng Ye, why did you recruit yourself.