Chapter 50: The Sky Blue Awaits the Rain
Chapter Fifty: The Sky Blue Awaits the Rain
In late autumn, the days were sunny and bright, but the nights turned cold. When she woke up in the morning, there was already frost on the flower beds. Li Yue moved the potted peonies, peonies, roses, and orchids into the house to prevent them from freezing to death.
The flower bed was built by Ling Jianwei. Later, Ling Jianwei simply paved the distance from the door to the flower bed with cement. Li Yue saw that there was still some empty space in the flower bed, so she planted scallions and garlic. At this moment, she picked a few garlic sprouts to stir-fry with pork belly slices.
Ling Jianwei asked, "Some of the flowers and plants in the flower bed are cold-resistant, while others are not. Should we transplant them?"
Ling Jianwei said, "Those that can't withstand the cold will be eliminated immediately."
Li Yue clicked her tongue in amazement: "So ruthless."
"Otherwise what? You'll just plant them in the flower bed again next spring?"
Li Yue glanced at the roses in the corner and decided that if all the flowers and plants outside were discarded in winter, she would propagate roses, or simply use the flower bed to grow vegetables.
Winter came suddenly, and the factory was preparing for the New Year's Day trade fair.
Li Yue has a background in art, so the marketing team asked her to prepare promotional materials, design backdrops, and make banners.
Regarding her current job, Li Yue's attitude is that she will do her job well, but there are some people she really dislikes.
For example, not long ago, she designed a vase, which was rejected by the chief engineer. Moreover, this chief engineer added two strokes to her design, saying that it would look better if it were designed this way...
Despite being suppressed by her rank and having nothing to say, this did not stop Li Yue from still liking Ru porcelain and hoping that more people could learn about Ru porcelain culture. Therefore, she designed posters to promote it and did not want to deal with it casually.
She took on the task, went to the library to find information, and on her way back, she happened to pass by the restoration team's office and heard people chatting inside. The voices were those of the factory director.
The factory manager said, "The team at Hongxing has been assembled, and I heard they will start firing celadon porcelain next spring. You should hurry up too."
This spring, the factory fired several kilns of celadon Ru ware during a rainy day, but they did not receive approval from experts, so they dare not say that they have reproduced this style.
The chief engineer chimed in, "We've also prepared several plans. Next spring, we can test several sets in one kiln. They've only just started their research; we've been researching for so many years and still haven't passed expert testing, while they've only just assembled their team..."
Before he could finish speaking, the factory manager said, "We can't take chances. They have Yuan Qiren over there. You all know how capable he is. Who knows if he'll succeed after just two tries?"
The chief engineer said, "Even so, will the experts approve it?"
Factory manager: "If it's truly flawless, with no flaws whatsoever, do you think it would pass inspection?"
The chief engineer fell silent.
Li Yue didn't dare to eavesdrop any longer and carefully left.
Li Yue had vaguely heard about the inside story. Back when they were restoring the pea-green glaze, the factory manager had pulled strings and done a lot of favors, like inviting people to dinner, in order to obtain the expert's approval. However, times had changed, and now there was a new batch of experts with newer appraisal techniques, so no matter what the factory did, they still couldn't get the approval.
Seeing that the factory had encountered a rival, Li Yue felt secretly pleased and hoped that her master could succeed sooner.
Although her master would never reveal the formula, on the bright side, if she quit and went to her master, wouldn't it be possible for her to become his direct disciple?
Thinking about it fills life with sunshine.
...
In Li Yue's imagination, the future was full of sunshine, but right now the north wind was howling, the weather was freezing, and it snowed from time to time.
The kaolin and clay used for ceramics were hardening and were no longer suitable for making blanks; even if they were made, they were prone to cracking during the drying process. Therefore, the factory closed the kilns and entered a period of rest.
Some positions no longer require work, so the factory gives them leave. They can stay home and sleep or do odd jobs like building houses.
But Li Yue still has to go to work, doing design and drawing posters.
Now it gets dark early and light late, so Li Yue has to get up before dawn every day. Once, Ling Jianwei hugged her and asked in a hoarse voice, "What will happen if you're late?"
Li Yue said, "Nothing will happen, just a pay cut."
The man put his arm around her waist and said, "Then let them deduct it."
Li Yue nudged him with her elbow: "You've never been this lazy when you're at work."
The lazy voice said, "How did you know? I just couldn't be bothered to tell you."
Li Yue: "..."
In short, Li Yue was not as relaxed as Ling Jianwei. She pried open his fingers one by one and got up to get dressed.
He said, "I'll take you."
"No need, if you want to sleep, just keep sleeping."
He still got out of bed.
Since someone is giving her a ride, she won't have to spend too much time on her way to work. Li Yue said, "How about I make an egg pancake?"
"No need, let's eat in the county."
Many locals enjoy drinking spicy soup, but Li Yue doesn't like it. However, she prefers braised noodles.
Li Yue ordered two bowls of mutton stew noodles at the breakfast shop. She felt warm inside as she ate, and her forehead was sweating. Suddenly, she remembered the fried sauce noodles and asked him, "Didn't Grandpa teach you how to make fried sauce noodles?"
He picked up a mouthful of noodles with his chopsticks and said casually, "Oh, what's wrong? Want some?"
"When can I try your cooking?"
"night?"
"No, I already had noodles for breakfast, I want rice for dinner."
He laughed: "One serving of noodles a day at most?"
“Mm.” Li Yue nodded.
He tapped his chin: "I'll make it for you another day."
The days passed in a relaxed and peaceful atmosphere. Perhaps it was because the weather was too cold, everything was frozen, and even Sister Li was too lazy to gossip. It wasn't until the New Year's Day holiday ended and the employees who had gone to the provincial sales conference returned that Sister Li regained her energy.
At noon, everyone heated up their lunches in the kiln workshop, so Li Yue also ate there.
Sister Li said, "I heard that we encountered strong competitors at this trade fair."
Li Yue: "Who? Red Star Porcelain Factory?"
Sister Li nodded.
Li Yue also became gossipy: "How powerful is it?"
"It is said that the products they exhibited at the trade fair were of good quality and low price, which was more popular with citizens, and some people even placed orders with them."
Li Yue was stunned. Was this going to be a price war?
Sister Li whispered, "Anyway, the factory manager's face looked really bad."
Li Yue: "Does nobody like the products from our factory?"
"Yes, but our factory used to be far ahead of them. The civilian porcelain made by Hongxing Porcelain Factory wasn't as good as ours," Sister Li sighed. "It must be thanks to Lao Yuan."
Li Yue suddenly remembered that her uncle had said he would show her the crackled porcelain he had made. Now he was the most sought-after person in their factory, so he probably didn't have time to go home to get it.
The next day, Li Yue happened to pass by the office again and, sure enough, heard the factory manager yelling: "Red Star has snatched so many of our orders, what's the problem? Haven't you figured it out yet, Chunlai?"
Lin Chunlai said, "First, there's the price; second, there's the quality. The designs are pretty much the same, mostly bowls, plates, cups, and the like."
"What's wrong with the quality? Are ours really that bad?"
One person commented: "I went to their stall as a customer and found that their civilian porcelain was also very well made, with particularly beautiful glazes, so people are naturally more willing to buy it."
As he spoke, he took out the sample bowl he had bought: "This is their civilian bowl, factory manager, take a look."
Someone came out of another office. Li Yue quickly left and saw that it was none other than her awful sister-in-law, Zhong Xuelian.
Zhong Xuelian considers the factory to be her own, and every time she comes over, she acts like the owner managing her own business.
Li Yue had very little interaction with her, and at this moment she only nodded to her before quickly walking away.
Before they knew it, it was the Spring Festival of 1970. Li Yue was still the same as before, spending the Spring Festival holiday basking in the sun, eating melon seeds, and watching others play cards.
She also followed Ling Jianwei to visit the leader's home, sit for a while, and chat for a bit.
After the spring, Li Yue returned to the porcelain factory to continue doing design work. Her abilities were outstanding, and the team leader said she was very creative.
But such days were ultimately monotonous, and Li Yue couldn't access the things she wanted to learn.
That spring, she was called by the chief craftsman to make a vase blank, and after firing the unglazed piece, she was asked to glaze it.
It was only when the glazing was being done that Li Yue noticed something amiss.
If it were a large batch of porcelain, the glaze would be stored in a large bucket, but this time the glaze was very small, stored in a small basin, and the glaze looked faintly bluish, with a hint of red hidden inside.
Li Yue realized that this was the sky-blue crackle porcelain glaze they had prepared.
She couldn't help but ask, "What kind of glaze is this?"
The chief engineer smiled and said, "You just need to apply the glaze properly."
As expected, they wouldn't reveal a single detail. Li Yue didn't ask any more questions and obediently applied the glaze.
Another very obvious characteristic of Song Dynasty Ru ware is that the base is supported by spurs. The bases of antique Ru ware generally have spur marks. After applying the glaze, Li Yue carefully placed the vase on the spurs.
The chief engineer then said, "That's fine, go back and get back to work."
Li Yue wondered if the chief craftsman was worried that she might not be able to place the support pins securely and cause the bottle to tip over and break, which was why he had asked her to do it. After all, she had a steady hand.
But that's not a technical skill.
After thinking it over, I realized it couldn't possibly be for the purpose of training her.
-
On Sunday morning, a light rain began to fall outside the window. Li Yue lay in bed, looking at the patch of pale blue sky that was visible, and couldn't help but murmur a line from a song: "The sky is blue waiting for the rain, and I am waiting for you."
The man behind me asked, "Wait for me?"
Li Yue: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
"What are you waiting for me to do?"
"Waiting for you to get up."
He said, "Bullshit."
With the spring rain falling continuously, Li Yue estimated that they might put those batches of experimental products into the kiln to fire today, and she would be able to hear the heavenly sound of the glaze crackling on Monday.
She stayed at home, looking at the flower bed outside the door. There were still a few hardy plants and roses that she had propagated. She didn't want to plant any more flowers, so she simply threw some water spinach seeds that her sister-in-law had given her into the flower bed. It was quite convenient to pick a few water spinach leaves when cooking noodles.
Ling Jianwei returned at noon and said that they were going to the regimental commander's house for dinner that night. Li Yue asked in confusion, "Is there some happy occasion at the regimental commander's house?"
"There's no happy occasion. I just happened to run into the commander's wife on the way. She bought a chicken and asked me to invite you over for chicken soup."
"oh."
Because of Ling Jianwei's father's connections, he was very close to the regimental commander's family and had taken her to their home before.
However, during this meal, my sister-in-law asked, "Yueyue, when do you plan to have a baby?"
Li Yue was numb to the topic of urging her to have children. She smiled and looked at Ling Jianwei.
Ling Jianwei replied, "No rush, they're still young."
My sister-in-law said, "Yueyue is almost 20 years old. She'll be pregnant for several months, and when the baby is born, she'll be about 21, or 22 in the traditional Chinese age reckoning."
Ling Jianwei defended his wife, saying dismissively, "We'll have a baby when we want to, there's no rush."
But after returning from the regimental commander's house, Li Yue seemed to be thinking: "If we use the traditional Chinese age calculation method, if we have a child this year, you will be 30 when the baby is born next year."
The man's face darkened: "How was that calculated?"
“I’m 29 by the traditional Chinese age reckoning, which is 30 in my sister-in-law’s eyes,” Li Yue said fearlessly. “30 years old looks very old.”
Ling Jianwei clicked his tongue, then raised an eyebrow and said slowly, "That's true. It seems like you're becoming a father late in life. How about we have one now?"
Li Yue: "No."
"You don't think I'm too old?"
“I don’t think you’re old,” Li Yue said.
Suddenly she smiled and looked at him: "Ling Jianwei, I think you are suited to having a child later in life."
The man was so angry he didn't want to argue with her anymore. As they were going to bed, he carried her to the bed and said in a low voice, "Even when we're old, I'll still want you."
Li Yue: "..."
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