Chapter 490 Folk Artists
It was still dawn when there was already movement in the yard. Fifth Sister Gu got up and went to her father and mother's room to add fire, then boiled water, cooked, swept the floor, and fed the chickens and ducks in the kitchen.
Everyone got up early and now had their eyes open, lying lazily in bed, unwilling to move.
Xiao Jun had something on his mind so he didn't sleep in, which was rare. He gritted his teeth and got dressed tremblingly and got up.
After washing with warm water, he didn't care about being scolded by his younger brothers who were watching the live broadcast. He applied a thick layer of cold cream and then breathed a sigh of relief.
Gu Liu also woke up. With his messy hair, he went to the kitchen first. Seeing his sister making porridge again, he puffed up his cheeks.
She glanced at Xiao Jun who was in a daze, and said with a smile, "Xiao Qi, there is no salt at home, why don't you go to grandma's house to borrow some?"
She seemed not to notice Xiao Jun's tense face and continued, "Xiao Qi, you have been home for two days, and you haven't gone out to see the world yet, right?
My sister and I are busy cooking, so please run an errand so that grandparents can see you.
Go out the door and turn right, it's the fifth one!"
Xiao Jun thought about it and actually stood up, took a palm-sized sweet potato from the pot without peeling it, and walked out the door while biting it.
The sparse fence couldn't even cover the half-grown child, which meant that the village was so poor that there was no need to guard against thieves.
He followed Gu Liu's instructions and turned right when he went out the door. The layout of almost every household was similar, with a row of cave dwellings with closed doors and windows, like a place forgotten by human civilization.
When he arrived at the fifth house, he saw an old lady with bound feet busy cooking in the kitchen, and an old man sitting with his sleeves tucked in, holding a pipe in his mouth, helping to light the fire. Both of them were very skinny, their hair was already gray in their fifties, and their faces were full of dry wrinkles, like a piece of bark, imprinted with the hardships and bitterness of life.
The old lady just turned around and saw Xiao Jun, so she looked around and asked hesitantly, "Little boy, whose child are you? Why do you look so strange to me?
Where are your parents?"
Xiao Jun held a slightly thick bamboo pole in his hand, exerted force with his legs, and jumped over the more than one-meter-high fence in a handsome manner, smiling and saying, "Hello, grandma, I am Xiao Jun.
It was Brother Daqian who brought me back from the town, and Gu Xiaocao stayed at my house as a guest for two months.
I hope you and grandpa will take good care of me in the future."
He bowed with particular solemnity.
Old Mrs. Gu quickly supported him and said, "Since you are a guest, you are our guest. Have you eaten? I happen to be having dinner with your grandfather, why don't we have something to eat together?"
Xiao Jun said with a smile, "Then I will shamelessly try the food that grandma cooks."
The sweet potato he had just gnawed was only enough to fill the gaps between his teeth. Now he ate a bowl of multi-grain noodles and drank three large bowls of noodle soup. Only then did he feel full and warm.
He saw the faded paper-cuts on the window, was stunned for a moment, and immediately went forward to take a closer look.
The window paper-cut was extremely intricate and exquisite. It was a fat baby holding a lotus pod in one hand and a big carp in the other. Even though the red paper had faded to white and had curled edges, Xiao Jun could still see the cutter's superb skills. It would definitely be loved by the people!
Xiao Jun is ten years old this year. When An Zhixia launched the free gift promotion in 1972, he was only two years old. Although he doesn't remember what happened at that time, he has to listen to the adults' nagging every Spring Festival.
It was the grand occasion back then that made the Spring Festival particularly lively and joyful.
Since that year, various units, manufacturers, etc. have held various activities to stimulate consumption during festivals. As the originator of the successful full-reduction activities, An Zhixia naturally became a topic on everyone's lips.
Therefore, although he had never seen it, he was able to roughly imagine the grand occasion at that time based on other people's descriptions.
So he suppressed his excitement, leaned on the window, and asked with a smile without looking back: "Grandma, is this a window paper-cut? Who cut it? It's so beautiful. Nowadays, the ones on the market are all symmetrical to save trouble, but they are not as beautiful as this."
Old Mrs. Gu smiled and nodded: "They have been pasted on the windows for a year, and the sun has made them lose their color. I will cut a few more for you to take home during the New Year."
"Grandma, did you cut and paste this? It's amazing, how did you do it?" Xiao Jun was really surprised and praised.
Old Lady Gu waved her hands. "What's that? We have quite a few templates. You can copy one and I can copy one.
As long as you have a template, use something to draw and cut, it will be almost the same as what you sell."
"If you say so, can I also learn how to cut paper-cuts?" Xiao Jun asked awkwardly, trying hard to forget his gender.
"Of course you can. We are not some master chefs who have any special requirements to pass on the skills to daughters instead of sons.
As long as you study hard, work carefully and patiently, you can create good works.
Over time, you will be able to break away from the template and create new pictures on your own.”
Xiao Jun has some basic knowledge of painting.
He firmly believed that as long as he kept working hard, he would be able to cut as he pleased and create more beautiful works.
Xiao Jun took over the job of washing the pots and bowls. After he finished, he washed his hands and began to formally learn how to cut paper-cuts from Grandma Gu.
There were limited materials at home, so I just used some of the waste newspapers that were used to paste the walls.
Old Mrs. Gu taught very carefully, and Xiao Jun stared at her and listened very attentively.
He went over every word she said in his mind several times until he had digested it all. Then he took the scissors and practiced the basic skills, making the scissors become a pen that he could operate with his eyes closed.
But paper cutting cannot produce results in just one or two days, so he still studied hard and practiced the basic skills patiently.
Not only that, when paper was scarce, he would rehearse it over and over in his mind, gesticulating in the air with his hands.
After thinking about it thousands of times, he was finally willing to take the notebook that An Zhixia gave them and tear off two pages to check the results.
Old Mrs. Gu collected a lot of samples from her old sisters and showed them to Xiao Jun, and also pointed out to him how to cut them one by one.
Xiao Jun tried to cut it. After one day, his basic skills were only good enough to be consistent, but he was not very proficient, so the lines of the red paper he cut were thick and thin, the corners were not smooth, and some of them were even cut off.
After learning the general idea, Xiao Jun found out that the village team would send a bullock cart to the city to pick up fertilizer tomorrow. He didn't ask in detail, but only asked the time, then thanked Mrs. Gu and went home.
Xiao Jun spent the whole day rehearsing in his mind, and he was a bit obsessed. Even during the live conference at night, he couldn't help but be distracted.
An Zhixia briefly learned about everyone's situation and commented on it. Time passed quickly again. Plans are always ideal, but their implementation will be hindered by various real situations.
(End of this chapter)
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