Chapter 469 Is he related to Shancun?
Mr. Fang stood up and took out a pack of cigarettes, gave me one and smoked one himself. He blew out a string of bubbles and continued:
"What a person does is all about their temperament. Temperament is their aura. When someone comes into my store, I can tell at a glance whether they're here to browse or to buy something."
I said, "You're amazing. I just can't tell."
He sneered and said, "Mr. Wan refuses to tell the truth. Even if you were a rabbit, you would be able to tell the difference between male and female."
I suddenly felt that his accent was somewhat similar to Long Yuan and Tan Shaojie, so I decided to give it a try and asked, "Your hometown should be Yuzhen County in the neighboring province, right?"
He took a look and said, "Do you know Yuzhen?"
"We just arrived in Yu Town yesterday. Your accent sounds a bit like theirs."
He nodded and said, "I'm from Yu Town. What are you doing there?"
"Getting together with two friends, one is Long Yuan and the other is Tan Shaojie."
He shook his head: "I don't know him."
“So you’re not from the county town?”
"I'm from the countryside. I left the village when I was 20."
"Leaving at 20 to go to college?"
"I never went to college. I graduated from high school at 18. Later, I went with a carpenter from my village to work as a carpenter in Shangli, Luxi, Yichun, and Wanzai in Jiangxi. There were many forest farms there and they needed carpenters, so I settled there."
He graduated from high school at 18 and never went to college, and he had the same experience as me. I privately identified with him.
A book records that Zuo Zongtang only passed the imperial examination and later became successful. Two people came to see him at the same time.
After he found out the educational background of the two, he met the Juren first, leaving the Jinshi candidate outside to wait.
His reason was that being a Jinshi was nothing great, as he was not as capable as someone like me, Zuo, in managing the country and helping the people.
He and I had the same experience, which sparked my interest. I had to ask him how he could achieve such a high level of carving skills, so I asked:
"Did your master teach you this carving skill?"
"No, my master only knows how to do carpentry. How should I put it? It's a long story."
"Tell me slowly, I like to listen."
"Just listen to it if you like. My master returned to his hometown a few years later. At that time, the forest farm saw that I had graduated from high school and kept me there. Later, they hired more workers, so I settled down in the forest farm.
There was an old craftsman in the forest farm who loved carving as a hobby. Seeing that I was young, well-educated, and liked to watch him carve, he asked if I wanted to learn.
Of course I wanted to learn. So, the master took me in as his apprentice. He was not only skilled in carving, but also a wealth of knowledge, teaching me all sorts of different things.
Later, the forest farm was disbanded, and the carpentry business was dead, leaving me practically unemployed. But my daughter was a promising young woman, and she found a good son-in-law, so I followed her to Upstate.
I saw my son-in-law had a collection of carved antiques hanging on the wall. I asked him, "Why would you buy these? I can carve them."
My daughter said, you are here to enjoy yourself, why are you carving?
I refused and said I wanted to open a shop to do carving. I couldn't bear to stay at home all day and talk to my wife.
So, they set up a shop in front and a yard in the back, and I carved flowers. If there were buyers, I would sell them. If there were no buyers, I would welcome anyone who wanted to chat with me.
"Haha, I see. I totally understand. One time, I went to visit a colleague's hometown in the countryside with him, and his parents insisted on giving me some winter melons and pumpkins. I decided not to.
There are plenty of these things on the market. I couldn't bear to accept the two elderly people's hard work in growing them.
My colleague called me aside and said, you must accept it. This is the fruit of their labor. If you accept it, they will feel a sense of accomplishment. If you don’t accept it, they will think you despise their things.
It's the same thing with you. If someone buys it, you feel like your craftsmanship is appreciated. Your art is validated. Whether you make money or not doesn't matter."
He laughed and said, "You're worthy of being a counselor. Every word you say speaks volumes about what others are thinking."
I asked, “How’s business?”
"Doing business in this place is good if you say it's good, and bad if you say it's bad."
"First, tell me where the problem is."
"The bad thing is that some people come in, see something they like, keep asking the price, and then don't buy it. When they leave, they even say, 'What a rip-off!'"
I said, "People who think your prices are too high don't understand art."
Mr. Fang said, "Yes. That's also the good part. Someone took a fancy to it. I named a price, but he didn't bargain. He just scanned the code and left."
I nodded.
At this moment, my cell phone rang. It was someone calling, saying, "Master, I'll be here in twenty minutes."
As soon as I heard that, I stood up and said, "I'll add you on WeChat. I'll chat with you later."
He said, "Okay, if you want to chat, come find me. People in the city don't like to chat, they only like to make money."
I said, "I don't live far away. It's a twenty-minute walk. My name is Wanshanhong. Please note the three characters in it."
He added as he made a note: "My name is Fang Liming. I was born just before dawn. Just those two characters."
I checked the time and asked, "Can we pack it up now?"
He blew it with a hair dryer, tried it with his hand, and said, "It's OK."
I asked, “How much?”
He shook his head.
I found it incredible and said, "I have the mental endurance. Name your price."
He said, "I'm looking for someone who understands me when I open a film shop, and you're one. How much should I charge for this little handicraft? I don't have to worry about making a small fortune."
I think what he said was genuine. Just like that colleague's parents, I accepted his winter melon and pumpkin and insisted on counting the money. The old man got mad and said, "Are you looking down on me?" It was such a strange situation.
The same goes for Mr. Fang. If I insist on counting the money for him, it will seem awkward and it will be difficult to deal with him next time.
I stood up and didn't leave, feeling like I had forgotten to ask him something.
Seeing that I refused to leave, he waved his hand and said, "I told you I don't want any money, so why are you still fussing?"
I was recalling, and suddenly I slapped my forehead and remembered, and asked:
"You're from the countryside of Yuzhen. Do you know a village called 'Shancun'?"
He said, "Single Village? Is it a single village in a scenic area now?"
I said, "Yes, yes, yes."
He said, "My uncle's house, but I haven't been there for many years."
I was delighted. But time didn't allow me to talk much, so I said, "Mr. Fang, thank you."
He walked me to the door and waved: "Goodbye."
I think: The world is big, and the world is small. If you are aimless, the world is big. If you focus on one thing, the world is small.
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