In fact, Gu Yu has no story to tell, probably the bitter experience of a left-behind child whose parents died and was raised by his grandfather. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

Grandpa is not a local, he only settled here in the eighties, he doesn't know how to farm, but he makes a good incense, in addition to selling it himself, it is to provide it to the Ziyang Temple on Phoenix Mountain.

However, later, the commercial development of the Taoist temple became better and better, and the handmade incense could not meet the demand, so it turned to an incense factory. The kind of straight, long and thick incense dares to sell for 900 yuan in one column.

Gu Yu has learned this craft since he was a child, and he really likes it, and he is quite good at cultivating. He studied hard, was sensible and diligent, and was admitted to a university in the provincial capital, but after two years of study, his grandfather suddenly fell seriously ill.

Without much thought, he dropped out of school and went home to take care of him. But it's a pity that the savings were spent and some foreign debts were owed, and my grandfather passed away, leaving only this small courtyard and a room of incense recipes.

The only fortunate thing is that he didn't encounter any bullshit disputes, and he inherited the inheritance smoothly.

In Gu Yu's situation, it is actually very embarrassing, a college student who has not finished his studies is not as good as a college or even a technical school student. Baicheng is a small place, and there is not much work, so he can't go to the slightest bit of style.

After thinking about it, she turned her heart and simply became a mountain hawker. There is a place to protect, the cost is low, just suffer.

I am not afraid of suffering, I hold on, go up the mountain during the day, and do odd jobs at night, and it has been more than a year now. Not only did he pay off his debts, but he also saved a little bit of money.

"Click!"

The wall clock on the wall is like a machine running out of oil, reluctantly walking with a needle. Gu Yu turned off the computer, went to the kitchen to pick up a basin of water, and began to wash his hands.

His fingers were slender and his nails were neatly cut, and he rubbed them slowly in the water without soap, as if he wanted to wash every inch of his skin.

Only then did he push open the door to the room.

Together, the lights seem to illuminate another world, neat, compact, and with a different sense of mystery. On three sides are huge wooden shelves, on which are placed bottles and cans, each with labels, and there are hundreds of kinds. There were also two large boxes piled up in the corner, and in the center was a square table, full of strange tools.

This is Gu Yu's studio, and a second person has never been allowed to come in.

Xiao Zhai ordered the awakening incense, and he had to make it as soon as possible. The so-called awakening incense is a kind of medicinal incense that can clear the mind and concentrate the mind.

It is best to make incense at night, without disturbing others and not being disturbed by others. It is said that incense has ten virtues, feeling ghosts and gods, purifying the body and mind, becoming friends in silence, being idle in the dust, being able to brush away filth, and so on.

Stillness is fundamental.

Gu Yu turned around in front of the wooden shelf, took off a few bottles and cans, and then sat down at the table. This sitting, the temperament of the whole person has changed, quiet, focused, and a little wave.

Oh, the waves are calm and the wind is calm, and the waves go in a light boat.

According to the Internet, incense making is to burn money, because almost every kind of incense and sandalwood will be used. These two goods are frighteningly expensive, and they are not real.

But what he inherited was his grandfather's incense recipe, which seemed to have been passed down from a very unique faction, and the old man improved it. These recipes rarely use Shen and sandalwood, and most of them are common materials. For example, the awakening incense is made with calamus, atractylodes, mint, nightshade, white cardamom, borneol, and a round-leaved grass on Phoenix Mountain.

In addition to the cumbersome incense powder processing in the early stage, incense making is roughly divided into five steps: mud mixing, molding, shaping, drying, and cellaring. Those jars were full of good incense powder and sticky powder, so he directly mixed the mud.

To put it simply, it is mixed with sticky powder and kneaded into a uniform ball like noodles. The sticky powder is mostly made of elm bark, which has no peculiar smell and good stickiness, but it can't be put too much.

Like many incense sticks in the temple, the incense ash winds continuously after burning, which is because of the excessive sticky powder, which is inferior incense.

Gu Yu first took a porcelain bowl, put in the prepared powder, added water a little bit, and stirred a little bit. Until the water is clean, the flour becomes a lump of dough. He then uses a spoon to repeatedly stack the dough from all sides to the middle, mixing the dough thoroughly and increasing the density.

So far, it's all very simple, and the next step is the key step, molding.

If it is to make incense sticks, in order to be lazy, people nowadays stuff more incense mud into the syringe and then squeeze it out one by one. This is actually an inferior incense, because the inside of the squeezed incense strip is not dense, and the smoke will be relatively large.

A good way to do this is to rub it by hand, prepare spices and make incense sticks, which are the biggest ways to make incense.

"Hoo ......"

Gu Yu sat under the lamp, took a deep breath, and the whole person became more and more calm. He pulled a small piece of incense, placed it on a wooden board, and began to rub it vertically with one finger.

Do not rub horizontally, vertically can adjust the direction and thickness of the incense sticks.

He was focused, his whole body was on that finger, not looking, but feeling. Feel that little piece of incense slowly stretch, tain, lengthen...... It's like controlling with your own mind.

This feeling is very subtle, and those who have practiced Tai Chi know how to listen to it, and rubbing incense is similar, so that the skin of the fingers can "listen" to the strength and reaction of the incense ball.

There is a saying: to rub incense is to adjust the heart.

It's still a static word after all.

Time passed little by little, and the night was deep, Gu Yu finally got up and let out a long breath. After a long time, a total of fifteen sticks were made, about ten centimeters long, and the thickness of a toothpick.

He cut the sticks neatly, put them on flat paper, and covered them with a few sheets of white paper, so that they would dry faster.

Wait until tomorrow, when the incense sticks are completely dry, and then send them to the small cellar in the courtyard for storage. It takes about half a month for the flavors of various spices to fuse and the smoke and fire to reduce.

This is the first batch, you know, he has to make sixty.

Therefore, the reason why there are not many people who make incense by hand is because it consumes too much energy and can't be closed.

…………

That night, Gu Yu made a total of thirty sticks and slept late.

But the next morning, he still got up on time, didn't care about eating, packed up his things and pushed the cart out. As soon as he went out, the goods ran back to the house and took three insect-repellent incense pills.

This kind of incense pill is harmless to people, but snakes, insects, rats and ants are extremely disgusted and almost immediately avoided. He goes into the mountains every day to carry it with him, and as for the original one, okay...... It's been given to the two sisters.

"Xiaoyu, aren't you in good spirits?"

"Well, I didn't sleep well yesterday. Have you eaten it?"

"No, let's get together in the mountains. ”

"Yo, Lao Wang, you're selling souvenirs today, where are the meat skewers?"

"I didn't buy duck meat, so I rested for a few days. ”

In the chaotic conversation, six or seven upside-down donkeys came out of the alleys, and naturally lined up and rode towards Phoenix Mountain.

They are all petty traders, and their occupations are very varied. If you have a pocket job to make money today, then you won't go up the mountain, and if you don't have a job tomorrow, then you will continue to carry the burden. They also sell a wide range of things, from counterfeit lamb skewers to wholesale souvenirs to home-grown cucumbers and tomatoes.

This number of livelihoods is basically contracted by the people of the Phoenix Collection, and it is said that outsiders, that is, people from Dongcheng, Nancheng, and Beicheng want to go up the mountain, and they will be kicked by a lot of circles and smashed stalls.

Gu Yu silently followed behind, listened to all kinds of blows from his uncles and uncles, and soon arrived at the old widower's yard, where everyone put the donkey upside down, and then entered the mountain.

There are still queues, one by one, each with its own stalls, and no one can compete for it. He was still at the end, and in front of him was a man in his forties, surnamed Fang, who was Fang Qing's father.

"Xiaoyu, I've been worried about that girl's grades, do you think you can get into a high school?"

"I've read Qingqing's volume, to be honest, the first high school is more difficult, and the second high school is still quite hopeful. ”

"Alas, if only she had the slightest ability from you! Look at you, you read the book back then, but you were the first college student in our village. ”

"Uncle, don't worry. It's still a month before the high school entrance examination, so you can make a surprise attack, and besides, the exam is all about performance......"

The first high school is the first high school, the provincial key school, and the second high school is one level behind. Gu Yu carried the burden and comforted the poor father all the way.

Regardless of whether grandpa is alive or not, the Fang family has always taken good care of themselves, and Fang Qing is also like their little sister. But she really has no interest in learning, even if it is a second high school, the probability is half and half.

The two of them talked about it, and it took them half a day to walk to the mountainside, and the people in front of them were no longer visible.

"Squeak!"

"Goo!"

As he was walking, there was a cry from nowhere, and he was very impatient and panicked. The two of them stopped and looked left and right, and Uncle Fang pointed to the side: "Over there!"

Gu Yu looked, but in the dense forest on the right, a gray-haired squirrel was tripped by weeds, and not far away, there was a green snake swimming slowly.