In the spring of 1984, the repercussions caused by "practice is the only criterion for testing truth" have radiated from the cities to most of the rural corners of the country, and although Yangshi Town is often attacked by sea breezes, the spring breeze of reform and opening up has not brought more fresh breath to the city as it has awakened people in other coastal cities, and the air is still filled with the smell of the damp and salty sea breeze that has existed for a long time. Most of the villages in the town have less than five cents of land per capita, and there is still a lack of food and clothing, and low-voltage electrical appliances are a mysterious thing to most of the villagers in the town, and young and middle-aged women and even women as young as 17 or 8 years old have left the country to work as masons, carpenters, and shoemakers to make a living.

In the house of Yang Liugen, a carpenter in Liunan Village, west of the town, a simple apprenticeship banquet is being held, the 60-watt incandescent lamp emits a dim light, the hall house is not spacious, one-third is occupied by wood, and the small square table made of waste wood nails is placed in the middle of the slightly biased position, and the table has been placed on the ground vegetable skin scrambled eggs, shrimp muscle (Wenzhou local shrimp roe is ground and then added to the shrimp paste made of salt) mixed with green vegetables, cucumber jellyfish skin, pea sprouts fried shredded pork, four dishes of fashionable dishes. On the back wall of the hall is a portrait of Lu Ban, the ancestor of carpentry, and on the table against the wall is a tablet carved by Yang Liugen himself of his deceased parents.

50-year-old Yang Liugen sat upright on a small stool on the west side, and Liu Wencai, the head teacher of Yang Liufang, who taught at the town middle school, sat on the east side as a witness to the apprenticeship banquet; Yang Liufang's Abba Yang Liushui is the first to accompany him. Yang Liugen's wife (Yang Shizhen's name for his wife) and his daughter Liu Xia are still busy making wine and stewing duck soup in a kitchen made of felt and wooden planks outside. At this moment, 15-year-old Yang Liufang lowered his head and stood crampedly on Abba's side, stealing glances at the dishes, smelling the fragrance, and swallowing saliva silently. The three adults were chatting, and no one seemed to pay attention to Yang Liufang's somewhat humble little action.

"The commune (although the division of Yangshi Town has been adjusted to a town in 1984, but the older generation is still habitually called the commune) Zhangyan (a subordinate village of Yangshi Town), a new factory for winding coils (a square low-voltage transformer), 100 transport wooden boxes per month, I can't be busy, Liu Fang can come over, learn slowly." Yang Liugen said slowly.

"Alas, Liu Fang, this kid is very smart, it's not that his family is in difficulty, he has a good time to take the high school exam, and it is also promising to continue studying. Since you have decided to come to Uncle Liugen's house to learn the craft, let's study hard and do a line of love. Liu Wencai answered.

"Thank you, alas, seeing that Liu Fang is getting older day by day, I can't afford to let him go to Yueqing to live in high school anymore, so I have to let him learn the craft of eating. Brother Liu Gen, I will hand over Liu Fang to you, if you are disobedient, you should be beaten and scolded, don't be merciful. Liu Genshui said timidly.

At this time, the old lady of Yang Liugen brought the stewed duck soup and placed it in the middle of the small square table. Walking behind the willow root, he took a brazier from the bottom of the table, placed it on the inside of the threshold, and lit a stack of prepared yellow paper, and the yellow flames jumped in the basin with green smoke.

"Come here, Liu Fang, kowtow to Master Zu, as well as your master and grandmother."

Liu Fang followed Liu Gen to the outside of the threshold, and knelt down behind Liu Gen and kowtowed according to what Aba (the local name for father was taught at home).

After getting up, Liu Wencai had already brought three glasses of white wine with a red plate. walked up to Liu Fang and said, "Liu Fang, come and toast your master and mother." Liu Fang timidly took the wine glasses in turn, knelt down and handed them to Master Liu Gen and Shi Niang with both hands, and watched Master and Shi Niang drink the wine, and kowtowed three heads reverently. The master helped Liu Fang slightly, asked him to stand in front of him, and handed over an ink fountain as a return gift, and this simple apprenticeship ceremony was completed.

Liu Gen's daughter, Liu Xia, who is in the second year of junior high school in the town, is snickering beside her parents at the moment, and when Liu Fang looks up, she just sees it, and instantly blushes.

That day, Liu Fang helped the drunk Abba home very late. Since then, Liu Fang has been learning carpentry from his master Liu Gen.

Liunan Village, where Yang Liufang was born, is located in the west of Yangshi Town, unlike the village near the sea in the south of the town, which is far away from the coast. In order to defend against the annual typhoon and the rainstorm drainage needs, the rivers and ditches here are crisscrossed and horizontal, and the newborn and vigorous willows are the same as the villagers who have lived here for generations, intertwined on the bank, spreading branches and leaves, creating a more beautiful landscape in the quiet south of the Yangtze River, and the sunlight through the willow branches and leaves is delicate and soft, and the fluttering willow trees protect this side of the water and soil. For this reason, most of the wood here is willow.

Spring goes to autumn, the grass grows and the warbler flies, and the catkins in the sky have also floated for two years, from the first time to the master's willow root house, the willow party that can't even lift a piece of wood has been exercised to be able to carry a three-meter-long willow tree with a diameter of 30 centimeters on the stomach, and then fix it to two carpentry benches, holding a tape measure in one hand and an ink fountain in the other, like a master, skilled measuring ruler, making marks, and marking lines... Coherent. Then, according to the dimensions made, the material is divided into standard size willow squares, willow planks and slats. Just like destined in the dark, after Liu Fang studied with the master for two months, he dealt with these willow segments alone, and then repeated these cutting processes day after day, which really lived up to the name given by Abba.

The life of an apprentice from a rural family is very hard, except for eating, drinking, and going to the toilet on weekdays, he comes to the master's house after breakfast, and from 7 o'clock in the morning to before dinner, there is almost no time to rest. The hands have also changed from the small tender hands of reading and writing, to rough skin and thick flesh, calloused thick hands, the upper lip has gradually had a beard, 17-year-old Liu Fang also secretly cut it with scissors, but after cutting, it became thick and piercing, and then he didn't dare, but he couldn't stop his growth like age.

Two months ago, he spent a lot of money to buy a small planer from Yueqing City, so that Liu Fang didn't have to pull the big saw and the small saw to open the wood, unless there was a particularly thick willow, the general willow segment, Liu Fang picked up one end and put it on the planer, and the other end was held in his arms, pushing forward, accompanied by the "Wow...", the harsh sawtooth and the friction of the wood, like music, resounded in the small courtyard of the master's house. Liufang saves time and effort to divide the willow segment into the material he wants. And Master Liu Gen also freed up his hands to fetch some finished furniture such as wardrobes and stools, and sent them to the town to sell, and by the way, he took over some work from the wooden frame packaging and production of low-voltage electrical appliances factories in the town.

The willow squares and 1cm thick and 5cm wide willow slats opened by Liufang are used for the transportation packaging of these low-voltage electrical nails. Now Liu Fang also knows that the professional name of the coil wrapped in the commune Zhang Yan mentioned by his master when he was apprenticed is "small transformer", which is a small device used in some chargers such as televisions, radios, or miner's lamps.