Chapter 9 (War and Confusion)

Four hours ago, I squatted for a while on the edge of the flower bed at the entrance of Wu Kai's company, and finally met Wu Kai, who was working overtime to complete the task. His long dry hair was messy on top of his head, his beard was unkempt, and his originally thin face was even thinner. The cheekbones are high and bulging, the eye sockets are deep, and the complexion is dull yellow, just like the young man who used to be freshly dressed and angry.

Looking at his appearance, there was an indescribable feeling in my heart that was secretly rising, I pretended to be distressed and stepped forward to stroke his wet cheeks, and said, "I have lost weight, I have grown taller, and my beard has grown, and it seems that I am not far from the day of being a grandfather." ”

Wu Kai pushed me away and took a bite of me angrily: "I know that you can't put a good fart out of your mouth, let's go, take you to eat something delicious." "It's another fight, and it doesn't seem to have any suspicion because we haven't seen each other for a long time.

Wu Kai took out a packet of crumpled red plums from his trouser pocket, threw one to me, and threw the lighter over as well. He knows very well that a married man's ability to smoke is limited, and only when he is with him can he really smoke freely.

In this way, I followed him to a supper stall that he said tasted very authentic, and drank until the proprietress dozed listlessly in the cash register, and then we got up and left.

Back downstairs at his house, Wu Kai took the opportunity to buy cigarettes and bought out all the old Qingdao in the refrigerator of the small store, and did not forget to remind the proprietress to replenish the goods, for fear that he would not drink enough for a while. I know he has the strength, but his move really shocked me.

The proprietress skillfully set up a table for us in front of the door, and also gave us a bag of peanuts, it seems that this guy usually does this kind of thing, and the tacit understanding with the proprietress has reached an unprecedented height.

I don't know when it started, but the two of us rarely go to supper stalls or restaurants anymore to drink. Instead, choose to cook a table of dishes at home, or as is the case now, a pack of peanuts and two cases of beer. Find a flower bed on the side of the road or drink directly on the road, after drinking, there is no goodbye, no sadness, go home separately, and reunite a few months later.

It's just that on such an important day as today, it's a rare indulgence. This glorious tradition has been passed down between us for more than ten years, starting from the first eleventh day in Shenzhen, and it has been preserved for more than ten years. The night before the National Day holiday, except for one of the years that was interrupted because Wu Kai went home to visit Wu's father and Wu's mother in Shenzhen, we firmly chose to drink in the dark tonight every year.

On the third day after discussing the way out for the two of us with Wu's father and mother, Wu's father drove me and Wu Kai to his friend's mold factory in Songgang. More than 10 years have passed, but I still vividly remember how we followed my boss into the workshop.

There was a deafening sound from dozens of machines that I couldn't name, and in front of each machine there were one or two or three people standing in earnest about the machines. The ground behind them was littered with piles of large pieces of iron, and from time to time they shuttled between the machine and the pieces of iron, putting the pieces of iron that had been processed on the machine on the ground, and then picking up another piece from the ground and putting it on the machine.

Of course, the vast majority of iron blocks cannot be shaken by human power, and this is when a crane-like thing overhead comes into play. In the middle of the two rails installed on the roof of the building, a string of iron chains is hung on a beam, and the workers hang the iron chain at one end and pull the other end of the chain downward.

Huge pieces of iron were easily lifted, and then the beams were dragged to the machine and placed on them. It is not unreasonable for human beings to be gifted in crafting and using tools to be able to dominate among the many powerful creatures.

The whole workshop was full of the roar of machines, and the boss warmly greeted Wu's father with his throat, and kept introducing him to the development of the enterprise and his own strategic planning. Their conversation attracted Wu Kai and I who followed him with enthusiasm, the scale of the industry, the prospects of the industry, their own investment in product research and development, talent training, various management and incentive policies.

In short, it only took ten minutes for this boss to harvest me and Wu Kai, two little fans. His words were very contagious, and even Dad Wu, a big capitalist, nodded his head frequently under his persuasion, and he always had a satisfied smile on his face. It seems that he is quite satisfied with the decision to hand over me and Wu Kai to the other party, and the boss also took the opportunity to show his determination, so that Dad Wu can rest assured that he will hand us over to him.

followed the boss into his office, the boss skillfully brewed tea, sat down with Dad Wu, and talked about tea. Wu Kai and I don't have much experience in drinking tea, and Dad Wu once described us drinking tea as cow chewing peonies, which we can't refute.

Wu Kai's statement is that that thing is bitter, and it doesn't have any fragrance, so I don't know what to drink. I can drink some of the sweetness in the tea, but I don't have the ability to distinguish between the good and bad of the tea, and in my opinion, the tea is the same.

The entrance is slightly bitter, and after the tea enters the stomach, there is an aftertaste between the mouths, and some teas are slightly sweet. I can't taste the rest, let alone make it up. Dad Wu threw me a book of tea scriptures and asked me to study it carefully, and I turned three pages and returned it with both hands.

Two middle-aged men sipping tea while talking about business management, social news, international relations and the general trend of the world. Wu Kai and I could only sit obediently on the side, listening quietly, and had a new understanding of Father Wu's knowledge.

I saw that his expression was indifferent, his tone was calm, his views were soft, and he talked eloquently. In comparison, the boss is obviously slightly inferior, although he is also smiling, but the foul words that pop up between the words from time to time and the accentuated tone when arguing still expose his heart.

But it was obvious that the boss was a shrewd businessman who was old enough to get into accidents, although occasionally his tone was aggravated and his pace increased. But he was able to regain his calm again soon, and quietly concealed his gaffe just now, and did not forget to agree with Father Wu's point of view by the way.

Switching back and forth between various emotional expressions, retracting and releasing freely, Wu Kai and I were shocked. This is the ability to be exercised by going through many things, and I finally understand what it means to be an outsider.

The two of them chatted about sex, although there were conflicts of opinion from time to time, but under the indifference of Father Wu and the clever maneuvering of the boss, they were all right. Wu Kai and I sat bored and listened to their discussions for several hours, and finally it was lunch time, and the boss insisted on being the owner and invited us to a "light meal".

After the meal, Father Wu got up to say goodbye, pulled us aside before leaving, and whispered to us.

"This boss is a friend of a friend of mine, he is a good person, you guys are studying hard here. If there is any problem that you are not comfortable with, just call me and I will help you deal with it. ”

I nodded to Wu Kai, and Dad Wu got into the car and waved goodbye to us and the boss.

Seeing Dad Wu leaving, the boss also took us back to the factory, called the supervisor of the workshop, and handed us over to him. Don't forget to tell us a few words.

"Director Liu, the director of this mold room, all the apprentices of the mold master here are in charge of him, I have already told him, let him find the best master to take the two of you. Listen to his arrangements and come to me at any time if you have anything. ”

After speaking, he patted us on the shoulder, and specially emphasized to Wu Kai.

"I had a lifelong friendship with your father, and if it wasn't for your father, this factory wouldn't exist. So you're welcome here, just tell me anything. ”

We don't know what kind of story there is between them, so we can only nod yes, and Wu Kai didn't forget to say it.

"Thanks, boss."

The boss waved his hand again and again: "You don't have to call me boss, my surname is we."

It's okay to call me Uncle Mensong. ”

The conscience of heaven and earth, if it weren't for Dad Wu and Mom Wu who had already introduced the situation of the boss to us before, I really thought that there was a surname "door" in this world. For the Mandarin of Cantonese, I have learned another lesson.

After Uncle Wen turned to leave, Director Liu said to us with a smile: "Mr. Wen has already told me, I will introduce you to the best master in the factory to take the two of you in a while, and you will follow him to learn hard." He is also your fellow countryman, so it is easier for you to communicate. ”

After speaking, he brought us to the side of the machine, a young man of about 1.7 meters, thin and in his early twenties, who was skillfully operating the machine and processing some kind of part.

Look at his quick movements, resolute eyes, solemn expression, and his hands do not stop, but his eyes are wandering, and his brows are tightly locked. It should be that he was thinking about some problem in his head, and he didn't even notice it when we walked to him, but it was Director Liu who shouted at him that made him come back to his senses.

"Boss, I'm sorry I didn't see you coming. Yesterday, the customer's mold I thought about for a day and didn't think of what went wrong, obviously it was made according to XCMG's drawings, and we were also good when we tried the mold here, how to go to the customer on the "beer" (bie) out of things. ”

The young man who was called Lao Huang by Director Liu said when he saw the supervisor that it seemed that he was thinking about it while he was distracted while working just now, and he should have been troubled by this question.

"It's okay, the driver has already gone to pull the mold, just pull it back and try it." Let's not talk about this for a while, the two apprentices I told you yesterday brought over are all your Sichuan fellows, you can take them well. ”

After speaking, he turned around and said to the two of us: "This is your master, Lao Huang, you Sichuan fellow, you are familiar with him, I still have something to do, so I will leave first." Lao Huang, I'll hand over the two of them to you, the boss said, let you take out your housekeeping skills and teach them well. I've got something to do there, I'll go first."

"Hello master, my name is Wu Kai, this is my classmate Xiao Yuan, and I will rely on my master to take care of me in the future." As soon as Director Liu turned to leave, Wu Kai decisively said hello to Lao Huang, and then introduced us to Lao Huang.

Lao Huang also said to us very kindly: "Don't call master, I'm not a few years older than you, they all called me Xiao Huang before you came, and now you can call me Lao Huang after you come." ”

Wu Kai and I didn't make a sound, but I have already made a decision in my heart, and this master must be indispensable. But looking at the fine fluff at the corners of his mouth, he is somewhat slanderous about Director Liu's arrangement.

In the following days, Wu Kai and I began to follow Lao Huang and start our career as mold apprentices. Lao Huang also used his cleverness and simplicity to completely dispel my previous doubts, and even many molds that made other masters helpless can be solved by him, and I also have a little more admiration for this young master.

Lao Huang is also very kind, and always patiently explains to us the use of each machine, the composition of each mold, and the advantages and disadvantages of each process. Compared with other apprentices, Lao Huang's personality is simply too gentle, and he always makes many young apprentices of the same age as us cast envious eyes.

In this way, Wu Kai and I studied in the workshop with Lao Huang during the day, and when we didn't work overtime at night, the three of us went out to drink and hang out together, without the strictness and mustard that should be between master and apprentice.

Time passed little by little in this relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, and in the blink of an eye, Wu Kai and I had been studying with Lao Huang for two months. All the machines can be used skillfully, and now Lao Huang only needs to tell us what to do, and we can do it ourselves.

He sat next to us with a teacup in his hand and guided us, and occasionally he would get his hands on the more complicated craft. Although Wu Kai's comprehension ability is not as good as mine, this guy's hands-on ability is really not comparable to me, and even Lao Huang stopped praising him once. In just a few days, he learned all the machines in the workshop, and many complex processes only need to be taught by Lao Huang once, and he can get started smoothly.

Although I can understand what Lao Huang taught us, it is inevitable to stumble when I really get started. Lao Huang has always said that Wu Kai and I can just complement each other, but he is like a tiger with wings, and he is even more like a fish in water in the workshop.

In addition to guiding the two of us, more time is to help Director Liu solve some problems that other masters can't solve. If this plot continues, I think in the near future, there will be two more excellent mold masters in the world.

However, as time goes by and I get to know this society better, there are always some different voices in my heart. I asked myself countless times, is this the life I want, to become a mold master, or as Wu's father and mother said. When you learn to make molds, you can learn design from your master, and then open a mold factory for a mold designer or start your own business.

I'm not sure, and I don't dare to set such a goal for my life easily. In this short period of two months, Wu Kai and I used the rest time to wander up and down the streets and alleys of Shenzhen. I felt the openness and tolerance of this experimental field of opening up, and also appreciated her prosperity and temptation.

At that time, just after the millennium, the land of China was full of the phantom of success, and the myth of getting rich overnight was recited everywhere. Especially about the legendary history of the boss Wen Song, it stirred me up and made my heart even more difficult to hold. old

Ban is a typical Cantonese person, short and shrewd, although he only has a primary school education, but he is sleek and sophisticated. I saw this the first time I met him. In his early years, he entered a large Hong Kong-funded enterprise as a mold apprentice, and gradually emerged by relying on his honest and reliable character, and has been the company's production manager.

Later, with the intensification of competition, the mold department, which has a huge investment but little income, has become a problem for the boss. Seeing the opportunity, Boss Wen proposed to the boss to contract the boss's mold room, and the boss naturally agreed. Successfully getting rid of a huge burden, and all the production in the mold room is under my control, I really can't think of any reason for the boss to refuse.

Boss Wen naturally thought of this, so he put forward this suggestion to the boss at the right time, and successfully got the support of the boss.

Under his management and management, the small mold room has developed steadily, and he has successfully grabbed the first pot of gold in his life. Then, in order to get rid of his dependence on the Hong Kong boss, he came out of his own door and began to fight alone. Because Dad Wu met him at a drinking party, he provided a lot of financial support when he set up his own business.

This is probably the reason why he mentioned to Wu Kai at the beginning, without Wu's father, there would be no factory. The later story is probably clear, after several years of operation, the once small mold factory has begun to take shape. And the mold apprentice who once only had a primary school education has become a successful model in people's mouths. His success has been passed down by his colleagues as a good story, and it has also succeeded in stirring my restless heart.

During the day, I scrambled to do the dirty work that others were afraid to avoid, sweating frantically and venting the emotions in my heart. I hope to use this way to drive away the inner loss, and use exhaustion to make myself forget the cruelty of reality. However, at night, as long as I lie in bed, my thoughts are always out of my control.

Finally, after receiving an apprenticeship grant of 150 yuan from my boss, I was completely devastated. I really can't imagine how I should use this 150 yuan to fill the gap between reality and ideals, and how I should stand on the cornerstone of this 150 yuan to bloom my ideal flower.

Wu Kai may have seen this frustration in my eyes a long time ago, he saw my embarrassment, and he was willing to use his small shoulders to hold up a small world for my brother. He offered to help me ask his parents to let me go, and I thanked him countless times for taking the initiative to maintain my little self-esteem.

In this way, Wu Kai and I went in two completely different directions, he continued his dream of becoming a mold master, and I plunged headlong into the rolling torrent of the Special Economic Zone and went with the flow.

Although we have been in Shenzhen for a while, we have also followed Wu Kai to measure the streets and alleys of Shenzhen with our feet. But when I really faced the world for the first time and really started to explore Shenzhen alone, I realized that the world seemed to be different from what I imagined.

In the 18 years before the college entrance examination, the farthest I ever traveled was to the small county town in Zhejiang where my parents worked, and although it was less than 100 kilometers away from Shanghai, there were towering buildings. However, at that time, with the protection of my parents and sister, I didn't need to face the cruelty of this world.

I used to complain in my heart that my parents couldn't provide me with more shelter, so that I could concentrate on my studies like other peers, and I could stay in the ivory tower all the time. But when I first really faced the world myself, all the resentment was gone. I understood my parents' powerlessness in the face of the world, and all their expectations and encouragement for me.

Like me, they grew up in that isolated mountain village, and they used to know nothing about the outside world. If it weren't for the spring breeze of reform and opening up blowing into that peaceful and quiet mountain village, I guess they would be like their parents. Facing the loess with his back to the sky, he worked that land for a lifetime, and finally buried his bones in that mountain village.

Parents who were born in the fifties and sixties and had little education could not enter the electronics factory with easier jobs and higher incomes like the younger post-70s and even post-80s generations who were younger than them. I can only rely on their hard work and sweat in exchange for a small salary to support my future and water my ideals and future. It's a pity that at that time, I couldn't understand my parents' good intentions.

Our family has been working with the land for generations, although the spring breeze of reform has blown us into the city, leaving us away from the fate that has been decided from birth. But it also pushes us into the great unknown, and in this complex metropolis, we are like rootless duckweed drifting with the tide.

We also hope to exchange our hardworking hands for a bright future, but in this world, hard work does not seem to be the only measure of success. There are too many people like my parents who have worked hard for half their lives and have nothing in the city. They have lived in the fields far away from the hustle and bustle of the city for generations, listening to the familiar local sounds, chatting about the shortcomings of the east and the west in their spare time, and helping each other when the farm is busy, planting in the spring and harvesting in the autumn.

Just one day, when we knew that there was a more wonderful world outside, we came to the big city with a vision of a better life and a wonderful life in the metropolis. Although we all work together to build this colorful world, we all know very well that we do not belong to this world.

My parents spent half their lives just trying to save some money to go back to their hometown to build a house. And I, I never knew how I was supposed to relate to the world. In my opinion, the outside world is undoubtedly wonderful and full of attraction to me. But I have never been able to find my place in this world, and the philosophies that I have accumulated over the past eighteen years seem to have suddenly become unsuitable in this world.

I searched in the crowd every day, looking for people who were just as confused and overwhelmed as I was. Because in my opinion, only seeing the chaos in other people's hearts like mine can make me feel a little at ease when I stand in the crowd. On that winter day when I was eighteen years old, I stood under the vast sky of Shenzhen, looking at the rows of high-rise buildings and the traffic that continued to stretch into the distance.

For the first time, I lost my way, I didn't know where I was going, I didn't know where I should set my end. At that time, I wished that someone could tell me what I should do and how I should do it. It's a pity that there is no such person, all the struggles of my parents' generation are for me to get ahead, and when I choose to give up, they no longer insist on the so-called family destiny.

Decades of hard work have made them lose the sharpness to think about life and look forward to the future. My parents have struggled all their lives with survival, and they don't have time to think about whether their children will be confused, whether they will be lost. I was confident that if I dared to tell them what I was confused about, they would think I was well fed.

In their view, it is the fate of a person's life to have a stable job, work diligently and diligently, and stop until the end of life. I can't agree with their outlook on life, and I don't dare to ask them for the proverbs of life, and I can't lament fate, because I have to fill my stomach first.