Chapter 255 New Year's greetings, Master VS Master
"Sit down and drink a glass of water first!" Seeing Xia Guoxiang looking so tired, Zhang Junping couldn't bear to say anything else.
He picked up the thermos and gave him a glass of water.
"I just told Juanzi that after this period of inspection, I am still very satisfied with you two.
Therefore, on the morning of the sixth day of the lunar month, I asked my parents to write a letter for apprenticeship and bring Shu Xiu over to apprentice.
I'll be waiting for you at Dashilan Siheyuan!"
"Master, why are you practicing Jueshu?"
"I just finished criticizing Juanzi, but I didn't expect you to be worse than Juanzi! Ask Juanzi yourself later," Zhang Junping scolded with a smile.
Now that I have officially accepted a disciple, I have to change my title and call her Juanzi to be more approachable.
"Xiangzi, your master and I only graduated from junior high school, so I don't pay much attention to academic qualifications.
However, we can have no academic qualifications, but we cannot have no culture.
Make time to read more books in the future." Zhang Junping said to Xia Guoxiang in a gentle tone.
"I understand, Master!"
"Have you done all the homework I gave you?"
"I did it! I did it every day!"
"Well! After Juanzi finishes writing, you can also write a word and I will take a look!" Zhang Junping nodded and ordered.
"Okay, Master!"
"Master, I've finished writing!" At this time, Li Wenjuan had finished writing a word and started to hand in her homework.
"Okay! Xiangzi, it's your turn!" Zhang Junping took the rice paper, put it aside, and said to Xia Guoxiang.
When Xia Guoxiang picked up the brush and started writing, Zhang Junping picked up the words Li Wenjuan had just written and read them carefully.
After reading it, he put it aside without commenting. He was waiting for Xia Guoxiang.
After Xia Guoxiang finished writing, Zhang Junping read it and commented together, "Both of you have a common writing brush. The writing looks very neat, horizontally and vertically. You can also notice the strokes and pauses."
However, first, the writing is too rigid, which means that although you know how to write in your mind, your muscles have not yet remembered how to write.
This requires writing more and practicing more, so that your muscles can remember how to write, and rigid problems will naturally be resolved.
I call this muscle memory."
"Master, do muscles still have memory?"
"Yes! In fact, this can also be called habit becoming natural. Think about it for yourself, do some of the actions you often do do not need to be thought about at all? When it is time to do it, you will do it naturally.
This is muscle memory!" Zhang Junping explained muscle memory.
Then he continued: "There is still a very serious problem with your handwriting, that is, the words float on the paper and have no power!
When we evaluate other people's writing skills, we often use a word that can penetrate the back of the paper.
You are just the opposite, your words float on the paper."
"Master, but I feel that I have exerted myself very hard!" Li Wenjuan said aggrievedly.
"You feel that you have exerted force, and there is no contradiction between the force used and whether it is used in words.
In the future, I will give you another assignment!" Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"What homework?" Li Wenjuan asked curiously.
"Wait a minute, master will help you make a small tool for exercising your wrist strength!" After Zhang Junping finished speaking, he got up and went out.
There is a pile of firewood piled under the window of Tian Shumei's house.
Because coal is in short supply, many families use firewood to cook in pots, and coal is used for heating.
"Sister Tian, I'll get two pieces of firewood!" Zhang Junping shouted toward Tian Shumei's house.
Tian Shumei opened the door and came out, smiling at Zhang Junping and said: "Two sticks are enough for what, get more! It's really strange. Are you planning to light a fire for cooking or a stove for heating?"
Zhang Junping never lit a fire to cook or light the stove to keep warm in winter. Everyone in the courtyard knew this.
At first, they treated it as a rare thing and discussed it, but as time went by, they stopped taking it seriously.
It was only said that Zhang Junping was young and had strong firepower, so there was no need to light a fire to keep warm.
"I'm not making a fire, I'm just making a tool for my apprentice to exercise his wrist strength." Zhang Junping explained with a smile.
I picked two suitable firewood sticks, took out a sharp dagger, and cut them quickly. After a while, the firewood sticks turned into two round wooden sticks.
Zhang Junping took it in his hand and felt it, and it was almost ready.
Then he returned to the house with the log stick.
Tian Shumei was curious about what tools Zhang Junping mentioned for exercising wrist strength, so she followed him into Zhang Junping's house.
"Xiangzi, go out and find two bricks." Zhang Junping ordered Xia Guoxiang after entering the house.
While Xia Guoxiang went out to find bricks, Zhang Junping took out two nails and hammered them into the middle of the round wooden stick, and then took out two hemp ropes and tied them on top.
After it was done, Xia Guoxiang came back with two bricks.
Zhang Junping tied the brick to the other side of the hemp rope.
Then while giving a demonstration, he explained: "In the future, when you stand in the horse stance, do this action while standing in the horse stance.
Raise your hands flat at shoulder level, then use the strength of your wrists to turn the stick, slowly roll up the rope, and then slowly let it go."
After Zhang Junping demonstrated it once, he said to the two people: "Come and try it!"
Li Wenjuan and Xia Guoxiang each held a wooden stick and began to try.
Zhang Junping gave some instructions on the essentials of the action.
"Master, my wrists are so sore!" After finishing it once, Li Wenjuan waved her hands and said.
"It's right if it's sour! If it's not sour, it means it has no effect. Use one brick at the beginning, and when one brick is no longer sore on your wrist, add another brick.
When you add ten bricks and they are no longer sore, your wrist strength will be considered developed, and your writing will naturally reach the effect of being able to penetrate the back of the paper." Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"Pingzi, is this so difficult for you? I think it's quite simple, isn't it just turning a stick?" Tian Shumei interrupted and said with a smile.
"Sister Tian, you will know after you try it!" Zhang Junping motioned to Li Wenjuan to hand the stick to Tian Shumei.
After all, Tian Shumei is a married woman. After her husband passed away, she had to take care of the children, do housework, and go to work, so she did a lot of physical work.
In terms of hand strength, he is indeed much stronger than Li Wenjuan, and is not even worse than Xia Guoxiang.
The first lap was very easy, the second lap was a little tiring, and the third lap I couldn't hold on anymore, my wrists were so sore and numb that I couldn't bear it.
"Haha! How about this gadget? Isn't it easy?" Zhang Junping said with a smile.
He also took the opportunity to teach his apprentices, “Many things may seem simple, but it is not easy to persevere.
Remember: if you persist in doing simple things well, you are not simple; if you persist in doing ordinary things well, you are extraordinary."
"I understand, Master!" Li Wenjuan and Xia Guoxiang nodded solemnly.
"Pingzi, look at that...that..." Tian Shumei said hesitantly.
"What's wrong? Sister Tian, is there anything else you and I are embarrassed to say?"
"I was thinking, do you think I can get Huaizhi to become your disciple?" This was Tian Shumei's sudden idea when she saw Zhang Junping's discipleship.
"Haha! Sister Tian, why did you think of asking Huaizhi to become my teacher?" Zhang Junping asked with a smile.
"Pingzi, I know you are a capable person. I am a womanizer and I don't know how to teach children. If they can become your teacher, they will definitely be successful in the future." Tian Shumei said with a smile.
In fact, what Tian Shumei is thinking is that you are so capable. If Huai Zhi becomes your master, how can you, the master, ignore his future work?
"Sister Tian, I accept apprentices, not the kind of apprentices in a factory.
Therefore, my master is not a master, but my father's father, not the master named Fu.
Do you know the difference?
Once you become my master, you are not allowed to interfere even if I run away or get injured.
You think about it, and if you agree, then find someone to write down the apprenticeship invitation and prepare it for practice.
On the sixth day of the first lunar month, I accepted disciples in Dashilan Siheyuan." Zhang Junping said seriously.
"Pingzi, don't scare me. You know Huaizhi is my lifeblood. If something happens to them, sister..." Tian Shumei was really frightened by Zhang Junping's words.
"I know, that's why I remind you that I accept apprentices according to the old etiquette. It is the tradition of craftsmen in the past.
You can ask around. In the past, when a child learned a craft from a teacher and handed the child over to another person, it was equivalent to handing the child's life into the other person's hands.
No matter how the master teaches, whether it is beating, scolding, or punishing, you as parents cannot interfere.
Moreover, being an apprentice is almost like a son. I raised their young ones and taught them their skills, and in the future they will raise my old ones. The visit of three festivals and two birthdays is just the most basic rules and etiquette." Zhang Junping said sternly.
"This..." Tian Shumei hesitated a little.
"Sister Tian, you can go back and think about it slowly, or you can ask the old man about the rules and ways of becoming a disciple.
Wait until you think about it," Zhang Junping said with a smile.
"Okay! I'll go back and discuss it with my mother-in-law." Tian Shumei left with a heavy heart.
"Master, why are you so serious? Are you saying this because you don't want to accept that ambitious person as your disciple?" Li Wenjuan asked in a low voice with a gossipy look on her face.
"Is it serious? I'm telling you two, once you become a disciple, you'll have to run away and take care of your destiny. The same applies to you.
If you don't do your homework well in the future and make mistakes, I will not only teach you, but I will not be soft-hearted just because you are a girl, Juanzi. I will also not be soft-hearted when it's time to hit you.
So, I have decided whether to become a disciple or not." Zhang Junping glared.
"Don't think about it, Master, I am determined to be your master. How about calling me Master for such a long time in vain?" Li Wenjuan said firmly.
"The reason for your apprenticeship is to be the master during this period of time. Can't it be in vain?
If you don't plan to become a disciple, do I have to call you back?" Zhang Junping smiled and knocked Li Wenjuan over the head.
"What about you?" Zhang Junping looked at Xia Guoxiang again.
"Master, once you are a teacher, you are always a father!" Xia Guoxiang said firmly.
"Okay, it's getting late, you should go home quickly!
Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and you have to go to your relatives’ homes to pay New Year greetings, so I won’t let you have dinner.” Zhang Junping smiled and waved his hand, driving the two people away.
"Master, let's go then!"
"Let's go! Divide some of the candy in the basket and take it home for your younger brothers and sisters to eat." Zhang Junping pointed to the candy in the basket and said with a smile.
"Thank you, Master!" Li Wenjuan had long been greedy for the imported candies in the basket, but Master didn't let her eat them, so she didn't dare to do anything.
As soon as Zhang Junping said this, Li Wenjuan immediately took a piece of fruit candy, opened it and put it in his mouth, and then shared the candy with Xia Guoxiang.
One piece for you, one piece for me, one piece for me, one piece for me, and one piece for you.
The way Li Wenjuan distributed the candies almost made Xia Guoxiang cry. Most of the candies in the basket were given to him, but less than a third was given to him. However, Li Wenjuan was a girl, and he was embarrassed to care too much.
But, he also wants to eat sweets!
Zhang Junping went up and hit Li Wenjuan so hard that he lost his head, "You still want to be a senior sister, and you will bully your junior brother like this when you become a senior sister?"
"Master, I was wrong!
But, people like to eat them! And these candies look so beautiful!" Li Wenjuan said coquettishly, covering her head.
Even though Li Wenjuan is already at work, she is actually still a seventeen-year-old girl.
Zhang Junping shook his head, turned around and opened the cupboard. Using the cover of his body, he took out two packs of candies from the space and handed them to the two people, "I can't help you! Here, one pack for each person!"
If you like to eat, don't eat too much, otherwise you will get cavities and make you cry."
"Thank you, Master, Master is the best!" Li Wenjuan happily took the candy and smiled sweetly at Zhang Junping.
When Tian Shumei returned home, Mrs. Zhou was sitting on the kang, pasting paper boxes.
Although Tian Shumei made a lot of money during this period.
However, making paper boxes has become a living habit of Mrs. Zhou. If she doesn't do it for a day, she will feel uncomfortable all over.
Mrs. Zhou also understands that no matter how much money she has, she will eventually spend it all. Therefore, with the mentality that every extra point she can make is worth it, she still sat on the kang and made paper boxes on the first day of the new year.
The two brothers, Huaizhi, also obediently helped.
Seeing Tian Shumei coming back, Mrs. Zhou raised her head and asked, "Why does Pingzi need firewood?"
A person who never makes a fire or cook suddenly borrows firewood and has become a gossip ever since.
"Pingzi's apprentice came to pay New Year's greetings, and his apprentice is here!
Mom, what was the point of apprenticeship in the past? I heard that apprenticeship in the past to learn crafts was different from apprenticeship in a factory now?" Tian Shumei asked in a low voice, leaning sideways with half of her butt on the kang.
"I used to be an apprentice. Your father used to be an apprentice.
He learned the carpentry trade from his master.
The furniture in our house was all made by your father before." Mrs. Zhou didn't understand why her daughter-in-law asked this, but she still said it.
"If there is any difference between now and the past, the difference is overwhelming.
If you work as a master in the factory, you will usually help the master, serve him tea and water, and help him when he has something to do at home, and the factory will give you a salary.
In the past, once you became a disciple, you sold your life to the master.
Three years of study and two years of service.
In these five years, don't even think about making a penny.
The master only cares about your food and drink. If you meet a conscientious master, he may give you two pocket coins and let you buy some clothes or something.
If you encounter a master with a bad heart, not only will your work be in vain, but you will also not learn much skills.
In the past, there was also a saying that learning from a master was called learning from a master.
If you want to learn a craft, you can't wait for the master to teach you. You have to learn it secretly." Older people like to talk about ancient times the most. Once they start talking, they can't stop it.
That's what Mrs. Zhou is like.
"Your father was just like that at that time, like a slave. He worked in the master's house for two years and didn't learn any skills.
Jian Tian would either help his wife look after the children, or help her carry water and chop wood.
If you are even slightly dissatisfied, you will either be beaten or scolded, or you will be starved and denied food." Mrs. Zhou said enthusiastically, but she didn't notice that Tian Shumei turned pale with fright.
Tian Shumei followed Mrs. Zhou's words and imagined in her mind that after her son became a disciple, he was either beaten or scolded every day and was not given food. In winter, he huddled on the kang in thin clothes and was too cold to sleep.
My heart was twisted into a ball.
"Meizi, what's wrong with you? Why do you look so ugly?" Mrs. Zhou finally discovered something was wrong with Tian Shumei.
Tian Shumei frowned, her face was pale, and she almost scratched the mattress with both hands.
"Ah? It's okay. I'm fine. I just thought of something."
"Mei Zi, although you are my daughter-in-law, we have been dependent on each other for these years, and you are no different from your own mother-in-law.
If you have something to do, you must tell your mother. After all, your mother has been through more things than you.
I can help you with some advice." Mrs. Zhou held Tian Shumei's hand and said worriedly.
"Mom, I'm fine. It's just that I went to Pingzi's house just now and saw him teaching his disciples. I thought Pingzi was a very capable person, so I wanted to ask Huaizhi to become his teacher.
As a result, Pingzi told me that he accepted disciples according to the old etiquette, and even ran away to death and wounded, so that each one could accept his destiny and so on.
And what you just said scared me.
Thank you for not becoming a disciple!
What if Huaizhi becomes a disciple, beats him every day, and doesn't give them food? How am I going to live?" Speaking of which, Tian Shumei still felt a little bit frightened.
"Mom! Uncle Pingzi is a good person, he will not deny us food! Even if he hits us, it is because we have done something wrong. In school, if we make a mistake, the teacher will slap us on the palm of his hand!" Zhou Wenhuai said loudly
.
"Haha! You! You are so over the top that you are not as clear as a child." Mrs. Zhou laughed.
"Mom, do you agree to let Huaizhi become a disciple?" Tian Shumei was still a little worried.
"As you said, Pingzi is a man of great ability. If Huaizhi is destined to be able to worship Pingzi as his teacher, then you and I will no longer have to worry about them.
According to the old worshipper, there are also benefits of the old worshipper.
You should ask Uncle Liu about this matter again, he is an old gentleman and knows more than us." Mrs. Zhou said longingly.
After sending away his two apprentices, Zhang Junping suddenly found that he had nothing to do.
pay a New Year call?
At this point, Xu Shaomin, Director Zhang, and Director Zheng were not at home. They all went out to meet the leaders to pay New Year greetings.
Not to mention Xu Shaomin, he must have returned to his parents' house at this point.
As for visiting his parents' home for New Year's greetings, he couldn't enter the compound where his parents lived.
Xu Shaomin's parents were not of very high rank, but the rank of that compound was high.
By the way, Mrs. Yang hasn’t gone to pay New Year greetings yet.
Zhang Junping rubbed his growling stomach and suddenly remembered that he hadn't paid New Year's greetings to Mrs. Yang yet.
So, I took a bag of candies and went out.
"Pingzi, come to our house for dinner at noon! I made fish stew and asked Uncle Wang to drink some with you." Aunt Wang greeted Zhang Junping enthusiastically when she saw her.
Brother Zhu, who heard the commotion, also came out and shouted: "Pingzi, come to my house and ask your sister-in-law to cook two dishes, and we two brothers will have some!"
Tian Shumei was more straightforward and walked out with a large bowl of mushroom stewed chicken, "Pingzi, what are you doing? I just stewed the chicken and am preparing to deliver it to you."