Journey 1995:Non-Stop

Chapter 43: Meet the Mu Gang Again
However, thinking about this, Yan Hui thought of what Song Zhiyuan had said. The draft in his house was the main reason for the coldness.

Yan Hui has recently thought about whether he should go to the train station to sleep again, but he feels it is risky because he has too much money on him. It seems that after returning from the forest farm, he can consider using tape and glue to patch up the air leaks.

"Are you two free to go together?" Yan Hui looked at Old Song and Old Wu, who were also very busy people.

"I didn't have time before, but now it's cold and the market is quiet, so I'm free." Old Song was very happy. "I can go out and have fun without spending any money. Where else can I find such a good thing?"

"This is not going out to play, we are always on the road." Yan Hui kindly reminded.

"I love riding in a car!" Old Song was in a very good mood.

"I'm mainly worried that something might happen to you, so I'm here to accompany you and protect you." Although Old Wu wears glasses, he has always dreamed of becoming a soldier.

"You can't beat me yet," Yan Hui said with a smile.

"I don't believe it, let's try it!" Old Wu suddenly became excited.

"Come on, arm wrestle with me," Yan Hui stretched out his hand.

"Come on." Old Wu was unconvinced and grabbed Yan Hui's hand.

The two men didn't have suitable tables and chairs to wrestle, but in arm wrestling, the winner is clear as soon as they shake hands. Old Wu was defeated just after shaking hands with Yan Hui and begged for mercy.

Yan Hui has been doing physical work every day for the past six months. In comparison, the three of these guys combined may not be able to beat Yan Hui, not to mention that Yan Hui has practiced some skills before.

"No, I have to practice hard when I come back!" After letting go of his hand, Old Wu still did not show weakness.

"No matter how much you practice, you can't beat Lao Yan," Lao Song began to cheer.

"It's all right if I can handle you."

The four of them chatted and joked, but didn't talk about tomorrow at all, as if they were going out for a trip tomorrow.

For a few of them, riding in a car is an enjoyment in itself. Riding for a few hours is a few hours of enjoyment.

The soft seat and backrest allow you to sit down and move forward on your own. Is there anything more comfortable than riding in a car? You don't have to walk.

It is precisely because we all love riding in cars that sometimes when we go out to play, we can afford to take a taxi.

After chatting for more than half an hour, Yan Hui had nothing to eat or drink, and it was a bit cold, so everyone couldn't sit still anymore and said goodbye and left.

Yan Hui had an electric blanket, which was acceptable for this season. After his friends left, he quickly lay down and fell asleep.

The next morning, Yan Hui went to his second brother's house and asked for two days off. His second brother agreed without a second thought. Forget asking for two or three days off. Yan Hui just said he was going home for the Lunar New Year, and his second brother had no objection. This is the Northeast.

After requesting leave, Yan Hui went to find a place to eat something, only then did he feel a little warmer. His clothes were much thicker than when he came last year, but he was still cold. He heard that the wealthy here liked mink coats, but Yan Hui rarely saw any in the market.

It’s not that the bosses can’t afford it, it’s mainly because it’s really inconvenient to wear this in the timber market, and if it gets scratched, the loss will be huge.

If I could have a mink coat, I would go back to my hometown.
Forget it, I can’t wear it back home.

Not buying it.

Ok.

After breakfast, Yan Hui went to look for Lao Guo, but he was no longer in the store. He went directly to the place where the driver had been working, and sure enough, he found Lao Guo there.

The two-day rental cost a bit more than I'd estimated, mainly due to the distance and the difficult road, which required the car to be fitted with snow chains. Ultimately, the driver and car alone cost 550 yuan for two days. Including gas and tolls, the cost was over 800 yuan, more than a month's salary for many people.

But on the one hand, cars are very valuable, and on the other hand, the distance is too far and there is a long section of bad road, so none of the drivers are willing to give up.

In the end, Yan Hui called an older man he knew aside to talk things over and finally agreed on a price of 500 yuan. Yan Hui was a frequent visitor here, so even if he didn't know the drivers, there were always some who looked familiar to him. Even so, the driver eventually found a friend and went to Lao Guo's father's shop with him to talk to him before setting off.

Time waits for no one. In order to ensure that they could reach their destination before dark, a group of five set off at 7 o'clock in the morning.

"This is my first time taking such a long journey," said the driver, a rather honest man. "What are you planning to do?"

"We want to invite a master to come out," because it was not a trade secret, Lao Guo knew everything and talked about what he knew.

"Is that so? You're willing to hire a car for this." The driver probably understood the situation.

Speaking of which, this kind of chartered car driver is also very risky. Four teenagers, half grown, asked to go on a two-day trip across the province, and the place they were going to was deep in the mountains and old forests. It was not impossible that they would be killed. This was also because Lao Guo's father had guaranteed that this trip was impossible.

"I want to learn from Zhuge Liang and visit him three times at his cottage!" Old Guo said with great enthusiasm.

The driver also found it amusing to see Lao Guo like this. He had never taken on work with children before, and he actually chatted and laughed with everyone along the way.

Yan Hui was the only one on this bus who was nervous, as he had to plan this long route. Taking the wrong road would be a disaster. As he walked along, he began to regret buying a map of Northeast China. He should have bought a map of Liaoning Province and then a map of Jilin Province. That way, he would have been able to see the many forks and landmarks clearly.

Because he was always looking at the road, everyone was talking and laughing and telling all kinds of funny things, but Yan Hui couldn't hear a word of it. He kept staring at the road, and breathed a sigh of relief when every intersection matched the map. After walking for dozens of kilometers without any new information, he would get a headache and only feel relieved when he saw his own landmark appear.

Every time they refueled, others went to buy food or go to the bathroom, but Yan Hui just wanted to ask a few more people.

The way back to the city will be much easier than it is now, because the words "Fengtian" will definitely appear on the highway sign. But this time it will be troublesome, because we are going to a town under a county in Baishan. If we go around from the urban area of ​​Baishan, it will be much farther, so the highway sign is not so convenient.

The driver was driving, Lao Guo and the other two were talking and laughing, Yan Hui was concentrating on watching the road, everyone had a clear division of labor, and by noon, the car had entered Meihe, which was considered to be Baishan.

After getting off the car to rest and refuel, Yan Hui asked a few experienced drivers to confirm that there was no problem with the road they were taking. The town was only an hour's drive away, and he finally put his mind at ease.

At noon, at this place, Lao Guo treated everyone to pork bone soup, with a large pork bone for each person, and plenty of pancakes and green onions. Even the driver said that Lao Guo was a capable guy.

"This trip was definitely worth it, Lao Guo. Next time you have something like this, call me." Lao Song was still excited. It was hard to imagine the state of mind of someone who had been sitting in a car for five or six hours straight.

"If everything goes well, we'll be there in two and a half hours," Yan Hui said to everyone. "Thank you for your hard work," Lao Guo noticed, but he wouldn't be particularly polite to Yan Hui at this moment. After all, he had spent money.

"I hope everything goes well." Before everyone left, there was no agreement on what to do if the negotiation failed.

Yan Hui knew, of course, that if the deal fell through, he wouldn't earn his 1000 yuan. But in reality, the Guo family suffered a greater loss, having thrown away at least a thousand yuan.

"It's okay. If we can't come to an agreement, we can split the remaining amount of the two thousand my father gave me equally." Old Guo patted Yan Hui's shoulder.

"I hope everything goes well." Yan Hui did not respond. It must be uncomfortable if the negotiation failed, needless to say.

They were almost there, so Old Song and Old Wu naturally didn't care. They were just there to play with them. Their biggest role was to help lift the car if it got stuck, so there was naturally no pressure.

Lao Guo has a good attitude. Since he wants to do this, he will do his best instead of procrastinating.

After we set off, everything went smoothly until we passed the town and started going up the mountain.

The road showed obvious signs of being driven by Liberation trucks, and snow had already accumulated in some places.

On the way here, there was no snow on the roads in other places, so it was difficult to get up the mountain. Fortunately, the driver had prepared anti-skid chains, so he got up the mountain safely.

It was almost four o'clock when they went up the mountain. Yan Hui first visited Director Li, bringing two bottles of Fengtian wine, and then went to the convenience store.

Old Wu and Old Guo were strolling around in the forest farm, and only Yan Hui and Old Guo came over.

The shop owner was stunned when he saw Yan Hui, then smiled: "You're back just as winter begins?"

"No, I'm not here because of my uncle. It's..." Yan Hui didn't know how to explain this. After thinking for a while, he started from the beginning. "My friend was very surprised when he saw the wood carvings of Erye that I brought back. His family is in the rosewood business, and some of their clients need high-end wood carvings, especially for furniture. So they really want to find a skilled woodcarver, so they brought me here specifically to invite you out of retirement and to Fengtian."

"Ah?" The boss was a little confused for a moment, pointed at himself and said nothing.

"Master, we are very sincere. You can set any conditions and benefits you want." Lao Guo said at the right time.

As soon as Lao Guo entered the house and saw some wood carvings, he knew he had come to the right place. This was because the master craftsman could also carve large pieces. Even his own tables and chairs had traces of carving and patterns on them. This was the kind of person they really wanted. Good mahogany furniture does not require excessive carving, but carving is necessary. It is much more meticulous than ordinary carpentry work.

"I've lived in the mountains for so many years, and it's quite comfortable. I have no children, and I'm alone. Why would I go down the mountain?" The shop owner slowly recovered from his shock and shook his head. "Fengtian is so far away, and no one would know me if I went there."

"Would you like to try to offer us some conditions? For example, housing, wages, etc. You can propose them." Lao Guo added.

"There's no use for me."

"No rush. This matter was a bit sudden, and it's impossible for you to make a decision right away," Yan Hui took over. "Uncle, to be honest, I don't see that you know many people in the forest farm, but you may really like quietness, which you can't find elsewhere. So, no matter what, I still want to express my gratitude for what you did before. This time, we also brought a gift."

As he spoke, Yan Hui asked Lao Guo to take out the prepared mahogany materials.

The texture of rosewood is indeed much better than the common wood species on the mountain. The red pine, white pine, larch, etc. mentioned earlier have a density of 0.4-0.5, and some special ones can reach 0.6, while there is no rosewood with a density lower than 0.8. Even wood species such as red sandalwood (also known as small-leaf red sandalwood) and Dalbergia cochinchinensis (also known as big red sandalwood) have an air-dry density greater than water, and will sink if thrown into the water.

It's fair to say that the shop owner, who has spent half his life dealing with wood, has never touched redwood. He might not accept other gifts, but there's no need to refuse wood. The first thing he felt when he took it with both hands was its heaviness.

This piece of wood weighs at least ten pounds and is very hard. The store owner stroked it for a while and marveled at it.

Living in the mountains, he didn't believe there was better wood out there. The cold-zone wood from the Northeast Forest Farm was already top-notch. But now he was wavering.

Although the shop owner didn't intend to leave with Yan Hui and the others, this was the only place to buy food at the forest farm, so the two of them bought a lot of food and drinks and found a place to sit. Later, Old Wu and Old Song could come over to eat together.

After sitting for a while, Old Wu and Old Song ran over excitedly and told Yan Hui about their experiences.

Almost all the members of the Mu Gang have arrived. They are now offering sacrifices and preparing to go up the mountain. It is very lively with the beating of gongs and drums.

"Do you want to go and take a look?" Old Song suggested.

"I'm not going. I know them all, and if I go, they'll have to invite me to dinner." Yan Hui shook his head. He actually wanted to stay here for a while; after all, this matter wasn't beyond discussion.

"Okay, but what about the driver? What will he eat?"

"Old Song, go call him and ask him to come and have dinner with us," said Old Guo.

"Okay." Old Song ran out excitedly.

Soon, Lao Song came in with the driver. The five of them found a place to sit and ate some dry food.

This scene surprised the convenience store owner. He never expected that five people would come, and it seemed that they came specifically to invite him out.

He had just tried this piece of wood and found that mahogany was extremely suitable for carving because it was hard and not easily deformed, and the grain was very tight, so the entire piece would not fall off along the grain after the knife was used.

The five people were eating when Gao Bo brought a few people into the store. Yan Hui saw them at a glance and immediately went over to say hello.

"Why are you here?" Gao Bo was very surprised. "Are you here to help your uncle keep an eye on things again this year?"

"No, I came here specifically to hire someone." Yan Hui told the story directly.

"Ah? Is that so?" Gao Bo was a little surprised, but he didn't say anything. Then, Gao Bo thought of something: "So, you are going back to Fengtian tomorrow?"

"Well, I'll go back tomorrow."

"That's perfect," Uncle Gao pointed at a person next to him. "Your uncle Sun's son is studying at a university in Fengtian. He promised his son that he would send him some autumn fruits after he went to the mountains. He was thinking of asking Old Liu to send them over. You can go back tomorrow and help take them over!"

"No problem, give me the address later."

(End of this chapter)