Taking Liu Yifei back to Northeast China for the Chinese New Year has sent the entire internet into

"Hello, Master Liang."

Fang Yu and Liu Yifei spoke at the same time.

Master Liang nodded, his gaze sweeping over the two men, his reaction indifferent.

He spends most of his time repairing ancient buildings within the red walls of the city, and his daily work involves mostly wood, bricks, tiles, and blueprints. He has little interest in the entertainment industry.

He didn't know Fang Yu.

But he knew several young apprentices nearby.

Several apprentices were squatting on the ground applying paint to the wood when they heard the name "Fang Yu," and their brushes stopped abruptly.

The group of people suddenly looked up.

"Wow!"

"Fang Yu?"

"The Northeastern Lu Ban?!"

They didn't speak loudly.

The repair area was already quiet, so the words were heard very clearly.

Master Liang frowned immediately.

"What 'Northeast Lu Ban'?"

He turned to look at the apprentices, his face clearly darkening.

Who is Lu Ban?

That is the patron saint of carpenters, enshrined on the altar.

Such a prestigious title cannot be casually bestowed upon a young man in his twenties.

Fang Yu felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing those four words.

He reacted extremely quickly, his hands leaving afterimages as he shook them.

"No, no, no, brother, you can't yell like that!"

"If the patriarch heard this, he'd jump down from the altar and whip me in the middle of the night!"

This display of survival instinct is off the charts.

The tense atmosphere from a moment ago dissipated instantly.

Several young apprentices lowered their heads, their shoulders shaking uncontrollably, almost brushing the paint crookedly.

Master Liang's expression softened slightly when he heard that the man's words were somewhat reasonable.

He thought to himself: At least this kid isn't arrogant, he knows to respect the ancestors, and he understands some rules.

"You're just spouting nonsense!"

Master Liang glared at his quick-tongued apprentice.

"You think you can joke about the name of our founding master? Have you even done your job properly?!"

The young apprentice, though scolded, stiffened his neck and became agitated:

"Master, I'm not lying!"

"Fang Yu is truly capable!"

"He once built a large red sedan chair entirely with mortise and tenon joints in Mohe, without using a single nail!"

"Later, during the Lantern Festival, the Mohe Culture and Tourism Bureau even brought out the bridal sedan chair for exhibition, and many people lined up to see it!"

Upon hearing this, Master Liang turned around completely and began to re-examine the young man in front of him, who looked like a male college student.

All mortise and tenon joints.

A large bridal sedan chair.

Working alone.

To the untrained eye, these words are just something to laugh at.

But to the old carpenter who had dealt with wood all his life, that weight was enough to smash the ground and create a huge crater!

Let alone a bridal sedan chair, which is a large item with an extremely complex structure and requires careful stress control.

Even a small stool made entirely of mortise and tenon joints will wobble if you don't have three to five years of basic skills!

This young man is only in his early twenties, how can he do such delicate work?

"A bridal sedan chair made entirely of mortise and tenon joints?"

Master Liang stared into Fang Yu's eyes, his tone scrutinizing.

"You did all of this by yourself?"

Fang Yu didn't show off.

He smiled and pointed to Liu Yifei beside him.

"It can't be counted as just me."

"She also contributed."

Master Liang looked over, his expression even more surprised: "Girl, you can do carpentry too?"

"No, no!"

Liu Yifei quickly waved her hand.

"I just stood by and handed out tools, occasionally lending a hand."

She tilted her head and thought for a moment, then added very seriously:

"Oh, by the way, I even sat inside and tried it out myself to test how sturdy the sedan chair's bottom was."

Fang Yu nodded frantically, his expression utterly serious:

"That's right, she's a core executive."

"Chief bridal sedan chair quality inspector".

"puff--"

At this point, the young apprentices nearby couldn't hold back any longer and burst out laughing.

Liu Yifei's ears burned slightly, and she secretly glared at Fang Yu.

She knew it.

This guy can steer even the most serious matters astray the moment he opens his mouth!

Even Master Liang's tense face showed a hint of a smile after being amused by the two of them.

But jokes aside.

Craftsmanship is something that can't be built on others' praise alone.

Whether someone has real skills or not, a few words of discussion will tell.

Master Liang turned around and pointed to the hall door next to him that was under repair.

"Young man, since you've made a bridal sedan chair with all mortise and tenon joints, let me ask you a question."

"The door panel and the groove of the door frame don't match; they're off by half a inch."

"What would you do in that situation?"

This question sounds easy, but it's actually extremely tricky!

Half a meter, which is just over a millimeter.

But if it's placed on an old gate of a building that has been around for hundreds of years, it will collapse completely under the force of this one slight imperfection!

If you force it in, the door panel is likely to be arched and deformed.

Directly planing it with a plane may damage the original dimensions and structure.

The most important thing in the restoration of ancient buildings is never to make them look brand new.

Instead, the old was restored to its original state.

If you can move less, then don't move too much.

If it can be kept, then it will not be replaced.

Shen Weimin stood silently to the side, holding a thermos cup.

He also wanted to take this opportunity to probe the situation.

Let's see how much real substance this young man, who has been praised to the skies by Chen Daoming, actually has.

Fang Yu did not rush to answer.

He walked to the palace gate and first touched the texture of the door panel with his hand.

He then bent down and carefully examined the position where the door panel and the door core panel were stuck.

Master Liang didn't rush him.

Several young apprentices stopped what they were doing and quietly looked over.

After a moment, Fang Yu straightened up.

"Master Liang, this door panel should be made of old golden nanmu wood from Sichuan, right?"

"Judging from the patina, it's been around for quite a while."

Master Liang raised an eyebrow.

"Good eye."

Fang Yu nodded.

"Old wood is stable, but no matter how stable it is, it's still just wood."

"A hard push is definitely not an option."

"The door panel is almost there. If we force it in, the problem won't be noticeable in the short term, but it will easily warp if it gets damp later."

As he spoke, he raised his hand and gestured to indicate the location of the groove.

"You can't move around too much when you're wiping your hair."

"Once the original dimensions and structure are cut off, they can never be restored."

Master Liang didn't say anything, but his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Fang Yu continued:

"My idea is to not touch the head."

"Following the wood grain of the door panel, use a plane to create an extremely narrow ramp."

He ran his finger along the edge of the door panel.

In the trade, it's called "stealing a hand."

"Make the door panel re-enter the groove."

"No repairs will be visible from the outside, and the original structure will be preserved as much as possible."

As soon as he finished speaking, the repair area fell silent.

Master Liang stood frozen in place, speechless.

The apprentices who had been watching the spectacle were completely dumbfounded, as if struck by lightning.

Water line.

Stealing.

These two terms aren't something you can just pick up and show off by searching for a couple of posts on Xiaohongshu!

Especially this "stealing" skill.

The key is to leave room for improvement, follow the grain, and conceal any flaws!

If you don't have some real skills, you wouldn't even dare to think about it, let alone put it into practice!

If you plane even a little deeper, the dimensions will be ruined.

If you plan off-center, the wood grain may become rough and chipped.

Fang Yu really knows his stuff!