Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 229 Old Xu from the Timber Yard

Liu Hongliang nodded and went to get it from the car. Xia Maosheng and Chen Hui put a case of Hongtashan cigarettes in the car.

Two minutes later, the cigarettes were brought over. Xiao Wei handed one to Master Gong and said, "You guys smoke one carton, and give the other one to the other person." Master Gong smiled and took it without being polite.

After the three houses on this side were finished, the iron gate on the other side was opened, and a truck drove in, fully loaded with pine planks.

The car pulled up to the bungalows, and three people jumped out of the driver's cab. One of them immediately shouted, "Old Gong, where's it?"

Master Gong pushed open the door: "This way, this way, come in."

The man turned to the people who had come with him and said, "Unload it, just pile it over here." Then he walked over and went inside.

Master Gong tossed a twig directly to Xiao Wei, pointed at him, and said, "This is what the boss gave you. Have you hauled enough?" He then told Xiao Wei, "This is Old Xu from the lumberyard."

Xiao Wei nodded to Lao Xu and called him "Brother Xu".

Old Xu was over forty years old, with a thick beard and wearing a work cotton-padded jacket. He took the cigarette and smiled, saying, "Thanks, I won't be polite." Unlike the people in the workplace nowadays, whose faces are all shaved, back then many people had beards.

Old Xu looked around the room, then looked up at the wooden planks nailed overhead, and said, "Are the walls and floor all nailed together with planks?"

Master Gong nodded and said, "Yes, all boards. What else can we use? Those plastic sheets are too cheap and not sturdy enough."

Old Xu nodded and said, "Fake is fake. It's all the rage now, but it'll be over in a few years. We need real materials." He walked around for a moment and said, "It's not enough. I'll bring you another truckload later. There's still some dry material left. Old Gong, do you think it'll work if I process these things and sell them? I see quite a few people doing it now."

Master Gong thought for a moment and said, "It's hard to say. Our place is still too small. Besides, we'll have to reassemble it and paint it after taking it back. How many families are willing to do that?"

Xiao Wei said, "You don't need to make it so long. Just make it shorter when you process it, apply some clear varnish, and then take it to Fengtian to sell. You can use it as soon as you buy it, and it won't interfere with painting it with other colors. It should work." Right now, all the boards being processed are 4.2 meters long.

Old Xu smiled and said, "It's too far. The higher-ups won't agree. We're just an affiliated factory. If we were to specialize in this, we'd be criticized for neglecting our main business. We'll just produce a small amount and sell it in the city. If it doesn't work out, we'll just stop."

Xiao Wei asked, "Can you process custom parts? Including painting, like that old-fashioned paint, the kind that's dark red and blackish-brown from the past."

Old Xu said, "Any kind of wood will do. You said that paint is easy to make, you can mix it, and then you can put on a layer of clear varnish, making it look better than the original. Why would you use that? That paint color is so old, nobody uses it anymore. Now it's either bright red or clear varnish, blue or green are rare."

Xiao Wei said, "I want something that looks good and is bright, but also has an old-fashioned feel, like it's been around for a long time. Is that okay?"

Old Xu took off his cotton hat, scratched his scalp, put the hat back on, and said, "Let's go for purple. It doesn't need to be too dark. Just mix anti-rust paint with bright red, and then apply a thick layer of clear coat, and that'll give it the look. No need for dark red; it's too stuffy."

Xiao Wei said, "Could you still make those layered pieces like the ones from the early days? I mean, that kind of look, like the ones with painted designs on top."

Old Xu shook his head and said, "Making it look like that is easy. But if you want it to be exactly the same, you'd have to find a master craftsman to do it by hand. What do you want?"

Xiao Wei said, "My buddy is going to build a big restaurant in Fengtian, and he wants to make the whole place out of wood, like the kind of place I just described."

Old Xu asked, "How big is the place?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's a two-story building, about 1,500 square meters. The first floor has a 500-square-meter main hall and stairs, plus 600 square meters of private rooms and corridors on the second floor. Some parts of the first-floor floor also need to be made of wood. I'm thinking of surrounding each table with different heights to create different levels, building some wooden corridors to connect all the tables, and putting some plants or something in the open space in the middle. Is that feasible?"

Old Xu lit a cigarette, squatted down, picked up a piece of timber, and calculated it by moving it around. He said, "This project isn't small, it'll cost some money. If there aren't any special requirements in terms of craftsmanship, we can do it. And to be honest, it'll definitely be faster and cheaper for us to do it than for you to hire a carpenter." Back then, carpenters relied entirely on chisels, axes, saws, and manual sanding, which was indeed slower than this kind of pit lumberyard, where everything was done by machine. Moreover, carpenters couldn't do things like drying and painting.

Xiao Wei thought for a moment and said, "Well, do you have time? Maybe you'll have to go to Fengtian to take a look? If it's feasible, I'll give you the job." Actually, there are similar processing plants near Fengtian, called wood-turning plants. However, Fengtian is located on a plain, and the timber is all brought in from outside, making it more expensive. Usually, the timber they process is mainly miscellaneous wood.

Moreover, Xiaowei felt that it wasn't worth it for Lao Chen to find someone else to handle this matter. Not only was it not worth owing someone a favor, but it would also definitely cost money. It would be better to do it in Longcheng, where the price would be half the price, and finding a car to transport it wouldn't cost much.

Old Xu thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Okay, what's the matter? Once this job is done, we can have a good New Year, haha."

Xiao Wei said, "It's not just about building, it's also about installation. There are still quite a few walls to build, all made of wood panels, painted with the same paint, and we'll also install those old-fashioned windows, but they have to be opaque, so we don't usually open them."

Old Xu pointed at Master Gong and said, "I'll do the work, and they can install it. We can go together. Master Gong's calculations are more accurate. The carpenters around here aren't good at fine work."

The pit lumber yard mainly processes pit lumber from mines and can't do fine work. In this respect, it's not as good as the lathe factory, which processes plywood by fixing the wood on a machine to rotate, cutting it into thin slices, and then gluing them together layer by layer.

Xiao Wei said, "That's definitely fine. I trust Master Gong's work skills. It's settled then. Get the hair done quickly, and then you two can go to Fengtian together. We'll cover all the expenses."

Master Gong nodded and said, "Okay, it'll only take three or four days here, and the materials will be ready quickly. By the way, Lao Xu, I didn't tell you that we also need to get things done at the old grain depot over there, to make a storefront. You can go over there later and calculate the amount, and get enough right away. There's space to store it there. Just pile it up inside."

Old Xu stood up and said, "Okay, I'll unload this and go over to check if there's any wood." He then turned and left.

Master Gong threw his cigarette butt outside and said, "Old Xu's place is pretty good at everything. The quality is guaranteed, and he has all the equipment. Wood is the kind of thing that's prone to warping." He called over a few carpenters to carry boards up the partition wall. The partition wall was made of a row of wooden beams in the middle, with boards sandwiched on both sides, making it both stable and insulated from the cold.

The work was done quickly. Xiao Wei went to the boiler room for a smoke and exchanged a few words with Hao Xiaodong. In the time it took, the two rooms were finished.

(End of this chapter)