Chapter 70 Boarding Planks and Putty
Zhao Dahai returned home. Grandma Zhong Cuihua had just finished breakfast and was weaving a fishing net. He told her that she had bought big pig trotters and bones for lunch and dinner. Second Grandpa Zhao Shi and Second Grandma Golden Peach comes to eat at home and prepares the meal in advance.
After Zhao Dahai said this, he turned around and went out in a hurry. He had to repair the ship. He had no time to get on the ship today, so he had to leave the cooking to his grandma Zhong Cuihua.
Zhao Dahai walked quickly to the beach. The ship planks unloaded yesterday were piled here. They had to carry them piece by piece behind the woods. He came early to do this. Later, his second grandfather Zhao Shi came. You can do formal work. The beach is very soft and you can't push the car. You can only carry it with your hands and shoulders. The planks of fishing boats, especially the planks at the bottom of the boat, are very thick and heavy. The short ones can be carried, and the longest ones can be carried. Several through-boards, over eight meters long, were too heavy to carry. It was too difficult for both of us, so we found a few logs to put under them, tied one end with a thick hemp rope, and dragged it slowly but slowly into the forest to the side of the fishing boat. .
"Why are you in such a hurry? Wouldn't it be easier to help when I come? Do you think I have old arms and legs?"
Zhao Shi's eyes widened when he came and saw that all the planks had been moved. He knew very well how heavy these planks were. The two big men were very tired when unloading them yesterday. It was not easy for Zhao Dahai to get them in alone.
"Second Grandpa."
"Aren't I idle? I came to do this job earlier, so I can start working on the board earlier."
Zhao Dahai really doesn't want to Zhao Shi moved the planks of the ship, which was really heavy. Zhao Shi was old, and it was no joke if he ducked his waist or twisted his hands.
Zhao Dahai drank some water, took a rest, and started to get on the boat under Zhao Shi's guidance. The fishing boat itself was built by Zhou Fucheng's shipyard, and he was very familiar with the dimensions. Zhao Shi measured it very clearly. The purchased ship boards were cut and planed as needed. The holes were drilled and the positions were arranged. Some places were nailed with large iron nails and some were fixed with bolts. The work was not complicated. We had dinner at noon. I rested for an hour and continued working until the sun went down before I went home to rest.
Zhao Dahai got up at four o'clock in the morning the next day, cooked breakfast and went to work immediately. He had gained experience after working all day yesterday, and the large ship planks, especially the most difficult ones at the bottom of the ship, had been laid yesterday, and the remaining The ones that came down were all small boards, so you didn’t need Zhao Shi’s guidance, you could just do it by yourself.
The sun is in the middle of the sky.
The sun is hot.
Zhao Dahai put down the hammer in his hand and jumped off the fishing boat. In a day and a half, all the planks of the boat were installed.
Zhao Shi walked around the fishing boat and looked carefully several times. He held a hammer in his hand and knocked here and there. It took almost an hour before he nodded with satisfaction.
Zhao Shi took out a list and handed it to Zhao Dahai.
"Second Grandpa."
"Are they the things you need for 'making hemp'?"
Zhao Dahai looked at the list and wrote tung oil, lime powder and Twine and stuff. Wooden fishing boats are made of wood and planks. They are not seamlessly formed in one piece. There are large and small gaps between the wood and planks. Water may leak where nails or bolts are used. "Making them" is the most important. This is a process to ensure that fishing boats are watertight. I have heard about it since I was a child but have never done it before.
Zhao Shi nodded. The things on the list were for "mapping".
Zhao Dahai looked at the time and it was just noon. He covered the fishing boat with waterproof plastic sheet and sent Zhao Shi home. He got on his motorcycle and hurried to the town. He found a store and bought all the things written on Zhao Shi's list, mainly tung oil and lime powder. and jute thread, you can’t save money on all of these and buy the best.
Zhao Dahai bought the things, rushed back to the village, and went directly to Zhao Shi's house.
Zhao Shi saw Zhao Dahai coming back from buying something. He was not in a hurry and immediately went to the fishing boat and took tung oil, lime and jute thread.
“One part tung oil and three parts lime.”
“Add a little jute twine.”
"Mix it evenly. Beat it."
"Until it becomes sludge."
Zhao Shi said while doing it.
Zhao Dahai pricked up his ears and widened his eyes. This is for making "putty lime". Some places call it "tung putty". It is a good thing for repairing seams and leaks on traditional wooden fishing boats. It is not only used for repairing the ship this time. It will also be useful in maintaining fishing boats in the future, so you must learn it well.
Zhao Shi stopped a half-sized portion of putty lime and waved Zhao Dahai away to go home and learn on his own.
Zhao Dahai waited for home with the putty lime and the purchased tung oil. He walked into the yard, pulled up a stool, sat down and immediately started trying to make it. He soon discovered that it looked simple but mixing it just right was not simple at all. It was not that there was too much tung oil. There was too much lime or too much jute thread, so I kept failing and tried more than a dozen times before I could make one similar to Zhao Shi's. I wanted to go to the fishing boat to "make jute" right away, but it was already dark and I could only wait until tomorrow.
After Zhao Dahai finished dinner and was busy packing things in the kitchen, he heard someone shouting outside the yard.
"Boss Luo."
"Have you eaten?" Zhao Dahai opened the door and saw Luo Zhong riding a tricycle parked at the door. This man opened a small factory in the town and made For the business of finding people to weave and sell fishing nets, the surrounding villages all take jobs from Luo Zhong's factory.
"Ha!"
"I am born to be busy."
"I will go back after accepting the people from your village. It is estimated that I will not be able to eat until nine or ten o'clock."
Luo Zhong wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
Zhao Dahai walked into the main room and was shocked when he moved. Grandma Zhong Cuihua had woven a lot of fishing nets.
Luo Zhong looked at it carefully and found that there was no problem. After calculation, it was a total of 1,852 yuan.
"Grandma."
"This is the money from selling fishing nets."
Zhao Dahai sent Luo Zhong away, took the money back to the main room and handed it to Zhong Cuihua.
"You take this money. It will cost a lot of money to repair fishing boats and so on."
Zhong Cuihua didn't answer.
“Grandma!”
“Didn’t I tell you before? I bought materials for scrapping ships. I saved a lot of money and there is no need to spend this money.”
"Keep it for yourself."
Zhao Dahai is not polite, he already has enough money.
"I'm an old woman who won't go anywhere. How can I need money? Just take it."
Zhong Cuihua waved her hand.
Zhao Dahai had no choice but to think about it. His grandma had nothing to be polite about, so she accepted it.
“Grandma!”
“There is so much money to repair the fishing boat, there is no need to weave fishing nets!”
Zhao Dahai knew that grandma Zhong Cuihua had been working hard to weave fishing nets recently, and all she wanted was to make more money to repair her own fishing boat.
“What can I do if I don’t weave fishing nets?”
“Now I don’t have a great-grandson to bring for me.”
Zhong Cuihua smiled.
“Hey!”
"Grandma!"
"There's no need to rush this matter. With our family's conditions, we can't marry into a good family."
"After the fishing boat is repaired, we can make more money by fishing at sea. Let's build a new one first. It’s not too late to think about the house or something.”
Zhao Dahai was a little bit dumbfounded. Grandma Zhong Cuihua's thoughts are all about her great-grandson. This is impossible. One is because her family is poor and it is difficult to find a wife. The other is that Ding Xiaoxiang is only fifteen or sixteen years old, and the most important thing now is to make money.
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(End of this chapter)