Chapter 1305 Shelf Building
In the past, there was a saying in Beijing that was like a slogan, called "The fish tank on the ceiling has a pomegranate tree, sir, a fat dog and a fat girl."
This sentence actually refers to old age. The yearning and imagination of people in the capital for a happy life.
Just like the contemporary people desire to own a three-bedroom and one-living room in a school district in a first-tier city, with their parents by their side, the couple raising their eyebrows at the desk, the children lying on their knees, and having no worries about daily necessities of food, rice, oil and salt.
Most people understand what it means, and the scene described in this sentence is easy to understand.
But at the same time, I can also realize that the first half of this sentence can be summed up as the summer fun of Beijing people, but not many people.
The main reason is that contemporary people no longer know what a ceiling is.
At the same time, an old profession, the shed maker, has also gradually disappeared.
At present, the closest thing to this period of history to the people of the capital is the TV series "Four Generations Under One Roof", which brought Master Liu, who could dance the lion, to everyone's attention, allowing the older generation of capital people to remember the past. There has been such a profession.
Let young people say that under the age of forty, let alone seeing it, they have almost never heard of it.
The so-called "ceiling" is actually a pergola for enjoying the cool in summer. People in the capital call it "ceiling".
It was built with reed mats, fir poles and bamboo poles tied with ropes.
In the past, as soon as Xia Jingtian arrived, the capital entered the "canopy season", and all the shed shops were busy with the business of setting up pergolas.
The climate in Beijing is relatively accurate.
Generally according to the weather, it starts from the fifth month of the lunar calendar and lasts until the autumn wind blows during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Sooner or later, it is time to add a small coat, and the ceiling cannot be stored and needs to be demolished.
But roofing didn’t just start in the Republic of China. This industry can at least be traced back to the Ming Dynasty.
In the early years of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the princes, nobles and dignitaries in the capital would build tall ceilings in their courtyards to avoid the heat and cool down in midsummer.
Later, this method was gradually introduced to the people. In addition to decent businessmen, ordinary people also erected ceilings in their courtyards.
Even the annual ceiling fees for various civil and military agencies and government offices are included in the official official budget.
It can be seen how prosperous this industry was at that time. For people who did not have fans or air conditioners in the past, it was a necessity.
Even without bragging, during the Republic of China, not only courtyards could be covered with roofs to enjoy the shade, but also high-rise buildings.
For example, the embassy and consulates and banks in Dongjiaomin Lane in the capital are all multi-story Western-style buildings. Especially the scorching sun shining in the east is a great threat to people. Every year, these foreigners also build buildings.
Even the palace, until Puyi left the Forbidden City, relied on this hand to escape the heat.
Why are there no tall trees in the Forbidden City except the Imperial Garden?
If you listen to the tour guide, you will be a fool for the rest of your life.
Those uneducated people who talk nonsense all tell you that they are afraid of being mixed into assassins, or that they need fire prevention. It is pure nonsense that treats tourists as fools.
The real reason is that tents need to be built in the summer. This custom was practiced in the Ming and Qing courts and is recorded in archives.
The emperor is not stupid. It makes no sense that the common people know how to enjoy it, but the palace does not know.
So when it comes to the elaboration of building tents, there is no one in the world who is better than the capital city.
The industry of building roofs is called "shed shop", and the people who do this kind of work are called shed craftsmen.
You need to climb over eaves and walls, climb up and down, work in the air, and tie long wooden stakes and thick bamboo poles with hemp ropes to form a shelf.
Based on the nature of the work, the person doing this work should be roughly considered a member of the construction industry.
But it is not exactly the same, because buildings are for long-term use, while things like sheds are temporary.
In the past, when you hired someone to build a shed, the shed builder would calculate the cost for you based on the size of the owner's yard, how much it cost per season.
Everything was made of sheds, and the owner’s money was just rent. When the time came, they would all be demolished.
Therefore, the price is not expensive, and basically an upper-middle-class family can afford it.
But there is no chance now. There is no place to rent these things now. You have to buy them all by yourself.
It is also difficult to find people and the wages are not low, so the expenses must be real.
Even in the mainland of the Republic, prices and labor are extremely cheap, and building a shed for a small courtyard is expensive. Even buying materials and labor costs 3,000 yuan.
This does not count, because this money is only for erecting the ceiling. After erection, it has to be dismantled, and after the dismantling is completed, materials still need to be stored.
No wonder the old man is not happy. To put it bluntly, this is a matter of spending money and asking for trouble.
Not to mention, in accordance with Jiang Nianyun's ideas, we have to build a wedding tent, repair a theater, and make big arrangements as in the past.
Then I don’t know how much it will cost, there is no way to calculate it.
In fact, when Ning Weimin and Matsumoto Keiko returned to Ma's Garden in a car, they got out of the car and walked into the yard.
Ning Weimin understood why Luo Guangliang persuaded him to consider moving to another place and not bring the car in on the way.
For no other reason than because the stalls spread out in the courtyard were too big and too messy, and there was no room for them.
I don’t know since when, the entrance of the yard changed its appearance. Countless things covered with raincloths fell into the empty space as soon as they entered the yard.
And from the exposed part, you can see that they are all bamboo poles, fir poles, ropes and other things.
Not to mention, there was no parking space in the original motor house, because when Ning Weimin walked over, he found that tables, chairs and benches were placed in piles and stacked together, with all kinds of lights. There are dozens of Eight Immortals tables, and countless chairs and benches.
And he could see clearly that these were not the red sandalwood furniture he bought in the past, nor were they the ones the old man had refunded. They must be new ones.
Not to mention this, it was also a coincidence. As I walked forward, I found two tricycles parked there. The cardboard boxes on the vehicles were tied with ropes and stacked high.
Two shirtless rickshaw drivers were unloading their goods and carrying things into the house one by one. They were covered in sweat and their foreheads were oily.
You can tell just by looking at these boxes that they are not light and simple.
By coincidence, the person who opened the door for them with the key chain and watched them work was none other than Zhang Shihui.
I was happy to see Ning Weimin and his group pushing eight trolley suitcases, and hurried forward to greet them.
"Wei Min, I said you're back. I've been waiting impatiently to drink your wedding wine. If you don't come back, how can we sing in this big drama without the protagonist? Oh, look at this posture, it's quite possible. I'm afraid you two have emptied out all the stores in Paris?"
"Hey, Miss Matsumoto, it's been a hard journey. You are becoming more and more like an international star. Please forgive me for being a relative. , we should be considered our own family now, right? "
"Ah? What are you asking about? We have to prepare everything. ? You can’t just have tables and chairs, but you also need cups and dishes. What? It’s not much. They only have half of the goods.”
"Hey, I have to tell you about this. There are three hundred sets in total. They are all good things. Antique porcelain from the Beijing Arts and Crafts Factory, and it was made specially for you by Master Liu Yongqing. I heard it was modeled after which emperor. The wedding porcelain is better than the one we use now in Tan Palace. Anyway, it is absolutely decent and worthy of your status. The old man from the factory is also interesting. For your sake, I will give it half for sale and half for free. Let’s get a 30% discount. It’s only about 50,000 to 60,000 yuan.”
“Oh, that’s not what it should be. You’re welcome, why don’t I pay for your marriage?” You shouldn't help, don't be unreasonable. To tell you the truth, even our wife is here today. She is busy inside. After finishing her business today, we will take care of you together..."
If this boy is really different now, he really deserves to be the leader of the altar palace.
In the past, I was so excited about earning two thousand yuan by reselling two TVs that I couldn’t sleep all night. Now I don’t take it seriously when I mention five or six thousand yuan, and there is such a tone in my voice. easy.
However, when his words were heard by the two cartmen carrying the goods, they were inevitably eye-catching and shocking.
Especially when he spoke this time, he brought out the old shaking of his head in excitement, which made Ning Weimin frown. A bit too noisy.
For some reason, it reminds me of the old movies in the past, where the rich and unkind landlord Lao Cai inspects his territory and is flattered by his thugs.
Ning Weimin naturally felt extremely uncomfortable and awkwardly tight when the couple got together.
So he coughed quickly, broke the "Mu Renzhi"'s beard, and told him to get some tea for the two coachmen, and give each of them two boxes of cigarettes.
Without waiting for the two rickshaw drivers, who were holding heavy objects in their hands to say thanks with dry lips, they left and continued inside.
To be honest, at this time, Ning Weimin really couldn't be happy. Instead, he couldn't help but feel a little worried.
The situation in front of him was a bit too big, and it was completely different from what he remembered when his aunt's eldest son got a wife and hired a few chefs to serve as a living table for the children.
He originally thought that it would be convenient for him to find a cook, and for the wedding, he would just use the old man's garden to set up a few tables, invite all his acquaintances and friends, and everyone could close the door and have a casual and lively atmosphere.
It is already very comfortable to have this place in summer without being disturbed by others. There is no need to make any additional preparations.
Who knew that was not the case at all.
Looking at this situation, with this extravagance, even if the palace held weddings in the past, this would be it, right?
How much do these building materials, tables, chairs, benches, and tableware cost?
He knows best how much money the old man has in his hands.
When he left, the arrangement he made for the old man’s life was nothing more than asking him to give him the salary that Pierre Cardin gave him.
More than 5,000 yuan per month, 3,000 yuan in foreign exchange coupons, and double salary at the end of the year, which only amounted to 80,000 to 90,000 yuan that year.
However, these expenses now should have exceeded the old man's financial ability. I'm afraid it will cost him all his money. What on earth does the old man think?
And this Zhang Shihui doesn't know how to talk, and he can't say anything in front of outsiders.
If those two coachmen had spread the words just now, they would be very evil. They are just looking for trouble.
Just as they were thinking this, the group of them came to a fork in the road.
Ning Weimin lowered his head in thought and was about to run towards the small courtyard.
As a result, countless shouts came from the distance, "Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on!". Making them tilt their heads, he was startled.
Because from a distance, I could vaguely see a lot of people busy on the other side of the rockery. It seemed that a multiple archway with a height of more than ten meters had been erected.
According to Ning Weimin’s visual inspection, it seems to be much more complicated than the temple fair held in Temple of Heaven Park.
After being stunned for a moment, Ning Weimin couldn't help but lead the others over to find the sound.
Soon, when he saw it clearly, not only he could not help but shout "Ouch!"
Not only his Japanese wife could not help but cover her mouth with both hands, and shouted in shock, " Skuoyi! ”
Even Luo Guangliang and Xiao Tao, who originally knew the situation here, were all excited.
"Fuck!", both of them blurted out.
For no other reason than because what they just saw was not an archway at all.
To be precise, it is a flower wall outside a building that serves as a facade.
There are dozens of people gathered here, and they are actually rising from the building!
And it covers a large area, so big that Ning Weimin couldn't believe it.
You know, this can be said to be the largest open space in the middle of the garden. In winter, it is the place where water can be poured and an ice rink can be set up.
There is a billiard room on the rockery to the north, a three-volume hall to the southwest, and a Xiyin Hall to the southeast.
The space in the middle was at least several hundred square meters, and it was all used by these people, and they built a large shelf building on the ground.
That's not all. Look at the fir pennant stand that has been set up over the billiard room.
I know their plan, which seems to be to connect the original buildings in three directions with this wooden frame building.
Can you imagine how big this project will be?
How much will it cost?
That is to say, China is too poor these days, and people and things are worthless.
Otherwise, this kind of news has already caught up with the royal families of small European countries, and I am afraid it is no longer a show that the so-called old money can display.
What's even more amazing than this building is the people who work on it.
Ning Weimin saw that they used big fir poles to install pillars and bamboo poles to tie up the frames.
But the only tools for construction are ropes and "threading needles".
The rope is used for binding, and the "threading needle" is used for sewing reed mats.
Absolutely no need for axes, saws, or big iron hoe.
And it is different from the south where one has to dig a hole and bury the fir pole first.
The shed builders in the capital never dig holes or bury poles when building sheds.
They erected the bracket directly on the ground. It was very strong and of excellent quality.
No matter how strong the wind or rain is, the pole brackets will not move at all.
And this was the craftsmanship and exquisiteness of the shed shops in Beijing that were the best in the world.
Needless to say, these are skills passed down from generation to generation through formal apprenticeship, master-disciple inheritance, and expertise in this line of work.
Even people who don’t understand can tell after just a few glances that even a monk who has become a monk on the way can’t do such a job.
What a good shed maker. Even though some of them are quite old, some are in their 60s or 50s. Many of them are old masters.
But it is as light as a swallow and as strong as an ape.
Whether they are building a building on a shelf or building a shed on the eaves, they are all so light and flexible.
I will never trample the tiles on other people's houses to pieces.
Especially when building a scaffolding, even though there is only a cedar pole across the middle of the distance of several meters, those people are like walking on a tightrope,
walking from one end to the other, It's like walking on flat ground.
Just rely on this craftsmanship and it won’t take a moment, okay?
According to Ning Weimin, he is qualified enough to join the acrobatic troupe.
So finally he couldn't hold it any longer, and he called Mom for the first time, and he called it to the old man.
“Oh, my mother! So awesome!”