N-M Chapter 26 Master Chen
Chapter 26 Master Chen
Two weeks later, Master Chen arrived.
They didn't come here on a special trip; they were sent by the province to conduct a safety survey of fishing boats. They went along the coastline, visiting each county one by one, and when they reached Binhai, it was Moon Island's turn.
Wang Cunzhi called the service station in advance, saying that Engineer Chen from the province was coming. He was the one who sat on the judges' seat and turned walnuts during the last skills competition, and he specifically asked to see the ship repair point on Moon Island.
Old Fang answered the phone, hung up, and told Qiu Changhai that his old buddy was coming.
Qiu Changhai squatted by the stone trough, repairing the small sampan. He paused for a moment with his chisel, then continued hammering.
Master Chen came by ferry.
When the ferry docked, Qiu Changhai was already standing on the pier waiting.
He wore a clean jacket today, and his beard was shaved.
Master Chen stepped off the ferry, still wearing the same gray Zhongshan suit, with the same two walnuts in his pocket. The two men stared at each other across the dock for a long time.
Qiu Changhai said, "You're not dead." Master Chen said, "You're not dead either."
Qiu Changhai said, "My back is killing me."
Mr. Chen said, "My knees are giving out; I can't get up after squatting down."
Old Fang squatted at the entrance of the service station, watching from afar, and said that these two people always compared who had more illnesses when they met.
Lin Xiu'e, standing to the side, said to Master Fang, "Aren't you going to pick him up?"
Old Fang said, "Why are you picking them up? They haven't seen each other for thirty years. I'm just getting in the way."
Qiu Changhai led Master Chen on a tour of the ship repair site. First, they looked at the stone trough, then the boat rafts, and then the new workshop at the service station.
Master Chen stood in the new workshop for a long time, looking at the overhead crane, the welding machine, and the lathe. Qiu Changhai stood beside him without saying a word.
Master Chen said, "You've taken on a good apprentice." Qiu Changhai replied, "She's willing to learn."
Master Chen said that few young people are willing to learn the skill of sewing these days, and you have passed it on. Qiu Changhai did not respond.
Master Chen stopped in front of the tool wall. Chisels were hanging on the wall, including the one Qiu Changhai often used.
Master Chen reached out and picked up the chisel to examine it. The handle was smooth, and the blade had a dull sheen. After looking at it, he put it back, saying, "I still have this chisel. You used it back in the factory in the 1960s." Qiu Changhai said yes, it had never been replaced.
At lunchtime, Lin Xiu'e brought over fish ball soup. Chef Chen took a sip and put down his bowl, saying the soup tasted just like he remembered. He asked Lin Xiu'e what else she could cook.
Lin Xiu'e said that even minor problems with the main engine could be diagnosed by sew-making. Master Chen paused, put down his chopsticks, and casually mentioned a young man in the welding workshop of the provincial shipyard, mentioning his surname, name, and age. Lin Xiu'e didn't finish her sentence and stood up to add soup for Lao Fang.
When I came back, I put the enamel basin on the table, sat down, and added earnestly, "Master Chen, the soup is getting cold."
Old Fang, holding his bowl, couldn't help but burst into laughter, his mouth stretching to his ears.
Lin Xiu'e glanced at him, and he quickly lowered his head to drink his soup, his shoulders still trembling.
Master Chen looked at Lao Fang, then at Lin Xiu'e, and then at Jiang Haiping, who was squatting at the workshop entrance, engrossed in eating. He paused for a few seconds with his chopsticks, picked up a piece of ribbonfish, chewed it for a long time, and suddenly said, "I don't understand young people these days."
Old Fang was still shaking his shoulders with his head down, and the soup almost spilled.
After finishing his meal, Master Chen squatted by the stone trough and stared at it for a long time.
Several fishing boats awaiting repair were leaning against the stone trough. The barnacles on the hulls had just been removed, and the welds on the newly replaced hull plates were neat and tidy. He looked at them for a while and then stood up.
"Old Qiu, your ship repair shop is better than some of the repair stations in the province. Those repair stations in the province have good equipment, but the people who do the work don't put their heart into it. Here, the people bending over to sew, the people tilting their heads back to weld iron, and the people lying in the engine room dismantling the main engine are all people who do real work."
He paused for a moment. "You can win first place in the next competition."
In the afternoon, Master Chen squatted down next to the engine room to watch Guo Dayong install the fuel filter. After Guo Dayong left, Jiang Haiping assigned the smaller jobs—filter installation, water pump installation, and oil seal installation—to Lin Xiu'e and A Guang.
Today, it was Ah Guang who installed the filter.
Ah Guang removed the old filter, scraped the sealing surface clean with a scraper, applied a layer of machine oil to the sealing ring of the new filter, and tightened it diagonally.
After finishing his inspection, Master Chen stood up and remarked to Qiu Changhai, "Even such a young kid can install filters now." He recalled that when he was learning to install filters, it took him three months before he was allowed to work independently.
Qiu Changhai replied, "Your master is conservative."
Master Chen was silent for a while, then nodded and said that Old Sun was indeed conservative, afraid that his apprentice would learn how to steal his job.
He leaned against the cabin door, his voice slowing down. "Old Qiu, do you remember Old Sun from the factory? The boiler operator. He was later transferred to guard the warehouse gate."
Qiu Changhai said he remembered. When Lao Sun retired, only one person from the entire factory went to see him off, carrying a bag of apples.
Master Chen asked who delivered it. Qiu Changhai said Fang Desheng. Master Chen nodded and said that Old Fang was a man who helped others his whole life.
Old Fang squatted by the raft and shouted from afar, "Who's talking about me behind my back?"
Master Chen turned around and shouted back, saying that he had been thinking about how you had taken on a good apprentice. Old Fang pointed to Lin Xiu'e, who was squatting next to him, and said that this girl was Qiu Changhai's apprentice, not mine.
Master Chen shook his head and said it wasn't that one, it was the one with the really bright eyes, his name was something like Hai.
Old Fang looked back at A-Guang, who was squatting at the entrance of the used parts warehouse, engrossed in registering the used parts. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Both of them are named Hai. If you want to compliment someone with particularly bright eyes, his brother is named A-Hai. He went to a technical school today."
In the evening, Wang Cunzhi arrived. He was riding his Jialing 70 motorcycle, with a can of diesel fuel strapped to the back. He said it was from the fishing company clearing out its inventory, and the surplus was to be distributed to various repair shops.
Old Fang took the barrel of oil, weighed it in his hand, and said that this barrel of oil would last the service station for a month.
Wang Cunzhi squatted on the reef, lit a cigarette, and asked Master Chen when he arrived, and also asked how the safety survey of fishing boats was going.
Master Chen said that the fishing boats on Moon Island are better maintained than those on other islands, and the boat repair shop has played a significant role in this.
Wang Cunzhi said that was the case; they were the advanced repair shops that the province recognized this year, and the county had nominated them.
Master Chen turned to look at Qiu Changhai and asked if he had been recognized as an advanced worker. Qiu Changhai said it was Director Sun who reported it. Master Chen nodded and didn't ask any further questions.
Wang Cunzhi sat for a while, then stood up to leave. Old Fang told him to take the loquats with him.
The loquat tree in the yard had a lot of fruit this year, and A-Guang picked a whole bagful, sharing some with everyone who came. Wang Cunzhi took it, put it in his bicycle basket, and rode away.
Mr. Chen stayed on Moon Island for two days and left on the morning of the third day.
When he left, Qiu Changhai saw him off at the pier. The two of them stood on the pier waiting for the ferry, neither of them speaking.
Just before boarding the boat, Master Chen took out the pair of walnuts from his pocket and gave them to Qiu Changhai.
"Keep it. To play around with it."
Qiu Changhai took the walnut. It had been turned over for decades; the shell was smooth and shiny, the patterns almost worn away. The ferry departed. Qiu Changhai stood on the dock, watching the ferry grow smaller and smaller, clutching the walnut in his hand.
Back at the service station, he squatted by the stone trough and continued repairing the small sampan. Three planks at the bottom of the sampan were rotten, and as he chipped away at the trough, he had to straighten up every now and then to rest before bending down again to continue. The walnuts were placed next to his tool bag, and in the sea breeze, two of them bumped together and made a soft sound.
He picked up the chisel, the handle of which he had honed in his hand for forty years, the dull gleam still visible on the blade. He struck, and the rotten wood cracked.