The woods in Xiahe Village are densely populated with trees. Not only are there many varieties of trees, but there are also many varieties of vines.
Usually no one pays attention to these things.
When the farmer needs to make some pots, buckets, chairs, and cabinets, he goes to the forest to cut down one or two trees and drag them home for use. Who will use the rattan?
That is to say, if you forget to bring a hemp rope when you are fluffing hair or collecting firewood in the forest, you may cut one or two thinner rattans to make hemp ropes and straw ropes. They are just for tying things or
It's just used as a supplement for climbing.
No one thought of using it for anything else.
Nowadays, pheasants, mountain rabbits are rarely seen in the forest, the fat and mud have almost been scraped away, and no one pays attention to such an inappropriate thing to eat or drink.
But Qiao Mingjin just remembered these things that no one wanted.
In previous lives, crafts such as rattan chairs, rattan tables, rattan baskets made of rattan were very popular with the public. I can’t say they are practical, but they are lightweight and easy to move.
When she lived in the courtyard of the community, she often heard people outside ringing bells and shouting, "Selling bamboo poles..." "Beautiful rattan chairs..." When the shouting started, there were always children from the courtyard following behind to watch.
lively.
The peddler was riding a modified three-wheeled bicycle leisurely, ringing a bell, and filled with high rattan chairs, and kept shouting from alley to alley.
Someone heard it and looked out of the window. When he got excited, he stopped and took a look. If the price was right, he picked one and took it home.
The thing is so light that if you throw it on your shoulder, you can carry it back.
The home where Qiao Mingjin lived before had several chairs and tables made of rattan.
In addition to a set of tea tables and chairs made of Teng strips, there was a bird's nest-shaped hanging basket in the patio. In addition, her father loved to sit and rock a palm-sized purple teapot.
The rocking rattan rocking chair...
She had pestered her father to chase after someone else's bicycle to buy it, and then asked her father to carry it back.
Those are already too distant memories...
After Qiao Mingjin decided to do this, she discussed it carefully with the people in the workshop.
Everyone agreed after hearing this.
Although no one has ever done it, this thing is similar to a chair made of wood. In the village, there are also people who cut a few bamboos in the forest to make one or two bamboo chairs, and the craftsmanship is not much different from that of rattan chairs.
After making up his mind, Qiao Mingjin quickly hired people in the village. In addition to a few female dependents from handyman families, he also found a few handy women in the village to participate in the production.
In addition, although she had seen many types of rattan crafts, she was still blind when it came to making them. So she found a few other old people in the village who had made bamboo chairs and asked them to be the production masters.
Another convenience was to recruit a few young men to follow her and Yun Jin up the mountain to select materials.
There are two types of rattan chairs. One is a combination of rattan and wood, and the other is made of pure rattan.
Qiao Mingjin mainly wanted to highlight the lightness and low price of rattan products, so he decided to make a pure rattan wood structure.
There are many types of rattan in the forest. There are hundreds of types that can be used to make rattan chairs. Although the rattan trees in the woods of Xiahe Village come in different sizes and shapes, fortunately most of them can be used.
The larger and thicker ones are used to make support rods, footrests, armrests and chair backs. The thinner ones are used to make seat boards and flower trays.
Qiao Mingjin is a half-empty person. Fortunately, after everyone listened to her suggestions, everyone was able to give one or two opinions and worked together. The opinions she gave were only about as good as hers.
For several days in a row, she led people into the woods to select materials. She was scratched and pulled several times all over her body, and then she came back with people pulling several oxcarts of materials, which were piled up all over the yard.
After the materials are selected, preliminary processing is carried out.
The surface of the rattan wood is relatively rough, and it is usually a thorny plant. To use it, it must be polished first.
After Yun Jin went to the city and bought all the tools, Qiao Mingjin took people to peel off the branches and polish them.
Don't expect to have any grinding machines these days. It's all done by hand. Cutters are a must, and grinding paper can be considered a fine grinding tool.
Fortunately, although the conditions are simple, the efficiency is quite good these days. Excellent craftsmen are indispensable in all dynasties, and these people often hide in the countryside and are not known.
She invited some old men who had made bamboo chairs in the village to give her some pertinent opinions, which cleared up Qiao Mingjin's chaotic mind.
After the materials are selected, they are rough and finely polished. It is time to start production.
The bending and shaping during production is very important. There are no guns for heat treatment these days, only primitive fire is used for baking.
Fortunately, this farmhouse uses fire to bake wood, bamboo, rattan and the like, and very few people can bend it into shape. Qiao Mingjin had done this job for a long time when he was selling bamboo rakes.
There were several elders from the village watching over him. The master of the workshop would occasionally come out to give some advice, and Qiao Mingjin just focused on the design.
This thing is not difficult to imitate. There is no technical difficulty.
After taking a look, I realized that I could just twist it out when I got home. I don’t want to sell it, so I can still use it at home. I can make it at home, but I’m afraid no one will pay for it.
The hands-on ability of this countryman should never be underestimated.
If Qiao Mingjin hadn't invited these people to come to the workshop to participate in the production, I'm afraid these people would have cut some and gone home to make one or two by themselves. Imitation is inevitable.
The way to decide is to either monopolize the materials, or to always be more novel than others and constantly produce new ones.
Monopolizing materials is not the same thing. Xiahe Village may have some confidence, but how can it be done in other places?
I just hope that I can rush to do something new and novel.
Qiao Mingjin began to immerse herself in drawing again.
The production time of a rattan chair is not as long as that of root carving, and the market positioning of the two is also different. Maybe a rattan product that has been made for a year is not worth one root carving.
It's just to solve some labor problems and make some small money. I don't expect to get rich by selling it at a high price or anything like that.
After processing, assembling, weaving, wrapping, grinding, polishing, painting and oiling, a rattan chair made of pure rattan is finally completed.
The first wicker chair was not fancy, and the pattern was very simple and ordinary. But after the finished product was made, everyone was delighted.
It is strong and light enough that an adult can lift it with one hand. It can be moved from the front yard to the backyard, and from the inside to the outside of the house dozens of times every day without any problems at all, and without even breathing.
The crowd was very happy around it.
After sitting through each one, I devoted myself to the production of the next finished product with great enthusiasm.
After Butler Zhou came to see it once, he also looked at the drawings drawn by Qiao Mingjin and was full of praise. The next day, he brought Zhou Yanqing over to have a look.
Zhou Yanqing walked around the first finished product several times, carrying it back and forth like a fool. Then he looked at Qiao Mingjin's drawings carefully, and then looked around Qiao Mingjin up and down.
"How did you get such a brain?"
Qiao Mingjin rolled her eyes at him and ignored her.
After he had looked at it enough, he discussed selling it with him.
"I just saw that after the busy farming, there were too many idle laborers in the village. My mother and daughter lived here, and bought the homestead in the village to set up a workshop. This year, it also attracted the envy of many people. Fortunately,
With your name in charge of the Zhou family, and the clan leader's strong support, no one is causing trouble. So I wanted to do my part..."
"... Of course I'm not that noble. Of course, I just want to find something to do. No, no, don't say that those account books are underpaid. I finally had a clear mind for a moment, so don't catch up again.
Bring a bunch of them. Let me take my time first... On the other hand, I also want to help the clan leader solve some of the extra labor in the village."
"I heard that the clan leader helped you a lot?" Zhou Yanqing asked, staring at Qiao Mingjin.
Qiao Mingjin nodded: "Yes. I bought a homestead, bought a house, built a house and hired workers. The patriarch has done a lot of work. Moreover, if it weren't for him, our mother and daughter would not have had such an easy life this year. In my heart
I will always remember his love."
Zhou Yanqing stared at her with a good look.
My heart is sour and astringent.
Qiao Mingjin made a digression and mentioned the issue of selling rattan chairs to him.
"I'm afraid this rattan chair won't last long. After all, it is a low-cost thing. Except for some novel products that can be sold in your carpentry shop, I want to hire people to sell the rest like a salesman. In this way
Come on, the cost is low and imitators are unprofitable, so maybe we can sell some more time."
Zhou Yanqing nodded.
Altruism doesn't take this seriously.
Being able to win over people from Xiahe Village, give them a job, and provide them with a fixed income to support their families is nothing but beneficial and harmless to him and the workshop.
He has nothing to object to.
This thing is different from root carvings. Pork can't even be served on the banquet, let alone these wild and wild beasts? It's almost impossible to sell them at a high price to a big family.
As long as the woman in front of her has something to do, she always looks dazzling when she is busy. Her whole face is filled with a confident light, which is so vivid that people dare not look at her.
He liked seeing her like this. His heart was beating so hard that he couldn't help but want to get closer to her and talk to her more...
Zhou Yanqing lingered in Xiahe Village all day, and then drove away in his car until the sky turned dim.
I decided with Qiao Mingjin on several styles to be sold in the shop, discussed the details of the sales, encouraged everyone, and then left.
After Zhou Yanqing left, Qiao Mingjin resumed production.
There were many people, and the process was divided, and the production process was streamlined. The second and third pictures... the finished products came out very quickly. After everyone became proficient, the finished products came out one by one, and a special room was quickly cleaned up.
The storage room was full.
Next, it’s inevitably time to sell. This is also the time to test whether the hard work pays off.
Everyone's heart was high.
Only if this thing sells well can they get higher wages. (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
ps: I stayed up all day and night, slept for three hours... there is still another chapter, maybe later
