Zou Xiaotong did not originally plan to participate in the first Tiangong Competition. At that time, there were only two weeks and a few days before the start of the competition. Master Zou's hair was bald and his skin was bald. He slept for three hours every day and spent the rest of the time eating.
I lost ten pounds in ten days without taking care of food, and I felt very haggard.
He said that inspiration came to him in an instant and he couldn't stop it. Even when he fell asleep in the middle of the night, he had to get up to replenish his skills before going back to sleep.
Today's master sculptors can make a work in as little as several months or as long as several years, but Zou Xiaotong only took thirteen days.
I don’t know what I was busy with in the first few days, and I never contacted us. Xiaoxuan Douyazai and I stayed at the Shuanglong Hotel in Warwick Bridge to wait for news. We would go to Sanlitun to play in the evening.
We were tomb robbers, but we were also young people. Sanlitun was really fun at that time.
Nowadays, going to disco clubs in Sanlitun is all about physical release. With the music playing loudly, the release begins as soon as I drink a small drink and hug my waist.
At that time, Sanlitun was home to countless talented men and women, and outstanding people.
Jazz House, Assanti Western Restaurant at the North Gate of the Workers' Stadium, Havan, Zangku, Old Chinese Characters, Red Rose, South Street Store Rainbow Wine House, Mingda, Mustard Square. We have visited all these small shops, and Dou Sprout is a country bumpkin.
In the city, Grandma Liu entered the Grand View Garden and was dumbfounded by the beauty playing the guitar in the jazz room. I have always thought that Dou Sprout has artistic talent, and even tomb robbers can occasionally be artistic.
The owner of Rainbow Wine House on South Street was Bai. He was in his thirties and wore glasses. After going there for a few days, Boss Bai became friends with us young people. The prices of drinks and snacks at Rainbow Wine House were the cheapest at that time.
Even though the prices have increased, Boss Bai’s Rainbow Wine House did not increase the prices. As a result, Rainbow Wine House closed down four years later.
Boss Bai played the guitar very well. At that time, Douyazi was wearing sunglasses and holding a microphone and sang a song called "Single Love Brother" in front of so many people. Don't get me wrong, when I said he was talented, it was not singing talent, but
He has a talent for comedy. If Lin Zhixuan hears Dou Sprout's single love song, he might want to hit him.
Xiaoxuan can also sing. She can sing some Cantonese songs, which are not very good, but they are better than the tone-deaf Douyazai.
As for me, if there are outsiders present, I will never dare to sing with a microphone.
After playing for many days in a row, I received a notice from Master Zou that day that our blood agate carving was ready and he asked us to go over and take a look.
Zou Xiaotong has a private studio in Tianzhu, Shunyi, Beijing, which is a small villa. He also has a warehouse in Cuigezhuang to store some tools and unused jade waste.
"Master Zou, have you not slept for how many days?" After we met in Shunyi, I saw that he had serious dark circles under his eyes.
"Stop talking about that," he couldn't hide the excitement on his face, "Come in and take a look, I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
"Wait, I'll get it right away."
A few minutes later, he came down from the second floor carrying a wooden box.
"Everyone, please take a look, the title of the work is "Flaming Mountain"." He opened the wooden box as he spoke.
Initially, the original stone was oval, but he boldly cut the material and polished the oval into a triangular shape. Five spots of the original black skin of Alxa agate were deliberately retained on the back of the jade carving.
He made a mountain using his own technique. He did not use a knife on the red patch in the middle of the agate. He only polished this area carefully, and the polished effect resembled a plain.
From a distance, the whole body is red like flames passing over the mountain.
One word, "absolutely!"
It's truly a masterclass of craftsmanship.
Zou Xiaotong took out his flashlight and said with a smile: "You don't think this is the end, do you?"
With a smile on his face, he turned on the flashlight and slowly looked up the agate mountain.
"This... this, this, this," Dou Sprout said incoherently, and he was dumbfounded.
At this moment, in the area left in the middle of the agate, four people and a horse appeared under the light of the flashlight!
It turns out that he carved the black skin left on his back and put the four masters and apprentices who were studying for scriptures in the West. They looked like red flaming mountains without turning on the lights, but turned into the masters and apprentices in Journey to the West when the lights were turned on.
For four people to cross the Flame Mountain, this technique requires an extremely superb sense of dislocated space and artistic sense.
Anyone who has seen this work can't help but say one word, "cow."
"Master Zou is amazing." We watched for more than half an hour, and we sincerely admired him. The three thousand yuan was well spent.
