Siheyuan: Buyers get rich from hunting

The days passed slowly like a slowly flowing stream, but Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu were still trapped in this dilemma, as if they were trapped in a foggy swamp, unable to break free and could only wander left and right.

On this day, the sun shone warmly in every corner of the courtyard, covering the entire courtyard with a layer of soft golden light. Just when everyone was busy with their own work, a foreign craftsman came from nowhere, carrying a load of various woodworking tools and wood materials, and walked into the courtyard quietly. Then he set up his posture on a vacant space in the courtyard, preparing to show his exquisite woodworking skills in an orderly manner.

Seeing this new thing, the neighbors gathered around. Soon, many people gathered inside and outside. Everyone looked around curiously, wanting to see what skills this foreign craftsman had. The pieces of wood that seemed ordinary and inconspicuous at first seemed to be cast with magic and instantly came to life in his hands. He first picked up the saw, and the saw was pulled back and forth rhythmically under his control. With the sound of "creaking", sawdust fell, and soon, the wood was sawed according to the size he wanted in his mind. Then, he picked up the plane and pushed it along the grain of the wood again and again. The movement was skillful and smooth. With each push, the surface of the wood became smoother and flatter, like a jade that had been carefully polished. Then, he used the chisel to make more detailed carvings. His eyes were focused and serious, and the strength of his hands was controlled just right. With the ups and downs of the chisel, the originally monotonous wood gradually showed various wonderful shapes, some round, some angular, which made people marvel at the sight.

In a short while, the wood was transformed into exquisite and ingenious small objects through his careful craftsmanship, including small and exquisite wooden combs with fine and even teeth, as if each one was full of ingenuity; and lifelike wooden sculptures of small animals, whose expressions were so realistic that they seemed to come alive in the next second. The people around looked at these exquisite finished products and exclaimed in admiration. While appreciating them, they whispered to each other and praised the craftsman's superb skills. The whole yard was filled with a lively and cheerful atmosphere.

Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu were also thinking about their own things in the yard. When they heard the noise, they couldn't help but move over. They squeezed through the crowd and finally came to the front. Their eyes were immediately attracted by the skilled movements of the craftsman. Their eyes followed the tools and wood in his hands closely, with a look of amazement and envy in their eyes, as if they were saying, it would be great if they could have such a great skill.

As Liu Guangqi watched, he could not help but ask out of curiosity: "Master, your craft is really amazing. I have never seen a carpenter as good as you in my life. How long did it take you to reach your current level?" When the craftsman heard Liu Guangqi's question, he stopped carving, looked up, and replied with a gentle smile on his face: "It took many years. This craft can't be learned overnight. It requires patience and love. You have to really like this craft from the bottom of your heart, be willing to invest your time and energy into it, spend time studying every little detail on weekdays, and don't give up easily when you encounter difficulties. Slowly accumulate experience, so that you can achieve results bit by bit."

After listening to the craftsman's words, Liu Guangfu frowned slightly and said thoughtfully: "Is it enough to just have patience and passion? If you choose the wrong direction, won't all your efforts be in vain? Think about it, if you spend a lot of time and energy to learn a craft, but in the end you find that it is not suitable for you at all, or that this craft has no future at all, then all the previous efforts will be wasted, what a pity." The craftsman listened to his words, waved his hand, and still smiled and said: "There is no such thing as a wrong choice. As long as you are willing to do it in your heart, you are willing to overcome difficulties even if you encounter difficulties. You see, no matter what you do, you will definitely encounter various difficulties at the beginning, which is normal. But as long as you like it in your heart and have that passion, you will not feel how difficult these difficulties are. Instead, you will think of ways to solve them, and the more you work, the smoother it will be. If you only think about whether the result is good or not, and you back down before you even start, that won't work, and you won't be able to accomplish anything."

These words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, stirring up ripples in the hearts of Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu, and causing them to fall into deep contemplation again. They silently withdrew from the crowd, returned to the room, slowly sat down on the bed, and looked at each other, seeing confusion and entanglement in each other's eyes. Liu Guangqi was the first to break the silence. He sighed and said, "Guangfu, I feel that we have been thinking too complicated before. We are worried that there will be no future in learning it, and we are afraid that we can't persist. We are afraid of this and that. We have made ourselves so entangled. It is better to do as the craftsman said. We should see which one we like more in our hearts, and then devote ourselves to it. Anyway, no matter what we learn, as long as we do it with our heart, we will always gain something." Liu Guangfu listened to his brother's words, nodded gently, and responded, "Brother, I think so too, but I am still wavering in my heart. As for cooking, I really can't bear to give it up. After all, we have learned it for such a long time. Every time I think about being able to make a table of delicious dishes in the future, I will feel very happy. But what about welding? Dad said so well, saying that it has good employment prospects, makes a lot of money, and can teach us hand in hand. Alas, I feel like there are two little people fighting in my heart. I really can't make up my mind."

Just as they were caught up in their tangled thoughts, their brows furrowed tightly, their faces full of sorrow, and they couldn't find a clue for a while, Xu Damao came back from outside humming a little tune. During this period, Xu Damao was very unhappy. He watched as other people in the courtyard seemed to have found the direction of life and had a goal. He Yuzhu relied on his good cooking skills and was increasingly valued in the factory. His reputation was getting louder and louder. The Yan brothers also made a name for themselves in cooking. Wherever they went, people praised them. Although the second uncle's family didn't have anything special before, if the two brothers learned welding now, their future life would be stable and guaranteed. Looking at himself, although he also drove a truck in the transportation department, he was just an ordinary person in that department. He didn't have any outstanding achievements, and there was nothing that people looked up to. The gap in his heart was too big.

So, when he entered the yard and saw that Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu were both looking sad, he started to get annoyed again. He couldn't help but approach them, with a weird look on his face, and said in a hoarse voice, "Hey, what's wrong with you two? You keep drooping faces all day long, like eggplants hit by frost. I just want to learn a skill, but it's so difficult for you. I don't understand. I think you just don't have any decisiveness and courage. If it were me, I would have made the choice eight hundred years ago, so why would I hesitate and dawdle here?"

Liu Guangqi was already feeling annoyed, and when he heard Xu Damao's sarcastic words, his brows furrowed even tighter. He replied unhappily, "Brother Damao, you make it sound so easy. This matter is not as simple as you think. This concerns our future livelihood. It is not something that can be decided casually. If we make the wrong choice, how will we live in the future? We have to think carefully about it. We can't make a decision as hastily as you say."

Hearing this, Xu Damao curled his lips in disdain, almost to the back of his ears, and said with a look of disapproval: "Humph, what's so good about learning cooking? Think about it, you're just circling around the stove all day long, not to mention the smoke and fire, and you have to stay in the stuffy kitchen, how miserable it is. Welding sounds different. Now there is construction everywhere outside, whether it is building a building or repairing a factory, the demand for welders is huge. As long as you learn this skill, you won't have any trouble finding a job, and you can make a lot of money. What a good opportunity, this is obvious. If you ask me, just listen to Uncle Liu, don't hesitate, go and learn welding, it will save you a lot of trouble."

Liu Guangfu was dissatisfied when he heard what Xu Damao said, and he immediately retorted: "But if we are not interested in welding, then we will not be interested in learning it. If we find it boring and give up halfway, then all the time and energy we spent before will be wasted. It will be a waste of time. We should learn a skill that we are willing to do and enjoy doing. Otherwise, how can we learn it well?"

Xu Damao snorted again when he heard this, his voice full of contempt, and raised his tone and said, "Can interest be used to make a living? You are young and strong now, and it is a good time to seize the time to learn a skill and make money. Don't do those useless things and just think about what you are interested in. When you have money in the future, you will not be afraid of not having the opportunity to do what you like. You can do whatever you want at that time. Now the most important thing is to make money first. I really don't understand what's going on in your brains. You have to tangle here endlessly instead of taking the ready-made good path."

Although Xu Damao's words were quite unpleasant to hear, like a thorny bush that pricked people's hearts and made them feel uncomfortable, they did make Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu think differently. After listening to them, they both fell silent, went back to their rooms, sat on their chairs, and were in a daze. Then they calmed down again and began to carefully sort out everything that had happened in their minds.

They replayed every detail of their cooking experience in their minds like a movie. At the beginning, they walked into the kitchen with enthusiasm and looked at the pots and pans, with a vision of the future in their hearts, thinking how great it would be if they could make delicious dishes with good color, fragrance and taste. But the reality is always so cruel. When they first started cutting vegetables, their hands seemed not to be their own. They always cut crookedly, either cutting too thick or almost cutting their fingers, which scared them to death. When cooking, there were even more problems. Either they couldn't control the heat well and fried the vegetables black, or they were too busy when seasoning, adding too much salt or too little vinegar, and the taste was so strange. Every time they tasted the dishes they made with great expectations, they were always discouraged by the bad taste. But even so, they never thought of giving up completely. They kept trying and improving again and again, and they always had an inseparable love for cooking in their hearts.

Then, they imagined what it would be like to learn welding. They imagined working in a simple workshop with their father, surrounded by various welding tools. Those cold instruments looked complicated, and they had to learn how to use them little by little. When they first started, they would be scared by the sparks and hide away. They might even get burned because of their unfamiliarity. And they had to face those hard metal materials every day and repeat the welding movements over and over again. It was boring and they didn't know if they could stick to it.

In this way, they repeatedly weighed the pros and cons of the two options in their minds. Sometimes they felt that although cooking was difficult to learn, it was what they liked after all, and if they persisted, they might be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel; sometimes they felt that welding did have a good future, and if they learned it, it would reduce a lot of burden on the family. However, they really couldn't muster much interest in it, and they were really torn.

Finally, a few days passed. During these days, Liu Guangqi felt like there were two villains fighting fiercely in his heart. But slowly, one of the voices became stronger and stronger, that is, his reluctance and persistence to cooking. On this day, Liu Guangqi seemed to have made up his mind, with a firm look in his eyes. He walked to Liu Guangfu, patted his brother on the shoulder, and said to Liu Guangfu in a steady tone: "Guangfu, I have made up my mind. I think I can't let go of this cooking skill after thinking about it. I really like cooking, so I want to continue learning. Even if I encounter more difficulties in the future, I will accept it. I don't want to leave regrets for myself. I feel that if I give up like this, it's like there is always a lump in my heart. I can't get over this hurdle. I will always be thinking about it in my heart, and it will be too uncomfortable."

Liu Guangfu was stunned for a moment after hearing his brother's words. Obviously, he didn't expect his brother to make a decision so quickly, and decided to continue learning cooking. He opened his mouth slightly, with a look of surprise on his face. But soon, he came back to his senses, then gritted his teeth, and nodded vigorously as if he had mustered up great courage, and said: "Brother, since you have decided, then I will follow you and continue to learn cooking. At most, it will take more time and effort. I believe that as long as we persist and don't back down when encountering difficulties, we will definitely learn it well. With this passion and persistence, I don't believe we can't succeed, and I don't want to look back and regret that I didn't persist in the beginning."

The two brothers told Liu Haizhong about this decision. When Liu Haizhong heard it, he frowned immediately and said angrily: "You two kids, why don't you listen to advice? Welding is such a good opportunity, but you insist on sticking to this cooking skill. If you can't learn it well in the future, don't blame me for not reminding you." Liu Guangqi hurriedly said: "Dad, we know you are doing this for our own good, but we really like cooking. We are willing to work hard and try. Even if we don't succeed in the end, we won't regret it."

Liu Haizhong looked at the determined eyes of his two sons and knew that they had made up their minds. He sighed helplessly and said, "Well, since you have made up your mind, I won't say much. I hope you can study hard and don't give up halfway."

Since then, Liu Guangqi and Liu Guangfu have devoted themselves to learning cooking. They get up early every day to practice cutting vegetables and preparing side dishes. They follow the chefs in the restaurant to learn cooking methods of various dishes. Although they still encounter many difficulties, they never give up. They are determined to make a name for themselves in cooking and let people in the hospital look at them with new eyes. As for Xu Damao, seeing how determined they are, he can't help but admire them. At the same time, he also secretly reflects on himself, whether he should work hard for his life like them, and not live in such a muddle.