Fusion System: Rebirth in a Courtyard - Bird Fighting Chronicles

Chapter 137 The sound of hammers forges bones and corrects past mistakes; the craftsman's spiri

The spring equinox of 1973 came exceptionally early. Just as the branches of the old locust tree outside the courtyard wall were sprouting tender yellow buds, the morning whistle of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill broke the tranquility of the courtyard. Jia Geng, clutching his neatly folded apprentice registration form, followed Lin Chen through the central courtyard, his steps unconsciously light, as if afraid of crushing the patch of freshly melted snow at the corner of the wall—ten years earlier, it was in this very area that he had been caught stealing Lin Chen's tools, and that was the first time in his life he had understood the weight of the word "shame."

"Don't be nervous, Brother Guangtian is waiting for us in the precision forging group. He promised me he would teach you his real skills." Lin Chen turned around and glanced at the boy's tense profile, then reached out and patted his shoulder. The morning light shone through the gaps in the locust tree branches onto Jia Geng, revealing a faint scar on his forehead—a mark he had fallen from when he was twelve years old, climbing over the wall of the scrap yard, now serving as a reminder of his discipline.

The roar of the workshop was deafening even a hundred meters away. As Jia Geng followed Lin Chen through the factory corridor littered with iron filings, he couldn't help but clutch the handkerchief in his pocket. It was embroidered by his mother, Qin Huairu, overnight; the stitches were a little crooked, but she had embroidered a small character for "diligence." Before leaving, his mother had stuffed the handkerchief into his hand, saying nothing harsh, only, "Learn well from Brother Guangtian. My sewing shop was able to open thanks to Brother Lin's guidance and my own skill; you should too."

In the precision forging workshop, Liu Guangtian was measuring a newly forged gear with calipers. His blue overalls sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, revealing his muscular forearms. Hearing footsteps, he looked up and smiled when he saw Jia Geng. "You're here? Let's familiarize ourselves with the tools first." He pointed to the neatly arranged tool rack against the wall. "Let's start with the most basic thing: recognizing the tools. In forging, if you can't even judge the weight of a hammer, you can't possibly produce anything."

Jia Geng followed Liu Guangtian, identifying the tools one by one: an eight-pound claw hammer for rough forging, a three-pound round-headed hammer for fine finishing, and chisels of different curvatures corresponding to plain and diagonal forging patterns. Liu Guangtian picked up a claw hammer with a gleaming head and handed it to him: "Try its weight." Jia Geng took it with both hands, and wobbled it as soon as he raised it halfway up—it was much heavier than he had imagined; no wonder Liu Guangtian's forearms were covered in strong muscles.

"Forging requires strength from the waist and arms, not brute force." Liu Guangtian stood behind him, placing his hands on Jia Geng's, guiding him to bring down the hammer, striking the red-hot iron block with a crisp sound. "See? Every strike must land in a precise spot. Only when the force is even will the iron deform according to your will." Jia Geng stared at the gradually appearing patterns on the iron block, the acrid smell of burning iron filings lingering in his nostrils, and inexplicably felt more at ease than when he stole things as a child.

During the lunch break, Lin Chen brought over two lunchboxes containing food that Qin Huairu had specially arranged for Jia Dang to deliver: brown rice with stir-fried greens and a few pieces of pickled radish, plus an egg buried in the rice. "Your mother was waiting for you outside the sewing shop early this morning, saying she wanted you to have something hot for lunch." Lin Chen handed one lunchbox to Jia Geng, and then another to Liu Guangtian. "Director Zhou just told me that you're going to train Jia Geng in basic physical training first, and if he passes the assessment in three months, he can be officially assigned to a position."

Jia Geng ate his rice, the aroma of eggs mingling with the salty and savory flavor of pickled radish filling his mouth. He glanced at Lin Chen, who was discussing some blueprints with Liu Guangtian. Suddenly, he remembered that snowy night ten years ago when he broke into Lin Chen's window to steal sweet potatoes, only to have his face covered in talcum powder. Back then, he thought stealing was a shortcut to supplement his family's income. It wasn't until Lin Chen took him to see the equipment his father, Jia Dongxu, had once operated, pointing to the scratched workbench and saying, "Earning a living with your skills is what makes you proud," that he slowly came to his senses.

"We'll start practicing the hammer grip this afternoon, beginning with half an hour of stance training." Liu Guangtian finished his meal and washed his lunchbox clean. "In the forging industry, the worst thing is to be impatient and restless. If you can't even stand steadily, the work you produce will definitely be crooked and uneven." Jia Geng nodded, and as soon as he put down his lunchbox, he followed Liu Guangtian to the corner of the workshop. He assumed the horse stance as Liu Guangtian had taught him, his hands loosely gripping the hammer. In less than ten minutes, his legs began to tremble, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

"Hold on, this is to train your willpower." Liu Guangtian stood aside with his arms crossed, his tone serious. "When I was a beginner apprentice, I would stand in the stance until my legs were so numb I couldn't lift them, and my master would splash me with cold water to wake me up. Looking back now, if I had slacked off back then, I wouldn't be a key technical member now." Jia Geng gritted his teeth and persevered, his mind filled with the focused expression of his mother sewing, and the earnest look of his younger sister Jia Dang helping him trim the loose threads—the whole family was working hard with their own hands, and he had no reason to back down.

When Jia Geng finished get off work in the evening, his arms were so sore he could barely lift them, and he was even a little unsteady on his feet. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Qin Huairu standing at the entrance of the sewing shop, looking around. When she saw him return, she quickly went up to him and asked, "How are you? Are you tired?" She reached out and took the tool bag from his hand, and when she touched his hot palm, her eyes reddened slightly.

"Mom, I'm fine." Jia Geng forced a smile and took out his apprentice certificate, which was soaked with sweat, from his pocket. "Master Liu taught me to recognize tools and also practiced standing meditation." He paused, his voice a little hoarse. "Brother Lin brought me eggs for lunch today, but I couldn't bear to eat them and saved them for Huaihua."

Qin Huairu paused for a moment, then smiled and reached out to pat his head: "Huaihua has some boiled eggs from her mother, you can eat this yourself." She brought out the porridge that had been warming in the pot, with two poached eggs inside. "Eat quickly and rest, you have to get up early tomorrow." As Jia Geng sat at the table drinking his porridge, he saw Jia Dang doing his homework at a small table next to him, with Huaihua sitting on her lap, holding a rag doll. The mother and daughter were chatting and laughing, and the courtyard was filled with the fresh scent of freshly ironed fabric from the sewing shop.

In the days that followed, Jia Geng would get up before dawn every day, first helping his mother set up the tables and chairs in the sewing shop, and then rushing to the factory. He progressed rapidly, from initially holding the hammer with trembling hands to being able to steadily hammer neat patterns into iron blocks, all in just one month. Liu Guangtian watched this with amusement, nodding in approval, and began to teach him to identify different types of iron and explain the techniques of controlling the heat.

One day in early April, a forging press in the workshop suddenly malfunctioned. Loose bolts caused a serious deviation in forging precision. Several experienced technicians spent a long time examining the machine but couldn't find the problem. Jia Geng, who was practicing nearby, suddenly remembered the equipment maintenance knowledge Liu Guangtian had taught him. After hesitating for a moment, he stepped forward and said, "Master Liu, could it be that the clearance of the connecting shaft is too large?"

Liu Guangtian paused for a moment, then had someone disassemble the connecting shaft for inspection. Sure enough, they found the gap was two millimeters larger than the standard value. "How did you figure that out?" he asked, somewhat surprised. Jia Geng scratched his head: "Last time you showed me the equipment drawings, you said that a gap exceeding one millimeter would affect precision. I just looked at the spark trail during forging, and it seemed more dispersed than usual."

Lin Chen happened to be delivering newly developed molds to the workshop when he saw this scene. He smiled and patted Jia Geng on the shoulder: "Not bad, you've learned to apply what you've learned to other situations." He squatted down and pointed to the key parts of the equipment, "In the future, when you encounter this situation, in addition to checking the gap, you also need to listen to the sound. When it's running normally, it makes a uniform 'humming' sound. If the gap is too large, there will be extraneous noise."

After the fault was resolved, workshop director Zhou Jianguo specifically praised Jia Geng: "This young man is sharp-eyed and meticulous; he's got potential." Liu Guangtian was even more proud, and after get off work, he specially bought half a jin of pig's head meat and invited Jia Geng to his home for dinner. When Liu Haizhong saw Jia Geng, his attitude softened considerably, and he even took out his treasured wine, poured two glasses: "My Guangtian wasn't wrong about you. Study hard, and you'll definitely amount to something."

When Jia Geng left Liu Guangtian's house, the moon had already climbed over the courtyard wall. Carrying the flatbread given to him by Aunt Liu, he had just entered the central courtyard when he saw Lin Chen standing at his door. "Come with me for a moment," Lin Chen said, turning and going inside. He took a thick notebook from a cabinet. "These are my notes from when I was an apprentice. They contain various forging techniques and equipment maintenance points. Take a look."

Jia Geng took the notebook. The words "Craftsmanship" on the cover were written in a strong, vigorous style. Inside, the handwriting was neat, and there were many diagrams of equipment structures. He turned to the first page and saw the words "Steady hands and sincere heart, only then can good work be produced." His eyes instantly reddened: "Brother Lin, I..."

"The past is the past," Lin Chen interrupted him, his tone calm. "If your father were still alive, he would hope that you could make a living with your skills. Study hard and support this family in the future." Jia Geng nodded vigorously, clutching the notebook tightly to his chest, as if holding a heavy hope.

In the days that followed, Jia Geng studied even harder. He spent his days practicing in the workshop with Liu Guangtian, and his nights studying Lin Chen's notes until late. If he encountered anything he didn't understand, he would ask for help the next morning. Seeing how hard he was working, Qin Huairu specially set aside a small corner in the sewing shop and placed a small table there so that he could study in peace.

One day in mid-May, Jia Geng was forging a precision gear when he suddenly heard someone call his name. Looking up, he saw his younger sister, Jia Dang, running in, her expression panicked: "Brother, Huaihua has a fever, and Mother sent me to call you home." Jia Geng's heart tightened, and he dropped his hammer and ran home. Just as he ran out of the workshop, he saw Lin Chen riding up on his bicycle with a medicine box strapped to the back seat.

"I just came back from the infirmary. I heard that Huaihua had a fever, so I brought some fever reducers with me." Lin Chen parked his bicycle and ran home with Jia Geng. When he entered the house, he saw that Huaihua's face was flushed red and she was lying on the bed crying. Qin Huairu was so anxious that she didn't know what to do, and she stopped working at the sewing shop.

Lin Chen touched Huaihua's forehead, then looked at her throat, and said, "It's a fever caused by tonsillitis. Give her some fever-reducing medicine first, then use warm water to wipe her body down physically." While instructing Qin Huairu to give Huaihua the medicine, he asked Jia Geng to boil warm water. By evening, Huaihua's temperature had finally come down, and she fell asleep peacefully.

"Thanks to you today, Xiao Lin," Qin Huai said gratefully, bringing over a glass of warm water. "I'm sorry to have kept you from getting off work and made you spend money on medicine." Lin Chen waved his hand. "It's only right for neighbors to help each other. Huaihua has just recovered from her illness, so make sure she doesn't catch a cold these next few days, and keep her diet light." He glanced at the pile of clothes waiting to be mended on the table. "If the sewing shop is too busy, have Jia Dang come home from school to help. If that's not enough, I'll find two laid-off female workers to lend a hand."

Jia Geng stood to the side, watching Lin Chen's busy figure, feeling a surge of warmth in his heart. He recalled the shame he felt when he stole things from Lin Chen as a child, and then thought about how Lin Chen had not only helped him find a job but also lent a helping hand when his family was in trouble. He felt even more that his past self had been incredibly foolish. "Brother Lin, if you ever need any work, just call me," he said solemnly. "I'm strong; moving things and fixing tables and chairs is no problem for me."

The June assessment arrived as scheduled, and Jia Geng was to forge a bearing sleeve with extremely high precision requirements. Standing in front of the forging furnace, he took a deep breath, recalling the techniques Liu Guangtian had taught him and the key points in Lin Chen's notes. He first heated the iron block until it was red-hot, then steadily gripped the hammer and forged it precisely, stroke by stroke. Sweat streamed down his cheeks, dripping onto the scorching iron block, making a "sizzling" sound, but it did not affect his rhythm in the slightest.

When he placed the forged bearing sleeve on the testing table, Director Zhou and several veteran technicians gathered around and carefully measured it with calipers. "The dimensions are accurate, the texture is uniform, and the surface smoothness meets the standards." Director Zhou put down the calipers and nodded in satisfaction. "Liu Guangtian, you've done a good job teaching him. This young man is a promising talent." Liu Guangtian smiled and patted Jia Geng on the shoulder: "It's because he's willing to work hard."

When Jia Geng received his official apprenticeship assignment notice, his hands were trembling. He ran all the way back to the courtyard house with the notice in his hand, and shouted as soon as he entered the gate: "Mom! I passed the test! I'm officially assigned to the position!" Qin Huairu was taking measurements for a customer when she heard the shout. She dropped the measuring tape in her hand and quickly ran over to take the notice. She read it over and over again, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Good, good, that's good." Qin Huairu wiped away her tears, took Jia Geng's hand and walked into the house. She took out a cloth bag from the cabinet, which contained the money she had saved over the past few months. "Mom has saved some money for you. Tomorrow, go buy a new set of work clothes and a better piece of fabric so your sister can make you a shirt." Jia Geng looked at the fine lines at the corners of his mother's eyes, then at the neatly folded money in the cloth bag, and shook his head: "Mom, you should keep the money to buy some equipment for the sewing shop. I have a salary now, so I can buy it myself."

That evening, Qin Huairu prepared a sumptuous meal and specially invited Lin Chen, Liu Guangtian's family, and Sha Zhu to celebrate. Sha Zhu, now a chef at the military region's guesthouse, brought a bottle of fine wine and several exquisite dishes, smiling as he said, "Jia Geng has made something of himself; our institute now has another key technical worker." Liu Guangtian raised his glass: "From now on, in the workshop, I will teach Jia Geng all my skills so he can become an eighth-grade forging worker as soon as possible."

Lin Chen raised his glass and looked at Jia Geng: "Being assigned to a new position is just the beginning. From now on, you must guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and diligently study your skills. Remember, craftsmanship is the foundation of your livelihood, and integrity is the basis of being a person." Jia Geng nodded heavily and drank the wine in his glass in one gulp—the wine was spicy, but his heart was warm. He knew that he had finally shaken off the shadows of the past and had forged a new path with his own hands.

One day in July, Jia Geng received his first month's salary. He didn't squander it; he first bought his mother a brand-new sewing machine, then a new rag doll for Huaihua, and a fountain pen for Jia Dang. He gave all the remaining money to Qin Huairu. "Mother, I'll take care of the household expenses from now on, so you can focus on running the sewing shop." Looking at his mother's delighted expression, he felt a great sense of accomplishment.

Qin Huairu stroked the brand-new sewing machine, tears welling up in her eyes again. She recalled the difficult days she spent raising her three children after Jia Dongxu's death, the embarrassment of having to feign pitifulness to get help from Sha Zhu, and Lin Chen's words of advice to "earn a living with your skills." Now, her son was a factory apprentice, her daughter was sensible and capable, and her sewing shop was thriving. This stable and secure life was something she had never dared to imagine before.

As evening fell, Jia Geng returned home from get off work and saw Lin Chen helping Liu Guangfu repair the shelves in the hardware store. He quickly went to help. The setting sun streamed through the gate of the courtyard house, bathing them in a warm golden light. Not far away, the rhythmic clatter of a sewing machine drifted from Qin Huairu's sewing shop, mingled with the laughter of Jia Dang and Huaihua; in the front yard, Yan Bugui was helping his grandson with arithmetic problems, occasionally offering patient explanations.

Jia Geng picked up the hammer and steadily drove a nail into the shelf. Looking at the scene full of life before him, he felt particularly at ease. He knew that life in the courtyard house might still have friction and conflicts, but it was mostly filled with the warmth of mutual support; and he himself, with each hammer blow, had finally shattered the absurdity of the past and forged a new life of his own.