novelslam Chapter 66 Learning Skills
Chapter 66 Learning Skills
On Ding Haifeng's first day working at the used parts warehouse, Moon Island was swept by a strong wind all night.
After daybreak, the wind stopped, and the sea was as flat as a gray-blue cloth.
The seawater in the stone trough rose to half-tide, gently lapping against the hull of the ship with a muffled sound that traveled from the shed all the way to the entrance of the old parts warehouse.
Hong Xiaobing arrived half an hour earlier than usual.
He opened all the windows of the old parts warehouse to let in some fresh air, and wiped each of the old parts on the shelves with cotton yarn.
Turning to today's page in the register, I found Ding Haifeng's name in the temporary worker attendance column, with a small note next to it: Day 1, tidying up and refurbishing the water pump impeller.
After finishing writing, he put the register on the worktable, then went to the bottom shelf of the old parts rack and found an old, worn-out wrench with most of the teeth worn down and a blurry "square" character stamped on the back.
This is the last of the wrenches that Lao Fang used during the first few years at the service station.
Ah Hai passed his tool to Zhou Haisheng, Qiu Changhai's tool is still hanging on the tool wall, and this one has been kept in the old parts warehouse for new apprentices to practice with.
He wiped the rust off the wrench clean with cotton yarn and placed it on the worktable where Ding Haifeng could easily reach it.
Ding Haifeng arrived very early.
He was wearing the same blue overalls he wore yesterday, the oil stains on his cuffs still fresh, and his canvas tool bag slung across his shoulder.
He went into the used parts warehouse with Ah Shun. He put his tool bag next to the workbench and saw an old, worn-out wrench on the table. He picked it up and examined it for a long time.
Hong Xiaobing walked over from the shelf and said that this was made by his master, Lao Fang, in his early years. The teeth were worn smooth so that the bolts wouldn't slip. He was letting him practice on it.
Ding Haifeng gently placed the wrench back in its original position on the workbench and asked what he was doing today.
Hong Xiaobing pointed to the old water pumps brought from the aquatic products company in the corner and said to disassemble and clean them, measure the outer diameter of the impeller three times with calipers, and write it in the register if the three measurements match.
Ding Haifeng squatted down and began to remove the bolts from the casing of the first water pump.
Ah Shun squatted down next to another machine, the two of them less than an arm's length apart, each taking apart their own.
Ah Shun found a rusted bolt stuck, soaked it in diesel fuel, and then tried to tighten it. He was able to get it working.
Ding Haifeng also encountered a stuck bolt. He followed Ah Shun's example and soaked it in diesel fuel. After the oil seeped in, he tried to tighten it and succeeded.
The two men squatted there, the sound of wrenches tightening bolts echoing softly in the old parts warehouse.
Hong Xiaobing did not go far.
He leaned against the shelf, flipping through the register in his hand, occasionally glancing up at the work Ding Haifeng was doing.
He watched every step of the process: disassembling the outer casing, wiping the impeller with cotton yarn, and measuring the outer diameter with calipers.
After measuring the first impeller and writing down the numbers on a draft paper, Ding Haifeng looked up and saw Hong Xiaobing looking in his direction. He paused for a moment, stunned.
Hong Xiaobing walked over, picked up the old, clunky wrench he had just put down from the worktable, and turned it over to show him the blurry "square" character on the back.
"This was made by my master when he first came to the service station. He said that the marks on the wrench are marks left for his skill. Practice hard, and you'll be able to make one yourself someday."
Ding Haifeng took the wrench, rubbed the "square" character repeatedly with his fingertips for a while, and placed it in the most convenient position on the workbench.
Ah Guang came over from the new workshop carrying the registration book; he had been called over by Ding Haisheng.
Ding Haisheng was squatting in front of the welding machine, adjusting the current. A-Guang was squatting next to him, handing him welding rods. He heard Ding Haisheng whisper, "Keep an eye on him for me."
Ah-Guang knew perfectly well who this "he" was.
He placed the register on the worktable in the used parts warehouse and asked Hong Xiaobing if he had recorded the inflow and outflow of used parts that morning.
Hong Xiaobing flipped to the page in the register and handed it to him. A-Guang looked down at it for a while, then glanced at Ding Haifeng.
"How's the demolition going?"
"It was disassembled quite thoroughly, and the impeller was cleaned very well. It's just a bit slow," Hong Xiaobing said.
"It's okay to be slow. Back in his day, his father was too fast when repairing ships at Baishakou. He was so fast that he didn't even have time to replace the rudder before he just used welding rods to fix it. It's better to be slow." Ah Guang closed the register.
Ding Haifeng wrote down the outer diameter of the impeller of the first water pump on a draft paper, then traced it again in the register, and put it back on the shelf before disassembling the second one.
Ah Shun watched for a while, then continued dismantling his own.
Old Fang came in from the workshop entrance; he was there to pick up the spare oil filter from the old parts rack.
I saw Ding Haifeng squatting in the corner, holding a wrench in one hand and arranging the bolts he had unscrewed on a foam board in the order they were removed, with the other hand.
He stopped in front of the shelf, and after a while, he reached out and took the oil filter down. He looked back at it again as he walked to the door, and then continued walking towards the workshop.
As the sun slowly rose to the height of the mast, the light in the old parts warehouse changed from gray-blue to bright white.
After dismantling the third old water pump, Ding Haifeng arranged all the impellers according to their model numbers, wiped them clean with cotton yarn, and then neatly traced the third line in the register.
Ah Shun handed him a clean piece of cotton yarn, which he took and used to wipe his hands.
I discovered that there was also a trace of engine oil embedded in my fingernail, exactly the same as the one I saw on Hong Xiaobing's hand yesterday.
He turned his hand over and looked at it for a long time.
Around noon, a lively sound came from the stone trough.
Hong Xiaobing stood up and looked out the window, saying that Old Zhou had come pushing the sampan, and the bottom of the boat was covered with barnacles again. Today they would go up to shovel barnacles and clean the troughs.
Ding Haifeng also glanced out the window.
Several people ran down to the dock and pushed the sampan onto the raft. Qiu Changhai was squatting by the raft, tapping the plank with a hammer to listen to the sound.
Hong Xiaobing and Ashun naturally squeezed next to Qiu Changhai and squatted down.
Ding Haifeng also walked over and squatted down a short distance away.
Qiu Changhai didn't look up. He used a slate pencil to draw a circle on each of the two rotten boards, and then began to carve grooves.
Lin Xiu'e followed behind, carrying the basin of freshly mixed tung oil putty. She saw Ding Haifeng squatting by the stone trough watching her master trim the trough, and nodded to him.
Ding Haifeng felt a surge of warmth upon hearing this nod.
He squatted there and examined the entire groove, paneling, and seam filling, tapping the hemp fibers with his chisel, one tap after another.
In the afternoon, Ah Shun lent Ding Haifeng his vernier calipers and taught him how to measure the inner diameter of the impeller.
Ding Haifeng measured it three times, and the three measurements were consistent, so he added another line to the register.
He said the vernier caliper seemed to be more accurate than the one he usually used.
Ah Shun told him that this gun was a standard equipment provided by the service station and was calibrated every six months. The provincial training centers all followed this standard.
Ding Haifeng returned the vernier caliper to Ashun, then picked up the old, clumsy wrench and examined it for a while, his fingertips tracing the teeth of the caliper once more.
When it was time to wrap up work, Jiang Haiping stood at the workshop door and went through the registration records of the batch of refurbished water pumps from beginning to end. The few lines of writing that Ding Haifeng had drawn were neat and tidy.
When Hong Xiaobing passed by, Jiang Haiping put the registration book in the drawer and locked it, then asked Ding Haifeng how his studies were going.
Hong Xiaobing said he has a good foundation and is very organized in disassembling things, but he doesn't like to talk. However, when Lao Fang went to the used parts warehouse to get the filter today, he looked at it for a while before leaving, which means he liked it.
Jiang Haiping told him to continue dismantling the water pump, and after he finished, he should have A-Guang teach him to recognize the old parts, and to learn all the model numbers of the old parts first.
Ding Haisheng spent the entire afternoon squatting in the welding area, only going to the stone trough to get water once, and glancing at the old parts warehouse on his way back.
Ding Haifeng was carrying the last old water pump awaiting repair onto the shelf. He was very careful, gently placing the bottom corner of the pump on the wooden pallet instead of putting it directly onto the shelf as he had done before.
That evening, Lin Xiu'e scooped out the last half bowl of fish ball soup from the pot and placed it on the stone stool at the entrance of the kitchen.
Ding Haifeng came out of the old parts warehouse, walked to the loquat tree by the stone trough, and looked at the fishing boat gently rocking in the stone trough.
Old Sun had already gone back to the dock, and after Old Zhou's sampan was repaired, it was pushed off the raft, and the stone trough returned to quiet.
The warm light coming from the kitchen made the loquat leaves glow slightly.
Ding Haifeng stood by the loquat tree for a while, then bent down and picked up a few broken seashells that had been blown away by the wind.
Following Ah Guang's example, he regrouped them around the tree roots, then straightened up and wiped the wet sand from his hands on his pants.
The lights in the used parts warehouse were still on. Hong Xiaobing was rewriting today's records in the register, while Ashun was putting all the old water pump impellers back in their places.
Ding Haifeng sat at the worktable, turned to a new page in the register, and carefully traced the impeller number of the last old water pump to be cleaned today.
He put the old, clumsy wrench back in a convenient position on the workbench; the teeth were worn smooth, so it wouldn't slip when tightening bolts.