"A lot of shops are closed, you go up, several sewing and patching shops are still open"
When the camera of the old street search switched from Democracy Street to Unity Street, this alley hidden in the bustling circle of Zhongtian Street, I really saw its face.
Less than 500 meters long, the winding path, like every branch attached to the main road, plays an important role in the traffic route on the one hand, and on the other hand, it is as light as a cicada in the aura of the bustling business district.
Flowers and plants in front of the portal, stairs everywhere, balconies and New Year goods that stretch out, sheep gut alleys with twists and turns, messy wires and colorful drying clothes overhead.
These daily lives awaken the memories of every Jingmen person on the old street.
On a winter afternoon in Old Street, the sky was dark and cold, and behind a few not-so-clear glass doors, an old craftsman was concentrating on the work at hand.
"This is not a big business, do our business, there is nothing to say"
Master Chen smiled and waved his hands, and continued to bury his head in repairing his shoes, while there were several pairs waiting next to him. Wipe, brush, glue, thread... These meticulous and tedious actions may be repeated dozens of times a day.
"The basic people who come here are old acquaintances, even if they only say that a place needs to be supplemented, they will generally look at the whole shoe again, and the work that can be done by hand can be done together."
The shoe in Master Chen's hand was not yet finished, and a young mother came in with vegetables in both hands.
"Master you see Ha, my shoe is open" The young mother stepped sideways from the narrow glass door frame, sat on the low bench, and tried to balance and lifted her feet closer to the master.
"It's okay, you take it off, I'll help you get it right soon"
Knowing that the young mother was in a hurry to go back to prepare dinner, Master Chen hurriedly put down the work at hand and quickly and sharply repaired her shoes.
"Master Chen's heart is meticulous and good, so many years have not increased the price, with the key to repair shoes love to come to him"
Seeing us take pictures, she said to us while handing Master Chen 2 yuan.
Not far from Master Chen's repair shop, another teacher was tinkering with the bottom of the pot.
The old street is limited in area, the lighting is not very good, and in the case of rainy weather, the lights are usually lit in the shop at three or four o'clock in the afternoon.
In the early years, the teacher's legs suffered from accidents, and his actions were no better than ordinary people, so it was slightly difficult to take care of this repair shop. But as soon as this shop opened, it was decades.
The shops on Unity Street have changed stubble after stubble, and the children who grew up on Unity Street are also parents, but this repair shop is stunned to stick to it, and the neighbors of the whole street do not know here.
In the words of Xiao Su, a local neighbor of Unity Street, it is: Since childhood, I have been the "inspirational responsibility" of Unity Street in the mouth of my parents. If you don't study hard one day, your mother will always say, "Think about the teacher downstairs, encounter such a big change, or try to live a decent life."
Nearby old acquaintances who passed by the door of the shop habitually came in and sat down for a while. Whoever wears the bottom of the pot and the umbrella is broken, he will also come here to find the teacher to see, and he will not let people go empty.
Life is like this, some people repair, some people break away. What the hell has happened? I am most comfortable with myself.
When was the last time you had your pants henched or changed your waist?
This old street tailor shop, if it is not the owner's own house, should also fade out of our vision like those fading craftsmen.
The owner is an old couple who have been running the clothing store for nearly 20 years, which is both a place of business and a place of life. The workbench used for sewing and several age-old sewing machines have been steadfastly accompanying the old couple in the corner of the living room for decades. Six years of foot-stomping sewing machines were replaced by new styles, the colored threads of large rolls gradually fell to ashes, and the paving surface changed from a clothing store to a tailor shop.
The white material that had not been used up to help the hospital make uniforms was neatly arranged in the corner of the wall, next to the dining table. "When you are older, these tasks are eye-consuming and cervical, and you may not be able to do them for a few years."
The teacher got up and walked to the operating table, where there was still a pair of pants waiting to be closed.
I still remember the deepest impression, is that the spring and autumn school uniforms can never match the right yardage, adolescent ignorance and love of beauty age, the first time to get the hand is to run to the street corner of the tailor shop, measuring scale, cutting, scribing, sewing machine da da da...
Sometimes without saying much, the teacher knows where to "do it". When the next day came out of the exercise, the pants that were active on campus, many of them turned into new pants that were thin and not tight, and everyone looked at each other and smiled, tacitly.
These old craftsmen who carry our ignorant youth and help the imagination of beauty are gradually shrinking into the dark corners of the city. But the people who really need them can always find them somewhere around the corner or in the middle of nowhere.
Are the tailors and repair shops near your house still open? (Yang Yao, Guo Qiang, Lei Haoran)