Vernacular Prose: The Carpet Factory in Memory

Text: A local Tuwa

In the early 80s, my hometown was the birthplace of carpet weaving, and the carpet weaving was famous in China and very popular. Selling well in large, medium and small cities in China, many outsiders have come to admire, thumbs up, full of praise. So when it comes to the name of my hometown, many outsiders don't know much, but as long as they say the word "carpet", they can blurt out the name of my hometown.　　　

Speaking of the preparation of this carpet raw material, it is a precious and authentic wool sheared from the sheep, and then spun into thread, twisted into a fine thread, sent to the carpet factory, processed, dyed, and finally wound into a ball of coils after a series of complex processes, which is called carpet thread, in order to weave carpet. Its raw materials are expensive and the workmanship is complex, so the cost is also high. The carpet woven is mainly based on the color, with intarsia and jacquard, with vivid patterns, distinct colors and luster, and a smooth and soft feel. The most important thing is that it has a good warming effect, can prevent moisture and moisture, and is also very practical in the south. Especially in the winter in the north, the cold kang is covered with a carpet, and it will be warm and warm in the long cold winter night. It also has the advantage that the older it is, the smoother and brighter the coat color. Therefore, as soon as the local girls get married, they first ask for two carpets as a bride price. Rich families have to spread two carpets. Local people often say that two carpets are enough for a lifetime, and they can be passed down from generation to generation. Carpets in the house look rich and wealthy, so people love carpets so much, and they come from far and wide to buy carpets.　　

The carpet factory is located on the east side of the main street. The gate was open to the street, and the stone pillars on both sides of the gate were made of concrete, which was very magnificent in a simple street at that time. The factory yard is very large, about several thousand square meters, the north side of the courtyard is the attached two-story building, the upper floor is the factory director's office, the technician's drawing room, reception room, etc., and the downstairs is the male and female single dormitory. To the west of the factory are various production workshops, including carpet washing workshop, carpet dyeing workshop, felt rolling workshop, dyeing workshop and flat goods workshop. A row of houses facing the street, the door is open to the courtyard, a large straight workshop, which can accommodate hundreds of people, with rows of carpet weaving machines, and when you walk to the door, you will hear a knock on the carpet, scissors trimming the carpet, \\\\\\\ the sound of '\\\\\\\' clicking, mixed with people's laughter. Further inside, you can see the larger room, where the older women sit on the ground around the windmill and keep their hands rotating along the line, which is the winding ball, which is the simplest manual operation in the factory.　　　

The carpet factory was the only handicraft enterprise unit in the small township at that time. At that time, carpet weaving was very famous. Therefore, many outsiders went to the carpet factory to learn the craft. Needless to say, the locals married their daughters-in-law, girls, young men, and babies who didn't like to study were sent to the carpet factory in their teens, and illiterate women also entered the carpet factory, and they could also find some work to do and supplement their families. Some families, young and old, went into the carpet factory. The carpet factory became the only way for people in small towns to earn some living money. There are no idlers in the small towns, and almost everyone knows how to make carpets.　　

At that time, I had to pass by the carpet factory every day to go to school. You can always see the tall chimney emitting a thick black smoke into the sky, and hear the rumbling roar of the machines in the factory. When I passed by the carpet weaving room after school, the sound of tapping on the carpet mixed with the laughter of people came from the room from time to time, and I always had to poke my little head and look in.　　

I go to school early, and I often pass by the factory director's house, and I can always see the factory director walking around the factory with his hands behind his back. He was not tall, sturdy, lean, and had a fierce face. I heard my mother say that the factory director came up from Shaanxi by begging for food. He is a big old man, illiterate, but has strong management ability, upright temperament, and is very authoritative in the factory, and the people in the factory are afraid of him, but they also fear him. He is a fiery temper, and he started a fire without mercy, and was scolded by the eight generations of ancestors. I heard that as long as the factory director walked into the carpet room, the moment he was still talking and laughing just now, the audience became silent. But this man has compassion for the poor and compassion for the afflicted. He never bullied the poor, probably he experienced the taste of poverty. I remember that my mother often worked for the carpet factory, and my mother had always worked hard, and it was not easy for a woman's family to do this unbearable heavy physical work, and won the sympathy of the factory director. Once, my mother came back with great interest and said that the factory director had promised to sell two carpets to our family at a low price. At the end of the year, our mother and I pushed the flatbed cart and excitedly pulled the carpet back. We no longer have to sleep in the cold pit of long winter nights.　　　

At that time, the carpet factory was very popular and lively. There are many young people, and there are often some interesting stories between young men and women. Every day after work, the girls and boys in the carpet factory came out talking and laughing, hooking shoulders and backs, holding hands, and the girls and boys frowned. If you see a beautiful girl walking in front of you, and the young man in the back whistles, the girl in front blushes, and the young man in the back makes a grimace and giggles, and the girl escapes without a trace. I heard that there was a most beautiful girl in the factory, and the young lads wanted to pursue her, so they gave the girl the nickname "Yizhihua", and when the young men saw her coming, they were all so happy to work and dreamed of being in a group with her, sitting on a blanket machine and weaving carpets. I heard that a young man was in love with a girl from out of town in the factory. Once the door of the factory was locked, he jumped over the wall and jumped into the carpet factory to date the girl. The next day, the factory director found out, scolded the young man, and stopped paying him a month's salary.　　

In the carpet factory, there are often groups of leaders who come to visit. The director of the factory introduced the situation of the carpet factory one by one with his hands behind his back.　　

The carpet factory has been prosperous for more than ten years, during which it has led to the prosperity of the economy of small towns and villages, fed the livelihood of many families, and the technology of weaving carpets has been passed down from generation to generation, and the young men and women who are closed and humble have planted the seeds of young love here. In the late nineties, due to the reform of the mechanism of the second light enterprise, the carpet factory closed down, and the flow of people was scattered. Later, a small individual factory was established. All of a sudden, the carpet factory became deserted, and many people lost their jobs from then on.　　

Every time I go home to see my parents, I have to pass by the carpet factory. I could no longer see the billowing black smoke from the tall chimneys, the sound of the machines in the factory, and the laughter of the people. Passing by the factory director's house, he had already changed into a stranger's face. The carpet weaving room facing the street has been converted into a shop, a grain store, and a barber shop. There are few pedestrians on the streets, and many young people have gone out to work in small towns and villages. People who can't get out also have nothing to do, and they are idle and wandering around. I sighed that time had passed in a flash, and I had changed from the little yellow-haired girl to a woman with wrinkles carved on her face. At this time, I looked at the decayed and deserted carpet factory, poor and backward small township, I was full of emotion, how many emotions, how many emotions, how much sourness poured into my heart, I could not restrain myself, the prosperous carpet factory brought wealth, happiness and busyness to the small township can no longer be seen, it is gone forever, it has disappeared forever in my heart.

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