If you can't monetize the skills you've worked so hard to learn, you won't make any money.
If you don't have money, you can't get a wife.
And so, Jiang Youliang, who came from a poor family, wasted half his life until one morning at a market, he found Jiang Xiaoman, who had been abandoned in a corner of the market.
He had a son, and now he had hope and support for the rest of his life.
...
Getting back to the main point, after having a son, Jiang Youliang tried every possible way to earn money to support him and send him to university. He was willing to do any job that could make money. Naturally, his hobby of bamboo carving, which didn't make money and might even lose him money, was put aside.
Therefore, from childhood to adulthood, Jiang Xiaoman only knew that his father was skillful and could do all kinds of carpentry and bamboo weaving work, but he did not know that his father was not only a craftsman, but also a proper inheritor of bamboo carving culture.
I heard that the master craftsman who trained him back then was quite famous in the county. Many wealthy families were willing to hire him to make furniture. Even today, you can still see many of his works in some of the former residences of famous people in the county.
That's why the county cultural bureau guessed from Jiang Youliang's carving skills and hometown that he might be the successor of that master craftsman, and that's why they wanted to invite him to the county.
If it is confirmed to be the person in question, then it would be good for them to stay in the county and help to revive this lost cultural heritage.
"The main thing is to ask Uncle Youliang to recount the life story of that master craftsman from back then, and also to look for other fellow disciples around here. Let's all work together to rediscover and promote the bamboo carving culture of Langshan!" Sun Zheyuan explained.
"Then, Dad, what do you think?" Jiang Xiaoman decided to respect her father's decision.
"Go ahead, and while you're at it, take a look at the things your ancestor left behind. I haven't even seen them myself," Jiang Youliang said wistfully.
Jiang Xiaoman: "..."
What patriarch?
I have no desire to learn bamboo carving!
“You want to learn but I won’t teach you? You restless little monkey, you want to learn bamboo carving? Don’t you dare ruin our ancestors’ craft.” Jiang Youliang retorted to his son, secretly worried.
These days, everyone loves to buy ready-made furniture, or buy boards and have a carpenter make it themselves—it looks good and is cheap!
When the family was building a house and furnishing it, he originally wanted to make two sets himself, but firstly, handmade bamboo and wood furniture takes too much time to make, and secondly, it really wasn't as nice and practical as the new styles of furniture. So in the end, he simply didn't mention it and let his son find some styles online and have a carpenter make two sets for the family.
I heard that the county cultural bureau has a collection of my master's works from back then, and even though they didn't invite me, Jiang Youliang still wanted to go and see them.
"Okay, I'll make arrangements at home and go with you."
Jiang Xiaoman was not comfortable letting her father go by himself!
With his father's kind and honest character, even if someone sold him out, he would still praise the seller for getting a good price!
Chapter 198
Sun Zheyuan also felt that it would be best for Jiang Xiaoman to go with them.
This is how he advised Jiang Youliang—
“I think it would be very beneficial for Xiaoman to go with us and have more exposure to the county leaders.”
"Uncle Youliang, you don't know, although our county has many support policies for rural youth returning to their hometowns to start businesses in recent years, there are also many applicants in various townships."
"Although it's supposed to be fair competition, if we can help Xiaoman become a familiar face to the leaders, then when the next approval report is submitted, the leaders will see that she's someone they know, and that first impression will be much better than others, right?"
Sun Zheyuan really understands the thoughts of the elderly.
Upon hearing that it would benefit his son, Jiang Youliang immediately stopped objecting.
Jiang Xiaoman ran to the guesthouse next door, left a key to her house there, and asked Lu Xinran to help feed the pigs, chickens, and ducks at her place.
That's one of the good things about having a neighbor nearby; when the father and son have to go out, they can temporarily entrust the piglets, chickens, ducks, and other animals to them.
After finishing his conversation with Jiang Youliang and his son, Sun Zheyuan hurriedly went down the mountain. He also needed to go back to town to pack his things. He estimated that he would stay in the county for a couple more days this time, and he still had to report to his superiors.
The next morning, the father and son went down the mountain. Jiang Xiaoman entrusted the affairs of the express station to Lang Ying. It wouldn't matter if they didn't go to the tea factory construction site for two or three days. Just as they finished, Sun Zheyuan drove up to pick them up.
"Huh? Director Sun, is that a luxury car? Did you borrow it from a colleague?"
Jiang Xiaoman was startled when she saw the three-pointed star inside a circle on the hood of the car. This Mercedes-Benz wasn't cheap!
Did Director Sun borrow a luxury car specifically to impress people when he went to report to the county?
"What do you mean 'borrowed'? It's mine!" Sun Zheyuan rolled his eyes at him, annoyed.
"I've never seen you drive this before..."
"Do you think you can drive a Mercedes on the roads in our town? You might as well ride a donkey."
"That's true." Jiang Xiaoman nodded, then gossiped, "I didn't expect Director Sun's family to be so wealthy, they can even afford a Mercedes."
He certainly didn't think Sun Zheyuan bought that Mercedes with his hard-earned salary.
With the meager salaries of the town's civil servants, even saving for three years wouldn't be enough to buy these four wheels.
Since everyone knew each other so well, Sun Zheyuan saw no need to hide anything from them. Jiang Xiaoman then learned that Director Sun's father was an elderly professor and his mother was a businesswoman. In fact, the people of Langshan were more familiar with Director Sun's maternal grandmother's business.
Director Sun's maternal grandfather opened the first privately-owned winery in the area. Their company mainly produces mid-to-low-end baijiu, which is not as high-end as Maotai, Wuliangye, or Jiannanchun, but it is the baijiu that almost every household in Langshan uses when entertaining guests. It is affordable and the taste is said to be quite good. It is a genuine grain liquor.
Upon learning that the liquor he often drank was actually produced by Sun Zheyuan's maternal grandfather's factory, Jiang Youliang suddenly felt that Director Sun looked even more approachable than before.
The three walked and talked along the way, and finally arrived at the county government around 10 a.m.
The Cultural Bureau sounds like a leisurely department, but it's actually quite busy. It not only oversees all the cultural and entertainment institutions and businesses in the county, but also takes responsibility for the cultural and leisure life of the people. It's impossible for it to just focus on something as small as intangible cultural heritage.
Therefore, when they arrived at the Cultural Bureau's office, they were led to a meeting room and waited for more than 20 minutes before Chen Zhong, the director of the Cultural Bureau's Intangible Cultural Heritage Center, rushed over.
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. We were just about to send out the document to all the townships and sub-districts. Since Director Sun is here, please take him back with you. This is Master Jiang, the inheritor of Langshan bamboo carving culture?"
When Jiang Youliang was called out, he immediately waved his hands awkwardly, "I dare not call you master. I haven't used a carving knife in so many years. I only learned the craft from my master for five years. I just graduated, and now nobody wants my bamboo carvings."
These words brought tears to the eyes of everyone present.
Jiang Xiaoman felt sorry for her father.
Chen Zhong and Sun Zheyuan felt sorry for this traditional craft that was almost lost.
Graduation means unemployment, no wonder young people in Langshan are unwilling to learn bamboo carving.
It takes several years to go from beginner to master. In those years, you could save up over 100,000 yuan just by working in a factory tightening screws!
This was also the first time Director Chen had met Jiang Youliang. The main reason for inviting him over was to verify in person whether this old man Jiang was indeed an inheritor of Langshan bamboo carving culture, and whether Jiang Youliang's bamboo carving skills met the standards for an inheritor.
So, for the next hour or so, Jiang Youliang tried his best to recall the time when he was young and apprenticed under a master, describing the situation of his "master's school" little by little.
I heard that the master craftsman's apprentices had all gone to the city to work because they had no means of making a living. Back then, Langshan was extremely poor, and many families didn't even have telephones, let alone cell phones. They didn't write letters like city people did, and hadn't kept in touch for decades. Jiang Youliang's former fellow apprentices had long since disappeared.
“There was one who was from my hometown, but he died of cancer a few years ago,” Jiang Youliang said with a sigh.
This is another reason why he would rather leave his piglets at home than make a trip to the county town.
His master had long since passed away, and his fellow apprentices had either left or scattered. He didn't know whether his skills met the standards of a successor, nor did he know what the point was of continuing to pass on this old craft that no one wanted. He just held onto a sliver of hope in his heart.
What if the county can find him an apprentice?
When Jiang Youliang said that if anyone in the county was willing to learn this craft, he would be willing to teach them for free, Director Chen nodded secretly.
Since the county established this intangible cultural heritage center, he has also taken the opportunity of his work to come into contact with many local craftsmen.
It must be said that the older generation has a lot of feelings for these traditional crafts. The reason why some intangible cultural heritages can still be passed down with difficulty is because some craftsmen have never given up their crafts even if they don't make money.
Last year, their county discovered a paper-cutting artist. The old man's paper-cutting skills were incredibly lifelike, and his home was filled with paper-cutting albums. However, when his granddaughter was making a journal, she preferred to buy stickers online rather than use the old man's paper-cuttings, complaining that they weren't fashionable enough...
The old lady just smiled after hearing this. Each generation has its own trends. Nowadays, girls like trendy journals, but that doesn't stop the old lady from carefully collecting her paper-cutting works. This is also the "journal" of her generation.
However, the county established the Intangible Cultural Heritage Center specifically to explore local intangible cultural heritage and find ways to continue to pass on these endangered traditional cultures. Of course, it is impossible to ask the inheritors to give up their livelihoods and generate electricity for love.
After listening to Jiang Youliang's recollections and account, Director Chen could no longer hide the joy on his face.
Unexpectedly, this old man Jiang is not only a legitimate inheritor, but also very knowledgeable about the history of Langshan bamboo carving culture and the life of that master craftsman. This is wonderful!
Chen Zhong immediately stood up, went back to his office and brought back a document and a form. He asked Jiang Youliang to fill out the form first, and then explained the contents of the document to him.
The county also knows that the main reason why many intangible cultural heritages have been lost is that practitioners cannot make money. Therefore, in order to encourage young people to join this industry, the county has specially established this intangible cultural heritage center and provides economic and entrepreneurial assistance to the intangible cultural heritage projects that have been unearthed.
"After a successful application for cultural heritage preservation, the county will provide a monthly creative subsidy of 1,000 yuan to help people purchase the materials they need for their creations. This subsidy starts from the month of application, but the exact duration is uncertain and depends on whether the policy changes. If the policy remains unchanged, the subsidy can be received indefinitely, which can be considered a government guarantee for cultural heritage preservation."
"If you don't have your own sales channels for your creations, you can entrust them to us for sale. We have specialty shops in various scenic spots, visitor service centers, highway service areas, and roadside rest stops where you can consign your products for sale. However, you will have to pay a service fee of about 10%."
"By the way, if Master Jiang wants to set up his own bamboo carving studio in the future, the county has some preferential policies regarding taxation and shop rent."
"The county is currently making preparations to use the idle shops in the tourist distribution center to create an intangible cultural heritage park. If Mr. Jiang wants to move into our cultural park, he can also enjoy a three-year rent-free period."
"By the way, in order to promote the intangible cultural heritage of our county, the county has also introduced a policy to encourage inheritors to incubate their own media accounts. I remember Xiaoman should already have tens of millions of followers, right? Master Jiang, why don't you also register a media account for intangible cultural heritage inheritors?"
"According to policy regulations, if a self-media account has more than 100,000 followers within one year of registration, it will receive a one-time special contribution award of 10,000 yuan."
Hmm? That sounds like a good idea!
Jiang Youliang was about to say that he didn't know how to make videos when his son stopped him.
“Okay, registering an account is simple. By the way, do I have to wait for the successor to apply before I can register?” Jiang Xiaoman asked.
"There's no such restriction. You can go back and register first, try operating it, accumulate some followers, and then get a yellow V certification once the successor application is approved."
Director Chen probably also felt that the requirement of "gaining 100,000+ followers in a year" was really too much.
After all, they already have 100,000 followers. Isn't it more profitable to directly sell products through live streaming than to bury themselves in traditional culture?
He thought Jiang Xiaoman brought this up because she wanted to open an account as soon as possible and accumulate 100,000 followers so she could get the 10,000 yuan special contribution award. However, Jiang Xiaoman just felt that relying solely on the county's vigorous promotion, it was unlikely that any young people would be willing to learn this old craft that was difficult to monetize for a subsidy of 10,000 to 20,000 yuan a year.
Besides, these days, even if a young person delivers packages, they can still earn at least 50,000 to 60,000 yuan a year, right?
Local youths probably wouldn't be willing to stay in Langshan for their entire lives just for a subsidy of ten or twenty thousand yuan a year. After all, the poorer a family is, the more they need to consider practical living issues.
With a monthly creation subsidy of 1,000 yuan, the output of pure handmade bamboo carving is slow. Even if you can only produce 3 to 4 pieces a month, and each piece sells for a few hundred yuan, which is already considered a very high price, it's still only one or two thousand yuan. All in all, the monthly income is less than that of a security guard in the city. How can you support your family and send your children to school?
However, if you can manage your social media account well, then it's a different story.
As the saying goes, you have to cast a wide net to catch more fish. With more fans, maybe one or two rich second-generation heirs who are not short of money and have nothing better to do will be willing to learn about Langshan's bamboo carving culture.
Not to mention, only a few come a year, so his father's bamboo carving skills can be sustained.
However, there's no need to say these things in front of Director Chen.
It hurts my self-esteem.
After all, the county seems to have put in a lot of effort to preserve intangible cultural heritage. He plans to test it out on his own father first, and if this approach works, he'll give Director Chen a suggestion privately.
If you need to buy data, you should spend the money!
How can you get into cultural and creative industries without burning through money?