■ At the age of 75, he runs the last pen repair shop in Beijing, which has been open for 55 years.
■ Grandpa repaired his pen here when he was studying; When my grandson was studying, he was still mending pens here.
■ The police nearby can also tell one or two things about repairing pens.
■ The annual income is only 10,000 yuan. Someone offered 8000 yuan to rent his shop, but he refused, saying, You don't know what I mean.
■ No one has taken over his craft from his children, and no one has done it from his original apprentice.
Stop and look back.
/kloc-I haven't touched a pen in 0/0 years. Occasionally rummaging through old things and finding a pen seems a bit strange to me. It seems that I practiced pen copywriting in the last century to make love letters less shameful-oh, yes, it was the last century.
I wonder what young people nowadays use to write love letters. Do you want to print and sign with A4 printing paper? This idea is probably out of date. Nowadays, text messages and emails arrive in a blink of an eye, and lovers are still warm when they receive them.
Who writes with a pen? Fill out a form occasionally, sign your name, grab the pen and throw it away. Disposable pens often disappear before they are used up. Zhang Guangyi, who has been writing for decades, always feels that it is too wasteful, but "waste" seems to have been the concept of the last century.
But just ten years ago, writing a good hand was enviable, but now it has become an accessory like a trademark on clothes. When there was only one pen repair shop left in Beijing, none of us could write or write. Because we want to pursue high efficiency in the information age, we changed our pens. Take a pen, open the ink bottle to absorb enough ink, and then write dragon and snake on paper. This era is too extravagant and "wasteful".
We lost more than just pens. In just over ten years, playing cotton, hooping barrels, blowing sugar and stretching brown beds have all disappeared. What is left to us seems to be far more than the old dreams of one or two generations of childhood or adolescence, and there are many colors and melodies. In this era of desperately calling for "individuality", we trample on all styles and rhythms different from the so-called trend.
A friend returned home from a business trip across the ocean, visited five cities in five days, negotiated entertainment with his partner, and repeatedly shouted tired-is this the mainstream life we want now? No one can answer, but everyone does. Therefore, Zhang Guangyi may not be much different from other people in the past, but today, he and his pen repair shop seem so out of place, or out of place.
It doesn't seem a pity to throw away the pen after use, but in fact, we don't have much resources to throw away at will, just as we don't have much life to throw away at will. We pursue profit, we are in a hurry, we stand still ... But maybe we should stop and look back sometimes, what we have gained and what we have lost. ■ Wang Qingli
In such a big city as Beijing, there is only one pen repair shop, and the owner is 75-year-old Zhang Guangyi.
The pen repair shop with a simple facade is an old house in the 1920s and 1930s, squeezed between two fashionable houses, as if two generations had collided. On the street where the pen repair shop is located, there are dazzling fast food restaurants, bakeries and gift shops ... Not far away, the luxury commercial buildings in Dongsi business district are crowded. The pen repair shop is here, as if because of the dislocation of time, it accidentally ran to another era.
In 55 years, Zhang Guangyi polished pens and repaired at least 500,000 pens. His customers come from all over the country, even overseas. Some clients, grandpa repaired pens here in Zhang Guangyi when he was studying, and grandson also repaired pens here when he was studying. Zhang Guangyi said: "My customers have four generations."
But Zhang Guangyi is worried that if one day he can't do it, can Beijing have a pen repair?
He has repaired pens for 55 years.
A customer has two famous pens of 4700 yuan, which are broken. The store said they couldn't repair it, and the cost of replacing a pen tip was 800 yuan. As soon as the customer inquired about this, Zhang Guangyi helped him repair it, and the total charge was tens of yuan.
65438+February 5th is the fourth day of continuous gale cooling in Beijing. The temperature dropped to the lowest temperature in the same period in Beijing in 50 years, and Zhang Guangyi's pen repair shop opened as usual. A customer rushed in in the strong wind and was happy when he saw Zhang Guangyi: "I came all the way from Haidian, and I was worried that you wouldn't open the door when you went out." Zhang Guangyi ha ha smiled: "If I don't open the door, then you won't touch the lock."
There are such loyal old customers, not only because there is such a pen repair shop in Beijing, but also because Zhang Guangyi has a unique skill. After 55 years of writing career, Zhang Guangyi's feelings for pen are beyond others' understanding. You don't need to look at the pen when you bring it here. As long as you touch the nib, Zhang Guangyi will know whether the nib is original, whether it was repaired by yourself last time, and what's the problem. When Zhang Guangyi repairs, he always lets his customers have a try. The old customer smiled: "There is no need to try at all. Just bring your craft. "
A customer broke the nib and went to Zhang Guangyi without a pen. When it comes to the model, Zhang Guangyi deliberately picked out the nib and brought it back to him. After two days, the customer ran back, but it still didn't work. Finally, Zhang Guangyi had to make a move. As early as 1950s, Zhang Guangyi was writing in Dong 'an market. When he has something to do or rest, he is replaced by an apprentice. But when the customer got the pen repaired by the apprentice, he grinned: "Is this repaired by Master Zhang?" This is the craft.
A customer has two famous pens with a price of 4,700 yuan, which are broken. Take them to the exclusive store of that brand. He was told that the damage could not be repaired, and it would take about half a year to adjust the nib at the foreign headquarters. The cost of changing a pen tip is 800 yuan. The customer inquired about Zhang Guangyi here, and Zhang Guangyi helped him repair it, and the total charge was tens of yuan.
Zhang Guangyi's specialty is to point the pen. There is a round bead smaller than a small grain of rice on the pen, and it can't be used if it falls off. You need to stick the ball on the tip of the pen, and then make a slit in the ball. This process is all laser processing in the pen factory, but Zhang Guangyi's head-on operation is all manual.
But now 75-year-old Zhang Guangyi has been unable to show this unique skill. "My eyesight is failing." Zhang Guangyi said softly.
Even became a celebrity.
I sold pens when I was less than 20 years old, and then I taught myself to repair them, and I also broke the name of "Pen Zhang". Zhang Guangyi's polished nib is better than the newly bought pen, and some customers go here to grind it before buying a new pen.
Zhang Guangyi began to learn to write in the 1940 s, less than 20 years old. First, I sold pens with my father. When I sold them, someone asked if I could repair them. There is no textbook for repairing pens. At that time, Zhang Guangyi didn't have a teacher, so he pondered it a little and learned while doing it. With more pens, Zhang Guangyi gradually became a self-taught student. He also made some pen repair tools and accessories himself-according to martial arts novels, Zhang Guangyi created his own martial arts and became a sect.
Slowly, Zhang Guangyi found out whether the pen was easy to use or not, so Zhang Guangyi spent more and more time on the nib. Slowly, Zhang Guangyi's polished nib is even better than the newly bought pen. Some customers bought a new pen and went to Zhang Guangyi Mill first.
The name "pen Zhang" is so loud.
At that time, Zhang Guangyi's customers were mostly students, the People's Liberation Army and "climbing the grid". In 1950s, public-private partnership, Zhang Guangyi also moved into Dong 'an market. Ten years later, Zhang Guangyi moved to Dongsi for physical reasons. Later, the society called Zhang Guangyi's business self-employed, and everyone had a bad impression of self-employed. Some customers were very surprised after repairing the pen here in Zhang Guangyi: "I can't believe this is a self-employed."
Zhang Guangyi is not an ordinary self-employed person. In the 1980s, he won many honors such as "Beijing Model Worker", "National Advanced Individual" and "National Model Worker in Commercial System". At that time, he was a celebrity in Beijing. Unlike now, the more celebrities make more money, Zhang Guangyi is still doing this kind of business that doesn't make much money.
Talking about the market economy, the business of repairing pens is not very profitable, and many pen repair shops have jumped ship. Someone is kind and talkative: "Lao Zhang, you should be smart in doing business now." Zhang Guangyi listened and listened, and then followed his own set. In the future, people pay attention to "paperless office", and fewer people repair pens than before. Zhang Guangyi's customers are mainly students, office workers and checkers.
He didn't fix pens for money.
The annual income of pen repair is only 10,000 yuan, so a clothing dealer sublets Zhang Guangyi's shop and proposes a monthly rent of 7,000 yuan. Seeing that he shook his head, he immediately increased it to 8 thousand, but he said, "You don't know what I mean."
"generalized pen repair shop" is located in the business district of Dongsi South Street, which can be regarded as a prosperous golden location. A clothing dealer came to sublet Zhang Guangyi's shop and offered a monthly rent of 7,000 yuan. When he saw Zhang Guangyi shake his head, he immediately increased it to 8000 yuan. Zhang Guangyi said, "Not seven or eight thousand. You don't understand what I mean. " But Zhang Guangyi also found it difficult to explain himself to others.
Zhang Guangyi's pen repair shop only earns 10 thousand yuan a year, but Zhang Guangyi, who has been repairing pens for 55 years, can't put down his pen: "This is more important than money. It is not inconvenient for such a big city to need such an industry. " It is really difficult for ordinary people to understand Zhang Guangyi's mood. Only when he is absorbed in the pen in his hand can he be a little sudden-that is the pouring of feelings. Like is a simple and complicated emotion, not to mention that Zhang Guangyi's "like" is behind 55 years of immersion, and a "like" is enough to explain.
"I also want to live in a big house and earn more money." Zhang Guangyi seems to be no different from ordinary people, but it seems that his wish is only verbal.
On this day, the first customer brought a dozen pens, saying that they were worn out by his son who was studying. Zhang Guangyi picked up a check: "These two are not broken and can be used; This is blocked by dry ink, just go back and take warm water to soak it ... "At last, there are only five that really need to be repaired, and the rest of the" business "has been pushed back.
This has been Zhang Guangyi's rule for decades. Customers can directly tell customers the small problems they can solve, and whatever can be free is free. All pens repaired or sold by Zhang Guangyi are guaranteed free of charge as long as the accessories are not replaced. Some young students came to repair pens. At first glance, Zhang Guangyi is a small problem. There is no charge for repairs, which makes these children very unaccustomed now.
In two hours, 12 customers came to the store. According to different accessories, some of the broken pens were collected by Zhang Guangyi, and the most was 5 yuan. Zhang Guangyi's biggest business this afternoon was that a young man bought a pen from 66 yuan. A customer asked, why do you only sell the same pen of 1 15 here, but 150 in the mall? Zhang Guangyi quickly explained that the shopping mall is reasonable, and the expenses such as personnel and rent are higher than mine.
Prices have not changed for more than ten years, and Zhang Guangyi's repair costs have not changed. Someone advised him that if the purchase price goes up, you should also raise the price a little. Zhang Guangyi still smiled: "I can bear it or try to make everyone cheaper."
Only for those who come and go.
Zhang Guangyi once received a counterfeit hundred-dollar bill, which made him very depressed. There will be a money detector in the store in the future. But this kind of money detector is rarely used. Because Zhang Guangyi is more troublesome: "There are other customers waiting next to him."
In addition to the old pen, Zhang Guangyi has many old customers here.
An old gentleman retired and went to the shop to have a look: "Hey, Lao Zhang, I repaired my pen here when I was at school, and you are still repairing it now." For some older people, Zhang Guangyi's pen repair shop is a surprise that evokes past memories. A customer in Xinjiang repaired his pen here and went back. After a while, his colleague went to Beijing for a business trip, found Zhang Guangyi and repaired his pen with a hand-drawn map. This kind of story makes Zhang Guangyi feel very satisfied and perhaps have a sense of accomplishment.
A middle-aged woman found Zhang Guangyi after watching TV and took out some pens: "It turns out that there was an old gentleman in Muxiyuan who also repaired pens. Later, they were all torn down, thinking that there was no place to repair pens in Beijing. It's a pity to throw these away, thinking about making the best use of them. " Then he added, "It's a pity for us."
What Zhang Guangyi often meets now are parents who are repairing with large pens, and they are all accidentally damaged by their children. The early 1980s was the busiest time for Zhang Guangyi. Every morning before opening the door, there are customers waiting in line outside for the 20th and 30th. But at that time, only one or two pens were used to repair them. What hasn't changed in these years is that Zhang Guangyi is still checking one by one as in the past.
People are changing, so are pens.
A customer complained that the pen of several hundred yuan was broken just after it was bought back. Zhang Guangyi said that pens are expensive in packaging, and brand-name pens are more expensive in brand. Compared with the past, Zhang Guangyi found that the biggest change of pens now is fashionable style, high-grade packaging and various models, and some models of accessories are not complete here.
There are more pen factories than in the past, and the quality is inevitably a bit uneven. Customers often say that the quality of pens is getting worse now. Zhang Guangyi's answer is always not angry and arrogant: "There are many kinds of pens now, but the quality of the nib should be tightened." Zhang Guangyi will carefully check every pen when purchasing goods to make sure there is no problem. After a long time, some foreign customers come to Beijing on business and will go to Zhang Guangyi to buy some pens as gifts.
However, Zhang Guangyi can guarantee that customers will not be fooled, but he cannot guarantee that he will not suffer. Zhang Guangyi once received a counterfeit hundred-dollar bill, which made him very depressed: "There was no such thing before." Later, Zhang Guangyi's shop added another money detector. However, this kind of money detector is rarely used because Zhang Guangyi is more troublesome: "There are other customers waiting beside."
Zhang Guangyi's wife and children didn't accept his insistence on such a meager profit shop at first. My wife didn't like it at first: Qian Duoduo went as soon as the house was rented out ... but Zhang Guangyi has always been so stubborn. Looking at the customers from afar and their trust in Zhang Guangyi, the family gradually felt that Zhang Guangyi had his reasons, or should be like this.
The default at home is the default. None of Zhang Guangyi's children took over his craft, and none of his original apprentices did it again: "No one wants to learn, but everyone wants to earn more money. It is better to set up a bicycle stall to learn this. " Zhang Guangyi's grandson also went to college and won't want to take Zhang Guangyi's class. According to Zhang Guangyi's current income level, it is not enough for the rent of an ordinary storefront. Where can I find another Zhang Guangyi willing to do this business?
Zhang Guangyi is strong and has a loud voice, but he is over 70 years old after all. The business hours of shops have been shortened to two and a half hours every afternoon: "I will do my best wherever I go." Zhang Guangyi's children have been in contact with it for many years and have "looked and looked" at the repair of pens.
Zhang Guangyi sometimes thinks that if one day he closes the mountain, maybe his children will continue this business: "Who knows?"
The pen repair shop has hardly changed.
one
Zhang Guangyi and his pen repair shop are a landscape in Beijing because there is no second pen repair shop.
Zhang Guangyi's shop has hardly changed since he moved to Dongsi South Street.
Zhang Guangyi once gave a lecture to a famous foreign pen company, and then the company wanted to completely transform Zhang Guangyi's shop and become their franchise store in China. Zhang Guangyi thought that he could not repair pens for ordinary customers, and refused without talking to the other party about the conditions.
So, Zhang Guangyi's shop is still the same. In addition to the business license and various award-winning banners, there are calligraphy banners sent by customers, including the inscription given by the famous dramatist Wu Zuguang to Zhang Guangyi. There used to be a suggestion book in the store, but after a long time, Zhang Guangyi found that customers wrote praises on it, and there was no suggestion book in the future.
There is no heating or air conditioning in the shop, but there is an electric heater on. The wind power of electric heaters is limited. In Beijing in June 5438+February, if you are far from the electric heater, you will feel chilly in the store.
two
In addition to customers, the old residents nearby and the police passing by the police station all love to come in and say hello to Zhang Guangyi.
A policeman/kloc-met Zhang Guangyi when he was in this area 0/5 years ago./kloc-changed his post 0/0 years ago, and later he often went to see Zhang Guangyi. When there were old customers, Zhang Guangyi pointed to the police and joked, "This is my apprentice." The police can often say a word or two about pens. They are really apprentices.
The urban management personnel entered the store and issued a notice of sweeping snow and shoveling ice in winter to the merchants in the jurisdiction. Zhang Guangyi signed the notice with great interest. The policeman said, "Grandpa is so old. If it snows, you will be finished."
"Well, I'll leave it here in front of Uncle Zhang's house." The answer there is very happy, and it is also a frequent visitor.
three
Zhang Guangyi's income is not high, but when he donated money to schools in poor areas, he donated 60 iridium pens at once. Zhang Guangyi said: "This is all our best efforts."
In the past, Zhang Guangyi volunteered to serve in the flag class and the Armed Police Force every year. Now because of his age, he seldom takes part in these activities. But as long as soldiers come to the store, Zhang Guangyi still has the obligation to repair pens for them.
After each repair, Zhang Guangyi always took pains to tell customers: Don't mix ink; When the pen is used up, put on the cap and it won't be broken all the time; If you want to write more carefully, just tilt the tip of the pen ... that meticulous and serious effort, as he said: "Although this industry is small, I regard it as one thing."
four
Zhang Guangyi smokes a little and drinks a little tea.
Zhang Guangyi used to smoke Kanto cigarettes with his pipe when he was in a meeting of the CPPCC. Some people say, Uncle Zhang, can you smoke cigarettes instead? After that, Zhang Guangyi smoked from three cigarettes a month to 1 cigarette a month. Cigarettes are very common mid-range cigarettes.
Zhang Guangyi is good at rowing and playing badminton. When I was older, I occasionally played with my little granddaughter, but I couldn't help but want to play with her, but after all, I was too old to play, and then I simply stopped playing. The exercise now is to walk every day and sometimes ride a bike when going out.
Like many old Beijing, Zhang Guangyi likes listening to Beijing Opera. He used to go to the theatre to watch live performances, but now he usually listens to them on TV and radio. Asked why he didn't go to the theater, Zhang Guangyi smiled: "To tell the truth, tickets for the theater are much more expensive now."