Once upon a time there was a man named Zhang Jinku. His family was not short of money, but he was stingy and liked to take advantage. When he usually went to the market to buy vegetables or something, before leaving, he would always say "spare one" while picking up a green onion or garlic and stuffing it in his basket. For him, not taking advantage was a big loss, so everyone gave him a nickname, "spare one."

Before Zhang Jinku's daughter got married, he invited the best carpenter to make new furniture for her. The most famous carpenter in Shili Baxiang was Blind Liu from Xiao Liu Village. Blind Liu was not really blind. A few years ago, he once worked for others, and the work was a little tight, and he could only do it well after dark. There is a rule in carpentry work. After finishing the work, the last meal is called "cooking rice", and there must be wine and chicken, which is auspicious. After "cooking rice" that day, it was a little late, and on the way back in the dark, Carpenter Liu accidentally fell into a ravine and injured one eye. The other eye was also infected, and his eyesight dropped a lot. Despite this, the craftsmanship done by the one-eyed Carpenter Liu is still unmatched by anyone within a radius of dozens of miles.

Carpenter Liu had been busy for more than a month with a mute apprentice in his teens, making a suitcase, a display cabinet, a table, a coffee table, a small table, a square table, and four chairs for Zhang Jinku's daughter, and a big bed for his son. After calculating the account, Zhang Jinku did not give money at the time, and wanted Carpenter Liu to use the corner scraps to make another bench for him. Of course, it was mercy, not a salary.

Don't look at it as a free job, the requirements are not low. What Zhang Jinku wants is not a simple square stool with straight tenons and straight eyes, but a four-legged and eight-rudder stool with diagonal tenons and slanted eyes. Such a stool is more stable and comfortable to sit on. Because it is all scraps in the corners, it takes a lot of effort to gather and put together, so Carpenter Liu and his apprentice are busy until dark to do it. Because it was "cooking" at noon, Zhang Jinku did not talk about taking care of the meal at night, so Carpenter Liu and his father could only go home hungry.

A few days later, Zhang Jinku asked a painter to paint the furniture. The painter looked at all the furniture, then used a ruler to measure the big bed, table, and bench again and again, and asked Zhang Jinku, "Who made this furniture?" Zhang Jinku asked in surprise, "What's wrong, blind Liu?" The painter scratched his head and said to himself in confusion, "No, Master Liu is so famous, he won't even pay attention to this..." After the painter's explanation, Zhang Jinku knew that there are many details about the size of the carpenter's work, such as "the small table is inseparable from the six, the large table is inseparable from the nine", "six" and "meat" are homophonic, and the family usually uses a small table for meals, and there is meat at once, which means a rich life; when guests come, they use a larger square table for meals. "nine" and "wine" are homophonic, and no wine is not a courtesy; and "bed is inseparable from the seven", "seven" and "wife" are homophonic, which means harmony between husband and wife. In addition, no matter whether it is a bench or a chair, it is inseparable from the "three", which means that those who come to the house to sit down and talk are good friends.

After explaining this, the painter said, "All the furniture you have here has nothing to do with these numbers!" Zhang Jinku was furious when he heard that, and scolded, "Okay, you blind Liu, play with me, I'm not finished with you!" After that, he slammed out the door angrily and went straight to Xiao Liu Village.

Unfortunately, Carpenter Liu went out to work and didn't come back with his mute apprentice humming a tune until it was dark. It is estimated that someone's work was "done," and both men drank wine. Hearing Zhang Jinku's angry words, Carpenter Liu smiled slightly and said slowly, "Shopkeeper Zhang, in our area, you are also a famous person, but the mute child and I have worked in your house for more than a month. You stew radishes with cabbage at noon and radishes with cabbage at night, and add two pieces of tofu for ten days and a half to improve the food. I have been working for so many years, making furniture in poor people's houses, and I have to lie down with poached eggs every three and five times. I've put up with this, but we've worked hard for more than a month. According to the rules, there must be a chicken on that day... "Carpenter Liu pulled the mute apprentice to Zhang Jinku and said," This child was picked up on the road back then. Don't look like he can't speak, he works very hard. Usually, there is a mouthful of meat, and I have to give it to the child even if I don't eat it. You are good. On the day of cooking, you put us on a chicken rack. Don't mention the chicken thighs, you even peeled off the chicken breasts! At that time, when I saw the child's grievances, my heart ached! It was me who was a master and was incapable, which made people look down on me! "

Liu Carpenter said that the villagers who came to watch the fun all scolded Zhang Jinku for being nothing. Zhang Jinku's face was like a purple eggplant, and he wanted to pee and drown himself. Finally, after the neighbors made peace, Liu Carpenter agreed that Zhang Jinku would buy a roast chicken for the mute child to enjoy, so he went to change the size of the furniture.

The next day, Zhang Jinku bought the roast chicken as promised and gave it to Mr. Liu and Mr. Carpenter. The chicken was bought, and Liu Carpenter could tell at a glance that he specially picked the small one to buy. Carpenter Liu thought for a while, tore a chicken leg for the mute apprentice, and then went to Zhang Jinku with a hammer and a saw with only a dozen teeth.

When they arrived at the place, Carpenter Liu used a saw to hold the tenon shoulders of the furniture a few times, then hit them with a hammer, said "Okay," and turned his head to leave. Zhang Jinku measured with a ruler, and sure enough, there were six with six, and nine with nine.

Zhang Jinku pointed at the small bench again and said, "And that one!" Carpenter Liu said, "That one is free, so don't be so fussy. Besides, it also carries'three!" Zhang Jinku measured it with a ruler and said, "Don't bring'three '?" Carpenter Liu had already left the gate and said as he walked, "You'll know after a while." Zhang Jinku sat on his big butt, and the bench swayed around, with only three legs touching the ground. Heh! It turns out that "three" is here. Zhang Jinku was so angry that he almost fell on his butt.

After Carpenter Liu left, Zhang Jinku looked at the bench and thought to himself, wouldn't it be better if I saw all four legs by myself? Who knew, he finally borrowed a saw and spent a long time cutting off the legs of the bench. Once he sat down, it became two legs long and two legs short. Saw again, it became three legs short... Finally, he was so angry that he threw the bench that was almost legless into the fire!

Zhang Jinku was upset that he didn't get the advantage and wasted the wood. A few years later, Zhang Jinku's family needed to build a set of doors, so he specially hired Carpenter Liu. Of course, he asked Carpenter Liu to spare two benches again.

Afraid Carpenter Liu would do anything, Zhang Jinku specially waited for the door, door frame and bench to be ready before paying wages and eating. In order to avenge the "revenge" of sending roast chicken to the door last time, Zhang Jinku deliberately plucked out one of the chicken's eyes this time, and secretly scolded Carpenter Liu for being blind in one eye. Carpenter Liu stared at the chicken head for a long time, said nothing, and ate with relish.

Before leaving, Carpenter Liu asked Zhang Jinku, "What kind of wood did you use to make the door? Where did you buy it from?" Zhang Jinku patted the door frame and said proudly, "I bought it from Nanyang at a high price. It's called fragrant wood, which has a fragrance and can ward off evil spirits." Speaking of oblivion, Zhang Jinku, who hadn't studied for a few days, still pretended to pull up the text.

Carpenter Liu packed up his tools and said, "As far as I know, there are two kinds of fragrant wood, one is red skin and the other is white skin. The smell of white skin is poisonous, and it is no problem to make a door, but it is not suitable for making a bench. After a long time, there will be pimples on the buttocks and even rot. The locals never use this kind of wood to make furniture, so they will sell it cheaply to the mainland. Your wood is white skin, and I specially looked at it just now." After saying that, Carpenter Liu picked up his tools, took his mute apprentice, and left. Zhang Jinku quickly went to pick up the shavings and sawdust, and found gray-white bark.

Zhang Jinku stared blankly at the two surrounding benches and did not speak for half a day. Afterwards, he did not dare to use the two benches. He knew he had indeed bought the wood cheaply.

After his fifty-fifth birthday, Zhang Jinku felt that his health was getting worse every day. At that time, there was a custom in the countryside that if people were not in good health, they would make a coffin, paint it red, and keep it at home to avoid disasters and evil. Zhang Jinku did not take advantage of Liu Carpenter twice, and this time he had to hire Liu Carpenter, and he had to let him spare two benches.

Carpenter Liu smoothly made two benches for Zhang Jinku this time, and then deliberately asked, "Shopkeeper Zhang, didn't you make two last time?" Zhang Jinku said angrily, "Didn't you say that the smell is poisonous and you can't sit? Throwing it in the yard, the wind has been blowing and the sun has been blowing for a few years, and it has been rotting badly." Carpenter Liu smiled and said, "I'm joking with you, that kind of wood is a little toxic, but just leave it in a ventilated place for a while. You are sincere, why are you serious?"

Zhang Jinku was so angry! In order to let out this vicious anger, when he ate "cooking" at night, he deliberately dug out the tongue of the chicken and scolded Carpenter Liu for bringing a mute apprentice. He also pretended to be enthusiastic and personally gave the chicken head to Carpenter Liu.

This move was ruthless enough, and it really hit the sore spot of Carpenter Liu. Carpenter Liu ate the chicken head, and his face changed at that time, and he didn't say a word until the mute apprentice finished eating. Zhang Jinku watched Carpenter Liu leave in a hurry, the evil in his chest was swept away, and he grinned "haha."

After another two years, Zhang Jinku suddenly fell seriously ill, and his belly was so big that he could not get out of bed.

His family prepared for his funeral and opened the coffin. He was dumbfounded at the time - the coffin was almost empty of termites, so he gently broke it with his hand, and the sawdust fell down in pieces. The whole coffin was scrapped and needed to be redone. After hearing this, Zhang Jinku was so distressed that he did not come up and died.

In fact, Zhang Jinku did not know that if he had not dug out the chicken tongue at that time, Carpenter Liu planned to tell him that he had found traces of termites in the wood used to make the coffin. As long as the coffin was smoked with rosin for two days and then brushed with a few layers of tung oil, the coffin would be fine for another ten years, but Carpenter Liu said nothing. Zhang Jinkutu saved money and only brushed the outer paint, but did not do any treatment on the inside.

At that time, there were rules in the village. When an old man died and there was no coffin, the filial son went to ask a carpenter to make a hot burial coffin. No matter who was invited, no matter how busy the person was, he had to go, and the owner only cared about the meal and did not pay wages. Zhang Jinku's son, the first to hire was Carpenter Liu.

Before Zhang Jinku died, he finally took advantage of Carpenter Liu and let him spare a big piece without complaint – a coffin that didn't need to be paid!