大隐隐于市的修表老店，每一块表背后都有自己的故事 | The Watch Repairers

刘宪平是北京一家表店的店主。这家店已开了37年，几年前搬迁过一次。店面不大，隐身于一个老旧小区中，却贴了满墙的锦旗。老客户刚得知新址时纷纷过来看望，在门口排起长队。

Liu Xianping is the owner of a watch repair shop in Beijing. Being open for 37 years, the small shop only relocated to an old community a few years ago. Hanging on the walls are all kinds of silk banners awarded by people. Being informed of the new address, the regulars all queued to visit.

这家人从刘宪平的父亲开始，祖孙三代，都和表打交道。

The family has been in the watch repairing business for three generations.

刘宪平小时候身体不好，“医生当时和我母亲说，偏向点这孩子吧，估计活不过二十岁”。因为生病，她不能干站着的活，只能整天坐着，并因此变得郁郁寡欢。

Liu used to be sick all the time. "The doctor told my mom to be nice to me, that I might not see my 20th birthday," says Liu. Because of her illness, Liu could only sit for most of the day, which made her feel very depressed.

于是，她19岁那年，父亲说：“那你跟我学修表吧。”

"I'll teach you to repair watches," said her father when she was 19.

到2008年为止，刘宪平的父亲一共修了68年表。后来卧病在床，他做梦还在修表。他教给刘宪平的第一课，不是技术，而是“一颗红心”：“你做了这一行，这辈子就不会发财、不会富了，你得认。”

By 2008, Liu's father had been repairing watches for 68 years. Being bedridden in his late days, he still dreamed about doing his job. The first lesson he taught Liu was not about the techniques, but about "having an honest heart": "The watch-repairing cause will not bring you fortune or fame. You have to make peace with it."

年轻时的刘宪平更喜欢雕刻和绣花，并没有特别喜欢修表这个活计。可她还是把手头工夫练到了家

As a young girl, Liu preferred sculpting and embroidering to repairing watches. However, she managed to get the hang of it.

“有一次，我把一块表的防震针焊上了，拿去给父亲看。他把眼镜一摘，对我说，你现在能吃这碗饭了。”

"Once I welded the shock-absorber and showed it to my father," says Liu. "He took off his glasses and said, 'Now you can live on it.'"

刘宪平说，修表最难的地方，是要找到坏的地方。上油也是，用油笔去点，得让油窝满了不能溢出来。轮子还没有跑弦的时候，侧着看不能看到轮子在转。修完之后，递给顾客之前，六个方向都听一遍，声音要一模一样。

According to Liu, the most challenging step is to find out the malfunctions. The oiling is pretty hard, too. You have to use the oiler meticulously as not to put too much lubricant in there. Seen from the side, the gears must be perfectly still before you wind them up. After repairing, make sure that you hear the identical ticking sound from all the directions before you hand it over to the customer.

手机普及之前，排队修表的人能在屋里绕三圈，外面还老长的队。“修块表可能得两三个月才能取。”

Before mobile phones became popular, the shop was crowded with customers waiting for a long time to get the service. "You could get your watch good as new in up to three months."

现在到处都能看到时间，年轻人也更喜欢看手机 。“但表总得有人修，有些东西终究是个念想。”表店搬迁的时候，刘宪平的父亲帮忙挑了现在的店面，说不要搬得太远，因为老顾客跟了他们十几年，别找不到他们。

Nowadays, anything tells the time, especially smart phones for young people. "Nevertheless, somebody has to do the job, as the old memories stay." Liu's father picked the new location near the old shop so that their loyal customers always know where to go.

在几十年的修表生涯中，刘宪平曾遇到过特别难修的表。

Decades into her career, Liu did meet some real challenges.

“有一次，一个女的拿着块手表到我店里来让我修。我一看，这表盘变形了，针也翘着，就跟她说，这表修不了，您再去买一块吧。”

"Once a woman came with a wristwatch. Noticing that the dial and the hands were completely twisted, I told her that it was beyond repair, and that she should get a new one."

没想到，这名女子当即悲从中来。原来，她和丈夫都是出租车司机。一天，丈夫开晚班的时候遭遇车祸，只留下这块表。女子恳求刘宪平一定要把表修好，给她留个念想。

On hearing that, the woman cried bitterly. It turned out that the watch belonged to her late husband, who was a taxi driver as she is. He wore it the night of the car accident. The woman begged Liu to repair it as his legacy. 

刘宪平只得答应。

Liu did not have the heart to say no. 

为了这块表，刘宪平努力了许久。因为表的主人连配件都不想换，她只得尽最大的努力把表复原。“我从老父亲那里还学到一点：买不到配件我们自己做，千方百计让表走起来，把这个情义延续下去。”

It took Liu quite a lot of effort. As the woman insisted in keeping all the old parts, Liu had to find a way to restore it. "Father also taught me that, if we have to, we make the missing parts by ourselves. We ought to try anything to make them work again, in order to pass on the memories within."

“后来这表还真能走了，但只有在特定的倾斜角度上才能走。所以我又给它做了个框。”

"I brought the watch back to life finally, but only in a specific angle. So I made a frame for it."

经过这件事，刘宪平不再拒绝帮人修表，哪怕修好要花很长时间。

From then on, Liu would never reject any customer, not even if their watches could take long to repair.

另一位女客人曾经带着一块锈蚀严重的表来找她。“哎呀，锈表太难修了，我弄了两个月才给弄好。”刘宪平说。但就在一个月前，这个女客人还打电话给她，“也没啥事，就说想我了，还告诉我，那块表现在还走得好着呢！” 

There was another woman who asked her to repair a totally rusted watch. "Well, it was really tough. Took me two months to get it done." Liu received a phone call from the customer only a month ago. "She called to say hello, and that she missed me. She told me that the watch still works perfectly."

如今，刘宪平的儿子也跟着她学修表。“现在我体会到当年父亲教我的心情了。看他有一点进步，我就特别高兴。”

Liu's son began to learn the techniques from her. "Now I know how my father felt at the time. I am so delighted seeing every bit of his progress."

三十多年过去了，小店还是遵循着刘宪平父亲最初的宗旨：能修就修，修不了再换配件。而且，不少保养项目还是免费的。墙上的锦旗和每块表背后的故事，才是这家小店最大的财富。

In over 30 years, the shop sticks to the concept of Liu's father: "Repair the most, change the least." Some of their maintenance services remain free. For these repairers, nothing is more valuable than the silk banners and the stories behind every watch they have restored.

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