The next day, when it was still bright, there was still a thin mist between the sky, the earth and the mountains. Liang Chuan did not go to the mountain to chop down a big tree and come back to practice his axe. Instead, he walked further up the mountain to the dense bamboo forest.
The bamboo forest is a little quieter than the forest, but the rustling of the bamboo leaves is quite pleasant, like the symphony of nature.
Liang Chuan came here early in the morning, for no other reason than to cut down two bamboos and let Li Erhua practice her skills and see what bamboo weaving items she could make. Bamboo weaving is not currently operated in Fengshan. Most of the bamboo weaving is transported from Yong'an on the west side of Fujian Road to Qingyuan, Xinghua for sale. Yi Niang had private conversations with Erhua several times, and Li Erhua was from Yongan.
When Liang Chuan went out in the morning, he asked Zhaodi to go to the market to buy the farm tools needed for bamboo weaving. If Fengshan didn't sell them, he would run to Xinghua to buy them. He should be faster on the road and try to be there when he came back from the bamboo forest. He also just arrived home.
I originally bought a hatchet at home, and it is a handy little hatchet, perfect for splitting bamboo. Choosing different parts to make different bamboo vessels requires a chain saw, so that bamboo breakers will not split the bamboo into pieces. To break the bamboo strips, you need a splitting knife, also called a bamboo strip knife. The handle is made of camellia oil wood. It can be used for decades without breaking. It is durable and is also good for your hand. There are also sword gates with smooth bamboo strips, green scrapers, scissors, bamboo strips, etc. These items can be sold in general grocery stores. If you don’t have any, just go to an iron shop to make them. They are all small iron items, and It's simple, and the master blacksmith will understand it as soon as he hears it.
Now in this bamboo forest, no one wants to come up and cut the bamboo. This bamboo forest has been posted with notices by the government, and there are big insects infested, and many people have been injured, including many hunters. Although there are a lot of bonuses from the government, few people have the ability to get this honor. It doesn't matter that Li Chuyi is at home, he is not afraid, but Liang Chuan can't call him, just recruit his younger brother, his courage is about the same as that of a bamboo rat. We also cannot allow a few female comrades to come up and chop bamboo. .
The time in the bamboo forest seems to be much slower than in the outside world. How much time has passed, the scenery of the bamboo forest is still the same, except that the bamboo shoots on the ground have grown taller and the leaves on the ground have become thicker.
This time when they went up the mountain, Liang Chuan asked Li Erhua to do some homework. Li Erhua introduced the knowledge of bamboo to Liang Chuan in detail. Li Erhua told Liang Chuan that the best bamboo to choose for bamboo weaving is six-year-old moso bamboo. The hardness of bamboo in this year is the most suitable.
As far as Liang Chuan knew, the growth rate of bamboo in the past few years was extremely slow. Some people even used the expression three centimeters in four years and fifteen meters in six weeks to describe the growth rate of bamboo in the past few years. Although this is a bit exaggerated, in fact, bamboo certainly does not grow very fast in the past few years, usually only a few meters, and four-year-old bamboo is too young and tender, and the broken bamboo strips will shrink easily, making it unsuitable for bamboo weaving.
If the bamboo is too old, more than eight years old, the bamboo will be too hard and difficult to scrape, and the toughness of the bamboo will be greatly reduced. It is not very easy to make bamboo weaving from such bamboo, and the products produced will not be good. use.
Liang Chuan was holding a hatchet in his hand and singing a ditty in his mouth. The spring breeze blew on his face with a hint of coldness, making people extra sober.
On the outskirts of the bamboo forest, it is easy to find six-year-old moso bamboo, which can be found everywhere.
Judging the age and tenderness of bamboo can generally be judged from the appearance of the bamboo. Tender bamboo is exposed to light for a short time, and its skin is green and dull. As for old bamboo, which has been exposed to light for a long time, the green inside of the bamboo skin will turn yellow or even red, the bamboo body will be bright, and the knot patterns will be fine, and even the knot patterns will not be visible due to weathering.
To ensure that the bamboo weaving is of high quality and can be used for decades without breaking, this is the most basic requirement for every farmer who comes to buy bamboo strips. If this cannot be guaranteed, the bamboo weaving will be just a fake product and flashy. , defrauding farmers of their money.
The selection of materials for this kind of pottery is not only related to the age of the bamboo, but also closely related to the growth environment of the bamboo. The bamboos on the sunny side of the mountain are exposed to the sun for a long time, but they are shorter than those on the sunny side. Such bamboo will have a higher thickness and better toughness than bamboo on the shaded side. There will not be too much moisture in the bamboo and it will not be prone to insects.
After all, today I just planned to cut two bamboos and let Li Erhua practice his skills. He hadn't really started working yet. Liang Chuan walked around the outside of the bamboo forest and picked two moso bamboos that were about six years old. Fly and chop down the moso bamboo. Swish, swish, swish, all the branches on the moso bamboo were chopped down.
Liang Chuan did not cut the bamboo into sections because he did not know how long the bamboo strips would be used by Li Erhua. If the strips were cut too short to be used, he would have to come back and cut the bamboo again. If I go on this trip, I will have to chop wood and practice my axe. The time I take up during the day will be made up at night. The one thing I can't do every day is to cut a tree into stacks of small wooden strips.
Liang Chuan carried two large moso bamboos about ten meters long on his shoulders without feeling any burden. In the blink of an eye, it was carried down the mountain. When passing by Xinzhi, Zhao Fafa saw Liang Chuan going into the mountains to do farm work on his own. He couldn't help but look at Liang Chuan with admiration. This boss was an authentic boss. A man with a big business still didn't forget to work. It's strange that the family business is not prosperous.
Zhaodi also purchased a series of bamboo weaving utensils. These are all small items. Although not popular, they are still relatively common in this era that emphasizes agriculture and crafts.
Yi Niang, Ye Xiaochai, Yang Xiu, and Li Erhua are all there in the yard. They know that Zhang Tian will go to the mountain to chop bamboo today and come back for Li Erhua to make bamboo weaving. They are all women and are curious about Li Erhua's family craftsmanship. If it is done well, how many The two women will learn together and then form a team to make this bamboo weaving and sell it.
Although Yang Xiu's craftsmanship is also very good, pickling is to process the vegetables and put them into the pickling vat. You don't need to guard them at all times, just put them in the pickling vat and wait. In your free time, you can learn bamboo weaving together.
Liang Chuan and Zhaodi placed the bamboos and tools one by one in the courtyard, then bought a chair for Erhua and asked Erhua to sit on it. A group of people opened their eyes wide and concentrated on watching how Erhua made bamboo weaving.
Li Erhua was pushed down on the chair by Yi Niang. She was originally an introverted and gentle woman. For a moment, five or six people's eyes were fixed on her. She said timidly: "You all go ahead and stay with me like this." Looking at me from the side, I can’t remember how to pierce..."
This was embarrassing. Liang Chuan coughed and asked everyone to do what they should. Yi Niang knew that Erhua was introverted, so she comforted Erhua and told everyone to stop looking. Everyone turned their heads to the side, pretending to be busy with their own affairs, but in the end they still glanced at Erhua from the corner of their eyes, wondering if flowers could be made out of this bamboo.
Li Erhua waited for everyone to stop looking at her and started picking bamboo to split strips for bamboo weaving. You don’t need a ruler to measure the length of bamboo strips. You can estimate the length by touching it with your hands. Use a small head to make fine materials and a bamboo strip to make solid braiding tools. You must think clearly before cutting the bamboo strips, otherwise the knife will not be able to split the bamboo strips. Have to rework.
If you want to make bamboo weaving with delicate patterns such as wall hanging screens, flower baskets, flower utensils, flower diffusers, birdcages, etc., you should choose good materials with fine knots. This way, the bamboo weaving device will have no knots and the overall look will be smooth and smooth.
It is said that Eastern handicrafts such as baskets made of bamboo are regarded as top-grade, and our country's excellent bamboo weaving masters have long mastered these crafts. They can even make bamboo slits into the shapes of various animals!
Erhua carefully scraped the protruding bamboo joints on the moso bamboo. Li Erhua usually looked at people in a daze, as if he didn't care about anything. When talking to her, there was no one sentence, not a word, which made people feel... A feeling of absent-mindedness. And after experiencing the Dafushan incident, her world completely collapsed, and every day was like a hard struggle. In other words, the Liangchuan family was a group of sunny and happy people. The atmosphere infected her and gradually affected her. Pulled out of the dark abyss.
Today Li Erhua sat quietly in the yard, carefully playing with the moso bamboo in her hand. The sunlight shone on her body, inexplicably giving people a feeling of tranquility over time. She was immersed in her own world, with a smile on her face, and she was constantly changing the bamboo strip tools in her hands.
The brand new bamboo knife is several sizes smaller than the hatchet. The handle is made of camellia wood and can last for decades. Erhua used a bamboo strip knife to split the entire bamboo in half, and then used the bamboo strip knife to draw out the width he needed. This is called "slitting", and then slowly broke the opened bamboo strips one by one and divided them into the required widths. Number of items.
After Erhua opened the bamboo strips, she held the bamboo strips with one hand and the bamboo strips with the other hand, and slowly scraped the bamboo core of the bamboo strips in the same direction, and then began to break the bamboo strips, layer by layer. The bamboo is split in the middle.
At this time, the bamboo strips pass through the sword gate again, that is, the width of the strips is trimmed again, and the ideal width is basically reached. Finally, use a scraper to scrape the bamboo strips, first the front and then the back, from the outside to the inside, slowly scraping down the fiber density of the bamboo strips.
Li Erhua's hand was very gentle, as gentle as stroking the skin of a baby. The technique was quite skillful. White powder was scraped all over the ground. She did not throw the powder away casually. It is said that these powders have the effect of stopping bleeding and can be used as medicine. When farmers are working, if they accidentally break a wound, they can sprinkle a little white powder on the wound to stop the bleeding.
The shaved bamboo strips are neatly placed aside like thin sticks. Erhua has been doing this business with her family since she was a child, and she can tell whether the bamboo strips are slightly bent or not. Everyone stood quietly in the yard, watching Erhua splitting the bamboo strips. It is said that people should not be too idle and must have some sustenance for their spirit. No matter how easy your life is, if you don’t have any sustenance, you will become bored and sick.
Everyone looked at Li Erhua with a smile on her face. The woman who had experienced hardship seemed to have found her own world at this moment. The past days can never go back. The death of a woman's husband is a very tragic thing in this era. It is not easy to live peacefully, so the three women cherish the current comfort extremely.
