Zhang An arrived at the Purple Bamboo Forest and waited until he found his father and his party.
I saw my father and Uncle Jianzhong tying up the chopped bamboos one after another.
Although this place is called the Purple Bamboo Forest, the most abundant bamboos are not Purple Bamboo.
On the contrary, most of the bamboos seen here are Phyllostachys pubescens and Cymbopogon japonicus.
Although there are purple bamboos, there are not as many as the first two.
These bamboos should have been brought back from outside by the elders in the past and transplanted here.
After all, the craft of bamboo weaving cannot be satisfied by just one kind of bamboo.
Weaving different things requires using different bamboos, and each type of bamboo has different characteristics.
"Dad, second grandfather, uncle, is it enough to just cut this few?"
Zhang An looked at the bamboos tied up with ropes on the ground and thought they had finished their work.
"It's almost done. Just chop a few more roots and that's enough. When did you come back?"
"Not long after I came back, my mother told me that you were cutting bamboo here, so I came over to help and pass the handle."
Hearing that he hadn't cut enough yet, Zhang An took the hatchet and found bamboo in the bamboo forest and started chopping it.
When the village comes to cut bamboo, they always pick one from the east and one from the west, trying to cut as big a piece as possible.
If you just focus on one area, you will cut it down sooner or later.
Zhang An had just finished cutting a thick and straight bamboo and was pulling it over to where his father and the others had bundled the bamboo.
I heard a wah wah wah sound coming from not far away, but it was very quiet.
Then Zhang An saw Xiaohu shaking his head and running towards him with a big guy in his mouth.
"Oh, Xiaohu actually caught a bamboo slip. This thing is not easy to catch."
Seeing what the little tiger picked up, Mr. Zhang knew what it was after just one glance.
Although Zhang An doesn't eat much of this thing, it's not unfamiliar to him either. The locals call it bamboo slipper.
Because this guy's head looks like a mouse, and because it doesn't like eating bamboo, many people call it a bamboo rat.
Although the name contains the word "rat", this thing is bigger than many cats.
The one the little tiger is holding in front of him looks to be about a foot long and probably weighs two or three kilograms.
In the early years, when there was little meat in our lives, everyone thought about it.
After all, the little guy has a round head, a round head, and a round belly. You can tell at a glance that he has a lot of meat.
Maybe the rabbits caught outside don't have as much meat as it does.
But this thing deserves to have the word "rat" in its name, and it's really very timid.
As soon as it spots someone or another predator, it will immediately run away on all fours.
Despite its fat appearance, it can't escape very fast.
So it's not that easy to catch this bamboo slipper.
Therefore, Mr. Zhang was surprised just now when he saw the little tiger holding such a big bamboo stick.
Generally, if you catch it without using the trap, you will have to dig out the hole to catch it after it runs back into the hole.
If the little tiger can catch it, it is already very powerful.
The bamboo rat in front of me was being held in the tiger's mouth and tossed around from time to time because it kept yelling "Wow!"
Maybe he was a little dizzy after being thrown away. This guy forgot that he was caught by a dog, and now he looked very angry.
He bared his two thick big fangs towards Zhang An and the others, and kept making a "whoosh" sound in his mouth.
This is how it threatens Zhang An and the others with its most ferocious appearance.
But in Zhang An's eyes, he thought the little guy's fierce-looking breasts were quite cute.
Because of how cute the breasts looked, Zhang An couldn't bear to eat them.
Moreover, Zhang An was quite happy today, so he planned to let this little guy go.
"This is a good thing. It would be a pity to let it go. If Xiao An doesn't give it to me, you guys can come over and fight in the evening."
But Zhang Jianzhong next to him was different. He looked at the bamboo rat with great greed.
He is a cook, and in his eyes, this thing is just an ingredient on the chopping board, and he has no other ideas.
Seeing that Zhang An was about to let go, he quickly spoke to Zhang An.
"Whatever you have here, uncle can take it as he likes. There's no need to fight."
Zhang An said with a smile, then grabbed the bamboo rat from Xiaohu's mouth and handed it to Zhang Jianzhong next to him.
"Hey, you guys are coming over tonight. I believe in your uncle's craftsmanship. This stuff is really delicious."
After tying up all the cut bamboo, everyone was ready to go back down the mountain.
Taken together, this bundle of bamboo does not weigh much.
It's just that the bamboo grows quite long, so it's not convenient to carry it around.
So it will be easier if two people carry it together.
"Master, when will you start making cool beds? I'll come over to study."
When he got to the yard, he laid the long bundle of bamboo poles horizontally on the ground and asked Zhang An towards his second uncle.
Zhang An originally had no idea, but after seeing his second master making a cooling bed, he also thought about getting one.
At this time, a summer bed is placed under the tree in the yard. It is much more comfortable to lie down during the day than the wooden rattan recliner.
"I'll start working on it in the evening. I'll lay out the bed frame first, and we'll weave the drukpa tomorrow."
"Okay, I'll come up here and learn from the second grandpa."
When I got home, the silkworm racks I washed in the afternoon had been dried in the sun.
Wang Fang checked it over to make sure nothing was left on it before preparing to move it into the house.
As the sun sets in the evening, the temperature drops and becomes very cool.
Before cooking, Wang Fang spread the silkworm seeds on the silkworm plaque to prepare them for hatching.
After doing this, Wang Fang went to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
Because silkworms are also afraid of oil stains, so do it after cooking.
Maybe your hands are not washed enough, which will affect them.
After dinner, Zhang An sat with his parents, and Wang Fang and Zhang Jianguo began to ask Zhang An about what happened last night.
After all, Zhang An only mentioned a few words on the phone yesterday.
There are still many things here that I couldn’t explain clearly on the phone for a while.
So Zhang An didn't say anything on the phone and would discuss it in detail with his parents when he got back.
It wasn't until they heard Zhang An explain what happened last night that they began to think about it.
Although others don't impose any conditions on themselves, they can't just deal with it.
But that's how people's attitudes are, and the rest depends on what they do.
But now there is a problem that needs to be solved before Zhang An's family.
If you want to come to your home to propose marriage, you have to find a matchmaker to go to your home to lobby.
Moreover, finding a matchmaker has another function, which is to help both parties ask their birthdays and horoscopes.
Although Zhang An and Su Ying's situation does not require a matchmaker, they can find out by themselves just by asking.
But in Wang Fang's eyes, rules are rules, and no process can be omitted.
Otherwise, in other people's eyes, it means that I don't care about my future daughter-in-law.
But if you look for a matchmaker, you can't find a suitable candidate for a while.
After all, the person who played the biggest role in the matter between Su Ying and Zhang An was probably Su Ying's mother, Wu Qiuping.
You can't hire someone to be a matchmaker and mother-in-law at the same time.
"Dad, Mom, why don't you let Chen Ze be the matchmaker?"
After thinking about it, Zhang An thought of Chen Ze.
After all, it was Chen Ze who introduced Su Ying to him in the first place.
Having said that, Zhang An decided to let Chen Ze play this important role.
"Xiao Chen, it seems okay. Without him, Xiaoying wouldn't come to our house."
After hearing Zhang An call Chen Ze's name, Wang Fang thought about it for a moment and decided it was feasible.
Anyway, this matchmaker is just for show, and there is no need to have a eloquent mouth like other matchmakers.
After making the decision, Zhang An called Chen Ze on the phone.
"Hey, Lao Chen"
"Zhang An, I think you are too unreasonable. It is too much for you to hide such a big thing from Xiaoying from your brother."
Before Zhang An could finish speaking, Chen Ze started firing like a machine gun.
It's not that Chen Ze has any thoughts about Su Ying. Because of the relationship between his sister-in-law and Chen Ning, he has always regarded Su Ying as his sister.
But he felt a little angry that Zhang An kept hiding this matter from them.
If Chen Ning hadn't bumped into the two of them today, he might not even have known about it.
From the moment I answered the phone, I kept scolding Zhang An for not doing things right.
"Okay, okay, if you don't drink some water first, I'm afraid your throat will be on fire later."
Listening to this guy complaining on the phone, Zhang An felt that this guy actually had the physique of an aunt.
When he first met Chen Ze, he thought this guy was an aloof rich man.
Now that I've gotten to know him better, I've discovered that this guy is a bit of a joke.
"I didn't mean to hide it from you, but you never asked."
Zhang An can't be blamed for this. Ever since he and Su Ying were together, Chen Ze rarely came over.
Zhang An and Su Ying have never met Chen Ze or the others together.
Zhang An himself would definitely not publicize this kind of thing, so he delayed it until now.
We are not in the Internet age right now. If something happens, you have to tell a friend.
Hearing Zhang An explain himself like this, Chen Ze was a little angry.
But he had already said everything he wanted to say, and he did not continue at this moment.
"Hey, you guy, tell me how you and Xiaoying started."
At this moment, Chen Ze started to gossip.
He just couldn't figure it out. There was no sign of anything between these two people.
Before the Chinese New Year last year, when he took Su Ying to Zhang An's house, the two of them seemed to have nothing.
How come it has become like this now?
"How can you, a man, be such a bitch? We already see each other, what else can we do?"
However, when Chen Ze kept mumbling, Zhang An basically said a few words to him.
"By the way, Lao Chen, I'm here to ask you for a favor this time."
"Whatever it is, tell me, if it can be done, I will solve it for you."
Chen Ze, who just now disliked Zhang An, stopped making jokes when he heard Zhang An asked him for help.
Normally it doesn't matter when everyone is joking, but this was the first time that Zhang An asked him about something.
So I stopped joking with Zhang An and became serious.
"Then let me thank you first. That's it. I plan to ask you to be the matchmaker between me and Su Ying."
Seeing Chen Ze coming to his door, Zhang An was not polite at all.
"What? Matchmaker? Are you two planning to get married now?"
This time, Chen Zeqian was immediately confused, thinking that he had heard wrongly.
He had just learned that Zhang An and Su Ying were friends, and he recovered from the shock.
But now Zhang An told him that he was going to marry Su Ying and he had to ask him to be a matchmaker.
"I'm not one of those old ladies, and I don't know how to do this job. Zhang An, I'm afraid you've got the wrong person."
Chen Ze was a little speechless. He was a grown man, but Zhang An actually asked him to be a matchmaker.
"Oh, I just need you to play this role, I don't need you to do anything else."
Zhang An explained the current situation of the two of them to Chen Ze. In the end, he couldn't stand Zhang An's insistence, so Chen Ze could only nod in agreement.
On the one hand, she is my best friend, and on the other hand, she is my sister.
Zhang An has said this, and if he disagrees with it, it will be unreasonable.
"Okay, I don't understand anything anyway. You have to tell me what you need to do. Otherwise, it's your fault if something goes wrong."
In Chen Ze's mind, he didn't know how to do it anyway, so he would do whatever Zhang An asked him to do.
"That's hard work. I'll give you a big red envelope later."
"Tch, I still need you to give me a red envelope?"
"This is not something you don't want just because you don't want it. This is a red envelope for the matchmaker. It's okay if you don't want it."
After solving the matchmaker problem, Zhang An called Su Ying.
When Su Ying's parents heard that Zhang An had hired Chen Ze as a matchmaker, they didn't react for a moment, but they both burst into laughter in the end.
After all, this was the first time they heard about finding a man to be a matchmaker.
Then they made an appointment and asked Chen Ze to come to ask for Su Ying's birthday and horoscope.
All that's left is to find someone to calculate the dates, combine the horoscopes, and finally go to Su Ying's home to send out the horoscopes for an engagement.
After this matter was settled, Zhang An went out and headed towards Mr. Zhang's home.
In the afternoon, Zhang An agreed to go see his second grandfather making bamboo beds. If he didn't go, he would be afraid that the old man would keep waiting for him.
When Zhang An came to the door, the master had already sawed the bamboo into several pieces.
Some of the bamboo poles were partially cut open, and a small fire was burning in the yard.
Seeing Zhang An coming, Mr. Zhang called Zhang An to his side and took the planed bamboo poles and put them on the fire to roast.
While setting the fire to roast the bamboo, Mr. Zhang told Zhang An the reason for doing so.
This technique of roasting bamboo with fire has a nice name, "Yu".
And people who specialize in this line of work are called Yujiang.
However, Zhang An and the others do not have specialized craftsmen here. Most of them are bamboo craftsmen who do some such work incidentally.
Bamboo is a very magical thing. After being roasted with fire, it can be re-bent and shaped into the shape people want.
However, the best time to grill bamboo is when it is just cut, and it is best not to leave it for too long.
Because at this time, there is still a lot of moisture in the bamboo, so it will be easier to shape.
If you wait too long, the result of bending the bamboo will not be ideal.
Not only large bamboos, but also some small bamboo poles do not need to be planed. They can be directly bent and shaped by roasting them over fire.
In addition, you can also do this with some smaller wooden sticks, such as the dung pan used by most people in the village. After roasting the wooden sticks, they are bent and fixed to serve as the edge of the basket.
Mr. Zhang has been doing bamboo craft work for decades and has become very skilled in his craft.
Even this time, in order for Zhang An to see clearly, he did it more slowly.
But in the end, it didn’t take much time to finish the frame of the bamboo bed.
Finally, Mr. Zhang tied several bamboo poles bent at 90 degrees with ropes to tighten them.
This is to allow the bamboo to be better shaped. When the rope is released tomorrow, the bent areas will no longer rebound, making the bamboo bed more stable.