Splitting the bamboo strips is not enough, one must also use a scraper to lightly scrape the rough bamboo strips, then compare it with the ones made earlier to check if the thickness is even. Only then can the bamboo mats be beautifully and durably woven.
In the courtyard, such division of labor among the elderly is not limited to just one group, but rather in pairs or small clusters, each elder busily working on bamboo mats, straw mats, or flax mats, focusing intensely on their craft without noticing someone had walked in through the door.
"Hey, Xiao Xian, what are you doing here?" Upon hearing a voice shout out, Xiao Xian looked up toward the balcony where Mao Dazhu was holding a clothes rack, smacking the cotton that had been sunning all day, apparently planning to take in the bedding.
"Uncle Mao, I came to deliver money," Xiao Xian waved the supermarket shopping bag in her hand.
