She wasn't afraid of them finding it; if they could keep it from getting dust and pass it down, she wouldn't care.
But she knew those people wouldn't do that; all they would do was burn it as firewood. So she was afraid—afraid that this tradition would be destroyed in her hands!
Bai Hua tugged at her husband's sleeve, signaling her not to get distracted and not to delay the children from getting home. It gets dark early, and they don't know how far the children live.
The old lady snapped out of her reverie, somewhat embarrassed. "Look at me, I was daydreaming. You're right, young lady, it's that bamboo curtain painting. Would you be willing to keep it safe for me?"
"No, um, grandma, are you really that trusting of us? Aren't you afraid we won't recognize their value or might sell them off?" Wang Guangying was encountering this situation for the first time and was somewhat puzzled.
You see, her maternal grandfather wouldn't easily teach his skills to others; even her uncles didn't seem to have mastered them perfectly.
This old lady is really something, she actually handed over her family's traditional craft to someone else. Isn't that a bit contradictory?
Moreover, she wasn't really interested in these things, because her grandfather's family had bamboo curtain paintings, which she thought were pretty but not practical.
If the old lady knew what she was thinking, she would definitely roll her eyes at her. That's a work of art, and in the past only wealthy families could afford to buy it, and even if they could afford it, they weren't guaranteed to be able to buy it.
The reason is simple: production was relatively low. Those traditional Chinese paintings and embroideries weren't something you could just have whenever you wanted. It was only after all the fighting that they declined.
Upon hearing this, the old lady firmly shook her head. "You won't. I won't mistake people. I believe you will do it once you promise."
Liu Shile...
You're too trusting! We're just strangers, you don't even know who we are, and you trust us so easily?
However, perhaps the old lady just wanted them to know that she trusted them and would really help keep it safe once she agreed.
Before Wang Guangying could say anything more, Liu Shile nodded: "Alright, we can keep it for you temporarily, no need for payment. But if we learn it ourselves, you can't blame us."
She is currently learning painting and embroidery. Once she has mastered them, she might be able to try painting or embroidering on bamboo curtains.
However, we'll have to check the manual for specifics. It seems that this kind of craft is usually taught by a master to his apprentices. It would be quite difficult to learn it by yourself by reading the manual.
Upon hearing this, the old lady's dim eyes lit up. In fact, what she wanted most was for this girl to keep it safe for her.
She could tell that although the girl didn't talk much, the other children listened to her when she did.
So she nodded repeatedly, her voice trembling with excitement: "Okay, okay, thank you so much. If there's anything you don't understand during your studies, feel free to ask me."
Well, this old lady is really clever. That way, whenever they want to learn something or don't understand something, they'll have to come to her house.
If we visit their home more often, wouldn't their situation gradually improve?
However, Liu Shile didn't care. Although her family's background wasn't good, the current policies were quite good. Besides, she wouldn't come over in broad daylight.
After the two sides reached an agreement, Liu Shile and the others left with their belongings. Only after they had walked a long way did Wang Guangying ask her why she had agreed to such a request.
Having spent so much time with Liu Shile, they had gotten used to her "not helping those in distress." Under normal circumstances, Lele wouldn't meddle in other people's business.
But this time, she actually accepted that manual, which is really unbelievable. Could it be that she really wants to learn that bamboo curtain painting technique?
Liu Shile answered in a very serious tone, saying that she felt sorry for the family and that she would help them if she could.
Wang Guangying, Wang Guangjie, Liu Shihua...
We believed your lies!
Liu Shihua vaguely guessed his sister's plan, and he was somewhat surprised and worried.
If you count them up, my sister has a lot to do every day. She gets up in the morning to practice boxing and learn to draw. During the day, she goes to the clinic to learn medicine. In the evening, she studies classroom knowledge and does embroidery.
Now she's messing around with this bamboo curtain painting thing. Does she even have that much time? He felt exhausted just watching his sister.
But Liu Shile enjoyed it immensely. After all, she was quick to learn. Since she was idle anyway, learning something new was like giving her a mental refreshment.
If Liu Shiyi knew that she was learning so many things at the same time, she would be so angry that she would vomit blood. Heaven knows, she spent all her time studying, but her grades still couldn't catch up with Liu Shile!
The group chatted and laughed, and unanimously decided to leave the bamboo curtain craft manual with Liu Shile. Liu Shile naturally did not refuse, since it was safest to leave it with her anyway.
Zhang Sumei didn't get angry even though she didn't see them all afternoon. She was even happier when she saw that they had brought back fish. Who doesn't like the saying "May you have abundance every year"?
That night, Liu Shile went to the farm, opened the bamboo curtain craft manual, and it seemed that as long as one was good at painting or embroidery, one could make bamboo curtain paintings.
However, to make bamboo curtain paintings, not only do you need materials, but the preparation of bamboo strips alone requires a lot of effort, including more than a dozen processes such as selecting bamboo, cutting bamboo, shaving bamboo, sawing bamboo, splitting bamboo strips, raising bamboo strips, scraping bamboo strips, and rinsing bamboo strips!
After preparing the bamboo strips, you also need to prepare the silkworm silk. There are many intricacies involved in each step, such as reeling, pulling, lifting, inserting, and combing. If you make a mistake, you have to start all over again.
Finally, there's bamboo curtain weaving, which looks the simplest and can be done on a hand loom, but it's also quite demanding.
After that, tung oil is applied, mainly for preservation, insect prevention, and shaping. Most importantly, it makes it easier to paint, write, and embroider.
Finally, there's hanging the curtains and trimming the edges. Only after this step is done can the curtains be used. Most people would probably have a headache seeing so many steps.
Although Liu Shile's head wasn't hurting, she felt that the bamboo curtain painting was too complicated. If she really wanted to make a bamboo curtain painting, she might as well spend money to buy a pre-made blank bamboo curtain.
Unfortunately, it seems no one is selling it now, so she can't buy it even if she wants to. She shrugs, puts the thing on the bookshelf, and picks up another book to read.
No one knew that Liu Shile was now slowly reading the books that she had taken out of the cave back then.
Although there are still many books she can't understand, or rather, she doesn't recognize the words in them, there are some books that she can gradually understand.
There weren't as many books as she had imagined in this era, and the lack of internet made it very difficult for her to look up anything.
Fortunately, Liu Shile wasn't in a hurry, so she didn't care too much. Reading was just a way for her to relax.
The next day, just after the Liu family had breakfast, they welcomed a rather special guest.
Zhang Shoujun carried two bottles of Erguotou liquor, five jin of meat, and some sugar and eggs to the Liu family's door.
Seeing what he brought, Zhang Sumei kept saying that it was too much trouble, but she couldn't stop smiling.
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