015 Cloaked in a Tattered Sack

Opening her eyes after a restful night's sleep, a new day dawned. The blazing sun hung high, its heat unrelenting.

Lin Yan squinted against the brightness. The weather here was truly peculiar—when it rained, it poured suddenly, but not for long; as soon as the sun emerged, the heat intensified even more.

Over the past few months, she had observed that after every rain, the vegetation grew wildly. She didn’t know why.

Gradually, those who twisted hemp ropes arrived, bringing along some curious items. These were oddities brought back by the hunters for Lin Yan to identify and see if they might be useful.

Most were various kinds of grasses, each different in appearance, along with branches from shrubs and trees.

With the help of Pang Bao, Lin Yan identified them one by one.

Among them was a type of branch she found particularly useful—bamboo shoots. The young shoots were soft and smooth, with good flexibility, perfect for weaving baskets.

She had seen how to weave baskets before but never had the chance to try it.

Given their current situation, lacking everything, all tools had to be made from natural materials, so every item was invaluable.

Baskets were excellent—they could carry many things and were immensely practical.

Lin Yan instructed everyone to remember what bamboo shoots looked like and to gather as many as possible when they found them.

After inspecting the items, they began the day’s main activity.

Hua Hua could hardly contain her excitement. “Let’s start! I can’t wait.”

“I’m eager too. I want to see what it’s all about,” Xiǎo Shítóu said, inching closer to Lin Yan to get a better look.

Lin Yan asked directly, “Are all the materials ready?”

“Yes!” everyone replied loudly, pulling out what they had made.

She looked on and saw that each person’s wooden sticks varied—different thicknesses, lengths, and sizes.

She didn’t delve into the differences; in fact, it was better this way. When they started making something, it would be clearer to see the results.

She took out the fine hemp threads they had spun a few days ago—each about three millimeters thick. There was a large bundle, more than enough for their efforts.

Having never tried hand knitting before, Lin Yan had mentally rehearsed many times. She hoped her first attempt would succeed.

Today’s task was simple: weave the fine hemp thread into pieces using the wooden sticks.

She tied a knot on one stick and began wrapping the thread to start, proceeding smoothly.

Delighted, Lin Yan added another stick and continued weaving.

She realized she had pulled the thread too tight, so she quickly loosened it.

After about half an hour of effort, she produced a palm-sized patch.

Though uneven and inconsistent in tension, it was still a success.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Lin Yan explained, “This is coarse cloth woven from hemp thread. As long as you have enough thread, you can make very large pieces. Stitching these cloth pieces together with hemp thread can make bags or clothes. Bags can carry things, and hemp cloth garments are a kind of clothing. Let me carefully explain how to start, how to weave in the middle, how to finish, and how to control the size. It’s simple—once you learn, you’ll get it.”

Under Lin Yan’s guidance, everyone quickly got the hang of it. By noon, each had woven a piece of hemp cloth, some larger, some smaller.

Grass Branch did the best, controlling the tension well. Her wooden sticks were just the right thickness, and her cloth felt softer than the others'.

Thicker sticks produced more open, lace-like cloth, while thinner ones made the fabric stiff.

Seeing the finished products and looking back at the sticks in their hands, everyone understood the differences.

In the afternoon, they continued diligently. Grass Branch’s quick hands produced even larger, better cloth.

Lin Yan strung the cloth pieces together with hemp thread into a straight tube, leaving space around the arms, and wore it herself.

“This is the simplest hemp garment. You can think creatively and make other styles,” she said.

Though draped in a tattered hemp sack with no aesthetic appeal, Lin Yan smiled cheerfully, though she felt like crying inside. The coarse hemp cloth was so rough that calling it fabric felt like an insult.

She selected two similarly sized pieces of cloth and stitched three sides together to make a bag.

Then she filled it with items to show everyone.

Compared to the garments, the group showed more interest in the bags—so practical.

By the end of the day, the first hemp bags were born. The basic knitting techniques were mastered; the rest depended on their creativity.

It was a brand-new skill, and everyone was eager to put it to use.

Then, they realized the hemp thread was all gone.

So, they began searching for jute plants.

Apart from making two bags, the remaining fine thread was used for practice—knitting and unraveling repeatedly—until new thread could be spun.

During the search, Lin Yan stressed the importance of finding bamboo shoots to make baskets.

Compared to weaving hemp cloth, the materials needed for baskets were easy to find—mainly branches, which could be simply prepared.

Once they had the bamboo shoots, Lin Yan started working herself.

She arranged some thicker, longer bamboo shoots in a cross pattern as a frame, pressing them down with her foot, then wove thinner shoots around the frame up and down.

The idea was beautiful, but the result was a disaster.

Being small and weak, Lin Yan couldn’t form a sturdy basket; it fell apart before taking shape.

She then looked over to Mu Shi and said, “Hey, could you make it? Would that be okay?”

Mu Shi eagerly agreed. He loved making things with Lin Yan; it made life much more enjoyable.

With Lin Yan’s theoretical guidance, Mu Shi quickly got the hang of it and soon crafted a tight basket base. Both were thrilled.

“Mu Shi, take that thicker bamboo shoot, put it in the fire for a while, then take it out and tie the ends with hemp thread to shape it.”

The first bamboo shoot was burned too much and became unusable, but luckily they had several prepared.

They continued burning more, with Lin Yan checking every few minutes. When it seemed right, she tied the ends with hemp thread to fix the shape.

After cooling, they smoothed the ends with a stone knife, completing the basket’s handle.

Placing the basket base on hemp thread, they lifted the cross-shaped frame and tied it with fine hemp thread, then continued weaving with thin bamboo shoots.

When the basket reached about twenty centimeters tall, they untied the lifted shoots and began finishing.

A rough basket was complete—oval-shaped, not very large, about thirty centimeters in radius along the long side and twenty centimeters along the short side.

Mu Shi held the basket and spun around excitedly.

He could hardly believe he had made this.

He filled the basket with weeds and felt no weight at all.

Then he started putting in stones, from small to large, testing the basket’s sturdiness. Satisfied, he beamed with a wide grin.

“This thing is so useful. It can carry a lot and is easy to hold.”

Lin Yan and Ye Ya watched from the side, smiling foolishly alongside him.

“This is a basket. It can be made large or small,” Lin Yan said, pointing to the gaps in the weave. “These openings can be woven tighter, so it won’t leak small items.”

Mu Shi nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, I’ll fix it right away.”

The other elders and children nearby each lifted the baskets and immediately began making their own.

The place buzzed with activity as they made ten baskets of various sizes that day.

The children’s were smaller, while the elders made both large and small ones.

As dusk approached, Lin Yan generously announced, “You can all take the baskets you made home.”

The elders and children beamed with joy.