Crossing the Unknown Country

Su He's father gave all the leftover buns from lunch to the old lady and told her, "They have all eaten in town. The rest are for you, Dad, and Big Brother and Sister-in-law. You can have a try. We can buy more next time we go to town if we have money."

The old lady happily took it and prepared to steam it in a steamer. This was a good thing. The old lady had eaten it once a long time ago. This was very expensive. They always brought their own dry food and water when they went to the town.

After talking for a while, Su He and his brother went home with their parents. They had to go home to pack up. They were very tired after walking so far today. When they went out, they happened to meet Su He's uncle, aunt and grandfather who came back from the fields. They said hello to them and went home. Let's talk again when we have time tomorrow! Su Pei will make it clear to the adults. Su Pei sent them out and urged them to go home quickly! It was a tiring day. I didn't feel anything on the road. After taking a break, I felt tired. I didn't say much. I went home to wash, eat and sleep.

The family pushed their tired bodies back home, and her mother cheered up and started to cook. Su He and her brothers washed their hands and faces, and the two of them went to help feed the chickens and light the fire. Her father also washed his hands and face, took out the books he brought from the bookstore, and flipped through them. In fact, he had been holding back on the way. Her father loved reading, but the family was not well off and could not afford to buy books. Most of the dozens of books that her great-grandfather brought back were sold for money to supplement the family income. Now that there were books, she couldn't help but want to read them.

Su He took out the brush and studied it carefully. In fact, she could do it, but in order to find a reason, she needed to look at it more.

Su He looked at it for a long time and asked her father: "Dad, can we try to make this pen ourselves? I think it's not difficult. As long as we have a pen holder and some hair, we should be able to try it. Let's see whose hair is similar to it. If that doesn't work, we can try animal hair."

Her father raised his head, looked at Su He and asked her: "Do you think it's possible?"

Su He nodded affirmatively: "Dad, look at the hair on these pen tips, don't they look very similar to our hair? And the pen holder is made of bamboo. If there is no other material, I think wood will do. Then find a way to tie the hair and stuff it in here. Then cut the pen tip with scissors like this, it should be OK!"

Her father thought maybe he could give it a try, so he put the book away and went to look for thin bamboo. There was a bamboo forest near the village, and he needed to find such thin bamboo poles. He did it as soon as he said it, and made the pen holder before dawn. Su He's father went out with a machete, and Su He started to cut her hair with scissors, because her hair was a little thin and soft and couldn't be used.

She had no choice but to check her brothers' hair. The second brother's hair was also a little soft, but the eldest brother's hair was okay, so she cut a little hair from him. Her mother saw that she wanted hair, so she picked up the scissors and cut a strand for her. This was enough. If it was soft, Su He was going to try chicken feathers, wool, and cow hair. She had used goat hair before, but where could she find wool now? No one in this poor place could afford it.

When she was studying, she knew that many kinds of hair could be used, including human hair, but other animals could be used instead of human hair. It always felt strange to use human hair, especially since it was passed down from ancient times. People in ancient times said that hair was given by parents and could not be cut or given to others at will. Not to mention using it to make pens, which was disrespectful.

She used her parents' hair because she wanted to use it herself, and her family was poor so she didn't care. It wouldn't do if outsiders knew about it, so she just did it behind closed doors at home!

In this dynasty, there was no such thing as a barber. Both men and women had long hair. They kept their hair long from birth to death. If they needed to have their hair cut, they would usually do it secretly and burn it in the fire.

Su He also learned this through observation and conversation with her brothers. The customs and habits here are very different from those in modern times. Su He is only a one-year-old child, so she has no memory of anything. She has never been out of the village since she was a child, and the farthest she has been is the back mountain. So Su He needs to learn everything here slowly. What dynasty is this? Where are they in the country? What was it like here? Has there been a major disaster? Is the county magistrate here good? Is the taxation here heavy? Su He wants to know all these questions.