Sister Han is good at farming

No matter how fierce Ruan Qingqing was, at home, Ruan Shiping and his younger brothers knew that as long as they completed the tasks assigned by their eldest sister and did not commit suicide, Ruan Qingqing would still be very good to them.

And since then, no one dared to bully their family or say anything sarcastic in front of them.

Everyone gradually became close to each other.

That morning, Ruan Shiping walked solemnly up to Ruan Qingqing, stretched out his hand towards her and raised his eyebrows.

"Here! This is the copper I earned from selling firewood today. Don't worry, I will be responsible for supporting the family in the future!"

Ruan Qingqing took it solemnly with both hands.

Fifty copper coins, this should be the proceeds from selling more than one hundred kilograms of firewood.

Although the number of copper coins is small, it is a good sign and worth encouraging!

After all, she can't be the only one working hard in this family.

She suddenly remembered that when she was a naughty child in China, she bought a lot of piggy banks made of different materials to save money for snacks and toys. Forget clay or plastic piggy banks, but she could try bamboo ones.

So at noon that day, Ruan Qingqing dragged back two thick bamboos.

Hearing the noise, Ruan Shian hurriedly surrounded Ruan Qingqing and asked, "Sister, what are you doing here cutting bamboo?"

"As a prize for your brother." Ruan Qingqing said without raising her head.

The word "prize" was too strange for him, and the little guy squatted aside and watched with great interest.

Ruan Qingqing selected a bamboo section with uniform thickness, smoothness and no scars in the middle part of the bamboo, and used a hatchet to cut off the bamboo sections outside the bamboo nodes at both ends of the bamboo section to make a closed bamboo tube.

Then polish it slowly. One end of the bamboo tube is flush with the bamboo node, which is the lower end; the other end is also flush with the bamboo node, but a small piece of bamboo is left for punching a hole, which is the upper end.

Then make a small hole on the bamboo section two inches away from the upper bamboo node to fit the copper plate. The length of the hole is slightly longer than the length of the copper plate, and the width is about the thickness of two copper plates.

Finally, use a hatchet to scrape off the bluish-white skin on the surface of the bamboo tube.

After the bamboo piggy bank was formed, Ruan Shian didn't know what it was used for at first, until he saw Ruan Qingqing stuffing copper coins into it. After being stunned for a moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Big sister, I also want a bamboo tube that can hold copper coins."

Ruan Qingqing smiled and said, "This is called a bamboo piggy bank. It is used to save copper coins. Once you put money in, you can't take it out unless you split the bamboo piggy bank."

"I want this bamboo piggy bank too! I want to put my New Year's money in it. From now on, I will keep my New Year's money myself!"

Ruan Shian couldn't wait to say.

Ruan Lanlan, who heard the last part of the voice, also came over and said, "Second brother, what do you want to keep for yourself?"

Ruan Shian raised his chin and said, "When I have a bamboo piggy bank like the one my elder sister made, I will keep my New Year's money by myself in the future."

"Tsk! When did you ever get any New Year's money?" Ruan Lanlan sneered.

"I had it before the family split up!" Ruan Shian said in a firm voice.

Ruan Lanlan was silent.

"Second brother, what do you have?" Ruan Shiping came back with a bundle of firewood on his back, placed it outside the kitchen, and asked while sorting it out.

Ruan Qingqing handed the bamboo piggy bank to Ruan Shiping and said, "This is my gift to you. When you earn money in the future, put it in this piggy bank. If you work hard and save, you may be able to build a brick house."

Ruan Shiping took the bamboo piggy bank and looked through it lovingly, but he said something disdainful, "Such an ugly thing is worthy of being a gift."

"Brother, please don't give it to me. I need it so much!" Ruan Shian hurried over to ask for it.

Ruan Shiping pushed Ruan Shian away and raised his neck, "Go away, this is a gift from my elder sister. Didn't you hear just now? My elder sister said that I can save enough money to build a brick house! You little brat, can you do it?"

"Tsk! Who was it that never called me 'big sister' before, but has been calling me that more often recently?" Ruan Lanlan, who was standing next to them, couldn't help but mock Ruan Shiping's smug look and couldn't help but mock him.

"Big sister is awesome. She made sure we had enough to eat. I respect you as my big brother. I am willing to call you big brother. What's wrong? Do you have any objections?"

Ruan Shiping rolled his eyes and swaggered into the house with his bamboo piggy bank in his arms.

"Well, as a reward for your excellent performance recently, you all have gifts."

Ruan Qingqing treats everyone equally.

Holding the remaining bamboo, she continued to work.

Take the bamboo near the root, split it, and cut a wide bamboo piece. Narrow the bamboo section between the top two bamboo nodes to a little more than an inch as the sword handle, the top bamboo node as the sword head, and the bamboo node below the sword handle as the guard, which is slightly longer than the sword head.

Ruan Qingqing cut the bamboo section below the handguard to the same width as the hilt, and then sharpened the bottom part to serve as the tip of the sword. To avoid accidental injury, Ruan Qingqing did not cut it into a very sharp tip, but rather a slightly arced one.

After forming, it still needs fine grinding.

The entire bamboo sword is about three feet long and exudes the fragrance of bamboo.

When Ruan Shian saw it, his eyes lit up and he wiped his clothes with his hands. "Sister, is this a gift for me?"

Ruan Qingqing nodded and handed it to him, "This is a bamboo sword, try it out and see if you like it?"

"I like it, I like it very much!" Ruan Shi'an stroked the bamboo sword back and forth with his small hands, just like he was stroking a priceless treasure.

"Second brother, with this sword you will become a little man. Don't cry easily in the future. You can cry when you are sad, but don't cry more than three times a month, how about it?" Ruan Qingqing asked him with a smile.

"Okay! I will never cry easily again, and I will use this sword to protect you!" Ruan Shian nodded solemnly, and did not forget to dance a few times at the end.

Looking at the little kid happily waving the bamboo sword back and forth in the yard, Ruan Qingqing couldn't help but smile. Children's happiness is really simple.

Looking at the remaining bamboos, Ruan Qingqing was stunned for a while. What should she do for Ruan Lanlan?

Bamboo hairpin?

I have only seen local people making it in farmhouses, but I have never tried it myself.

It's still early, why not give it a try?

She took a new bamboo and cut off the thin parts of the bamboo head and the short parts of the bamboo joints. She used a hatchet to remove the scars on each bamboo joint, then split the bamboo in half, divided it into equal parts, and continued to split it, remove the springs, scrape the green parts, and separate the silk.

The bamboo strips are ready, and then eighteen short bamboo strips are taken, nine horizontal and nine vertical, interwoven together, and pressed into a diamond shape. Nine bamboo strips in the same position are stacked up layer by layer to become one, and then tied with a rope.

Do the same for the other nine bamboo strips in the other three directions, tying the bamboo strips together in pairs. Collect and tighten them, untie the previously fixed ropes, and cut off the extra bamboo strips.

The hairpin buckle is woven.

Then use the wide and thick bamboo strips left over from making the bamboo sword to carve a round hairpin handle that is thick at one end and thin at the other end, and insert it into the woven hairpin buckle.

A bamboo hairpin is now ready.

Ruan Qingqing made the first one with great difficulty, and there were even uneven holes in the weaving of the hairpin buckle. When she made the second one, many of the previous defects were obviously improved, and she was more skilled in it.

With the available materials, Ruan Qingqing made three in one go.

"Sister, what are you doing?"

Ruan Lanlan came back carrying a bamboo basket of wild vegetables. She pushed open the gate and saw Ruan Qingqing sharpening bamboo sticks. She asked her curiously.

Ruan Qingqing sharpened the handle of the hairpin in her hand and inserted it into the hairpin buckle, then handed the intact bamboo hairpin to her.

"Try it, I'll give you this hairpin."