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The old weaving frame didn’t have a stand because people acted as the “stand.”
The animal skin Wen Ze had selected was meant to be sewn into cushions, providing support for the lower back.
As for the other important parts, such as the shuttle, heddle, and thread cutter, he made the first two using wooden sticks. For the thread cutter, he chose a thin wooden board, about the width of half a palm, and sharpened one edge using a bone knife.
Because he didn’t have the right tools, this step took him a lot of time.
After finishing the preparations, he took out the hemp thread that the original owner had spun before, and according to his memory and his own understanding, he wrapped the threads onto the shuttle, set up the heddles and lease sticks, and secured the backstrap weaving frame with his body. He then began weaving slowly.
It worked!
Although he had some minor problems during the process, they were easy to adjust.
After stumbling through a small section, the cloth became smoother and more even.
Yin He initially squatted beside him, but as time went on, he ended up sitting on the ground. His eyes changed from curiosity and confusion to surprise and shock.
“Brother, is this cloth? It is, right? My Beast God, how did you do that? The thread went through twice, and by just lifting and lowering the wooden stick, it turned into fabric? I’ve been watching, but why does it seem like I missed something?”
Wen Ze then removed the hemp thread from the weaving frame and said with a smile, “Let me explain it to you, and you’ll understand.”
Yin He nodded excitedly.
Wen Ze looked around but couldn’t find any trace of Zhuo Mu. Then he glanced at the sky—it was already late! No wonder his back and waist were aching.
Yin He waited for a while and asked again, “Brother?”
“It’s too late today. I’ll explain tomorrow. Let’s go to sleep first.”
Yin He reluctantly agreed. “Alright, but don’t forget!”
“I won’t forget. Besides, I still need your help.”
***
The next day, it was still raining.
Thinking about the thread he needed to work on, Wen Ze got up early and made breakfast for the three of them with the ingredients Zhuo Mu had provided.
Unexpectedly, just after their breakfast, half-beastmen started showing up one after another.
Bai Ling was the first to arrive. He handed the bundle of hemp thread tied to the wooden board to Wen Ze and asked, “Take a look. Is this alright?”
Wen Ze took it and was slightly surprised.
Because he chose flame hemp, the hemp thread he spun had a silvery-white shine and looked stunning in the daylight.
Moreover, this bundle of hemp thread has a uniform thickness and is exceptionally smooth.
Wen Ze exclaimed, “This is much better than what I spun myself! Did you work late into the night yesterday?”
Bai Ling chuckled. “Not really. My father and I worked on it together. If it’s usable, then I’m relieved.”
Wen Ze sincerely said, “Thank you so much.”
Bai Ling waved it off. “No need to thank me. It’s because of the excellent flame hemp you provided. I never knew hemp threads could be so fine and durable, and its color so beautiful. Even my father can’t get enough of it.”
He was considerate enough not to ask how Wen Ze had processed the flame hemp and changed the subject. “Oh, that reminds me, I followed the cooking method you taught me yesterday, and the food turned out so much better!”
Wen Ze smiled. “Really? That’s great to hear.”
“There’s something interesting as well. Now the whole tribe knows that stir-fried meat with delicate whiskers is delicious. Beastmen, half-beastmen, even the young ones are all over the mountains digging for delicate whiskers. Hahaha.”
Wen Ze’s eyes curved with amusement. “Do you have enough? I have a lot here, all collected by everyone on the day of the cave reinforcement. You can take some if you need them.”
Bai Ling waved his hands, “No, no, my family has already collected a lot. And this stuff grows fast, so we won’t be short of it in a few days.”
Wen Ze nodded. “Alright. But if you need more, just let me know.”
Bai Ling grinned. “Got it. Then I’ll head back to make breakfast now.”
After him, the other half-beastmen who had taken the hemp skins from Wen Ze yesterday came one after another and handed the spun thread to him.
Everyone expressed their amazement and admiration for the hemp threads. Some of the more beauty-loving half-beastmen even asked to trade for some, but Wen Ze politely declined.
“I need these threads. When I have more later, I’ll trade with you,” he said.
The half-beastman replied, “Okay, it’s settled then!”
Like Bai Ling, they were all considerate not to ask how he dealt with the hemp skin.
After they left, Wen Ze looked at the bundles of thread and felt deeply moved.
He called out to Yin He and Zhuo Mu, “Come here. Let me show you how to use the weaving frame.”
Yin He had been waiting for this. “Yes, finally!”
However, Zhuo Mu didn’t move. He looked at Wen Ze, shook his head, and refused seriously.
“This valuable weaving method should be enough to support you and your brother. There’s no need to teach me.”
Wen Ze: “…”
He probably understood it as a “unique secret technique.” Although, in this ancient Beast Era, I might have actually been the only one who knew how to weave cloth with a weaving frame.
The cloth that was woven could definitely be exchanged for a lot of supplies.
But Wen Ze had his own considerations. The efficiency of the weaving frame was still too low. With just him and Yin He, they couldn’t make enough.
In addition, there are better options than using a weaving frame. It’s only a matter of time before it gets replaced.
Since Zhuo Mu had taken him and Yin He in, providing food and shelter without asking for anything in return, Wen Ze truly appreciated his kindness.
He didn’t insist on teaching Zhuo Mu to weave, but instead, he looked at his red eyes and asked, “Would you like some cloth? With just the two of us, we can’t produce enough. I can provide the hemp thread, and you can weave it yourself. As long as you don’t share the method for now.”
Zhuo Mu pressed his lips together and stayed silent. Beneath his silver-white lashes, his red eyes were deep and intense.
Wen Ze sighed and tried again. “You saved both me and Yin He. I really don’t have much to offer you, and I feel bad about it.”
Unlike Yin He, who had a beast form, Wen Ze took after his deceased father and had wolf ears and a tail.
When he looked at Zhuo Mu, his eyes got a little rounder, with his dark pupils widening and the corners of his eyes dropping.
Seeing those soft and harmless “dog eyes,” Zhuo Mu paused for a moment before finally speaking in a low voice, “Thank you. I’ll give you supplies in exchange.”
Wen Ze’s face lit up with a smile, “Let’s talk about it later. Come on, come on, time waits for no one.”
It turned out Zhuo Mu was very smart. Even though he was more skilled at hunting than weaving, Wen Ze explained it once, and Zhuo Mu immediately understood how the weaving frame worked. Looking at the simple wooden sticks on the ground, his eyes lit up slightly.
He learned weaving very quickly, and the cloth he made had few flaws, perfectly suitable for everyday use.
Wen Ze muttered to himself: He does everything else so well, why is his cooking so bad?
In comparison to Zhuo Mu, Yin He falls far behind. He works carelessly and often makes mistakes here and there.
But he didn’t back down. He just got embarrassed, took the thread apart, and did it again.
Wen Ze could tell he wasn’t good at this, so he suggested, “Why don’t you go out and have some fun?” But Yin He shook his head and refused to leave.
“Brother, let me try again. I’m just not familiar with it yet.”
His maturity made Wen Ze feel pained. He said softly, “Okay, if you sense anything wrong, come to me and I’ll check it.”
Fortunately, there were some simple tasks at home, such as collecting firewood, fetching water, and washing dishes, so Wen Ze arranged for Yin He to do them.
At times like this, Yin He would let out a sigh of relief and run off happily.
With the rain falling outside, only Zhuo Mu and Wen Ze remained in the straw shelter.
They each worked on their weaving and hardly spoke.
Over the next few days, during their free time from morning to night, both of them spent it working with the weaving frame.
Counting the one Yin He made, they ended up weaving two big pieces and one small one, a total of three pieces of hemp fabric.
The hemp fabric was a pale silver-white, smooth and soft to the touch, with a slight coolness like a summer rainy day. It even smelled fresh, like grass and wood.
Wen Ze had been weaving these days until his back and waist ached. Countless times he thought about the conveniences of modern life and even considered giving up.
But now, holding the fabric, the sense of achievement was so overwhelming that it almost brought tears to his eyes.
Blinking his eyes, he asked for Yin He and Zhuo Mu’s opinions. “I’ll sew the hemp clothes. But I’m not very good at it, so they might not look great.”
Yin He already admired his brother from the bottom of his heart and would listen to whatever he said. “Go ahead and sew them, brother. I’ll like them no matter how they turn out!”
Zhuo Mu curled the corners of his lips into a slight smile. “I don’t even know what hemp clothes look like.” He had only worn animal skins before.
Wen Ze looked at him, momentarily lost in thought.
If he wasn’t mistaken, this was the first time he had seen Zhuo Mu smile since he came here.
It’s so beautiful, like the clear sky after the rain.
Wen Ze silently admired his handsome face for a moment, then pulled himself back to reality. He said to the two of them, “Alright, I’ll get started now.”
He broke off some thin branches, took some simple measurements, and then began to make the clothes.
Although he had never made clothes before, having worn them for so many years and with the explosion of information online, he had seen quite a few good styles.
He didn’t consider anything too complicated; that would only make things harder for himself.
After thinking for a moment, he chose to make a long-sleeved half robe with a pressed collar.
This style is easy to cut, fits well, and allows for easy movement.
Actually, the beast world also had similar animal-skin robes, but they were just too hot to wear in the summer.
Once he made up his mind, he spent a while measuring the fabric before slowly starting to cut with his tools.
These three pieces of cloth were hard to come by, and his heart would break if they were ruined.
Fortunately, he double-checked each step and sewed carefully, and finally, he successfully made three pieces of clothing, two large and one small.
He even folded and sewed the collar part, making it look much more refined.
Because he sewed on the inside of the clothes, his clumsy stitches weren’t visible. He couldn’t help but praise himself a little.
From harvesting the flame hemp, spinning thread, weaving fabric, to sewing… every step required a lot of manual labor.
It’s truly remarkable!
The remaining scraps were not enough to make pants, so he decided to make a few pairs of underwear later.
This way, he won’t be completely exposed anymore!
He put on the clothes, tied the straps, and cinched the waist to create a slim, defined shape.
He took the remaining two pieces of clothing in his hands and went to find Yin He and Zhuo Mu.
Since there was no mirror, he wasn’t sure how he looked, but seeing Yin He and Zhuo Mu staring at him, he felt reassured and couldn’t help but smile.
“How does it look?” He raised his arms slightly on either side to help them see better. “Is it okay?”
Yin He rubbed his eyes and stared in shock—
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