A Love Letter Written to You - Chapter 31
Chapter 31
Unsurprisingly, Ji Yu hit the “Bamboo Weaving” section!
They finished early and watched the other two teams take their turns.
Once all three teams had chosen, Director Pan said, “The remaining one will be assigned to the fourth team.”
Ren Meng asked, “Are they arriving today?”
“Yes, the two guests will arrive in the village this afternoon,” Director Pan replied. “You’ll see them at dinner tonight!”
Ji Yu leaned toward Leng Ying and whispered, “I wonder who they’ll be.”
Leng Ying thought for a moment and whispered back, “I don’t know either.”
Ji Yu laughed. “Well then, we’re the same.”
The production team handed them a map, showing the way to their assigned handicraft location. The locations were spread out in different directions, and the three groups headed off accordingly.
According to the map, the bamboo weaving workshop was due north, right along the village’s main road. On the way, Ji Yu picked a few long wild grasses and, while walking, her fingers danced nimbly in front of Leng Ying. Suddenly, a lifelike woven grass butterfly appeared.
Leng Ying stared at it for a couple of seconds and then smiled, “You still remember how to do this from when you were a kid?”
“Of course!” Ji Yu lifted her eyebrows proudly, looking a little cute. “Didn’t I tell you? I learned some of this when I was young back home. I’ve been wanting to show you.”
But she just hadn’t found the right moment — until now.
Leng Ying took the grass butterfly and examined it for a while. “It’s beautiful.”
The wind passed by them, rustling through the gaps in the grass.
They had arrived at their destination.
It was someone’s home — a home full of warmth and the scent of daily life.
Leng Ying and Ji Yu knocked on the door and entered. Inside sat a grandfather and grandmother, busy weaving bamboo baskets.
The grandmother looked up first and beamed. “You two must be the girls the program sent to learn handicrafts, right?”
“Yes.” There were two empty chairs beside the elderly couple. Leng Ying and Ji Yu sat down, and Leng Ying introduced them both.
The grandfather nodded approvingly. “Leng girl, Ji girl, good. These are the materials we’ve prepared for you.”
Leng Ying looked over — they were pre-split bamboo strips. She didn’t question the arrangement, just gladly accepted and picked up one to examine. It had been smoothed and had no splinters.
“Please, teach us,” she said.
The grandmother handed Ji Yu a bamboo strip. “We can teach anything, but time is short. The old man and I discussed it. You two pick a design you want to make, and we’ll show you how to weave it. Anything more complex takes longer than a day.”
Leng Ying glanced around the house. “You have so many bamboo crafts here.”
“We sell them for a living,” the grandfather chuckled and pulled out his phone. “Look, we even have our own online store!”
Ji Yu nodded and memorized the account name. She repeated it aloud, “Our phones were taken by the production team for filming, but once we get them back, Yingying and I will follow your store first thing.”
“Hahaha, that’s great,” the grandfather said, clearly delighted. “You can eat lunch here too. I heard from the crew they wanted you to find your own ingredients — too much trouble. Just eat here.”
Leng Ying and Ji Yu exchanged a look. “Sorry to trouble you.”
“It’s no trouble,” said the grandmother. “We rarely have guests.”
She brought over a thick album and handed it to them. “These are the styles my husband and I have made. Take a look and pick what you’d like to learn.”
The first page showed an old black-and-white photo of a young couple — their features still vaguely matched the elderly pair before them. Leng Ying said, “That’s you two in the photo.”
“Yes,” the grandmother squinted fondly at it. “Ah, that was so many years ago.”
She gave her current piece a shake. “Even if I’ve aged, my skills haven’t dulled.”
Ji Yu praised, “Exactly! That’s why the show sent us here — they knew how skilled you both are.” She paused flipping through the album and asked Leng Ying, “I want to try this one.”
Leng Ying looked — it was a bamboo heart-knot.
“Looks good.” Leng Ying had already picked her design. “I want to try a bamboo butterfly.”
“Those are simple,” the grandmother said with a wave. “We can teach you both by noon.”
Leng Ying smiled. “Just one won’t be enough. Since we’re here, we want to make a few more.”
Ji Yu nodded in agreement.
The grandmother smiled kindly. “Sure! If you’ve got the patience, stay for dinner too.”
“Only if you don’t mind our clumsiness.”
Though they said that, clumsy was far from accurate. The grandfather guided Leng Ying, while the grandmother taught Ji Yu. Soon, the first bamboo butterfly and the first heart-knot were complete…
Well, “soon” enough.
Chat comments during the livestream:
“Can we buy them?”
“Please link their online shop! Let’s keep Leng Ying and Ji Yu here to make 10,000 more! (just kidding)”
“10,000 won’t be enough!!”
As soon as they arrived, the production crew had turned on the livestream cameras to broadcast the entire bamboo weaving lesson — all pre-arranged with the grandparents.
“Scoring a free meal here — not bad at all, haha~”
“I bet they’ll have bamboo rice for lunch. Use local ingredients!”
As they worked, Ji Yu and Leng Ying chatted with the elderly couple. They learned that the grandfather’s surname was He, and the grandmother’s surname was also He. He had moved from another village and made a living through his bamboo weaving skills. They had a daughter and a grandchild working in the city who visited during the holidays.
It was a simple love — a love that had lasted. Their world was filled with bamboo, and the steady change of seasons — spring breeze, summer rain, autumn moon, winter snow. In those decades, their feelings remained strong.
So unlike Leng Ying’s parents.
She hadn’t thought of them in a long time.
Leng Ying silently looked at the white-haired couple. Maybe… maybe love could be something gentle and beautiful too.
Not everything was bad. Not everything was good either.
The butterfly’s wings took shape in her hands. She looked down and smiled softly.
Ji Yu watched — openly, shamelessly.
After making several more heart-knots, Ji Yu grew restless. She borrowed a pair of scissors from the grandfather, undid her ponytail, and the sunlight shimmered off her golden-brown hair, dazzling Leng Ying’s eyes.
Ji Yu picked a small section of hair, gauged the length, and snip — the scissors cut cleanly.
Now she held a lock of her own hair.
Leng Ying seemed to understand something. When Ji Yu moved to return the scissors, she stopped her.
“I want to use them too.”
Ji Yu turned to look at her, slightly surprised, but obediently handed them over.
Leng Ying did the same — cutting off a lock of her own hair.
“…You…” Ji Yu hesitated, words slow in her throat.
Leng Ying asked, “What are you using your hair for?”
She was always so perceptive.
Ji Yu confessed honestly, “I wanted to weave it into the heart-knot.”
Leng Ying smiled. “If it’s a heart-knot, how can it have only one person’s hair?” She placed her lock in Ji Yu’s hand.
Ji Yu felt a jolt in her chest and looked closely at her — but Leng Ying’s expression was completely calm.
…She knew she was overthinking it.
Leng Ying probably just thought this was what close friends should do.
“Sure, sure, just ‘friends’ huh?”
“The kind of friends who sleep in the same bed~~~”
“Who says our ship ‘Ying Ying Has Surplus’ is delusional now? cue angry emoji”
So Ji Yu hid her emotions, acting as if everything was normal, and wove Leng Ying’s hair into the next bamboo heart-knot.
At the end, she turned to the livestream camera and said coolly, “This one won’t be for sale.”
Earlier, they had agreed with the grandparents to leave the day’s crafts with them for consignment.
“So cold! What happened to ‘the customer is king’? 😭”
“Knew it.”
“Treasure it! Hang it above your wedding bed!”
“Support! A heart-knot with both their hair… who wouldn’t stan ‘Ying Ying Has Surplus’?”
“Vote again, people — let’s get a joint livestream of them tomorrow!”
Leng Ying echoed her, “This one’s for us to keep.”
Ji Yu didn’t reply, but she worked on it with extra care.
For lunch, they had bamboo rice filled with chunks of homemade preserved ham — soft, sweet, and savory.
In the afternoon, as the grandparents took their usual nap, the girls got an hour’s break. Unable to sleep, they headed to the nearby bamboo forest to dig for bamboo shoots.
With baskets and shovels borrowed from the house, they had good luck — digging up nearly half a basket, enough for several meals.
Ji Yu turned to the camera — and the production team behind it — and declared, “These bamboo shoots were earned with our own hands. The production team is not allowed to confiscate them.”
The livestream was still running. Though they couldn’t see the live chat, Leng Ying spoke to the audience:
“Let the Gods of the Comment Section bear witness.”
“Witness, witness — now show us one of those heart-knots in action?”
“…you beast.”
“You’re gonna get the whole stream banned—”
The girls couldn’t see the comments. One carried the basket, the other the shovel, strolling casually back toward the grandparents’ house. By the time they arrived, the elderly couple had woken.
They made a few more crafts and left a portion of their bamboo shoots for the grandparents. The old couple insisted they couldn’t finish it all and only accepted a small portion. The rest they told the girls to take home.
That ended the day’s craft lesson. But the production team, being as merciless as ever, didn’t give them a break. On the way back, they received a new task card.
Leng Ying took a glance and said to Ji Yu, “They want us to go get ready for dinner.”
This time the dinner wasn’t at the village center square anymore.
But it wasn’t far either.
They had switched to a courtyard where they could cook over a fire.
Leng Ying and Ji Yu were among the last to arrive — and the atmosphere in the yard was not pleasant.