After finishing their pastries, the four girls continued with their work. A quarter of an hour later, they had finished making the bamboo rings. Once the two outer hoops were set, the four of them continued to reinforce the structure with more bamboo strips.
Si Jiuyue watched them work as the bamboo frame quickly took the shape of a large basket, though it remained open at the top with strips of bamboo protruding from the edges. She then told the girls to go take a break, as she needed to begin crafting the mill's carrying pole.
Si Jiuyue split a small piece of firewood and began carving out the mortise holes. Once the round mortises were shaped, she used a file to smooth them out. A single strip of wood, about a finger's width, required two mortise holes and three tenons. With the carrying pole complete, she moved on to the scraper board. This part was much simpler; it only required planing the board until it was smooth and carving a single tenon.
Chapter 469