Xi brought back some blocks of ice. He placed them by the window vent, and the room quickly became cool and refreshing.
The ice was heavy and dense, more like stone than anything else. Even in the scorching, dry hot season, it melted very slowly. A single block could last her for several days.
Although the room was much cooler, An Jin didn't let up on weaving the bamboo mat. After soaking bamboo pieces for a few days to soften them, she carefully and meticulously shaved them into thin strips.
She started by weaving a right-angled triangle, about five inches wide at the base. From there, she wove in a herringbone pattern to the right. After about a meter, An Jin settled in to focus on the main body of the mat.
She used a bamboo plank to hold down the starting section and sat cross-legged on the half-finished mat. Weaving the slender strips over and under each other, she then tapped them tightly and evenly into place.
