Eighteen years ago, by the well in Zhouzhuang Dyeing and Weaving Courtyard, Liu Xinling, a 16-year-old apprentice in dyeing and weaving, met Zhang Tao, the young owner of a silk and satin shop. One has low self-esteem and is cowardly because of poverty, and the other withholds love because of pride. She stayed up all night to take off a square linen scarf for him but didn't dare to sign it. He searched for her all over the country for eighteen years but just passed her by. The desizing of linen must be done just right - if it is not soaked enough, it will be stiff and hard, if it is soaked too long, it will be soft and damaged; if the acid-base balance is imbalanced, the softening will be uneven, and if the strength is different, the texture will be uneven. Just like those unspeakable thoughts when I was young, it is too hasty at the earliest moment and too late at the moment. At the 2026 Intangible Cultural Heritage Exhibition, Liu Xinling, who is already a top pulp-removing craftsman, repaired a batch of aged linen cloth. The moment the bamboo knife fell, she discovered that the same name was hidden in the dark patterns of the warp and weft of this batch of cloth. The pulp layer of eighteen years was peeled off in the warm water, and the grass cloth returned to its warm and moist nature, and the two people separated by a piece of cloth finally saw the light in each other's eyes that had never faded.
