"You're chopping so much firewood so that Ah Cheng can come back and warm himself by the fire until next spring?"

Song Yushuang came out carrying a sewing basket, the needle tips gleaming in the sunlight. "Come help me thread this."

Fu Yuanshan threw down the axe, his rough fingers pinching the thread and trying to poke it through the eye of the needle. He tried three times before finally getting it through: "Prepare more firewood, so his hands won't get cold while he's writing reports at night."

Jiang Jianhua suddenly burst out laughing: "Are you playing Acheng or a new recruit? His dormitory has heating now, so he doesn't need to burn firewood."

She called to the kitchen, "Sister-in-law, pour out that bag of new rice and let it dry in the sun. Acheng loves brown rice."

Yu Xia was tying the corner of the quilt with red thread when she heard this, she poked her head out and said, "I put it out to dry a long time ago, and I even mixed in some red beans to help with blood replenishment."

She suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, Yinyin, Dr. Zhang said the other day that you should eat more red beans, so I saved half a bag for you."

Yun Tangyin was placing winter plum blossoms on the windowsill, snowflakes falling from the petals: "I know, sister-in-law."

She turned around and saw Fu Yuanshan sharpening an axe, the blade so bright it could reflect a person's image. "Second brother, you've sharpened this axe so much you could shave your beard with it."

Fu Yuanshan was silent for a moment: "I'm going to go to the back mountain to cut bamboo to make a cradle for the child."

"Why bother cutting new ones?" Song Yushuang laughed. "The bamboo baskets we wove last year are still in the storeroom. We can modify them and they'll be usable again."

Suddenly, the shouts of a sugar figurine vendor came from outside the courtyard gate. Jiang Jianhua's eyes lit up: "Mom, I want to eat a sugar figurine."

"You can't eat too many sweets right now." Song Yushuang pretended to be stern, but stuffed two cents into Fu Yuanshan's hand. "Go buy a little tiger one for Jianhua to enjoy."

Just as Fu Yuanshan reached the door, he saw Dr. Zhang come in carrying a medicine box, his white coat covered in snow: "I'm here to give your second sister-in-law a routine check-up, and also to bring some folic acid for Yinyin."

Jiang Jianhua quickly sat down on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed). Dr. Zhang touched her belly and said, "The fetus is very strong, but you need to bend over less. Did you go pickle vegetables again a couple of days ago?"

Yu Xia was steaming buns on the stove when she heard this and turned around: "It's all my fault. I was busy making sauce that day and didn't keep an eye on her."

“It’s none of your business, sister-in-law.” Jiang Jianhua smiled, clutching the hem of his clothes. “I just wanted to leave some pickled vegetables for Acheng, in case he’s always eating canned food in the army.”

Dr. Zhang put a stethoscope into the medicine box: "He's really lucky. His family treats him like a treasure. By the way, he was awarded a first-class merit this time, and the military region will give his family a consolation payment. Remember to go and collect it."

Yun Tangyin suddenly stood up: "Can we exchange something?"

"Silly girl," Dr. Zhang said with a smile as he packed his medical kit, "You can use the condolence money as you see fit; buy whatever you want."

Fu Yuanshan returned carrying the sugar figurine, the little tiger's tail frozen stiff: "I just met the postman, who said that Acheng will arrive early tomorrow morning, and told us not to go to the station to pick him up."

“He’s probably trying to suddenly appear and scare us.” Jiang Jianhua took a bite of the sugar figurine, and sugar crumbs fell onto his clothes. “I’ll get up early tomorrow to cook millet porridge and put in his favorite pumpkin.”

Yu Xia poured yeast into the basin: "I'll steam two trays of meat buns so he can eat them when he gets back."

The next day, before dawn, a delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen.

Jiang Jianhua sat by the kang (a heated brick bed) picking vegetables, Fu Yuanshan squatted in the yard weaving bamboo baskets, Song Yushuang wore reading glasses and embroidered shoes, and Yu Xia was steaming buns, the steam making the windows a white blur.

Yun Tangyin stood at the door and looked around. There was a string of fresh footprints on the snow, stretching from the main road all the way to the gate of the courtyard.

Just as she was about to call for help, she saw a figure in a military overcoat standing in the snow, carrying a canvas bag on his shoulder, smiling at her.

"Fu Yucheng!" Yun Tangyin rushed over, causing him to take a half step back.

Fu Yucheng pulled her closer, resting his chin on the top of her head: "I'm back."

Hearing the commotion, everyone inside rushed out. Yu Xia shoved a hot bun into his hand: "Eat it while it's hot, it's still steaming."

Song Yushuang touched his military overcoat: "You've lost weight, come inside and warm up."

Jiang Jianhua held up the freshly cooked millet porridge: "Try it quickly, I put in your favorite pumpkin."

Fu Yuanshan was also holding a bamboo basket in his hand: "I made it for the children."

Fu Yucheng looked at the people in the room, and his eyes suddenly reddened.

He pulled a red cloth bag from his canvas bag, and inside was a gleaming gold medal: "This is for our whole family."

Yun Tangyin suddenly blew a copper whistle, the clear sound echoing in the courtyard.

Fu Yucheng smiled and pulled her into his arms: "I knew it, you were waiting for me."

Steam rose from the kitchen, carrying the aroma of meat and rice, and bathed the morning light in a warm yellow hue.

The snow was still falling, but the laughter filling the courtyard had long since driven away the chill.

"Come inside quickly," Yu Xia said, ushering them inside. "The steamed buns will get cold if you don't eat them soon."

Fu Yucheng led Yun Tangyin inside, his military boots crunching on the snow.

He looked at everything that had hardly changed and suddenly stopped.

"My family is so good." Fu Yucheng's voice was a little hoarse, but it was filled with a smile.

Yun Tangyin looked up at him, and the sunlight shone down on his shoulder, casting long shadows of the two of them.

No matter how far he goes, there is always a home waiting for him, and there are always people looking forward to him. That's enough.

As soon as Fu Yucheng stepped across the threshold, his eyes were drawn to the certificates of merit on the wall, the red silk shimmering in the morning light.

He raised his hand and touched the edge of the paper, his fingertips brushing against the unevenly spread paste: "This paste is spread even more roughly than when I used to paste envelopes."

Fu Yuanshan added a piece of firewood to the stove, sparks flying onto the ground: "If you think it's too rough, you can redo it yourself. Mom and I had to redo it three times before we got it right."

Jiang Jianhua, holding a bowl of millet porridge, smiled and said, "Sit down and drink your porridge. The pumpkins are all soft and sweet, I picked them myself."

As soon as Fu Yucheng sat down, Song Yushuang stuffed a pair of new socks into his pocket. The stitches were so tight that the seams were invisible: "Mom embroidered these overnight."

"Mom, with your skills you could be a master craftsman in a clothing factory." Fu Yucheng smiled, holding the socks, and suddenly pulled out a bottle of face cream from his canvas bag. "I brought you a bottle of face cream, a new Shanghai brand, you should try it."

Song Yushuang held the face cream, her eyes shining as the mirror on the lid reflected her eyes: "Good, good, good."

Yu Xia brought in meat buns. The moment the steamer was lifted, the aroma of meat filled the room with steam: "Eat these buns quickly. They have dried bamboo shoots inside, and they're the savory kind you like."

Fu Yucheng took a big bite, the crispness of the dried bamboo shoots mixed with the aroma of the meat filling spreading on his tongue: "Sister-in-law's cooking skills have improved."

"Of course." Yu Xia put a steamed bun into Yun Tangyin's bowl. "Yinyin, eat more too. Dr. Zhang said the other day that you need to gain some weight."

Fu Yuanshan suddenly placed a bottle of wine on the table, the label wrinkled from the cold: "This is wine I asked someone to buy for you. I have to celebrate your success today."

"I can't drink." Fu Yucheng pressed down on the bottle. "Dr. Zhang said I also need to take anti-inflammatory medication."

"Then let's use tea instead of wine." Yun Tangyin poured hawthorn tea into his cup. "This was brewed by my sister-in-law, with rock sugar added. It's just the right balance of sweet and sour."

Just as Fu Yucheng touched his teacup, a commotion arose outside the courtyard gate. It was comrades from the military region delivering good news.

The gold lettering on the red paper gleamed in the snow: "Comrade Fu Yucheng has been awarded a First-Class Merit. This is to inform his family of the good news!"