Chapter 120: You have to admit it

Fu Yucheng was looking at Fu Yuanshan's back surrounded by fellow villagers when Yun Tangyin gently touched his arm: "Second brother, this scene is even more lively than your celebration party."

"He deserves it." Fu Yucheng took out a small notebook from his arms. "I asked Captain Zhang to find out yesterday that there's a cultural center in the county town that's looking for craftsmen. I sent my second brother's bamboo weaving pattern there."

Yun Tangyin's eyes lit up: "Doesn't that mean I can eat government food?"

"It depends on what he wants." Fu Yucheng glanced into the yard. "If he wants to open his own shop, I'll rent a counter at the supply and marketing cooperative."

As he was speaking, Fu Yuanshan pushed through the crowd and came in, holding a handful of loose banknotes in his hand: "I just sold three bamboo cups and exchanged them for two kilograms of brown sugar."

He stuffed the candy into Jiang Jianhua's hand and said, "Take it."

Jiang Jianhua smiled, pinching the candy wrapper. "Are you starting to make money now? The door panels of the west wing need to be replaced with new ones. I checked yesterday, and the bottom is rotten."

"I'll go chop wood right now." Fu Yuanshan went to the corner to grab an axe, but was held down by Fu Yucheng.

"I'll go." Fu Yucheng snatched the axe. "Your hand is still injured. Besides, weaving bamboo baskets may be your main job in the future."

Fu Yuanshan was stunned for a moment, then suddenly stuffed a bamboo whistle into his pocket: "It's made for the child. He can chew on it when his teeth grow."

There was a red string wrapped around the whistle, which was the leftover scraps from Jiang Jianhua's embroidery of tiger-head shoes.

When Song Yushuang came back with the vegetable basket, a man in a Zhongshan suit followed behind her: "Yuanshan, this is Liu, the director of the Cultural Center. He came to see your bamboo weaving."

Secretary Liu touched the plum blossom pattern on the bamboo frame and nodded repeatedly. "Master Fu's craftsmanship is worthy of being listed as a county-level intangible cultural heritage! Our museum would like to hold an exhibition for you and also start classes to recruit apprentices. We'll pay you 35 yuan a month. How about it?"

The bamboo strips in Fu Yuanshan's hand fell to the ground with a "pa" sound: "I...I?"

"Why, do you still feel unworthy?" Jiang Jianhua supported his waist and stood up. "He was a key figure in the art troupe back then, and he even taught soldiers to play the flute!"

Secretary Liu's eyes lit up even more. "You can play an instrument? That's perfect. Our library is short of a music teacher. You can do both."

Fu Yucheng stuffed a cup of hawthorn tea into Secretary Liu's hand and said, "My second brother is shy, please give him some time to think about it. How about we decide on the bamboo exhibits first? I think this magpie on the plum basket is perfect."

Secretary Liu held the purple bamboo basket and examined it carefully. "This is it! It will be launched at the beginning of next month. I'll send a car to pick it up."

Before leaving, he took out another piece of paper and said, "Here's the list of teaching materials. If you're willing to teach, take some time to get them and take a look."

Fu Yuanshan held the textbook in his hand and rubbed the words "Folk Arts and Crafts" repeatedly with his fingertips.

Fu Yucheng patted his shoulder and smiled: "Second brother, you asked me to go to the army to see the world back then. Now it's time for me to let you go somewhere else."

"But the bamboo shop..." Fu Yuanshan was still hesitating.

"The shop is open as usual." Song Yushuang poured a spoonful of porridge into his bowl. "I go to work at the cultural center during the day and weave bamboo products at home at night. I don't miss out on both."

She put a piece of pickled vegetable into Jiang Jianhua's bowl and said, "It's a good idea to let my second sister-in-law take care of the accounts in the shop. She has done it before and is better than you."

Jiang Jianhua blushed: "How can I manage accounts?"

She was afraid that Yun Tangyin was deliberately teasing her based on what happened before.

Besides, the money hasn't been paid off yet, how could she dare to think about this...

Yun Tangyin also understood and just smiled: "Isn't it okay to just take it slowly?"

Yuxia came out with freshly steamed sugar buns, and the steam wrapped in a sweet fragrance filled the courtyard. "Yuanshan, Director Wang just sent someone over again, saying they want to order ten more bamboo baskets and make you a plaque with the words 'Fu Family Bamboo Shop' on it."

"How does he know this name?" Fu Yuanshan looked up and asked.

"I told him." Fu Yucheng smiled while biting the candy bag. "I also said that this is our village's signboard, and we will sell it to the military region in the future."

The tips of Fu Yuanshan's ears turned red again, but he worked even harder on weaving the bamboo strips in his hands. In a blink of an eye, he had added a circle of ribbed edges to the pen holder.

In the evening, Fu Yucheng was helping Fu Yuanshan paste the window paper on the west wing when he saw Jiang Jianhua come out holding the account book: "I've calculated that I can earn 35 yuan just from bamboo baskets this month, enough to hire a carpenter to make new furniture."

"Let's make a crib first." Fu Yuanshan placed a bamboo cradle model on the windowsill. "I'll have the carpenter make it according to this size. I'll also install a small drawer next to it, perfect for storing diapers."

Yun Tangyin suddenly pointed at the eaves of the west wing and said, "We should weave a bamboo lantern there. When we light it up at night, we'll know whether Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law are asleep or not."

"I'll weave it tomorrow." Fu Yuanshan stuffed a handful of bamboo strips into the bamboo basket. "I'll also weave a bamboo wind chime and hang it under the lantern. It will sound nice when the wind blows."

At night, Fu Yucheng tossed and turned on the kang. Yun Tangyin poked him on the back and said, "Can't sleep? Are you reluctant to see your second brother move away?"

"A little bit." Fu Yucheng turned around, "but more of a happy feeling. He can finally do what he likes."

The sound of a bamboo sword could be heard outside the window. Fu Yuanshan was still weaving something in the yard.

Yun Tangyin glanced out the window and suddenly laughed: "Listen, he's humming 'The East is Red' again. It sounds even better than when he was in the art troupe."

Fu Yucheng listened attentively, and his eyes gradually became hot.

The moonlight flowed through the window lattice and fell on the two people's clasped hands, like a thin layer of silver.

The next morning, Fu Yuanshan hung the woven lantern under the eaves of the west wing. The bamboo frame was pasted with snow-white window paper, and a few wintersweet petals were stuck to the corners.

Jiang Jianhua placed an oil lamp in the lantern, and the warm yellow light shone through the paper, making the four words "Fujia Zhufang" particularly bright.

"It's really beautiful." Yun Tangyin planted a morning glory by the fence. "When spring comes, the vines will climb all over the fence, and the lanterns will look like they're hanging among the flowers."

Fu Yuanshan stuffed a small bamboo hoe into her hand: "It's for you to use for planting flowers. It's lighter than iron."

The handle of the hoe was wrapped with a non-slip bamboo rope, which he had woven overnight.

Yun Tangyin took it and looked at Fu Yuanshan, but he just looked away: "Nothing special... Take it and use it."

Fu Yucheng stood in the yard and watched all this, and suddenly felt that dividing the family was not a separation, but like this bamboo fence, which seemed to be separated by a wall, but the roots were connected together.

He stuffed a bottle of wine into Fu Yuanshan's hand and said, "On the day we move to the new house, let's call big brother and have a drink together."

"Have a couple of drinks." Fu Yuanshan smiled, clutching the wine bottle. His bamboo sword drew a silver arc in the morning light, and he began to weave a new bamboo basket. The four words "Fujia Bamboo Shop" were written on the bottom of the basket in a strong and powerful manner.

Fu Yuanshan now just feels that if life just goes on like this, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with it.

It’s not that he hadn’t had his own little thoughts before, but those little thoughts were not worth mentioning.

If Fu Yuanshan continues to act without knowing what is good for him, he will probably make the rest of his life a living hell.

and……

No matter what, Jiang Jianhua was pregnant with his child, and Fu Yuanshan himself knew that some things had to be acknowledged.

The same goes for life.