Chapter 199: Be careful not to catch a cold

Seeing Yun Tangyin eating so happily, Aunt Zhang smiled and stuffed another bun into her hand: "Eat slowly, there are still two more steamed in the pot, enough for us to eat."

She pointed to the bacon drying under the eaves and said, "I'll cut the bacon later and stir-fry it with shepherd's purse. It will be even more delicious when eaten with buns."

Yun Tangyin nodded while biting a bun. With her mouth full of food, she could only respond vaguely, which made everyone laugh.

Zhou Ming and Zhou Liang held the buns and squatted beside the rabbit cage to eat them. They also broke off a small piece of bun skin and secretly fed it to Snowball.

Snowball came over, chewing quickly with his three-lobed mouth, and his little tail left tiny marks on the snow.

"Mom said you can't feed buns to rabbits, they'll get diarrhea," Zhou Liang suddenly remembered and quickly retracted his hand. But seeing Snowball still staring at him eagerly, he couldn't help but hand over the remaining bun wrappers in his hand. "Just this once, I won't give them to you next time."

Zhou Desheng's wife was tidying up the steamer basket. When she heard this, she smiled and said, "It's okay. It's okay to eat some every now and then. This rabbit is close to us. Eating some bun skins will also help us share in the good luck."

She walked towards the kitchen. "I'll go boil some hot water. After you finish eating the buns, drink some hot water to warm yourself up. You must have been cold when you went to the back mountain just now."

After Fu Yucheng finished chopping the firewood, he piled it neatly in the corner of the wall, then picked up the broom and swept the snow in the yard. The snow flakes sparkled in the sunlight.

"Yinyin, do you want to come inside and rest for a while?" He walked over and touched her forehead. "It's windy outside. Don't let you and the child get cold."

Yun Tangyin shook her head and took his hand to walk under the eaves: "No, I want to bask in the sun here. Look how nice the sun is today, it feels so warm on my body."

The two sat on the stone bench, looking at the scene in the yard. The children's laughter, the sound of rabbits gnawing, and the "dong dong" sound of chopping wood mixed together, full of the smell of fireworks.

Yun Tangyin suddenly remembered something and took out the handkerchief she had embroidered for Jiang Jianhua from her pocket and handed it to Fu Yucheng: "Look, it's finally finished. Does the bamboo leaf pattern look good? Will my second sister-in-law like it?"

Fu Yucheng took the handkerchief, touched the delicate embroidery with his fingertips, and nodded with a smile: "It looks beautiful, even more exquisite than the purse I embroidered for her last time. If my second sister-in-law receives it, she will definitely be happy for several days."

After Aunt Zhang finished knitting the last stitch of the sweater, she bit off the cotton thread with her teeth and shook the sweater open to take a look. The navy blue sweater was woven with a simple pattern, and there were circles of white wool sewn on the collar and cuffs, making it look particularly energetic.

"Does this sweater fit you?" She handed it to Fu Yucheng. "I knitted it according to the size your second brother wore last year. He must have grown stronger working outside. If it's too tight, I can take it apart and make it looser."

Fu Yucheng took the sweater, compared it to his body, and said with a smile: "It's just right. Your size is accurate. It will definitely fit my second brother. If he knew you knitted a sweater for him, he would definitely wear it every day and would not be willing to take it off."

In the afternoon, Zhou Desheng's wife boiled some hot water, poured a cup for everyone, and added some brown sugar to the water. The sweet fragrance mixed with the hot steam made people feel warm just by smelling it.

"Hurry up and drink some brown sugar water to cool you down," she handed the cup to Yun Tangyin, "You're pregnant, so you have to be careful not to catch a cold."

Yun Tangyin took the cup and drank a sip of the sugar water. The warmth slid down her throat into her stomach. She squinted her eyes in comfort. "It's really delicious. It's sweeter than the sugar water I buy in the city."

After eating the buns, Xiaolan took a bamboo basket to cut fresh grass for the rabbit. Zhou Ming and Zhou Liang followed her. The three children ran around in the open space outside the yard, swaying the bamboo baskets in their hands like flying butterflies.

"Little Lan, run slower, don't fall!" Aunt Zhang shouted while sitting under the eaves, her voice full of love. Xiaolan turned around and responded, but her pace did not slow down, and her laughter drifted far away.

Fu Yucheng took out bamboo strips from the house and prepared to weave a new rabbit cage for the rabbit. The bamboo strips turned quickly in his hands, and soon he had woven a rough outline.

"When my second brother and his wife come back in the spring, we'll show them this new rabbit cage," he said to Yun Tangyin. "My second brother will definitely praise my craftsmanship and maybe even join me in weaving it. He always liked to work with me on bamboo."

Yun Tangyin smiled and nodded. "Yes, you two brothers are making a rabbit cage together, my second sister-in-law and I are embroidering beside you, and the children are playing in the yard. It's so lively."

At dinner time, the aroma of fried bacon and shepherd's purse wafted from the kitchen. The oily aroma of bacon mixed with the fresh fragrance of shepherd's purse made people's appetite just by smelling it.

Aunt Zhang brought out the dishes. The bacon and shepherd's purse fried on the plate were shiny and oily, making people drool just by looking at them.

"Try it now," she said, putting some into everyone's bowl. "This bacon was pickled last winter. We added some peppercorns and star anise. It tastes just right. It's not greasy at all when eaten with shepherd's purse."

Zhou Desheng took a sip of wine, took a bite of the bacon and shepherd's purse, and nodded. "It's delicious! It's even more fragrant than the ones made by the chefs in the city restaurants. If I could eat this at home, I would definitely eat three big bowls of rice."

Fu Yucheng also nodded and put a piece of bacon into Yun Tangyin's bowl: "You should eat more too. This bacon is nutritious and good for you and the baby."

Yun Tangyin took a bite of the bacon, and the aroma of the oil spread in her mouth, but she didn't feel greasy. Combined with the fragrance of shepherd's purse, her mouth was full of the warmth of home.

She looked up at the food on the table and the people around her, and suddenly felt at ease.

Although Fu Yuanshan and Jiang Jianhua are not around, this concern and expectation, like the red lanterns in the courtyard, warms everyone's heart.

At night, the snow stopped and the moon came out from behind the clouds, illuminating the snow in the yard as if it were covered with a layer of white frost.

Fu Yucheng and Yun Tangyin sat on the kang, looking at the moon outside the window, holding each other's hands.

"You said that next spring, when Second Brother and Sister-in-law come back, our courtyard will be more lively, right?" Yun Tangyin said softly. Fu Yucheng nodded and hugged her in his arms: "Of course it will. Then we can go to the back mountain to dig shepherd's purse together, make shepherd's purse dumplings together, and bask in the sun under the locust tree together. Life will definitely get better and better."

Yun Tangyin leaned in his arms, listening to his heartbeat, and suddenly felt the little guy in her belly move again, gently like a locust leaf falling on her heart.

She knew that when the locust trees bloomed in spring, Fu Yuanshan and Jiang Jianhua would definitely come back. Then the yard would be more lively, and this warmth would continue, becoming stronger and warmer year by year.

The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, there was a "creaking" sound of footsteps outside the yard. It was Zhou Desheng's wife who came in carrying half a bag of flour, and there was still some snow foam on her blue cloth jacket.

"Yinyin, I brought the flour." She placed the bag, on which the words "People's Commune" were printed, on the stone table. "Let's make some extra shepherd's purse dumplings today and freeze them in the cellar. When Yuanshan and Jianhua come back, we can cook them anytime."

Yun Tangyin had just finished washing up when she heard the noise and came out to greet him. She took the flour bag and smiled, "Thank you for thinking of you and coming so early. Come inside and warm up. I just cooked corn paste, it's still hot."

Zhou Desheng's wife followed him into the house and saw the pot in the kitchen still steaming. She couldn't help but sigh, "You live such a meticulous life. You have hot meals every day. Yuanshan and Jianhua will definitely be envious when they come back."