Chapter 219: He knows how to feed people, he is really capable

Jiang Jianhua smiled and squatted down. He picked out a round yellow stone from the bamboo basket and handed it to Nian'an. "Nian'an, does this look like your favorite pumpkin pie? Count again. How many do you get including this one?"

Nian An placed the yellow stone at the end, pointed at the stones with his little finger, and counted with a red face: "Four, five... five!"

Song Yushuang clapped her hands and laughed, "Our Nian'an is so smart! In a few days, I'll ask your father to teach you how to use an abacus. You will definitely be a smart guy who can do accounting in the future."

As he was speaking, Fu Yuanshan came back from the vegetable garden carrying a hoe, with some mud on his trouser legs.

"What are you three laughing at?" He put down his hoe and came over, seeing the pile of stones on the ground. "Hey, Nian'an is learning to count? He's much better than your second uncle when he was a kid. Back then, I would forget after counting to three."

When Nian An heard this, he chuckled and stuffed the largest red stone into Fu Yuanshan's hand: "Second uncle, red, big."

Fu Yuanshan put the stone in his pocket and scratched his nose: "I'll make you a small cloth bag for the stones this afternoon, so you don't have to carry the stones in your pocket all the time."

The afternoon sun shone obliquely into the yard. Jiang Jianhua put the dried diapers into a bamboo basket, while Song Yushuang moved out a bamboo chair and placed it under the shade of the locust tree, telling Nian'an the old story of "the tiger scaring away the mountain cat."

Nian'an lay on her grandmother's lap, her little hands clutching the tassels on her purse, listening without blinking.

When talking about the tiger opening its mouth, Song Yushuang deliberately lowered her voice and let out an "Ao". Nian An was so scared that he shrank into her arms, but then he giggled and reached out to touch the tiger head on his purse.

"This child even knows that the tiger is protecting him." Song Yushuang stroked the silk thread on the purse. "When you grow up, grandma will embroider a big tiger pillow for you, so you won't be afraid of the dark when you sleep at night."

Nian An nodded, seemingly understanding, and suddenly pointed at the gate and shouted, "Sister Lan, Sister Lan!"

Xiaolan ran in carrying a cloth bag, with a wild rose pinned to her braid: "Nian'an, look what I brought you?"

She opened the cloth bag, and inside were a few small grasshoppers woven from wheat straw, their green wings still flapping.

Nian An immediately slid down from Song Yu's knees, grabbed the little grasshopper, and ran to Fu Yuanshan's house: "Second uncle, look, it's jumping!"

Fu Yuanshan was chopping wood. He put down his axe and took the straw grasshopper. "Is this something your mother made? It's much more beautiful than the ones I made when I was a kid."

Xiaolan squatted beside the pile of stones and taught Nian'an to use the stones to make a little rabbit: "Look, these two will be the eyes, and these three will be the ears..."

Jiang Jianhua came over with dried persimmon cakes and shared them with the children: "Eat slowly, they are freshly dried and very sweet."

Xiaolan took a bite of the persimmon cake and pointed at Nian'an's new coat. "Nian'an, the flowers on your coat are so pretty. Was it embroidered by Second Aunt?"

"Yes," Jiang Jianhua smiled as he helped Nian'an straighten his clothes. "In a few days, I'll embroider a small purse and a little rabbit for you, okay?"

Xiaolan nodded happily, and took out a wild strawberry from her pocket and stuffed it into Nian'an's mouth. The two of them squinted their eyes because of the sourness, which made the adults under the locust tree laugh.

In the evening, Fu Yucheng came back with his car loaded with newly bought flour and brown sugar, as well as a bamboo cage containing two fluffy little chicks.

"Nian'an, look, what did Daddy buy you?" As soon as Fu Yucheng put the cage on the ground, Nian'an came over and touched the tender yellow feathers of the chicks through the bamboo sticks with his little hands. The chicks chirped and pecked at his fingertips, making him giggle.

Song Yushuang opened the flour bag and sniffed it. "This newly ground wheat flour is so fragrant. Tomorrow I'll make you some steamed buns with jujube paste and some chicken-shaped sugar buns for Nian'an to play with."

Fu Yucheng wiped the sweat off his face and said with a smile, "I also bought some red silk cloth. Mom, please make two small bellybands to prevent you from catching a cold at night."

Jiang Jianhua continued, "I'll embroider a few wildflowers on it, it's sure to look good."

At dinnertime, the sweet aroma of pumpkin porridge wafted through the kitchen. Nian An sat on a small stool, spooning the porridge himself. Although he spilled a lot, he refused to be fed.

Fu Yuanshan teased him deliberately: "Nian'an, can you scoop a spoonful for Second Uncle?"

Nian An scooped a full spoonful and handed it over. When it was almost at the edge of the bowl, his hand shook and most of it spilled onto the table. He was so anxious that his eyes turned red.

"It's okay, it's okay," Song Yushuang hurriedly wiped his hands, "Our Nian An can feed people now, he's really capable."

Fu Yucheng smiled and handed the pumpkin pieces from his bowl to Nian An: "Here, reward our capable little adult."

Nian An immediately laughed and stuffed the pumpkin pieces into his mouth, his cheeks puffed up like a little squirrel.

At night, Nian An fell asleep holding a straw grasshopper, with some persimmon cake residue on the corner of his mouth.

Song Yushuang sat under the oil lamp, sewing a red silk bellyband for the little chicken, while Jiang Jianhua was sewing shoe soles next to her, helping to thread the shoe from time to time.

Yun Tangyin leaned against the headboard, sewing, and looking at the moonlight outside the window, she said, "Aunt Zhang said today that the elementary school is recruiting. When Nian'an is older, she will let him go to school."

"Of course," Song Yu said, his hands still sewing, "we should learn to read and write, so that we can become well-educated and well-mannered people in the future."

She placed the small bellyband she had sewn on the table. The red silk cloth was embroidered with tender yellow winter jasmine flowers. "Look at this little bellyband."

Jiang Jianhua smiled and nodded, the needlepoint making neat stitches on the soles. "When Nian'an learns to walk, I'll make him a pair of tiger-head shoes. Pair them with the tiger purse you embroidered. Once he stands at the school gate, he'll be the most energetic child ever."

The halo of the oil lamp floated on the faces of the three people, and the rustling of the locust tree leaves outside the window seemed to echo the warmth that filled the room. As dawn approached, the chicks in the chicken coop began to chirp. Nian'an smacked his lips in his dream, his little hand still clutching the straw grasshopper.

Song Yushuang stood up and added some firewood to the stove. Looking at the millet porridge bubbling in the pot, he thought to himself: I have to cut the dried hawthorn into slices today so that I can boil it with brown sugar into hawthorn paste tomorrow.

I also need to ask Fu Yuanshan to make a small desk for Nian'an so he can use it when he learns to write...

The morning light shone into the house through the window lattice, falling on Nian An's quiet little face and on the needlework that was warm from her body.

When the sparrows on the locust tree started chirping, Nian An finally sat up, rubbing his eyes, still holding the straw grasshopper tightly in his little hand.

He saw the red silk bellyband beside his pillow, the winter jasmine flowers on it damp with the morning dew. He grabbed it and tried it on himself, mumbling, "Chicken, wear it, chicken."

Song Yushuang walked in with millet porridge and couldn't help laughing when she saw him like this: "Nian'an needs new clothes. Grandma will get you a small jacket made by your second aunt."

She carried Nian'an to the kang to dress him. As soon as the little guy's feet touched the ground, he ran to the chicken coop and pointed at the fluffy chicks inside and shouted, "Put on your bellyband."

Fu Yuanshan was squatting in the yard sharpening an axe. He straightened up and laughed when he heard this: "Our Nian An still knows how to take care of the chicks. I'll put the bellybands on the chicks later to make sure they stay warm."