As darkness fell, Aunt Zhang carried the locust flower cakes from Yuntangyinsuo home, her cotton shoes crunching softly on the snow.
“I’ll bring the sewing machine over tomorrow,” she said, turning back suddenly as she walked to the gate of the courtyard. The light from the lantern made the white hair at her temples shine. “The little cotton-padded jacket has to be sewn by machine to be sturdy. It won’t wear out even if the child climbs trees and rolls around in the spring.”
Fu Yucheng was adding coal to the stove when he heard this and stood up straight, replying, "Thank you for your help, Aunt Zhang. I'll come to your house to move it tomorrow morning."
Aunt Li took her leave, carrying the sleeping child in her arms. The child was still clutching half a piece of millet cake, and there were bits of osmanthus petals on the corner of his mouth.
"Yinyin, you should get some rest too," she said, lifting the cotton curtain as a chill, mixed with snowflakes, drifted in. "Don't stay up too late while you're pregnant. We'll take care of sewing your cotton-padded coats."
Yun Tangyin shoved a hand warmer into her hand: "Take this to warm your feet, the roads are slippery on a snowy night."
Xiaolan tidied up the shredded fabric. The red ribbon on her braid was covered with bits of fabric, like a small red flower.
"Brother Fu, sister-in-law, I'll be there first thing tomorrow morning!" She skipped and hopped out, the army green courtyard gate creaking as she bumped into it. "I'm bringing some jujube buns that my mother steamed to nourish the mother rabbit!"
Fu Yucheng watched her disappearing figure at the alley entrance and laughed: "That girl is more energetic than a little brat."
The courtyard finally quieted down, with only faint rustling coming from the pine cage.
Yun Tangyin sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), watching Fu Yucheng wipe the dust off the cage bars with a fine cloth. His movements were exceptionally gentle, as if he were afraid of disturbing the little life inside.
"When do you think Snowball and the others will be able to open their eyes?" she suddenly asked, her fingertips gently stroking the unfinished tiger-head shoes, the black lines of the tiger's eyes already forming a sharp outline.
As Fu Yucheng put down the cloth and sat down next to her, the snow on his military boots melted onto the blue bricks, leaving small watermarks.
“Aunt Zhang said she’ll be able to open her eyes in seven or eight days,” he said, reaching out to brush a stray hair from her temple, his palm still warm from the stove.
The fragrance of wintersweet in the celadon vase on the stove grew stronger, and the thin frost on the tender yellow petals had not yet melted, looking like a layer of scattered diamonds under the oil lamp.
Fu Yucheng suddenly remembered something, and pulled out a tin box from the top of the cabinet. Inside were some dried locust flowers: "I'll steam locust flower rice for you tomorrow, with two spoonfuls of brown sugar. You said you wanted to eat it the other day."
Yun Tangyin picked up a dried locust flower and laughed: "You seem to care more about my cravings than I do."
In the middle of the night, Yun Tangyin woke up and found that Fu Yucheng was not beside her. When she got out of bed, she saw him squatting in front of the rabbit cage, holding a piece of cotton cloth soaked in warm water, gently wiping the stains on the bottom of the cage.
The light from the oil lamp slanted across him, and a few cotton wadding particles fell onto the shoulders of his military green cotton-padded jacket, like snowflakes.
"Why aren't you asleep?" She went over and draped an old cotton-padded coat over him. "Be careful not to get cold."
When Fu Yucheng turned around, his eyelashes were damp with moisture: "I heard Huaqiu whimpering, and I was worried it would get cold, so I added some cotton wool to the cage."
He pointed into the cage, where Flower Ball was nestled in the gray mother rabbit's arms, its little paws pawing at the mother rabbit's fur as if it were holding a hand warmer.
“Look at it,” Fu Yucheng said in a low voice, with a hint of amusement, “it’s more delicate than snowballs and coal balls, and always loves to snuggle into the mother rabbit’s arms.”
Yun Tangyin squatted down beside him, watching the three little rabbits rise and fall gently with their mother's breath, and suddenly felt her heart soften like a ball of cotton.
“Wait until spring,” she said softly, “open the cage door and let them run around in the yard and get some sun.”
Fu Yucheng held her hand, the calluses on his fingertips tickling her: "Let's build a little nest under the old locust tree so they can shelter from the rain and smell the fragrance of locust blossoms."
As dawn broke, Yun Tangyin was awakened by the noise from the kitchen. Fu Yucheng was squatting in front of the stove, tending the fire. The sweet potato porridge in the pot was bubbling and filling the room with a sweet aroma.
She walked over, wearing a cotton-padded coat, and noticed a rabbit hair stuck to his military cap. She couldn't help but reach out and remove it for him: "Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"
Yu Cheng added a handful of pine needles to the stove, and the fragrance of pine resin mingled with the aroma of porridge: "I wanted you to have hot porridge as soon as you got up. Aunt Zhang said that pregnant women need to eat on time."
Just as I ladled the porridge into a bowl, Xiaolan's voice came from outside the courtyard, mixed with the sound of a bamboo basket swaying: "Sister-in-law! I brought jujube buns!"
When she lifted the curtain and came in, the tip of her nose was red from the cold. The bamboo basket contained steaming hot date buns, with red dates embedded in the white dough like little red agates.
“My mother said that jujube buns are good for replenishing qi and blood, so she broke some off for the mother rabbit to soak in water to drink,” she said. She looked into the cage and saw that Huaqiu was dozing on the back of the white rabbit. She suddenly laughed, “Huaqiu is so lazy. She just woke up and is already asleep again.”
Fu Yucheng handed her a bowl of hot porridge: "Warm yourself up first, how will you feed the rabbits if you get cold?"
Xiao Lan squatted by the cage, holding a bowl of porridge, taking small sips, but her eyes remained glued to the little rabbit.
The gray mother rabbit seemed to recognize her. This time, she didn't raise her head warily, but gently brushed the flower ball's back with her tail, as if she were coaxing a child.
As the sun rose above the bamboo tips, Aunt Zhang indeed arrived carrying her sewing machine, followed by Zhou Desheng's wife and Sister Li, each carrying something in their hands.
Zhou Desheng's wife carried half a bag of freshly ground cornmeal: "I'll make some porridge for the mother rabbit; it's better for producing milk than soybeans."
Aunt Li held up a piece of pink cloth: "I'll make a little smock for the child. This cloth is soft and won't irritate the skin."
The courtyard suddenly became lively as Aunt Zhang pounded on her sewing machine, the blue cloth flying in her hands.
Zhou Desheng's wife squatted in front of the stove, cooking corn porridge, and the aroma filled the whole yard.
Li Sao helped Yun Tangyin sort out the loose threads, and the red velvet cloth in their hands quickly piled up into a small mountain.
Fu Yucheng was chopping pine wood in the yard, planning to make a small wooden trough for feeding the rabbits. As the axe rose and fell, wood chips fluttered down in the sunlight.
Xiao Lan was breaking the jujube buns into the steamer when she suddenly exclaimed, "Sister-in-law! Snowball has opened its eyes!"
Everyone immediately gathered around and saw Snowball squinting, its small black eyes like two obsidian stones soaked in water, curiously looking out of the cage.
“It’s so beautiful,” Yun Tangyin’s voice trembled slightly, “brighter than its father’s eyes.”
Fu Yucheng put down his axe and came closer, his military boots covered in sawdust: "Don't worry, the coal briquettes and flower balls will be ready soon too."
Sure enough, not long after, Coal Ball and Flower Ball also opened their eyes. The three little rabbits huddled around the cage, their bright black eyes darting around like three curious little fur balls.
Zhou Desheng's wife poured corn porridge into the cage, and the mother rabbit immediately came over to drink it, while the baby rabbits circled around her paws, rubbing their little heads against her from time to time, which made everyone laugh.
By evening, the front of the little cotton-padded jacket had been sewn on, and Aunt Zhang was embroidering the pattern on the collar, a small winter plum blossom, the pale yellow silk thread standing out vividly against the blue cloth.
"I'll finish sewing it tomorrow," she said, wiping the sweat from her brow. "Just in time to dress the child before it gets warmer."
Yun Tangyin stuffed a piece of locust flower cake into her hand: "Thank you for your hard work. This cake was just steamed and it's still warm."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com