Aunt Zhang munched on a locust flower cake, looking at the little rabbit with its eyes open in the cage and smiled: "This cake is just the right sweetness, even better than the sugar cakes my husband buys."
She pointed at the snowball with her finger, "Look at this little guy, he went straight to the food trough as soon as he opened his eyes, just like the baby Yinyin was pregnant with, he's a glutton."
Yun Tangyin's cheeks flushed slightly. She reached out and gently touched the cage bars. Snowball immediately shrank back, then curiously poked its head out, its little nose twitching, which made everyone laugh.
Fu Yucheng neatly arranged the split pine logs, his military boots leaving shallow dents in the snow: "Aunt Zhang, tomorrow I'll go to the back mountain to cut a thicker log to make a new frame for your sewing machine. The current frame is wobbly."
Aunt Zhang quickly waved her hand: "No need to trouble yourself, my frame is still usable. You should keep the wood to make a feeding trough for the rabbits."
Fu Yucheng insisted, "It's no trouble at all. It will be done in half a day. You can stand on it steadily, and it will save you a lot of effort when sewing the cotton-padded jacket."
Zhou Desheng's wife cooked corn porridge and served a bowl to Yun Tangyin: "Try it quickly, I added some brown sugar, it's good for pregnant women."
She poured a small bowl of paste into the cage, and the mother rabbit immediately came over, chewing rapidly with her three-lobed mouth. Snowball, coal ball, and flower ball circled around the mother rabbit's paws, and every now and then she would lick the scattered paste with her little tongue, like three little mice stealing food.
“In a few days we’ll be able to feed them porridge,” Zhou Desheng’s wife said with a smile. “Then they can eat separately from the mother rabbit, so they won’t always fight over it.”
Aunt Li folded the red velvet cloth neatly, then suddenly remembered something and took out a small cloth doll from her bag: "It's a little rabbit I made for the child, exactly like Snowball. I spent three days embroidering it."
A small red bean was attached to the doll's ear, gleaming under the light.
Yun Tangyin took the doll, her fingertips tracing the fine stitches: "It's so pretty, the child will definitely love it."
As darkness fell, everyone took their leave.
Before Aunt Zhang left, carrying her sewing machine, she specifically instructed Fu Yucheng: "Don't go to cut wood too early tomorrow. Wait until the sun comes out and the snow melts a bit before you go, the mountain roads are slippery."
Zhou Desheng's wife carried an empty earthenware pot: "I'll come tomorrow morning to make you some corn porridge. The mother rabbit needs to drink it every day to produce milk."
Aunt Li held the child, who was still clutching the rabbit doll in his arms: "I'll keep the pink cloth and sew a smock for the child tomorrow."
The courtyard returned to silence. Fu Yucheng added a piece of coal to the stove, and the flames licked the bottom of the pot, making the New Year's painting of "Abundant Harvest Year After Year" on the wall even more vivid.
Yun Tangyin sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), holding the rabbit doll in her hand, gently rocking it to soothe the baby in her belly: "Look, this is your little rabbit playmate. When you come out, you can play with Snowball and the others."
Fu Yucheng walked over, hugged her from behind, and gently rubbed her lower abdomen with his palm: "Tomorrow I will finish making the feeding trough and add a small partition to the cage so that the little rabbits have a place to run around."
He popped a rock candy into her mouth, "To soothe your throat. You must be tired from helping Aunt Li with the threads today."
Yun Tangyin leaned against him, listening to the soft rustling of the rabbit in the cage, and suddenly felt a sense of peace: "With you here, I'm not tired at all."
In the middle of the night, Yun Tangyin was awakened by Xueqiu's cries. She put on her clothes and got out of bed, and saw Fu Yucheng squatting by the cage, holding a thin carrot in his hand, teasing the little rabbit that had just opened its eyes.
Snowball tiptoed, trying hard to reach the carrot, its bright black eyes filled with eagerness.
"Why are you awake again?" Yun Tangyin draped an old cotton-padded coat over him. "Be careful not to catch a cold."
Fu Yucheng turned around and smiled: "When I heard Snowball barking, I wanted to come and see. Look how clever it is, it can beg for food as soon as it opens its eyes."
The two squatted by the cage, watching the three little rabbits circling around the carrot, like three rolling little balls of fur.
Moonlight streamed through the frost-covered window, weaving a silver net on the ground, and the rabbit in the cage gleamed softly in the moonlight.
“When spring comes,” Yun Tangyin said softly, “we’ll plant some vegetables in the yard, specifically for the rabbits, so we don’t have to keep going to the back mountain to pick them.”
Fu Yucheng held her hand: "Okay, let's plant some more locust trees, you like the smell of locust flowers."
The next morning, after breakfast, Fu Yucheng went to the back mountain to chop wood, while Yun Tangyin changed the cotton wadding for the rabbits in the yard.
When Xiao Lan arrived carrying half a bag of soybeans, she saw Yun Tangyin squatting by the cage, carefully changing the old cotton wadding.
"Sister-in-law, let me help you!" Xiao Lan put down the soybeans and immediately squatted down, gently cradling the baby rabbits in her small hands, afraid of hurting them. "Snowball is more energetic than yesterday, look, it can even jump!"
Yun Tangyin stuffed a date bun into her hand: "Eat something to tide you over first, and after we change the cotton quilts, we'll feed the rabbit soybeans."
Xiaolan was munching on a jujube bun, but her eyes were fixed on the snowball in her hand. The snowball rubbed against her palm, and its little nose twitched, making her laugh nonstop: "It seems to recognize me. It was avoiding me yesterday!"
When Zhou Desheng's wife brought the corn porridge, she saw Xiaolan playing with the baby rabbits and couldn't help but laugh: "Lan, be careful not to let them pee on your hands. The mother rabbit just gave birth, and the baby rabbits haven't learned to hold their pee yet."
Xiaolan immediately put the snowball back in the cage, stuck out her tongue, and said, "My mother said the same thing, but I forgot!"
Zhou Desheng's wife poured cornmeal into the cage, and the mother rabbit immediately came over, while the baby rabbits circled around her belly, occasionally nudging her with their little heads, as if they were being affectionate.
When Fu Yucheng returned carrying the wood, his military boots were covered in mud and snow, and he had a thick pine log on his shoulder, which still smelled of fresh pine resin.
“This piece of wood is enough to make two feeding troughs,” he said, placing the wood in the yard and wiping the sweat from his brow. “It can also be used to make a frame for a sewing machine, killing two birds with one stone.”
Yun Tangyin handed him a bowl of warm water: "Drink some water, rest for a while before you start chopping, don't tire yourself out."
When Aunt Zhang arrived on her sewing machine, she saw Fu Yucheng chopping pine wood and quickly said, "Don't chop it yet, sew on the buttons for the little cotton-padded jacket first, so the child can try it on tomorrow."
She placed the sewing machine in the yard, and the blue cloth flew in her hands. "These buttons were taken from my grandson's outgrown cotton-padded jacket. They're brass, very sturdy."
Fu Yucheng put down the axe and helped Aunt Zhang hold the fabric, saying, "Please be careful not to prick your hands."
Xiao Lan squatted by the cage, feeding the baby rabbits soybeans. Xueqiu ate the fastest, its little mouth moving so fast it looked like a small millstone.
"Sister-in-law, look how much Snowball is eating!" she looked up and smiled. "She can eat more than Coal Ball and Flower Ball. She'll definitely grow up to be the fattest!"
Yun Tangyin walked over and patted Xueqiu's head. Xueqiu immediately rubbed against her fingertips, its bright black eyes full of dependence.
By evening, the little cotton-padded jacket was finally finished. Aunt Zhang unfolded the jacket, and the winter plum blossoms embroidered on the blue cloth were particularly vivid, with the copper buttons gleaming under the lamplight.
"Try it on," Aunt Zhang handed it to Yun Tangyin. "If it's too small, I'll alter it tomorrow."
Yun Tangyin hugged the cotton-padded coat to her chest, feeling warm inside: "It's perfect, your craftsmanship is really good, it fits even better than I imagined."
Fu Yucheng walked over, looked at the cotton-padded jacket and smiled: "Our child will definitely look good in it, even more spirited than the chubby babies in the New Year paintings."
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