As Fu Yucheng watched Fu Yuanshan being surrounded by villagers, Yun Tangyin gently nudged his arm: "Second Brother, this scene is even more lively than your victory celebration."
“He deserves it.” Fu Yucheng pulled out a small notebook from his pocket. “Yesterday I asked Commander Zhang to inquire about a cultural center in the county town that is recruiting craftsmen. I sent my second brother’s bamboo weaving pattern over there.”
Yun Tangyin's eyes lit up: "Then wouldn't that mean I could get a government job?"
"It depends on what he wants." Fu Yucheng glanced into the courtyard. "If he wants to open his own shop, I'll rent a counter from the supply and marketing cooperative."
As he spoke, Fu Yuanshan pushed through the crowd and came in, clutching a handful of loose bills in his hand: "I just sold three bamboo cups and exchanged them for two catties of brown sugar."
He stuffed the candy into Jiang Jianhua's hand, saying, "Here, take it."
Jiang Jianhua smiled, holding the candy wrapper: "You're already making money? Then you'll have to replace the door panel of the west wing with a new one. I saw it yesterday, and the bottom is all rotten."
"I'll go chop some wood right now." Fu Yuanshan reached for an axe in the corner, but Fu Yucheng stopped him.
“I’ll go.” Fu Yucheng snatched the axe. “Your hand injury hasn’t healed yet, and besides, weaving bamboo baskets might be your future profession.”
Fu Yuanshan paused for a moment, then suddenly stuffed a bamboo whistle into his pocket: "It's for the child, so he can chew on it when he grows teeth."
The whistle still had a red string wrapped around it, which was leftover scraps from Jiang Jianhua's embroidery of tiger-head shoes.
When Song Yushuang returned carrying a vegetable basket, a man in a Zhongshan suit followed behind her: "Yuanshan, this is Liu, the staff member of the cultural center. He came to see your bamboo weaving."
Officer Liu touched the plum blossom pattern on the bamboo frame and nodded repeatedly: "Master Fu's craftsmanship is worthy of being recognized as a county-level intangible cultural heritage! Our museum is thinking of holding an exhibition for you, and also opening classes to take on apprentices, with a monthly salary of thirty-five yuan. What do you think?"
Fu Yuanshan dropped the bamboo strips in his hand with a "thud" to the ground: "I...I?"
"What, you still think you're not good enough?" Jiang Jianhua stood up, supporting his back. "Back in his days in the cultural troupe, he was a key member of the arts and culture team, and he taught the soldiers to play the flute!"
Officer Liu's eyes lit up even more: "You can play an instrument? That's perfect, our museum is short of a music teacher, you can take on both roles."
Fu Yucheng shoved a cup of hawthorn tea into Officer Liu's hand: "My second brother is shy, so please give him some time to think it over. How about we finalize the bamboo weaving exhibits first? I think this magpie-on-plum-flower basket is excellent."
Officer Liu held the purple bamboo basket and examined it closely: "This is it! The event will start at the beginning of next month, and I'll send a car to pick it up."
Before leaving, he took out another piece of paper. "This is a list of teaching materials. If you're willing to teach, take some time to pick it up and take a look."
Fu Yuanshan held the textbook, his fingertips repeatedly rubbing the words "folk arts and crafts".
Fu Yucheng patted his shoulder and laughed, "Second brother, you sent me to the army to broaden my horizons back then, now it's my turn to let you see other places."
“But bamboo ware shop…” Fu Yuanshan was still hesitating.
"The shop will remain open." Song Yushuang ladled a spoonful of porridge into his bowl. "I work at the cultural center during the day and weave bamboo ware at home at night, so I can manage both without any problems."
She put a piece of pickled vegetable into Jiang Jianhua's bowl, "It's a good opportunity to let Second Sister-in-law go to the shop to manage the accounts. She's done it before, and she's better than you."
Jiang Jianhua blushed: "How would I know how to manage accounts?"
She was afraid that Yun Tangyin was deliberately using the previous incident to tease her.
Besides, the money hasn't been paid off yet, how could she dare to even consider such a thing...
Yun Tangyin understood, and simply smiled: "Can't we just take it slow?"
Yu Xia brought out freshly steamed sugar buns, the sweet aroma of which filled the courtyard: "Yuanshan, Director Wang just sent someone over again, saying he wants to order ten more bamboo baskets and also wants to make a plaque for you with the words 'Fu Family Bamboo Workshop'."
"How does he know this name?" Fu Yuanshan asked, looking up.
“I told him that,” Fu Yucheng said with a smile, biting into a candy bun. “I also said that this is our village’s signboard, and we’ll sell it to the military region in the future.”
Fu Yuanshan's ears turned red again, but he wove the bamboo strips in his hands even more enthusiastically, and in the blink of an eye, he added a circular pattern to the pen holder.
As evening fell, Fu Yucheng was helping Fu Yuanshan paste paper on the windows of the west wing when Jiang Jianhua came out holding an account book: "I've calculated it. This month, we can earn thirty-five yuan just from bamboo baskets. That's 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 one according to this size, and then install a small drawer next to it, just right for storing diapers."
Yun Tangyin suddenly pointed to the eaves of the west wing: "We should weave a bamboo lantern there. When it's lit at night, we'll know whether Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law are asleep or not."
“I’ll start weaving tomorrow.” Fu Yuanshan stuffed a handful of bamboo strips into the basket. “I’ll also weave a bamboo wind chime to hang under the lantern. It’ll ring nicely when the wind blows.”
At night, Fu Yucheng tossed and turned on the kang (a heated brick bed). Yun Tangyin poked his back: "Can't sleep? Is it because you're reluctant to see your second brother move out?"
“A little.” Fu Yucheng turned around. “But mostly I’m happy. He can finally do what he likes.”
The soft clanging of bamboo knives came from outside the window; Fu Yuanshan was still weaving something in the courtyard.
Yun Tangyin glanced out the window and suddenly laughed: "Listen, he's humming 'The East Is Red' again, even better than when he was in the art troupe."
Fu Yucheng listened intently, his eyes slowly welling up with tears.
Moonlight streamed through the window lattice and fell on their 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 covered with snow-white window paper, and a few plum blossom petals were stuck to the edges.
Jiang Jianhua placed an oil lamp inside the lantern, and the warm yellow light shone through the paper, making the four characters "Fu Family Bamboo Workshop" stand out brightly.
"It's so 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 in the flowers."
Fu Yuanshan shoved a small bamboo hoe into her hand: "It's for you to use for planting flowers; it's lighter than an iron one."
The handle of the hoe was wrapped with anti-slip bamboo rope, which he had woven overnight.
Yun Tangyin glanced at Fu Yuanshan, but he simply looked away: "Nothing else... You can keep it."
As Fu Yucheng stood in the courtyard watching all this, he suddenly realized that dividing the family was not about separation, but rather like this bamboo fence, seemingly separated by a wall, but with roots connected together.
He shoved a bottle of wine into Fu Yuanshan's hand: "On the day we move into our new house, let's invite our older brother over for a couple of drinks."
"Let's have a couple of drinks." Fu Yuanshan smiled, clutching the wine bottle. His bamboo knife drew a silvery arc in the morning light as he began weaving a new bamboo basket. The four characters "Fu Family Bamboo Workshop" on the bottom of the basket were strong and powerful.
Fu Yuanshan now felt that if life continued like this, it wouldn't be so bad.
He had his own little schemes before, but they were all insignificant.
If Fu Yuanshan continues to act recklessly now, he might really suffer a fate worse than death for the rest of his life.
and……
Even so, Jiang Jianhua was pregnant with his child, and Fu Yuanshan knew that some things had to be acknowledged.
Fate is the same.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com