Yun Tangyin's ears itched from his blowing, and she snuggled closer to him, saying, "It's fine as you wish, so you won't fight me for the hawthorns."
She suddenly pinched his cheek. "Did you also like sour food when you were little? Look at you, sour."
Fu Yucheng grabbed her hand and brought it to his mouth, gently biting it in his palm: "When I was little, I loved sweets and could eat more candy than anyone else."
He nuzzled against her neck. "But now I love what you feed me, whether it's sour or sweet."
The bamboo wind chimes swayed outside the window. Fu Yucheng suddenly sat up: "By the way, I made a small bamboo rattle for the child, the kind with red rope wrapped around it. It's lighter than the wooden ones. Do you want to take a look?"
Yun Tangyin grabbed him, preventing him from moving: "What are you looking at in the dark? We can look at it tomorrow."
She snuggled closer to him. "Go to sleep, that's more important than anything else."
Fu Yucheng got up and lit the bamboo lantern: "Just take a look, it's better than holding it in."
He took out a small cloth bag from the bamboo cabinet, and when he untied it, a bamboo rattle drum was revealed. The drum handle, wrapped with red rope, was engraved with small patterns.
Yun Tangyin touched the drumhead and found it to be very delicate: "It's even more exquisite than the ones you buy in town. Your craftsmanship is enough to put food on the table."
She suddenly popped a candied fruit into his mouth, "Go to sleep, it's better than tossing and turning until dawn."
The next morning, just as Yun Tangyin finished combing her hair, Fu Yucheng came in holding a small bamboo trinket: "Here's a comb for you. I polished it until it's smooth so it won't snag your hair. It'll be perfect for you when you're feeling weak from morning sickness."
Yun Tangyin pinched the comb and ran it a couple of times. Sure enough, it was smooth: "It's even more comfortable than a horn comb. How can you braid anything?"
She put a piece of mung bean cake in his mouth. "Here you go."
Fu Yucheng chewed on a cake and peered into the yard: "Where's Mom? I wove a bamboo spice rack, it can hold more than your wooden one, I want her to try it out."
“They’re steaming locust flower cakes in the kitchen,” Yun Tangyin said, pulling him outside. “They’re more tender than last year’s. They said they’d make them for your breakfast.”
The kitchen was filled with the fragrance of locust blossoms, and Song Yushuang was sprinkling osmanthus flowers into a bamboo steamer: "Look at these locust blossoms, they're even fresher than the ones sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."
She slipped a freshly steamed piece into Fu Yucheng's hand, saying, "It's warm."
Just as Fu Yucheng was about to feed it to Yun Tangyin, she waved her hand away, saying, "It smells a bit stuffy, you guys eat it."
Fu Yucheng quickly put the locust flower cake back on the bamboo plate: "Let's not touch it. I'll go buy you some sugar-coated sesame cakes, they're even crispier than the ones from the dessert shops."
Yu Xia came in carrying a bamboo basket to take out the trash. Hearing this, she smiled and said, "I have some sesame paste. It's better for your stomach than sugar-coated sesame cakes. Yinyin, take it and make some."
She shoved a bag into Yun Tangyin's hand, saying, "It's freshly ground, it smells better than aged ones."
Yun Tangyin smiled as she pinched the sesame paste, "Sister-in-law understands me best."
Fu Yucheng squatted down beside him, whittling bamboo strips. Suddenly, he held up a bamboo strip and asked, "Shall I weave a small bamboo table for you? The kind you put by your bed. It'll be more stable than this wooden stool, so you won't have to get out of bed to eat snacks."
“No need for all that trouble,” Yun Tangyin said with a smile, touching the bamboo strip. “Just sit with me in the yard; that’s better than anything else.”
Fu Yucheng quickly brought over a bamboo recliner and laid a cotton cushion on it: "It's softer than lying directly on it, and it'll be more comfortable for you to lean against."
He suddenly slipped a small fan into her hand, saying, "You can wave it around; it's lighter than a palm-leaf fan."
The bamboo fan spun, creating a breeze. Yun Tangyin touched the patterns on the fan ribs and smiled, "It's even prettier than the ones I bought in town. The orchids you carved are even more realistic than the paintings."
“That’s right,” Fu Yucheng moved closer to her, “What my wife likes must be the best.”
He suddenly slipped a preserved plum candy into her pocket. "It's better to suck on it than to leave it idle."
At lunchtime, Yu Xia came in with a bamboo tray containing a bowl of white fungus soup: "Yinyin, drink this quickly. It has lily bulbs added, which makes it more soothing than plain white fungus and helps to reduce internal heat."
She scooped a spoonful into Fu Yucheng's bowl as well, "You should drink some too. Look how red your eyes are, they're even redder than a rabbit's."
Just as Fu Yucheng was about to put the lily bulbs into Yun Tangyin's bowl, she stopped him with her chopsticks: "I don't like sticky food, you eat it yourself."
She put a piece of tofu in his bowl, saying, "Eat more vegetables; it's better than always eating meat."
Yu Xia covered her mouth and laughed: "The other day I saw Yuanshan weave a bamboo bathtub, saying it's for the baby after it's born. I'll give you one too, so it won't be a problem for the two of you to carry it."
Yun Tangyin's eyes lit up: "He's really thoughtful."
Fu Yucheng lowered his head: "His bathtub is shallow. I'll get the child a deeper one that can hold more water and will be more comfortable to bathe in."
In the evening, Fu Yucheng went to the kitchen to cook noodles. Yun Tangyin peeked through the door frame and saw him add a handful of spinach to the pot: "The old Chinese medicine doctor said that spinach is rich in iron and more nutritious than cabbage. You should eat more of it."
Yun Tangyin leaned over and smelled it: "It smells so good, even better than the plain noodles in the cafeteria."
She slipped a piece of brown sugar into his hand, saying, "Add some when you knead the dough; it'll be sweeter than without sugar."
Fu Yucheng smiled as he chewed on the candy: "You really know your food. It's even better than what my mom makes."
He suddenly added a bamboo stick to the stove, saying, "This bamboo stick burns steadily, and the noodles cook evenly, much better than firewood."
At dinner, Fu Yucheng ladled a bowl of spinach noodles into Yun Tangyin's bowl: "Look how thin these noodles are, they're softer than last time, try them."
His own bowl only contained plain noodles, and Yun Tangyin scooped half a spoonful into his bowl: "Don't just give me the food, you need to eat something too."
Fu Yucheng quickly ate, while Song Yushuang and Yu Xia exchanged smiles. In the glow of the bamboo lanterns, the food on the table steamed, just like the warmth of the day, making people's hearts flutter.
At night, Yun Tangyin lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), and Fu Yucheng was massaging her legs when he suddenly said, "Tomorrow I'll go to town and buy you two jin (1 kg) of grapes. They're sweeter than hawthorns and don't make your teeth ache. You'll definitely love them."
“You don’t need to go that far,” Yun Tangyin said, touching his hand. “Aunt Li’s family at the village entrance has the seeds, which are fresher than those in town.”
“No way,” Fu Yucheng leaned down and kissed her knee. “I’ll buy you the sweetest sour ones from her family.”
Yun Tangyin tugged at his collar and laughed, "Aren't you afraid of making me sick?"
"No way," Fu Yucheng hugged her tighter, "I was just worried that eating sour foods would make your teeth ache."
Fu Yucheng suddenly shoved a small bamboo fruit plate into her hand, its edges woven with vine patterns: "If you buy grapes tomorrow, put them here. It's lighter than a porcelain plate, so you won't have any trouble carrying it."
He ran his fingertips across the bottom of the plate. "I specially designed a drainage pattern so that the grapes drain faster than with a regular plate."
Yun Tangyin held the fruit plate and twirled it around: "It's even more exquisite than the wooden plates made by the carpenters in town. Your craftsmanship should really be passed on."
She suddenly popped a preserved plum into his mouth. "Is it sour? It's better than grapes for cutting through the richness."
Fu Yucheng squinted his eyes because of the sourness, but smiled and leaned closer to her cheek: "Nothing is as sour as you. You just said you didn't want grapes, but now you're thinking about preserved plums."
Yun Tangyin snuggled closer to him: "Having you here is warmer than anything else."
She suddenly remembered something, "Oh right, my second sister-in-law said the jujubes on the back hill are ripe, how about we go pick some tomorrow?"
Fu Yucheng quickly stopped her: "The mountain road is very steep, harder to walk than a ladder. I'll go by myself. You wait at home."
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