As Fu Yucheng put the dried pumpkin into the earthenware jar, Nian An was chasing chickens in the yard with a bag of melon seeds in hand.
The silver longevity lock bumped into the pumpkin doll, making a "clinking" sound, which startled the chickens, who fluttered up the fence and feathers landed on his shoulder.
“Little ancestor, stop chasing him,” Fu Yucheng said with a smile, pulling him back. “If the chickens are scared, they won’t lay eggs, and there won’t be any soft-boiled eggs to eat tomorrow.”
Nian'an, however, was stuffing a bag of sunflower seeds into the chicken coop, muttering, "Chickens, eat the seeds."
Fu Yuanshan squatted down beside him, weaving a melon seed tray. The bamboo strips were twisted into intricate patterns in his hands: "I'll make this tray so you can put melon seeds in it, so you don't have to stuff them into the chicken coop."
The rustling sound of bamboo slats mingled with Nian'an's laughter, spreading warmth under the sunlight.
The pumpkin buns in the kitchen had risen, and Jiang Jianhua used a knife to make three cuts on the top of each bun.
"This way they'll look like pumpkins when steamed," she said, placing the steamed buns into the steamer. Flour from her fingertips fell onto her apron like a layer of snow. "I'll give two to Aunt Zhang later; her little grandson will definitely love them."
Song Yushuang added a handful of corn stalks to the stove, and the flames leaped up, making the white hair at her temples glow with gold: "This dough has risen just right, so soft it can bounce."
Xiao Lan squatted in the yard helping Yun Tangyin pick spinach; the emerald green leaves piled up like a small mountain in the bamboo basket.
"Can we eat these spinach roots?" she asked, holding up the muddy roots. The bag of sunflower seeds in the bamboo rabbit basket was bulging, and a red rope knotted at the corner of the basket was dangling.
Yun Tangyin smiled and plucked off the roots: "Wash them clean, blanch them, and then mix them with sesame salt. They'll be even crisper than vegetable leaves."
As the midday sun climbed to the top of the locust tree, the sweet aroma of pumpkin steamed buns wafted across the entire street.
Aunt Zhang's grandson tugged at his grandmother's clothes and ran in, his tiger-head shoes making a "thump-thump" sound on the bluestone slabs.
"Are the steamed buns cooked?" the little guy asked, tilting his round face up, drool dripping from the corner of his mouth.
As soon as Jiang Jianhua lifted the lid of the steamer, a cloud of hot steam carrying a sweet aroma wafted out. She picked up a steamed bun and stuffed it into the child's hand: "It's fresh out of the steamer, eat slowly, don't burn yourself."
The three cracks on the top of the steamed bun open up like a golden flower.
The little guy took a bite and smacked his lips. The sweetness of the pumpkin mixed with the aroma of wheat spread on his tongue, making him jump up and down: "Sweeter than a sugar figurine!"
Aunt Zhang patted him on the back and said, "Cheer slowly, no one's going to take it from you."
Jiang Jianhua put four steamed buns into her basket: "Take two to Desheng's family, his son was talking about them yesterday."
When Fu Yucheng carried his hoe to the vegetable garden, he saw Zhou Desheng scattering wood ash into the pumpkin patch.
“This ash can prevent pests,” Zhou Desheng said, scattering the ash onto the roots of the vines. “Next year, your pumpkins will definitely grow bigger.”
Fu Yucheng handed him the dried pumpkin in his hand: "Second sister-in-law made this. Soak it in water to drink and cut through the greasiness."
Zhou Desheng took it and laughed, "Your family eats a different kind of food every day. My son is practically going to stay at your house forever."
Nian'an squatted by the vegetable patch, holding a pumpkin doll, watching ants carry sunflower seed shells.
Xiao Lan squatted down next to him and used a twig to build a bridge for the ants: "Look how capable these ants are, they know how to manage a household better than you."
Nian'an grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and poured them into the ant hole, prompting Xiao Lan to slap his hand: "Silly Nian'an, feeding them so much will make them sick."
The two men's laughter startled the sparrows in the locust tree, and a few leaves fell and covered the ant hole.
The evening glow turned the earthenware pot orange-red, and Jiang Jianhua sprinkled some osmanthus flowers into the dried pumpkin.
“Seal it in a jar like this,” she said, wiping the mouth of the jar with a cloth. “When you open it in winter, it will be filled with the fragrance of osmanthus, sweeter than honey.”
Yun Tangyin put the pickled spinach roots into a porcelain plate, the sesame salt glistening white on the emerald green roots: "Come and try it, these spinach roots with steamed buns are more and more fragrant the more you chew them."
At the dinner table, Nian'an held up a pumpkin steamed bun and stuffed it into her mouth. The bun skin stuck to the tip of her nose, like a piece of yellow gemstone stuck there.
Xiao Lan put some spinach roots into his bowl: "Eat this, my mother says it will give you strength."
Nian'an opened his mouth to catch it, the crisp vegetable roots mixed with the sweetness of the steamed bun, making him nod repeatedly, the silver longevity lock bouncing happily in front of his chest.
Fu Yucheng and Fu Yuanshan sat in the courtyard smoking, the flames of their pipes flickering in the twilight.
“Cut the pumpkin vines tomorrow,” Fu Yucheng said, tapping his cigarette ash. “They can be dried and used as firewood; they burn longer than corn stalks.”
Fu Yuanshan used bamboo strips to finish the edge of the melon seed tray: "I'll weave a small bamboo basket and put a pumpkin doll in it for Nian, so he won't keep throwing it into the chicken coop."
As the moonlight climbed over the fence, Jiang Jianhua was sewing a melon seed bag for Nian'an.
A round pumpkin is embroidered on the blue cloth, and a small grasshopper is perched on the pumpkin leaf.
"Here's a bag for you to put sunflower seeds in," she said, pulling the bag closed and tying a bow at the end of the red string. "Don't stuff any more into the chicken coop, you hear me?"
Nian'an hugged the pumpkin doll and nodded repeatedly, with crumbs of pumpkin bun still stuck to the corners of her mouth, like a little squirrel stealing food.
The earthenware jars in the storage room breathe softly in the night, the sweetness of dried pumpkin, the freshness of spinach roots, and the aroma of sesame salt blending together to create a unique autumn flavor that belongs to Huaiyuan.
Fu Yucheng covered the pile of pumpkins with a layer of straw and watched the moonlight flow like a river on the orange-yellow pumpkin skins. He suddenly remembered that in the spring, these pumpkin seeds would sprout in the soil and grow into green vines that climb all over the fence, just like the days, which would grow generation after generation, and the pumpkins that would grow would always be sweet.
Nian'an tossed and turned in her small bed, the pumpkin seeds inside making a "rustling" sound.
Jiang Jianhua sat by the bed and fanned him, watching the moonlight leak in through the window and weave a fine net on his face.
"Can't sleep?" she asked softly, her fingertips brushing against the crumbs of steamed bun on his nose. "Are you still thinking about the ants?"
Nian'an mumbled indistinctly, "Ants, carrying eggs." Jiang Jianhua patted his back with a smile, "We'll go see them tomorrow. Now go to sleep."
The locust leaves outside the window rustled, as if counting the bamboo weaving, pottery jars, and steamers in the courtyard, counting the days immersed in the smoke and fire of daily life.
In the kitchen, the unfinished pumpkin buns were still on the table. Their sweet aroma mingled with the night air and drifted in, enveloping Nian'an's breath. In his dreams, pumpkin vines grew all over the yard, their vines laden with round moonlight, as sweet as his smiling face.
Just as dawn was breaking, Nian'an was awakened by the clucking of the chickens in the coop.
He ran barefoot into the yard, clutching a pumpkin doll, and saw a speckled hen pecking at the sunflower seeds he had stuffed into her coop the night before, with eggshells scattered all over the ground near the nest.
"Chicken, lay an egg!" He clapped his little hands and jumped up and down, the silver longevity lock hitting the doll with a crisp sound.
Fu Yuanshan squatted at the door of the woodshed, weaving bamboo baskets. The bamboo strips gleamed green in the morning mist.
“This basket is for your dolls,” he said, tightening the opening with bamboo strips. “If you stuff it into the chicken coop, the speckled chickens will peck at your palms.”
Nian'an put the doll into the bamboo basket, held it up and ran towards the kitchen. The bamboo strips at the bottom of the basket scraped against the bluestone slabs as if they were racing against him.
In the kitchen, Jiang Jianhua was cracking eggs into a pot, the golden egg liquid floating like clouds in the boiling water.
"Nian'an, come quickly," she said, scooping up a soft-boiled egg with a spoon. "The speckled chicken laid three eggs this morning, and I saved the softest one for you."
Song Yushuang sat in front of the stove adding firewood, the firelight illuminating the pumpkin bun in her hand: "I heated up the bun, it'll be perfect to eat with the egg."
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