Inside the house, only the moonlight and the child's even breathing remained. The night in Huaiyuan was like a bowl of lukewarm lotus leaf porridge, wrapped in the warmth of the courtyard's cooking, slowly settling into the most peaceful flavor.
As dawn broke, the frogs in the lotus pond began to croak.
Nian'an jumped up, grabbed the lotus leaf pouch and ran into the yard. The little frog on the pouch was wet with morning dew, and the green thread embroidery on its back looked like it was really covered in mud.
“Frog, pond,” he said, holding up his purse and tugging at Fu Yuanshan’s clothes. The silver longevity lock shimmered in the morning light.
Fu Yuanshan was tying buckets to the carrying pole when he straightened up with a smile: "I'm going now. Have your second uncle bring the wooden basin; maybe we can catch a tadpole."
The kitchen was filled with the sweet aroma of corn. Jiang Jianhua took out the cooked tender corn and soaked it in cold water.
“This corn needs to be dried,” she said, poking at the kernels with her chopsticks, “otherwise it will be so hot that Nian’an will jump up and down.”
Song Yushuang sat in front of the stove adding firewood, poking at the embers in the firebox with fire tongs: "I steamed some glutinous rice, and I'll make corn cakes later. They're so sweet, the kids will love them."
Steam rose from the glutinous rice in the steamer, mingling with the aroma of corn and drifting over the threshold, condensing into tiny water droplets on the reed mat in the courtyard.
Fu Yucheng carried the wooden basin toward the lotus pond, with Nian'an following behind like a little tail. Her tiger-head boots splashed mud from the puddles, leaving dark spots on her tiger-patterned bib.
"Slow down," Fu Yucheng turned around and warned, "The lotus pond is slippery, you'll cry if you fall."
Nian'an pointed at the duckweed on the water and giggled. The frog embroidery on her purse swayed gently in the wind, as if it were about to jump into the pond.
Xiao Lan brought freshly picked green beans in a rabbit basket on her back; the purple and green beans were piled up in the basket like little mounds.
“My mother says these green beans should be eaten while they’re still tender,” she said, placing the basket on the stone table. The bamboo rabbit ears were covered in grass. “Second Aunt, look at the grasshopper cage I made. It’s even sturdier than last year’s.”
Yun Tangyin was turning over the eggplant strips to dry when she heard this and praised with a smile: "Your skills are getting better and better. When grasshoppers come out in a few days, I guarantee you'll be able to catch a whole cage full."
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