Seeing that Yun Tangyin was eating with relish, Aunt Zhang smiled and stuffed another bun into her hand: "Eat slowly, there's more. There are still two baskets steaming in the pot, enough for us."
She pointed to the cured pork drying under the eaves, "I'll cut up the cured pork later and make a stir-fry with shepherd's purse. It'll taste even better with steamed buns."
Yun Tangyin nodded with a bun in her mouth, her mouth full of food, and could only give a muffled reply, which made everyone laugh.
Zhou Ming and Zhou Liang held steamed buns, squatted down by the rabbit cage to eat, and didn't forget to break off a small piece of the bun skin and secretly feed it to Xueqiu.
Snowball came closer, its three-lobed mouth chewing rapidly, its little tail sweeping fine marks across the snow.
“Mom said we can’t feed buns to rabbits, they’ll get diarrhea,” Zhou Liang suddenly remembered something and quickly withdrew his hand, but seeing that Xueqiu was still looking at him expectantly, he couldn’t help but hand over the remaining bun wrappers in his hand, “Just this once, I won’t let you eat next time.”
Zhou Desheng's wife was tidying up the steamer when she heard this and said with a smile, "It's okay, it's fine to eat a little bit now and then. This rabbit is close to us, so eating some bun skin will bring us some good fortune."
She walked towards the kitchen. "I'll go boil some hot water. After you finish your buns, drink some hot water to warm yourselves up. You must have gotten cold when you went up the back mountain."
After chopping the firewood, Fu Yucheng neatly piled it in the corner of the wall, then picked up a broom and swept the snow in the yard. The snowflakes sparkled in the sunlight.
"Yinyin, do you want to come inside and rest for a while?" He walked over and reached out to touch her forehead. "It's windy outside, don't let yourself and the baby get cold."
Yun Tangyin shook her head and pulled his hand to walk under the eaves: "No need, I want to bask in the sun here. Look how nice the sun is today, it feels so warm on my skin."
The two sat on a stone bench, looking at the scene in the courtyard. The laughter of children, the nibbling of rabbits, and the thumping of chopping wood all blended together, creating a lively atmosphere.
Yun Tangyin suddenly remembered something, took out the handkerchief she had embroidered for Jiang Jianhua from her pocket, and handed it to Fu Yucheng: "Look, it's finally finished. Do you think the bamboo leaf pattern is pretty? Will Second Sister-in-law like it?"
Fu Yucheng took the handkerchief, his fingertips tracing the delicate embroidery, and nodded with a smile: "It's beautiful, even more exquisite than the purse I embroidered for her last time. If my second sister-in-law receives it, she'll be happy for days."
After finishing the last stitch of her sweater, Aunt Zhang bit off the thread with her teeth, unfolded the sweater, and looked at it. The navy blue sweater had simple patterns, and the collar and cuffs were sewn with white yarn, making it look particularly neat.
"Does this sweater fit you?" She handed the sweater to Fu Yucheng. "I knitted it according to the size your second brother wore last year. He's been working outside, so he must have grown stronger. If it's too tight, I'll take some apart and loosen it a bit."
Fu Yucheng took the sweater, held it up to his body, and said with a smile, "It's perfect. You've got the size right. It will definitely fit my second brother perfectly. If he knew you knitted this sweater for him, he would wear it every day and wouldn't want to take it off."
In the afternoon, Zhou Desheng's wife boiled water, poured a cup for everyone, and added some brown sugar to the water. The sweet aroma mixed with the steam made everyone feel warm.
"Quickly drink some brown sugar water to cool down," she handed the cup to Yun Tangyin. "You're pregnant, so you need to be extra careful and not catch a cold."
Yun Tangyin took the cup, took a sip of the brown sugar water, and felt the warmth slide down her throat into her stomach. She squinted her eyes comfortably and said, "It's so delicious, even sweeter than the sugar water you buy in the city."
After Xiaolan finished her steamed buns, she took a bamboo basket to cut fresh grass for the rabbits. Zhou Ming and Zhou Liang followed her. The three children ran around in the open space outside the yard, the bamboo baskets swaying in their hands like fluttering butterflies.
"Lan, slow down, don't fall!" Aunt Zhang called from under the eaves, her voice full of love. Lan turned around and answered, but didn't slow down, her laughter carrying far away.
Fu Yucheng brought out bamboo strips from the house, preparing to weave a new rabbit cage for the rabbit. The bamboo strips spun quickly in his hands, and soon a rough shape was woven.
“When my second brother and sister-in-law come back in the spring, we’ll show them this new rabbit cage,” he said, looking up at Yun Tangyin. “My second brother will definitely praise my skills, and he might even weave it with me. He used to enjoy doing bamboo crafts with me.”
Yun Tangyin nodded with a smile: "Yes, you two brothers weave rabbit cages together, while my second sister-in-law and I embroider on the side, and the children play in the yard. It's so lively."
At dinner time, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of stir-fried cured pork and shepherd's purse. The oily fragrance of the cured pork mixed with the fresh scent of shepherd's purse made one's mouth water.
Aunt Zhang brought out the dishes; the stir-fried cured pork with shepherd's purse on the plate was glistening with oil, making one's mouth water just looking at it.
"Try it," she said, putting some into everyone's bowl. "This cured pork was made last winter with some Sichuan peppercorns and star anise. It tastes just right, and it's not greasy at all when eaten with shepherd's purse."
Zhou Desheng took a sip of wine, picked up a piece of stir-fried cured pork with shepherd's purse, and couldn't help but nod: "Delicious! It's even more fragrant than the chefs in the city restaurants. If I could eat this when I got home, I would definitely eat three big bowls of rice."
Fu Yucheng nodded in agreement and put a piece of cured meat into Yun Tangyin's bowl: "You should eat more too. This cured meat is nutritious and good for you and the baby."
Yun Tangyin took a bite of the cured pork. The oily aroma spread in her mouth, but she didn't feel greasy at all. Paired with the fragrance of shepherd's purse, her mouth was filled with the warmth of home cooking.
She looked up at the food on the table and at the people around her, and suddenly felt a sense of peace and security.
Although Fu Yuanshan and Jiang Jianhua were not by their side, this concern and expectation, like the red lanterns in the courtyard, warmed everyone's hearts.
At night, the snow stopped, and the moon peeked out from behind the clouds, illuminating the snow in the yard, making it look like it was covered with a layer of white frost.
Fu Yucheng and Yun Tangyin sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), looking at the moon outside the window, holding each other's hands.
"You said that when Second Brother and Second Sister-in-law come back next spring, our courtyard will be even more lively, right?" Yun Tangyin said softly. Fu Yucheng nodded and hugged her: "It definitely will. We'll go to the back mountain to dig shepherd's purse together, make shepherd's purse dumplings together, and bask in the sun under the locust tree. Life will definitely get better and better."
Yun Tangyin leaned against him, listening to his heartbeat, and suddenly felt the little one in her belly move again, as gently as a locust leaf falling on her heart.
She knew that when the locust flowers bloomed in spring, Fu Yuanshan and Jiang Jianhua would definitely come back. At that time, the courtyard would be even more lively, and this warmth would continue, growing stronger and warmer year by year.
The next morning, just as dawn was breaking, the sound of footsteps could be heard outside the courtyard. It was Zhou Desheng's wife carrying half a bag of flour, her blue cloth jacket still covered with snowflakes.
“Yinyin, I brought the flour,” she said, placing the bag on the stone table. The bag was printed with the words “People’s Commune.” “Let’s make a lot of shepherd’s purse dumplings today and freeze them in the cellar so that we can cook them whenever Yuanshan and Jianhua come back.”
Yun Tangyin had just finished washing up when she heard the noise and came out to greet them. She took the flour bag and smiled, "Thank you for thinking of me and coming so early. Come in and warm up. I just cooked some corn porridge, it's still warm."
Zhou Desheng's wife followed him into the house and saw that the pot in the kitchen was still steaming. She couldn't help but sigh, "You live such a meticulous life. You have hot meals every day. Yuanshan and Jianhua will definitely be envious when they come back."
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