The next morning, Fu Yucheng took Yun Tangyin's hand and headed towards the town.
He was carrying a small bamboo basket lined with blue-printed cloth.
"Can this basket hold all the sweet cakes you like?" Fu Yucheng shook the basket, the bamboo strips making a crisp sound as they clattered together.
Yun Tangyin pinched the red rope wrapped around the handle: "When has your basket ever been too small? It could even hold the eight pieces of osmanthus cake I bought last time."
She suddenly tiptoed and slipped a preserved plum into his pocket. "Keep it in your mouth to keep yourself entertained on the way."
Fu Yucheng smiled with a preserved plum in his mouth. When the sour taste rose in his mouth, he turned to look at her and said, "Look at that cloth shop over there. There's a piece of light green cloth hanging at the door. How about we make you a new jacket? It will make you look better than the indigo one you're wearing."
"No need, my jacket is still new." Yun Tangyin grabbed his hand and walked towards the candy shop. "Let's buy candy first, or it will be all gone."
Fu Yucheng was being pulled along by her, the bamboo basket swaying on his arm, tickling his elbow. "Slow down, watch your step."
He grabbed her wrist with his other hand and said, "I'll buy you two pounds, so you can have your fill."
As soon as I stood in front of the sweet cake shop, the shopkeeper greeted me with a smile: "Buying sweet cakes for your wife again? I just made some with jujube paste filling today, would you like to try some?"
"Yes, yes, yes." Fu Yucheng handed over the bamboo basket. "Five of each kind of filling, and two extra of the jujube paste."
He turned to look at Yun Tangyin, "Didn't you always say you wanted to eat jujube paste?"
Yun Tangyin felt a sweet warmth in her heart and playfully punched him on the back: "You're the only one who remembers this well."
As she walked back carrying the heavy bamboo basket, Fu Yucheng suddenly shoved an oil paper package into her hand: "I just bought this at the shop next door. Do you think this floral rope bracelet is nice? It's even prettier than the one you lost last time."
A red agate bead is strung on the bracelet, and when it shakes, it looks like a small flame.
Just as Yun Tangyin was about to thank him, she saw him scratching his head and laughing: "I spent a long time looking for this agate, and I heard that it can help with pregnancy."
"You," Yun Tangyin said, wrapping the bracelet around his wrist. "I'll let you wear it first, and then I'll put it on after I finish my work."
Fu Yucheng snatched it and fastened it for her: "You have to wear it. What would I, a grown man, do wearing this?"
His fingertips touched her wrist, burning Yun Tangyin's hand, which she pulled away, but he gripped it even tighter.
When they got home, Yu Xia was drying pumpkin seeds on a bamboo sieve. She smiled when she saw them and said, "What good things did you buy? The bamboo basket is almost bursting."
"These are sweet cakes I bought for Yinyin." Fu Yucheng stuffed two into her hand. "They're jujube paste filled. Sister-in-law, you should try some too."
Song Yushuang came out of the house, holding a pair of tiger-head shoes that were half-embroidered: "Yinyin, look at the pattern on the upper of these shoes. I added a circle of bamboo branches. Doesn't it look more spirited?"
Yun Tangyin leaned over to look, and suddenly stuffed a sweet cake into her hand: "Mom, take a rest first, and try this."
She held up the bracelet and smiled, "Acheng bought it for me, saying it will help with pregnancy."
Song Yushuang stared at the bracelet and nodded repeatedly: "This red agate looks auspicious, even prettier than the peace charm I got last time."
In the evening, Fu Yucheng was splitting bamboo strips in the yard, while Yun Tangyin sat on a bamboo stool peeling walnuts.
He would glance back at her every three bamboo strips he chopped, not even bothering to brush the bamboo shavings off his shoulder.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Yun Tangyin stuffed the peeled walnut kernels into his mouth. "Focus on your work."
Fu Yucheng chuckled as he chewed on a walnut: "You look beautiful peeling walnuts, even more beautiful than a peacock spreading its tail feathers."
He suddenly put the bamboo knife on the ground and said, "I'll make you a walnut cracker; it'll save you more effort than gnawing with your teeth."
"No need, I just love gnawing with my teeth." Yun Tangyin tugged at his arm. "Talk to me, will you?"
Fu Yucheng sat cross-legged opposite her, picked up a thin bamboo strip and twirled it in his hand: "Okay, once during the New Year, I made a string of bamboo wind chimes for my comrades and hung them at the entrance of the barracks. Later, the instructor even asked me to teach the new recruits to make them, saying that it could temper their character."
"Then why don't you teach me?" Yun Tangyin snatched the bamboo stick from his hand. "I want to learn too."
Fu Yucheng held her hand and taught her how to tie bamboo knots: "Your hands are used for embroidery, so you can't let the bamboo strips cut you."
He suddenly bent down and kissed the back of her hand. "You have to take good care of this hand."
Yun Tangyin's face flushed red, and she pulled her hand back and stuffed a handful of walnuts into his arms: "Hurry up and peel them, you can't eat until you finish peeling them."
Lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) at night, Yun Tangyin patted her round belly and laughed: "I ate six sugar cakes today, will I make the baby too fat?"
Fu Yucheng placed a small bamboo pillow behind her back: "It's good to be a little chubby, like you, it's comfortable to hug you when you're all plump."
He suddenly shoved a hot water bottle into her hand. "I just warmed it up. Smell it. I added some lavender. It smells even better than last time."
The hot water bottle was wrapped in a newly sewn cloth cover, embroidered with two mandarin ducks with their necks intertwined, the stitches crooked and uneven.
Yun Tangyin touched the cloth cover and laughed: "Did you embroider this? It's even uglier than the first one I embroidered."
"What do you know?" Fu Yucheng buried his face in the crook of her neck. "This is called a token of affection, much more precious than anything you can buy in a store."
He suddenly nuzzled her ear and said, "After the baby is born, I'll embroider a tiger-head pillow for you, I guarantee it'll be better than this one."
Yun Tangyin felt ticklish from his rubbing and laughed as she pushed him away, saying, "Stop fooling around, go to sleep."
The bamboo shadows outside the window swayed, and the bamboo wind chimes tinkled.
Yun Tangyin touched the red agate on her wrist and listened to Fu Yucheng's even breathing. Suddenly, she felt that life was like a freshly made sugar cake, hot and sweet to the heart.
The next morning, Fu Yucheng kissed her forehead and said, "I'll go buy you soy milk later and add two spoonfuls of sugar."
Yun Tangyin tugged at his sleeve: "I'll go with you, it'll be good for us to get some exercise."
Just as the two reached the courtyard gate, Erzhuzi rushed over, holding a small bamboo windmill: "Aunt Fu, take me with you! I want to drink soy milk too!"
The windmill blades are covered with colored paper, and when they spin, they look like colorful butterflies.
Fu Yucheng bent down and ruffled his hair: "Okay, I'll buy you a sweet one."
He turned to Yun Tangyin with a smile, "This kid is just like you, he loves sweet things."
Yun Tangyin slipped a candy into Erzhuzi's pocket: "Eat it on the way, don't let him see it."
Erzhuzi covered his pocket and chuckled to himself, but his steps didn't stop. He skipped and hopped ahead, the bamboo windmill spinning loudly.
Fu Yucheng led Yun Tangyin slowly, the morning light filtering through the bamboo fence and casting long shadows on their feet.
“Look at how happy Erzhuzi is,” Yun Tangyin said with a smile.
“Of course.” Fu Yucheng squeezed her hand. “I also need to let everyone in town see how energetic my child is.”
When they arrived at the soy milk shop, the shopkeeper was ladling soy milk into a bamboo bucket. Seeing them, he called out, "You brought your wife with you today? Would you like to add two tea eggs?"
"I want three," Fu Yucheng said, shoving a hot tea egg into Yun Tangyin's hand. "I peeled it for you; the egg white is very tender."
He took one with its shell on and stuffed it into Erzhuzi's hand, saying, "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself."
Erzhuzi blew on the egg and ate it, leaving crumbs of egg yolk all over his clothes.
On the way back, Erzhuzi held up an empty bowl and hummed a song, Fu Yucheng carried soy milk for Yu Xia and Song Yushuang, and Yun Tangyin walked in the middle, clutching the tea egg given to her by Fu Yucheng, feeling warm all over.
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