Chapter 39: Warm lights on a cold night, laughter around the fire
As the chimney of the courtyard began to lift its white smoke from the evening cooking, Little Swallow hopped over the threshold and entered the courtyard. The frost on her ginger jacket melted in the warm air, and the red silk ribbon at the end of her braid swept across the jar of pickled vegetables in the corner, bringing with it a waft of sour fragrance. She was clutching an oil-paper bag in her arms, and as she entered, she called out, "Little Bean! Little Pigeon! Look what I've brought back!"
"It's a sugar painting!" Xiaodouzi rushed out of the house, his cotton shoes sliding half a foot on the blue brick floor. He stared straight at the sugar tiger painting in the oil-paper package. He didn't even bother to wipe the tip of his nose, which was red from the cold. "Sister Xiaoyanzi, can I take a bite of this tiger's tail?"
"Greedy!" Liu Hong came out of the kitchen carrying a coarse porcelain basin. Her moon-white cloth jacket was stained with some flour. She reached out and scraped the tip of Xiaodouzi's nose, "Go wash your hands first! Brother Xiao Jian brought freshly steamed buns, which taste best when eaten with pickled radish." She put the basin on the stone table. Inside was freshly cut pickled radish strips, bright red and soaked in the sauce. The sour aroma mixed with the aroma of flour filled the yard.
Liu Qing was crouching in the corner of the yard, repairing a cart. The sleeves of his blue shirt were rolled up to his elbows, and he was grinding the axle with a small plane. Sawdust rustled onto the frozen ground. Xiao Jian stood nearby, handing him tung oil. The hem of his blue cotton robe was dusty. He tapped the worn area of the axle with his fingertips. "We need to put a piece of bamboo under here, or it'll start shaking again in a few days."
"Okay!" Liu Qing agreed, putting down the plane and rummaging through his toolbox. He didn't notice the sawdust on his dark face. "Today, Shopkeeper Wang from East Street said that his shop assistants wanted to order our pancakes for a midnight snack and asked if we could deliver them tonight." He touched the back of his head, a little hesitant. "But the roads will be dark at night and I'm afraid it will be difficult to walk."
"I'll go with you!" Xiaoyanzi ran over, chewing half a steamed bun, her eyes blurred by the heat in her mouth. "The cotton cloak my brother gave me is thick enough, and there are fewer people on the street at night, so pushing the cart is fast!" She pointed to the bamboo basket in the cart. "I can also bring back the empty jars I collected today so I can pickle new radishes tomorrow."
Xiao Jian pulled an oil-paper bag from his sleeve pocket. Inside was a few pieces of silver and a string of copper coins. He placed it on the stone table and pushed it towards Liu Qing. "This is today's income. Please count some. I've asked Zheng Biaotou to find a carpenter to add a small partition to the stall tomorrow. I'll put the sauce on top and the batter on the bottom to prevent it from spilling." He saw that Liu Qing was hesitant to speak, and added, "I'll put the money in the account. You can pay me back when you make money."
"Brother Xiao Jian, what are you talking about!" Liu Qing pushed the silver back, and the calluses on his palm rubbed against Xiao Jian's hand. "When we became sworn brothers, we agreed to share happiness. You've helped us so much, and we haven't thanked you yet!" His dark face flushed red, and he grabbed a hot steamed bun and stuffed it into Xiao Jian's hand. "Eat it! Hongmei's steamed brown sugar buns, they're so sweet!"
Liu Hong came out of the kitchen carrying a bowl of hot soup, steam rising from the edge of the porcelain bowl. She placed the soup on the small stool in front of Grandma Zhang and said softly, "Grandma Zhang, this is rice soup with ginger. Drink it while it's hot to warm you up." The old woman took the bowl tremblingly, her skinny hand resting on the back of Liu Hong's hand, tears streaming down her eyes: "Good children, Grandma's life has not been lived in vain. I met such kind-hearted people like you..."
"Grandma, please stop talking like that." Little Swallow came over and put a newly sewn cotton vest on Grandma Zhang. It was made of scraps of cloth, colorful but exceptionally thick. "When spring comes, we'll plant some vegetables, enjoy the cool under the grape trellis in the summer, and eat pancakes around the stove in the winter. Life will get sweeter and sweeter!" She said as she peeled an orange for the old woman. The sweet fragrance of the orange segments mixed with the warm fragrance of the coal stove filled the room.
As dusk drifted into the courtyard, Xiao Jian was helping Liu Qing oil the axle of her stall. The tung oil shone brightly in the firelight, sizzling as it seeped into the wood grain. Xiao Yanzi squatted by the coal stove, turning over roasted sweet potatoes. The skins were charred black, and honey-like juice oozed from the cracks. She poked them with a branch and called to Liu Hong, "Sister Hong, the sweet potatoes are almost done! Have you sealed your pickle jar yet?"
"I've already sealed it!" Liu Hong came out of the house, holding a small account book in her hand. She flipped through it in the light of the coal stove, making crooked marks on the paper with charcoal pencil. "I sold 62 coins today. I spent 8 coins on soybeans and 15 coins on medicine for Grandma Zhang. I still have..." She counted the coins, her fingertips pausing on the three words "hand warmer bag", "enough to make a new hand warmer bag for the little pigeon!"
Little Douzi squatted by the stove holding a sugar-painted tiger, licking the tiger's ears with his tongue, and said incoherently: "Sister Hong, I want a hand warmer too, with a rabbit painted on it!" Little Pigeon immediately responded: "I want the one with plum blossoms! Sister Xiaoyanzi said plum blossoms are the most fragrant!" This made everyone laugh, and the flames in the coal stove crackled even more happily.
After repairing the cart, Liu Qing rubbed his frozen hands and leaned over to the stove. The firelight reflected on his dark face, making it warm. "Tomorrow I'll buy some coarse twine and sew the tarpaulin to make it tighter so it won't leak when the wind blows and the rain falls." He suddenly remembered something and pulled out an oil-paper bag from his pocket. "I saw someone selling chestnuts when I was closing the stall today, so I bought some and will cook them in my porridge tomorrow."
"I'll peel the chestnuts!" Xiaoyanzi immediately raised her hand and scratched a small hole in the chestnut shell with her fingernails. A layer of brown fuzz stained her fingertips. "My mother said that we should choose round and plump chestnuts because they are sweet when cooked. I'll teach you a method later. Soak them in salt water and then boil them. The shell will come off as soon as you peel it!" As she spoke, she peeled a chestnut and stuffed it into Liu Hong's mouth. "Is it sweet?"
Liu Hong nodded, a chestnut in her mouth, a little chestnut flesh on the corner of her mouth, her eyes curved into crescents. "Sweet! Sweeter than the sugar-roasted chestnuts sold in the shops in the city." She wiped her hands and picked up a pair of almost-finished cotton shoes from the stone table. The soles were densely stitched. "This is for Grandpa Zhang. I added a layer of cotton to the toe so my feet won't get cold when I walk."
Xiao Jian added a piece of coal to the stove, sparks flying and falling. He looked at the three people chatting and laughing around the fire. His sister's red silk ribbon fluttered in the flames, Liu Qing's coarse cloth cuffs were stained with sawdust, and Liu Hong's hair was still tangled with cotton thread. His heart suddenly felt full. He pulled a small cloth bag from his sleeve pocket. Inside was a few newly made bamboo pens. "These are for Liu Hong. They'll be handy for accounting."
Liu Hong took the bamboo pen. The pen holder was polished smooth and wrapped with a non-slip red cloth. She rubbed it gently with her fingertips, her eyes a little hot: "Brother Xiao Jian, you always..." Before she finished her words, she was interrupted by Xiao Yanzi, "What's the matter! We are brothers and sisters, we should think about each other!" She raised the chestnut shell in her hand and threw it into the stove. Sparks exploded with a "bang", scaring Xiao Douzi so much that he ran into Liu Qing's arms.
As night deepened, the lights in the courtyard were still on. Sweet potatoes simmering on the coal stove exuded a sweet aroma, while pickled radishes on the stone table still smelt sour. Children, clutching their sugar paintings, fell asleep on the kang, their faces stained with sugar residue. Little Swallow crouched at the table, helping Liu Hong keep accounts. Xiao Jian and Liu Qing were mending bamboo shovels for the next day, and occasionally the gentle tapping of wooden mallets could be heard.
Moonlight streamed in from the window, coating the blue brick floor with a layer of silver frost, but it couldn't penetrate the warmth of the room. Little Swallow looked up at the three people gathered around the fire, then touched the jade pendant with the Chinese character "义" (righteousness) at her waist, warmed by the fire. Suddenly, she felt that no matter how cold the winter nights in the capital, as long as she had these people around her, this warm lamp, and this smoke, she wouldn't be afraid of anything.
The coal in the stove gradually burned into red charcoal, casting the shadows of four people gently swaying on the wall, like the warmest painting, slowly spreading a sweet fragrance in the cold night of the courtyard.
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