A heated kang was built on the first floor of the Ying family's new house. The kang was against the south wall and connected to the stove in the kitchen. The fire could heat the kang and hot water at the same time, making it very convenient for drinking tea or washing.
Mu Huaixi boiled a large pot of water while heating the kang at noon. Ying Mingcheng wiped his body with the hot water, put on a short-sleeved shirt and went into the house.
Perhaps because the stove was not lit, he felt that the smell in his living room was less sooty than that in other houses, not to mention that Mu Huaixi had placed a plate of fruit, the name of which he did not know, on the head of the kang, and the house was filled with a faint fresh fruity fragrance.
He completely handed the new house to Mu Huaixi, just hoping that she could decorate the new house according to her own preferences, hoping that she could live more comfortably and have a stronger sense of belonging, but he didn't expect that she gave him a surprise.
The decoration of their house was simple and a bit hasty. It was already a rush to lay the cement before the freezing. Ying Mingcheng also heard that she insisted that Xiao Gao find a waterproof ground film before laying the floor, saying that she was afraid of moisture in spring and summer.
The furniture was also made by fellow villagers. There is only a dining table and four chairs in the living room now, but the table is covered with a tablecloth with ruffles, the chairs are tied with cushions of the same color, and the kangqin at the head of the kang is covered with a matching cover cloth, which makes the room look exquisite in an instant.
Ying Mingcheng had only a vague concept of home before, but now standing here he felt that this was what home should be like.
This is their home.
When Mu Huaixi went downstairs with a red face, she saw Ying Mingcheng coming in. She glanced at the sky outside and wanted to ask him to draw the curtains on the east side of the kang. Her house did not have a yard, and if someone passed by, they could see the house clearly.
But Ying Mingcheng was heading that way, and she thought he was also going to pull the curtains, so she didn't say anything. Unexpectedly, he was heading for the vase on the windowsill.
Mu Huaixi liked the fluttering cattails by the lake very much, so she cut a large bunch and brought them back. She also found a bamboo tube, wrapped it with hemp rope, and placed it on the windowsill as decoration.
Ying Mingcheng pulled out the cattail reeds she had specially trimmed with one hand, and the tiny cattail flowers flew out, causing him to sneeze.
Mu Huaixi found it funny and was about to go down to stop him when she saw him take out a branch of wintersweet full of flower buds from his side and carefully put it into the vase.
This wintersweet branch was as long as a forearm, with seven or eight branches branching out from the main trunk, each with a bud. One could imagine the grandeur of the blossoms. However, such a long and large branch was much heavier than the bunch of cattail grass, and the long bamboo tube couldn't support it at all; it fell to the side when it was placed inside.
Mu Huaixi watched him frantically trying to pick up the wintersweet branch, frowning as he pondered how to make the bamboo vase stand still. He couldn't help but shake his head and hurried downstairs to his side. "Where did you get this?"
"I met it on the mountain." Ying Mingcheng waved the plum branch in front of her. Seeing her raise her little face and sniff it non-stop, he smiled as he spoke. "Didn't you like the plum blossom that Sister Pei put on the table last time?"
Mu Huaixi couldn't help but smile even wider. She just glanced at the bottle of winter plum a few more times, but she didn't expect him to notice it. It's just...
"Then you don't have to move all the wintersweet trees back, right?"
A closer look revealed that the wintersweet in Ying Mingcheng's hand was even thicker, obviously sawed off from the main trunk. Mu Huaixi tried to hold back her laughter, but she couldn't help laughing. She laughed so hard that she held onto his arm and couldn't stop. Ying Mingcheng was really too honest!
Ying Mingcheng's old face flushed. He had never done such a thing before, and he never thought that wintersweets were fragrant. But after seeing it in the mountains this time, he inexplicably remembered that she would like it. If it weren't for the cold weather and the difficulty of digging the ground, he really planned to carry the whole tree back.
Mu Huaixi laughed so hard that tears came out. She felt the stiffness and confusion of the person next to her and bumped his arm, "Let me do it."
"Then I'll go serve the food." Ying Mingcheng decisively gave up flower arranging, which was not in his nature, and went to the kitchen to serve the hot food.
Mu Huaixi didn't expect him to come back early. In addition to cleaning the house and chopping firewood, he also went to the cafeteria to pack up meals. She couldn't stop smiling. She smiled and dismembered the whole branch of wintersweet into scattered branches. In addition to placing them in the bamboo joints on the windowsill, she also sent a branch to the bedroom.
With the wintersweet, the shriveled citrons in the bamboo basket on the kang were no longer attractive. Mu Huaixi sent them to the kitchen, intending to burn them as firewood. Just as she opened the door, Ying Mingcheng pushed her back, "It's windy, you stay in the house."
Today the cafeteria served stewed eggs, stir-fried meat with dried radish and kelp soup. Mu Huaixi really liked the taste of the kelp soup and ate a fist-sized steamed bun with the stewed eggs.
Ying Mingcheng ate as slowly as she did at first, but when he saw her put down her chopsticks, he devoured the three lunch boxes like whirlwind, then took the initiative to clean the table and took the dishes back to the kitchen to wash them.
Mu Huaixi didn't argue with him. She walked around the room twice and took out a bag of fried rice, intending to make some brown sugar water for him. The other person was thinking of bringing her flowers when he went on a mission. She couldn't just not show any appreciation!
She made some red soup popcorn and waited on the warm kang. She saw Ying Mingcheng wash the dishes, sweep and mop the floor, and clean up the house inside and outside before coming to the warm kang.
"Try it quickly," Mu Huaixi hurriedly handed the cup over, thinking that they could finally drink sweet tea and chat together. Unexpectedly, Ying Mingcheng took the cup and poured it directly into his mouth, drinking the brown sugar rice popcorn in one breath.
Mu Huaixi opened her mouth slightly, too shocked to know what to say. She watched Ying Mingcheng add more hot water and walk towards the dining table. She quickly got off the kang and stopped him, "The house is clean enough, take a rest!"
She knew that Ying Mingcheng liked cleanliness and was more concerned about herself. If he wanted to do more, she could do less. But he had just come back from the mountains and was working so recklessly. How could she have the nerve to sit comfortably on the kang?
Mu Huaixi was too embarrassed to say that she felt distressed, so she could only drag the man back to the warm kang under the pretext of being lazy together, and divided the brown sugar water in her cup into two halves, and drank it slowly while talking about the past few days of separation.
Mu Huaixi's range of activities was not large, including the health center, guesthouse, and family quarters. The time they had been apart was not too long, but she always felt that there were things in her heart that she wanted to share with him. Ying Mingcheng was on patrol, and the scenery along the way was all she was familiar with. It was obvious that she was very interested, and he found many little things to tell her.
The warm kang beneath him was cozy, the brown sugar water in his hand was sweet, and the people around him were fragrant. Ying Mingcheng felt as if his body and mind were soaked in the hot spring. His tense thoughts gradually relaxed and emptied, and the fatigue from the patrol road melted away like snow.
He suppressed the urge to sigh in relief, enjoying the long-lost peace, but the people around him stopped talking without him noticing, some were cautious, some were tentative, yet very determined.
"Ying Mingcheng, do you have something to say to me?"
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