Chapter 126: Making Fish Soup for You
When Fu Yucheng walked in at dusk, he ran into Yun Tangyin hanging red silk cloth in the yard.
The setting sun dyed the silk cloth golden red, and she looked like a butterfly flapping its wings as she stood on tiptoe to pull the rope.
"Let me do it." He reached out to take the bamboo pole, his fingertips accidentally brushing against her wrist, causing the silver bracelet to jingle.
Yun Tangyin stuffed a piece of freshly steamed rice cake into his arms: "You're back so early today?"
"Captain Zhang looked at my second brother's bamboo screen and said he wanted to make a set for the troop activity room as well. He asked me to come back early to discuss the design."
Fu Yucheng took a bite of the rice cake and suddenly took out a glass candy jar from his pocket. "Here are the new fruit candies from the supply and marketing cooperative."
Just as Yun Tangyin was about to answer it, he dragged her into the house: "Don't worry, I brought you something good."
On the kang table in the inner room stood a bamboo jewelry box, twice as big as the last one, with the lid inlaid with sequins.
"My second brother said this is called a 'star box' and it can reflect light at night."
Fu Yucheng opened the box, and inside lay a pearl flower. The pearls were dyed with round bamboo beads. "It looks like the pattern on the handkerchief you embroidered last time."
Yun Tangyin pinned the pearl flower in her hair and smiled at the bronze mirror: "It's even prettier than the ones in the jewelry store."
She suddenly turned around and hugged him, "Why do you always bring me gifts?"
"I want to make you happy." Fu Yucheng rested his chin on the top of her head. "I'm off tomorrow, so I'll take you to the river to fish. I heard the crucian carp there are the fattest."
"Fishing again?" Yun Tangyin looked up at him with a gleam in her eyes.
"I learned this in the army." Fu Yucheng scratched her nose. "I'll definitely catch enough to fill a basket and make fish soup for you."
The next morning, Yun Tangyin had just mixed the bait when she saw Fu Yucheng come in carrying two bamboo fishing rods with red ropes wrapped around them. "My second brother carved them overnight. He said they're lighter than wooden rods."
As the two were walking towards the river, they met Zhou Ming's mother carrying a basket to wash clothes.
Zhou Mingniang laughed and joked, "Acheng really dotes on his wife. He even prepares his own fishing gear."
Fu Yucheng protected Yun Tangyin behind him, avoiding the muddy puddles on the road: "She has delicate skin and tender flesh. It hurts me if she gets bumped."
Yun Tangyin buried her face behind his back and pinched his waist quietly, but he held her hand in return.
When they reached the river, Fu Yucheng first spread a thick cloth for her: "Sit here, don't catch a cold."
As he was putting bait on the hook, Yun Tangyin suddenly pointed at the water and laughed: "Look at those two water birds, they always swim together."
"Like us." Fu Yucheng suddenly handed her the fishing rod. "Try it?"
As soon as Yun Tangyin grabbed the fishing rod, the float sank suddenly.
She screamed and dodged backwards, but was held in Fu Yucheng's arms: "Don't worry, lift it slowly."
When a shiny silver crucian carp was caught, Yun Tangyin smiled so much that her eyes curved into crescents: "I caught it!"
Fu Yucheng stuffed a red string into her hand and said, "Tie it to the fish and take it home to raise it."
He suddenly lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "When you have a child in the future, bring him here to learn how to fish."
Yun Tangyin's ears turned red, and she leaned on his arm: "Say that again."
At noon, while grilling corn by the river, Fu Yucheng suddenly stuffed a candy into Yun Tangyin's mouth: "Is it sweet?"
"Sweet." Yun Tangyin smiled sweetly, "Sweeter than hawthorn soup."
"Then I'll buy you one every day." Fu Yucheng said while chewing corn, "When the bamboo shop gets its share of the money, I'll make you a pair of gold bracelets. They're heavier than silver ones."
Yun Tangyin suddenly covered his mouth: "Don't say that all the time."
She put something in his palm, "This is for you."
It is a peace talisman with a little tiger embroidered on red cloth with fine stitching.
Fu Yucheng was about to put it in his pocket when she held his hand and said, "Wear it close to your skin."
He unbuttoned his military uniform and tucked the amulet into his shirt, close to his heart: "This way I can't lose it."
When they returned home in the evening, Fu Yucheng was carrying a basket full of fish, and Yun Tangyin was holding the crucian carp tied with a red rope.
When passing by the bamboo workshop, Erzhuzi ran out holding a bamboo fish basket: "Brother Fu, use the fish basket I made!"
The fish basket was woven crookedly, but there was a circle of small wild flowers woven at the mouth of the basket.
Yun Tangyin smiled as she put the fish in: "They look better than the ones sold at the supply and marketing cooperative."
Fu Yuanshan was weaving a bamboo screen in the yard. When he saw them coming back, he suddenly said, "Acheng, look at the cuffs of this soldier. Shouldn't they be made wider?"
Fu Yucheng leaned over to take a look: "If it were half an inch wider, it would look more stylish, like the military uniform I wear."
He suddenly pulled Yun Tangyin over and said, "Ask your sister-in-law to draw the pattern. She has embroidered military uniforms before."
Yun Tangyin picked up a bamboo pen and drew a cuff on the paper: "Adding a fold line like this will make it more straight."
When Jiang Jianhua came out with dinner, he suddenly laughed: "The two of you singing in unison, it's like you were rehearsing a show in the art troupe back in the day."
While eating, Fu Yucheng put a piece of fish belly into Yun Tangyin's bowl: "It has few bones, eat more."
He suddenly remembered something. "Oh, by the way, there's a military party next month. I want you to embroider a red flag as a prop, okay?"
"How big?" Yun Tangyin asked while scooping up the fish soup.
"A three-foot square will do." Fu Yucheng said, "I'll prepare a bamboo frame for you, so you can stretch it to save effort."
Lying on the kang at night, Yun Tangyin touched the amulet on Fu Yucheng's chest and asked, "Do you keep your word when we were fishing today?"
"What?" Fu Yucheng asked in a daze.
"If you bring your children to learn fishing." Yun Tangyin's voice was very soft.
Fu Yucheng suddenly came to his senses and held her tighter in his arms: "It counts. I still have to teach him how to shoot, how to fight, and how to...love you like I do."
Yun Tangyin laughed and punched him: "Nonsense again."
But she snuggled into his arms, listened to his heartbeat and slowly fell asleep.
The next morning, Yun Tangyin had just finished stretching the bamboo frame of the red flag when Fu Yucheng came in with a small bamboo gadget: "My second brother made it. He said he would prepare it for our child."
It is a bamboo rattle with a small peony woven on the drum surface.
Just as Yun Tangyin was about to rock the baby, he stopped her: "Wait until the baby is born before rocking it. Rocking it now will scare him."
Yun Tangyin smiled and put the rattle into the wooden box: "Just as petty as you."
She suddenly remembered something. "Oh, I embroidered a gold border around the red flag. Do you think it's okay?"
Fu Yucheng leaned over to look. The five-pointed star on the red flag shone with golden light. He suddenly pulled her into his arms and said, "It's really beautiful."
The sunlight outside the window fell on the two people's clasped hands, the silver bracelet and the red rope were entangled together, just like their days, tightly, sweetly, and intertwined into a ball.
Yun Tangyin was embroidering a tassel on a red flag when Fu Yucheng suddenly covered her eyes from behind and asked, "Guess what I brought you?"
"Sweet noodle sauce?" Yun Tangyin's nose twitched. "You said yesterday that the supply and marketing cooperative had new stock."
He let go of her hand, and as expected, he held up a clay pot and smiled: "I'll give you fried noodle sauce at noon, to go with your steamed buns."
He glanced at the red flag on the bamboo frame and suddenly said, "The corners of this five-pointed star are embroidered very neatly. It looks more lively than the military flag."
Yun Tangyin stuffed a steamed bun into his mouth and said, "You're the only one who can say that. Oh, and Erzhuzi's mother just came over and asked you to go look at the bamboo baskets her husband made. She said they were always crooked."
Fu Yucheng walked out while biting a steamed bun: "Let my second brother go. He is now a 'master of bamboo weaving'."
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