Chapter 221: I ate a lot, but I lost a lot of weight
Yun Tangyin took the cotton-padded jacket and stroked it gently. The fabric was mixed with freshly fluffed cotton, and it was as soft as a cloud. "Mom, your stitching is so dense that even the wind can't get through. Nian'an will definitely not be cold this winter."
Jiang Jianhua was sewing shoe soles. Hearing this, he looked up and smiled: "My soles are almost done. The thousand-layer soles are very solid. No matter how much you walk, they won't hurt your feet. They are perfect for your little cotton-padded jacket."
A faint aroma of dates wafted from the kitchen. It was the dough left over from steaming buns during the day. Song Yushuang specially made a few small cakes with date paste filling and kept them warm in the embers of the stove.
She got up and went to the kitchen to dig out the small pancakes. The crispy crust was wrapped in hot date paste. As soon as she lifted the lid of the pot, Jiang Jianhua sniffed: "Your cooking skills are really engraved in your bones. Whatever you make is so delicious."
As he was speaking, the urgent chirping of chicks suddenly came from the yard.
The three of them quickly got up and went out to see what was happening. It turned out that Nian'an had woken up at some point and was lying beside the chicken coop. He reached in with his little hand to touch the chicks' red bellybands, scaring the chicks so much that they fluttered around in the coop.
"Little guy, why aren't you sleeping?" Song Yushuang picked him up, his feet still warm from the quilt. "Are you enjoying the aroma of the jujube cakes?"
Nian An buried his face in the crook of Song Yu's neck and hummed in a daze: "Chicken, fly."
Fu Yucheng was woken up and walked out of the east room and laughed: "I'm afraid I dreamed of a bamboo dragonfly flying."
He took Nian An and weighed it. "You haven't eaten in vain these days. It has weighed a lot."
When Nian An heard his father's voice, he immediately woke up and reached out to grab the bamboo dragonfly on the table.
Jiang Jianhua went to the kitchen and got a piece of warmed date cake, broke it into small pieces and fed it to Nian An: "Eat slowly, don't burn yourself."
The little guy's cheeks are bulging, and the date paste on the corners of his mouth looks like rouge.
Fu Yucheng sat on the doorstep, looking at his son with a greedy smile: "Tomorrow I will go to town to buy you some malt sugar, which will be sweeter when eaten with date cakes."
The moonlight quietly climbed up the old locust tree in the yard, casting the shadow of its branches on the newly made small desk.
The varnish that Fu Yuanshan had applied during the day had dried completely and was glowing warmly in the moonlight.
Song Yushuang held Nian'an in her arms and sat at the desk, drawing circles on the surface with her fingers. "When spring comes, ask your father to teach you how to write the character 'Nian'an'. Practice on this desk first, so you won't have to worry about your hands being unfamiliar when you go to school."
Nian An stretched out his little hand and followed the painting, the warmth of his palm leaving a faint mark on the cool table.
He suddenly pointed at the bamboo dragonfly on the corner of the table and said vaguely, "Fly high."
Fu Yuanshan stood at the doorway at some point. Hearing this, he smiled and said, "Second uncle will make you a big one tomorrow, the kind that can fly to the roof."
The chicks in the chicken coop gradually calmed down, and the red silk bellybands looked like two dancing flames in the moonlight.
Jiang Jianhua put the dried hawthorns into a ceramic jar and boiled them into a paste with brown sugar tomorrow.
She scattered a handful of millet into the chicken coop and smiled as she watched the chicks pecking at the food: "These two little guys have grown a lot, their fur is shiny."
Late at night, Nian An finally fell asleep in Song Yu's arms, with some date paste on the corners of his mouth.
Yun Tangyin tucked the child in and smiled as she looked at his little hand holding the bamboo dragonfly. "He didn't let go even when he was asleep. What a loyal child."
Song Yushuang placed the tiger purse next to Nian An's pillow. The purse was filled with dried mugwort. The faint medicinal fragrance mixed with the sweetness of date cakes slowly spread in the room.
When it was almost dawn, Fu Yuanshan went to the back mountain in the dew.
He wanted to take advantage of the coolness in the morning and make a small bamboo bookshelf for Nian'an and nail it next to the small desk.
While cutting bamboo, he found a few newly grown bamboo shoots, so he dug some up, washed them with well water, and handed them to Jiang Jianhua: "Make some stir-fried bamboo shoots with meat for lunch. It's perfect as a side dish for Nian'an."
Jiang Jianhua cut the bamboo shoots into thin strips, so tender that you could squeeze out the water.
Song Yushuang was kneading the dough. She was going to make some scallion rolls today. Nian'an liked to tear them into pieces and eat them with her little hands recently.
The flames in the stove licked the bottom of the pot, spreading the aroma of noodles and green onions throughout the yard, attracting Nian An, who had just woken up, to clap his hands and say, "Roll, eat."
Fu Yucheng was carrying a hoe and going to the fields. Before leaving, he placed an old thread-bound book on the small desk.
The edges of the pages were rounded. It was the Thousand Character Classic that he had read as a child.
"Let him watch for fun first," he said to Song Yushuang, "when he learns a few words, I'll teach him to read."
Nian An immediately climbed onto the small stool and tapped the pages of the book with his little hands, as if he was turning the pages.
In the sunlight, a newly made small bookshelf stood next to the desk. The bamboo strips were shaved thinly and exuded a faint green scent.
Song Yushuang placed Nian'an's straw grasshoppers and bamboo dragonflies there, and suddenly felt that this small corner was even more presentable than the school in the town.
The locust tree leaves rustled in the wind, as if reciting an enlightenment poem that no one could understand, accompanied by Nian An's "ya ya" voice, which spread throughout the warm morning.
Nian'an lay on the small desk, clapping his little hands on the pages of "Thousand Character Classic", making a "clapping" sound, and occasionally he would grab the corner of the book and put it in his mouth.
Song Yushuang quickly pulled the book out, smiled, and patted his palm gently: "This book is for reading, not eating. When you are older, grandma will teach you to recognize the words on it."
Nian'an blinked as if he understood something, then reached out to grab the straw grasshopper on the bookshelf, and his small body shook so hard that the small stool creaked.
Jiang Jianhua walked out of the kitchen carrying the freshly steamed scallion oil steamed buns. The plump white steamed buns were sprinkled with emerald green onions, and the oil droplets sparkled in the heat.
"Nian'an, come and eat the steamed buns." She placed the steamed buns on the stone table, picked up one with chopsticks and tore it into small pieces. "It's fresh out of the pot, be careful of the heat."
Nian'an immediately slid down from the stool, ran to the table, opened his little mouth and waited to be fed. There was still jujube paste on the corners of his mouth that had not been wiped clean last night.
Song Yushuang picked up a steamed bun, broke it in half and handed it to Jiang Jianhua: "You should eat it soon, you've been busy all morning. This steamed bun has risen really well, it's as soft as cotton."
Jiang Jianhua took a bite, and the aroma of onions and noodles spread in his mouth. He squinted his eyes in satisfaction and said, "Your dough kneading skills are really good. I can never make dough this soft."
As the two were talking, Xiaolan's voice came from outside the yard: "Nian'an, I'm here!"
Xiaolan rushed into the yard carrying a small bamboo basket filled with a few ripe purple mulberries.
"My mother picked some mulberries and asked me to bring some to Nian'an." She poured the mulberries onto a plate, and the purple-red fruits rolled all over the floor. "These mulberries are so sweet, not sour at all."
Nian An grabbed a mulberry and stuffed it into his mouth. The purple juice immediately stained his little hands and the corners of his mouth purple, like a little cat stealing food.
Fu Yuanshan came back from outside carrying a repaired hoe. Seeing the children enjoying their meal, he smiled and said, "Xiaolan, do you want to try the scallion rolls made by your second aunt? They are even more delicious than the sugar buns made by your mother."
Xiaolan picked up a steamed bun without hesitation and took a big bite. "It's delicious! Second aunt, can you teach my mother how to make it? I want to eat it every day too."
Jiang Jianhua smiled and nodded: "When I have time, I will go teach your mother. It's not difficult, it just requires the dough to rise well and the chopped green onions to be evenly spread."
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