Chapter 164: Whose little girl are you?
Fu Yucheng laughed enough and scratched Yun Tangyin's red nose with his fingertips: "Silly wife, of course we wash our own."
Seeing Yun Tangyin's expression, Fu Yucheng smiled: "I mean, from now on you don't have to run far in the cold weather, you can just take a comfortable bath in the yard."
He raised his chin towards the stage and said, "Listen, the old man has started singing. Let's find a place sheltered from the wind and sit down to listen."
The stage was already crowded with people. The military wives were sitting on small stools holding their children, most of them holding melon seeds in their hands.
Zhou Desheng's wife was distributing candies to the children. When she saw Yun Tangyin coming, she quickly made room for her.
She stuffed a piece of blue cloth into Yun Tangyin's hand and said, "How about this color for a bellyband? My husband wants to have another daughter."
Yun Tangyin had just taken the cloth when she saw Mrs. Li coming over with the child in her arms.
The little guy in my arms stared with his black eyes, his little hand still holding a piece of uneaten biscuit, and there were crumbs at the corners of his mouth.
Mrs. Li stuffed a piece of floral cloth into Yun Tangyin's hand and said, "I just brought it from the textile factory. I'll give you a piece to make a small jacket. It's perfect for the beginning of spring."
On the stage, Mr. Zhou clapped his hands to wake up the crowd, his voice as loud as a bell: "It is said that Bao Gong was meditating in Kaifeng Mansion when he suddenly heard the deafening sound of drums outside the hall!"
The audience suddenly became quiet, and even the baby who had just learned to run leaned obediently in his mother's arms.
Director Wang stood in the first row holding his little grandson, feeding the child milk cake from time to time.
Fu Yucheng came over with a charcoal brazier and placed it next to Yun Tangyin's feet: "You're still pregnant, warm your feet so they don't get cold."
He added a piece of charcoal into the basin, and the sparks crackled, warming his eyes and brows.
"There will be braised pork at lunchtime. I'll ask the kitchen staff to stew it for a while longer until it's tender and tender for you."
Yun Tangyin was listening intently when she suddenly felt her sleeve being tugged.
I looked down and saw a little girl holding a stuffed animal. "I don't know how to sew this. The rabbit's ears are crooked. Can you help me sew them?"
The little girl's nose was red from the cold, and the cuffs of her coarse cotton jacket were worn to a shine, but they were washed clean.
Yun Tangyin took the puppet and smiled: "Okay, I'll try. Whose little girl are you?"
The little girl was not very old and only came over because she thought Yun Tangyin was friendly.
The two of them were busy working around the charcoal brazier. The little girl's fingers were frozen stiff, but she was learning very seriously. If the thread was crooked, she would take it apart and sew it again. It was obvious that she valued this stuffed rabbit very much.
When the sun reached the top of our heads, the people from the kitchen came over carrying a large steamer.
The steaming white air filled with the aroma of meat filled the courtyard, and the military wives all stood up to help set the table.
Zhou Desheng carried an eight-immortal table to the side of the stage. "Brother Fu, give me a hand! The legs are a little wobbly. I need to put some bricks under them."
His voice was so loud that it startled a few sparrows on the branches and made them land on the firewood pile in the distance.
Yun Tangyin followed Director Wang to pick up bowls and plates from the basket, and the blue and white porcelain bowls made a crisp sound when they knocked against each other.
The director stuffed a red cloth bag into her hand and said, "Here's twenty yuan. Keep it for me. After the baby's full moon banquet, we'll build a new well for the compound. The water from this well always has a bit of an earthy smell."
A smile filled the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes. "People in the hospital have mentioned this to the regiment several times, saying that it's too hard for the wives of the soldiers to carry water."
Fu Yucheng was helping to carry the steamer basket. When he heard this, he turned around and shouted, "Yinyin, remember to steam two more pots of brown sugar buns. Old Zhang has bad teeth and can't eat hard food."
The moment the steamer was opened, the plump white buns began to steam, and the red dots on top looked like newly opened plum blossoms, attracting the children to circle around them.
When the banquet started, twenty tables filled the courtyard, and the greasy shine of the braised pork reflected the smiling faces of the military wives.
Sister Li put a piece of pork ribs in Yun Tangyin's bowl and said, "Eat quickly. These ribs are stewed until they fall off the bone."
She stuffed a piece of meat into her baby's mouth, and the little guy's face was covered with oil after chewing it, which made people around him laugh.
After three rounds of drinks, Zhou Desheng's wife dragged Yun Tangyin towards the woodshed.
Lifting the coarse cloth curtain, a string of bacon hung inside, with oil dripping down the rope. "This is something my mother's family brought."
She stuffed half a piece into Yun Tangyin's hand and said, "You're pregnant, so you have to eat meat every meal."
The cabbages piled in the corner were covered with frost, but they looked juicy, as if they had just been taken out of the cellar.
When they returned to the table, the old man was singing the story of Bao Gong beheading Chen Shimei, and the military wives in the audience were clapping their hands and cheering.
The little girl squeezed next to Yun Tangyin again, holding up a half-eaten meat bun, and stuffed the bun into Yun Tangyin's hand with her other hand: "Sister-in-law, this meat bun is more delicious than the one my mother makes! I'll give you one, thank you for helping me sew the rabbit..."
The little girl ate in a hurry, with minced meat sticking to the corners of her mouth, like a little cat stealing food.
Yun Tangyin already knew her name.
Xiaolan.
He also lives in the compound and is somewhat related to Yuxia.
As the setting sun slanted across the pillars of the stage, the guests gradually dispersed.
Fu Yucheng helped dismantle the stage, and the wooden boards collided with each other, making a dull sound.
Fu Yuanzheng came over carrying a hoe: "The foundation of the bathhouse is almost level. We can start building the walls in the spring."
He stuffed a sweet potato into Fu Yucheng's hand and said, "It's fresh from the stove. It's very sweet."
Yun Tangyin followed Director Wang to clean up the dishes and saw Xiaolan squatting on the ground picking up rice grains. The rice grains were covered with dust, but she picked them up one by one into the dustpan.
"Don't pick it up," Yun Tangyin handed over a steamed bun, "This is for you."
Xiaolan took it with a red face. She tossed the steamed bun between her hands because it was so hot, but her eyes were bright as if stars had fallen from the sky. “Thank you!”
When I got home, dusk had already filled the yard.
Fu Yucheng added a piece of coal to the stove. The flames licked the bottom of the pot, causing the shadows of the two people on the wall to sway.
Yun Tangyin stacked the cloth in the basket, with the peony-red piece on top. The moonlight shone through the window lattice onto it, like a layer of fallen silver.
"Look," Fu Yucheng suddenly pointed out the window, "Director Wang's house has lanterns hung up."
Lanterns in the distance swayed in the twilight, and the laughter of the soldiers' wives drifted over on the wind, mixed with the footsteps of the patrolmen, like a peaceful melody.
Yun Tangyin leaned on his shoulder and heard the rabbit in the bamboo cage chewing on vegetables. The crunching sound was particularly clear in the quiet night.
"Wait until spring," she whispered, "and we'll plant some sunflowers in the yard so they're in bloom when the baby is born."
Fu Yucheng stuffed a hot water bottle into her hand. The warm touch spread from her fingertips to her heart, warmer than a charcoal brazier.
The moonlight rose higher and higher, illuminating the pile of firewood in the yard, the ball of yarn on the windowsill, and this ordinary night filled with the smell of fireworks.
The barking of dogs in the distance gradually faded, leaving only the occasional cough, which gently fell into my dreams in this peaceful courtyard.
Yun Tangyin stroked her still relatively flat belly and looked at the night scene on the windowsill.
Fu Yucheng was lying beside him, breathing steadily.
With a reassuring power...
Yun Tangyin pursed her lips and smiled, leaning on Fu Yucheng's shoulder, gently tracing his facial features with her fingertips.
Fu Yucheng noticed Yun Tangyin's movements and suddenly opened his eyes.
The moment they looked at each other, they couldn't help but laugh out loud, and Fu Yucheng hugged Yun Tangyin even tighter.
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