Chapter 218: The Lovely Little Fuwa
Nian An called out vaguely, "Grandma, it looks good. Wear it."
Song Yushuang smiled and tied the purse to his lapel. The red rope was tied into a knot around his small body. The tiger pattern fit perfectly on his chest, making it look particularly festive.
"Our Nian'an looks like a lovely little lucky doll with the purse on." She pinched Nian'an's cheek gently, her eyes full of pampering.
Jiang Jianhua finished putting away his needlework, walked over to look at Nian'an's purse, and said with a smile, "Your craftsmanship is truly amazing. This tiger embroidery is so lifelike, even more exquisite than the ones sold in jewelry stores in the city."
Song Yushuang smiled and waved her hands: "It's just random embroidery, as long as Nian An can wear it to feel festive."
She looked at the cloth in Jiang Jianhua's hand again, "How's the tailoring of your little jacket going? Do you want me to help you sew a few stitches?"
"No need for you to do it," Jiang Jianhua said quickly, "I can do it myself. You can just rest and play with Nian'an. This fabric is soft, I plan to sew a round collar for Nian'an to put on and take off easily."
She picked up the cloth and measured it on Nian An's body. "Look, the size is just right. Once it's sewn, I'll embroider a small locust flower on the cuffs. It will definitely look better."
Fu Yuanshan brought out a repaired wooden stool from the house and placed it under the eaves: "Now that this stool is repaired, Nian'an can sit on it to eat and play with toys."
He walked over to Nian An, gently picked him up and placed him on a stool, "Try to see if it's stable?"
Nian An sat on the stool, holding the edge of the stool with his little hands, and swayed his body with a smile. The stool was very stable, which made everyone laugh.
In the afternoon, the sun was warm, and Fu Yucheng suggested going to the back mountain to pick some wild hawthorns, which could be used to make hawthorn cakes and soak in hawthorn water, which was sour, sweet and refreshing.
Song Yushuang held Nian'an in her arms, Jiang Jianhua and Fu Yuanshan followed behind, and the group walked towards the back mountain talking and laughing.
The wild grass on both sides of the mountain road was green, and occasionally a few unknown small wild flowers could be seen. Nian'an lay in Song Yu's arms, pointing at the flowers and plants on the roadside curiously, and kept "babbling".
When we arrived at the hawthorn tree on the back mountain, we saw red wild hawthorns hanging on the branches, like strings of small lanterns.
Fu Yucheng stood on tiptoe to pick a bunch and handed it to Nian An: "Be careful, don't prick your hand."
Nian An took the hawthorn, picked up one and put it in his mouth. He squinted his eyes because it was so sour, but he was reluctant to spit it out, which made everyone laugh.
Song Yushuang smiled and said, "This hawthorn is too sour. I need to go home and pickle it with sugar for a few days before it tastes good."
After picking a full basket of hawthorns, everyone walked back slowly.
When passing by the stream, Fu Yuanshan stopped and pointed at the small fish in the water: "Nian'an, look, there are small fish swimming in the water."
Nian'an lay by the stream and put his little hand into the water. The little fish swam away in fright, but he smiled very happily.
Jiang Jianhua smiled and said, "When the weather gets warmer, we'll bring Nian'an to the creek to play in the water. It will definitely be more lively."
After returning home, Song Yushuang poured the hawthorns into a basin, added water to clean them, and picked out a few plump ones, pickling them with sugar in a porcelain jar. "This jar of pickled hawthorns will be used in a few days when Nian'an gets cravings. We can take out some and eat them. The rest will be used to make hawthorn cakes and give some to the neighbors to try."
Jiang Jianhua hurried to help, removing the core and chopping the hawthorns, while Fu Yucheng lit a fire in the kitchen, preparing to make hawthorn puree.
For dinner, Fu Yucheng made pumpkin porridge, which was Nian'an's favorite, and also fried a plate of shredded green peppers and potatoes, which was light and refreshing.
Nian An sat on a small stool and drank the porridge with a small spoon. Although some of it spilled, he ate it very seriously.
Song Yushuang sat beside him, wiping the corners of his mouth from time to time: "Our Nian'an is becoming more and more capable and can even eat by himself."
At night, after Nian An fell asleep, Song Yushuang and Jiang Jianhua sat under the oil lamp, one sewing purses and the other making small jackets.
Yun Tangyin leaned against the headboard, watching them busying themselves, and said with a smile, "Mom, sister-in-law, don't stay up too late, go to bed early."
"It's almost done," Song Yu said, sewing non-stop. "Just add a tassel to the purse and it'll be finished. Jianhua's jacket will be almost done too, right?"
Jiang Jianhua nodded, the needle and thread in his hand moving quickly. "Well, the only thing missing is the locust flowers on the cuffs. I'll be done with them once I finish them. Look, how are these little locust flowers?"
She held up the cloth, and the small locust flowers on the cuffs were lifelike, with light yellow petals and tender green calyx, and were particularly delicate.
Song Yushuang smiled and said, "It's really beautiful. Jianhua, your craftsmanship is getting better and better."
The next morning, Jiang Jianhua gave the finished jacket to Nian An to wear. It was made of light pink fabric and had small locust flowers embroidered on the cuffs. Nian An looked like a little dumpling in it, very cute.
Fu Yucheng smiled and said, "Nian'an looks even more handsome in his new clothes. Come on, Dad will take you to the yard to play on the wooden horse."
Nian An happily ran out following Fu Yucheng, the corners of her jacket fluttering gently in the wind.
Near noon, Aunt Zhang came over with a basket of freshly steamed buns. "I made some multi-grain buns and gave them to you to try. They're better than white flour buns."
She looked at Nian'an wearing new clothes and said with a smile, "This child looks really good in new clothes, just like the dolls in the New Year pictures."
Song Yushuang took the steamed bun and said with a smile, "Thank you, Aunt Zhang, you always think of us so much."
At lunch, everyone sat around the table, eating multi-grain steamed buns, accompanied by shredded green peppers and potatoes and egg soup. It was simple but extremely sweet.
Nian An sat on a small stool, eating a steamed bun with relish, occasionally drinking a sip of egg soup, his little face full of satisfaction.
After dinner, when Song Yushuang was clearing the dishes, she found Nian'an squatting under the locust tree in the yard, digging in the soil with his little hands, fiddling with something.
She leaned over to take a look and saw that Nian'an was playing with the pebbles that Fu Yuanshan had dug up that morning. He had even arranged the pebbles into small piles and was muttering to himself.
"You little guy, you're so serious even when playing with stones." Song Yushuang smiled and squatted down to help him pick up the stone that had rolled away. "Be careful not to get your hands dirty. You have to wash them and eat later."
Nian An looked up at Song Yushuang and held up a round white stone: "Grandma, it looks good."
Song Yushuang took the stone and touched it, finding it smooth. "This stone is from the stream in the back mountain. It's been washed by the water for many years to become so round. Tomorrow, let your second uncle take you to the stream to pick up some and string them into a bracelet for you to wear, okay?"
Nian An nodded quickly, his eyes shining like the stars in the sky.
Jiang Jianhua came out after washing clothes and saw the grandfather and grandson playing with stones. He smiled and said, "Nian'an is learning to count. Just now I saw him count every time he placed a stone. Although it was not smooth, he did not count wrong."
Song Yushuang looked at Nian'an in surprise and delight: "Really? Our Nian'an can count now? Come on, count again for grandma."
Nian An picked up the stones, placed them one by one on the ground, and counted them vaguely: "One, two, three..."
Although the voice was not loud, it was extremely serious, causing both of them to laugh.
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