Early winter in Xiaoyu Township always carried a touch of lazy charm, with morning mist winding through the curls of smoke rising from grey-tiled roofs. Yufang supported her lower back, leaning against the bamboo fence as she gazed absently at the rows of greenhouses along the distant field ridges. Being three months pregnant made her waist feel slightly tight, though her belly had not yet begun to show, tucked away only as a gentle curve beneath a freshly tailored pale lilac lined jacket.
"Madam, you're standing in the draught again!" Mier ran over from the back courtyard, carrying a batch of sun-dried persimmons, bits of straw still clinging to the ends of her hair. "The Master sent word this morning that he'll be here before noon. You ought to be inside warming up with some ginger tea."
Yufang smiled and took the bamboo sieve, her fingertips brushing against the layer of frost sugar caked on the persimmons. "He said he was bringing winter bamboo shoots from the back mountains. I have to make sure the stove's heat is properly managed." Even as her voice trailed off, a few collared doves suddenly startled from the distant bamboo grove, fluttering their wings over the villagers' thatched roofs.
Chapter 102