Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

When Zhou Yuqin saw Li Xiangdong carrying his daughter into the house, she said, "Do you think we've brought too much stuff? Why don't you take less of what you bought? We went out and bought some things this afternoon too."

As she spoke, she laughed and said, "Grandma said you must have really upset my dad, so she took us out to buy him some snacks."

"Cough cough~"

Li Xiangdong coughed awkwardly and said, "It's alright, take them all. We've received a lot of care from your parents over the years in the countryside, so it's only right that we take more."

"Well, I'll listen to you then."

Zhou Yuqin smiled and turned around to take a bundle from the wardrobe.

Li Xiangdong put his daughter on the kang (a heated brick bed), and sat at the head of the kang watching Zhou Yuqin packing. He wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he didn't say anything in the end.

After everything was settled, Zhou Yuqin sat down next to him and asked, "Did nothing happen to you on this trip?"

Li Xiangdong understood his wife's meaning and laughed, "It's alright, don't worry. I made quite a bit of money this time, these things are just..."

Just then, Li's mother pushed open the door and entered. "Third son, didn't you say you didn't make much money? You never tell the truth."

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "Mother, this habit of yours is not good. How can you eavesdrop on your son?"

"Stop talking nonsense. This is the floral fabric you asked me to cut."

Li's mother placed the floral cloth she was holding on the kang (a heated brick bed). "Third son's wife, remember to collect all the money later. A man shouldn't have any money in his hands."

Zhou Yuqin smiled and said, "Mother, I understand."

"Milk..."

Li Xiaozhu, who was playing by herself, saw her mother, rolled over and crawled to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), staring at her with a grin.

Li's mother bent down and patted her granddaughter's head, "How about you sleep with Grandma tonight?"

"don't want..."

Li Xiaozhu turned around and crawled into the kang (a heated brick bed), afraid that her grandmother would take her away.

Li's mother reached out and slapped her bottom, "You little ingrate, if you don't want to go, fine, but I was worried you'd wet the bed."

"No... I need to pee..."

Li Xiaozhu stopped what she was doing, turned to look at her mother, and looked unhappy.

Li's mother continued to tease her, "Come on, did you wet your pants this afternoon?"

"without..."

When Li Xiaozhu saw that her parents were also laughing at her, she frowned, glanced at them, turned around, and climbed to the innermost corner of the wall using both hands and feet.

"So young, yet already knows how to get angry."

When Li's mother saw her granddaughter sitting cross-legged facing the wall with her head resting on it, she couldn't help but smile.

Li Xiangdong watched his mother leave happily, but when he turned around, he found Zhou Yuqin staring straight at him. He sighed, walked to the table, and took out all the remaining money and tickets from his satchel.

Zhou Yuqin exclaimed in surprise, "So many?"

"Okay."

Li Xiangdong looked at Zhou Yuqin, who was counting money with her head down, and said, "Give me the meat and oil coupons inside, and give me some more money. I'm going to return the bicycle now, and I'll also go to Binzi's house. He has connections to exchange meat and oil."

"for you."

"this?"

Li Xiangdong looked at the half-jin of meat coupons and half-jin of oil coupons in his hand, then glanced at Zhou Yuqin and said, "Can't you be a little more generous? We're going back to your home tomorrow. What can we do with this little bit of meat and oil?"

“That’s plenty. This is enough for my parents to eat for half a year, and we also have other things with us.”

Zhou Yuqin got up and took out a wooden box from the back of the wardrobe. This was their little family's secret stash, although there wasn't much money in it.

"What are you doing?"

As soon as Zhou Yuqin put the money into the box, Li Xiangdong took it all out.

“These tickets have expiration dates, why not use them quickly? Don’t worry about it, I’ll exchange them for more tickets next time.”

When Li Xiangdong and Ququ Sun exchanged tickets, they each exchanged 5 jin of meat tickets and 5 jin of oil tickets.

Ququ Sun only dabbled in ticket scalping on the side, and he didn't have many tickets on hand. Fortunately, Li Xiangdong had already told him to prepare more tickets next time.

"Only what you eat is real; otherwise, it's just a few pieces of paper."

Li Xiangdong pinched his wife's cheek. "Don't worry about it. Let's take more so your parents can have some nourishment."

Zhou Yuqin felt a warm glow inside upon hearing this. "Alright, but you don't have to take it all to my house. Leave some for the children at home as well."

Li Xiangdong nodded and looked at his daughter, who was still sulking, and said, "Xiaoqi, come here quickly. Daddy will take you out to play. Do you want to come? If not, Daddy's leaving."

"Play..."

Upon hearing that they were going out to play, Li Xiaozhu excitedly crawled over and opened her arms for a hug.

"You brat, what are you doing picking at the wall for no reason?"

Zhou Yuqin saw the white cement in her daughter's hands and tapped her head, "You're really naughty. I just cleaned the kang (heated brick bed), and you've made a mess of it again."

"You tidy it up a bit more, I'll go out and wash her."

Li Xiangdong picked up his daughter, took her hand and looked at it. There was white ash under her fingernails. "Does it hurt?"

He saw his daughter shake her head and patted her hand. As soon as he finished patting her hand, Li Xiaozhu slapped him across the face.

"Cuckoo..."

Li Xiangdong was stunned. Looking at his daughter in his arms, he said incredulously, "You actually hit me? I'm not taking you out to play anymore."

"Play..."

Li Xiaozhu clung tightly to his neck and wouldn't let go, even blowing on his face.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuqin laughed and said, "Look how filial your daughter is. She even knows to slap you and then give you a sweet treat. Hurry up and go, or it will be completely dark by the time you get there."

Li Xiangdong carried his dutiful daughter into the yard, washed her hands, and then pushed his bicycle out.

Li Xiaohai ran over and asked, "Dad, what are you and my sister going to do? I want to go too."

Li Xiangdong stopped and said, "I'm going to return the bicycle. You can come with me if you want."

"Third Uncle, let's go with you."

Li Xiaojiang and the others also wanted to go out; they were getting restless from being cooped up at home all day.

"Then come over and push the bicycle."

"Okay, Uncle."

Li Xiangdong took a group of children out, and his family didn't object. A Zhe's family and Qian Bin's family were both in the same alley, not far apart, and he was there to keep an eye on them.

As for changing the meat and oil, Qian Bin can handle that himself.

Li Xiaojiang pushed his bicycle ahead and turned around to ask, "Third Uncle, are you and Third Aunt going to Xiaohai's Grandma's house tomorrow?"

Li Xiangdong nodded. "Yes, what's wrong?"

Li Xiaojiang said ingratiatingly, "Third Uncle, can you take me with you? I want to go too."

Li Xiaotao added, "Third Uncle, I want to go too."

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Sure, Uncle San has no objection. As long as your parents agree, I'll take you out for a couple of days."

"That's great, Uncle!"

"We can go out and play now!"

Xiaohai said there's a river near his grandma's house, and we can go there to catch fish.

Looking at Li Xiaojiang and his friends, who were chattering excitedly, Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "They want to go out and play? They'll be getting a beating when they get home."