Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

At that time, there was no road connecting every village. Zhoujia Village was more than 20 minutes away from the main road, and it was still a dirt road in front of us.

Li Xiaohai knew they were almost at his maternal grandmother's house, where he could play with his two cousins, going up the mountain and down the river. He didn't throw a tantrum along the way.

When they get tired, they just let Li Xiangdong or Zhou Yuqin carry them for a while.

As we got closer, we could see seven or eight children playing by the river at the village entrance.

The water here is shallow, and the riverbed is free of silt and sand, consisting only of small stones and pebbles, so villagers feel safe letting their children play here.

Zhou Yuqin saw her elder brother's two sons playing in the river and called out, "Zhengqian, Zhengkun."

"Auntie~!"

"Uncle~!"

Zhou Zhengqian and Zhou Zhengkun looked up and saw Li Xiangdong's family on the riverbank, and hurriedly ran up the riverbank.

The remaining children ran over when they saw Zhou Yuqin. The entire Zhou family village shared a common ancestor, so some of the children called her aunt and uncle, while others called her sister and brother-in-law.

"cousin."

"Xiaohai, you're here too."

"Dad, put me down quickly."

After getting off the ground, Li Xiaohai ran to his two cousins.

"Hello, uncle."

Seven-year-old Zhou Zhengqian first greeted her politely, then looked at Zhou Yuqin and asked, "Auntie, why are you back? My grandma said you wouldn't be back until the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Five-year-old Zhou Zhengkun pulled Li Xiaohai over and asked, "Auntie, where's my little sister?"

"Your sister is on my back."

Li Xiangdong smiled and turned around to show them.

Zhou Zhengkun saw Li Xiaozhu peeking at them and called out with a smile, "Xiaoqi, come down and play with your cousin!"

As he spoke, he patted Li Xiaozhu's bottom through the wrapping cloth.

Li Xiaozhu saw seven or eight dark-skinned children suddenly appear, and she was even patted on the shoulder. She twisted and turned, crying out, "Daddy...Daddy..."

Seeing her daughter about to cry, Zhou Yuqin reached out and patted her head, laughing, "What about when you're scared? Don't you recognize your two older brothers from your uncle's family? And these are all your brothers too, and your uncle as well."

"Your little sister is still young, please don't tease her."

Li Xiangdong looked at the two brothers who were barefoot and wearing only shorts, and asked, "Where are your shoes and clothes?"

"It's by the river, I'll go get it now."

"Big cousin, wait for me."

Li Xiaohai chased after Zhou Zhengqian down the riverbank.

Zhou Yuqin looked at her two nephews, who were dressed and wearing shoes, and asked, "Is anyone home now?"

Zhou Zhengqian replied, "Auntie, there's no one at home right now. My grandparents have all gone to work in the fields."

Zhou Zhengkun stared at the oil paper package in Li Xiangdong's hand and leaned closer, "Uncle, what's in these oil paper packages you and Aunt are holding? Is it something delicious?"

"These are the candies I bought for you."

Li Xiangdong opened a bag, grabbed a handful of assorted candies for Zhou Zhengqian and Zhou Zhengkun, and then grabbed another handful and put it in Zhou Yuqin's hand, indicating that she should share it with the other children.

Zhou Zhengkun ate a piece of candy and put the rest in his pocket. "Uncle, this candy is really delicious. Are you thirsty? Let's go home first. My grandparents will be off work for a while."

“I’m not thirsty. Let’s not go back yet. Your aunt and I will go to the fields first to say hello to your grandparents.”

Li Xiangdong declined Zhou Zhengkun's offer. He was carrying so many things and hadn't run into anyone the whole way. If he went straight home, all his effort would be wasted!

Zhou Yuqin understood her man's little scheme. Although she found it amusing, she didn't object.

The couple were surrounded by a group of children as they walked towards their workplace in the village.

"Grandpa, are you going to work in the fields? Have a smoke."

"Auntie, is that your grandson in your arms? Give the child some candy to sweeten his mouth."

“This uniform was issued by my work unit. Which factory do you think I work in? I don’t work in a factory. I work for a railway company in Beijing.”

"I've only been working for a few days, and my monthly salary is only 23 yuan. It's alright, just average. I'm serving the people no matter where I am."

Li Xiangdong greets everyone he meets; men offer him a cigarette, and women and children give him two pieces of fruit candy.

He specially bought a whole bar of fruit candy and two kilograms of fruit candy at the department store for this moment!

They've been swaggering around like this all along, isn't that what they're after?

Ideally, the news should spread throughout the entire village before lunchtime, and then we should try to get the news to the nearby villages within two days.

Although Li Xiangdong no longer lives in the countryside, he must salvage his former reputation!

Zhou Yuqin pulled her husband aside and asked softly, "Wasn't your salary 18 yuan? When did it become 23?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "This is ridiculous. Why did you reveal my salary?" "Ahem, your man has been doing well at work, so my salary has been raised."

"Oh, I see. Let's go quickly."

Zhou Yuqin felt somewhat embarrassed as she looked at the growing number of fellow villagers around her; there weren't this many people when she got married.

They walked and stopped frequently, and more and more people joined them, including the villagers who had received cigarettes and candy. Many who loved watching the excitement turned around and followed them.

Fortunately, the atmosphere was quite lively, otherwise I would have thought they were going to start a peasant uprising.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhou, who were at work, heard from their eldest grandson, who had come to deliver the news, that their daughter and son-in-law had returned.

Mr. Zhou looked dejected and didn't want to move, but Mrs. Zhou pulled him along and he reluctantly came out of the field. His older brother and his wife were with them, along with their youngest daughter, Zhou Yuqi, who had just turned 17 this year.

They stood at the edge of the field and saw a large group of people approaching from not far ahead, with their daughter and son-in-law walking at the front.

"Hey Zhou, come quick! Your son-in-law brought you lots of good stuff. I even got to eat a piece of candy."

"Cousin, you're so lucky! Your son-in-law brought so much stuff when he came to visit. We're going to eat this forever."

"Auntie, look at this big piece of fatty meat, it's oozing oil! I also saw two bottles of oil in your son-in-law's bag!"

"My second uncle has never seen such a generous son-in-law in his entire life. Look at this whole carton of Daqianmen cigarettes and two bottles of Erguotou liquor. Your family is truly blessed!"

"Sister-in-law, your son-in-law has made something of himself; he's working at the train station now. You two can look forward to a comfortable life from now on!"

Hearing everyone say that their family was blessed, Zhou's mother echoed their words, and Zhou's father finally showed a hint of joy on his face.

Brother Zhou and his wife happily accepted the items from Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin, their eyes constantly scanning their brother-in-law's clothes. The fabric was really nice!

Zhou Yuqin's younger sister, Zhou Yuqi, came over and asked, "Brother-in-law, did you really go to work for the railway?"

Li Xiangdong smiled and nodded, "Mm".

"Tsk tsk, sis~"

Zhou Yuqi gave him a strange look, then pulled her sister Zhou Yuqin aside to chat.

Li Xiangdong didn't care about his sister-in-law's attitude. He looked at Zhou's father and mother and respectfully greeted them, "Father, Mother."

Mr. Zhou hummed in agreement, and Mrs. Zhou said warmly, "It's fine to come, but why bring so much stuff? Don't do this next time."

She hugged Li Xiaohai and asked, "Where's our daughter? Is she staying at home?"

Li Xiaohai pointed to the bundle on Li Xiangdong's body, "Grandma, my sister is on my dad's back."

"I didn't even realize it until my eldest grandson told me."

Zhou's mother stepped forward and unwrapped the bundle.

Li Xiaozhu, who had never seen so many people before, buried her head in her bundle early on.

She was pulled out by Zhou's mother. She huddled together, glanced timidly at her mother, closed her eyes, pouted, and cried, "Father...Father..."