Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

The group chatted as they walked home.

Zhoujia Village is surrounded by water on all sides, with mountains to the north and east. It will be designated as a national forest park in the 90s.

Not far to the west of the village is a large reservoir, the Ming Tombs Reservoir, which was built in 58.

At that time, Li Xiangdong had not yet gone to the countryside. He only heard from his father-in-law after he got married that a total of 400,000 people were mobilized when the reservoir was built.

Surveying, design, and construction were carried out simultaneously, and the reservoir was completed in less than six months.

The father-in-law's family also participated in the construction of the reservoir. His wife, Zhou Yuqin, even went to the construction site to boil water for everyone.

The whole family arrived home chatting and laughing.

As soon as I entered the courtyard, neighbors from both the front and back yards came to visit.

They didn't go inside; they just stood in the yard chatting warmly with Mr. and Mrs. Zhou.

Li Xiangdong, being the prospective son-in-law, certainly couldn't go into the house by himself at this time, leaving his enthusiastic neighbors stranded in the yard.

He carried meat and oil in one hand, sugar and wine in the other, and a large bottle of cigarettes tucked under his arm. He stood in the middle of the courtyard for everyone to admire and comment on.

"Mother, it's getting late. Why don't you let my wife start the fire first?"

Seeing that everyone had finished talking, Li Xiangdong put down what he was holding, took out a watch from his pocket, and checked the time.

Then, under everyone's gaze, he breathed on it, carefully wiped the watch face, and put it back in his pocket.

He had forgotten about it when there were many people around, but luckily the villagers were very hospitable, and even after he got home, some people came to visit him.

The atmosphere became even more lively as soon as the watch was revealed.

There were too many people at the field just now, so Zhou's parents didn't notice anything else, except that their heads were buzzing.

Now, when neighbors come to visit, the elderly couple are flattered with words they've never heard before. They blush with embarrassment, but at the same time, they feel exceptionally smug.

After giving each person a few candies and cigarettes, Zhou's mother walked lightly and proudly to her daughter and son-in-law, inviting them into the house.

"Dongzi, come inside and rest. You must be tired from carrying so much stuff all the way. Why don't you two take the baby and go to the kang (heated brick bed) to sleep for a while?"

"No need, Mother. We came by bus, it's not tiring, so you don't need to worry."

After entering the house, Li Xiangdong put the things he was carrying on the table, pulled out a stool, and plopped down on it. He had been exhausted from all that activity that morning.

Zhou Yuqi leaned close to her sister's ear and whispered with a laugh, "Why is my brother-in-law so fond of showing off these days? Who holds a watch up to the sun to tell the time? Can you even see it? Doesn't he worry about it shining in his eyes?"

Zhou Yuqin chuckled and patted her younger sister, "Stop talking nonsense. All these things were bought for you by your brother-in-law."

“I know, otherwise I wouldn’t have spoken up for him. A while ago, Dad was so angry with him that he didn’t leave the house for several days.”

After Zhou Yuqi finished speaking, she pinched Li Xiaozhu in her sister's arms and ran into the house to put away her floral fabric, clam oil, and face cream.

Zhou's mother poured a glass of water for her daughter and son-in-law, saying, "Are you thirsty? Have some water first."

Li Xiangdong was indeed a little thirsty. He had talked too much since entering the village. He picked up his water cup and took a couple of sips. "Mom, is there any chores at home? If there's anything I can do, please let me know. Don't be shy."

Zhou's mother smiled and said, "You should rest now, there's no work for you to do in our house."

"Why isn't there any work?"

Zhou's father, holding Li Xiaohai's hand and accompanied by his two grandsons, went into the house and looked at Li Xiangdong, saying, "If you're not tired, go and chop some firewood in the yard."

"...Okay...okay."

Li Xiangdong got up and walked into the yard. What could he say now? Although he had been up all morning and hadn't even warmed his seat yet, he had already said what he wanted to say.

"What are you saying? What kind of son-in-law comes to someone's house and asks them to chop wood?"

Zhou's mother stopped Li Xiangdong, who was about to leave the house, and said, "Don't listen to your father. If you're not tired, sit down and drink some water. You don't need to chop the firewood in the yard. Wait until your older brother comes back and let him do it."

“That’s right, Dad. My brother-in-law came all the way here and brought you good cigarettes and wine. How can you let him do the work?”

Zhou Yuqi had just put her things back in her room. Since she had received a favor from Li Xiangdong, she was bound to say a few good words for him.

"Father, Mother, we have something else to take care of when we come back this time."

When Zhou Yuqin saw that his parents had come into the house, she explained the matter of changing his status from a rural resident to an urban resident.

Mr. and Mrs. Zhou were overjoyed when they heard this!

Thinking about how her daughter would become a true city dweller, Zhou's mother said excitedly, "Honey, go to Dewang's house first and get the certificate for our daughter."

"What are you waiting for? I'll go now."

Mr. Zhou got up and was about to leave.

Zhou's mother quickly stopped him, saying, "Don't rush. If it weren't for our son-in-law's grandfather doing us a favor, our daughter might not have been able to get government-subsidized grain rations for a long time. We don't have anything to offer, so you, as the father-in-law, should spend some more time chatting with your son-in-law."

Zhou's mother mainly wanted to ease the tension between her son-in-law and father-in-law, so she looked at her son-in-law and asked, "Dongzi, would you like some more water?"

Li Xiangdong smiled and shook his head, saying, "No need, I'm not thirsty anymore."

"Then we won't drink. You stay inside and chat with your father for a while, and I'll go start the fire and cook for you."

When Zhou's mother turned her head, she saw her little girl open the bag of candy on the table, eating a piece while her hand kept picking at it.

"Why are you messing around with all this sugar? Take the meat and oil and come with me to the kitchen to start the fire."

Zhou Yuqi dodged her mother's hand and said unhappily, "Mom, you go ahead and do it yourself. I'm picking out some pretty candy wrappers."

"Mom, let me go with you. Let's talk."

Zhou Yuqin handed her daughter to her younger sister, picked up the meat and oil on the table, and followed her mother out of the house.

After entering the house, Li Xiaohai, who had been chatting with his two cousins, finally couldn't hold back his long-held desire and said, "Grandpa, Dad, I want to go fishing with my cousins."

"Go."

Father Zhou looked at his two grandsons and instructed them, "You two take your younger brother to play at the village entrance, and don't go anywhere else, understand?"

"I know, Grandpa."

Zhou Zhengkun and Zhou Zhengqian pulled Li Xiaohai and ran outside.

As Zhou's father watched his grandson run off, he shouted, "Put the candy in your pocket at home before you go out."

"understood."

Li Xiangdong then added, "Be careful, come back for dinner after playing for a while."

"I know dad."

"Uncle, we understand. We will keep a close eye on Xiaohai."

Zhou Yuqi, holding Li Xiaozhu, glanced at her father and brother-in-law sitting on either side of the table. She picked up a bag of candy from the table and said, "Why don't you and your aunt go inside and play?"

Li Xiaozhu nodded, "Auntie...okay..."

Soon, only Li Xiangdong and his father-in-law were left in the room. The key point was that his father-in-law kept his head down and ignored him.

Li Xiangdong thought to himself, "Has my sister-in-law's help already failed so quickly?"

He sighed inwardly, "I still have to rely on myself!"