Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Let's go, sister-in-law."

"Dongzi, the big pot of stew you made today smells delicious!"

“Yuqin, when you’re free, bring your kids to my house and have a good chat with your sister-in-law.”

Because they had to work in the afternoon, after lunch everyone chatted briefly before heading home with cigarettes tucked behind their ears, a couple of pastries and a few pieces of candy in their pockets, and their own bowls and chopsticks in their hands.

Li Xiangdong and Zhou's mother greeted the person with smiles as they saw them to the door, and only turned back after the person had gone far away.

"Your father and your older brother are really useless. They got so drunk after drinking so little. Dongzi, you've made a fool of yourselves."

Looking at Zhou's father and eldest brother, who were fast asleep on the table, Zhou's mother said this, but the smile on her face still lingered.

"I'm happy today, but I can't let my dad and older brother lie like this. I'll help them to the inner room to sleep on the kang (heated brick bed)."

Li Xiangdong smiled. His father-in-law and brother-in-law rarely drank alcohol, and neither of them had a high alcohol tolerance.

They drank a bit too much in their excitement today. At first, they were fine, chatting and laughing with everyone after dinner. But after Li Xiangdong and the others went out to see the guests off for a short while, the two of them fell asleep on the table.

"Dongzi, you can't handle a drunk person by yourself. Your sister-in-law will help you."

Sister-in-law Zhou stepped forward to help Li Xiangdong, and the two of them settled their drunken father-in-law and brother-in-law.

After cleaning the house, Zhou's mother took Zhou's sister-in-law and her youngest daughter to the kitchen to wash the pots and dishes.

Sister-in-law Zhou stopped Zhou Yuqin, who was about to leave the house with her, saying, "Yuqin, don't go. There's not much work to do. Go and put my niece to sleep."

"Sister, you don't need to do it. Mom, my sister-in-law, and I can finish it in a little while."

Zhou Dasao and Zhou Yuqi refused to let Zhou Yuqin go into the kitchen again, and instead told her to go inside and coax Li Xiaozhu to sleep.

Zhou Yuqin didn't insist. This was her own home, and there was no need to be so polite. She turned around and went back into the house to coax her daughter to take a nap.

Li Xiangdong walked into the courtyard and asked Li Xiaohai and the others who were playing together, "Have you eaten enough? If you're thirsty, go inside and get some water. I've poured it all for you."

"Dad, you're full."

"Uncle, we are not thirsty."

Li Xiaohai, pulling the little snotty-nosed boy along, with the Zhou brothers following behind, ran to Li Xiangdong's side.

"Dad, I want Little Snotty Brother to take us to catch wild rabbits to play with."

Li Xiangdong bent down and patted his son's head, "Your little snotty brother will be going home soon."

"Uncle Li, I'm not in a hurry to go home."

Little Snotty glanced at the bamboo basket that wasn't yet full of pig feed. "Uncle Li, you go and rest. I'll keep an eye on them."

Li Xiangdong thought for a moment, "Alright, you guys go have fun, remember to come back early."

If it were just the two Zhou brothers, he might still be worried, but with the little snotty-nosed boy following along, he didn't stop him.

Little Slug is a precocious and sensible child; he knows where he can go and where he can't go.

Standing at the kitchen door, Zhou's mother said to her son-in-law, "Dongzi, don't worry. Which kid in the village doesn't run around all day? Nothing will happen to them. You've had quite a bit to drink, so go inside and get some sleep."

"I know mother."

Li Xiangdong's father-in-law's house consisted of three mud-brick houses. The main room was the living room, and there was an inner room on each side, where Zhou's father, mother, and sister-in-law Zhou Yuqi lived.

The east room in the courtyard belongs to Brother Zhou's family, while the west room is the kitchen and a storage room for miscellaneous items and farm tools.

The family of four will sleep in the younger sister's room tonight, while Zhou Yuqi will sleep with her parents.

When Li Xiangdong entered the house, he saw his daughter lying sprawled on a straw mat, fast asleep, while his wife was fanning her with a palm-leaf fan to keep away mosquitoes.

He walked to the kang (a heated brick bed) and pinched his daughter's cheek. "I'm going out for a bit. If you're tired, you can sleep with our daughter for a while."

Zhou Yuqin, fanning herself with a palm-leaf fan, asked, "Where are you going? Where's your son?"

"Xiaohai went to play with Little Snotty and the others. I'm going to help Little Snotty gather the pig feed."

Li Xiangdong smiled. His son had dragged someone out to play, so as the father, he had to clean up the mess.

Zhou Yuqin said "Oh", "It's so hot outside right now, why don't you take a nap first, and go out when it's cooler after you wake up."

Li Xiangdong shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'm not sleepy either. Let's not delay Little Snotty's way home if it gets too late."

"Okay, go ahead."

Zhou Yuqin didn't say anything more after hearing this. Her husband had done the job of cutting pig feed a lot, and it was indeed necessary to cut the pig feed for the little snotty bug in advance.

Pig feed is equivalent to work points, and there is a daily quota. Children in the countryside rely on this to get their share of food.

Li Xiangdong came out of the house, picked up a bamboo basket taller than a little snotty person, and greeted Zhou's mother with a sickle in hand.

"Be careful not to get heatstroke."

"I know mother."

As Zhou Yuqi watched her brother-in-law walk out of the yard, she washed the dishes and said with a smile, "Mom, is my brother-in-law going to reminisce about the bitter past and appreciate the sweet present?"

"How can you talk like that, a young lady like you?"

Zhou's mother scolded her daughter and daughter-in-law, saying, "Dongzi has a kind heart."

Before her eldest daughter went on a blind date, she went to the next village to inquire about Li Xiangdong's character, and the results were mixed.

Most people say that Li Xiangdong is a lazy city boy who can't do heavy work and likes to hide in the shade as soon as the sun comes out.

However, some people said that if any of the children who cut pig feed together encountered difficulties, Li Xiangdong would lend a helping hand.

After returning home, she thought about it carefully before agreeing to let her daughter go on a blind date with Li Xiangdong.

People can be a little naive when they are young, but they must always have a kind heart.

...

...

With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, Li Xiangdong strolled leisurely to the spot where he had met the little slug that morning.

If it weren't for this chance encounter, he would have completely forgotten about that group of children. Perhaps when the little snotty kids grow up, they will still remember him, Uncle Li, deep in their hearts.

"Wow, this grass is amazing!"

Looking at the vast expanse of lush weeds before him, Li Xiangdong couldn't help but marvel at their vitality.

One crop after another, it's truly impossible to cut it all down. This isn't pig feed at all, it's clearly the fine chives of later generations!

They gave themselves to illuminate others.

He bent down to cut pig feed, but his mind was on the stock market, the real estate market, and the 123 link!

Braving the scorching sun, he spent a great deal of effort to fill a whole bamboo basket with pig feed.

With the bamboo basket on his shoulder, he leaned forward and slowly walked towards his father-in-law's house.

'Clang~'

'Clang~'

Li Xiangdong heard someone banging on the village's loudspeaker.

It's actually just an iron lump hanging on a tree. It's the village's means of communication. Before each workday or before a village meeting, someone would knock on it a few times to notify the villagers.

He stood there for a moment, then turned and walked toward the only road leading out of the village.