Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

'dong dong'

"Uncle, are you awake yet?"

As dawn broke, Zhou Zhengqian and his brother knocked on the window to wake Li Xiangdong.

The two brothers spoke in hushed tones, like thieves, as their uncle had specifically instructed them: work quietly and don't fire a shot.

"You're awake. Go and start a fire."

Li Xiangdong opened his eyes, responded softly, and first arranged for his two nephews to start a fire. He then picked up his work uniform, which had been dried yesterday, put it on, and got off the kang (a heated brick bed). He also woke up Li Xiaohai.

Li Xiaohai rubbed his eyes and mumbled sleepily, "Dad."

Li Xiangdong quickly covered his son's mouth and whispered, "Keep your voice down, get up quickly, aren't you going to eat fried chicken?"

Upon hearing about eating fried bird and monkey, Li Xiaohai immediately sobered up, but his father covered his mouth, so he could only nod repeatedly.

"If you want to eat, dress nicely and come with me."

Li Xiangdong released his hand from his son's mouth, glanced at Zhou's father who was still sleeping beside him, and began to help his son get dressed.

Last night, Zhou Yuqin took her daughter to sleep with her mother, and her father-in-law was sent over by his mother-in-law. This was all thanks to the persuasion he did for Zhou Yuqin.

He earnestly told his wife that respecting elders should not only be reflected in material things.

Elderly people tend to be more thoughtful and tend to keep things to themselves, which can be bad for their health in the long run. Children should communicate and interact with their parents more often and share their innermost thoughts with them.

Zhou Yuqin thought it made sense.

Li Xiangdong felt that he was perfectly suited to be a political worker.

Last night's ideological education was very effective. After Zhou Yuqin took her daughter over, she pulled her mother along, and together with her sister-in-law Zhou Yuqi, the three of them chatted until very late. Even Li Xiangdong, the night owl from later generations, couldn't outlive them.

Their room is still quiet now; everyone is sleeping.

Otherwise, Zhou's mother would have already gotten up and started cooking by this time. With her mother-in-law around, it would be a miracle if that little bird or monkey wasn't fried to a crisp.

Li Xiangdong pulled Li Xiaohai along, and the two tiptoed out of the house. Just as they opened the door, Zhou's father, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), suddenly asked, "Why are you two up so early?"

Li Xiangdong was startled by his father-in-law. He turned to look at Zhou's father lying on the kang and said with a smile, "Didn't we catch some chicks and monkeys last night? I'll go cook them for them now."

Mr. Zhou, still half-asleep, squinted and said, "Tell me honestly, what are you going to do? Sneaking around like this can't be anything good."

Li Xiangdong knew he couldn't lie anymore, so he said, "I'll go fry them up for them."

Mr. Zhou didn't react for a moment, "Fry it? With what?"

Li Xiangdong smiled wryly and said, "Look at the question you're asking. Of course, it's deep-fried."

"Um?!"

Zhou's father instantly regained his senses.

Seeing his father-in-law's unfriendly look, Li Xiangdong quickly pinched Li Xiaohai, who immediately said, "Grandpa, I want to eat."

When Zhou's father saw his grandson staring at him expectantly, he suppressed his anger and waved his hand, "Get lost, I don't know anything about this."

After he finished speaking, he turned over and stopped looking at Li Xiangdong and his son.

"Don't worry, Dad, you're still asleep and have no idea about this."

Li Xiangdong gave his son a thumbs up, and Li Xiaohai grinned as the father and son opened the door and went out of the house.

Before leaving the house, Li Xiangdong glanced at his father-in-law lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), wondering if his father-in-law could still sleep. His father-in-law was a good person, but he was a bit grumpy when he woke up.

One adult and three children, the four of them successfully met in the kitchen.

"Uncle, the fire is ready."

The Zhou brothers looked excited.

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Very good, now you just wait to eat. Remember, do exactly what we said last night. You three are all little men, so you must keep your word."

"Don't worry, Uncle, we will definitely keep our word."

"Uncle, please do it quickly. I'll take care of Auntie. Don't worry about it."

"Dad, Grandma asked, so I just said I wanted to eat it."

"Very good, you are all good children. It's not a waste of love to spoil you."

Li Xiangdong encouraged the three of them and started pouring oil into the small iron pot.

When Sister-in-law Zhou, who was making breakfast, came to the kitchen door, she was surprised to see the four people inside. "Dongzi, what are you all doing?"

Li Xiangdong, who was pouring oil, suddenly stopped, turned his head and saw Sister-in-law Zhou standing at the kitchen door. He breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Sister-in-law, you're awake. Come and make breakfast."

Sister-in-law Zhou nodded and said, "Yes, what brings you here?"

Li Xiangdong said awkwardly, "I didn't do anything. I just blew up the chick-like monkeys they touched last night."

"Ah~ this..."

"Auntie, I want to eat it."

"Oh, eat...eat it."

Sister-in-law Zhou glanced at the oil in the small iron pot, said nothing more, and went into the kitchen, first pinching the ears of her two sons.

She now understood why her two sons had gotten up so early today; they were there to sneak a bite to eat.

The Zhou brothers didn't dare to utter a sound even when their ears were twisted, and Li Xiangdong pretended not to see it. They had all agreed that he would just do his job, and the three brothers would take care of the rest.

The kitchen was now surprisingly harmonious. Li Xiangdong was frying chickpeas on the small stove, while Sister-in-law Zhou was making breakfast on the large stove.

Deep-fried bird-shaped pastries are easy to make and were quickly prepared. Li Xiangdong used chopsticks to pick them up one by one and put them into a bowl.

Looking at the remaining oil in the pot, Sister-in-law Zhou said, "Dongzi, you guys go ahead and eat, don't worry about it."

"Auntie, you eat."

Li Xiaohai picked up a spoon and held it out to feed Sister-in-law Zhou.

Sister-in-law Zhou smiled and said, "Our Xiaohai is so sensible. If your aunt doesn't want to eat, you can eat it yourself."

Li Xiaohai stood on tiptoe, saying, "You eat, Auntie, you eat."

The Zhou brothers, chewing on chickpeas, said, "Mom, you eat this. Uncle's fried food is delicious."

Sister-in-law Zhou smiled and bent down to let her nephew feed her one. "It's quite delicious. Xiaohai, you go and eat with your brother."

Two cans of fried bird-shaped snacks were used to make a large bowl of fried food. Li Xiangdong tried two and found them to be quite tasty.

"Take your bowls and go inside to eat. Don't finish them all, so keep that in mind."

He handed the bowl to the oldest man, Zhou Zhengqian, and then walked out of the kitchen.

"Dongzi, you're up so early? Did you sleep well last night?"

Brother Zhou came out of his room.

Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "I slept well, brother."

When Zhou Zhengqian saw his father, he walked over with a bowl in his hand. "Dad, Uncle fried some bird roe for us. Try it and see if it's good."

"Goodness, is that even a question? It's bound to be delicious."

Brother Zhou saw a bowl of greasy chickpeas and monkeys, grabbed one and threw it into his mouth. He chewed it a couple of times and swallowed it. "Dongzi, you city people really know how to eat."

As he spoke, he walked to the storage room next to the kitchen, took out a hoe, slung it over his shoulder, and walked out.

Li Xiangdong asked, "Brother, where are you going? Are you going to work now?"

Brother Zhou laughed and said, "I'm not going to work. I plan to take this opportunity to check on our family's private plot of land."

"Then you go, brother..."

Before Li Xiangdong could finish speaking, he heard his daughter crying. He quickly went into the storage room and, like his brother-in-law, carried a hoe out and walked out quickly.

"Dongzi, you don't need to go."

"Brother, what are you saying? Can't I even do my part for our family's private plot? Brother, let's go."

"You, Dongzi, you...you've definitely become much more diligent lately."