Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Inside the house.

"Xiao Hui, have some tea."

Li Xiangdong had just poured tea when he invited Wang Zhihui to sit down at the table.

Turning his head, Li Xiangdong saw Zhou Yuqin standing at the door with a cloth bag in her hand. He walked over and asked, "Going to the market? Remember to buy two fish and some pickled cabbage."

"Okay, is there anything else you need to buy?"

Zhou Yuqin is fine with cooking everyday dishes and staple foods, but she's not good at making elaborate dishes.

We had lunch at home today, and to make sure the guests had a good meal, Li Xiangdong ended up having to step in.

"Buy meat."

Li Xiaozhu ran over and hugged Zhou Yuqin's leg, tilting her head back and smiling as she spoke.

Li Xiangdong nodded upon hearing this, "I'll listen to my daughter and buy some more pork belly. I'll make braised pork."

"Dad is so good."

Li Xiaozhu got what she wanted and started flattering him with nice words.

Zhou Yuqin ruffled her hair. "Go play with your sister. Don't hug me anymore. I'm going to the market."

"I also want to go to the farmers' market."

Li Xiaozhu revealed her second purpose for coming.

Without a second thought, Zhou Yuqin refused, saying, "No, the market is too crowded."

"Mother, please take me with you. I can protect you."

Li Xiaozhu patted her chest, looking like she was very capable.

"You protect me?"

Zhou Yuqin smiled and asked a question in return, then shook her head.

"No need. If you keep clinging to me, I'm not buying any more pork belly."

"Okay, then I won't go."

Li Xiaozhu let go and went back to continue braiding the coal balls with Zhang Miaomiao.

"There's still plenty of time, no need to rush."

After thinking for a moment, Li Xiangdong said, "It's hot, so don't buy too big a fish. On the way back, we'll go to the old house and call my mother over to help. We'll have the two of them eat here at noon."

"Well, I see."

Zhou Yuqin can ride a bicycle and push it when she goes out.

Li Xiangdong went back inside to have tea and chat with Wang Zhihui, mainly about copper coins. The young man was very hardworking; even while visiting someone's home, he didn't forget to study.

As the sun rises higher, the outside temperature also increases.

Zhou Yuqin, who had just returned from buying groceries at the market, called for Li's mother to help her. Li Xiaozhu and Zhang Miaomiao, who wanted to play in the water, were waiting at the door of the water room.

"Go back inside. The more you get in the sun, the darker you'll get. You just want to stay dark forever, don't you?"

Zhou Yuqin's words struck a nerve, making Li Xiaozhu yell twice and drag Zhang Miaomiao towards the main room.

"Slow down, watch out for the threshold."

Grandma Li reminded the two girls and beckoned them to come to her side.

"What's the rush? Can't you just walk properly? Why do you have to run around like that? Aren't you thirsty?"

"I'm not thirsty, Great-Grandma, I want to ride the little rocking horse."

"Go."

After sending the two young girls away, Old Lady Li got up and walked outside, intending to go to the kitchen to help. She couldn't help with other things, but at least she could pick vegetables.

"The old lady is busy."

When Ququsun entered the courtyard, he saw Old Lady Li sitting at the kitchen door picking vegetables and greeted her with a smile.

He walked to the kitchen door and handed the roast duck he was carrying to Zhou Yuqin.

"Add another dish."

"Uncle Sun, thank you for spending so much money."

"Hey, it doesn't cost much, it's just for fun."

Cricket Sun waved his hand to indicate that he didn't care.

He chatted with Li's mother for a few more minutes, then went into the house with Li's father. There they saw two little girls riding on a small wooden horse, laughing and joking.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Hello, Grandpa Sun!"

Upon seeing the newcomers, Li Xiaozhu and Zhang Miaomiao greeted them in unison.

Cricket Sun chuckled and replied, "Okay, you two keep playing."

"Grandpa is back, Uncle Sun."

Wang Zhihui stood up and stopped sitting. Li Xiangdong picked up the teacup that was on the octagonal table.

"Let's go behind the screen."

There were only two chairs on the left and right sides of the eight-immortal table, not enough for four people, so Li Xiangdong invited them to sit at the dining table behind the screen.

After making tea and pouring water, and chatting for a few minutes, Li Xiangdong came out of the house.

If it were just cricket grandson being invited today, Li Xiangdong would have already gone to the kitchen to help.

This was Wang Zhihui's second visit. Last time, he had only briefly introduced himself to the place, but this time he was a formal guest. As the host, Li Xiangdong had to stay inside and keep him company; otherwise, it would be impolite.

Now that Old Man Li has returned and his family has taken over, Li Xiangdong no longer stays in the house. Fish is easy to cook, but meat needs to be stewed early so that it becomes tender and flavorful when cooked thoroughly.

"It smells so good, Great-Grandma, do we have guests?"

Li Xiaohai, who was playing marbles in the alley, came back and saw a bicycle in the yard and heard voices coming from inside the house. He walked over to Old Lady Li, squatted down, took a green bean in his hand, and asked her questions while he was working.

"Your Grandpa Sun and your dad's colleague are having lunch at our house today. Did you win or lose?"

"There was no win or loss. I agreed with Da Tou and the others that we were just playing around and not competing to see who would win or lose."

Li Xiaohai's own skills are relatively poor; if it comes down to winning or losing, he could lose as many marbles as he has.

"Didn't you used to dislike playing with Da Tou and the others? Aren't you afraid of getting lice again now?"

“If I don’t play with Da Tou and the others, then no one will play with me.”

Li Xiaohai was also helpless. He didn't want to always stay at home playing with his two younger sisters, so he could only go to the alley to find people his own age.

Fortunately, it's summer now, and the boys in the alley either have short hair or are bald. After playing all day, their parents will give them a bath when they get home.

In addition, since they were all children from working-class families, unless their parents were slovenly, they wouldn't let their children have lice. It was only in winter when washing was inconvenient that children in the alley inevitably had lice.

"Dad, what are we having for lunch?"

"The fish and meat, and the roast duck that your grandpa bought, you don't need to help with these. Go to the washroom to wash up, come inside and say hello to your grandpa, and also call him Uncle Wang."

"understood."

Li Xiaohai was very excited to hear about so many delicious foods. He loved it when guests came to his house, so he could have a good meal.

The lunch was indeed sumptuous. In addition to a few home-style dishes, each table had a bowl of braised pork, half a roast duck, and a fish.

The women and children had pickled fish on their table, while the men who were drinking could eat spicy food, so they had boiled fish.

After the banquet, the guests and hosts enjoyed themselves immensely. The messy cups and plates were cleared away, and they chatted and drank tea until the smell of alcohol on Ququsun and Wang Zhihui subsided. They then said their goodbyes and went home, and Li Xiangdong saw them off.

Zhang Miaomiao didn't go home for lunch today, leaving Li Xiangdong behind. When Zhang Sen's wife came to pick up the child, the whole yard was filled with delicious aromas. Naturally, he wouldn't let his future daughter-in-law go home to eat nothing but plain soup.

"Sister, would you like some canned food?"

Li Xiaozhu was craving something to eat, so she even dragged Zhang Miaomiao along.

"I'm not eating, I'm so full, I can't eat anymore."

"I want to eat."

Li Xiaozhu excitedly found Zhou Yuqin and said, "Mom, I want to eat canned food."

"Let's talk about it later. You just finished lunch less than two hours ago and you want to eat again? Aren't you afraid of overeating?"

Zhou Yuqin disagreed, and Li Xiaozhu insisted.

"I'll just try it, okay, Mom?"

"Mom, why are you ignoring me?"

"mother?"

"Yuqin?"

"Dongzi's wife?"