Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Li Xiangdong handed the two braised chickens from his cloth bag to his mother and then went into his room.

Zhou Yuqin followed him in and saw Li Xiangdong taking money out of his cloth bag. She quickly locked the door behind her.

She looked at the stack of money and bills on the table, her voice filled with surprise, and said in a low voice, "How come there's so much money?"

“I made 472 yuan this time. I left 100 yuan with A Zhe as capital for the next cricket trade. I also bought 5 jin of pork and 10 jin of oil for the family. The rest of the money and coupons are here. You can exchange these coupons for things when you have time. Don’t let them expire.”

Li Xiangdong consciously took out a small wooden box containing money from the wardrobe.

"I'll take another twenty yuan; you can keep the rest."

Zhou Yuqin asked in confusion, "Didn't I just give you twenty yuan a couple of days ago?"

Li Xiangdong tapped her forehead. "I gave my dad 10 yuan, and spent the rest on the way. Do you think the roast chicken I brought back was free?"

"Oh, then take it. You should carry some money with you when you go out. Let me know when you run out."

Zhou Yuqin sorted the money according to the amount, and she saw that there were several cloth coupons among the receipts.

"These cloth coupons are just enough to make three sets of clothes for the children in the family."

Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "Then let's make some for Xiaomei, Xiaolan, and our daughter first. Next time, I'll get more cloth coupons for the boys in the family."

"Row."

Zhou Yuqin kept two cloth coupons and stuffed the rest into Li Xiangdong's hand.

Li Xiangdong looked at the cloth coupons in his hand and said, "Why are you giving them to me? You can just give them to my sister-in-law and second sister-in-law later, can't you?"

Zhou Yuqin smiled and said, "You can have this good person do the work for the money you earned."

"You're so considerate. Come here and let me give you a kiss."

Li Xiangdong hugged Zhou Yuqin and kissed her, but Zhou Yuqin pushed him away and continued counting money.

Seeing her greedy look, Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "Go count your money in your room and play by yourself. I won't bother you."

He turned and went out, and then he heard his wife lock the door.

"Eldest sister-in-law, second sister-in-law."

Li Xiangdong walked to the door of the main room and divided the cloth coupons in his hand into two portions. "Take these cloth coupons and make new clothes for Xiaomei and Xiaolan."

"Dongzi, I can't take these cloth coupons."

"That's right, Dongzi. You should put it away and save it for Xiaohai."

"Remember to make my niece's clothes nice."

Li Xiangdong didn't want to get entangled in this endless mess over the cloth coupons, so he put down the coupons in his hand and turned to leave.

Li's mother, who was standing to the side, said, "If the third son gives it to you, just take it. When he was unemployed before, he often asked the eldest and second sons for tickets. Don't let the family pass the buck over such a small thing. Hurry up and help me cook."

"Dad, I want to eat watermelon."

Seeing his father wash his face and squat at the doorway in a daze, Li Xiaohai ran over and tugged at his father's clothes.

Li Xiaojiang and Li Xiaobo watched eagerly from the side, while Li Xiaomei and Li Xiaolan did not come over; they were helping Li Xiaozhu learn to walk.

"father..."

Li Xiaozhu stretched out her hand and called for help.

Li Xiangdong clapped his hands and laughed, "Dad's here, come over here quickly."

After he finished speaking, he turned to his son and said, "We'll eat the watermelon after we finish eating. Your grandpa and your uncle haven't come back yet. You can't eat it all by yourself, understand?"

Li Xiaohai squatted down next to him and nodded, saying, "I know, Dad. I'll eat two pieces after I finish my meal."

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Eat as many pieces as you want, as long as you can eat them."

Li Xiaojiang leaned over and said, "Third Uncle, let's put the watermelon in the well. A cool watermelon tastes better."

"Hey~ that's a good idea."

Soaking the watermelon in the well for a while would be incredibly refreshing on a hot day. Li Xiangdong, who was feeling a bit tired, got up and went to the door of the main room to get the watermelon.

When Li's mother saw him come over to carry the watermelon, surrounded by Li Xiaojiang and the other two, she said, "Third son, are you going to eat now? Otherwise, they won't eat anything later."

"I'm not eating it now, I'll put it in the well to cool it down."

Old Li stood at the door, smoking a cigarette, and said, "Just put one down, eat less cold food."

"I know, Grandpa."

Li Xiangdong first went to the back room and found a burlap sack and a rope. He put the watermelon in the burlap sack and tied it with the rope.

“You guys stay away. Anyone who dares to come closer will have to stand aside and watch us eat.”

Li Xiangdong chased away Li Xiaojiang and the other two before moving the bluestone slab over the well.

Slowly loosen the hemp rope in your hand until the sack is soaked in water, leaving just enough length to tie it to the pomegranate tree next to you.

After moving the bluestone slab back and pressing it onto the well opening, Li Xiangdong went to wash his hands.

He had nothing else to do, so he found a stool and sat in the yard watching his daughter learn to walk.

"Dongzi, your dad and the others won't be back for a while. If you're tired, go inside and rest for a bit."

Grandma Li walked over with a smile, leaning on her cane.

"It's alright, Grandma, please sit down. I'll go get another chair, and we can chat for a while."

Li Xiangdong went inside and brought out two stools, because Old Man Li also came over.

Old Li, smoking a cigarette, told A Zhe and Hou San that they had come to his door, and recounted how Li Xiaotao had been taken away.

“That kid Hou San is really stubborn. I said we haven’t given him the apprenticeship gift yet, so it’s not good to take Xiao Tao to his house now. But he wouldn’t agree no matter what. He insisted on taking Xiao Tao back and said his parents wanted to meet him.”

Sitting to the side, Grandma Li laughed and said, "Our Xiaotao's master is really interesting. Whenever any of the children in the family calls him Uncle Hou, he has to give them a dollar."

Li Xiangdong was speechless. "The kids didn't take the money, did they?"

Old Li said, "No, we certainly can't take other people's money for no reason."

"It's good that it was confiscated."

Li Xiangdong breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't accept the money. Although Li Xiaotao had received ten yuan when he became an apprentice, that was a different matter.

Li Xiaojiang and the others hadn't formally become apprentices, so it would be fine if Hou San gave them a penny or two, but a dollar was a lot of money, so of course they couldn't accept it.

"Oh, right, Mom~"

Li Xiangdong turned to his mother in front of the stove and said, "Let's eat those two braised chickens tonight. Don't leave either one. They'll spoil by tomorrow."

Without looking up, Li's mother, who was cooking, replied, "I know."

Grandma Li said happily, "I just sent out two chickens, and you've brought them back again."

Li Xiangdong asked, puzzled, "Grandma, what do you mean by that?"

Old Li explained, "It's Taozi's first time visiting his master's house, so we can't be impolite. I'll have your mother kill two of our old hens."

"It should."

Li Xiangdong smiled and nodded.

Logically, when visiting someone's home for the first time, an adult should accompany them. However, at that time, only the grandparents, his mother, and his sisters-in-law were home—all elderly women—and there was no man in charge.

Grandma Li said, "Your grandfather was worried that two hens wouldn't be enough. He even wanted Xiaotao's master to take the tea you brought back with him."

"Ah~"

Li Xiangdong was stunned. "He...he didn't take it, did he?"

Old Li shook his head and said, "I didn't take it. To be honest, I was quite puzzled. When I mentioned asking Xiaotao's master to take the tea, his face turned pale."

Li Xiangdong breathed a sigh of relief, "It's good that they didn't take it."

But just as he breathed a sigh of relief, Old Lady Li, who was standing nearby, laughed and said, "I secretly slipped the tea leaves into Taozi's pocket."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangdong stared wide-eyed at Grandma Li, "Grandma, you've tricked me!"