Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

After dinner, Li Xiangdong carried a cloth bag of seashells and an old newspaper into the house. He sat on a stool, spread the newspaper on the ground in front of him, and began to punch holes in the seashells.

Seeing this, Li Xiaohai quickly came over and asked, "Dad, why would you drill a hole in a perfectly good seashell?"

“They were strung together and hung in the private rooms of the restaurant.”

Upon hearing Li Xiangdong's explanation, Li Xiaohai continued to ask, "The private room with my name and Xiaojiang's name on it?"

Li Xiangdong didn't stop, "Yes, and the one with Xiaotao and Xiaobo's names in it too."

Does Bamboo Shadow Residence exist?

Li Xiaozhu also came over. Of the five private rooms in her family's restaurant, she only remembered the one with her name on it.

"No."

Li Xiangdong shook his head. Seeing his daughter's chubby face wrinkled and unhappy, he laughed and said, "We went to buy flowers together before, and we put the bamboo we bought in Zhuyingju. Have you forgotten? You put flowers in your and your sisters' private room, and hang seashells in your brothers' private room."

"Okay, sure."

Although Li Xiaozhu still had some objections, she thought it would be too pitiful for her brothers not to have what she and her sisters had, so she abandoned her plan to act shamelessly.

"Uncle Three."

Li Xiaojiang and his four siblings came over and all surrounded Li Xiangdong.

"Third Uncle, why are we using newspaper as a mat? Can't we just sweep it up later? If the seashell powder that falls on the newspaper isn't shaken off properly, Xiaohai might prick his butt when he goes to the toilet."

Li Xiaotao's thinking is sometimes so unique that he can always think of points that ordinary people would not.

Li Xiaohai blushed with embarrassment and anger at being teased in public, saying, "I use toilet paper when I go to the toilet, I don't use newspapers!"

He really didn't need it. First, Li Xiangdong was willing to spend money, and his family had no shortage of toilet paper. Second, the current newspaper printing technology was not yet fully mature, and the ink layer was relatively thick, so water-based ink was prone to leaving residue when wiping.

This residue not only stays on your buttocks, but it can also be left behind when you wipe your buttocks with force.

"Okay, okay, you don't need to. Look how anxious you are."

Li Xiaotao waved his hand cheerfully, as if to say whatever he wanted, while Li Xiaojiang frowned and nudged him with his elbow.

"Can you please stop being so sarcastic?"

After he finished speaking, he looked at Li Xiangdong, who was watching with amusement, and asked, "Third Uncle, is there any use for keeping these seashell powders?"

"Yes, feed the chickens."

Upon hearing Li Xiangdong's answer, all seven children looked surprised. Li Xiaohai, who had just been angry, no longer cared about arguing with Li Xiaotao.

"Chickens also eat shell powder?"

"Third Uncle, is it true?"

Li Xiangdong raised his hand to press down, signaling for quiet. "It's true, shell powder is a good source of calcium and contains many trace elements. Giving the laying hens a little less of it will not only be good for them, but it will also reduce the chances of soft-shelled and broken eggs."

"Hey, this is good, third brother. Give me some later, I'll take it back to feed the hens at the old house tomorrow morning."

Li's mother took it to heart. Although the family's living conditions had improved, the hens raised in the old house were still the apple of her eye.

After all, it's a bank with a chicken-like backside; no amount of attention is too much.

"Okay, I'll give you some later."

Li Xiangdong nodded in agreement and told the seven children beside him to go watch TV and stop chattering around him.

While watching TV programs, Li Xiangdong had already punched holes in all the seashells in the cloth bag before the programs finished airing.

Throw away the larger crumbs, leaving only powder in the newspaper. Divide the powder into two portions, wrap them up, and give one portion to Li's mother. After cleaning up, watch TV for about half an hour, and then it's time to go to bed.

"Dad, let's sleep together."

After washing up, Li Xiaozhu crawled straight into Li Xiangdong's bed.

"Can't you sleep well?"

Li Xiangdong patted his daughter's head twice and said, "You're a big girl now. Big girls need to learn to sleep by themselves."

"I do not want."

Li Xiaozhu began to shrink deeper into the blankets.

Li Xiangdong sighed helplessly, "I won't kick you out. Just let your head stick out while you sleep."

Li Xiaozhu was delighted, "Okay."

...

...

dawn.

When Li Xiaozhu woke up and opened her eyes, she found herself alone in bed. Turning her head to her left, she saw her parents, who were still asleep with their eyes closed, huddled together in bed.

She rubbed her eyes a few times, then angrily crawled over and started banging her head against him. Li Xiangdong was woken up by the commotion and pressed her head down.

What are you doing?

Li Xiaozhu shook off the large hand on her head, stood up, put her hands on her hips, and glared angrily at the sleepy Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin, who had also been woken up.

Li Xiaohai also woke up. "What are you doing so early in the morning?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

Li Xiaozhu retorted, then angrily pointed at Li Xiangdong.

"Traitor, a complete traitor."

Her finger then pointed at Zhou Yuqin, "You..."

Zhou Yuqin was woken up and was in a bad mood. She glared at him and asked, "What about me?"

Li Xiaozhu's arrogance quickly vanished. "Hello, Mom, good morning."

"Next time you wake up, get dressed by yourself and go play in the yard. If you dare to wake us up again, I'll beat you up."

"understood."

Li Xiaozhu felt extremely wronged and crawled back into bed, remaining silent.

After a few minutes of quiet in the room, Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin, unlike Li Xiaohai, were awakened and couldn't fall back asleep, so they got up and started getting dressed.

Li Xiangdong looked at the small bulge in the blanket, lifted it, and saw Li Xiaozhu curled up in a ball, hugging a doll.

Are you angry?

Not getting a reply from his daughter, Li Xiangdong asked, "Do you want some sugar-coated fried dough?"

Li Xiaozhu remained silent. Li Xiangdong understood; the price wasn't enough, and they needed to raise it further.

"Two fried dough sticks and a bowl of tofu pudding."

"Hey hey hey."

Li Xiaozhu's chubby face peeked out from behind the doll.

"Dad is so good. Dad, can you sleep with Mom tonight? I want to eat sugar-coated fried dough again tomorrow."

"Meide, get up and get dressed quickly, keep it down, your brother is still sleeping."

Li Xiangdong helped his daughter get dressed, Zhou Yuqin came over to help tie her hair up, and then carried the chamber pot to the public toilet.

Li Xiaozhu followed Li Xiangdong out of the house and said, "Good morning, Great-Grandpa."

Good morning to you too.

Old Li, who was mixing chicken feed at the kitchen door, responded with a smile, his gaze falling on his yawning grandson.

"Where's the seashell powder from last night?"

"I had completely forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it."

Li Xiangdong turned around and went back into the house, picking up a paper package made of folded newspaper from the table.

"Grandpa, let me do it."

Li Xiangdong squatted down and reached out his hand.

Old Li wouldn't allow it, saying, "Just pour the shell powder in, you don't need to get your hands dirty."

Standing to the side, Li Xiaozhu raised her hand and patted Li Xiangdong on the shoulder, "Dad, go buy some sugar-coated fried dough sticks."

"Dongzi, are you buying breakfast?"

Grandma Li, who was boiling water in the kitchen, asked.

"Grandma, just buy some food and boil a pot of water. You don't need to cook."

Li Xiangdong replied, opening the paper package and pouring the shell powder he had specially saved from last night into the chicken feed.

Old Li stirred the feed for a while longer, then took the mixed chicken feed to feed the chickens.

Li Xiaozhu urged, "Let's go."

"I can go by myself."

"No, no, I want to pick the two with the most candy."