Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Third Uncle, what are you laughing at? Are you making fun of me?"

With a sheepish expression, Li Xiaotao saw right through Li Xiangdong's thoughts.

Li Xiangdong blushed and said angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about? You have no idea how much your third uncle loves you!"

“This morning you said you were going to get your hands slapped at school, and your third uncle was really upset about it. He went to the market to buy you pig's trotters, and now they're stewed until they're mushy.”

When Li Xiaotao heard about stewed pig's trotters, he stopped thinking about whether his third uncle was laughing at him.

His eyes lit up as he asked, "Third Uncle, you really stewed pig's trotters for me?"

"Nonsense, would I lie to you? What you just said really hurt my feelings!"

Li Xiangdong suppressed a laugh. Now that he knew how badly his second nephew had been beaten, he turned and walked into the yard with satisfaction.

Li Xiaotao thought he had really angered his third uncle, so he said anxiously, "Third Uncle, I misspoke just now, please don't be angry with me!"

"You silly child, your third uncle is so good to you. He even went out of his way to buy you pig's trotters. You can't think of your third uncle like that in the future, understand?"

"Second Uncle, I understand."

While Li Erge was educating his nephew, the uncle and nephew stepped over the threshold and into the courtyard together.

After watching Li Xiaotao's funny video, Li Xiangdong invited his nephews and nieces over for a delicious meal.

"The place is too small, come one at a time, don't all squeeze in."

Li Xiangdong served each of his five nephews and nieces half a stewed pig's trotter and an egg soaked in meat juice.

There are seventeen people in the family. Li Xiangdong and his daughter each eat half a pig's trotter, and eight pig's trotters are just right.

The stewed pig ears were cut into strips, and I first gave Li Xiaobo a piece of his ear to eat.

He sent the rest to the main room for Old Man Li and his father to eat as snacks with their drinks.

The stewed pork with vermicelli and cabbage was served, and each household sent over half a bowl. Since everyone in the family had large bowls, half a bowl was already quite a lot.

"You eat, I'll feed our daughter."

Zhou Yuqin knew that her husband ate slowly, so she would wait until he had fed their daughter before eating herself. By the time she finished eating, her food might be cold!

Li Xiangdong nodded, handed his daughter to Zhou Yuqin, then scooped some vegetables into his own bowl, poured in some soup, stirred it, and then, carrying his large bowl of rice and a stool, walked out.

"If you're not eating inside, where are you going?"

"It's too hot inside, so I'll move a stool to eat under the jujube tree."

"Dad, I want to go too."

No sooner had Li Xiangdong left than Li Xiaohai begged Zhou Yuqin to learn his method, mixed the rice, and quickly followed him out.

Li Xiaojiang and his friends, who were eating in their respective rooms, saw their third uncle sitting under the jujube tree, legs crossed, happily eating rice soaked in meat broth. Their hearts were filled with longing.

Despite their parents' stern refusal, they all insisted on moving their stools and crowding around Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiaohai couldn't reach the ground while sitting on the stool, and since his nieces were quiet, the three of them ate while lying on the stool.

Li Xiaojiang and Li Xiaobo were different. They imitated him, holding their big bowls, taking a bite and smacking their lips, shaking their heads and acting just like two little Li Xiangdongs.

Of course, the most amazing one is Li Xiaotao, the little Yang Guo of the Li family, who can spin rice with one arm!

Li Xiangdong didn't eat inside because he wanted to see how Li Xiaotao ate with one hand. He knew that as long as he came out, those mischievous kids would definitely follow him.

This meal was truly delicious!

However, to be fair, Teacher Liu is indeed worthy of being his teacher, as he has extremely rich experience in educating students.

He knew to hit the left hand when slapping the palm, so that it wouldn't interfere with the students' meals when they got home or their wiping when they went to the toilet.

Yes, left-handed people write with their right hands, so teachers definitely know which hand you use to write.

Li Xiangdong looked at Li Xiaotao and asked with a smile, "Does Uncle's stewed pig's trotters smell good?"

"fragrant!"

Li Xiaotao finished gnawing on the pig's trotter with one hand, licked his fingers, picked up the chopsticks on the stool, and started shoveling rice into his mouth.

"Eat slowly."

While eating, Li Xiangdong didn't forget to give instructions to the children around him.

"Eating too fast is bad for your stomach and intestines. You must chew your food slowly and carefully in the future."

Li Xiaotao swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Third Uncle, you're so kind. Our teacher, Mr. Liu, said that if I don't finish my homework next time, he'll slap my hand."

Li Xiangdong, who was eating, stopped eating when he heard this, turned to look at him and said, "Don't get your hopes up. This is only once. If you get slapped on the hand again, I won't stew pig's trotters for you."

"Oh."

Upon hearing his words, Li Xiaotao looked at his elder brother.

Li Xiaojiang sat on a bench with his legs crossed, and rolled his eyes at his younger brother.

"Why are you looking at me? I don't want to get beaten up."

Li Xiaotao said in a muffled voice, "Don't you want to eat Uncle's stewed pig's trotters again?"

Li Xiaojiang shook his head and said, "To be slapped on the hand while standing on the podium in front of the whole class is too embarrassing!"

Li Xiaotao sucked on the leftover bone and said, "Big brother, Uncle's stewed pig's trotters are so fragrant and tender!"

Li Xiaojiang swallowed hard. "This matter... I... I'll think about it some more..."

"I'm saying, isn't it a bit inappropriate for the two of you to scheme against me right in front of me?"

Li Xiangdong just wanted to tease his nephews and give them a nice treat; he didn't really want them to develop the bad habit of not doing their homework.

“Any of you who want to eat something good can trade your school awards with me. One award will get you a meat dish. Whatever you want to eat, your Uncle will make it.”

"If you get beaten up like today again, your third uncle won't cook you any more delicious food, understand?"

"I heard you, Third Uncle."

"Understood, Third Uncle."

Li Xiaomei and Li Xiaolan obediently agreed.

Li Xiaotao said with a worried look, "Third Uncle, I'm not good at studying, so I can't get an award certificate."

"Doesn't the school give certificates of merit to children who do hard work? That's fine too. Uncle doesn't care what kind of certificate it is, as long as it's a certificate, you can come here and exchange it for meat."

Li Xiangdong didn't force Li Xiaotao to get first place in the class, because he understood that even if you held a knife to his throat, he couldn't do it!

Li Xiaotao scratched his head with one hand, then chuckled and said, "Third Uncle, just you wait, I'm sure I'll bring back a certificate of merit, and then I'll be eating pork stew!"

Li Xiangdong exclaimed in surprise, "Oh~ you even know about 'pig-killing stew'?"

Li Xiaotao said smugly, "Of course I know, this is Northeastern cuisine."

Li Xiaobo peeked out and asked, "Brother Xiaotao, is the pork stew delicious?"

Li Xiaotao nodded and said, "It's delicious. Some of my classmates are from Northeast China, and I've heard them say that pork stew is really good."

Seeing the expectant looks on his nephews and nieces' faces, Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Uncle San can also make pork stew. If you want some, just exchange your award certificate for it."

"Great!"

Li Xiaotao excitedly stood up and jumped around a few times.

"What are you talking about? Why are you so happy? Tell Great-Grandma too."

After finishing her meal in the main room, Old Lady Li walked over, leaning on her cane.

Li Xiaotao walked up to Grandma Li and said, "Great-Grandma, Third Uncle said we can use our school awards to exchange for pork stew with him."

"Really? Then you'd better study hard and let your great-grandmother take a look at your hands."

Grandma Li held Li Xiaotao's hand and gently touched it.

"Your hand is all swollen. This is just like your third uncle's teacher when he was in school. He didn't even know how to be gentle when hitting your palm."

Li Xiangdong: "Ahem~"