Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Squat down."

"shake hands."

"Roll over."

After a good nap, Li Xiangdong finished his breakfast and squatted at the doorway, training Xiao Hei and Xiao Huang with half a steamed bun in his hand.

Li Xiaomei, who was standing to the side watching the commotion while supporting Li Xiaozhu, said, "Third Uncle, we're going to school now."

"Then you should go quickly."

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he broke the remaining steamed bun in his hand in half and threw it on the ground, then reached out and hugged his daughter to his side.

Seeing her older sisters carrying their schoolbags and walking out, Li Xiaozhu patted Li Xiangdong's arm and cried out, "No... Sister..."

Seeing that she was about to cry, Li Xiangdong quickly comforted her, "Sister is going to school. I'll play with you again when I come back at noon, okay?"

Li Xiaozhu grinned and started howling, "No..."

Li Xiangdong pinched her cheek and asked, "You're being disobedient, aren't you? If you cry again, I'll take you to the clinic for a shot."

"No...Mother...Mother..."

Upon hearing about the injection, Li Xiaozhu began to sob and call out to Zhou Yuqin.

"Mom, give me a hug."

Zhou Yuqin came out of the house, took Li Xiaozhu from her arms, and began to comfort her by patting her back.

"Bad guys..."

Seeing Li Xiangdong smiling to the side, Li Xiaozhu turned her head and leaned on Zhou Yuqin's shoulder.

Li Xiangdong tugged at his daughter's braid and said to Zhou Yuqin, "I'm going out for a bit, I'll be right back."

After exchanging greetings, Li Xiangdong rode his bicycle to the large courtyard where Qian Bin lived.

He parked the bicycle under the window and tapped on the glass.

Qian Bin lifted the curtain and stood at the door, saying, "Dongzi, let's go inside and talk."

"No, let's talk outside."

Li Xiangdong waved his hand and didn't go inside. There was a heavily pregnant woman inside, and he felt it wouldn't be convenient for him to go in.

"My Uncle Qian isn't home?"

“My dad went out for a walk. He’ll go straight to work at the restaurant when it’s time.”

Qian Bin came out of the house, took out a cigarette and offered it to him, "What do you want from me?"

"I'm sending you milk powder coupons. Remember to exchange them for something when you have some free time."

Li Xiangdong didn't accept the cigarette. He took out five milk powder coupons that Chi Bubao had smuggled out of his pocket, as well as the milk powder coupon money that Qian Bin had given him in advance some time ago. He hadn't spent all the money, so he came over to return it to Qian Bin.

"After the baby is born, keep track of the time and remember to tell me in advance if you run out of formula."

"Okay, thank you for your trouble, Dongzi."

Qian Bin didn't stand on ceremony. He took the money and tickets, put them away in the house, and then helped his heavily pregnant wife out of the house.

Qian Bin's wife is a straightforward person. She smiled and thanked Li Xiangdong a few words.

"No need to be so polite, sister-in-law. Binzi, quickly help your wife back to the house."

"It's okay, I come to the yard for a walk when I'm at home by myself."

That being said, Qian Bin's wife is due to give birth in more than half a month, and Li Xiangdong doesn't want anything to happen to her just because he came to deliver a baby formula voucher.

"Go back inside and rest, sister-in-law. I'm going back now."

Li Xiangdong rode his bicycle home. Li Xiaozhu stopped crying and just sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), constantly calling for the dog.

Zhou Yuqin was busy tidying up the house and couldn't take care of her, so Li Xiangdong had to carry her to the yard.

After playing with the puppy with my daughter for a while, I started teaching her to walk.

Just as he was about to prepare lunch, Qian Bin carried a cloth bag into the yard.

"These are ten pounds of spiced peanuts that my dad fried. You can keep them for yourself. I'm going back to the restaurant."

He shoved the cloth bag into Li Xiangdong's hand and turned to leave.

Li Xiangdong grabbed his arm and laughed, "You rascal, you're not happy unless you bring me something, are you?"

Qian Bin laughed and said, "Of course I can't let you help me for nothing. Don't mention paying me. If you give me money, I'll get mad at you."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangdong was about to speak, but he swallowed his words back. He released Qian Bin's arm and said, "Alright, you should go back to work now."

He saw Qian Bin to the door before carrying the cloth bag back inside. Spiced peanuts were a great snack to have with drinks.

Li Xiangdong gave Li Xiaohai, who was standing on the kang (a heated brick bed) watching his younger sister, a small handful of food.

"Keep an eye on your little sister. Don't let her get off the kang (heated brick bed). And don't feed her peanuts. Do you understand?"

Li Xiaohai, chewing on peanuts, nodded with a smile and said, "Okay, Dad."

After instructing his son, Li Xiangdong found some old newspapers. He divided the ten jin of peanuts into five portions, keeping one portion for himself and giving the remaining four portions to his father, his two older brothers, and himself.

After delivering the peanuts, he went into the small kitchen to help Zhou Yuqin cook.

Lunch was hand-pulled noodles with tomato and egg sauce.

After the meal, Li Xiangdong sat at the table eating peanuts and drinking sorghum liquor brewed by Wang Erkui's father.

After a couple of ounces of liquor, coupled with the fatigue from several days of traveling by car, he lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed) with his daughter in his arms and began to take a nap.

After hearing his snoring, Li Xiaohai glanced at Zhou Yuqin, who was already asleep, and quietly climbed off the kang (a heated brick bed).

He had been eyeing the gourd of wine on the table for a long time. He wanted to play with it yesterday, but Li Xiangdong refused. Now that Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin were asleep, he felt that his chance had come.

Li Xiaohai came out of the house and stopped in front of the doghouse. "Brother Xiaojiang, Brother Xiaotao."

Li Xiaojiang and Li Xiaotao were petting the dog's head. "What's wrong, Xiaohai? Didn't your third uncle tell you to go back to your room for a nap?"

Li Xiaohai shook his head and said, "I'm not sleepy, I want to play with the gourd."

Li Xiaojiang asked, "What gourd? Do we have a gourd at home?"

Li Xiaohai nodded. "Yes, my dad brought one back. Brother Xiaojiang, could you help me get it from the table?"

No sooner had Li Xiaohai finished speaking than Li Xiaotao said, "Why didn't you just tell Uncle and Aunt that you wanted to play? Why did you come here to find us?"

Li Xiaohai pouted and said, "My dad won't let me play."

Upon hearing his words, Li Xiaojiang immediately refused, saying, "My third uncle and aunt are inside. They won't let you play with it, so I wouldn't dare go get it for you."

"They're asleep, can I just play for a little while? Brother Xiaojiang, please help me!"

Li Xiaojiang finally lost his patience with Li Xiaohai's nagging, so he let go of the dog in his arms and tiptoed to the door of the west wing.

He first lifted the curtain and peeked into the room to make sure Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin were asleep before entering.

When Li Xiaojiang sneaked into the house, his eyes lit up when he saw the wine gourd on the table. As he reached for the gourd, he also grabbed a handful of peanuts from the table.

"Xiaohai, I've put the gourd on the ground for you. You can play with it for a while. There's wine inside, so don't break it."

Li Xiaohai brought his nose close to the gourd's mouth and sniffed it, then frowned and said, "It stinks, it doesn't smell good at all."

Li Xiaotao added, "It does smell bad, but adults all like to drink alcohol, and my dad even seemed to enjoy it when he drank it."

He swallowed hard, then turned to look at Li Xiaojiang, "Brother, do you think liquor is like soy milk—it smells bad but tastes good?"

Li Xiaojiang shook his head. "I've tried it secretly, and it doesn't taste good."

Li Xiaotao glared at him, saying defiantly, "My favorite soy milk is not liked by my third uncle. Just because you think it doesn't taste good doesn't mean I don't. Xiaohai, stop playing around and let me have a taste."

As he spoke, he snatched the gourd from Li Xiaohai's hand, unscrewed the lid, and took a big gulp!