Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Two steamed buns for each person, and you can give me half a pound."

Li Xiangdong took the grain coupons from his mother, stuffed them into his pocket, and handed his daughter to his wife. He then looked at the untouched fermented bean curd on the table.

"I'm taking this bowl of fermented bean curd from the table."

He brought back so much meat, his family will definitely need to add a dish to their meal.

"Take this away, and drink less alcohol tonight."

Hearing his mother's tone of voice, Li Xiangdong secretly smiled. His mother's mouth was stuffed with pork head meat, making her tone of voice much softer.

When he arrived at A Zhe's house, Qian Bin and Xiang Lin had already returned home and were sitting at the table chatting while waiting for him. Each of them had a full glass of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) in front of them.

"Dongzi, sit here."

Li Xiangdong walked over, put the fermented bean curd on the table, and then sat down in the remaining empty seat.

The table was piled high with food: a bamboo basket filled with steamed buns made from two kinds of dough, a large bowl of braised meat and offal, and a large plate of stir-fried large intestines.

In addition to the fermented bean curd that Li Xiangdong brought, there was also a dish of pickled radishes and a plate of scrambled eggs.

In addition, Li Xiangdong noticed that there was an extra bottle of wine, indicating that everyone knew what was going on and no one came back empty-handed.

"Not bad, Binzi, you even know how to make a sauce for the pig's head meat."

"That's right, our skills are no joke."

Qian Bin's tone was full of smugness.

Li Xiangdong took out the grain coupons, flicked them, and handed them to A Zhe.

Ah Zhe didn't mince words, took the food coupons and looked at them, "Damn, why is it only half a jin? Dongzi, couldn't you have given me more?"

"What are you thinking? I'm only eating two steamed buns made from two kinds of flour. How many more do you want me to give you? Do you want me to move the whole grain store over here for you?"

Li Xiangdong remembered his older brother saying that he had robbed the meat processing plant, and he put that knowledge to practical use.

Ah Zhe grinned and said, "Sure, if you dare to give it to me, I'll take it. When you get arrested, I'll definitely come to see you and bring you two steamed buns made from two different kinds of dough."

'Pui pui pui'

Li Xiangdong spat several times, finding it too unlucky. "Get lost! You're the one who just got arrested. Where's your dad? Isn't he coming to eat with us?"

"My father is already drinking in the east wing. Besides, you're dawdling too much. Go home and take him..."

A Zhe was speaking when he saw Xiang Lin sitting opposite him, picking up his chopsticks to eat some meat. "Damn it, Xiao Lin, don't you have any manners? I, the host, haven't even said anything yet. Who told you to eat like this? Put your chopsticks down right now!"

Xiang Lin paid no attention to A Zhe; he not only ate by himself but also invited Qian Bin and Zhang Sen to join him.

"Let's eat first and let them continue talking."

Li Xiangdong and A Zhe were even less likely to listen to Xiang Lin, so the two stopped talking; if they continued, they would only end up gnawing on bones.

The chopsticks they were wielding were so fast they were almost blurry!

Although Li Xiangdong had just been reborn from the future, his body was so craving meat that he had no choice but to eat heartily.

After a hearty meal, everyone slowed down, clinked glasses twice, and started chatting idly again.

Ah Zhe's face flushed red, and he was a little agitated. He was gnawing on a pig's trotter when he asked, "Dongzi, what were you dawdling around at home for? You didn't even come over when there was meat to eat."

"What else could Dongzi be dawdling about? He just can't bear to part with his wife!"

Among his brothers, only Lin, with his thick skin, would say such a thing.

"Haha, I believe what Xiao Linzi said. After all, Dongzi's wife was someone he had worked hard to win over, so he's bound to be worried about her when she goes out. If he doesn't keep an eye on her and she runs away, Dongzi will be devastated."

Although they joked about it, they were actually quite envious of Li Xiangdong for marrying such a wonderful wife.

Unlike their own wives, who argue all day long over trivial matters, either complaining sarcastically or picking fights with the children for no reason, they can't even stay at home in peace.

"Stop talking nonsense. My wife and I have two kids. Don't spread rumors about me."

Li Xiangdong chuckled. This wasn't the first time; they would do this at every gathering. He knew in his heart that his buddies were just envious and jealous of him.

Among his friends, he was probably about the same as the others, none of them were better than the others.

But when it comes to wives, he is definitely number one, and he has been proud of this his whole life!

"Dongzi, your fermented bean curd is pretty good."

"The pickled radishes from Miki's family are also delicious, very refreshing, even better than the ones my mother makes."

"Damn it, Binzi, why did you put so many chili peppers in?"

"The spicier, the better, don't you understand?"

The stir-fried pork intestines are bright red and full of chili peppers, getting spicier with every bite.

Qian Bin can handle spicy food, and A Zhe has lived in the southwest region for several years, so he can also handle this level of spiciness.

But Li Xiangdong and his two companions were not so lucky. They had also drunk some alcohol and were now covered in sweat. The three of them took off their vests, threw them on their shoulders, and ate shirtless.

Zhang Sen's eyes turned red from the spiciness, but both he and Xiang Lin complained about how spicy it was, yet they picked up the food with their chopsticks faster than anyone else.

Li Xiangdong only tried a couple of bites at first, but found it quite spicy and didn't eat much more. His stomach couldn't handle eating so much meat all at once, and if he ate spicy food too, he would have diarrhea all night when he got back, and he wouldn't be able to go to the train station tomorrow.

After eating and drinking to our hearts' content, it was already pitch black outside.

The table was spotless, with even the grease on the plates wiped clean with steamed buns made from two different types of dough.

Li Xiangdong drank about two liang (100ml) of the three bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor) that were around 60 proof, because he had important business to attend to the next day.

The rest were all taken care of by Xiang Lin and his three companions. They were all drunk and swaying back and forth in their chairs, talking nonsense.

Li Xiangdong said, "Brothers, it's getting late, let's call it a day."

"To...to...this"

"Drink... burp... then stop moving."

Xiang Lin and Zhang Sen are now unable to speak fluently.

Ah Zhe fared even worse; he only mumbled something, and Li Xiangdong didn't hear a word he said.

He looked at Qian Bin, who was still relatively lucid, and asked, "Are you alright?"

Qian Bin burped, "I'm fine, this little bit of alcohol is nothing."

"Are you really alright, or are you just pretending?"

A drunk person's eyes are glazed and unfocused. If it were someone else, Li Xiangdong could tell if they were drunk just by looking at their eyes.

But this tactic won't work on Qian Bin!

With those tiny, squinty eyes, nobody could possibly see through him!