Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

To save face for her husband, Zhou Yuqin forced herself not to laugh out loud and stuffed the family planning supplies back into her hand.

She got up, got off the kang (a heated brick bed), took out a pair of large shorts from the wardrobe, and threw them to Li Xiangdong, saying, "You'd better change into these."

"Do you want to laugh?"

Li Xiangdong was wearing shorts and his eyes were fixed on his wife.

Zhou Yuqin finally couldn't hold back, "I didn't, pfft, that's not what I meant."

"That's not what I meant. Then why are you laughing at me? You're making fun of me!"

It’s so embarrassing!

Li Xiangdong immediately turned off the light after his wife lay down, so as not to let her see his pathetic state.

Zhou Yuqin comforted him, saying, "Alright, alright, don't be angry. Let's go to sleep. You have important things to do tomorrow."

Li Xiangdong lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

What just happened has greatly hurt his self-esteem!

Zhou Yuqin said, somewhat speechless, "Aren't you sleeping and making pancakes?"

"What kind of pancake am I making? I feel like I am a pancake right now!"

Li Xiangdong turned to his side, looking at his wife lying next to him, and felt a stirring of desire within him.

That was purely an accident!

If I don't subdue Zhou Yuqin this time, I'll never be able to hold my head up in front of her again!

"Shall we do it again?"

Zhou Yuqin pushed her man away and sat up. "How can you be so annoying? Didn't we already do it?"

"Where did we do that? I haven't even taken my pants off yet. That doesn't count. Let's do it again."

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "The family planning supplies will expire if we don't use them soon."

"You're talking complete nonsense!"

Zhou Yuqin almost burst out laughing. Her husband could even come up with such an excuse to get things done.

She only just realized that Li Xiangdong had this other side to him, which is quite interesting to think about.

For the first time in all her years of marriage, she felt that this was how to make life enjoyable, unlike before when everything seemed to be just going through the motions.

After lying down again, she joked, "It's okay, it's fine if it's expired. Family planning supplies are free, no need for coupons. They're all distributed free of charge by the neighborhood office. The women's director from the neighborhood office gives us some every time she comes to visit."

"Ah, really?"

How could Li Xiangdong, a grown man, know these things?

In this era where even excrement requires ration coupons, there's still one who slipped through the net!

This is just causing him trouble!

He said unwillingly, "Even if it's free, we can't waste it, can we? We should still use it. Comrade Zhou Yuqin, you can't let your fine qualities of being a member of the working class be wasted on this matter."

"Don't try to pin this label on me!"

Zhou Yuqin's head was spinning when she heard her husband start rambling on. These were old tunes from years ago, and now he was bringing them up again.

Li Xiangdong reached out and pulled his wife into his arms, still unwilling to give up, and said, "I didn't label you randomly. I'm just educating you. Even if we go back to the city now, you can't lose your simple and honest qualities."

Zhou Yuqin was being held by him and didn't know what to say. "Stop joking. I promise you, okay?"

A rustling sound.

Seeing that he was lying on top of her and not moving, Zhou Yuqin asked with a puzzled and incredulous look, "You didn't do 'that' again, did you?"

"Who am I?! Am I looking for that fish that slipped through the net of the planned economy?"

"What fish are you talking about?"

"It's nothing, it's just that thing the neighborhood office gave out for free, I need to use it!"

Although Li Xiangdong was somewhat annoyed, he hadn't done this in a long time, so to be on the safe side, he decided to use family planning products.

He certainly can't afford to make the same mistake twice in one place!

Earthen kang beds are still the best. They're sturdy and durable, and not only can you burn firewood to keep warm in winter, but they're also quiet when you're doing something.

Zhou Yuqin got up, wiped herself off the kang (a heated brick bed), and lay back down, saying, "Are you satisfied now?"

Li Xiangdong wasn't the kind of person who would throw the matchmaker over the wall after marrying a wife. He held Zhou Yuqin in his arms and smoothed the stray hairs on her forehead that were damp with sweat. "I'm just doing this for you."

"You're being indecent."

Zhou Yuqin touched his soft flesh and gently pinched it. "Let's go to sleep, I'm really sleepy."

Li Xiangdong looked at his wife, who was slowly falling asleep in his arms, and listened to the soft snoring coming from her nose. He also closed his eyes and slowly fell asleep.