Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

The main house has a large living room with two tables, one large and one small.

Old Li's family is large, with a total of seventeen people including the elderly and children, so two tables are barely enough.

At this moment, Li's father, mother, and brothers and sisters-in-law were all sitting around the large dining table.

The eldest brother's family has three children, two boys and one girl: Li Xiaojiang, 13 years old; Li Xiaotao, 11 years old; and Li Xiaolan, 9 years old.

Li Erge's family has two children, a boy and a girl. Li Xiaobo is 5 years old and Li Xiaomei is 10 years old.

The children were standing in the corner, whispering to each other, and his son, Li Xiaohai, was among them.

"father."

When Li Xiaohai saw him enter the house, he immediately called for help.

Li Xiangdong asked, "Have you eaten?"

Li Xiaotao nodded. "I ate it."

"Okay, you can play."

As soon as Li Xiangdong finished speaking, Zhou Yuqin, who followed him into the house, reached out and took her daughter from his arms.

She walked over to Mr. and Mrs. Li, pulled out a stool from under the table, and sat down with the child in her arms.

Seeing this setup, Li Xiangdong realized it was going to be a joint trial involving three parties...

He called out to his parents, nodded to his brothers and sisters-in-law, and then glanced around and realized there was no room left at the large dining table.

On the small dining table to the side, there was a bowl of corn porridge, a plate of pickled radishes, and two steamed buns made from two different types of dough.

Well... he's even ended up at the kids' table.

Faced with this situation, Li Xiangdong felt a little embarrassed, but eating was still the priority, mainly because he was hungry and his young body digested quickly.

He plopped down, holding a full bowl of corn porridge in both hands, and slurped it down while pressing his mouth to the rim of the bowl.

He only put down his bowl after finishing the cool top layer, as the bottom was still scalding hot and needed to cool down.

He casually picked up a steamed bun made from two different doughs, grabbed chopsticks with his right hand, and took a bite of the bun followed by a bite of pickled radish.

After eating two steamed buns rather quickly, I let out a satisfied burp and breathed a long, comfortable sigh.

He paused for a moment, then picked up the bowl of corn porridge again, but before he could even start slurping it...

Sitting at the large dining table, Mr. Li watched his youngest son eat, his sullen face growing increasingly dark.

"Third brother, I thought you'd made some progress since you came back from the countryside with your wife and kids. But I didn't expect you to have no other skills, only a thicker and thicker skin."

"A whole room of people are watching you eat by yourself, aren't you ashamed? You're slurping so loudly, it tastes so good! Is that enough? If not, I'll ask your mother to get you some more?"

Li's father's sarcastic words were spoken in a strange tone.

The people in the room couldn't help but burst out laughing, instantly dispelling the serious atmosphere.

Especially Li's mother, who was frowning just now, is now laughing the loudest!

"Third Uncle, does corn porridge smell that good?"

The one who spoke was Li Xiaojiang, who was standing in the corner. He was in the second year of junior high school at the nearby No. 125 Middle School, which later became Huiwen Experimental Middle School. He wasn't a good student and just spent his days being mischievous.

"Xiang, would you like to eat some more with Uncle San?"

Li Xiangdong casually replied.

None of the younger generation in the Li family are studious, nor do they have any ability to make a lot of money.

However, when he was old, these children often visited him, bringing him things like steamed cakes, bread rolls, and milk.

The things themselves may not be valuable, but the sentiment is what matters. The fact that they thought of bringing food to his third uncle and visiting him from time to time shows they are truly excellent children.

"Third Uncle, you should eat it yourself. I'm sick of eating this every day..."

Before Li Xiaojiang could finish speaking, his wife, Li Dasao, interrupted, "Shut up! If you keep causing trouble, I'll beat you up later!"

Li Xiaojiang shrank back in fright and dared not utter another sound.

"Eldest daughter-in-law, can't you talk things out properly? Why are you scaring my grandson?"

When Li's mother saw her eldest grandson shiver and shrink back like a quail, she was immediately displeased and retorted to Li's sister-in-law.

There was a 'bang' sound.

Mr. Li slammed his hand on the table. "Shut up too! Your eldest daughter-in-law is disciplining the child. Don't interfere. Don't you know how much you've spoiled your third son?"

"Is it because I spoiled my third son? Put your hand on your heart and tell me, how could I possibly control him?"

Li's mother was not afraid of Li's father and directly shut him down.

The whole family knows who spoiled Li Xiangdong.

Seeing that the atmosphere in the room was getting increasingly strange, Li Xiangdong quickly finished the corn porridge in his bowl, wiped his mouth, and was about to slip away.

"We haven't talked about your job yet. Where are you planning to go? Sit still!"

Li's father was so angry that he couldn't vent his anger on Li Xiangdong.

When Li Xiangdong heard that the topic of work was coming up, he obediently sat back down. This was something he really needed to discuss with his family.

At this moment, Li Xiaozhu in Zhou Yuqin's arms started to throw a tantrum. She didn't cry, but just kept whimpering, which meant she was sleepy and wanted to go to sleep.

Li's father suppressed his anger and lowered his voice, saying, "Third son's wife, take the child to the inner room."

He turned around and saw his grandchildren huddled in the corner, barely daring to breathe. "Xiaojiang, take your younger siblings and go play in the inner room with your third aunt."

Kids are like that; they laugh when their parents hit them.

But if adults argue or bicker, they are afraid from the bottom of their hearts.

Upon hearing their grandfather speak, Li Xiaojiang and the others hurriedly followed Zhou Yuqin into the inner room.

The oldest among them, Li Xiaojiang, winked and made a face at Li Xiangdong as he walked past him.

Li Xiangdong glared at him. More than a month after he returned, the children had become more and more familiar with him, especially his eldest nephew, who was very resilient and never forgot what he had been taught. He had been quite frightened just now, but in the blink of an eye, he was as if nothing had happened.

After the door to the inner room closed, Li's father's gaze returned to Li Xiangdong.

Looking at his youngest son, Li's father couldn't help but sigh. Of his three sons, the eldest and second eldest were the most reliable and steady, rarely causing him any worry.

Only his youngest son could make him so angry that his liver would ache.

When I was little, I didn't like studying in school, and I would tease cats and dogs after school.

When I went to the countryside as an educated youth, I would send letters home every few days saying that I wasn't getting enough to eat and that I couldn't endure the days of having no food or water in the countryside.

He was terrified when he first received the letter, thinking another natural disaster had struck!

Now that he's back from the countryside, the neighborhood committee has arranged a job for him, but he just won't take it.

This is hardly raising a son.

This is clearly raising a debt collector!

Mr. Li said firmly, “Go to the neighborhood office to report later. What’s wrong with popping popcorn? It’s better than you sitting idly at home.”

Making popcorn might sound undignified, but it was still a collective property under the jurisdiction of the neighborhood committee. He was worried that if his youngest son didn't report for duty, he would lose his job.

“Dongzi, listen to your father. If there’s a job, let’s take it. There are over 400,000 unemployed youths in Beijing right now. If you count all the households in Beijing, there’s at least one person in every three households who doesn’t have a job.”

The speaker was the second brother, Li Weimin. He spent all his time in the bathhouse and was better informed than most people.

Upon hearing these numbers for the first time, Li's mother immediately became as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

"Dongzi, you can't delay any longer. What will you do if you lose this job?"

With too many monks and too little porridge, what's wrong with popcorn popping?

This is a good job!