Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Li Xiangdong, as her son, naturally knew what kind of person Li's mother was.

When other people have something exciting to watch, she can eagerly wait by the side and watch for half a day.

Now it's her turn to be flattered and praised by others, all because of her youngest son who has never brought her any honor.

Li Xiangdong felt that it was doubtful whether his mother would even remember to come home and cook dinner!

Step through the gate and into the courtyard.

Li Xiangdong saw his son and three nephews squatting under the jujube tree, picking jujubes.

The sisters Xiaomei and Xiaolan flanked their daughter Li Xiaozhu, making her stand at the door of the west wing and watch her brothers play in the yard.

It had just rained heavily, and the red dates hanging on the jujube tree in the yard had fallen to the ground.

Red dates are an excellent tonic at this time of year, and Li's mother usually wouldn't let her children damage the date trees.

But she wouldn't care about the dates that were knocked down by the heavy rain; she would just treat them as snacks.

Li Xiaomei saw her third uncle return home and was about to call for help.

Li Xiangdong hurriedly put his index finger to his lips and pointed to Li Xiaojiang and the others who were busy picking dates.

Li Xiaomei smiled and whispered something to her younger sister Li Xiaolan beside her. The two of them also covered Li Xiaozhu's mouth.

Li Xiangdong tiptoed over, then suddenly accelerated, kicking the jujube tree before quickly running out from under it.

A series of 'pitter-patter' sounds followed as rainwater mixed with jujubes fell from the tree!

"Ah~!"

"Run!"

"Run! It's raining again!"

Li Xiaojiang and his three companions under the tree scattered like headless flies, crouching low as they fled in all directions.

'boom'

Li Xiaohai ran over in a daze and bumped into Li Xiangdong's thigh.

Li Xiaohai was jolted back a meter and landed hard on his backside. He rubbed his head, looked up, and called out, "Dad~"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Why don't you get up quickly?"

"Oh."

Li Xiaohai twisted his body, braced himself with his hands on the ground, and stood up.

Originally, it was just a pair of open-crotch pants that got dirty, but now, half of his body is covered in mud!

The three nephews, who had run a few meters away, realized that it was their third uncle who had been up to no good.

Li Xiaojiang exclaimed angrily, "Third Uncle, how could you be so mean!"

Li Xiaobo said with a wronged expression, "Third Uncle, my clothes are all wet."

"Look what this is!"

Li Xiaotao pulled a date out of his collar and said with a grin, "It hit me on the head, hahaha, and rolled right into my clothes."

As he spoke, he rubbed the dates in his hand, popped them into his mouth, chewed them a couple of times, swallowed them, and after spitting out the pits, he scratched his head and said in a simple and honest voice, "Dates don't last long. It would be better if they were apples instead."

Li Xiangdong looked at his silly second nephew. He really wanted to improve!

The three Li brothers, Xiaojiang, Li, and Xiangdong, approached Li Xiangdong with great curiosity and asked, "Third Uncle, what kind of clothes are you wearing? They look really good!"

"Third Uncle, what's in all these bags?"

"Is it delicious? Uncle, I'll trade you some dates for it."

Not only Li Xiaojiang and his brothers, but Li Xiaomei, carrying Li Xiaozhu, and Li Xiaolan also came to his side, looking at their third uncle who had changed his appearance.

"Daddy...hug...hug..."

Li Xiaozhu looked at her father, opened her arms, and called out.

"Little Qi, be good. I'll hug you after Daddy puts what he's holding back in the room."

Seeing his son reaching out his black hands to touch the coat he was holding, Li Xiangdong quickly pulled it up a bit. "You guys hurry up and pick up the dates. I kicked down quite a few just now. Xiaolan, go to the door and get the broom back."

"Yes, let's go pick dates!"

"Don't try to take it from me!"

Li Xiaojiang turned around a few times and ran under the jujube tree.

Zhou Yuqin, who was busy inside, along with her two sisters-in-law and grandparents, came out of the house. When they saw Li Xiangdong wearing a brand-new railway uniform, their eyes lit up.

Li Xiangdong greeted his grandparents and was about to go over and talk to them when he was startled by a shout from Zhou Yuqin who walked up to him!

"Li Xiaohai! You come here right now!"

When Zhou Yuqin saw that her son was covered in dirt, her good mood was immediately ruined.

"Mother, why did you call me?"

Li Xiaohai, who had just run to the jujube tree, turned back and looked timidly at Zhou Yuqin. He then turned around and slowly moved his feet toward his mother.

Seeing him dawdling, Zhou Yuqin strode over and pointed to his filthy clothes and dirty body.

"I just changed your clothes, and it hasn't even been half an hour yet, how did you manage to ruin them like this again? Do you want a beating?!"

Li Xiaohai tilted his head back and said, "Mom, it wasn't me, it was my dad..."

"What does this have to do with me? You see there's no way out for yourself, so don't push everything onto me."

Li Xiangdong hurriedly interrupted his son's tattling.

Li Xiaohai had indeed been tricked by him, and he needed to leave this troublesome place as soon as possible. After saying that, he turned around and walked into his room.

Sister-in-law Li stopped Zhou Yuqin, who was about to hit the child, saying, "What child isn't naughty? Just give him a few words of discipline. He's still young, you can't hit him."

Zhou Yuqin said angrily, "Sister-in-law, you don't know, he's changed his clothes three times in one day. Where do you get so many clothes for him to wear like this!"

"It's alright, it's alright. Xiaohai, go with your second aunt. Let's go wash up first, and then you can wear your brother Xiaobo's clothes later."

Li Ersao came over, bent down and patted Li Xiaohai, whose head was drooping, and took his hand and walked towards the pool.

Old Man Li and Old Woman Li also came over and said a few words of advice to Zhou Yuqin, and then the group went to the west wing together.

Li Xiangdong had just put all his belongings on the kang (a heated brick bed) when he saw his grandparents and sister-in-law follow his wife into the room.

"Why did you two come over? It just rained, and the paving stones in our yard are so slippery. What if you slipped and fell?"

He went over, helped each of them up, and invited Old Man Li and Old Lady Li to sit down on the kang (heated brick bed).

Old Li asked, "Dongzi, why are you back so early?"

"It's my first day at work, and my boss gave me special leave so I could come back early."

Li Xiangdong smiled but didn't explain the specifics.

Grandma Li held Li Xiangdong's hand and touched the uniform he was wearing. "That's great, our Dongzi has made something of himself."

As she spoke, tears streamed down her face, and Li Xiangdong felt a pang of sadness watching her.

Old Li said, "We're overjoyed that Dongzi has a formal job, why are you crying, you old woman?"

Grandma Li wiped away her tears. "I'm just happy, what's wrong with that? Can't I cry if I'm happy?"

Unable to argue with his wife, Old Man Li turned around, picked up a bundle of clothes that Li Xiangdong had placed on the kang (a heated brick bed), untied the knot, stood up, shook out the coat in his hand, and compared it to himself.

"This is a good thing!"