Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Take it easy, I'll help you lift it."

"No, I can do it myself."

The only piece of furniture that needed to be moved to the new house was the table and chairs that Li Xiangdong's family used for meals.

The table was picked up from the alley by Old Man Li during the humanitarian crisis, and the four matching square stools were given to him by A Zhe's family because they didn't want them.

This set of rosewood table and chairs is an antique from the Ming Dynasty. In his previous life, Li Xiaojiang used this table as firewood. Today, as he moves to a new house, he naturally wants to move this set of table and chairs with him.

"Dongzi, put him down quickly!"

When Grandma Li saw Li Xiangdong carrying a table out of the house, she felt extremely distressed.

She knew how heavy this mahogany table was, as it had always been placed in the living room as a dining table.

"You silly child, this table is so heavy, couldn't you have left it until your dad came home from get off work at noon to move it? What if you hurt your back?"

Hearing these biased remarks, Li's mother, who was standing next to Li's mother, couldn't help but roll her eyes and speak up for her husband.

"Mother, your son is over fifty years old this year."

"Do you need to remind me? I gave birth to her, how could I not know?"

Grandma Li replied, raising her cane to signal Li Xiangdong to quickly put the table down.

"It's okay, Grandma, I can move it, you see."

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he lifted the table and walked out. His muscular arms were no joke; he had developed them by pouring water for passengers on the train, cup after cup.

"Slow down! Dongzi, slow down!"

Grandma Li followed behind, leaning on her cane. Last night, she and Grandpa Li had packed some things to move over, and this morning they packed up the bedding.

Li's mother carried one of these items, while the rest were carried by Li's eldest sister-in-law and second sister-in-law.

Zhou Yuqin opened the door with two square stools in front, and Li Xiangdong carried the table into the back room of the new house in one go.

Li's mother, who arrived shortly after, was filled with doubt. "Third son, why is the table turned upside down in the main room?"

"We have new furniture, so we don't need it."

"There's no need for you to move here."

"Never mind that, please help my grandma to the main room to make the bed."

Li Xiangdong didn't explain much. He had previously told his family what rosewood furniture was, what old furniture was, and the future value of rosewood furniture.

But after hearing those words, Li's mother summarized them into two words: utter nonsense...

He stopped talking after that, because of the limitations of the times. As long as Li's mother did not personally experience the future craze for mahogany furniture, anything he said would be in vain and a waste of water.

After dealing with Li's mother and the others, Li Xiangdong and Zhou Yuqin went back to the old Li family home to continue preparing for the new house.

After all the things that needed to be moved were moved over, Li Xiangdong was tidying up the Fenjiu and Moutai he usually bought for home in the back room. There weren't many, just a few cases. He hadn't bought more before because there wasn't enough space in the room.

The new house is spacious, and the three rear rooms are just sitting empty anyway, so he plans to use one room specifically for storing wine.

He wasn't keeping it for collection purposes; the collectible value of Fenjiu and Moutai circulating in the market is far less than that of the bottle of Lai Mao that Xiang Lin gave him.

He simply didn't want to drink fake alcohol.

In a few years, when the market becomes more open, counterfeit liquor will begin to flood the entire liquor market without restraint.

The most typical example is Fenjiu. If it weren't for the counterfeit and private-label liquor, Moutai would have had a hard time turning the tables on it and would likely have remained a junior forever.

"Brother Dong! Brother Dong?"

Upon hearing Hou San's voice, Li Xiangdong came out of the back room.

"Oh, Uncle Hou and Aunt Hou, you've come too! Please come in."

When Li Xiangdong saw Hou San and his family of three approaching, he quickly invited them into the courtyard.

"Dongzi, your new house is quite big."

After passing through the hanging flower gate, Hou Jianshe looked at the spacious courtyard and couldn't help but sigh.

The last time he came to see the courtyard that Hou Sanxiang had his eye on, Li Xiangdong was at the housing management office handling the transfer procedures, so he didn't come in to take a look. This is the first time he's come to visit.

"That's right, Dongzi, you've done quite a feat without making a sound."

Aunt Hou laughed and joked. Li Xiangdong smiled back, but didn't respond to Aunt Hou's words. Instead, he called out to the east wing, "Wife, stop tidying up and come out quickly. Uncle Hou and Aunt Hou are here."

His shout not only drew Zhou Yuqin out of the house, but also caused Old Lady Li and the others to stop what they were doing and come out of the main room.

After exchanging pleasantries, Li Xiangdong invited Hou San and his family of three into the main room.

"Brother Dong, did Uncle Sun help you with all of this?"

"Yes, what do you think?"

"Great, great, beautiful!"

Hou San looked at the screen and touched the table. In all his life, he had only seen similar furniture and decorations last year when he went with Ququ Sun to collect silver dollars from the homes of those old-timers.

He liked it and planned to ask Ququsun to help him get a set sometime.

"Uncle Hou, Aunt Hou, I'm so sorry, we just moved in and there's not even any hot water in the house yet."

"I'll go home and fetch a kettle of hot water."

Then Li Xiangdong spoke about Sister-in-law Li, since Hou Jianshe and Aunt Hou were the parents of her son's teacher, so she definitely had to treat them well!

"Don't go, don't go, we're not thirsty."

Aunt Hou stopped Sister-in-law Li, who was walking out of the house, and turned to look at Old Lady Li with a smile, saying, "Old lady, you rest here. I'll have them show me around."

"Okay, take your time watching. My legs can't keep up, so I won't join in the fun."

After replying with a smile, Grandma Li chatted with Hou Jianshe for a couple more minutes before going back inside to continue tidying up the house.

"Dongzi, with such a big courtyard, why isn't there a study?"

"Yes, it's the west wing. Shall I show you there?"

"Go, have a look."

Li Xiangdong led the Hou family father and son to the west wing. After the door opened, the father and son went to the left and the right respectively. Hou San's eyes were on the tea table, especially the rocking chair that Li Xiangdong had placed behind it.

Hou Jianshe stood in front of the desk, occasionally making a 'tsk tsk' sound.

"Uncle Hou, the seal box is empty."

Upon hearing this, Hou Jianshe put down the box in his hand and thought about what he should give Li Xiangdong as a gift when he moved.

"Brother Dong? This bottle of wine?"

"Hou San, be careful!"

Before Li Xiangdong could react, Hou San took the Lai Mao (a type of herb) off the antique shelf.

"Lai Mao? Good wine, it looks like it's been aged for quite a while. Third brother, quickly put the wine back, this kind of old wine is not for drinking."

Hou Jianshe came over and took a look, then pointed to the antique shelf and told Hou San to put the wine back in its original place.

"Uncle Hou, let me take you to see the east wing."

Li Xiangdong closed the study door, and Hou Jianshe glanced at his watch and shook his head.

"Let's not look at it anymore, maybe next time. Third brother, go and call your mother out, we need to go to the housing management office to transfer the property."

The Hou family of three came in a hurry and left in a hurry as well.

Li Xiangdong said he wanted to go with them, but Hou Jianshe told him to stay home and do his own thing. Li Xiangdong didn't insist and smiled as he saw them off.

Under the care of Zhang Sen's wife, Li Xiaozhu and Zhang Miaomiao were coming from Old Li's house. The two girls were climbing the steps when the two groups bumped into each other at the gate.

"Little girl, do you still remember Grandma Hou?"

When Aunt Hou saw Li Xiaozhu, she quickly stepped forward and bent down to hug her, but her back was bad. She had been injured before, and the doctor had said that she couldn't hug anything too heavy.

After Li Xiaozhu was picked up, she was lifted less than half a meter off the ground before being put back down...

"You chubby girl, what have you been eating at home? You're even heavier than you were during the New Year!"

"I'm not fat~ I'm not fat~"

Li Xiaozhu was getting anxious!