Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

When Grandma Li saw her great-grandson being hit several times while her husband sat by watching with great interest, she advised, "Two hits are enough. Taozi doesn't even know what your name is, his grandfather."

"Humph!"

When Li's father heard his mother speak, he sat back down at the table with a stern face.

"Get lost now."

Brother Li was furious. His silly son had raised a cricket and ended up with an uncle. If it weren't for Old Lady Li speaking up, he would have slapped Li Xiaotao twice more.

Li Xiaotao sniffed twice, then shrank his neck and hunched over as he ran out under his father's stern gaze. He was still confused and had no idea why he had been beaten.

"What are you laughing at? If you hadn't brought back a cricket, would all this nonsense have happened?"

Mr. Li saw his youngest son standing aside, watching the commotion with amusement, and the words he uttered were neither sarcastic nor polite.

"What does this have to do with me?"

Li Xiangdong muttered something, then sat back down at the table with his daughter in his arms and continued eating.

Grandma Li looked at her grandson eating heartily and asked with a smile, "Dongzi, why did you bring a cricket back from work?"

"It was given to me by an elder on the way back."

Li Xiangdong looked at the fried dough twists soaking in his grandmother's bowl and smiled, "Grandma, aren't the fried dough twists delicious?"

Grandma Li nodded and said, "It's delicious, but it's too tough to chew. You have to soak it in corn porridge to soften it before you can eat it."

Old Li was worried that his grandson would spend money recklessly, so he reminded him, "It's not easy being away from home. You don't need to bring these things back with you in the future."

Li Ersao laughed and said, "Grandpa, you're absolutely right. It's only been a few days, and we've already had White Rabbit milk candy, instant noodles, and now so many fried dough twists. Dongzi, you can't just waste money like this."

Sister-in-law Li and her two brothers nodded frequently, agreeing with what Old Man Li and Sister-in-law Li had said.

"The third child."

"Hey"

Li Xiangdong responded and looked up at his father, "What's wrong, Dad?"

Mr. Li put down his chopsticks, looked at him, and asked, "Have you received your salary this month? When are you planning to pay for the family's food expenses?"

"Give it to me now."

Li Xiangdong took out 5 yuan from his pocket and gave the money to his mother, who was sitting next to him eating.

"I didn't mean to withhold it. My dad got the three of us brothers drunk on payday, and I forgot about it."

"These meat and oil coupons are extra subsidies from my work unit when I went to another city."

Li Xiangdong gave the tickets that Wang Dahai and Erguaizi had given him to his mother under a different pretext, as if it were for household expenses. Seeing his mother's eyes light up, he hurriedly explained, "The reward is only given once in a while, not every time."

Li's mother carefully wrapped the receipt in her handkerchief and said excitedly, "It's amazing that it only happens once in a while. No wonder everyone says that working for the railway is a good job. I'll buy some meat tomorrow, and we'll have a good meal together."

"Yes, buy more, the kids at home are growing."

Li Xiangdong explained that he had to drive to Shandong Province the next morning, then mashed up an egg and fed it to his daughter before carrying her back to the house.

He put his daughter on the kang (a heated brick bed), and seeing that she was reaching out her arms still wanting to be held, he said gently, "How about you play on the bed by yourself for a while? Daddy is going to wash up, and when I come back, I'll hold you and we'll go to sleep together."

"Um"

Li Xiaozhu nodded, sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), and began playing with her toes.

After leaving the house, Li Xiangdong looked back and saw that his daughter was playing happily by herself, so he felt relieved and went to wash up.

He had just washed his face and was about to wipe himself when Li Xiaohai, who was playing in Brother Li's room, ran over.

"Dad, the cricket has stopped chirping."

He picked up the cricket cage and shook it vigorously a few times, like he was rolling dice. "Dad, look, is it asleep?"

???

Li Xiangdong was exasperated. "Li Xiaohai! You can't play with a cricket like that! If you shake it a couple more times, it'll die!"

Li Xiaohai persisted, "Then why doesn't it bark?"

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "It's probably carsick and is throwing up."

Li Xiaohai stood there, his head spinning. He didn't know what motion sickness was.

Li Xiangdong sighed and said, "Don't keep holding it and playing with it. Put it on the ground, and it will start barking on its own in a while."

"I understand, Father."

Li Xiaohai, satisfied, took the cricket cage and trotted back into Brother Li's house.

"I'll make you pay for this sooner or later."

Li Xiangdong muttered something to himself, lamenting the tragic fate of the cricket.

He quickly wiped himself down, washed his feet under the tap, went back inside to play with his daughter who was still playing with her toes, and then took out his winter cotton-padded trousers from the closet.

With a "screech" sound.

Along the stitches, the cotton trousers were torn open.

"What are you doing?"

Zhou Yuqin had just finished washing the dishes for Li's mother when she entered the house and saw her husband wasting things. Feeling sorry for him, she quickly walked over, picked up the cotton trousers, and looked at them. "Why are you tearing your clothes for no reason?"

"I need the cotton inside."

Li Xiangdong briefly explained his plan to deal with crickets.

After listening, Zhou Yuqin frowned and said, "Won't you get into trouble doing this?"

"It's okay, don't worry. Once your man makes money, you can sit on the kang (heated brick bed) and count your money whenever you want. I'm worried that having too much money will tire you out."

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he took the cotton out of his cotton-padded trousers and stuffed it into his satchel.

"I never feel tired no matter how much money I count."

Zhou Yuqin smiled, but seeing her husband pulling handfuls of cotton out of his cotton-padded trousers, she said with heartache, "Remember to bring the cotton back after you've used it up. It's a good thing, you can't just throw it away."

"understood."

Li Xiangdong put the shriveled cotton trousers back into the cupboard, then hopped onto the kang (a heated brick bed). He saw his daughter holding a small ball of cotton, which she was kneading and playing with.

He yawned and tugged at his daughter's braids. "Little Seven, Daddy's sleepy. Are you sleepy too? How about you sleep with Daddy?"

"it is good..."

Li Xiaozhu uttered a single word and began to climb all over him, using both her hands and feet.

Li Xiangdong held his daughter in his arms, picked up the cotton she had left on the kang (a heated brick bed), divided it into two small balls, and stuffed them into her ears so that he wouldn't be woken up by the mischievous boys in the house after he fell asleep.

“When I get back from Shandong Province, the four of us will go to your house for a couple of days, and you can go home and see your parents too.”

Li Xiangdong held his daughter, who was lying on his stomach, and gently patted her back to lull her to sleep.

"Ah."

Zhou Yuqin nodded happily, picked up a thin blanket, and draped it over the father and daughter. "You should go to sleep if you're tired. We have to get up early tomorrow. Oh, I forgot to ask, what does the cricket you brought back eat? We don't know how to raise it, so we don't want it to starve to death."

"Just feed them some vegetable leaves and caterpillars, they won't live much longer anyway..."

Seeing that her husband had started snoring before he could finish speaking, Zhou Yuqin smiled, patted her daughter who was sleeping soundly on top of him with her eyes closed, and then turned and left the room.

The night is getting darker.