Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Li Xiangdong was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt something wet beneath him. He took the cotton out of his ear, reached out and touched the light cord, then pulled it.

When the light was turned on, Li Xiaozhu was found lying naked on the kang (a heated brick bed). Her head was resting on his wife's body, her legs were on her stomach, and the sheet under her buttocks was stained with urine.

He gently picked up his daughter and moved her to a dry place. He didn't know what she was dreaming about, but she was still grinning.

Seeing this, he couldn't help but smile, thinking to himself, "What a brat."

"you're awake."

Zhou Yuqin squinted and saw her husband changing clothes. She got up and sat on the kang (a heated brick bed) and asked, "What's wrong?"

Li Xiangdong chuckled softly, "My daughter wet the bed and just flooded me with water."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuqin looked down at the place where her husband was sleeping and sure enough, there was a urine stain on the bed sheet. She then looked at her daughter, who was sleeping soundly and still grinning foolishly beside her.

She laughed and said, "Wipe yourself off first before changing your clothes. People will laugh at you if you get on the train smelling like urine."

"I was worried about waking the children, so I was going to change my clothes and go to the yard to wipe myself down."

Just as Li Xiangdong finished putting on his clothes, his father's deep voice came from outside the door, "Third son, you're awake, so hurry up. It's already past four o'clock, don't be late."

Li Xiangdong opened the door a crack and looked at his father outside, saying, "Dad, go back to your room and sleep. I'm going out now."

With a cigarette dangling from his lips to keep himself awake, Mr. Li asked, "Should I ask your mother to get up and heat up some food for you?"

"No need, didn't we steam some buns at home yesterday? I'll take a couple with me on the way."

"Are two enough? I'll go get them for you. Don't let your wife come out. I'll lock the door later."

After finishing speaking, Li's father walked quickly toward the stove in the main room without waiting for a reply.

Li Xiangdong closed the door, turned to Zhou Yuqin and said, "You go back to sleep, Dad will take me home."

He went out and wiped himself down first. When he came back, he carried the cloth bag on the table on his back, took the flashlight in his hand, walked to the kang (a heated brick bed), glanced at his son who was fast asleep, touched his daughter's little feet, and then walked outside.

Be careful outside.

"Okay, turn off the lights and go to sleep."

Li Xiangdong gently closed the door and turned on the flashlight.

Li's father stood in the yard with two steamed buns in his hand. Seeing him come out of the house, he said softly, "Eating steamed buns on their own is choking. Last year during the Spring Festival, your second brother's bathhouse gave out a military water bottle. Do you want me to take it with you?"

"No need, don't wake up my second brother and his family again."

Li Xiangdong took the steamed bun and ate it as he walked out.

Standing at the gate, Li's father instructed, "When you go to other places, you must go with others wherever you go. You can't go out and wander around by yourself."

"Okay, Dad. You should go back to sleep now."

"Well, let's go."

After the gate closed, Li Xiangdong walked quickly toward the train station with a flashlight in hand. The road was quiet, except for the chirping of insects under the walls and in the grass by the roadside.

As he ate his steamed bun, he was thinking about how to get a watch after he made some money. His job required him to get up early and work late without any fixed schedule, and he couldn't always make his father worry about him, having to come over in the middle of the night to wake him up.

As Li Xiangdong exited the alley, he spotted a figure not far ahead. The person was swaying back and forth with a flashlight in their hand and walking in an S-shape like a drunkard.

He knew who it was without even having to guess, from this point and in this direction.

"Ah Zhe~"

The figure in front paused, turned around, and shone the flashlight directly into Li Xiangdong's face.

Li Xiangdong raised his hand to shield his eyes and shouted, "Where are you shining your light?!"

"Dongzi, you scared me! What are you yelling about in the middle of the night?"

A Zhe stood still, moved the flashlight down a bit, and shone the light in front of Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiangdong jogged over to A Zhe's side and asked, "Have you had breakfast yet?"

Ah Zhe yawned. "No, if my dad hadn't called me, I'd still be sleeping at this hour. I wouldn't have had time to eat."

"Eat."

Li Xiangdong handed one of the steamed buns in his hand to A Zhe.

"Hehe, thank you Dongzi, this steamed bun is a lifesaver for me."

Ah Zhe didn't stand on ceremony and took the steamed bun to eat. "I gave two packs of yesterday's fried dough twists to each of Xiao Linzi's three families."

"Okay, just make the arrangements. Is the money ready?"

"I'm ready. 200 yuan, just like Hou San. Is that enough?"

"I'm not good enough at trading silver dollars, but I'm good enough at trading crickets."

The two ate steamed buns and chatted idly until they arrived at the train station.

As soon as he entered the office area, he ran into his colleagues from the flight attendant crew walking towards the platform in twos and threes. Zhe greeted them and followed them.

Li Xiangdong pushed open the office door and saw Hou San still asleep on the desk. He walked over and knocked on the desk, "Wake up."

"You're here, Dong-ge."

Hou San got up, rubbed his eyes, and asked, "Brother Dong, do you have anything to eat?"

Li Xiangdong retorted, "You haven't eaten?"

Hou San shook his head. "I didn't eat."

"Didn't we buy a lot of fried dough twists? If you don't have time to eat, you can have some fried dough twists."

Li Xiangdong replied to Hou San, picked up his tea mug and started brewing tea. And you know what? Uncle Wang's pre-Qingming Longjing tea smelled wonderful when brewed with hot water!

Hou San sighed, his voice filled with resentment, and said, "Gone, all gone. I just brought the twisted dough sticks back yesterday, and I don't know where my eldest and second sisters got the news from. I hadn't even settled in when they came over and took them all."

Li Xiangdong smiled upon hearing this. Who else could it be but Liu Erdan? "Don't you have any leftovers at home? It's better to eat something than to go hungry."

Hou San rubbed his stomach and said with a wronged expression, "Last night I ate leftovers. My dad went to my second sister's house to see his granddaughter, and my mom went to my eldest sister's house to see her grandson. They stayed at my eldest and second sisters' houses and no one paid any attention to me."

These are definitely his biological parents; poor Hou San has suffered a great injustice.

Unfortunately, Li Xiangdong had nothing to eat, so they could only pour him a glass of water. "Drink some to fill your stomach first, and then you can have breakfast after you get on the train."

Hou San, looking distressed, drank two large mugs of water before following Li Xiangdong toward the platform.

As soon as the two stepped onto the platform, a clear and melodious voice came from behind them.

"Hou San!"

Hou San turned around and saw the person who came in. His face turned red instantly. "Da Ni, you're here."

Kong Dani?

Her voice is really nice; no wonder she can be a broadcaster.

Li Xiangdong turned around and looked at Hou San's dream girl. She was not tall, had short hair that reached her ears, and was walking towards them with a brisk and elegant figure.

Kong Dani came to their side, first nodded to Hou San, then looked at Li Xiangdong and asked, "Are you Comrade Li Xiangdong? My father has been looking for you for two days, and you're quite good at hiding."

"What does your dad want from me? If you feel wronged, go find the manager. I didn't deduct their broadcasting room's production bonus!"

Li Xiangdong was furious. He hadn't taken Wang Dahai and Erguaizi's words seriously at the time, but now that their own daughter had spoken up, it seemed Kong Zhaoyao was really planning to cause him trouble.

Kong Dani nodded and looked at him with regret, saying, "You're right, but my dad is unreasonable. He's set his sights on you, so you'd better watch out."

Holy crap!