Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"We've finally arrived."

Li Xiangdong's feet finally touched the ground in Ningyang, Shandong Province.

We departed early yesterday morning, and it's already past 8 pm on the second day. These days, it's really not easy to travel far.

Hou San tilted his head back and touched his face. "Brother Dong, it looks like it's raining."

Li Xiangdong said cheerfully, "Rain is good, rain brings out good insects, as long as it's not heavy rain."

A Zhe called out from a short distance away, "Dongzi, Hou San, it's time for roll call."

"okay."

Li Xiangdong and Hou San arrived at the train conductor's carriage. After entering, they found a place to sit and waited for the train conductor, Gao Xinmin, who was still on patrol.

In the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, Gao Xinmin walked in. He sat down in his seat, picked up his teacup and took a sip. Without even taking the roster, he simply looked at each person's face and called out their names.

"I don't need to give any further instructions about this place. Everyone, please get some rest at the guesthouse. That's all for now."

After Gao Xinmin finished speaking, he led the way to the guesthouse. Li Xiangdong and Hou San followed closely behind the crowd. A Zhe, who was walking in front, slowed down and joined the two of them.

A light drizzle was falling as Li Xiangdong and his two companions smoked, listening to their colleagues constantly complaining.

"Sigh, when will this ever end?"

"You couldn't wait after just a few days? There are so many people at the station, how can we keep running around to the best places?"

"Can we switch shifts? Did you see Wang Dahai and Erguaizi on this trip?"

The person who spoke also secretly glanced back at Li Xiangdong and Hou San.

"And Zhang Hu from our group, it seems he's been reassigned to a different shift too."

"Those three are capable, let's not talk about that anymore. Shall we have a drink tonight? When I passed through Dezhou, I bought a braised chicken for 4 yuan at the station."

Li Xiangdong pretended not to hear them. He thought they were a bunch of fools, oblivious to their own wealth. He just took it as a joke.

At least the Tianjin Guesthouse was a two-story red brick building, but the guesthouse here was just two rows of large tile-roofed houses, all of which were divided into small rooms.

The yard was quite spacious, with weeds growing all around the wall and a dry toilet in the corner.

Li Xiangdong casually pushed open a door to a room. There was a musty smell inside. He opened the door and windows and then took a closer look.

A washstand and two bunk beds.

"Let's sleep in this room."

Li Xiangdong and his two companions began a simple cleaning.

The room was supposed to be for four people, but only the three of them lived there. The reason was that they didn't know each other well, and their colleagues could also tell that Li Xiangdong and his two friends were a small group, so no one wanted to join them in the room.

Anyway, there are plenty of empty rooms, enough for their group to stay in.

"What smells so good?"

Ah Zhe, who was making the bed, smelled the aroma and came closer to Hou San. "Hou San, what's in your bag?"

"Braised chicken".

Hou San proudly opened the cloth bag and showed it to A Zhe.

Ah Zhe saw a package wrapped in oil paper inside and exclaimed excitedly, "Is this the 4-yuan Dezhou braised chicken? It smells amazing!"

"Of course."

Hou San took the oil paper package out of his satchel and continued to boast, "When I parked the car, so many people were buying it, I almost missed out."

With meat to eat, Ah Zhe was quite excited. "Shall we have some drinks too?"

Hou San was about to nod in agreement when Li Xiangdong interrupted, "Don't eat this braised chicken yet. A Zhe, you and Hou San take this braised chicken to the staff at the guesthouse and ask them to help us get some bamboo poles."

A-Zhe turned to look at him and asked, "Why change the bamboo pole?"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "We're going to collect crickets tomorrow morning, right? After we collect them, we need to keep them in bamboo tubes. You guys hurry up and go. When you come back, we need to cut them into sections of bamboo tubes overnight. We should also borrow a saw while we're at it."

"Brother Dong, can't we give them some money to help us?"

Hou San was a little reluctant to part with it, after all, he had gone to great lengths to buy this braised chicken, because it didn't require a ticket and people on the platform were scrambling to get it.

Li Xiangdong stopped what he was doing, looked at Hou San and said, "Why don't you give it a try?"

In times of scarcity, the allure of money was far less potent than that of a roast chicken.

Besides, it's almost 9 p.m., and if you ask the staff at the guesthouse for help at this hour, you probably won't get any attention unless you offer them something really appealing.

"Let's go, Hou San, we have important business to attend to."

Ah Zhe can still distinguish between what's important and what's not. It's just a braised chicken; if he wants to eat it again on the way home, he can buy more. Making money is the most important thing right now!

Before leaving, he grabbed Hou Sanlin and asked, "Dongzi, how thick should the bamboo poles be? Are 10 enough for us?"

Li Xiangdong sat on the bed, sorting through the cotton he had brought from home. Without even looking up, he said, "Buy more. The bamboo poles should ideally be about an inch thick, not too thin. Be careful when you two go out."

"I understand, Dongzi. I will keep a close eye on Hou San."

"I'm not a dog, I don't need you to watch me!"

"When did I call you a dog? I'm taking care of you, don't you understand?"

"Pooh!"

"Hou San, who are you spitting at?!"

Li Xiangdong was exasperated. He walked over and kicked A Zhe and Hou San, saying, "Can't you two do something? If you keep dawdling, it'll be past midnight!"

He chased A Zhe and Hou San away and went back inside to continue sorting the cotton.

After the cricket is put into the bamboo tube, the other end needs to be plugged. If the plug is too loose, it will fall out, and if it is too tight, it will suffocate the cricket.

Cotton is the best choice, as it can be stuffed tightly while still being breathable.

However, his cotton-padded trousers had been worn for several years, and the cotton inside was all clumps together. He needed to tear the clumps of cotton apart bit by bit and then knead them back into a ball.

This is a delicate task, and he doesn't trust Hou San and A Zhe to do it. If they mess it up and suffocate the crickets, their whole trip will have been for nothing.

It took two full hours for A Zhe and Hou San to return. Li Xiangdong had already finished tidying up the cotton and was almost asleep in bed.

"That's outrageous! One roast chicken from me wasn't enough, they also demanded two national food coupons!"

Hou Sanyi entered the house, put down the bamboo pole on his shoulder, and began to curse incessantly.

Li Xiangdong got up and looked at the bamboo poles they had brought back. They were in good condition, without mold or aging.

"The size is perfect, you two deserve credit."

He took the handsaw from A-Zhe and asked, "How much did these bamboo poles cost?"

"It didn't cost any money. These are all things from the train station warehouse. I just asked for an extra 2 jin of grain coupons."

As he spoke, A Zhe pointed to Hou San, who was cursing incessantly.

"Two national grain coupons can be exchanged for so many bamboo poles, not bad, not a loss."

Li Xiangdong roughly counted that A Zhe and Hou San carried back a total of more than twenty bamboo poles.

He looked at Hou San, who was sitting on the bed rubbing his shoulders and cursing, and laughed: "Alright, Hou San, stop cursing. All of this is included in the cost. I'll make it up to you when we split the profits from selling the crickets."

"Thank you, Brother Dong."

"Don't thank me. Go to the yard and bring in two bricks. Let's hurry up and saw them tonight. We can't delay tomorrow's business."