Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

The young man's father, whose eyes were bloodshot from not sleeping all night, couldn't help but speak up when he saw Li Xiangdong staring at the crickets without saying a word: "I spent all night catching these four crickets. If you don't give me a good price, I won't sell them."

Li Xiangdong looked him up and sized him up. There were a few unknown weeds stuck in his hair, his shoes were covered in mud, and he was filthy from head to toe.

No matter the era, it is indeed not easy for farmers to make money.

"Four of them cost 3.5 yuan in total. If you agree, let's make the deal."

"sold!"

The young man agreed before his father could even speak.

"Sell what? Shut up."

The young father glared at his son, then pointed at the blood-red, white-headed cricket and said to Li Xiangdong, "Please add some more for us. Putting everything else aside, this cricket is a real gem. I've been catching crickets for so many years, and it's rare to find such a good one."

Li Xiangdong realized he had met someone who knew his stuff. "3.7 yuan, keep the rest."

"I'll sell it for 4 yuan."

"3.8 yuan, that's the most I can offer."

"This is the last time I'll say it. It's 3.9 yuan. If you don't want it, I won't sell it to you."

"Deal! But you have to give me those four straw cages."

Seeing the young man's father nod with a flushed face, Li Xiangdong looked at Hou San and said, "Give me the money!"

Just as Hou San was about to take out his money, five burly men stood about twenty meters away from them. Each of them carried a wooden box on their backs, and the leader was shirtless. He shouted from afar, "Who gave you permission to come here to collect crickets?!"

"It's Qin Liu!"

Upon seeing the newcomers, the young man's father warned Li Xiangdong and his two companions, "You should leave quickly. These people are not good people. You out-of-towners who come to collect crickets can't afford to offend them."

"Someone's here to cause trouble," Li Xiangdong thought to himself, cursing his bad luck. He wanted to leave, but they had too much stuff and they knew they couldn't outrun the other guy.

He stood up and handed his bag to A Zhe, saying, "Before they come over, you and Hou San go first. I'll stay here and hold them off for a while."

"Dongzi, you..."

Seeing that A Zhe was about to waste time arguing, Li Xiangdong urged him in a low voice, "Hurry up and go! If you keep babbling on, we'll all have worked for nothing. Let's go!"

He looked at the young man and his father and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t pay you for the crickets right now. I’ll have to trouble you to take my two friends with me to their destination. We’ll pay double for these four crickets.”

"Zhe, did you hear that?"

"I understand, Dongzi. Be careful."

Knowing he couldn't delay any longer, Ah Zhe shouldered the sack, grabbed the eager-looking Hou San, and ran off.

The young man looked at his father and said, "Dad, you go first, I'll stay and take a look."

The young father didn't say anything. He picked up a sack, grabbed his cricket jar, and hurried after A Zhe and Hou San.

"You damned brats, you dare run away!"

Seeing A Zhe and Hou San run away, Qin Liu cursed as he ran quickly toward Li Xiangdong.

Seeing Qin Liu and his two companions getting closer, Li Xiangdong turned to the young man beside him and smiled, "My name is Li Xiangdong. What's your name, young man?"

The young man scratched his head and said, "My name is Wang Erkui."

"Brother Er Kui, why aren't you leaving?"

"It's fine if I don't leave. I'm just a cricket seller."

"You're right."

After Li Xiangdong finished speaking, he stepped forward and stopped Qin Liu and the others who were running over. "What's wrong, gentlemen? Just tell me directly."

"Are you the leader?"

A thug named Qin Liu walked up to Li Xiangdong and immediately started cursing, "You bastards, where did you come from? Who gave you permission to come here to collect crickets?"

He turned and ordered, "Fifth brother, you guys go after them. Do you think they'll get away? You son of a bitch!"

Li Xiangdong stopped the group who wanted to chase after A Zhe and Hou San again, saying, "Don't bother chasing them. You're all just after their money. I have all the money on me."

Qin Liu stepped forward and mocked, "You're quite the jerk, aren't you? You have monkey-like eyebrows and bulging eyes, and you're really arrogant!"

Li Xiangdong turned to Wang Erkui beside him and asked, "What did he mean?"

Wang Erkui smirked and translated, "He said you're a slut, with a repulsive appearance, and he doesn't like looking at you."

Your uncle's!

It's one thing to insult him, but to lie through his teeth like that? How is he despicable?!

"There's an airplane!"

Li Xiangdong pointed to the sky, and as soon as Qin Liu looked up, all the resentment in his heart was concentrated in his foot, and he kicked Qin Liu in the groin.

"Na... Aww~!"

Qin Liu knelt down in front of Li Xiangdong with a thud, and his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

"Sigh~"

"Sigh~"

When Wang Erkui and Qin Liu's henchmen saw Qin Liu's miserable state, they were all stunned and couldn't help but gasp.

While everyone was still in a daze, Li Xiangdong reminded Wang Erkui, "Run!"

After saying that, he took off running.

Wang Erkui glanced at Qin Liu, who was lying on the ground. He had originally thought that Qin Liu would need his help to mediate, but who would have thought that the guy next to him would kick so accurately and ruthlessly!

He didn't care about anything else; in this situation, even watching the commotion was a crime. So he took off running.

Qin Liu, lying on the ground, tilted his head, his eyes red, and drool dripping from his mouth. "Hiss~ What are you guys looking at the cat for? Ouch~ Hiss~ Hurry up and chase after it!"

"Damn it, kill him!"

"You bastard, you dare to hit our Sixth Brother? We'll kill you!"

Upon hearing their leader's words, Qin Liu's henchmen rushed after Li Xiangdong as if their lives depended on it.

Li Xiangdong looked back and saw several burly men chasing after him. In order to protect his future happy life, he had no choice but to run for his life!

"Run this way!"

Wang Erkui, who was beside him, turned around and led the way into the alley, with Li Xiangdong following closely behind. The two of them ran through a cornfield.

"Take a break, take a break, I can't go on anymore, I really can't run anymore."

Li Xiangdong gasped for breath and said something before collapsing to the ground.

Wang Erkui sat down next to him, panting heavily, and said, "We should have shaken them off. Unless Qin Liu and his gang go crazy and set fire to the fields, they definitely won't be able to find us."

"That's good, I'm exhausted."

Li Xiangdong's body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground. "It's just a pity, I'm afraid I won't be able to collect crickets anymore."

Wang Erkui hesitated for a moment before saying, "Li...hehe, what's your name again? I don't remember."

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Remember this time, my name is Li Xiangdong, I'm from the capital. Brother Er Kui, thank you very much this time. If it weren't for you leading the way, I would have had a hard time shaking them off."

Wang Erkui laughed and said, "Comrade Li Xiangdong, I don't care about your thanks. Qin Liu and his gang only dare to bully outsiders like you. I'm not afraid of them. What I want to ask you is whether you still want to come here to buy crickets?"

"I want to, but the problem is that with this happening, I can't come even if I want to."

Li Xiangdong sighed and said, "Don't call me 'comrade' anymore. I'm older than you. Just call me Brother Dong. When you have the chance to go to Beijing in the future, I will definitely treat you well."

Wang Erkui shook his head and said, "Brother Dong, forget about going to Beijing. I can't get a letter of introduction, and I can't even get on the train. If you still want to collect crickets, you can come to my town next time. Qin Liu and his gang don't dare to come to our town to cause trouble. If they dare to come, we'll beat the shit out of them."

Upon hearing Wang Erkui's words, Li Xiangdong stood up and asked, "Which town are you from?"

"In Sidian Town, many people catch crickets, and people from other places often come to buy them..."

Wang Er had only spoken halfway when he suddenly whispered, "Brother Dong, someone's coming."