Li Xiangdong, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan, strolled into the main house's living room. He saw his mother chopping vegetables and his two sisters-in-law kneading dough with gusto.
"Pure white flour, huh? Mother, you're being generous today," he remarked, surprised.
"When have I ever been stingy? We can afford to eat like this once in a while," his mother replied without looking up from her chopping. "We've got some leftover two-eight sauce at home, enough for a plate of zhajiang noodles at noon. This heat's making everyone antsy, and your dad and the others have been working all morning. This'll hit the spot."
Li Xiangdong nodded. The heat killed appetites, but zhajiang noodles, cooled with water, were manageable.
"Need me to help with anything?" he offered.
"What can you do? Just wait to eat," his mother shot back, glancing at him with a look of disbelief, her tone dripping with disdain.
Hey!
She was really looking down on him.
His kindness was taken for donkey liver and lungs. Couldn't he at least stoke the stove?
Too lazy to argue with her, he'd only offered casually anyway. In this heat, he wasn't exactly eager to work. He wandered into his parents' bedroom in the west wing, rummaging through his father's drawer for his stash.
To his surprise, his dad had Peony cigarettes—top-notch stuff.
These days, high-ranking cadres smoked Peony, mid-level ones smoked Xiangshan, workers and farmers smoked the 23-cent kind, and village cadres rolled their own. Since the reforms started a few years back, foreign brands, Yunyan, and Hongtashan would soon flood the market.
He pocketed the two packs of Peony and grabbed a few packs of Daqianmen. The remaining packs of Shengchan, at 8 cents a pack, were too harsh on the throat—he'd leave those for his dad.
Cigarettes needed a light, so he took a box of matches too. No matches without a ration ticket, and he had none.
He wasn't about to smoke the Peony—too precious. He opened a pack of Daqianmen, pulled out a match, struck it against the box, and lit the cigarette in his mouth, taking a slow drag.
Strong. Choked the throat.
It'd been a while since he smoked unfiltered cigarettes. It took two puffs to adjust.
His mother saw her third son emerge from the room, cigarette in mouth, pockets bulging, but said nothing. A son taking a couple of his dad's cigarette packs wasn't a big deal.
Times were different. Back then, a man smoking was a sign of maturity.
Still, Li Xiangdong didn't want others breathing his secondhand smoke. He stepped outside, squatting on the doorstep to puff slowly.
Li Xiaojiang, seeing his third uncle smoking, squatted beside him and whispered, "Third Uncle, can I have a puff?"
Li Xiangdong glanced at him. "You know how?"
Li Xiaojiang shook his head. "Nope, but a bunch of my classmates smoke, and I wanna learn."
"Learn for what? To show off in front of some girl you like?"
This nephew, after sharing private talks, now treated him like a buddy, bold enough to ask for anything!
Li Xiaojiang quickly clarified, "No, Third Uncle, that's not what I meant!"
Li Xiangdong scolded, "Then why learn to smoke? Get lost! You're too young for this!"
"Keep it down, Third Uncle!" Li Xiaojiang panicked, afraid his mother would hear.
Too late. They were right by the door—how could she not hear?
Li Dasao, his sister-in-law, stormed over, flour-covered hands grabbing Li Xiaojiang's ear. "You little brat, itching for trouble, huh? Learn to smoke? I'll beat the daylights out of you!"
Li Xiaojiang, still squatting, was yanked up by his ear, pleading, "Mother, I'm sorry! Let go, I won't do it again!"
"You're old enough to help out, but all you do is cause trouble! Go stoke the stove—you planning to skip lunch?"
Li Dasao gave his ear another twist.
Li Xiangdong, squatting nearby, heard her words and felt they were aimed at him. He tossed his cigarette butt, stood, dusted off his pants, and stepped away from the mother-son duo.
Li Xiaojiang, rubbing his red ear, went to the stove under the eaves to start the fire, glaring at his uncle. He hadn't expected his third uncle to rat him out!
Li Xiangdong chuckled. "What's that look? Dasao, this kid needs discipline."
Li Dasao snorted, not falling for Third Brother Li's attempt to stir trouble and make her keep scolding her son. She turned back to kneading dough.
Feeling bored, Li Xiangdong returned to the room, stashed the cigarettes, and kept the opened pack with him.
He saw his daughter, no longer nursing, sitting on the kang, playing with a popsicle stick, occasionally licking it.
"Xiaoqi, let go! You can't play with that in your mouth—what if you hurt yourself?"
He tried to take the stick, but she gripped it tightly, and he didn't dare pull harder.
As they tussled, Li Xiaozhu's other hand grabbed his hair, yanking hard twice.
"Bad... I'll hit you..."
Li Xiangdong's eyes watered from the pain, while his wife, Zhou Yuqin, laughed nearby.
"What's so funny? Come help me!" he snapped.
"You deserve it," she replied.
Zhou Yuqin tickled their daughter, making her giggle and release his hair.
Rubbing his scalp, Li Xiangdong said, "How do I deserve this? I'm just worried about our girl."
"I'm watching her. What could happen?" Zhou Yuqin brushed it off. Kids were raised like this—no one's child ever got hurt.
"You never know. She's so little, doesn't know better. Better safe than sorry. I'm just being kind."
Zhou Yuqin huffed, "So you're saying I'm not? I should've let her teach you a lesson."
"Hey, you're one ruthless woman. Oh, I get it—you're holding a grudge."
Li Xiangdong flexed his fingers. "It was just a couple of touches. Not like I haven't done it before."
Zhou Yuqin ignored him, switching to a negotiating tone. "Can you watch the kid for a bit?"
Li Xiangdong leaned against the kang. "Sure, I'll play with her. Go do what you need."
"You're agreeing?" Zhou Yuqin was slightly surprised. She hadn't expected him to say yes.
"I don't have much going on. Just want to help Mother and the sisters-in-law with some work."
Since returning to the city, she felt uneasy watching her mother-in-law and sisters-in-law bustle about, feeding the whole family, while she contributed nothing. Normally, she wouldn't have asked, but her husband seemed different today, so she tried.
"Alright, leave her to me. Don't worry."
Li Xiangdong understood his wife's feelings.
Zhou Yuqin nodded happily and hurried out, afraid he'd change his mind.