Chapter 5: Intergenerational Affection

Hearing Grandma Li’s words, Li Xiangdong couldn’t help but smile and then urged, “You really can’t do this anymore. What if you bump into something in the dark at night?”

Grandma Li said, “It’s fine, your grandpa is with me. Don’t worry, Grandma won’t fall.”

Li Xiangdong was speechless. So there was a gang for stealing eggs.

“Even so, you can’t do this anymore. I’m so old now, I can’t be snatching food from the children in the family.”

“Alright, alright, Grandma will listen to you.”

Grandma Li nodded in agreement. She would listen to anything Li Xiangdong said because, in her heart, all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren combined were not as important as Li Xiangdong.

Grandma Li had lived through wars. She originally had sons and daughters, several children, but in the end, only Father Li survived.

After Mother Li married into the family, she gave birth to two sons in succession, who were Li Xiangdong’s eldest and second brothers, but Grandma Li still felt it wasn’t secure enough.

In addition, at that time, the country was vigorously promoting having more children. Grandma Li often whispered in Mother Li’s ear about how good the national policy was.

But Mother Li just couldn’t get pregnant. At that time, Grandma Li was so worried that she stopped talking about national policies and often secretly prayed to gods and Buddhas behind people’s backs.

Grandma Li was very stubborn. After praying to gods and Buddhas for more than ten years, Li Xiangdong was born.

So, all favoritism has its reasons…

Li Xiangdong lifted the cloth bag in his hand, “Grandma, you bought quite a bit. Is this two pounds of meat?”

Grandma Li thought he was also craving meat and sighed, “I didn’t get any. I only bought a piece of tofu. Grandma is old, and my legs and feet are not good. I got up early but still didn’t make it in time.”

Hearing Grandma Li’s words, Li Xiangdong was worried she would be unhappy. “Tofu is also a good thing, just like meat. A few years ago, we couldn’t even get it if we wanted to.”

After he finished, he even hummed a line, “After eating salted vegetables and rolling tofu, even the emperor is not as good as me.”

Grandma Li laughed, “What nonsense are you talking about, you child? Some things can’t be said carelessly.”

“It’s fine. Nowadays, no one cares about these things. When the weather gets cooler, I’ll take you to the Forbidden City to see what the emperor’s place looked like.”

The grandmother and grandson were having a sweet moment.

Old Man Li stepped over the threshold and walked in. Seeing the two of them smiling, he also smiled and said, “Dongzi, it’s good that you’re back. Your grandma hasn’t been this happy in a while.”

Although the old man’s hair was also white, he spoke with a strong voice and looked much healthier than Grandma Li. It was just unknown why he didn’t live as long as Grandma Li.

“What are you thinking about, you grandson?”

Seeing his grandson’s eyes darting around, Old Man Li knew he was up to no good.

“Nothing. Grandpa, Grandma, let’s hurry back to the room. You haven’t had breakfast yet.”

Li Xiangdong supported the old lady, deliberately slowing his pace, and said as he walked, “It’s not for me, a junior, to say this, but you two can’t do this again. There are so many people queuing for meat, I was so worried just now…”

Old Man Li looked at the grandmother and grandson who had already entered the courtyard, listening to his youngest grandson’s heartwarming words, and then looked at his eldest grandson, Li Weiguo, standing foolishly beside him. He couldn’t help but get angry.

A man in his thirties, with no foresight at all!

It’s no wonder the old couple favored their youngest grandson. Li Xiangdong had been sweet-tongued and good at talking since he was a child, and he knew how to read people’s expressions, always finding ways to make the old couple happy.

As for the other two grandsons, they were nothing.

Old Man Li snorted and walked into the courtyard with his hands behind his back.

Li Weiguo was an honest and simple person. He didn’t think much of Old Man Li’s attitude towards him.

His father had said that his grandfather had been like this ever since his third younger brother learned to talk, so there was no need to mind it.

After entering the room, Li Xiangdong helped Grandma Li to sit down at the large dining table.

Seeing Mother Li coming over with the food, Li Xiangdong said, “Mom, this is the tofu Grandma bought.”

Mother Li reached out to take the cloth bag and turned to walk out of the room.

When Li Xiangdong saw Old Man Li enter the room, he quickly arranged a stool for him.

Father Li, sitting on the side, waited for his own parents to be seated. Only then did he speak, “Dad, there’s something I need your advice on.”

He roughly recounted what Li Xiangdong had just said.

Old Man Li nodded after hearing it. “I understand what you mean. You want to find someone in the know to ask around. But in the future, just say what you have to say, don’t play games with your old man.”

“I’ll figure out Dongzi’s job. You keep your favors. You’re over fifty, I can’t be bothered to lecture you.”

“Then I’ll follow your arrangements.”

Father Li’s little scheme was exposed, but he wasn’t ashamed or angry. He calmly smoked his cigarette.

They were all grandfathers. He also knew about intergenerational affection, each taking care of their own grandson.

The seven necessities of life are firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.

In Beijing, firewood was coal.

One coal shop supplied the household coal for the entire subdistrict.

Coal tickets were issued by household, one ticket per household per month, which could buy 120 pieces of coal. In winter, it doubled to 240 pieces.

But if you had a good relationship with the coal shop staff, you could always get an extra ten or twenty pieces each time.

People who worked at the coal shop in this era had a wide range of social connections, with acquaintances in all walks of life.

Father Li, who had worked at the coal shop his whole life, had his own network of favors, but he felt his youngest son was unreliable.

Moreover, when his youngest son failed to get into high school, he was too young to stay in the city for work and could only go to the countryside. To arrange a good place for him, he had already used a big favor, and he planned to save the remaining favors for his grandsons.

Old Man Li had not originally planned to interfere with his youngest grandson’s job. He wanted to wait until his youngest grandson was more mature and stable.

But after hearing what Father Li said, he felt that his youngest grandson had his own ideas about work and knew how to strive for improvement.

He thought for a moment and looked at Father Li, saying, “When you’re at work, find some time to go to the subdistrict office and ask Deputy Director Zhang. If it’s true, see if he can give you some advice.”

No one expected that Old Man Li knew the deputy director of the subdistrict office. He had hidden it well.

The deputy director of a subdistrict office in Beijing might not sound like a high-ranking official, but his rank was not low. In a county, he would be a leader at the deputy county magistrate level.

Mother Li exclaimed, “Dad, you even have connections with the leaders of the subdistrict office? You’re really hiding your talents!”

Old Man Li chewed on the soft mixed-flour steamed bun and ate the pickled radish as he recounted the past.

“In the year when coal purchasing with tickets began, he was just a clerk. His wife was in her postpartum confinement, and it happened to be snowing heavily. The rationed coal at home was not enough to burn, and the room was as cold as an ice cellar. As a college student from out of town, he couldn’t rely on his family. Finally, he managed to borrow a coal ticket, but then he lost it.”

“A grown man was almost driven to tears at that time. It just so happened that I found out about it. But when it snows, the coal shop is busy, and there’s a shortage of coal everywhere. Everyone is working around the clock. It was only because I, an old man, have a kind heart that I worked overtime at night to make coal briquettes for him, a full two hundred pounds. And we even provided the coal ticket back then.”

Old Man Li pointed his chopsticks at Li Xiangdong and asked, “Dongzi, what do you see from what Grandpa did?”

“When dealing with people, if they are in trouble, we should lend a hand if we can. Who knows which cloud will bring rain? Now, for your job, we are asking for his help.”

Li Xiangdong nodded to show he understood. His grandfather was using this matter to teach him how to be a good person.

He was just a little worried that after so much time had passed, Deputy Director Zhang might not acknowledge the favor his grandfather had done for him back then.