Chapter 8: Heart-to-Heart Talk

As the sun rose, the temperature followed, and waves of heat filled the air.

In his previous life, the elderly Li Xiangdong was used to sunbathing with the old men and women in his community during the winter.

This ingrained habit led him to sit on the stone steps at the entrance of his house until the sun made his heart flutter, and he finally realized.

He cursed himself for being foolish. He had been reborn as a young man, what was he doing sunbathing? Besides, the summer sun was so harsh, this was just asking for trouble.

From now on, his mindset had to be young. He was not an old man anymore!

“Third Uncle, the table is clean.”

“My sister and I were very thorough. We even wiped off all the snot from the back of the table.”

The two nieces had been busy in the sun for a while. They walked up to him with flushed faces, boasting about their work. They were afraid their third uncle would be dissatisfied, as they were still waiting for their cream ice cream.

“Is that so?”

Li Xiangdong went over to inspect it. It was indeed quite clean.

“Third Uncle will go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy you two cream ice cream later.”

“Alright, Third Uncle.”

Li Xiaomei and Li Xiaolan got the answer they wanted and were overjoyed!

Li Xiaotao and his two younger brothers were cooling off under the jujube tree, squatting together and chattering about poking an ant nest. When they heard Li Xiangdong say he was going to the supply and marketing cooperative, they all turned their heads.

Only Li Xiaojiang was squatting alone under the pomegranate tree on the opposite side, still sulking.

Seeing his second nephew’s big, innocent eyes staring at him, Li Xiangdong said to him, “Xiaotao, come into the house with me.”

“Coming, Third Uncle.”

Li Xiaotao quickly got up and followed him happily into the west wing room.

After entering the room, Li Xiangdong saw his daughter lying on the heated brick bed, sleeping with her limbs spread out.

“Why is she still sleeping? Should we wake her up? If she sleeps this long during the day, she’ll be up all night causing trouble.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yuqin rolled her eyes at him. Her husband was all talk. They had already had two children, and she had long seen through his true colors.

When the child was well-behaved and fun to play with, he would go over and play for a while. When the child threw a tantrum and cried, he would run faster than anyone, wishing he could hide far away.

Their daughter was sleeping soundly at this moment. If they woke her up now, she would definitely cry, and in the end, she would be the one to comfort her.

Zhou Yuqin ignored him and looked at the nephew who had followed him in. She was worried that the nephew would learn bad habits from her husband and that she wouldn’t be able to explain it to her brother-in-law and sister-in-law.

“Xiaotao, don’t always hang around your third uncle. Even though you’re on vacation, you should read your textbooks more. You’ll only be capable when you grow up if you study well.”

“It’s fine, Third Aunt. I like playing with Third Uncle. Third Uncle is very good to us and even promised to buy me a cream popsicle. And Third Aunt, I don’t like studying. I get sleepy as soon as I open a book, and I can never remember what the teacher teaches. My mom says I’m just meant for manual labor, born to deliver coal briquettes.”

Li Xiaotao was foolishly unconcerned, even repeating what his mother had said, completely unguarded.

The truth was indeed so. After stumbling through junior high, Father Li used his connections to get him a job at the coal shop. But he was a bit slow, unable to do delicate work, and could only be a coal delivery man.

Although Li Xiaotao earned a few years of hard-earned money at the coal shop with his strength, the coal shop later closed down. With no other skills, he could only go to construction sites to be a laborer.

The eldest brother and his wife were worried that he would ruin his health at a young age, so they had him follow his older brother, Li Xiaojiang, to the south to trade clothes and pants.

There was no other way. The younger generation of the Li family had caught the wave of layoffs in the 90s. No matter how capable the Li family was, they were ultimately just ordinary people. Faced with this rolling historical torrent, they had no power to resist.

“I asked Xiaotao to come and help move the table.”

Li Xiangdong explained. He could read between the lines and knew that Zhou Yuqin was worried he would lead his nephew astray.

He packed up the teapot and cups on the table, and the uncle and nephew carried the table to the living room of the main house.

When Li Xiangdong leisurely strolled from the main house to the water basin in the courtyard, Li Xiaojiang walked over with a dejected look.

“Third Uncle, let me help you.”

Li Xiangdong had originally wanted to see how long this eldest nephew could hold out. Seeing him come over to make peace now, he said, “What’s done is done. What’s there to be ashamed of admitting? If you care about your face, don’t do dirty things in the future.”

“I know, Third Uncle.”

Li Xiaojiang took over from Li Xiaotao and helped him move the cleaned rosewood table to the west wing room.

After everything was settled, Li Xiangdong began to fulfill his promise.

“You guys wait at home, I’m going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy you popsicles.”

“We know, Third Uncle.”

“Third Uncle, don’t forget, mine is a cream popsicle.”

The children waiting in the courtyard for their popsicles were so excited they were dancing with joy.

“Third Uncle, I’ll go with you.”

Li Xiaojiang ran to catch up. After the two of them left the house, he said, “Third Uncle, can you not scold me in front of my younger siblings in the future?”

Li Xiangdong asked casually, “Why, if you do something wrong, I can’t say a few words to you?”

“No, it’s just… I…”

Li Xiaojiang stammered, not knowing how to express himself.

“Alright, I know. I’ll save you some face in the future.”

Li Xiangdong took a closer look. His eldest nephew’s Adam’s apple had already appeared. He was going through puberty.

As someone who had been through it, he knew all too well that parents of this era mainly used physical force to educate their children. A filial son comes from under the rod, after all. He himself had been beaten by his father growing up.

“You’re a grown-up now. If you have any thoughts in the future that you’re too embarrassed to tell your parents, you can come and talk to Third Uncle.”

“I know, Third Uncle.”

Li Xiangdong nodded and changed the subject, “Is there a girl you like in your class?”

Li Xiaojiang’s face instantly turned red, and he stammered, “No… no.”

Li Xiangdong smiled. It seemed his eldest nephew did have a girl he liked. His thoughts were written all over his face.

He pressed on, “What’s the little girl’s name?”

Li Xiaojiang hesitated, but in the end, he revealed the secret in his heart.

When Li Xiangdong heard it, it wasn’t the name of his future niece-in-law.

Tsk, tsk…

So this little girl was the white moonlight of his eldest nephew’s youth.