Chapter 28: Learning from Zhou the Skinflint at the Crack of Dawn!

A day passed, and today was the day to register.

Li Xiangdong, still asleep, was awakened by the crowing of roosters. He sensed several roosters in the yard crowing incessantly, as if they were fighting!

He struggled to open his eyes, sat up slowly on the kang bed, and took a moment to regain full consciousness. After gradually waking up, he rubbed his face and looked at Zhou Yuqin, who was sitting at the head of the kang, dressing their daughter.

"What time is it now?" he asked.

"Not even six o'clock yet," Zhou Yuqin replied as she finished dressing their daughter and began tying her little braids. Seeing her husband’s half-awake expression, she said, "If you’re still tired, go back to sleep for a while. I’ll call you when it’s time to eat."

Squinting, Li Xiangdong noticed the sky outside had already brightened. He yawned and was about to say he’d sleep a little longer when the roosters’ crowing started again, driving him mad with irritation.

“Is our rooster about to lay eggs? Why does it keep crowing nonstop? I swear, I’ll slaughter it sooner or later!”

Seeing his wife smiling at him, his mind suddenly cleared.

“That’s strange! We only have a few old hens, no roosters! Where are these roosters coming from?”

“It’s your son, learning to crow like the roosters with his brothers in the yard,” Zhou Yuqin said. She finished tying their daughter’s braids, held her chubby little body to keep her from crawling around on the kang, and began putting on her shoes.

“These little rascals sure know how to make a racket!” Li Xiangdong chuckled bitterly. He had suspected one of those crowing voices sounded all too familiar.

Dressed now, he got off the kang, pulled out some scrap paper from his pocket, bent down to pick up the chamber pot, and headed outside.

Zhou Yuqin glanced at him with surprise, then smiled. Her husband had really changed. He used to disdain the chamber pot and never touched it, but now he even took the initiative to empty it.

Li Xiangdong emerged from the house carrying the chamber pot, seeing his several nephews and son wildly running around the yard, making a ruckus.

“Do you think you’re Zhou Baopi? Crowing like roosters early in the morning with so much energy—can’t you be like Xiaomei and Xiaolan and help out with some chores?”

The three nephews and Li Xiaohai just stared silently at Li Xiangdong standing there. Once he left the yard, the four of them gathered together again to play, but no longer shouting.

After dealing with his business, Li Xiangdong rinsed out the chamber pot in the yard, then returned it to the corner inside the house.

He went to the washbasin rack to wash his face. The basin was white with a red rim, decorated with a large red character for double happiness at the bottom and two red carp beside it.

After washing his face twice, he grabbed a towel hanging on the rack, dampened it, and wiped his neck.

Feeling refreshed, Li Xiangdong saw his daughter lying on the kang, her eyes fixed on him. He leaned over and tugged at the little braid on her head.

Li Xiaozhu frowned, displeased at anyone touching her braid. She waved her hands, trying to brush him away. When she couldn’t get free, she shouted angrily, “I’ll... I’ll hit you!”

Li Xiangdong looked at her and said, “If you hit your dad, I won’t play with you anymore.”

Li Xiaozhu was momentarily stunned, then stammered, “Hit... hit... de-de...”

Zhou Yuqin, amused by her, came over and sat at the head of the kang. She gently patted her daughter’s bottom twice and said, “Always talking about hitting—hitting this one or that one. Can you say something else? You little imp, stirring up trouble at such a young age.”

Li Xiaozhu crawled over, clutching her mother’s clothes. Seeing her mother smile broadly, she laughed and climbed onto her.

Worried she might fall, Zhou Yuqin quickly picked her up from the kang.

Li Xiaozhu sat on her mother’s lap, nestling her head into her mother’s embrace and slipping her hand inside her clothes. “Nai-nai...”

“Didn't you just eat? Why do you want to eat again?”

Zhou Yuqin pulled her daughter’s hand out from inside her clothes. She barely had any milk left now. Besides, her daughter’s little milk teeth bit painfully when she nipped.

“Go wash up. I’ll hold her for a while.”

Li Xiangdong came over and took their daughter.

Li Xiaozhu twisted her body, unwilling to be held by her father, reaching out to her mother, “Drink... drink... nai-nai...”

“Let your mother take a break. Dad will play with you, okay?”

Li Xiangdong carried her and headed outside. “I’ll hold you and we’ll go beat up your brothers.”

“Hit... hit... de-de...”

Upon hearing “beat up brothers,” Li Xiaozhu stopped fussing about nursing and clapped her hands, giggling.

The children running wildly in the yard saw Li Xiangdong carrying Li Xiaozhu and all gathered around.

“Third Uncle, you’re not sleeping anymore?”

“Third Uncle, why are you emptying the chamber pot today?”

“Dad, I want to hold my little sister.”

Seeing the brothers around her, Li Xiaozhu leaned down to get off, “Play... play... de-de.”

“How do you have so much strength now?”

Li Xiangdong bounced her a couple of times, then held her firmly again. “We’re not playing with them. Look how dirty your brothers are, they smell terrible. Let’s ignore them.”

“De-de... stinky...”

Li Xiangdong saw his mother holding a bowl coming out of the main room. She walked to the chicken coop between the main house and the west wing, opened the wooden door, and went inside.

He said to his daughter in his arms, “Grandma’s going to check for eggs. Dad will take you to see the old hens, okay?”

Upon hearing they were going to see the hens, Li Xiaozhu’s eyes brightened. “Look... cluck cluck...”

Li Xiangdong’s mother chased the old hens out of their nests, squatted down, and inspected each one. She found five eggs in the two nests.

It meant that today, one old hen had laid an egg. Since her third son returned from the countryside, she hadn’t seen so many eggs in a long time!

She carefully took the eggs from the nests and gently placed them in the bowl.

When Li Xiangdong came in and saw his mother squatting on the ground, smiling at the eggs in the bowl, he exclaimed, “Wow! So many eggs today.”

“You’re so quiet walking! You scared me!”

His mother looked up and glanced at him. Before he could react, several grandchildren who had followed her third son into the house crowded over and reached for the eggs. She hurriedly stood up, holding the bowl.

Looking at the rough-handed grandsons before her, she scolded, “What are you all doing? If you break these eggs, I want to see what you’ll eat later! Get out of here quickly! Who let you come in? Don’t scare my old hens again!”