Mother Li asked, "Where's your wife?"
"She's tidying up the house."
Li Xiangdong let out a sigh of relief. Sitting on the steps with his daughter in his arms, lost in thought, he'd jumped when his mother suddenly called him, thinking she was about to scold him again.
"You're holding the kid, so get your wife over here to help with breakfast. The chores in your room can wait until after we eat."
Before Li Xiangdong could respond, Zhou Yuqin, likely overhearing from the west wing, hurried out.
"Mother, I was just folding the bedding. Xiaoqi wet the bed again last night. Let me wash my hands, and I'll be right over."
At that moment, Li Xiaolan came out of the small kitchen in front of her eldest uncle's house, running over to stand obediently before Mother Li.
"Grandma, the cornbread's steaming. My mom says it'll be ready soon."
When Li Xiangdong's grandfather was still around, he'd torn down the neighbors' makeshift coal sheds and earthquake shelters after they moved out. But he kept the small kitchens in front of each house, thinking they'd save money when the kids grew up and started their own families.
With so many people in the house now, one stove couldn't keep up with cooking. To save time, the small kitchen by the eldest brother's door was also put to use.
"Alright, Grandma knows. You and your sister go set out the bowls and chopsticks. Once the water boils, I'll make egg water for you all."
Mother Li was far kinder to her granddaughters than her grandsons—she never favored boys over girls. Maybe it was because she had too many grandsons and was fed up with their antics, so she was gentler with the girls.
Zhou Yuqin washed her hands and came over. "Mother, what should I do?"
Mother Li pointed to the pickle jar nearby. "Grab a piece of pickled radish and chop it up. That's what we're having this morning."
"Got it, Mother."
Zhou Yuqin worked quickly. She agreed, fished out a pickled radish from the jar, gave it a quick rinse, set it on the cutting board, and started chopping.
"Mother… hug…"
Li Xiaozhu, held around the waist and standing on the ground, stretched out her arms, taking steps toward Zhou Yuqin.
Li Xiangdong teased her. "Your mom's working. Don't go making trouble for her. Grandma's got a temper—if she gets mad, she might come spank you."
"Third Son, I heard that this time!"
Mother Li came up behind him, grabbing his ear.
"Giggle… hit… hit…"
Seeing her dad get scolded, Li Xiaozhu clapped her hands excitedly, drooling.
"Mother, let go! I was just teasing the kid!"
Sitting on the steps with his daughter in his arms, Li Xiangdong couldn't dodge.
Zhou Yuqin wanted to step in and mediate, but one glare from Mother Li sent her back.
Li Xiangdong shot pleading looks at his eldest and second brothers, brushing their teeth by the water tank.
His brothers just grinned, neither stepping in to help. He had to tough it out.
"What're you winking for? Stop playing tricks."
Mother Li glared at him, twisting his ear again.
"Third Son, what are you? You're nothing! If you were something, would you badmouth your own mother behind her back? You good-for-nothing, always gossiping about people!"
Li Xiangdong's head spun as his mother rambled on about "something" and "nothing," his ears aching and brain dizzy.
His mother's wit was sharp—no wonder, decades later, even leaning on a cane, she could still leave him speechless.
Just then, Grandpa Li and Grandma Li returned from grocery shopping. As they entered the courtyard, they saw Mother Li twisting Li Xiangdong's ear.
Grandma Li, who doted on her youngest grandson, couldn't walk fast due to her age and called out anxiously, "Oh my! What did Dongzi do to you? You're his mother—why so harsh?"
Seeing Grandma Li hobbling over, Mother Li knew her son's backer had arrived. Ignoring her, she let go of his ear and returned to the stove to finish breakfast.
Grandma Li came over, touching Li Xiangdong's ear. "It's practically purple. You alright, Dongzi?"
Li Xiangdong smiled awkwardly. "I'm fine, Grandma. Go rest in the house—breakfast's almost ready."
Grandpa Li, trailing behind Grandma, glanced at the eldest and second brothers, still brushing their teeth.
"You two busy?"
Hearing their grandfather, the brothers quickly rinsed their mouths.
"Not busy, Grandpa. What's up?"
"Oh, nothing. Thought you two were busy."
Grandpa Li shot them a sharp look, then helped Grandma inside, calling Li Xiangdong to follow.
The eldest brother looked at the second, both puzzled, exchanging glances. Unable to figure out what Grandpa meant, they went back to washing up.
Seeing her in-laws go inside, Mother Li muttered at the stove, "Spoil him, go ahead and spoil him. Let's see what good that does. People would think the third son's the only real son and the rest were adopted! What's wrong with a mother disciplining her own kid? I'm not his stepmother!"
Zhou Yuqin, seeing Mother Li holding eggs, standing still and mumbling, said, "Mother, what'd you say? The pickles are chopped."
"Oh, nothing. Just leave the pickles there."
Mother Li cracked all the eggs into a small iron bowl, stirred them with chopsticks, then scooped a ladle of boiling water from the pot, mixing it into the egg mixture.
Once the egg water was ready, she took the sesame oil bottle from the cabinet, dipped a chopstick tip into it, and stirred it into the egg water. She dipped the chopstick's other end into the oil, mixed it with the pickles, then stirred the egg water again—not wasting a drop of oil!
The boiling water in the big pot wasn't wasted either. She added cornmeal, making a pot of corn porridge.
Finished, she looked up to see the eldest daughter-in-law carrying a basket, followed by the second daughter-in-law. "Cornbread's done?"
"Done, Mother."
Mother Li pinched one—it was soft enough.
Whether steaming buns or cornbread, they always used leavened dough since Grandpa and Grandma's teeth couldn't handle hard food.
Two plates of sesame-oil-mixed pickles, a basket of cornbread, a small bowl of egg water, and a big pot of corn porridge—this was the Li family's breakfast.
"Grandpa, time to eat!"
Li Xiaojiang ran to the gate, shouting to Grandpa Li, who was still chatting with neighbors outside. Then, like his pants were on fire, he dashed back into the main house.
The kids sat at the small table. Mother Li brought the iron bowl over, serving each a bowl of egg water.
The other kids behaved, sipping quietly.
But Li Xiaotao, the little blockhead, didn't care about scalding his mouth, gulping down several big sips.
Dumb as he was, he treated Mother Li like a fool, holding out his bowl with a goofy grin. "Grandma, you didn't fill my egg water all the way."
Mother Li: "…"