The next morning, Li Long woke early out of habit. Seeing that Liang Yuemei was still cooking, he went to the Stable, found Lao Luo, hitched up the cart, and drove it back.
Back in the yard, Li Long pulled a small bundle of alfalfa from the haystack for the horse, then went inside.
Li Juan and Li Qiang were already up, and their bedding had been put away. Today, the two children were going into town looking neat and smart.
Breakfast was cornmeal porridge, reheated white-flour steamed buns and cornmeal cakes, stir-fried pickled vegetables with lamb, and a small bowl of salted chives dressed with sesame oil.
"Mom, why aren't we toasting slices of steamed bun?" Li Qiang asked.
"Eating too much of that gives you internal heat," Liang Yuemei said as she filled the bowls. "Then your teeth hurt."
Hearing that, Li Qiang obediently helped carry the bowls, with Li Juan following behind like a mother hen protecting her chick, afraid her little brother would drop one.
If he broke a bowl today and made it so they couldn't go into town, she would give Li Qiang a beating afterward!
After breakfast, Li Long took two five-yuan notes from his pocket, giving one to Li Juan and the other to Li Qiang.
"Here. This is your budget for today. Buy whatever you want."
"That's too much, Xiao Long," Liang Yuemei immediately objected. "Even one yuan is a lot..."
At the time, rural families generally didn't give children pocket money. Even when they did, it was only a few mao at most. Li Long handing out five yuan each really was too much.
Even Li Jianguo said:
"Xiao Long, that's too much. One yuan each would be about right."
Thinking it over, Li Long realized he had been careless.