Mrs. Li is over seventy years old, and has lived in Yancheng all her life. Jenny, a reporter, asked her a few questions.
Q1: Tell me about your parents, brothers and sisters.
My parents, my sister and three brothers lived in a tiny house with a toilet we shared with our neighbours. There was no electricity. The house was lit by candles. We weren't very rich, but we were happy. My sister was the oldest child and she left school when she was only twelve to help my mother at home.
Families have changed a lot since I was young. They were much bigger in those days. Today most people only have one child!
Q2: Did your parents have jobs?
My father was a postman, and he often worked twelve hours a day. My mum was a teacher before she met my father. But looking after us was a full—time job, so she stayed at home. Today the position of women has changed. It's usual for married women to go out to work, but it was less common in the past, My father had the same job the whole of his working life. These days people change their jobs much more often.
Q3:
Well, I remember the family meals, three times a day. My mother was always cooking for us. The food was always freshly cooked, with lots of fish—my grandfather was a fisherman, and my mother never bought ready—made food as people do today, so it was much better for us. And we didn't have television, so we played games together a lot after supper. Our life is better now. One day I'll be talking to my grandchildren.
