Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

The show was about to begin, and all the other staff and passengers eating in the dining car were watching with curiosity.

Especially the kitchen staff in the food truck, all of them craning their necks to watch the spectacle.

In this era of scarce entertainment, such a good show is a rare treat, and they certainly don't want to miss it.

Li Xiangdong hid to the side early, eating his lunchbox while watching the show.

With one hand on Hou San and the other holding his own teacup, Gao Xinmin asked with a smile, "Old Hou, did you spit in my teacup?"

Hou San was pinned to the dining table like a little chick, shaking his head incessantly.

"I didn't, how could I do such a thing? If you don't believe me, you don't need to feed me, I'll just drink it in front of you, okay?"

"You really didn't do it?"

"no!"

"Do you think I'll believe you just because you say that?"

Gao Xinmin snorted coldly, put down the teacup in his hand, and released Hou San, whom he had been holding tightly.

"Who told you to leave? Stand still!"

Hou San, who was about to slip away, turned around and smiled, "Uncle Gao, I should go to work now."

Gao Xinmin ignored Hou San and turned to a young man at the next table. "Xiao Liu, may I use your teacup?"

"Train conductor, please use this."

Xiao Liu placed the teacup on the dining table in front of Gao Xinmin, then sat back down and continued watching the play.

Gao Xinmin took a small paper packet out of his pocket, opened it and found some broken tea leaves inside. He pinched off a small amount and put it into his teacup.

Looking up at Hou San, who was standing there sheepishly waiting for instructions, he pointed to the thermos under the food serving window.

"Old Hou, didn't you say you were going to pour me some water? Go ahead, I'll watch you pour it."

"Oh."

Hou San walked over and picked up the stopper from the thermos. "Uncle Gao, the water in the thermos isn't hot. I'll go and refill it. Please wait a moment."

He picked up the thermos and was about to leave.

"Get back here right now."

Gao Xinmin wasn't fooled at all; Hou San's little tricks couldn't fool him.

Having tried every possible method, Gao Xinmin still wouldn't fall for it. Hou San reluctantly returned and obediently poured himself a glass of water in front of Gao Xinmin.

He put the thermos back somewhere in the distance. "Uncle Gao, is there anything else? If not, I'll go back to work now."

Gao Xinmin pointed to his teacup, "Take this one, and give me a new one next time."

"Okay, Uncle Gao."

Hou San picked up the teacup and casually poured it onto the floor of the carriage before running away.

"Bastard thing."

Looking at the water stain on the carriage floor, Gao Xinmin began to regret his actions. He should have poured the water from the teacup into Hou San's mouth earlier.

This is why Hou San was so infamous at the Beijing Railway Station. Everyone knew that they couldn't afford to mess with this scoundrel, otherwise the cleaning staff in the dining car would have been cursing him out.

"Xiao Liu."

"Hey, what's wrong, conductor?"

"You should drink this cup of tea."

Gao Xinmin made Hou San pour the water again in front of him, mainly to correct his bad habit.

Since the water wasn't hot and the tea hadn't been properly brewed, he naturally didn't want to drink it.

"Thank you, conductor."

What's wrong if the tea leaves didn't fully steep?

Xiao Liu didn't mind at all. Gao Xinmin was known for being stingy at the station, and not just anyone could drink his tea.

Gao Xinmin looked at Li Xiangdong, who was eating his lunchbox while watching the commotion.

"Dongzi? You haven't finished eating yet?"

"Finished."

Li Xiangdong quickly shoveled the last few mouthfuls of rice from the lunchbox into his mouth.

Gao Xinmin laughed and said, "Eating like a young lady, do you have a small throat? Do you need me to go find some fire tongs to unclog the bucket for you?"

I'll fuck your grandpa!

Li Xiangdong cursed inwardly, then chuckled as he returned the lunchbox and left without a word.

"You don't want the twisted dough sticks anymore?"

“My throat is too small to swallow, but your throat is big because it was poked with fire tongs. You can save it and eat it slowly.”

Before Li Xiangdong could finish speaking, he turned and ran away.

Gao Xinmin wasn't angry when he heard Li Xiangdong's words, because very few people dared to talk to him like that; on the contrary, he found it quite amusing.

He picked up the half-pack of fried dough twists from the dining table, rewrapped them, and prepared to go back to his office car to take a nap.

Li Xiangdong looked back and saw that no one was behind him before he breathed a sigh of relief. He carried the tin can and went to two carriages, finally finding Hou San at the boarding gate of one of the carriages.

Did you spit into the teacup or not?

Li Xiangdong grabbed Hou San and immediately asked, mainly because he was quite curious.

Hou San chuckled and said, "You threw up, huh?"

Li Xiangdong couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're quite daring, willing to drink a sip yourself just to deceive people."

Hou San said indifferently, "So what? What's there to be disgusted about with my own saliva? I swallow it all the time."

Depend on!

It sounds disgusting, but I have to admit it makes a lot of sense.

"Brother Dong, do you smoke?"

Hou San pulled a bag of panda cigarettes out of his pocket.

Li Xiangdong exclaimed in surprise, "Panda? Hou San, you didn't steal this pack of cigarettes again, did you?"

Hou San sniffed, lit Li Xiangdong's cigarette, and laughed, "I'm not stealing it. I'm helping my uncle. It's such good cigarette. My uncle just keeps it in his drawer and doesn't smoke it. If I don't help him smoke it, it will get damp in a long time."

Li Xiangdong has gotten somewhat used to the fallacies that Hou San occasionally spouts.

"Is this the second pack? Hasn't your uncle even noticed he's missing some cigarettes?"

Li Xiangdong was puzzled. This was a special-supply cigarette. Although Hou San's uncle was of a high rank, he couldn't just smoke Panda cigarettes casually.

Hou San, like a chicken thief, said with a grin, "My uncle has a whole pack in his drawer. I opened the box from the back, took out the cigarettes, and then stuck it back on with rice. My uncle won't notice for a while."

Talent!

Thankfully, they used rice, not snot.

Hou San is a cunning fellow, and he uses all his tricks on his own family.

Li Xiangdong can't handle this matter, nor is it under his jurisdiction. Anyway, Hou San will get his comeuppance sooner or later.

"You've learned your lesson this time, haven't you? You actually know not to show off your good cigarettes in front of Uncle Gao."

Hou San snorted, "You learn from your mistakes, of course I can't let Lao Gao steal my cigarettes again."

"Lao Gao?"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "You better not let it slip out of your mouth, kid. If you accidentally say it in front of Uncle Gao, your little body won't be able to take that kick."

Hou San said indifferently, "Old Gao, Old Gao, Old Gao, I'll just call him that, he can't hear me anyway!"

"Do whatever you want, anyway, I won't be the one getting beaten up."

Seeing seven or eight cigarette butts at his feet, Li Xiangdong threw his own cigarette butt on the ground, stomped it out, and said, "Finished smoking? Time to get back to work."

"Walk."