Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Brother Dong, we've arrived at Dezhou Station."

"Get out of the car quickly!"

Li Xiangdong, along with Hou San and A Zhe, followed the disembarking passengers to the platform.

A small cart selling braised chicken on the platform was surrounded by a huge crowd, all shouting that they wanted to buy it.

"Goodness, there are always so many people. Let's just use the old method."

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he squatted down on the ground, and Hou San climbed onto his neck from behind. A Zhe helped him slowly get up and approach the outer edge of the crowd.

Li Xiangdong's arms were tightly clamped around Hou San's thighs. "Hou San, I want three. I'll pay you when we get on the bus."

"I want one."

"And Uncle Gao's is one too, put it in the public account."

"okay."

Hou San responded, leaned forward, and while swinging the money in his hand, shouted, "I want six! Give me six braised chickens!"

Li Xiangdong pinched Hou San's thigh and shouted, "You're only buying one? Will you even be able to eat it when you get home?"

Hou San was stunned for a moment, and then he thought about it carefully. That's right. With his older sisters around, if he only bought one chicken, he probably wouldn't even get to eat the chicken's butt!

"I want eight! Give me eight!"

Hou San rode on Li Xiangdong's back, his hand holding the money almost touching the salesperson's face.

Their method is quite effective. These days, buying braised chicken on the platform of Dezhou Station is all about grabbing it; there's no such thing as queuing.

The three men, satisfied with their roast chicken, were about to get on the bus when they ran into Gao Xinmin, who was getting off to smoke and stretch.

"Uncle Gao."

Li Xiangdong called out, and after checking that there were no other colleagues around, he stuffed a roast chicken into his arms.

Gao Xinmin smiled as he held the braised chicken, "Oh~ there's one for me too."

Li Xiangdong then laughed and said, "This is a gift from the three of us brothers to you."

That's absolutely true. Their crickets are still in Gao Xinmin's train conductor's office carriage. Since he helped them without asking, they should definitely know what's good for them.

Gao Xinmin glanced at the three of them with a meaningful look in his eyes, "Looks like you guys have made quite a bit of money dealing in crickets."

"Ah~ well... actually, I didn't make that much."

After thinking about it, Li Xiangdong finally admitted it.

“I’m not curious about how much you earn, and I won’t tell anyone about it. But since this braised chicken is a gift from you, I’ll accept it. Anyway, the three of you aren’t short of money now.”

Gao Xinmin looked at the three of them who were still carrying seven roasted chickens and said with a smile, "Hurry up and get on the bus, we're about to leave."

He threw away his cigarette butt and was the first to board the train.

As the train pulled out of Dezhou Station, Li Xiangdong and his two companions gathered together.

A-Zhe asked, "What did the train conductor mean by what he just said?"

Li Xiangdong smiled wryly and said, "It doesn't mean anything. He's just telling us that we shouldn't try to hide our little tricks from him."

Hou San asked nervously, "Uncle Gao won't let us bring crickets on the bus anymore, will he?"

"You're overthinking it. He won't stop you."

Li Xiangdong was certain of this. Although Gao Xinmin didn't dabble in things, he would never stop others from doing so.

In the train station where this trend was spreading, Gao Xinmin could remain aloof and look down on those who did it, but he would never cut off anyone's source of income, otherwise he wouldn't even be able to sit securely in his position as train conductor.

"Will we still be able to put our crickets in his office vehicle in the future?"

Ah Zhe sighed. If so many crickets were placed in their crew rest compartment, not to mention whether others would have any objections, the key issue was that it would be very unsafe with Wang Chenghao around. The three of them also had work to do and couldn't keep an eye on them all the time.

"No, if they didn't want it to be released, they wouldn't have agreed this time. Don't worry about it, let's get to work."

Li Xiangdong chased away the sighing A Zhe and continued working with Hou San.

They're dealing in crickets, not watches, televisions, or daily necessities. Gao Xinmin certainly wouldn't make a big deal out of it and draw a line between them; otherwise, he wouldn't have accepted that braised chicken.

The train was a bit delayed this time, and it was already dawn when we returned.

Just as Li Xiangdong had guessed, Gao Xinmin not only didn't say anything about the three of them handling the crickets, but also helped him and Hou San deliver the crickets to the office.

“Hou San, since there’s no one in the office right now, we don’t need to just sit here waiting for A Zhe. Go buy some food, and I’ll go check on my Uncle Hou.”

"Go ahead, my second grandfather really enjoys it when people come to chat with him. Dong-ge, how about we eat some steamed buns?"

"It's all fine. You can buy whatever you like."

Li Xiangdong, carrying his cloth bag, slowly walked to the passenger transport section's mailroom.

'dong dong'

"Who?"

Grandpa Hou pushed up his reading glasses and saw Li Xiangdong come in. He said with delight, "Dongzi, what brings you here? Come and sit down."

"Didn't we agree that I would come over and chat with you when I have time?"

Li Xiangdong smiled, sat down next to Grandpa Hou, yawned, and said, "Could you please have a cup of tea, sir? I'm so sleepy I can barely keep my eyes open."

"You wait."

Grandpa Hou chuckled as he took a teacup from the drawer, brewed some tea, and then smiled as he looked at Li Xiangdong's dark circles under his eyes.

"Just got back from a trip? Didn't you sleep well last night? Instead of rushing home to catch up on sleep, you still remembered to come and see this old man. You're a thoughtful young man."

Li Xiangdong picked up his teacup and took a couple of sips. Grandpa Hou had specially brewed him strong tea, so he took out a cigarette and lit one for Grandpa Hou.

"At my age, it's okay for me to sleep less. The main thing is that chatting with you is interesting, and I can learn a lot from you."

Grandpa Hou smiled and puffed on his cigarette, "What can an old man like me learn?"

"Look at what you're saying. You've dedicated your whole life to revolutionary work. If you just reveal a little bit of it during our chat, it'll be enough for me to ponder for days at home."

Li Xiangdong's words were sincere; he wasn't trying to fool Master Hou. Although he was a reincarnated person, he had always been a social outcast.

Grandpa Hou has spent his whole life working at the train station, and his children are all very successful. He's got a lot going for him.

"Sure, you can come anytime if you like."

From the moment Li Xiangdong entered the room, Grandpa Hou's smile never faded. Because of his special status, this mailroom was never short of people coming to flatter him.

But Li Xiangdong was different from the others. Before Li Xiangdong even joined the company, the two had already gotten along very well. At that time, Li Xiangdong did not know his identity.

Moreover, Li Xiangdong never asked about sensitive topics, nor did he try to pry into things indirectly; he simply chatted with him about trivial matters in life.

For this elderly man, whose children are very busy, this kind of chat is a rare way to relax.

The two chatted for more than half an hour before Li Xiangdong got up to say goodbye when he saw that it was almost time.

He took an oil paper package out of his satchel and placed it on the table.

"Uncle Hou, there's a Dezhou braised chicken in here. You can keep it as a snack with your drinks."

Grandpa Hou waved his hand and refused, saying, "Take it back and give it to the child. I don't need this."

"No, I brought this especially for you."

Li Xiangdong opened his satchel and said, "Look, I'm also preparing for the children at home."

Grandpa Hou peeked into the bag and saw that there were indeed two oil paper packages inside. He then smiled and said, "You're a good kid. You know how to take care of the family. I'll take this braised chicken. You should go home and rest now."

"Yes, Uncle Hou, I'm going back."

Li Xiangdong nodded, turned around, and pushed open the door to leave.

Grandpa Hou followed him out. "Dongzi, I remember our third son was on the same train as you, right?"

"Yes, what's wrong, Master Hou?"

"It's okay, you can go back."

Grandpa Hou turned and walked into the mailroom, muttering to himself, "That bastard Hou Laosan never thinks about his second grandfather."