Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Li Xiangdong hurried back to the train station building, pushed open the office door, and saw A Zhe and Hou San eating steamed buns.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Ah Zhe munched on a steamed bun and drank water. "It's alright, Dongzi. I just sat down too."

Hou San, who was engrossed in eating his steamed buns, looked up and asked, "Brother Dong, my second grandfather didn't say anything, did he?"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Are you trying to say that your second grandfather asked you?"

Hou San nodded. "Mm."

Li Xiangdong said while eating a steamed bun, "I asked. I asked before I left if we were on the same train."

"I remember telling him that, but he forgot in the blink of an eye. He's really getting senile."

Hou San muttered a complaint and continued eating his steamed buns.

The three quickly finished the fight, changed into their own clothes, carried the sacks out of the train station building, and Ah Zhe ran to the roadside and waved down a tricycle.

The tricycle driver followed Ah Zhe over. He carefully examined the three men in front of him and the things on the ground.

That looks so damn familiar!

These are the same three shameless guys from last time. They charged him 5 cents to ride to Baita Temple, and he was so tired that he didn't even come out to take any work in the afternoon!

"You're going to the White Pagoda Temple, right?"

Hou San asked in surprise, "Hey~ how did you know?"

The tricycle driver rolled his eyes at Hou San. "Are you planning to pay 5 cents for the fare?"

"Hey hey hey~ You monster and demon! Are you a monster and demon?"

Hou San was even more surprised that the tricycle driver actually knew how much they wanted to pay for the ride!

The tricycle driver snorted, "Five cents won't do for such a long distance, unless the three of you don't take the tricycle and walk with me."

Ah Zhe glared at him, displeased, and said, "Are you kidding me? If we were to walk over there, why would I need to look for you?"

Li Xiangdong, who hadn't spoken until now, recognized it. The three of them had ridden in this tricycle last time. It was mainly the driver's messy, bird's-nest-like hair that made it memorable.

He laughed and asked, "How much do you want?"

The tricycle driver tentatively held up one finger, "One yuan."

Upon hearing the price, Ah Zhe jumped up and shouted, "Are you still wide awake? Trying to rob me in broad daylight?!"

The tricycle driver, blushing, explained, "You have so much stuff, and the three of you still need a ride."

"6 cents, if you don't agree, I'll go find someone else."

Ah Zhe wouldn't listen to his explanation. Tricycle drivers always carry both goods and people together. He had never seen a tricycle driver carrying goods and letting the owner follow along!

The tricycle driver shook his head and said, "Six cents won't do. I was the one who gave you guys a ride last time, and I was so tired that I didn't even have time to come out and take on any more fares. I lost a lot of money that time!"

"It turns out to be you!"

Hou San glanced at the tricycle driver and thought he had encountered a fortune teller.

"Okay, okay, 7 cents is fine, right? If you don't agree, then forget it."

Ah Zhe blushed slightly when he heard about pedaling a tricycle. Last time, the three of them were so tired that they stayed on the vehicle the whole way, which really made this guy in front of them quite tired.

Seeing the tricycle driver hesitate, Hou San pulled A Zhe and Li Xiangdong aside and whispered, "Why don't we just find another donkey?"

Ah Zhe shook his head and said, "No need. Don't waste money on things you shouldn't."

Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "Okay, let's listen to A Zhe. I'll take the bus. It'll cost 7 cents. He'll definitely agree to take one less person. Let's meet at the bus stop near Baita Temple."

Ah Zhe said, "Dongzi, how about I take the bus?"

"Stop arguing, let's just leave it at that."

Li Xiangdong turned and walked towards the bus stop. In his previous life, he had taken the bus and subway before, and he could still sleep standing up no matter how crowded it was.

As for why not just hire another tricycle, that would be a waste of money. These days, a worker only earns one yuan a day.

The three of them were just starting out and hadn't reached the point where they didn't care about money like Yang Dabao. Moreover, A Zhe was the logistics manager in their team, so he tried not to question A Zhe's decisions. Everyone managed their own affairs so that there would be no conflicts.

Buses are just as crowded as they are now.

In later generations, people of all genders crowded together, and one could often smell the perfume of the girls around them.

Nowadays, there's a clear distinction between men and women. When a group of grown men are crammed together, all you smell is sweat and cigarette smoke.

And nowadays, many people don't brush their teeth, so if someone is chatting across from you, umm...

Li Xiangdong stood on the crowded bus for half an hour, and after getting off, he quickly took a few deep breaths.

Ah Zhe and Hou San arrived slowly in their tricycle; he waited for almost twenty minutes before he finally saw them.

After the tricycle came to a stop, Li Xiangdong said, "Could you please ride a little further?"

"OK, no problem."

The tricycle driver had no objections. Although his legs were still sore from having one less person on the vehicle, it wouldn't stop him from going out to pick up passengers in the afternoon.

Hou San and A Zhe got out of the car and followed Li Xiangdong to lead the way.

Let's stop here.

The tricycle stopped at the entrance of the large courtyard of the Cricket Sun family.

After unloading his goods from the vehicle, the tricycle driver received the fare from Li Xiangdong and happily hummed a little tune as he drove away.

A middle-aged woman came out of the courtyard. Seeing Li Xiangdong and his two companions carrying things on their shoulders and about to enter the courtyard, she asked, "Who are you?"

"We're looking for Uncle Sun in the front yard."

"Oh, you're looking for Old Sun? He's cooking right now. You can come in."

After Li Xiangdong entered the courtyard, he saw Ququ Sun squatting at his door, poking at the smoking coal stove with fire tongs in his hand.

"Uncle Sun, are you cooking?"

"Dongzi! You've arrived."

Cricket Sun got up and greeted the three of them with a smile as he ushered them into the house.

Li Xiangdong put down what he was holding. "Why don't you start cooking?"

Cricket Sun laughed and said, "What's the point of eating? Making money is far more important than eating!"

"Okay, as long as you don't feel hungry, it's fine."

A Zhe looked at Li Xiangdong, who kept yawning, and said, "Dongzi, go get some sleep. Hou San and I will help Uncle Sun inspect the goods."

Ququsun added, "Go on, if you're sleepy, go and sleep on the kang in the inner room for a while."

Li Xiangdong went to catch up on his sleep. A Zhe noticed that many of the cricket jars in the room were empty, so he squatted down next to Cricket Sun and asked, "Uncle Sun, did you sell all the crickets we brought back last time?"

The cricket, who was inspecting the goods, didn't even look up, only uttering a soft "hmm".

Hou San found it unbelievable, "It's only been a few days, and it's all sold out?"

Cricket Sun then looked up and glanced at Hou San, "You don't actually think I sold all of them myself, do you? If I were to sell over four hundred crickets myself, how long would it take me?"

Ah Zhe nodded to indicate that he understood; he knew what a middleman was.

"We brought back over four hundred this time, and we'll keep it around that number in the future. Is that alright with you, sir?"

Cricket Sun put down the bamboo tube in his hand, looked at the two of them and said, "Our capital city lacks everything, but it doesn't lack rich enthusiasts. Besides, crickets are for fighting. If you put two crickets in a jar, they will definitely fight to the death. These things are consumed very quickly."

Neither A Zhe nor Hou San knew anything about these things before, and they never thought to ask Li Xiangdong these questions. It was only today, when they saw that the cricket jars in Cricket Sun's house were all empty, that they finally asked for his advice.

Now they are both relieved and can continue to earn this money steadily.