Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

The two hit it off unexpectedly well upon first meeting, chatting and smoking together.

Grandpa Hou said with a smile, "Dongzi, you're a smart kid. I like chatting with smart people."

"What do you mean by that, Uncle Hou?"

Li Xiangdong was a little puzzled. Through chatting with Grandpa Hou, he discovered that he was quite arrogant.

Why did he suddenly start praising him?

"There are some things you don't know. All the children of employees have already joined the workforce this time. Now, only the educated youth who returned to the city, like you, are still coming to report for duty one after another."

"But they're either ignorant or completely clueless. They don't even know to ask around. They can't tell the difference between the passenger transport section and the train station. They all rushed to the train station building to register. You're one of the few smart people around these days."

Grandpa Hou laughed heartily as he spoke.

"Just you wait, there might be some idiot coming running over in a panic, all sweaty and flustered."

Hearing what Grandpa Hou said, Li Xiangdong smiled and agreed. People who weren't in the railway system really couldn't understand.

Even in the information age to come, many people still don't understand how the various departments of the railway system actually work.

By the time the two lit their third cigarette, more and more staff members were arriving for work.

When they pass by the mailroom, most of them will stop and greet Grandpa Hou.

They would also take a second look at Li Xiangdong, who was sitting in the mailroom chatting and smoking with Grandpa Hou.

He was a stranger, not wearing a work uniform, so he was either a new employee reporting for duty or someone who came specifically to chat with Grandpa Hou.

But in either case, this young man must be very familiar with Grandpa Hou, and is very likely a junior member of Grandpa Hou's family.

This is their guess about Li Xiangdong's identity. Unbeknownst to them, Li Xiangdong has already taken a great advantage of Master Hou.

"Second Uncle, Second Aunt said you forgot to take your medicine this morning, so I brought it to you. Please take it as soon as possible."

A middle-aged man in a summer uniform pushed open the door and came in. After greeting Grandpa Hou, he looked at Li Xiangdong with a puzzled expression.

"The construction is here. Just put the medicine on the table. I'll take it in a bit."

After seeing his nephew put the medicine away, Grandpa Hou said to him, "This is the new guy who reported to our section today. His name is Li Xiangdong. You'd better make sure to talk to the people in your department later and make sure they don't make things difficult for him. I like the way this guy treats me!"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangdong immediately understood that the nephew of this old man Hou was the head of the Labor and Wages Section.

He quickly got up and handed his letter of introduction to Section Chief Hou.

"Good morning, Section Chief Hou. My name is Li Xiangdong, you can just call me Dongzi. I'm here to complete my onboarding procedures. I'm a bit early, so I'll chat with you for a while."

“Jianshe, did you see that? Isn’t that kid quick-witted? I haven’t even spoken to him about you, and he’s already figured it out from those two sentences.”

Grandpa Hou smiled broadly, feeling that he hadn't misjudged the young man; he was truly clever and understood things immediately!

Hou Jianshe took the letter of introduction and looked at it. He immediately understood. He had said that the name Li Xiangdong sounded so familiar.

It turns out this person is one of his own. The day before yesterday, his old classmate called him specifically to take a job from him and asked him to take care of him. He never expected to see him like this.

However, he didn't bring it up, but simply folded the letter of introduction twice and put it into his jacket pocket.

"Dongzi, right? I'll take your letter of introduction first, and I'll file it after you start working. Since my second uncle has spoken up for you, you can rest assured that no one will make things difficult for you when you're going through the formalities."

Section Chief Hou's tone was noticeably different from before, revealing a hint of closeness.

"Then thank you in advance."

Li Xiangdong also noticed that Section Chief Hou's expression was different; he was much more amiable than when Li Xiangdong had first entered the room. Li Xiangdong had assumed it was because of Grandpa Hou.

After thanking him, he picked up the peony on the table and said, "Section Chief Hou, please have a smoke."

"I'll do it myself."

Hou Jianshe took the cigarettes, lit one for his second uncle first, then lit one for himself, and stuffed the rest of the pack into his pocket.

Li Xiangdong's eyelids twitched when he saw this. What did this mean?

The three people inside simply ignored him.

Are all people with the surname Hou this interesting?

Fortunately, he still had a box of peony flowers in his cloth bag. He had taken two boxes from his father's drawer and brought them with him when he reported for duty.

But as soon as he took it out of his bag, before he even opened it, a large hand reached out.

To his astonishment, Section Chief Hou put the unopened package of peonies into another pocket of his own.

"Dongzi, since you've mentioned my second uncle's temper, then we're not strangers. No offense, but you should smoke less at such a young age, or you'll become a heavy smoker with a cigarette in your hand all the time."

While Hou Jianshe was educating Li Xiangdong, he lit another cigarette for himself.

He patted Li Xiangdong on the shoulder, "Come on, follow your Uncle Hou to the office, let's get your onboarding done first."

"Uncle Hou, I have to go now. I'll come back and chat with you when I have some free time."

"go Go."

"By the way, Dongzi, what your Uncle Hou said makes sense. You're a smart man, shouldn't you listen to what makes sense?"

Li Xiangdong nodded.

"You understand, that's all. Now give me that box of Daqianmen cigarettes in your pocket."

I rely on!

Li Xiangdong felt like he had been tricked by the Hou family!

Under Uncle Hou's urging gaze, he reluctantly took the Daqianmen cigarettes out of his pocket.

What kind of people are these? They extorted three packs of cigarettes from him in just a short time!

He followed behind Hou Jianshe, still secretly criticizing the Hou family.

As Hou Jianshe walked with him, he explained, "Those two buildings are the single dormitories for our section. Judging from your letter of introduction, your home is nearby, right? Are you married?"

“I’m married and have two kids. My home is in Chuanban Hutong, not far from my workplace.”

"Yes, Chuanban Hutong is quite close, but you won't be able to live in the single dormitory. You'll have to wait until you become a full-time employee and get a room. But this can't be rushed; you'll have to slowly build up your seniority."

Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "I understand, Uncle Hou."

Hou Jianshe then pointed to a three-story red brick building not far ahead.

"That's a central office building where administrative staff work. Your position is water supplier. Our passenger transport section's water supply office is in the Beijing Railway Station building. You can go there directly from now on; you don't need to keep coming here."

Li Xiangdong was worried that the information his father had given him was inaccurate, so he asked, "Uncle Hou, I have something to ask you."

"You said."

"Am I allowed to take the train because of my position?"

“Our passenger transport section staff travel on the trains. What’s wrong? You want to switch to a stationary shift? No problem, I can arrange it for you.”

"No need, Uncle Hou, I think it's fine to ride along."

Hou Jianshe was the head of the labor and wages department. Only after hearing that he could get on the train did Li Xiangdong feel completely relieved!