Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

The two entered the office building as the 8 o'clock bell rang for work. There was a full-length mirror with the logo of Dongfanghong at the main entrance on the first floor.

Li Xiangdong looked at himself in the mirror, then followed Hou Jianshe up the stairs to the second floor, arriving at the door of an office.

Hou Jianshe pushed open the door and said, "Go inside and find a stool to sit on. I'll go get someone to help you with the paperwork."

"Okay, Uncle Hou, you go ahead and do your work, don't worry about me."

"What are you calling Uncle Hou for? Didn't you hear the work bell? It's work time now. You're calling me Section Chief Hou? You have absolutely no manners!"

After speaking, Hou Jianshe ignored Li Xiangdong and walked towards the large office of the Labor and Wages Department next door.

tsk tsk~

He was all right to me a minute ago, but now he's turned on me like this!

Li Xiangdong snorted inwardly and walked into Hou Jianshe's office.

The room is about 30 square meters. Inside, there is a table and chairs, a wardrobe, and two large wooden filing cabinets.

There was an iron rack standing by the door with an enamel basin on it, and two thermos flasks on the ground next to it.

Li Xiangdong walked over and opened the thermos. Seeing steam coming out, he suddenly felt thirsty.

He had a great chat with Grandpa Hou in the mailroom, and now his throat feels dry.

Li Xiangdong didn't care about rules anymore. Since Hou Jianshe had already told him to call him Uncle Hou, it shouldn't be a problem for him to drink a cup of water.

He carried the thermos to his desk, opened the lid of the tea mug on the desk, poured in some hot water to scald it, and casually splashed the water on the floor, not caring about the cement floor.

The water was poured full, but it was a bit hot, so I'll have to wait a while before drinking it.

Li Xiangdong pulled out a chair and sat down. After waiting for about ten minutes, his buttocks ached from sitting on the hard wooden chair. He got up and stretched, and was just about to get a drink of water.

Hou Jianshe walked in with a middle-aged woman.

He walked to his desk, saw that the teacup was already filled with water, touched it and the temperature was just right, glanced at Li Xiangdong, picked up the water cup and drank it all in one gulp.

"You've got a good thought for me, kid."

Li Xiangdong: "..."

Hou Jianshe put down his water glass and saw him staring blankly at him. "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and greet Sister Sun."

"Oh, Sister Sun, hello, my name is Li Xiangdong."

"Hello to you, Comrade Xiao Li."

Sister Sun replied with a smile.

"Sister Sun is a senior clerk in the department, and she is very skilled in her work. Just listen to her."

Section Chief Hou gave Li Xiangdong a brief introduction, and then instructed Sister Sun: "Take Li Xiangdong through the onboarding process."

"Yes, Section Chief Hou, you can rest assured that you're entrusting Comrade Li to me."

Sister Sun smiled and agreed, then turned to Li Xiangdong and said, "Comrade Li, come with me, let's go to the office next door."

"Okay, Sister Sun."

"Section Chief Hou, you're busy. I'll go with Sister Sun to complete the formalities."

Li Xiangdong greeted Section Chief Hou and then followed Sister Sun out of the office.

"Dongzi, remember what I said? Young man, smoke less. Next time you get some good cigarettes, bring them to me right away, you hear me?"

Before Li Xiangdong even reached the door, he heard Hou Jianshe's voice behind him. He instantly understood the meaning of those words, turned around, and said with a smile, "I understand, Section Chief Hou."

Hou Jianshe realized that he understood what he meant, so he just smiled, said nothing more, and waved his hand to indicate that he could leave.

After the two disappeared from his office doorway, he picked up the office phone on his desk and dialed.

The outside corridor.

Sister Sun, who was walking ahead, turned around and looked at Li Xiangdong, saying with exceptional enthusiasm, "Dongzi, are you and Section Chief Hou related?"

Upon hearing Sister Sun address him, he changed from "Comrade Li" to "Dongzi".

Li Xiangdong twitched the corner of his mouth, but didn't explain anything to Sister Sun.

When Hou Jianshe was leaving, the words he said were not a request for a cigarette.

Would a mere head of the labor and personnel department really be short of two packs of cigarettes?

Those words were meant for Sister Sun, to tell her that Li Xiangdong was Hou Jianshe's man.

Li Xiangdong simply couldn't explain anything, and he certainly couldn't admit that he was a relative of Hou Jianshe's family.

Seeing that he didn't speak, Sister Sun smiled even more enthusiastically.

"You're keeping this a secret? Don't worry, I'm not one to gossip."

"Sister Sun, what are you thinking? It's not that I don't want to tell you, but don't you know what kind of person Uncle Hou is? During work hours, I can only call him Section Chief Hou, otherwise he'll give me the cold shoulder!"

Sister Sun actually believed the nonsense Li Xiangdong was spouting.

"I understand, I understand everything you're saying."

Li Xiangdong's face was full of "Yes, yes, you're right" expressions.

In his heart, he was thinking, "You don't know anything!"

I don’t understand a thing!

Sister Sun warmly led Li Xiangdong to the office of the Labor and Wages Science and Technology University.

"Everyone, please be quiet. Let me introduce you. This man next to me is Li Xiangdong, and he will be our colleague from now on."

Sister Sun clapped her hands, and the people chatting and laughing in the office instantly fell silent.

They were wondering why Sister Sun was making such a fuss. She was just a newcomer, someone they'd seen plenty of before. Did she really need to act like this?

But upon closer inspection, wasn't that the young man from the mailroom?

They witnessed firsthand how enthusiastically Grandpa Hou and the young man chatted.

Upon further reflection, Sister Sun's formal introduction confirmed her suspicions; the young man before them was indeed a junior member of Section Chief Hou's family!

Their faces immediately lit up with warm and friendly smiles.

"Comrade Li Xiangdong is indeed a very handsome man."

"Indeed, it's rare to see someone this big; there aren't many like it in our section!"

"Is Comrade Xiao Li married yet? Let me introduce you to someone, I guarantee she's the most beautiful girl in our passenger transport section."

"You're married? You have two kids now? A boy and a girl, that's wonderful!"

"Dongzi, you are such a lucky man!"

Li Xiangdong smiled and nodded in response, feeling that these people were being excessively enthusiastic towards him!

He felt somewhat flattered. He was just a returned educated youth who came to the city to complete his onboarding procedures. It was as if he were the child of some high-ranking leader who had come to inspect the place!

"Xiao Wang, pour Dongzi a glass of water."

"Okay, Sister Sun."

Sister Sun led Li Xiangdong to her workstation, gave an instruction to the young man sitting to her right, and then pointed to the chair opposite her.

"Dongzi, sit here. Did you bring your household registration book and a one-inch photo?"

"I brought it with me."

Li Xiangdong responded and sat down opposite Sister Sun, taking out his household registration book and photo from his satchel.

"That's our procedure, Dongzi. Don't think that your older sister is deliberately targeting you."

After Sister Sun finished speaking, she took Li Xiangdong's household registration booklet and looked at it carefully.

Every organization will verify your identity; it's not like you can just show them a letter of introduction and they'll believe you.

Verifying the information on the household registration booklet and the letter of introduction is only the first step. Later, relevant staff from the unit will go to the street office to verify it.

For organizations with even stricter requirements, they will also investigate all of the employee's movements from birth to the time they report to the organization.