Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

"Ah Zhe, what job position have you assigned to me?"

After all this trouble, Li Xiangdong only just remembered this issue now.

"Flight attendant, I haven't asked you yet, what's your job position?"

"Water supplier."

"Water supplier? What does a water supplier do?"

Ah Zhe looked puzzled; it was the first time he had ever heard of such a position.

"Trains need water, right? My job is to ensure the supply of water to trains, um, that should be it, but I'm not entirely sure about the specifics."

Li Xiangdong forgot to ask this question when he was in the labor and personnel department, and he himself only had a vague understanding of it, but he felt that what he just said was probably not far off.

A-Zhe asked, "Do you need to get on the train?"

Li Xiangdong nodded. "Of course we need it."

"Sigh, we're all unfortunate people~"

Ah Zhe sighed.

The clerks in the labor and personnel department treated Li Xiangdong so warmly that he thought his childhood friend's job must be the kind that's easy and carefree with no one to manage him.

Who would have thought that he was just like him, also going to another city by car.

Not only do I have to spend a long time traveling, but I also have to serve people the whole way. Just thinking about it is torture!

"Damn it, Zhe, what do you mean by that? If you come to work for the railway system but don't want to get on a train, then what are you doing here?"

Li Xiangdong now feels that his childhood friend is a complete idiot, unable to distinguish between right and wrong.

Ask any employee in the railway system who works regular hours, and you'll find that not one of them doesn't want to get on a train.

In order to appease the office workers who would occasionally come to complain with their families, the leaders at the top even raised the salaries of some positions by one level without any reason!

Li Xiangdong was able to be assigned to ride in the car because his grandfather used his connections to do him a favor.

Ah Zhe suffered a lot during the Cultural Revolution because he was implicated by his father, and he received care and compensation from his superiors.

He is now certain that very few of the educated youth recruited from outside the city will actually make it onto the train.

Do you really think jobs that allow you to board a train are as common as cabbages?

"Dongzi, can you stop looking at me with disdain? Am I wrong? Serving people on the bus is so tiring! I think it's not as good as being a ticket seller. They're protected from the wind and rain and can sit and work all day. It's so comfortable."

When Ah Zhe spoke, he looked envious, as if he wished he could switch places with the ticket seller.

"Don't be foolish and change your job!"

Li Xiangdong was genuinely afraid that his childhood friend might have a moment of madness and try to switch jobs with someone else, which would surely make the other person laugh themselves silly.

Ah Zhe nodded and said, "I know, I definitely won't change jobs. My dad said that driving is a good job. There's a subsidy every time we go out, and we earn a lot of money."

"Most importantly, if my mother has remarried, my father and I probably won't go out anymore. In that case, the more tired I am in this kind of service job, the more likely my superiors will notice me, which will help with my future salary increases."

After hearing what A Zhe said, Li Xiangdong couldn't help but laugh. A Zhe and his father were both sensible fools!

None of the staff who could get on the train car cared about the few dozen yuan in wages each month.

Forget about promotions; even if you're just a temporary worker, you'll never be a permanent employee.

However, as long as this position allows you to travel to other places with the truck, many regular employees who work in the office would like to come and switch positions with you!

However, Li Xiangdong didn't tell A Zhe any of this. He planned to see when this muddle-headed guy would come to his senses on his own.

The two chatted and laughed as they arrived at the medical room. After explaining their purpose, they handed the medical examination forms to the doctor.

Due to the limitations of current medical conditions, the types of examinations are mostly basic, such as measuring height and weight, and checking hearing and vision.

A key check is whether the person is colorblind; this is very important, and some positions have strict requirements on this!

If you are colorblind, there are some jobs you can't do, and your supervisor will directly reassign you to another position.

The results came out on the spot, and both of them were fine. Holding the medical examination forms signed by the doctor, the two of them returned to the large office of the Labor and Personnel Department.

As soon as Li Xiangdong entered, he saw a young man in his early twenties wearing a railway uniform.

He wasn't very tall; his bottom was on Sister Sun's desk, and his feet couldn't even touch the ground. He was sitting sideways, chatting with Sister Sun.

The two chatted and laughed, and Sister Sun did not show the slightest displeasure at the young man's impolite behavior of sitting on her workstation.

Especially Comrade Xiao Wang, although he couldn't get a word in edgewise, he still greeted everyone with a smile, even more enthusiastically than when he treated Li Xiangdong!

When Li Xiangdong took a closer look at the young man's appearance, his heart skipped a beat.

He bore a striking resemblance to Hou Jianshe, being short, thin, and with prominent cheekbones.

The only difference was the young man's slanted, triangular eyes, which were lifeless.

When Sister Sun saw Li Xiangdong come in, she said to the young man beside her, "Hou San, Li Xiangdong, whom you were looking for, has returned from the infirmary."

Hou San glanced over with his slanted, triangular eyes, then turned back, frowning in confusion, and asked, "Big sister, which of those two is Li Xiangdong?"

"Li Xiangdong is that tall guy, isn't he? Don't you recognize your own relative? Don't make your older sister laugh."

Sister Sun laughed and slapped Hou San on the back. It was unclear whether Hou San's words or his expression were the funniest.

Anyway, when Li Xiangdong saw those furrowed, triangular eyes, he frantically gripped his fingers and managed to suppress his laughter!

Hou San's eyes darted around, and he said with a grin, "I was just joking with you. How could I not recognize my own relatives?"

After he finished speaking, he jumped off the table and walked over to Li Xiangdong in a very frivolous manner, trying to put his arm around Li Xiangdong's shoulder in a familiar way.

However, he was a full head and a half shorter than Li Xiangdong, and felt uncomfortable putting his arm around him, so he put it down.

He crossed his arms and asked, "Did you pass your pre-employment physical?"

"You passed, so what?"

Li Xiangdong was speechless; he had met his match in a real whirlwind!

Fortunately, he never admitted to being a relative of Hou Jianshe's family; it was all just speculation by these seasoned veterans in the workplace.

What puzzled him was that this guy named Hou San didn't expose him directly, and he didn't know what he was trying to do.

Hou San stood there, swaying his head and looking rather smug. He said, "Give your medical report to Sister Sun, then take your work ID and come with me. I'll take you to get your work supplies first. Hurry up! I'll wait for you outside the office."

Li Xiangdong asked in confusion, "Are you taking me there?"

"correct."

Hou San nodded. "If you don't believe me, ask Sister Sun."

Seeing Sister Sun nod and smile, Li Xiangdong pointed to A Zhe beside him and said to Hou San, "I have another friend here."

"Then let him come along."

Hou San glanced at A Zhe, then smugly walked out of the office after speaking.

Ah Zhe leaned close to Li Xiangdong's ear and whispered, "Dongzi, is this guy a relative of yours? I've never seen him before. He's so funny-looking, but he seems a bit smug!"

It's truly a source of amusement.

But he wasn't just a little smug, he was extremely smug!

Li Xiangdong was puzzled. Hou Jianshe was such a shrewd person, how could he have such a thing in his house!