Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Li Xiangdong thought about it again and realized that it was good that Hou San had come to him on his own, so he no longer had to worry about how to maintain his relationship with Hou Jianshe.

Those small, triangular eyes...

Oh no, Hou San will be his biological brother from now on, even though they are not related by blood!

The title of "three generations of coal miners in the Li family" sounds unlucky. He wants to start with himself and make his family become three generations of railway workers like the Hou family!

Li Xiangdong glanced at A Zhe and said, "You don't know all my relatives, do you?"

After saying that, he ignored Ah Zhe, that fool, and walked to Sister Sun's workstation.

"Sister Sun, this is my medical examination report."

"Sister Sun, this is mine."

Ah Zhe quickly came over and put the medical examination report on the table.

"Yes, the medical examination report is fine."

After reviewing the documents, Sister Sun handed the two of them the completed work permits.

"You absolutely must not lose your work ID. Although you can get a replacement if you lose it, there is a processing fee for it."

"Understood, Sister Sun."

"Don't worry, we'll definitely be careful."

Li Xiangdong and A Zhe took the work permits, glanced at them, and then put them in their pockets.

Sister Sun stood up and said, "It's good that you know to be careful. Once you have your work permits, you two are officially part of our department. Let me tell you about your future salary and benefits."

"We pay the monthly salary and benefits at the beginning of the month. You two just reported for duty today, so remember to go to the finance department later to collect your salary for this month."

"Today is the 11th, so you can receive your full month's salary. If it's a few days later, after the 15th, you'll only receive half a month's salary."

When Li Xiangdong and his companion heard that they could collect their wages right after arriving, and that they would receive a full month's salary, they were overjoyed.

They'd made a fortune! They couldn't hold back their smiles any longer.

Especially for Li Xiangdong, who is desperately short of money right now, this is a godsend!

Sister Sun interrupted, "You two shouldn't be too happy yet. You're still apprentices, and your wages aren't much."

"During the apprenticeship, the first year's salary is 18 yuan per month, the second year is 23 yuan, and the third year is 27 yuan. After the apprenticeship, there will be a performance evaluation to become a regular employee. After becoming a regular employee, you will be a first-level worker with a salary of 33 yuan per month. If you want to increase your salary in the future, you will have to work hard to improve your job level."

"However, you will receive all the expected benefits, including job allowance, savings bonus, production bonus, and trip bonus. In addition, our station will provide some labor protection supplies and work uniforms. Hou San will take you to the logistics warehouse to pick them up later, so I won't go into details."

Sister Sun picked up her water glass, cleared her throat, and continued, "Hou San is a kid who grew up in our section. If you don't understand anything, you can ask him. Hey, why am I telling you this?"

"Dongzi, you and Hou San are relatives. He will definitely tell you if there is anything you need to pay attention to. You two go ahead. Dongzi, remember to come and chat with your older sister more often when you have free time."

Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "Okay, I understand, Sister Sun. You go ahead with your work."

"Take care, Brother Li."

"Goodbye, Comrade Xiao Wang."

Li Xiangdong and his companion came out of the office and saw Hou San squatting at the entrance of the corridor stairs, a cigarette between his fingers, flicking ash into an empty cigarette pack.

Hou San looked up and saw Li Xiangdong and the other man coming out of the office. He threw the cigarette butt in his hand into the cigarette pack, squeezed it hard with his hand, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into his pocket.

"What are you two looking at? You can't just throw cigarette butts in the hallway. Also, comrade, please wait here for a moment. I need to have a word with Li Xiangdong."

Stair corner.

Hou San spoke first: "My name is Hou Quan. I'm the third child in my family. Everyone calls me Hou San. You should be able to guess who my father is, right?"

Li Xiangdong nodded and asked in return, "Is there something you wanted to discuss with me alone?"

"No, I just wanted to ask you how you managed to fool all those people. They actually believed you were a relative of our family. It's really interesting. Tell me about it."

Hou San looked on with curiosity, his slanted, triangular eyes adding to the intrigue.

Oh my god, Li Xiangdong almost burst out laughing!

He shook his head repeatedly, trying to distance himself from the situation, saying, "Hou San, you can't slander me. I never said that to them, and I don't know why they would think that way. But none of this has anything to do with me."

"You're so boring. Never mind, I won't tease you anymore."

Hou San looked around and, seeing that no one was around, approached Li Xiangdong and said, "Lower your head, I want to say a few words to you!"

Li Xiangdong asked in confusion, "What do you want to say? Can't you just say it directly?"

"I'm worried someone might hear, so quickly lower your head and I'll tell you quietly."

Li Xiangdong lowered his head warily, worried that Hou San might do something bad to him.

However, Hou San remained honest and whispered in his ear, "I know about your situation. Deputy Director Zhang of the neighborhood committee is my father's old classmate. You're using this connection, aren't you?"

Seeing his ambiguous expression, Hou San continued, "Don't deny it. My dad told me all this. Otherwise, what do you think I'm here for? My dad just called me and said you were coming to report for duty today, so he asked me to show you around."

After listening to Hou San's words, Li Xiangdong finally understood the whole story and why Hou San hadn't exposed him directly earlier.

Hou Jianshe and his son both regarded him as one of their own. If they were to divide people into factions, he would belong to the Hou family's faction.

He wondered why Hou Jianshe's attitude changed immediately when he saw his letter of introduction that morning; now he knew why!

Now that Hou San had made things clear, he certainly wouldn't hide anything anymore and told the truth: "I did follow Deputy Director Zhang's path. If we're going by what you just said, we're still on the same side."

Hou San shrugged. "If we weren't family, would I let you pretend to be a relative of ours? I certainly wouldn't have come all this way. Do you think I have nothing better to do?"

Seeing that Hou San was still dwelling on the topic, Li Xiangdong said angrily, "I have never told anyone that I am a relative of your family!"

Impersonating someone's relative, especially a leader's relative, is a matter that's hard to explain, and Li Xiangdong would never admit to it.

This is purely a misunderstanding!

"Okay, I believe you, alright?"

Hou San rubbed his nose and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Do you have a cigarette?"

Another one asking for cigarettes...

Li Xiangdong said, utterly speechless, "I don't smoke!"