Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Outside the warehouse.

The atmosphere was rather quiet because of Hou San's shamelessness.

None of the three spoke until Zhang Dajun came out of the warehouse.

He dumped all the protective gear he was carrying onto the table.

"Dongzi, Azhe, each of you will receive one set of these work safety supplies. Except for the batteries and gloves, which will be issued monthly, you will only receive one set of everything else. You must keep them safe. By the way, how tall are you two?"

"180"

Li Xiangdong is always full of confidence when faced with this question from others.

In this era where people can barely get enough to eat but don't eat well, he is definitely a tall guy!

Zhang Dajun exclaimed in surprise, "Good heavens, Dongzi, you're so tall!? The warehouse is all interconnected, I don't even know if you can fit into it. A Zhe, how tall are you?"

Standing next to Li Xiangdong, A Zhe shifted his feet to the side. "I'm 165cm tall."

Zhang Dajun glanced at A Zhe, then turned his gaze to Hou San.

Hou San squatted down on the ground, head tilted back, face flushed, and he didn't even call him "Brother Jun" anymore. "Old Zhang, what are you looking at! Don't you know how tall I am?!"

Zhang Dajun laughed and said, "Hou San, you and Dongzi are really two extremes. I spent a lot of effort finding clothes for you the other day."

"Tch, you just want to say I'm short."

Hou San buried his head in his arms, afraid of being laughed at by the two new friends he had made that day.

Li Xiangdong and his companion didn't even consider that possibility; they went to the table and began dividing the items.

Each person received a brand new flashlight, along with several batteries.

After inserting the battery, I tested it and it worked fine, so I put it directly into my shoulder bag.

A military green raincoat and rubber rain boots, and five pairs of work gloves.

They're all large sizes, no need to try them on, just measure them. After folding them, I stuffed them into my shoulder bag.

The lunchbox was made of aluminum and contained a brand new spoon, which looked much better than the one he brought from home.

Finally, there was a white teacup with red lettering that read "5 Days of Safe Production," "Beijing Railway Bureau Trade Union," and "May 1979," along with a red railway emblem in the center.

There wasn't enough room left; the cloth bag was already full, so I had to leave it on the table for now.

Remembering Zhang Dajun's words, Li Xiangdong turned to look at Hou San, who was still squatting on the ground looking utterly hopeless, and asked, "Brother Jun, when you mentioned 'connected in all directions,' were you referring to our uniforms?"

Hou San hummed in agreement.

Li Xiangdong asked in bewilderment, "Why is it called that?"

Seeing that Hou San didn't reply, he walked up to Hou San and said, "It's not your fault that you're short. Ah Zhe and I aren't making fun of you. Stand up and let us see!"

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he began to act, grabbing Hou San's arm and trying to pull him up.

"Dongzi, stop pulling me, I can get up by myself, okay?"

Hou San stood up, pointed to his clothes, and began to explain, "Look, don't you see two creases on the pocket of my uniform?"

After Li Xiangdong let go of his hand, he looked at it carefully and then nodded. A Zhe came over and nodded as well.

Hou San said, "This represents the railway track."

He then pointed to the pockets on his body, saying, "Our uniforms have four pockets in total, representing the four directions: east, south, west, and north. This style of clothing is called 'accessible in all directions' within our railway system."

Li Xiangdong looked Hou San up and down, examining the uniform he was wearing.

Military-style uniform, dark blue, with buttons featuring a road emblem.

The buttons are made of brass and have a road emblem on them.

He bent down again, took Hou San's hat out of his pocket, and looked at it.

A soft cloth cap with a brim, adorned with a five-pointed star, a symbol of the road.

After A-Zhe had looked at it, Hou San took his hat back and stuffed it into his pocket. "How is it? Not bad, right?"

"It's good."

Li Xiangdong nodded.

Hou San didn't look good in it because he was too thin and short to pull it off.

If it were him, wearing such a uniform, he would definitely be a handsome and energetic young man, and he would surely seduce his wife when he got home!

"It's nothing, you can continue squatting."

Li Xiangdong placed his hands on Hou San's shoulders and, with a slight exertion, made Hou San squat down on the ground again.

"Dongzi, you're really not a human being!"

Hou San was furious. He had finally realized that Li Xiangdong was a cunning and treacherous person.

Zhang Dajun came out of the warehouse carrying a pile of clothes. "Dongzi, these are your and Azhe's uniforms, two sets each of winter and summer uniforms. Each set has a hat. Check if anything is missing. If not, try them on."

He pointed to the warehouse gate, indicating that the two of them could try on the clothes behind the gate.

Li Xiangdong and A Zhe each carried a set of clothes and walked over.

Seeing the two of them start changing their clothes, Zhang Dajun said, "You two try them on first, and then I'll go get you overcoats and heavy leather boots. It will snow in the Northeast in a few months, so this is to prepare them for you in advance."

After changing their clothes, Li Xiangdong and his companion stood facing each other, sizing each other up.

Although Hou San was also wearing it, it wasn't a useful reference!

After changing into his uniform, A-Zhe was very excited. "Dongzi, you look much more energetic now!"

"That's for sure."

Li Xiangdong complimented A Zhe, saying, "You look good too."

Hou Sanyi swayed over and muttered, "Big oaf, little black kid."

Li Xiangdong winked at A Zhe, and A Zhe instantly understood.

The two men grabbed Hou San, dragged him to the warehouse entrance, and pinned him to the ground.

For A Zhe, even if Hou San's father was the head of the passenger transport section, he wasn't afraid. Before he came here to work, he never thought it was a good job.

The main reason he came to work was because he was afraid of getting sick from being idle at home. After his mother replied in a while, even if he didn't go abroad with his father, his father could arrange a job for him at the university.

Therefore, his attitude towards Hou San was actually very casual, similar to that of Li Xiangdong. They both felt that Hou San's family background was very impressive, but neither of them would lower themselves to Hou San for a job.

Furthermore, after spending some time together, they could get a sense of Hou San's personality.

"You two, stop messing around. I was just kidding. You two don't have to be so petty, do you? Now let me go."

Li Xiangdong slapped him on the butt. "Do you think no one can handle you?"

"Ouch~ Dongzi, you're really ruthless! Let me go, I'm dizzy, I'm so dizzy..."

As Hou San spoke, he started rolling his eyes, and A Zhe gave Hou San's buttocks a couple of hard slaps.

"Why are you dizzy after being spanked? I'll teach you to pretend you're dizzy! I'll teach you to be so foul-mouthed! You dare call me a little black kid? Look at yourself, are you even 160cm tall?"

Yes, I'm 161cm tall!

Hou San stopped pretending to be unconscious. He struggled a few times after being pinned to the ground, but found it was all in vain.

"Ah Zhe, you hit me several times, we're even now, can you let go of me?"

Ah Zhe shook his head and said, "No, I haven't vented my anger yet."

Seeing that A Zhe wouldn't let go, Hou San turned to Li Xiangdong and began to beg for mercy, "Dongzi, you..."

Li Xiangdong stared at him and said, "What did you call me?"

Hou San immediately changed his tune, grinning and saying, "Brother Dong, Brother Dong, we're on the same side."