Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

This silly goose can run really fast!

Li Xiangdong wanted to say that he had brought a lunchbox, but Hou Sanchang was short, but his short legs moved incredibly fast. Before he could even speak, Hou Sanchang and the other two had disappeared!

As Ah Zhe washed the lunchbox, he laughed and said, "Dongzi, how could someone as shrewd as you have a relative like Hou San? That guy is so clueless, he doesn't even know to bring his own lunchbox when he eats. His family even arranged for him to ride with them. Aren't they afraid he'll get lost when he goes to another city?"

What the hell!

Upon hearing A Zhe's words, the smile on Li Xiangdong's face vanished instantly.

Hou San is a water supplier, and he is also a water supplier.

Guan Jianhou also mentioned that the two of them were assigned to the same train.

Could this have been something Hou Jianshe planned from the beginning?!

The more I think about it, the more likely it seems. No wonder he got such an easy job; it turns out he even has to help the Hou family take care of their children!

A-Zhe noticed that Dongzi's expression was a bit off. "Dongzi, what's wrong?"

"It's okay, let's go get some food first."

Li Xiangdong shook the water out of his lunchbox and followed A Zhe to the food serving window.

A small blackboard hangs on the wall by the window, listing the types of meals served at noon.

The menu includes braised pork slices, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, eggplant with garlic sauce, cucumber salad, and mung bean soup. Staple foods include steamed buns and rice.

"Dongzi, the food in this cafeteria is pretty good! It's much better than what we eat at home!"

A Zhe was a little excited. Although his father was a university teacher and earned a high salary each month, the two of them were not good at cooking and just ate whatever they could find every day.

Not to mention a few years earlier, back then it was a miracle that the father and son could even get enough to eat!

"It's quite a feast."

Li Xiangdong nodded. This level of quality was comparable to the employee meals of some companies in later generations.

After ordering their food and paying their meal tickets, the two took their lunchboxes to the table and began to eat.

Ah Zhe took a bite of the fish-fragrant eggplant and commented, "It tastes good, quite delicious."

Li Xiangdong said, "The head chef in the cafeteria kitchen is quite skilled; the main thing is that the dishes are very oily."

After he finished speaking, he buried his head and started eating. His family's breakfast consisted of corn porridge and cornbread. The corn porridge wasn't very filling, and he only ate one cornbread because he thought it would hurt his throat.

After a busy morning, he was starving.

Seven or eight minutes passed.

More and more people are coming to the cafeteria to eat at this time.

After the two finished eating, A-Zhe stood up and said, "Dongzi is gone, let's go wash the lunchboxes."

Just as Li Xiangdong was about to stand up, he looked up and saw Hou San rushing into the cafeteria.

He said, "You go first. Hou San is here. I'll wait for him here. If we both go to wash the lunchboxes, he might not be able to find the place."

Ah Zhe laughed and said, "It's hard to say about others, but Hou San is a real possibility. I'll go wash the lunchbox first, you wait here for him."

As soon as A Zhe left, Hou San walked over, holding a lunchbox in one hand and a stack of meal tickets in the other.

After he sat down, he put down his lunchbox and said, "Luckily, my dad went to a meeting at the bureau, otherwise I would have had to run to the train station building in front to get my lunchbox."

As he spoke, he waved a stack of meal tickets in his hand and said smugly, "I took all the meal tickets my dad kept in the drawer!"

Li Xiangdong shook his head speechlessly and kindly reminded him, "Don't be so smug. When your dad finds his meal ticket is missing at dinner, he'll definitely come after you. Do you think you'll get a beating then?"

Hou San rolled his eyes. "Tch~ You're just jealous because I have so many meal tickets."

Hey!

Li Xiangdong intended to teach him a lesson, so he silently got up, walked to the opposite side, and sat down next to Hou San.

Hou San grinned smugly, about to stuff the meal ticket into his pocket, when Li Xiangdong grabbed his arm.

He asked, puzzled, "What's wrong?"

Li Xiangdong didn't answer, but instead asked with a friendly expression, "Hou San, are we brothers?"

"what?"

Hou San was even more puzzled.

Li Xiangdong tightened his grip on Hou San's arm. "I'm asking you, aren't we brothers?"

Hou San cursed inwardly, but smiled broadly and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Brother Dong, we're definitely brothers, but could you be a little gentler? It hurts!"

"Sorry, brother, I got a little emotional."

Li Xiangdong released Hou San's hand, then put his arm around Hou San's shoulder and sighed, "Sigh, the food in our cafeteria is really good. I just ate some, and it's not only delicious but also very juicy. But I'm such a useless father; I can't even afford to let my own child have a bite of meat."

As he spoke, he patted Hou San on the shoulder, took out his lunchbox from his satchel, and placed it in front of Hou San. "You understand what your brother means, right?"

"You brought two lunchboxes without even telling me!"

Hou San's face twitched. He wanted to turn around and leave, but Li Xiangdong was stronger than him, and he was pressed down on the stool and couldn't get up.

"Brother Dong, you don't need to say anything. With me as your uncle, how could I let my nephew not even have meat to eat?"

He slammed a meal ticket on the table as he spoke, "Is a serving of stir-fried pork slices enough for my nephew?"

Li Xiangdong shook his head. "Your nephew has enough to eat, but you also have a little niece."

Hou San reluctantly pulled out another meal ticket, "Then two servings of braised pork slices."

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Thank you so much, brother."

Hou San felt terrible for having spent two meal tickets. He forced a smile and said insincerely, "No need to thank me, we're brothers after all."

Li Xiangdong looked at Hou San with shining eyes and asked, "How about another serving of scrambled eggs with tomatoes?"

Hou San squeezed the meal ticket tightly. "Brother Dong, how many nephews and nieces do I actually have?"

Li Xiangdong laughed and said, "Hey, what are you thinking? I only have two children. The scrambled eggs with tomatoes are for your sister-in-law to take back to eat."

Hou San was so angry at Li Xiangdong's shamelessness that his face turned red. "Brother Dong, you're so good to your wife and child!"

Li Xiangdong waved his hand, "Don't say that. My own wife and children, if I don't care, who will?"

"hehe."

Hou San chuckled dryly. He wanted nothing more than to strangle Li Xiangdong. "You care about your wife and kids, so why should I pay for your meals?"

His father told him this morning that he should listen to Li Xiangdong more in the future.

Pooh!

This morning alone, Li Xiangdong has already bullied him twice!

Hou San's eyes darted around, wanting to trick Li Xiangdong. He planned to spit twice into Li Xiangdong's lunchbox when Li Xiangdong wasn't paying attention.

Thinking of this, Hou San grinned mischievously and said, "Brother Dong, go wash your lunchbox after you finish eating. I'll go get some food for your wife and the kids."