Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Ah Zhe said anxiously, "Dongzi, if splitting it in half isn't enough, then let's split it in fours and sixes, I'll take four and you take six, that should be fine, right?"

Hou San nodded. "Yes, Brother Dong, I only want four."

Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "Okay, then if the three of us are together, I'll take six shares, and you two will each take two shares."

Hou San and A Zhe had no objections. They didn't know anything about it, they just paid some money and maybe carried some things with them. They didn't have to worry about anything else, so their share was quite substantial.

"Hou San, A Zhe, you two will have to learn from me from now on. When you two learn to distinguish between real and fake, the three of us will change the division to 433."

"Okay, I'll learn from you slowly in the future."

A Zhe verbally agreed, and Hou San also smiled broadly, repeatedly promising that he would study hard in the future.

But both of them knew they weren't cut out for this. Although learning it would earn them more money, they figured they'd rather focus all their energy on Li Xiangdong. If they could keep him occupied, they could accumulate the money by doing it multiple times.

Li Xiangdong could see the perfunctory look on their faces, and he could also guess what they were thinking. But he would leave it to them; if they wanted to learn, they could, and if they didn't, so be it.

He said, "Then this is a gentleman's agreement. If either of you wants to withdraw in the future, remember to let me know in advance."

A Zhe said, "Don't worry, Dongzi. We men are men of our word. What we say goes."

Hou San patted his chest and said, "Brother Dong, don't worry, I, Hou San, always keep my word."

"Then your next step is to find a way to raise money. The more money you have, the more you'll earn. I don't need to explain that to you, right? Alright, that's all for now. I'm going to take a nap. You two can think about it some more."

Li Xiangdong yawned. He was sleepy after eating and didn't want to go home. He planned to rest for a while on Hou Jianshe's desk.

Seeing Li Xiangdong resting on the table, A Zhe and Hou San exchanged a glance before quickly separating.

Both of them were secretly delighted, looking forward to a wonderful life together.

The bell rang for the afternoon shift.

Li Xiangdong got up from the table, sat in the chair and stretched. He was feeling a little dizzy, and after sitting there for a while, he got up and moved around.

Ah Zhe leaned over and said, "Dongzi, I've prepared water for you. Go wash your face and wake yourself up; we still have to go to the union."

Hou San, carrying a thermos, looked at Li Xiangdong, who was washing his face in front of the metal rack, and asked with a smile, "Brother Dong, do you need me to add some hot water for you?"

"No need to add hot water, cold water is just right, it'll help me stay alert."

Li Xiangdong rubbed his face and took the towel that A Zhe handed him to wipe it.

After Hou San waited for him to finish washing up, he spoke again: "Brother Dong, leave the things you and A Zhe got in my dad's office for now. We'll take them to the train station building up ahead when we get back from the union."

"Okay, it's up to you."

Li Xiangdong said, "Hou San, lead the way."

"okay."

Hou San pushed open the door and went out first.

The union's office is located on the third floor.

There was only one employee in the office who learned that Li Xiangdong and A Zhe had come to report for duty.

First, I had them both fill out a form, and then I started the usual spiel.

After listening to the long and detailed explanations of employee rules, regulations, and precautions, the lingering impressions remained.

"You two are no longer ordinary citizens, but proud railway workers. What is the railway? It is the economic lifeline of the country. You must always remember the pioneering and enterprising spirit of us railway workers."

"Remember to ask your team leader for leave if you need anything. If you encounter any difficulties, you can also explain them to your supervisor. The supervisor will definitely help us solve them. But no matter when, as long as you are wearing this uniform, you must abide by the station's discipline and relevant regulations, and concentrate on doing a good job in production during working hours..."

After hearing some more glorious deeds and advanced reports, Li Xiangdong felt his soul had been elevated as he left the trade union. He was ashamed of his subsequent dealing in silver dollars!

Goodness, he almost applied to join the organization on the spot!

He took two deep breaths and slowly came to his senses.

He wants to make money!

Li Xiangdong and the other two returned to Hou Jianshe's office.

Hou San strode to his desk, took out a newspaper, spread it out, and then opened the tea box on the desk, pouring all the Tieguanyin tea inside onto the newspaper.

After packing the tea, he tucked the tea box under his arm and handed the tea bag to Li Xiangdong.

"Brother Dong, take this home and drink it."

"No, please keep it. I can't take it."

Hou San stared intently at Li Xiangdong. "Brother Dong, do you look down on me?"

"No, we're going to make money together, why would I look down on you?"

"If you don't accept this packet of tea, you're disrespecting me! If you don't accept it, I'll just throw it away!"

When Li Xiangdong saw Hou San open the window, he was really about to throw away the tea bag in his hand. He hurriedly said, "Please don't throw it away... Okay, I'll take the tea."

Hou San smiled and handed the tea bag to Li Xiangdong, then patted the empty tin tea box.

"Brother Dong, I won't give you the tea box. I'll keep it; I still need it."

"If you find it useful, keep it."

Since Li Xiangdong had accepted the tea, he naturally wouldn't ask for the tea box back.

In times of scarcity, a tin tea box was a valuable item, and even twenty years from now, it will still be very practical.

At this moment, Li Xiangdong suddenly said, "Hou San, you kindly gave me tea, so I certainly can't drink it for nothing. How about this, I'll give you a heads-up first. Before the Chinese New Year this year, I guarantee you'll become a millionaire with no worries about money."

The term "ten-thousand-yuan household" was still a new one at that time, appearing for the first time in the People's Daily in February of this year.

Hou San was finally relieved after hearing these words. Even if he was stupid, he knew that as long as Li Xiangdong was still working for the railway company, he couldn't possibly be lying to him.

After leaving the office building, I arrived at the main entrance.

Through the window, Li Xiangdong saw that in the mailroom, Grandpa Hou was sitting in a chair, holding a newspaper, and nodding off.

He pushed open the window and shouted, "Grandpa Hou, it's on fire!"

"Where? Where!"

Grandpa Hou immediately woke up from his drowsiness, hurriedly got up and looked around. When he saw the smiling face leaning against the window, he knew he had been tricked.

He retorted angrily, "You little brat! I'm an old man, if you scare me to death, I'll make you eat and drink your food and serve me for the rest of your life!"

Li Xiangdong said with a smile, "My family's cornbread doesn't taste good, it's too sore to eat."

Grandpa Hou said nonchalantly, "It's alright, I've eaten elm bark before, I'm not picky about food."

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "Hey, I kindly woke you up because I couldn't bear to see an old comrade who had worked diligently in the revolution all his life stumble because of laziness when he was about to retire. And you still want to blame me?"