Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Hou San stumbled, his direction shifted, and he lunged directly at Li Xiangdong, who was to his right front.

"I rely on!"

Li Xiangdong never expected that even his position as a bystander would be affected. He pushed Hou San off him and stood up with the help of Erguaizi.

Seeing Li Xiangdong grinning and grimacing, Hou San was deeply moved. It felt so good to have someone cushion his fall when he was being beaten!

Dong-ge is such a good older brother!

Hou Jianshe looked at Li Xiangdong and said with a very awkward expression, "Dongzi, why didn't you know to hide? Now I'm really embarrassed. Are you alright?"

"Uncle Hou, I'm fine. Let's not talk about such formalities between us. Besides, you didn't do it on purpose."

Li Xiangdong's seemingly magnanimous words were actually a result of his lack of understanding; otherwise, he would have already hidden away!

"Well, you're fine."

Hou Jianshe nodded with a smile. He was no longer angry and happily accepted a full box of pre-Qingming Longjing tea from Wang Dahai. He left with a smile on his face.

Liu Erdan carefully put his jasmine tea leaves back into his tea box, pointed at Hou San, said nothing, and turned to walk out of the office with Wang Dahai.

Hou San breathed a sigh of relief, "That scared me to death, this is finally over."

Erguaizi came over and said with a grin, "Using Tieguanyin tea to cook tea eggs, Hou San, you're really something! I, Erguaizi, am impressed."

As soon as Hou Jianshe left, Hou San started twitching again. He rolled his eyes at Erguaizi and said, "What's it to you? Your master's gone, why don't you get lost!"

"cut!"

Erguaizi sneered, "Hou San, don't be too smug. Your dad might still be angry. Be careful, he might beat you up again when you get home."

Hou San and Erguaizi were arguing when a large group of more than a dozen people walked past the office door, including A Zhe.

Li Xiangdong asked, "What are they doing? Don't we leave at 10:30?"

Hou San said, "The conductors need to board the bus at least an hour and a half before departure so they can clean it in advance."

Li Xiangdong glanced at Hou San's watch. "Isn't it still early?"

Erguaizi explained, "I've never seen several of those people who just passed by before. They must all be new here. Getting on the bus so early is definitely to let them familiarize themselves with the work beforehand."

Li Xiangdong nodded and looked at Hou San, asking, "Should we two come along?"

"Need not..."

Hou San was speaking when he suddenly said with a grin, "Brother Dong, do you want to go see how A Zhe works?"

Li Xiangdong wanted to say that he didn't want to go, that there was nothing interesting about cleaning, and that it would be much better to sit in the office and drink tea.

But seeing Hou San's eager expression, and remembering that Hou San had just been kicked because of him, he said against his will, "I am indeed quite curious. Take me to see it."

The two said goodbye to Erguaizi, and Li Xiangdong helped the limping Hou San walk towards the platform.

"Hou San, are you alright?"

"What's the big deal? Dong-ge, you were cushioning my fall, and you're fine, so what could possibly happen to me?"

Li Xiangdong felt as if his heart had been stabbed...

"Besides, my dad usually beats me much worse. He always uses a feather duster. This time was actually a good time."

"Do you think it's possible that your dad was actually in a hurry to beat you, but he didn't have time to grab the feather duster?"

Hou San's heart was also pierced. "Ouch~ Brother Dong, please stop talking, my butt hurts~!"

The two arrived at the platform. With Hou San's guidance, Li Xiangdong found the train to Tianjin. They looked through the windows one by one until they reached carriage number 1, where they finally saw A Zhe and the others.

The two men crouched down and boarded the train from the back, hiding in the connecting area between the two carriages to eavesdrop.

Hou San took out a box of Peony cigarettes and quietly handed one to Li Xiangdong. Li Xiangdong waved his hand and refused to take it, and gestured to Hou San not to smoke either. But Hou San lit the lighter and started smoking.

"You all know the current situation, so whoever is checking tickets at the boarding gate must not be careless..."

"Hey you new guys, let me remind you again: the toilets on our train have direct drainage. When we stop at stations or cross bridges, be sure to close the toilets beforehand to prevent waste from polluting the area... Who smokes here?"

"Who's hiding in the back smoking? Come out right now!"

Seeing that everyone's eyes were on the two of them, Li Xiangdong pushed Hou San out.

Seeing that Hou San was still holding a cigarette, he whispered, "Quickly put it out!"

"Oh"

Hou San casually tossed the cigarette onto the floor of the carriage and stomped on it, grinding it down hard.

When Li Xiangdong saw the big black mark, his heart skipped a beat. That bastard Hou San, isn't he just sticking his face out to be slapped?

"Hou San!"

"What's wrong, Brother Yang? We were just curious and wanted to come and learn. If you're not busy, we'll be going now."

Yang Ge saw the black marks on the floor of the carriage and looked at the two people who had suddenly appeared with extremely unfriendly eyes. "Why are you leaving? You're already here, so you might as well help us clean up."

Hou San said urgently, "Cleaning isn't my job, why should I do it!"

Seeing that Hou San was getting anxious, Brother Yang calmly said, "For no reason other than if you dare to leave, I dare to go find your father. Why don't you try leaving?"

When Hou San heard that they were looking for his father, he immediately cowered, snorted, and walked straight into the carriage, plopping down on a chair.

Brother Yang looked at Li Xiangdong and asked, "Who are you?"

Li Xiangdong introduced himself, saying, "Hello, leader, I am Li Xiangdong from the water supply team."

Brother Yang nodded. "Li the Loudmouth, right? You're famous now."

"Hahahaha!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the carriage laughed louder and louder.

Li Xiangdong, looking straight ahead with a solemn expression, shouted loudly: "Serve the people!"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the carriage immediately stopped smiling.

Li Xiangdong glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, secretly delighted. Keep laughing! Why are you all stopped laughing?

Anyone who dares to laugh at the words of a great man has a problem with their thinking!

Although things are not like they were a few years ago, ideological awareness is still very important in these service positions that serve the whole country. Otherwise, how can one do a good job of serving the people?

Brother Yang glanced at Li Xiangdong with a complicated expression. "Go sit next to Hou San. You'll be cleaning with us in a bit. You don't mind, do you?"

"I have no objections; I will follow the leader's arrangements."

After Li Xiangdong walked over and sat down, he glared fiercely at Hou San!

Hou San first clasped his hands in a gesture of begging for mercy, then grinned at him with a grin, and finally closed his eyes, tilted his head to the side, and fell asleep...