Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Around 7:30 in the morning, after breakfast time, in the 525-meter-long alley, old men were already playing chess, people in work clothes were going to work, and people carrying schoolbags were going to school.

Some people had just come out of the public toilet, carrying chamber pots as they ran home. There were also groups of three or five children, chasing and playing noisily. And there were groups of women chatting and laughing together.

A vibrant, everyday scene of 80-year-old Beijing hutongs came to an abrupt halt because of the man who suddenly barged in, as if someone had pressed the pause button!

The man standing on the wooden cart, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, looking anxious and repeatedly shouting "Stop!", moved like a gust of wind...

The wind carried sand and gravel, which squinted at people's eyes when it blew over.

Almost everyone in the alley who witnessed this scene did one of three things: rub their eyes, avoid the view, and look around.

"Hou San! Hou San~"

Li Xiangdong chased after him, panting and shouting.

With his shout, the painting came back to life. The old man stopped playing chess, the children stopped playing, and the women stopped chatting.

Wherever Li Xiangdong ran, gasps of surprise erupted, and everyone's conversation turned to the man whose style was so different from the others.

Hou San is famous!

Although he hasn't moved to Chuanban Hutong yet, this incident has already made him a household name...

"Brother Dong, Brother Dong, I'm here!"

The two dogs turned around and ran into an alley and stopped. Hou San jumped off the wooden cart. Feeling embarrassed, he first kicked the two dogs, then led them out of the alley by their leashes.

Li Xiangdong, who had just run to the alley entrance, was about to give up and stop chasing, but fortunately the two fat and strong dogs finally stopped.

He leaned against the wall, panting heavily, and looked at Hou San walking towards him. Suddenly, he felt very regretful!

He shouldn't have spoken up before. If he hadn't, Hou San wouldn't have taken a liking to that courtyard. And if Hou San didn't like that courtyard, the two of them wouldn't have become neighbors.

Li Xiangdong was currently channeling the spirit of Shopkeeper Tong, muttering to himself incessantly. He didn't even dare to imagine what it would be like for the two of them to become neighbors...

"Master, Master, are you alright?"

Li Xiaotao, who ran over right after him, spoke with concern in his voice.

Hou San waved his hand, as if what had just happened was nothing.

"It's alright, Taozi, don't make a fuss. Your master has been through a lot."

"Master is amazing!"

Li Xiaotao was genuinely impressed, and Hou San accepted the compliment from his apprentice without batting an eye.

"Master has something to do today, next time, next time Master will take you flying together."

Li Xiaotao looked puzzled. "Fly? Like before?"

"Ah."

Seeing Hou San nod, Li Xiaotao immediately refused.

"No, Master, you should fly by yourself. I'm going to live in this alley for the rest of my life."

"..."

Hou San was stunned for a moment, then jumped up and down in anger after he realized what was happening!

"Li Xiaotao, you're outrageous! Are you making fun of me?"

"No no."

Li Xiaotao really didn't mean to make fun of Hou San. He had previously thought it was quite funny to see Hou San standing on a wooden cart being pulled by two dogs.

But when he ran over to find Hou San, he heard what the neighbors in the alley were saying, and he didn't want to lose face with Hou San.

"Alright, Hou San."

Li Xiangdong interrupted Hou San's spellcasting and asked, "These two dogs won't listen to you. Don't you know to take that kid named Xiao Hui with you?"

"We came together."

Hou San belatedly realized that someone was missing beside him. He looked at Li Xiangdong and asked, "Hey? Right! Where's that brat Xiao Hui?"

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "Who are you asking?"

Hou San chuckled and scratched his head. "Myself."

"Come on, let's go home first."

Hou San is no longer showing off. He obediently leads his two dogs, walking in the middle with Li Xiangdong and his nephew on either side of him.

"Young man, do you know you almost bumped into me? Are you treating this alley like a main road?"

"Dongzi, is this your colleague? Hey! Those two dogs are really well taken care of!"

"Li Xiaotao, is that person with those two dogs your relative? He was really showing off just now!"

"The third son of the Li family..."

On the way back home, people kept talking, and quite a few children wanted to follow behind the wooden cart and secretly jump on to play.

However, the two dogs that Hou San was leading looked too fierce, so all the children were pulled to their sides by their respective adults, and then slapped twice to completely subdue them.

The process of apologizing, offering cigarettes, and explaining didn't end until the three of them returned to Old Li's front door.

Because Li Xiangdong and Li Xiaotao were residents of the alley and their faces were familiar, they at least helped Hou San bear half of the 'harm'.

"Big Brother, Xing-ge, why haven't you two left yet?"

"Leave now, leave now."

Brother Zhou and Zhou Dexing were in a state of utter anxiety. They had never seen anything like this before! They couldn't bear to leave without taking another look!

Now that Li Xiangdong and the other two are back, they look at the wooden cart and the two dogs with great interest and give Hou San a thumbs up from the bottom of their hearts.

Having seen it all, and remembering the most important thing they had come for today, the two brothers said goodbye again. One sat on a bicycle, and the other rode it, carrying their luggage and the daily necessities given to them by Sister-in-law Li and Sister-in-law Li, as their bicycles gradually disappeared into the distance.

After watching his two brothers-in-law leave, Li Xiangdong raised his hand and pointed in the direction they had gone, then looked at Hou San, who was being persuaded by Old Man Li and the others.

"Hou San, look at that kid riding a bicycle coming over, isn't that Xiao Hui?"

"Yes! It's him!"

Hou San stood on tiptoe and waved, "Xiao Hui! I'm here!"

His shout carried over, and the boy on the bicycle in the distance sped up, rushed towards him, and then slammed on the brakes.

"Brother Quan, you..."

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean, 'what do you mean,' you know? If your two dogs hadn't been tired from running, you'd already be on Chongwenmen Street by now!"

Hou San interrupted Xiao Hui, his mouth firing off like a machine gun, almost making Xiao Hui shut up.

"Brother Quan, look at my hands."

When Xiao Hui and Hou San got tired of talking, Xiao Hui stretched out his two dark, black hands and began to defend himself.

“My bicycle chain fell off. I called you, but you were standing on the wooden cart and didn’t even turn around.”

"You really know how to mess things up."

Hou San muttered something under his breath, knowing that Xiao Hui hadn't meant it, so he stopped arguing.

"Xiao Hui, right? Come with me to wash your hands."

Li Erge gestured for Xiao Hui to follow him into the courtyard. Xiao Hui looked at Hou San, then at Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiangdong introduced his family to him. After Xiao Hui parked his bicycle and greeted them, he followed Li Erge into the yard to wash his hands.

"Xiao Hui."

Hearing his name called, Xiao Hui, who was washing his hands by the sink with laundry detergent in his hand, looked at Li Erge.

"Brother Li, please speak."

"Hou San left you halfway there, how did you manage to find us?"

"I came here by stopping people to ask for directions. Brother Li, you don't know, my brother Quan has been very cool all the way here. A few times I didn't even need to ask. I just saw a lot of people, went over and listened to their conversation, and I knew which road my brother Quan had turned onto."

Li Erge listened and nodded, inwardly exclaiming how awesome it was!