Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

After venting his frustrations, Yang Dabao turned to Li Xiangdong, who was sitting next to him, and said, "You may not have a lot of money to go out and trade, but you should at least have some money to buy some food, right? We can't go out here and come back empty-handed."

When Li Xiangdong heard Yang Dabao finally speak a coherent sentence, he nodded and said, "I was thinking of bringing some food back. I plan to wait for Hou San to wake up and then we'll go for a walk together to see what we can buy."

Yang Dabao laughed and said, "If you're planning to do that, you don't need to go out and search. I know a place where you don't need a ticket, although the prices will definitely be higher than outside."

Li Xiangdong's eyes lit up. "They definitely need to make money, so a higher price is fine. I can accept that. Where is the place you mentioned, Brother Yang?"

Yang Dabao said mysteriously, "It's far away, yet right before our eyes."

Looking at the dilapidated courtyard in front of him, Li Xiangdong asked, "You're not talking about the guesthouse we're staying in now, are you?"

He really didn't expect this; these people had figured out how to play the game right under his nose!

“Smart, wait here for me a moment, I’ll put the bag back first.”

......

Li Xiangdong followed Yang Dabao, who had just returned, and the two arrived at a small bungalow behind the guesthouse.

"Fourth brother, is fourth brother here?"

Yang Dabao knocked on the door and called for help. After a while, a man in his thirties finally came out of the house.

The man was woken up, and he looked annoyed. "Yang Dabao, what are you yelling for? Can't a person get any sleep?"

"You're not happy about making money, are you? Fine, go back to sleep, we're leaving."

After Yang Dabao finished speaking, he was about to pull Li Xiangdong back when Lao Si realized what was happening and quickly stepped forward to block the two of them, smiling as he lightly patted his own face.

"Brother Da Bao, don't be angry. I was wrong. I was just confused from sleeping. You can't take it to heart."

Yang Dabao laughed and said, "Alright, fourth brother, our train is at 2 pm. Could you get us some local food for lunch? Seafood would be even better. The brother next to me is planning to bring some home."

After he finished speaking, he patted Li Xiangdong on the shoulder and introduced him: "This is Lao Si from the cafeteria."

"Hello, Fourth Brother."

The fourth brother smiled and nodded, then looked at Li Xiangdong and asked, "The local snacks include fried dough twists, and as for seafood, a batch of mackerel will be delivered in a little while. Let's make it clear, payment first, then delivery."

"Okay, Fourth Brother, you can decide how to use this money. I want a little of everything."

Without hesitation, Li Xiangdong took out 5 yuan from his pocket. Yang Dabao had brought him here, so it was definitely safe.

However, he only had 15 yuan on him, and to be honest, he felt a little pained to take out a third of it.

The fourth brother awkwardly took the money, his smile gone. "You only bought 5 yuan's worth? It's not easy to go out these days, you should at least buy more."

Yang Dabao snatched the money from Lao Si's hand. "You think it's not enough? Then let's just forget about it. I'll find someone else."

"Who said I thought it was too little? I was just worried that if my little brother didn't buy enough, it would be hard to divide it up when he got home."

The fourth brother reached out, trying to snatch the money back.

Yang Dabao, with the money in his hand behind his back, said, "Fourth brother, the oil and firewood you used to fry the twisted dough sticks were from the cafeteria, right? I'm starting to suspect that even the flour comes from the cafeteria."

Upon hearing this, the fourth brother immediately became anxious, "Don't talk nonsense! How could I dare to use the canteen's flour!"

Yang Dabao pointed at him and said, "See? You've already confessed without being asked. Do I need to explain to you again what mackerel is all about? You still have the nerve to tell me that 5 yuan can't buy much? You're not a decent person."

Having his secret exposed, the fourth brother was furious, his face turning red with anger. "Yang Dabao, shut up! I'll give this young man all the fried dough twists and mackerel for a low price of 3 cents a pound, okay?"

"You know the truth."

Yang Dabao stuffed the money into Lao Si's hand, saying, "You still want to bully people from our Beijing railway system? Be careful, or I'll put a sack over your head in the middle of the night."

"Fine, fine, I can't afford to offend them, okay?"

The fourth brother smiled and took the money, putting it in his pocket. Although five yuan wasn't much to him, every little bit helps.

Listening to their conversation, Li Xiangdong finally understood how Lao Si ran his business. It turned out he was a master at exploiting the socialist system!

Yang Dabao rolled his eyes at his fourth brother's greedy look. "When are you going to get the things?"

The fourth brother said cheerfully, "After lunch, have this young man go to the kitchen to get it from me."

"Okay, it's settled then."

Once the matter was settled, Yang Dabao left with Li Xiangdong.

The two returned to the front stairwell entrance.

Li Xiangdong stopped in his tracks. "Brother Yang, you go up first. I want to stay down here a little longer."

Yang Dabao was somewhat confused, but he was indeed tired, so he left alone without saying anything.

After Yang Dabao disappeared, Li Xiangdong turned around and walked towards Lao Si's residence.

The fourth brother opened the door and saw Li Xiangdong, who had just left, and asked in confusion, "Young man, is there anything else you need?"

Li Xiangdong asked with a smile, "Fourth Brother, how much of a kickback would you give me if I brought you two deals?"

"Kickbacks?"

Upon hearing this, the fourth brother sized up Li Xiangdong. This was the first time he had encountered someone like this, who wanted to get money out of his pocket. What a scheme!

He forced a smile and said, "Young man, you're overthinking it. The business I run barely makes enough to support my family; I don't earn much at all."

Li Xiangdong naturally didn't believe the nonsense his fourth brother was spouting. "Fourth brother, you're getting tired of this. I came here sincerely to discuss this with you. You should at least give me some leeway, shouldn't you?"

The fourth brother feigned difficulty and said, "I'm just doing this to earn some extra money for cigarettes. How about this, you bring the person over, and I'll consider it a favor to you, okay?"

Li Xiangdong stared blankly at him. "Fourth Brother, how much is your favor worth? How about I convert it into twisted dough sticks?"

Old Zhao: "......"

Seeing the bewildered look on Lao Si's face, Li Xiangdong suddenly laughed, took out a Daqianmen cigarette from his pocket, and handed it over.

"I was just kidding, Fourth Brother. I'll go and bring my two friends over right now. But let's make a deal first, Fourth Brother, you'd better put extra sesame seeds on my twisted dough sticks."

"Don't worry, I'll definitely put in plenty of sesame seeds for you."

As long as there's no kickback, Lao Si smiled and took the Daqianmen cigarette from Li Xiangdong, took a puff, and said, "My name is Zhao Si, what's your name, young brother?"

Li Xiangdong replied, "My name is Li Xiangdong, Fourth Brother can just call me Dongzi."

Zhao Si nodded. "Dongzi, this young man of yours is interesting. Next time you come to Tianjin, we should make time to have a good drink together."

"Sure, when I come over next time, I'll definitely have a couple of drinks with you. Fourth Brother, I'll go call some people over right now, you wait for me."

After Li Xiangdong finished speaking, he walked back. He came here to get closer to Zhao Si so that he would have a way to get seafood in the future.

Of course, you have to pay for seafood, and only mutual benefit can ensure a long-term sustainable business.