Year 1979: Eating meat with my wife and children

Upon hearing Li Xiangdong's words, Hou San pointed to himself in surprise, "I'm taking on apprentices?"

Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "Yes, do you want to?"

"Of course I want to! I get so excited every time I see Uncle Hai kicking Erguaizi!"

"It would be so enviable to have an apprentice who can kick you around every now and then, but isn't it a bit too early for me to take on an apprentice at my age?"

As Hou San spoke, he began to feel a pang of regret for himself.

Li Xiangdong realized that Hou San did indeed have this idea, so he continued, "It's not early at all. You said that Uncle Hai kicked Erguaizi, but Erguaizi was still very filial to Uncle Hai after being kicked by him. Do you know why?"

Hou San boasted, "Of course I know that. Erguaizi was saved by Uncle Hai when he was a child, otherwise he would probably be farming in some remote mountain village now."

Li Xiangdong shook his head and said, "What you said is only part of the reason."

Hou San asked in confusion, "Then what other reason could there be?"

Li Xiangdong exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "I think it's because Erguaizi has been with Uncle Hai since he was a child, and the two have a deep bond. So every time Erguaizi gets beaten up, he will try to make Uncle Hai happy first."

"Think about those master apprentices who take on apprentices halfway through their careers. Aren't many of them often driven half to death by their apprentices?"

"Really?"

Hou San scratched his head, recalling the masters and apprentices he had met at the train station. "Brother Dong, what you said makes sense. It seems to be true."

He suddenly exclaimed in frustration, "But when I take on apprentices, I definitely need to know their backgrounds. Where am I supposed to find someone now?!"

"What do you think of my second nephew? Didn't you just say you liked him a lot? How about you take him on as your apprentice?"

Li Xiangdong revealed his final plan, which is actually a win-win situation and puts everyone at ease.

The good thing is that Hou San's family has strong connections. If they take Li Xiaotao as their apprentice, Li Xiaotao's family won't have to worry about his job anymore.

Secondly, although Li Xiaotao is not very bright, he will be filial when he grows up. When Hou San gets old, he will have a loyal apprentice to take care of him.

As for the relief, it's that Li Xiangdong's arrangement for Li Xiaotao to become his apprentice was actually a disguised form of pledge of allegiance.

Back then, Old Man Li used his connections to get Deputy Director Zhang of the neighborhood office to arrange a job for him, and Hou Jianshe took the opportunity to ask him to help look after his own children.

As a result, the two families are now entangled, and Li Xiangdong has been forced to join the Hou family faction.

By sending his nephew to Hou San's side, Li Xiangdong is essentially telling Hou Jianshe, "I plan to stay on the Hou family's ship forever, and I will take good care of Hou San from now on."

Hou Jianshe was able to maintain his position as head of the Labor and Wages Section, so he must have figured out Li Xiangdong's intentions in doing this!

Ah Zhe, who hadn't said a word, simply assumed that his childhood friend was planning to arrange his future for his mentally challenged nephew.

He chimed in, "Yeah, Hou San, this way you don't have to have a son yourself, and you can be happy every day ahead of time."

"this..."

Hou San was still hesitating when Li Xiaotao walked in with Li Xiaobo and Li Xiaohai.

"Dad, I want to eat chicken."

"Third Uncle, I want to eat too."

Li Xiaohai and Li Xiaobo, who were following behind Li Xiaotao, started asking for food as soon as they entered the room.

"Eat my ass! You two go stand over there and get back to your positions."

Li Xiangdong picked up a feather duster and pointed to the corner of the wall. He didn't have time to deal with the two of them now; he would deal with them later.

When Li Xiaobo and Li Xiaohai saw the feather duster, they dared not ask for any more food and quickly ran to the corner, stood up straight, and stopped making a sound.

Li Xiaotao, the main force behind the funeral dirge, is now acting as if nothing happened. He grinned and moved closer to Li Xiangdong.

"Third Uncle, I brought Xiaobo and Xiaohai to you. When are you going to give me chicken wings?"

Li Xiangdong pushed his head away and asked, "Where's your older brother? Why isn't he coming over?"

Li Xiaotao replied, "My older brother said you were going to beat us up, so he's hiding inside and won't come out."

Li Xiangdong tapped his head with a feather duster. "Oh, so do you think I'll beat you up?"

Li Xiaotao scratched his head and shook his head, saying, "No way, I always listen to my third uncle. Why did you beat me up, third uncle?"

Hou San suddenly interjected, asking, "If your third uncle really intends to beat you up, will you run away?"

Li Xiaotao looked at Hou San and asked, "Why should I run?"

Hou San stared at his small eyes and pointed at the feather duster, "Because he's going to beat you up!"

Li Xiaotao sniffed and said nonchalantly, "So what if he beats me up? What's wrong with my third uncle hitting me a couple of times?"

Hou San chuckled upon hearing this, "What if I wanted to beat you up?"

Li Xiaotao walked up to Hou San, staring intently at him. "What makes you think you can hit me? My third uncle is my elder. He can hit me, but if you dare to hit me, I dare to hit you. What are you laughing at? Why don't you try?"

Hou San was even more amused. "So, if you were my apprentice now, and I were your master, could I beat you up?"

Li Xiaotao snorted and said in a muffled voice, "If you were my master, of course you could beat me up. If I fought back, that would be disrespectful to my elders."

Hou San was very satisfied with the answer; he felt goosebumps all over his body!

"What if someone wants to beat up your master?"

Li Xiaotao asked cooperatively, "Who wants to beat up my master?"

Hou San blurted out, "My father."

Li Xiaotao clenched his fist, "I'll beat the shit out of him!"

"Good good!"

Hou San excitedly stood up and said, "Brother Dong, I'll take this apprentice!"

"..."

Li Xiangdong and A Zhe watched in stunned silence as the master tested his apprentices in this dramatic scene.

This Hou San taking on a disciple means nothing else matters; the most important thing is whether he can fight back when he gets beaten up and whether he can help him beat up his own father!

Li Xiangdong was feeling uneasy. Could Hou San really be planning to let his stupid nephew beat up his father?

Although Li Xiaotao is young, he is really strong!

If he were to clash with Hou Jianshe, it would depend on who strikes first. If Hou Jianshe makes the first move, they'd be evenly matched. But if it were Li Xiaotao instead, Hou Jianshe would be in serious trouble...

Ah Zhe, who was sitting to the side smoking and drinking water, was speechless when he heard this absurd conversation. He said, "Hou San, are you taking on an apprentice or hiring thugs?"

Hou San scoffed, "Do you understand? Do you think I'd really let my apprentice beat up my father? A-Zhe, are you stupid?!"

Ah Zhe rolled his eyes at Hou San, thinking to himself, "Why are you taking this test so seriously? When you heard Li Xiaotao say he was going to beat your dad to a pulp, you were so excited you almost jumped onto the roof!"

Hou San looked at the water glass in front of him and said, "Brother Dong, I've accepted this apprentice. Shouldn't it be time for the apprentice to serve tea to his master? Brother Dong, where's your tea? Go and get it quickly."

“I can go get the tea, but Hou San, remember to tell my Uncle Hou about you taking my nephew as your apprentice when you get home. I’ll bring my nephew to visit you again on a good day after some time.”

Li Xiangdong reminded Hou San that this kind of thing definitely needed to be formalized first.

Seeing Hou San nod in agreement, he felt a little smug. The first step in changing allegiance had begun to show results!