Chapter 34: Quick, Give Me the Cigarettes!

The two people who had just met for the first time unexpectedly hit it off. They chatted while smoking.

Uncle Hou said with a smile, “Dongzi, you’re a smart kid. Your Uncle Hou likes to chat with smart people.”

“Uncle Hou, what do you mean by that?”

Li Xiangdong was a little puzzled. Through his conversation with Uncle Hou, he found that he was a rather arrogant person.

Why did he suddenly start praising him?

“There are some things you don’t know. The internal children from this recruitment have all been hired. Now, only the educated youth who have returned to the city like you are still coming to report for duty one after another.”

“But they’re either inexperienced or their heads are full of mush. They don’t even know to ask around. They can’t even tell the difference between the passenger transport section and the train station. They all ran to the train station building to report for duty. You’re one of the few smart people during this period.”

Uncle Hou laughed heartily as he spoke.

“You’ll see. Maybe in a little while, there will be some idiots running over in a panic, covered in sweat.”

Hearing Uncle Hou’s words, Li Xiangdong smiled along with him. People who were not from the railway system really wouldn’t know.

Not to mention now, even in the later era of information explosion, there were still many people who didn’t know what was going on with the various departments of the railway system.

By the time the two of them lit their third cigarette, more and more staff members were coming to work.

When they passed by the reception office, most of them would come over to greet Uncle Hou.

When they saw Li Xiangdong sitting in the reception office, smoking and chatting with Uncle Hou, they would also take a second look.

He was a new face, and he wasn’t wearing a work uniform. He was either a new employee reporting for duty or someone who had come specifically to chat with Uncle Hou.

But no matter what the situation was, this young man was definitely very familiar with Uncle Hou, and it was very likely that he was a junior in Uncle Hou’s family.

This was their guess about Li Xiangdong’s identity. Unconsciously, Li Xiangdong had already taken great advantage of Uncle Hou.

“Second Uncle, Second Aunt said you forgot to take your medicine this morning. I brought it for you. Hurry up and take it.”

A middle-aged man in a summer uniform pushed the door open and came in. After greeting Uncle Hou, he looked at Li Xiangdong with a puzzled expression.

“Jianshe is here. Just put the medicine on the table. I’ll take it later.”

After seeing his nephew put the medicine down, Uncle Hou said to him, “This is a new employee who came to our section to report for duty today. His name is Li Xiangdong. In a little while, you have to tell those people in your section not to make things difficult for him. This kid’s temper suits me. I like him!”

Hearing this, how could Li Xiangdong not understand that this nephew of Uncle Hou was the section chief of the labor and capital department.

He quickly stood up and handed his introduction letter to Section Chief Hou.

“Good morning, Section Chief Hou. My name is Li Xiangdong. You can just call me Dongzi. I’m here to handle the onboarding procedures. I came a little early, so I’m here chatting with Uncle Hou for a while.”

“Jianshe, do you see? Isn’t this kid’s mind sharp? I didn’t even tell him about you, and he figured it out from just those two sentences.”

Uncle Hou smiled. He felt that he had not misjudged the person. This kid was really smart, he got it right away!

Hou Jianshe took the introduction letter and looked at it. He immediately understood. He had been wondering why the name Li Xiangdong sounded so familiar.

So he was one of their own. The day before yesterday, his old classmate had specifically called him. Not only did he take a job position from him, but he also asked him to take care of him more often. He didn’t expect to see the person so soon.

However, he didn’t point this out. He just folded the introduction letter twice and put it in his jacket pocket.

“Dongzi, right? I’ll take your introduction letter for now. I’ll file it after you’re hired. Since my second uncle has already spoken up for you, you can rest assured. No one will make things difficult for you when you go through the procedures.”

Section Chief Hou’s tone of voice was obviously different from before, revealing a bit of closeness.

“Then I’ll thank you in advance.”

Li Xiangdong also noticed that Section Chief Hou’s expression was different. It was much kinder than when he first entered the room. He thought it was because of Uncle Hou.

After thanking him, he picked up the Mudan on the table, “Section Chief Hou, have a smoke.”

“I’ll get it myself.”

Hou Jianshe took the cigarette, first lit one for his second uncle, then lit one for himself, and stuffed the remaining half pack directly into his own pocket.

Seeing this scene, Li Xiangdong’s eyelids twitched. What was the meaning of this?

There were three people in the room, and he was just skipped over?

Were all people with the surname Hou so interesting?

Fortunately, he still had a pack of Mudan in his cloth bag. He had taken two packs from his father’s drawer in total, and he had brought them all for this report.

But he had just taken it out of his bag and hadn’t even opened it yet when a large hand reached over.

In his astonished eyes, Section Chief Hou put this unopened pack of Mudan into his other pocket.

“Dongzi, since you suit my second uncle’s temper, then we’re not outsiders. It’s not that Uncle Hou is criticizing you, but you’re young, so you should smoke less. Don’t become a chain smoker, with a cigarette in your hand all day long.”

While lecturing Li Xiangdong, Hou Jianshe lit another one for himself.

He patted Li Xiangdong’s shoulder, “Let’s go. Follow your Uncle Hou to the office. Let’s get your onboarding procedures done first.”

“Uncle Hou, I’ll go and get busy first. I’ll come and chat with you again when I have time.”

“Go on, go on.”

“By the way, what was it? Dongzi, what your Uncle Hou said makes sense. You’re a smart person. Shouldn’t you listen to reasonable words?”

Li Xiangdong nodded.

“It’s good that you understand. Quick, give me that pack of Daqianmen in your pocket.”

What the hell!

Li Xiangdong felt like he had been tricked by the Hou father and son!

Under Uncle Hou’s urging gaze, he reluctantly took out the Daqianmen from his pocket.

What kind of people were these? They had extorted three packs of cigarettes from him in a short while!

He followed behind Hou Jianshe, still complaining about the Hou father and son in his heart.

Hou Jianshe introduced as he walked, “Those two buildings are the single dormitories of our section. Looking at your introduction letter, your home is nearby, right? Are you married?”

“I’m married, and I have two children. My home is in Chuanban Hutong, not far from our unit.”

“Mmm, Chuanban Hutong is quite close. Then you can’t live in the single dormitory. You can only wait for a house to be assigned after you become a regular employee. But you can’t be anxious about this. You have to slowly build up your seniority.”

Li Xiangdong nodded, “I know, Uncle Hou.”

Hou Jianshe pointed to a three-story red brick building not far ahead.

“That’s the centralized office building. The administrative staff all work there. Your position is a water supplier. There’s a water supply team office of our passenger transport section in the Beijing Railway Station building. You can just go there directly in the future. You don’t have to come here all the time.”

Li Xiangdong was worried that the news his father had told him was inaccurate, so he asked, “Uncle Hou, I’d like to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Can I get on a train with this position?”

“Our passenger transport section is for following the trains. What’s wrong? Do you want to switch to a desk job? That’s no problem. I can help you with that.”

“No need, Uncle Hou. I think following the trains is great.”

Hou Jianshe was the section chief of the labor and capital department. Hearing him say that he could get on a train, Li Xiangdong was finally completely relieved