Chapter 39: Showing Off

Hou San stared with his upturned, triangular eyes, his gaze filled with disbelief.

“You reek of smoke, and you’re telling me you don’t smoke?!”

He said as he grabbed Li Xiangdong’s right hand, pointing to his smoke-stained index and middle fingers.

“If you’re not a chain smoker, how did your fingers get so yellow? Do you think I’m stupid? Are you trying to fool me!”

Hou San even pointed at himself as he spoke.

Oh my…

Li Xiangdong really hadn’t expected that this Hou San, who looked a bit foolish, actually had a bit of cleverness in him.

He shook off Hou San’s hand and said, “If you want to smoke, go ask your dad and your second grand-uncle. My cigarettes were all snatched by them.”

“Hehehehe.”

Hou San grinned widely, “Dongzi, you’re something else. It’s only your first day at work, and you’ve already connected with my second grand-uncle.”

Li Xiangdong didn’t think much of it and nodded, “Yeah, I met him this morning.”

“Dongzi, you should stay away from those two in the future.”

Hou San said with a look of grievance and righteous indignation, “My dad and my second grand-uncle love to snatch other people’s cigarettes. Every time I go home, my dad frisks my pockets.”

“You don’t need to worry about that. Weren’t you looking for a smoke? My friend has some on him. I’ll get you one.”

On the matter of having his cigarettes snatched, Li Xiangdong could empathize with Hou San, but he wouldn’t listen to his advice.

For Hou Jianshe to ask him for things meant he was treating him as one of his own.

He was still thinking about building a good relationship in the future. In order to achieve his goal of changing his family’s standing, what were a few packs of cigarettes? He would be willing to give even more!

He called Ah Zhe over and introduced the two to each other.

Hou San took the Daqianmen that Ah Zhe handed over and said with disdain, “You smoke this?”

Hearing Hou San’s words, Li Xiangdong and Ah Zhe simultaneously felt the urge to slap him!

You’re picky when you have something to smoke? If you’re so capable, don’t ask for it!

“Whoa, it’s already ten-thirty.”

Hou San took out a matchbox from his pocket, lit the cigarette, and deliberately raised his arm, showing off the all-steel Shanghai brand watch on his wrist.

“Oh, is it?”

“Then let’s hurry up. Hou San, stop dawdling. We still have a lot of things to do.”

Li Xiangdong and Ah Zhe showed no reaction.

Ah Zhe’s father was a university teacher with a monthly salary of over a hundred yuan. His mother was even more impressive; she used to be the daughter of a capitalist.

Furthermore, after Ah Zhe and his father returned from the southwest, the school where his father previously worked had paid all his back wages in one lump sum, which amounted to several thousand yuan!

As for Li Xiangdong, he simply looked down on it. Never mind a watch; coming from the future, he was already tired of playing with mobile phones.

Seeing that the two had no reaction and his show-off attempt had failed, Hou San said with a lack of interest, “I’ll take you to get your salary first, then we’ll go to logistics to get the requisition slips and pick up the items from the warehouse. After all that, it should be about time for lunch. In the afternoon, I’ll take you two to report to the union.”

“Oh, right, are you two Party members or Youth League members?”

Li Xiangdong and Ah Zhe wanted to nod, but the organization had never given them the chance.

Hou San smoked his cigarette and, seeing them shake their heads, said, “Heh, if you’re not, then you don’t need to report to the Party branch and the Youth League committee. That’s fine too, saves trouble!”

Hou San led the way, taking Li Xiangdong and the other man straight downstairs. The finance office was at the end of the corridor on the right side of the first floor.

With Hou San leading, they weren’t given a hard time in any department. Li Xiangdong and Ah Zhe smoothly received this month’s salary and some welfare tickets.

After coming out, Li Xiangdong counted the money twice more before carefully putting it in his cloth bag. Although it wasn’t much, it was his starting capital, and he couldn’t be too careful!

Ah Zhe was pretty much the same. After all, this was the first time in his life he had received a salary.

Hou San stood aside, picking his nose, watching the two count their money. “I say, do you two have to be like this? Getting so happy over 18 yuan. So unpromising!”

Li Xiangdong retorted, “Hou San, what’s your monthly salary now?”

Seeing their gazes turn to him, Hou San scratched his head with the hand he’d been using to pick his nose and chuckled, “We’re all the same. I just started not long ago too.”

“Tch, then what the hell are you showing off for!”

Li Xiangdong rolled his eyes at him and urged, “Hurry up and take us to logistics to get the slips.”

The logistics department was in the corridor on the left side of the first floor, just a few steps away.

Urged by Hou San, the logistics clerk was very efficient. The two slips were quickly prepared and stamped with the logistics seal.

Li Xiangdong and Ah Zhe also bought three yuan worth of meal tickets. These tickets could not only be used for meals in the cafeteria, but they would also be needed for meals on the train in the future.

“Dongzi, let me see yours.”

After the two came out of the logistics department, Ah Zhe took the slip from Li Xiangdong’s hand and looked at it.

“The things we’re getting are the same. I thought since our positions are different, the things we get would be different too.”

“They’re the same? Let me see.”

Li Xiangdong also looked curiously. They were indeed identical. He suddenly remembered that he hadn’t asked Hou San what his position was. “Hou San, what’s your position?”

Hou San crossed his arms and bounced his leg, “Same as you, water supplier. This is a great position. Dongzi, you’ve hit the jackpot!”

“You’re both water suppliers, and I’m the only crew member. Hou San, tell me, what does a water supplier do? And how is it a good position?”

Ah Zhe was very curious.

Li Xiangdong was curious too. The clerks in the labor and capital department all thought he was Hou Jianshe’s relative and didn’t bother to explain what a water supplier did.

The logistics warehouse was at the very back of the compound.

Hou San explained as they walked, “Let me give you a general overview from top to bottom. Below the Ministry of Railways are the various bureaus. Below the railway bureaus are the sections, like the passenger transport section, the locomotive section, the electrical section, and so on. Below the sections are the stations. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, Beijing Railway Station is a special-class station, directly under the jurisdiction of the Beijing Railway Bureau.”

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you. Although our workplace is at Beijing Railway Station, we are under the management of the passenger transport section. You two need to remember this.”

His scattered thoughts suddenly jumped to something else, and he changed the subject, “By the way, Dongzi, I forgot to tell you, we’ve been assigned to the same train. Ah Zhe, do you want to be with us? If you do, I can go talk to someone and try to get you with us.”

Hearing this, Ah Zhe directly interrupted Hou San, “Are you bullshitting? You think you have a say in personnel allocation?”

Hou San boasted, “You don’t know, do you? We have the connections. If my dad can’t do it, there’s still my uncle. My uncle is the deputy station master of Beijing Railway Station, and he’s very close with the head and deputy head of our passenger transport section.”

Li Xiangdong asked in surprise, “Uncle Hou’s son?”

So that’s how it was. He had been wondering why a section chief’s second uncle would have a television to watch while just guarding a gate