Chapter 62: Brother Loudspeaker

Li Xiangdong drank the freshly brewed tea and saw the dark circles under Wang Dahai’s eyes as he sat opposite, yawning repeatedly.

“Uncle Hai, you didn’t sleep well last night?”

Wang Dahai wiped away the tears brought on by a yawn and gulped down two mouthfuls of strong tea. “I just got back from Shandong province in the middle of the night, and now the sleepiness is hitting me.”

Li Xiangdong asked, “Then why don’t you hurry home and rest?”

Wang Dahai waved his hand, “No rush, I’m waiting for Group Leader Liu to discuss something. Are you on a run today?”

Li Xiangdong nodded, “To Tianjin at 10:30.”

Wang Dahai said with envy, “Tianjin is a good place, much better than where I go. There’s nothing good there. The most famous thing is crickets. They say they used to be tribute items. That thing is useless, you can’t eat it or drink it.”

Crickets???

Li Xiangdong said thoughtfully, “Are you talking about Ningyang in Shandong?”

“You’re right, that’s the place.”

Wang Dahai sighed as he spoke, “I’m just unlucky. I have to run there for the next month.”

As the two were talking, the door was kicked open with a ‘bang’.

“Master, I bought the buns you wanted!”

A young man in his twenties walked in, carrying two oil-paper packages.

Wang Dahai walked over angrily, took the oil-paper packages from his hand, and kicked the young man’s thigh.

Looking at the young man who had fallen to the ground, Wang Dahai said angrily, “Who taught you that? You haven’t learned anything else by my side, just how to kick doors, is that it?”

The young man stood up with a grin, patting the large footprint on his pants, “Master, don’t be angry with me. The buns won’t be good if they get cold.”

Wang Dahai glared at his apprentice, then turned to Li Xiangdong, “Dongzi, this is my apprentice. He’s currently paired with me on a run. You can just call him Erguaizi (Second Abductee).”

“Erguaizi, this is our group’s new comrade, Li Xiangdong.”

Li Xiangdong and Erguaizi introduced themselves to each other.

Erguaizi’s name was Zhang Zhi. Before the age of 8, he had been abducted by human traffickers twice. However, this person was lucky; the traffickers failed both times and ended up getting themselves caught instead.

The second time, he was rescued by Wang Dahai. Erguaizi’s father, full of gratitude, pestered Wang Dahai to let his son become his godson.

After Erguaizi came of age, he was brought into the passenger transport section by Wang Dahai, changing from a godson to an apprentice.

This was why he still smiled even when Wang Dahai kicked him.

Erguaizi sat down next to Li Xiangdong, his eyes filled with admiration. He said with gestures, “Brother Loudspeaker, I heard about what happened yesterday. Everyone says you’re the modern-day Zhang Fei. With one roar on the Dangyang Bridge, you broke the bridge and made the water flow backward!”

Li Xiangdong: “…”

“Brother Loudspeaker, you eat…”

Li Xiangdong interrupted Erguaizi, “Erguaizi, can you not call me that? It sounds awkward to me.”

Erguaizi said with a grin, “Then I’ll call you Brother Dong, alright? Brother Dong, have you had breakfast? I just bought these buns, they’re still hot.”

Erguaizi pushed his own portion of buns from the oil-paper package towards Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiangdong refused with a smile, “You eat. I’ve already had breakfast.”

Seeing that Li Xiangdong wasn’t eating, Erguaizi picked up a bun and started eating it in big bites.

He suddenly said out of the blue, “Brother Dong, you need to be careful. I heard that because of yesterday’s incident, the entire monthly production bonus for the broadcasting room at Beijing Railway Station was deducted.”

“Cough cough~”

Li Xiangdong, who was drinking tea, choked. “What does that have to do with me? What should I be careful about? Can they blame me for their own slow reaction?”

Wang Dahai, sitting opposite, smiled, “Dongzi, you know in your heart whether the broadcasting room being punished has anything to do with you. Erguaizi is right, you need to be careful of Old Kong from the broadcasting room coming to find you.”

Li Xiangdong asked, “Who is Old Kong? Is he also from the broadcasting room? Why would he come looking for me?! If he has the guts, he should go directly to the leaders!”

Erguaizi said, “Uncle Kong is the head of the broadcasting room, nicknamed Kong Dynamite. He has a short fuse. The key is that he’s ruthless. Brother Dong, you must be careful.”

Damn!

After what the master and apprentice said, Li Xiangdong had lost all interest in drinking tea.

He looked at Wang Dahai, who was eating buns and reading the newspaper, “Uncle Hai, you guys eat. I’m going out for a smoke.”

Wang Dahai said without looking up, “Go ahead.”

Li Xiangdong came out of the office, walked through the corridor to the outside of the building, took out the Daqianmen cigarettes he had brought from home, lit one, and stared blankly at the bustling crowd.

“Dongzi, Dongzi.”

“Hmm? You’re here.”

Li Xiangdong looked at Ah Zhe standing in front of him and asked, “You didn’t forget what we discussed yesterday, did you?”

Ah Zhe asked back, “What was it?”

Li Xiangdong was speechless, “What else could it be? The money. Is your money ready?”

“Oh, you mean that. I remember. It’s just that, after I got home, I really didn’t know how to bring it up.”

Ah Zhe looked embarrassed and spoke hesitantly.

If he didn’t have a job, he could justifiably ask his dad for money.

But now he had already received this month’s salary. After returning home yesterday, he couldn’t figure out how to ask several times.

“Aigh~”

Li Xiangdong sighed and patted Ah Zhe’s shoulder.

Ah Zhe looked at him and said, “Dongzi, why don’t you give me an idea?”

“I don’t have one.”

Li Xiangdong shook his head. If he could think of a good way to get money, would he have pulled Ah Zhe and Hou San into this?

Ah Zhe also looked worried, “What should we do? If it really doesn’t work, I’ll go borrow some from someone else.”

“Who are you going to borrow from? Who has money to lend you?”

Li Xiangdong gave him a sidelong glance. He felt it was necessary to give Ah Zhe a pep talk.

“Ah Zhe, you’re different from me. I have two older brothers. You’re your dad’s only son. Isn’t his money going to be yours sooner or later? What’s the difference between getting it early or late? Don’t think so much, just boldly ask for it! Listen to me, you won’t go wrong. Think carefully about whether what I said makes sense.”

Ah Zhe thought about it carefully and suddenly realized, “Dongzi, are you treating me like a fool and playing with me? If my dad asks me what I need the money for, what should I tell him?”

“I don’t know. If you want to make money, you have to figure out a way yourself.”

This muddle-headed Ah Zhe actually didn’t fall for it, which really surprised Li Xiangdong. Now all his hopes could only be placed on Hou San!

Li Xiangdong ignored Ah Zhe and turned back to the office.

“Brother Dong!”

“Brother Dong!”

Li Xiangdong was dozing off at his desk out of boredom when he suddenly heard someone calling him from the corridor. It was Hou San’s voice. He quickly ran over and opened the door.

“Brother Dong, come over and help me up.”

After seeing Li Xiangdong, Hou San limped towards him.

Li Xiangdong quickly went forward to support Hou San, “What happened to you?”