Chapter 83: Hou San’s Dream Girl Appears

Li Xiangdong was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt a dampness beneath him. He pulled the cotton out of his ears and reached for the light cord, giving it a pull.

After turning on the light, he saw a naked Li Xiaozhu lying sideways on the kang. Her head was resting on his wife, her feet were on his stomach, and the bedsheet beneath her was soaked with a large patch of urine.

He gently picked up his daughter and moved her to a dry spot. He didn’t know what she was dreaming about, but she was still grinning.

Seeing this, he couldn’t help but smile and think to himself, “What a little rascal.”

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“You’re awake.”

Zhou Yuqin squinted her eyes. Seeing her husband changing his clothes, she sat up on the kang and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Li Xiangdong chuckled softly, “Our daughter wet the bed. She gave me a full-on ‘flooding of the Golden Mountain’.”

Hearing this, Zhou Yuqin looked down at where her husband had been sleeping. Sure enough, there was a urine stain on the sheet. She then looked at her daughter, who was still sleeping and grinning foolishly.

She smiled, “You should wipe yourself down before changing. If you get on the train smelling like urine, people will laugh at you.”

“I’m worried about waking the kids. I plan to change and wipe myself down in the courtyard.”

Just as Li Xiangdong finished dressing, Father Li’s low voice came from outside the door. “Third son, if you’re awake, hurry up. It’s already past four. Don’t be late.”

Li Xiangdong opened the door a crack and looked at his father outside. “Dad, you go back to bed. I’m leaving now.”

Father Li had a cigarette in his mouth to stay awake. “Do you need your mother to get up and heat some food for you?”

“No need. Didn’t we steam buns yesterday? I’ll grab two to eat on the way.”

“Are two enough? I’ll go get them for you. Don’t let your wife come out. I’ll lock the door later.”

After speaking, Father Li didn’t wait for a reply and quickly walked towards the stove in the main house.

Li Xiangdong closed the door and turned to Zhou Yuqin. “You go back to sleep. Dad will see me off.”

He went out to wipe himself down first. When he came back, he slung the cloth bag from the table over his shoulder, took the flashlight in his hand, walked to the kang to glance at his soundly sleeping son, and then touched his daughter’s little feet before heading out.

“Be safe outside.”

“I know. Turn off the light and go to sleep.”

Li Xiangdong gently closed the door and turned on the flashlight.

Father Li stood in the courtyard with two steamed buns in his hand. Seeing him come out, he said softly, “Eating dry buns will choke you. Last New Year, your second brother’s bathhouse gave out a military-style water bottle. Do you want me to get it for you?”

“No need. Let’s not wake up my second brother and his family.”

Li Xiangdong took the buns and started eating as he walked out.

Father Li stood at the main gate and instructed, “When you’re in another city, go everywhere with others. Don’t go wandering around by yourself.”

“I know, Dad. You should go back to sleep.”

“Mmm, go on.”

After the gate closed, Li Xiangdong walked quickly towards the train station with his flashlight. The road was silent, with only the chirping of insects from the base of the walls and the grass by the roadside.

As he ate the bun, he calculated in his head. After making money, the first thing he needed to do was get a watch. His job required him to be up early and work late at irregular hours. He couldn’t always have his father worrying and waking him up in the middle of the night.

After leaving the hutong, Li Xiangdong saw a figure not far ahead. The person was holding a flashlight that swayed left and right, and they walked in an S-shape like a drunkard.

At this hour, in this direction, he knew who it was without guessing.

“Ah Zhe~”

The figure ahead paused, turned around, and shone the flashlight beam directly into Li Xiangdong’s face.

Li Xiangdong raised his hand to block his eyes and shouted, “Where are you shining that thing!?”

“Dongzi, you scared the hell out of me! Why are you shouting in the middle of the night?”

Ah Zhe stood still, lowering the flashlight to illuminate the path in front of Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiangdong jogged a few steps to Ah Zhe’s side. “Have you had breakfast?”

Ah Zhe yawned, “No. If my dad hadn’t woken me up, I’d still be sleeping at this hour. Where would I find the time to eat?”

“Here, eat.”

Li Xiangdong handed one of the buns in his hand to Ah Zhe.

“Hehe, thanks, Dongzi. This bun is a timely rain for me.”

Ah Zhe didn’t stand on ceremony and took the bun, eating it right away. “About yesterday’s fried dough twists, I gave two packages to each of Xiao Linzi and the other two’s families.”

“Mmm, as long as you’ve arranged it. Is the money ready?”

“It’s ready. 200 yuan, same as Hou San. Is that enough?”

“It’s a bit short for trading silver dollars, but it’s more than enough for trading crickets.”

The two chewed on their buns and chatted idly, quickly arriving at the train station.

As soon as they entered the office area, they happened to run into colleagues from the crew team walking towards the platform in twos and threes. Ah Zhe greeted him and followed them.

Li Xiangdong pushed open the office door and saw Hou San sleeping on the desk. He walked over and knocked on the table. “Wake up.”

“You’re here, Brother Dong.”

Hou San sat up, rubbed his eyes, and immediately asked, “Brother Dong, do you have anything to eat?”

Li Xiangdong asked back, “You haven’t eaten?”

Hou San shook his head, “Nope.”

“Didn’t we buy a lot of fried dough twists? If you didn’t have time for a meal, you could have eaten some of those.”

As Li Xiangdong replied to Hou San, he started making tea in his own mug. And he had to say, once hot water hit Uncle Wang’s pre-Qingming Longjing tea, the fragrance was overwhelming!

Hou San sighed, his tone full of resentment. “They’re gone, all gone. I had just brought the twists home yesterday when, I don’t know where my big sister and second sister got the news, but before my butt was even warm, they came over and divided them all up.”

Li Xiangdong chuckled at his words. Who else could it be but Liu Erdan? “Didn’t your family have any leftovers or anything? Eating something is better than being hungry.”

Hou San rubbed his stomach and said pitifully, “I ate leftovers last night. My dad went to my second sister’s house to see his granddaughter, and my mom went to my big sister’s house to see her grandson. They both ended up staying at my sisters’ places. No one cared about me.”

These were definitely his real parents. Poor Hou San had been greatly wronged.

Unfortunately, Li Xiangdong had nothing to eat now either. He could only pour him a glass of water. “Drink some of this to fill your stomach for now. Wait until we get on the train for breakfast.”

With a gloomy face, Hou San drank two large mugs of water before following Li Xiangdong to the platform.

Just as the two of them got on the platform, a clear and pleasant voice came from behind.

“Hou San!”

Hou San turned and saw the person, and his face instantly turned red. “Da Ni, you’re here.”

Kong Da Ni?

Her voice was indeed pleasant. No wonder she could be a broadcaster.

Li Xiangdong turned to size up this dream girl of Hou San’s. She wasn’t tall, had ear-length short hair, and a颯爽 (sàshuǎng – valiant and heroic) posture as she strode towards them.

Kong Da Ni came up to them, first nodding at Hou San, then looking at Li Xiangdong and asking, “You must be Comrade Li Xiangdong? My father has been looking for you for two days. You’re quite good at hiding.”

“What’s your dad looking for me for? If he feels wronged, he should go to the leadership. It wasn’t me who deducted their broadcast room’s production bonus!”

Li Xiangdong was furious. He hadn’t taken it seriously when Wang Dahai and Erguaizi mentioned it, but now the man’s own daughter was speaking up. It seemed Kong “Dynamite” really planned to cause trouble for him.

Kong Da Ni nodded and looked at him with a regretful expression. “You’re right. But the problem is, my dad is an unreasonable person. He’s fixated on you. You’d better be careful.”

Holy crap~