Chapter 96: Recognizing the Door

In a small tavern nearby, there were no customers yet, only the clerk sitting at the counter, boredly fiddling with an abacus.

Li Xiangdong and his two companions sat in a corner of the hall. On the table in front of them was a plate of peanuts and a small two-tael pot of wine.

The wine was poured, and the three of them huddled together, talking in low voices.

“439 crickets, two yuan each, and four sold for twenty-five yuan, for a total of 903 yuan.”

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he opened his cloth bag, reached in with both hands, and counted out 96 yuan. 80 was the capital for buying the crickets, and Hou San had also paid for the four roast chickens on the way back.

“Hou San, this is your capital. Put it away.”

He took out another 60 yuan and gave it to Ah Zhe, then continued, “We made 747 yuan on this trip. We’ll each take 200 yuan, and the remaining 147 yuan will be used for buying crickets next time. Do you two have any objections?”

Hou San said with a grin, “No, we’ll listen to you, Brother Dong.”

Ah Zhe nodded, “That’s reasonable. I have no objections.”

Li Xiangdong threw a peanut into his mouth. “Do you two want the tickets I exchanged with Cricket Sun?”

Hou San shook his head, “I don’t want them. My family doesn’t lack any tickets.”

Ah Zhe thought for a moment, “I don’t need them for now either. When my dad’s back pay was issued, his unit gave him a lot of various tickets. Dongzi, you need these tickets now, you take them.”

“Then I’ll thank you two first. This is the money you should get.”

As Li Xiangdong spoke, he looked around. Seeing that no one was there, he quickly stuffed the money into their cloth bags.

Now, the remaining money and tickets in his cloth bag were worth 200 yuan. This was the money he had earned on this trip.

Ah Zhe saw that the amount of money in his cloth bag was clearly wrong. “Dongzi, did you give me too much money?”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “Not too much. It also includes the 147 yuan for buying crickets next time.”

Ah Zhe was puzzled, “Why did you give it to me? You’re the leader of us three. Shouldn’t you be holding this money?”

Li Xiangdong waved his hand, “Just take it. If I take it back, I’ll have to explain it to your sister-in-law. If she knows we’re carrying so much money on a trip, she’ll be too worried to sleep well.”

Hearing this, Ah Zhe nodded. Hou San, eating peanuts, smiled, “Brother Dong really dotes on his wife. When I marry Da Ni, I’ll dote on her like that too.”

Hearing this, Ah Zhe smiled, “Hou San, we haven’t even had a drink yet. Can you stop talking nonsense?”

Hou San snorted and ignored Ah Zhe.

Li Xiangdong raised his wine glass, “Come on, let’s have a drink, celebrate, and then go our separate ways.”

*Clink*

After finishing the wine in their glasses, the three of them each grabbed a handful of peanuts and walked out of the tavern one after another.

Li Xiangdong saw that Hou San’s face was flushed. “Are you alright? Do you need me to take you home?”

Hou San shook his head, “I’m fine, Brother Dong. I’m just a little dizzy. If I go home like this, my mom will definitely beat me. Brother Dong, can I stay at your place for a while?”

“Sure, you can get to know the place.”

Seeing that he was starting to walk unsteadily, Li Xiangdong stopped, handed the cricket box in his hand to Ah Zhe, and took Hou San’s sack, hoisting it onto his own shoulder.

Ah Zhe smiled, “Hou San, give me the cricket box in your hand too. You’re really something. You only had two qian of wine. If you’re like this, you’d better not drink next time.”

The three of them chatted and laughed as they walked to the bus stop. Half an hour later, they arrived at the alley where Li Xiangdong’s home was located.

Hou San’s drunkenness had mostly subsided. He stood at the entrance of the alley and said, “Brother Dong, I’m fine now. Let me carry the sack.”

“Alright.”

Li Xiangdong directly let go and put down the sack on his shoulder. There were no crickets in the bamboo tubes now, so there was no need to be as careful as when they were coming back.

There was a large tree at the entrance of the alley. Under the shade of the tree, four or five old men were playing chess. Two were playing, and three were waving cattail leaf fans and giving pointers.

A few middle-aged women and old ladies were nearby. Some were holding children, some were doing needlework, and they were gathered together, gossiping about the various families in the neighborhood.

The three of them walked with their heads down, afraid of being targeted by these old men and women.

Suddenly, a little boy with a bare bottom ran in front of them and blocked their way.

He stood with his hands on his hips, his head held high, and shouted, “Who are you three? Who let you come to our alley? You’re not allowed to walk here.”

Li Xiangdong bent down and looked at the little brat in front of him, smiling, “Heidan, you’ve got some nerve, daring to block me. Don’t you want your little willy anymore?”

Hearing Li Xiangdong’s words, Heidan, with great experience, covered his private parts with both hands and ran away, tattling, “Grandma~ someone wants to pull my little willy.”

Heidan’s grandmother saw her grandson run over, took him in her arms, and slapped him on the bottom. “All you know how to do all day is be naughty.”

She looked up at the three of them and smiled, “Dongzi is back. Oh~ isn’t this the boy from the Shi family? I heard you were also assigned to work in the railway system?”

Ah Zhe smiled and nodded, “Hello, Auntie.”

Heidan’s grandmother praised Ah Zhe a few times, then turned to Li Xiangdong and asked, “Dongzi, what’s in the bulging sack?”

Li Xiangdong saw the old men playing chess and the old ladies chatting all looking at them. He put down the sack and took out a bamboo tube. Fortunately, he had collected all the cotton beforehand.

“These are all scraps I picked up. Things that people threw away at the train station. I’m taking them home to use as firewood for cooking.”

The crowd gathered around curiously, and one person picked up a bamboo tube to look at it.

“Why would you do this to a perfectly good piece of bamboo?”

“What a waste! This is just wasting things!”

“Dongzi, can you give one to your uncle? I’ll take it home for my grandson to use as a pen holder.”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “Uncle, feel free to take one. Pick a thick one. The thin ones are not stable.”

After losing 7 large, thick bamboo tubes, Li Xiangdong and his two companions successfully passed.

“That’s really interesting. It’s so much fun, Brother Dong. I never thought these bamboo tubes could be used as pen holders.”

Hou San was a little excited. He lived in a large courtyard and rarely saw such a scene.

Ah Zhe disagreed, “What’s so interesting about it? If you lived in an alley, you wouldn’t think so. Every time you come home with something, you’ll be inspected by them.”

Li Xiangdong nodded in agreement. Living in an alley was indeed inconvenient at times.

The three of them walked quickly to Li Xiangdong’s house.

Before they even pushed the door open, they heard a heart-wrenching cry from the courtyard.

Hearing the crying in the courtyard, Ah Zhe saw Li Xiangdong standing motionless at the gate. “Dongzi, did something happen at your house? Why are you just standing there? Hurry up and go in to see!”

Hou San also became anxious, “Brother Dong, what’s wrong with your house? Don’t block the door. Let’s go in and see what’s going on.”

“It’s nothing. The kids at home are just playing around.”

Li Xiangdong smiled through gritted teeth.

He gently pushed the door open, walked slowly to the screen wall, put down the sack on his shoulder and the cricket box in his hand, and poked his head out to look into the courtyard.