Chapter 43: Aren’t We Brothers?!

This idiot, he sure runs fast!

Li Xiangdong had intended to say that he had an extra lunch box, but who knew that although Hou San was short, his little legs could move incredibly fast. Before he could even speak, Hou San was gone!

Ah Zhe washed his lunch box and laughed, “Dongzi, you’re such a shrewd person, how do you have a relative like Hou San? This guy is so dazed, he doesn’t even know to bring a lunch box for a meal. And his family still arranges a train-following position for him. Aren’t they afraid he’ll get himself lost when he’s out of town?”

What the hell!

Hearing Ah Zhe’s words, the smile on Li Xiangdong’s face instantly vanished.

Hou San was a water supplier, and he was a water supplier too.

The key was that Hou San had also said they were assigned to the same train.

Could this have been Hou Jianshe’s plan from the beginning?!

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. No wonder he got such an easy position. It turned out he was also supposed to help the Hou family babysit!

Ah Zhe saw that his expression was a bit off, “Dongzi, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Let’s go get our food first.”

Li Xiangdong shook the water out of his lunch box and followed Ah Zhe to the food window.

A small blackboard hung on the wall by the window, listing the dishes available for lunch.

There was stir-fried pork slices, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, fish-fragrant eggplant, cold-dressed cucumber, and mung bean soup. The staple foods were steamed buns and rice.

“Dongzi, the food in this cafeteria is pretty good, much better than what we eat at home!”

Ah Zhe was a little excited. Although his father was a university teacher and earned a high salary, their cooking skills were not good, and they just made do every day.

Not to mention the years before, when they were lucky just to have enough to eat!

“It’s quite plentiful.”

Li Xiangdong nodded. This standard was comparable to the employee meals of some companies in later generations.

The two ordered their food, paid with their meal tickets, and went to a table to eat.

Ah Zhe tried a bite of the fish-fragrant eggplant and commented, “The taste is good, very delicious.”

Li Xiangdong said, “The master chef in the cafeteria’s kitchen is quite skilled. The main thing is that they’re generous with the oil in the dishes.”

After speaking, he buried his head and started eating. His family’s breakfast was just cornmeal mush and corn buns. The cornmeal mush wasn’t filling, and he found the corn buns too coarse for his throat, so he only ate one.

After a busy morning, he was now so hungry his chest was sticking to his back.

Seven or eight minutes passed.

More and more people were coming to the cafeteria to eat.

After they finished, Ah Zhe stood up and said, “Dongzi, let’s go. Let’s wash our lunch boxes.”

Just as Li Xiangdong was about to stand up, he looked up and saw Hou San rushing into the cafeteria.

He said, “You go first. Hou San is here. I’ll wait for him here. If we both go to wash our lunch boxes, he might not be able to find the place.”

Ah Zhe laughed, “It’s hard to say for others, but it’s really possible for a guy like Hou San. I’ll go wash my lunch box first, you wait for him here.”

Just as Ah Zhe left, Hou San came over, holding a lunch box in one hand and a stack of meal tickets in the other.

After sitting down, he put down the lunch box and said, “Luckily, my dad went to the bureau for a meeting. Otherwise, I would have had to run to the train station building in front to get my lunch box.”

He said as he waved the stack of meal tickets in his hand, showing off, “I took all the meal tickets my dad left in his drawer!”

Li Xiangdong shook his head speechlessly. He kindly reminded him, “Stop showing off. When your dad wants to eat and finds the meal tickets are gone, he’ll definitely track you down. Do you think you’ll get a beating then?”

Hou San rolled his eyes, “Tch~ You’re just jealous that I have so many meal tickets.”

Damn it!

Li Xiangdong decided to teach him a lesson. The two of them were tied together now, and he didn’t want to be mocked by Hou San’s eye-rolling every day in the future.

He silently got up, walked to the opposite side, and sat down next to Hou San.

At this moment, Hou San was grinning triumphantly, about to stuff the meal tickets into his pocket, when Li Xiangdong grabbed his arm.

He asked doubtfully, “What’s wrong?”

Li Xiangdong didn’t answer. Instead, he asked with a very friendly face, “Hou San, are we brothers or not?”

“Huh?”

Hou San was even more confused.

Li Xiangdong squeezed the arm he was holding, “I said, are we brothers or not?”

Hou San cursed a few times in his heart, but on the surface, he was all smiles. He nodded repeatedly, “Brother Dong, of course we’re brothers. But Brother Dong, can you be a little gentler?”

Li Xiangdong smiled and let go of his arm, then put his arm around his shoulder.

“The food in our cafeteria is really good. Not only is it delicious, but it’s also oily. But I’m a failure as a father. I can’t even satisfy my own children’s desire to eat some meat.”

As he spoke, he patted Hou San’s shoulder, took out the lunch box he had brought from his cloth bag, and placed it in front of Hou San, “You understand what your brother means, right?”

“You brought two lunch boxes and didn’t even tell me!”

Hou San’s face twitched. He wanted to turn around and leave, but Li Xiangdong was stronger than him, and he was held down on the stool, unable to get up.

“Brother Dong, you don’t have to say it. With me, their uncle, here, how could I let my nephews not even eat meat?”

As he spoke, he slapped a meal ticket on the table, “One serving of stir-fried pork slices should be enough for my nephew, right?”

Li Xiangdong shook his head, “Your nephew has enough to eat, but you still have a little niece.”

Hou San reluctantly took out another meal ticket, “Then two servings of stir-fried pork slices.”

Li Xiangdong smiled, “Thank you so much, my brother.”

Having given out two meal tickets, Hou San’s heart ached terribly. He forced a smile and said insincerely, “What’s there to thank? We’re brothers, after all.”

Li Xiangdong looked at Hou San with shining eyes and asked, “Then how about another serving of scrambled eggs with tomatoes?”

Hou San squeezed the meal tickets in his hand tightly, “Brother Dong, how many nephews and nieces do I have exactly?”

Li Xiangdong laughed, “Hey, look where your thoughts are going. I only have two children. The scrambled eggs with tomatoes are for your sister-in-law to take home.”

At this moment, Hou San’s face was flushed red with anger from Li Xiangdong’s shamelessness, “Brother Dong, you’re so good to your sister-in-law and the children!”

Li Xiangdong waved his hand, “Don’t say that. They’re my own wife and children. If I don’t dote on them, who will?”

“Hehe.”

Hou San gave a dry laugh. He now wished he could strangle Li Xiangdong. You dote on your wife and children, so why should I be the one to pay with my meal tickets!

This morning, his dad had even told him to listen more to Li Xiangdong in the future.

Pah!

Hou San’s eyes darted around. He wanted to set a trap for Li Xiangdong, planning to spit into his lunch box when Li Xiangdong wasn’t looking.