Chapter 65: Money Hidden in the Crotch

Looking at Hou San who had started snoring, Li Xiangdong felt a stampede of ten thousand alpacas in his heart.

This whole morning, his mood had been on a roller coaster because of Hou San, and his heart was still pounding wildly.

Yet, this guy Hou San was acting as if nothing had happened!

However, although Li Xiangdong couldn’t fall asleep as easily as Hou San, he had no interest in listening to that Brother Yang’s endless nagging either. So, he just emptied his mind and thought of nothing.

After an unknown amount of time, the meeting attendees dispersed.

Ah Zhe walked over, looked at the two, and said with a smile, “Dongzi, are you and Hou San bored? Well, now you’ve got something to do. Brother Yang told me to take you two to clean.”

“Let’s go.”

Li Xiangdong stood up helplessly. He saw that Hou San beside him wasn’t reacting. He looked down and saw him sleeping soundly, even drooling!

“Hou San, wake up, your dad’s here!”

“Ah~! Where?”

Hou San jolted awake and stood up, ready to run.

Ah Zhe stopped the panicked Hou San, “Are you still half-asleep? Your dad isn’t here.”

Hou San looked around; his dad was indeed not there. He looked at Li Xiangdong with a gaze full of resentment.

Li Xiangdong got goosebumps from his stare. He urged, “Let’s hurry up and get to work. Otherwise, that Brother Yang will come looking for trouble again.”

The three of them first went to the train’s break room to put away their cloth bags, then grabbed mops, rags, and buckets and started cleaning.

Ah Zhe saw the glass Hou San was wiping, which was getting dirtier and dirtier. “Hou San, do you even know how to wipe glass? Why don’t you go mop the floor!”

In the blink of an eye, Li Xiangdong looked at the muddy footprints on his own shoes…

“Hou San, can you watch where you’re going? You’ve smeared it all over my feet! Let me mop the floor. Could I trouble you, old sir, to go fetch another bucket of water?”

Listening to the “Toast Song” playing from the platform’s loudspeakers, the three of them were busy for over half an hour before they finally finished cleaning the carriages they were assigned.

Brother Yang came over and inspected everything carefully. He directly ignored Hou San and looked at Li Xiangdong, whose clothes were nearly soaked through, and said, “Good job, you worked quite hard. Do you want to join our crew team?”

Li Xiangdong just looked at him and smiled, not saying a word.

Feeling snubbed, Brother Yang walked away with his hands behind his back.

Hou San pouted, “Brother Dong, don’t listen to his nonsense.”

Li Xiangdong nodded, handed the mop to Ah Zhe, who needed to return the mop and bucket, and walked towards the train’s storage room.

Li Xiangdong pulled Hou San aside and asked, “Is your money ready?”

Hou San pointed to his crotch, “The money’s all here. My mom sewed a pocket onto my underwear.”

As he spoke, he unbuckled his pants and was about to pull out the money.

Damn!

Li Xiangdong quickly pressed down on Hou San’s hand, “Just tell me how much it is, you don’t need to take it out. Hurry up and put your pants back on!”

Hou San said while fastening his pants, “My big sister and second sister each gave me a hundred yuan.”

Li Xiangdong gave him a strange look, “With so much money in your crotch, don’t you find it uncomfortable?”

Hou San grinned, “I don’t think so. Brother Dong, when are we going to start dealing in silver dollars?”

“Let’s wait a bit. The money the three of us have pooled together is too little, we can’t really get started. I’ll think again if there’s a way that doesn’t require much money but allows for quick turnover.”

“Brother Dong, you have to think hard. I’m still waiting to become a ten-thousand-yuan household.”

“I know, I know, don’t be anxious. I’m thinking, aren’t I?”

Li Xiangdong sat in his chair and thought for a while, but couldn’t come up with any good ideas.

However, he was very interested in how Hou San had managed to get the money. Perhaps he could learn from it.

He looked at Hou San and asked, “How did you ask your two sisters for money?”

Hou San’s face turned red, his eyes darting around, and he said shyly, “I said I was seeing someone.”

Li Xiangdong understood from his expression that this was half-truth, half-lie. “Is it that you like her, but she doesn’t like you?”

Hou San scratched his head and nodded with a sheepish grin.

Li Xiangdong asked curiously, “Does this girl also work at our station?”

He saw Hou San nod. “What’s her name? Have I seen her?”

Hou San said with a red face, “Her name is Kong Dani. She’s a broadcaster on the train.”

Kong Dani?

Li Xiangdong quickly asked, “Is her dad Kong Dynamite?”

Hou San said in surprise, “Brother Dong, you know Uncle Kong?”

What the f*ck!

Enemies are bound to meet. This is going to be interesting…

Although marriage freedom had been advocated since the founding of the country, parents’ opinions were still very important.

Many people, when they couldn’t win over the girl, would try to win over the father-in-law and mother-in-law.

But Kong Dynamite was the head of the Beijing Railway Station’s broadcasting room, and the three of them had just stepped on his toes yesterday.

If Li Xiangdong was the main culprit, then Hou San and Ah Zhe, who had also benefited, were accomplices.

Stepping on his toes, whether fully or partially, was still stepping on them!

Seeing his pale face, Hou San asked, “Brother Dong, what’s wrong?”

Li Xiangdong patted Hou San’s shoulder. This unlucky kid had it tough. “I’m fine. Is Kong Dani on this train?”

Hou San shook his head, “No, she’s on the Shandong run now, on the same train as Uncle Hai and Erguaizi from our group.”

Shandong?

Wang Dahai?

Crickets!

Li Xiangdong stood up abruptly, excited, “Hou San, when we get back from Tianjin, let’s find Uncle Hai and switch shifts to the Shandong run!”

Hou San thought Li Xiangdong wanted to help him pursue Kong Dani and was instantly moved to tears. “Brother Dong, Shandong isn’t rich right now. We can’t make much money on the Shandong run.”

Li Xiangdong said with great solemnity, “Hou San, love is more valuable than money. Your brother will help you!”

He could see that Hou San had misunderstood, but he didn’t explain. He planned to let Hou San misunderstand for a while longer to help build up his image as the righteous “Brother Dong” in Hou San’s mind!

He, Li Xiangdong, had been a loyal friend since he was a child!

After they both fantasized for a while, Ah Zhe came over and called them to get off the train for roll call.

Li Xiangdong followed curiously off the train. After everyone had gathered, a middle-aged man in uniform, with an armband on his left arm that read “Train Conductor,” appeared.

The conductor first called the roll from a list, then said a few simple words and announced their dismissal.

Hou San looked at the time, his face still filled with excitement, “Brother Dong, it’s time for us to get to work.”

“Then let’s go. We’ll do whatever you say!”

Li Xiangdong had thought of a low-cost, fast-turnover way to make money. He was now full of energy!

The parallel or intersecting railway lines stretched endlessly, as if they were a musical score composed of the joys and sorrows of the human world.

A score of countless trillions~

The station was a sea of people, the train was a green iron-skinned beast, and the ticket inspectors were busy with solemn expressions.

Li Xiangdong and Hou San carried tin kettles filled with hot water.

The two of them needed to fill the thermos barrels at the head and tail of each carriage, one kettle at a time.

Li Xiangdong rubbed his sore arms. His energy depleted, he leaned against the carriage and said weakly, “Hou San, this job of ours isn’t easy either.”