Chapter 72: Yang Dabao, Who Doesn’t Speak Human Language!

Hou San stood to the side, listening to their conversation, his eyes darting back and forth. “What’s wrong with squatting in the first stall?”

He really didn’t know. The courtyard where he lived didn’t use this kind of toilet. It was the kind with a water tank on top, where you pull a rope to flush.

Ah Zhe stopped Li Xiangdong from speaking. He looked at Hou San with ill intentions and said, “There’s a surprise, I guarantee you can’t imagine it.”

Hou San rubbed his nose and squinted his small eyes, “What surprise? Ah Zhe, you’re not fooling me, are you?”

Ah Zhe shook his head, “Why would I fool you? I can’t tell you what the surprise is. If you want to know, you have to try it yourself.”

“Try it, then try it.”

Hou San ran to the head of Li Xiangdong’s bed, grabbed two sheets of newspaper, crumpled them up, opened the door, and ran out. “I’m going right now!”

“Why did you have to trick him like that?” Li Xiangdong walked back to his own bed and lay down.

“A person like you has the nerve to say my mind is dirty. You’re not much better! Aren’t you sleepy? Hurry up and go back to sleep.”

Li Xiangdong closed his eyes after speaking. In a half-asleep state, he heard a clattering sound. Since he was too tired, he ignored it, turned over, and quickly fell asleep.

The first ray of morning sun shone into the room through the window.

Li Xiangdong opened his eyes and shielded them with his hand as he looked out the window. The first thing he saw was a pair of pants hanging on the window.

His already awake mind instantly understood what had happened. That guy Ah Zhe had really tricked Hou San!

He got out of bed and was about to wash up at the iron rack when a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Hou San, wake up.”

Li Xiangdong walked over and woke Hou San up. “When you washed your pants, did you use the washbasin in the room?”

Hou San said groggily, “I did. What’s wrong, Brother Dong?”

Li Xiangdong took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. “It’s nothing, you can go back to sleep.”

Seeing Hou San bury his head and start snoring again, Li Xiangdong was furious. He had almost fallen for it!

He didn’t dare to use the towel in the room either. He went straight downstairs to the faucet in the courtyard to wash up.

He rinsed his mouth and smacked his lips. It wasn’t bitter or salty.

Next year, there would be a continuous drought in the North China region, which would lead to insufficient flow in the Hai River and cause seawater to back up. The tap water in Tianjin would become bitter and salty, and you could even use it to pickle vegetables directly.

After washing up, Li Xiangdong didn’t go back to the room. He sat on the stone steps and smoked.

He watched his colleagues returning to the hostel in twos and threes or alone, carrying large and small bags.

Just like the peasant uncles in the language textbooks, their faces were filled with the joy of a bountiful harvest!

“Dongzi, why are you smoking here all by yourself?”

Li Xiangdong looked up and saw Brother Yang walking over with a large cloth bag. He stood up and smiled, “I came out for some fresh air. It looks like Brother Yang had a good harvest last night.”

He took two steps forward and offered him a cigarette.

Brother Yang didn’t take it. He put down the cloth bag in his hand and took out a box of “Liangyou” from his pocket. “You try this. It’s a foreign product from Hong Kong.”

“Brother Yang, you should put that away. I can’t afford to smoke this.”

Li Xiangdong saw that he was trying to stuff the whole pack of cigarettes into his hands. How could he accept it with a clear conscience?

This kind of smuggled cigarette from Hong Kong cost about 1 yuan a pack at the source, and could be sold for more than 2 yuan.

His salary next month was only 23 yuan. He couldn’t even buy 10 packs of these cigarettes. He felt a pain in his liver just thinking about smoking them!

Seeing him refuse, Brother Yang stuffed it into his pocket without another word.

“Dongzi, do you think your Brother Yang would ask you for money? That kid Hou San definitely didn’t tell you my name, right? Yang Dabao. We’re officially acquainted now. From now on, we’ll be buddies and get to know each other slowly.”

Now that things had come to this, Li Xiangdong understood that Yang Dabao wanted to be friends with him, so he couldn’t refuse anymore. “Then I’ll take this pack of cigarettes. Thank you, Brother Yang.”

Yang Dabao waved his hand, “It’s just a pack of cigarettes, what’s there to thank me for? I smoke one or two packs myself every day.”

Li Xiangdong knew that Yang Dabao wasn’t bragging. Old employees like them who had been around for a long time didn’t care about money.

There was no other reason than that the money came too quickly.

They all spent money lavishly and had no concept of saving, so not many of them were truly wealthy in the future.

Li Xiangdong looked at the cloth bag at Brother Yang’s feet and reminded him, “Brother Yang, you need to be careful. Two people from your crew were arrested by the police last night.”

“What?”

Yang Dabao’s expression was very surprised. “Tell me what happened.”

Li Xiangdong then told him everything he knew.

But who knew, after hearing it, Yang Dabao was not only not afraid, but sneered, “Too greedy, they were just asking for it.”

He was worried that Li Xiangdong wouldn’t understand, so he explained, “Like the Liangyou I just gave you, they are smuggled from Hong Kong to ports like Tanggu in Tianjin. They are then taken over by local second-hand dealers, who then secretly transport them in via the Hai River. We all get our goods from these second-hand dealers.”

“Those two wanted to make more money and take on the risks of the second-hand dealers. Isn’t that stupid? They were really blinded by money and didn’t know their own limits.”

As he spoke, he carefully looked at Li Xiangdong. “You stayed in the hostel all last night and didn’t go out?”

Li Xiangdong said awkwardly, “I don’t have much money.”

Yang Dabao smoked his cigarette and smiled, “Don’t worry, take your time. You just started working in the section. These outside connections are built up over time. Otherwise, who would dare to give you things if you’re a new face? But you can’t be like those two in the future. It’s best not to be greedy for some money.”

Li Xiangdong said gratefully, “I’ve learned my lesson. Thank you, Brother Yang.”

Brother Yang smiled, “Look at you. Didn’t I say, don’t keep thanking me. You’re still not treating me as a friend.”

Li Xiangdong smiled along, “Look at you. Then I won’t thank you anymore.”

Yang Dabao patted his shoulder, “That’s more like it.”

Seeing his dark circles, Li Xiangdong said, “Brother Yang, you should go back to your room and get some more sleep. We still have to get on the train at noon.”

“I’m not sleeping. I can’t sleep soundly anyway. The conductor will definitely want to talk to those of us who weren’t here last night when he gets back.”

Yang Dabao sighed and sat down on the steps. “Outsiders envy us for being able to come out and trade things to make money, but how would they know our hardships.”

“It’s hard to get a full night’s sleep when we’re out. Not only do we have to be like night owls at night, but we also have to be on guard against being robbed. This job is not easy.”

Listening to Yang Dabao’s words, Li Xiangdong was too embarrassed to go against his conscience and flatter him.

Yang Dabao continued to complain, “Just your sister-in-law, my wife, she nags me every few days, wanting to wear fashionable clothes.”

“And my eldest son, he insists that other people have toy cars and wants me to get him a few. Are these foreign toys for kids something we can just buy whenever we want?”

“It’s hard to coax kids when they’re older. Other people’s kids are happy for a whole day just to eat a mouthful of meat. My nephew doesn’t even care for beef and mutton now. He pesters me for chocolate and White Rabbit candy all day long. I’m about to worry myself to death every day.”

Damn it!

Li Xiangdong couldn’t listen anymore. He really wanted Yang Dabao to go back to his room and sleep right now