Chapter 76: Too Honest!

The journey back from Tianjin was smooth, with no stops or delays, and the train pulled into Beijing Railway Station right on time.

As a crew member, Ah Zhe certainly couldn’t get off the train as soon as it arrived; he still had to clean.

Under the watchful eyes of others, Li Xiangdong and Hou San carried the flour sack full of fried dough twists to the door of the water supply team’s office.

As soon as they opened the door, they saw Liu Erdan and Wang Dahai arguing, with Erguaizi standing beside them, cheering on his master.

Seeing this situation, Li Xiangdong, who had just pushed the door open, promptly closed it again.

Liu Erdan was already fuming. Seeing the heads of Li Xiangdong and Hou San poke in and then retreat, not to mention closing the door, he shouted towards the door, “What are you two doing, being all sneaky? Get in here!”

Hearing Liu Erdan call them in, Li Xiangdong and Hou San had no choice but to carry the sack, push the door open, and walk in. They placed the sack directly on the office desk.

Erguaizi asked curiously, “What’s in here? Why does it smell so good?”

Hou San replied, “Fried dough twists.”

Hearing this, Erguaizi gave the two a strange look. He couldn’t quite understand it. Tianjin was by the sea, and they could have made money trading almost anything. Why get so many fried dough twists?!

“You bought these from Zhao Si?”

Wang Dahai saw the characters on the sack and instantly understood. He kindly advised, “I’ve had dealings with this Zhao Si. He’s very bold. It’s one thing for you to buy some food from him, but don’t get too close personally.”

Li Xiangdong nodded, taking the advice to heart. Ever since he found out the dough twists were made with the cafeteria’s flour, he had no intention of having deep personal dealings with Zhao Si. At most, he might occasionally ask him for help bringing back some food.

He smiled and took a package of dough twists from his cloth bag, opened it, and placed it on the desk.

“Team Leader, Uncle Hai, and Erguaizi, you all have a taste. Later, each of you can take two packages home to give the kids a sweet treat.”

Liu Erdan said nothing. His brother-in-law Hou San had a share in this. Even if Hou San didn’t give any to his family, they would surely get some eventually. He had this much confidence in his wife.

However, Wang Dahai and Erguaizi both politely declined. They had already heard about Li Xiangdong’s family situation from Liu Erdan.

It was fine for them to eat a couple of pieces to taste, but taking two whole packages home would be tactless.

Hou San saw Liu Erdan pick up a dough twist and devour it in a few bites, eating two or three in a row, and was instantly displeased. “Brother-in-law, eat less. These are for my nephew and niece.”

Liu Erdan glared at his disappointing and stingy brother-in-law. “Am I eating yours? I’m eating Dongzi’s share!”

Hou San chuckled, “Then go ahead and eat, brother-in-law. But I think you should still eat less. You’ll get thirsty if you eat too much.”

Liu Erdan swallowed the dough twist in his mouth. “You’re not wrong, this stuff is a bit dry. San’er, go pour me a glass of water.”

“Ah~”

Hou San froze on the spot. He said very reluctantly, “Why me? I’m not thirsty.”

Liu Erdan smiled, “You’re not going, are you? Then when I get home, I’ll have to have a good talk with your nephew about the story of his uncle still wetting the bed in junior high.”

“Brother-in-law, shut up! I’ll go get you water, alright!”

Seeing Erguaizi secretly laughing at him, Hou San, flustered and exasperated, took Liu Erdan’s tea mug to get water.

“San’er, put some jasmine flowers in for me.”

Liu Erdan said as he tossed the key to his locker to Hou San.

He looked at Li Xiangdong, who was watching the fun from the side, and asked, “What are you laughing at?”

Li Xiangdong shook his head with a smile, “Nothing. I just think if you keep ordering Hou San around like this, be careful he doesn’t go and tattle to his sister.”

“Hey, Dongzi, are you trying to set me up? By saying that, aren’t you just giving Hou San ideas? But you’ll be disappointed, your sister-in-law is very understanding.”

Liu Erdan forced himself to save face, then turned to Hou San who was unlocking the locker. “San’er, come and rest. Your brother-in-law is just teasing you. How could I let you serve me?”

“It’s okay, brother-in-law. I’m happy to do it. I won’t go and complain to my big sister.”

Hou San opened Liu Erdan’s tea caddy, grabbed a large handful, threw it into the tea mug, and was about to go get water.

Li Xiangdong saw Hou San’s petty act of revenge and tried hard to suppress his laughter.

Liu Erdan, still unaware of Hou San’s plot against him, looked at Li Xiangdong and asked, “Dongzi, did anything happen on your trip this time?”

Li Xiangdong replied, “Nothing happened. Hou San and I stayed in the hostel the whole time, we didn’t even go out the door.”

At this moment, Wang Dahai, who was on the side, interjected, “Team Leader Liu, are we done with the small talk? Shouldn’t we continue discussing the shift change?”

Liu Erdan looked at Wang Dahai with a helpless expression. “Uncle Hai, our schedule is fixed. It’s not like I can just change it for you because you ask.”

“If everyone comes to me to change their shifts like you, how am I supposed to do my job? Ask Dongzi. If I swapped his shift with yours, would he be happy?”

Seeing Liu Erdan trying to shift the blame onto him, Li Xiangdong quickly nodded. “I’d be happy to.”

“Huh?”

Liu Erdan had never expected Li Xiangdong to agree and was left hanging. He said angrily, “You said you’d be happy yourself, alright! Fine, for the next month, you’ll run the Shandong route!”

Li Xiangdong agreed, “I’ll follow the leader’s arrangement. For this month, I’ll run the Shandong route for Uncle Hai.”

Hou San walked over with the tea mug and placed it on Liu Erdan’s desk with a *thud*. “I’ll go run the Shandong route with Brother Dong.”

“You… you two little bastards, are you slapping me in the face right here and now!?”

Liu Erdan was furious. He picked up the tea mug and took a big gulp. “Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Old San, you little bastard, why did you put so much tea in here!”

Hearing himself being cursed at, Hou San immediately jumped up. “You dare curse my father! I’m telling you, brother-in-law, you’re finished!”

Liu Erdan stared at Hou San with an ugly expression. “You little brat, stop causing trouble for me. You won’t be happy unless I go home and argue with your sister, will you?”

*Hmph!*

Hou San crossed his arms and stood to the side, saying no more.

Wang Dahai, on the side, looked at Hou San, knowing he was a carefree person. He then looked at Li Xiangdong, a smart man who surely knew why he didn’t want to go to Shandong.

He couldn’t understand why Li Xiangdong would help him, and agree so readily at that. “Dongzi, you…”

Li Xiangdong waved his hand and said with a tone full of sincerity, “Uncle Hai, you don’t have to say anything. I still remember when I first arrived yesterday morning, you didn’t look down on me for being a newcomer and even took the initiative to talk to me.”

“You even gave me your pre-Qingming Longjing tea to drink. I’m a simple man, I can’t tell if the tea is good or not, but that cup of tea warmed my heart!”

“You are an elder. It’s okay if you don’t want to run the Shandong route. As a junior, I will run it for you for a month.”

Hearing Li Xiangdong’s words, Wang Dahai was incredibly moved. He didn’t know what to say.

This kid Dongzi is a good person, he’s just too honest