Chapter 40 The Water Deliveryman

"It was that old man. He relies on being my second uncle to bully me whenever he gets the chance!"

A-Zhe, standing nearby, wore a questioning look. "Who is Elder Hou? Dongzi, do you even know Third Hou's father?"

Li Xiangdong did not answer. Seeing that Third Hou was about to show off again, clearly fishing for compliments, he had no intention of fueling Third Hou's ego.

A-Zhe urged, "Dongzi, stop staying silent."

"Dongzi, say something!"

"Alright, alright, I'll talk."

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "Third Hou's father is the section chief of the labor and personnel section in our passenger transport division. Elder Hou is the father of the deputy station master at the Beijing Railway Station, which makes him Third Hou's second uncle. Right now, he's keeping the gate at the reception room by the entrance."

As soon as he finished speaking, he realized it himself.

Good grief, the Hou family was truly formidable!

Looking over at Third Hou, whose nose was turned up toward the sky, he realized that without knowing it, he had actually hooked such a massive fish. Wasn't this the perfect candidate to take the blame for him in the future?

Now that A-Zhe knew Third Hou's background, he looked at him as if he were a lump of gold, and even his slanted, triangular eyes began to look charming.

"Third Hou, my brother, I'm counting on you. You must figure out a way to coordinate the assignments so I'm with the two of you."

That completely inflated Third Hou's vanity, causing his eyes to narrow into slits from smiling.

"No problem at all. It's just a word from me, Third Hou. We're all friends, after all."

Watching A-Zhe continue to sweet-talk Third Hou, Li Xiangdong interrupted, "The two of you can stop now. Third Hou, hurry up and finish what you were saying. What a terrible habit of leaving your sentences half-finished."

Third Hou tilted his head back, holding the Front Gate brand cigarette that A-Zhe had just shoved into his hand. Instead of smoking it, he simply held it under his nose and sniffed it.

"Alright, I'll just explain to you directly how the water attendant job works. Our job is to travel with the train. Once it departs, we keep an eye on the insulation buckets on board. When they run out of water, we refill them; if they break, we report them for repairs. Of course, if passengers have needs, we also have to go and pour hot water for them."

Third Hou finished it all in one breath. "Did the two of you understand?"

Li Xiangdong said, "Yeah, understood. Go on."

Third Hou asked in bewilderment, "Go on about what? I'm done."

Li Xiangdong asked incredulously, "That's it? That's all our work after getting on the train?"

Seeing Li Xiangdong staring at him, Third Hou scratched his head and thought carefully again. "Dongzi, don't look at me like that. I've already said everything that needs to be said."

"But isn't this a bit...?"

"Easy, right? Why else would I say you scored a huge bargain? This position isn't something anyone who wants it can just get."

Third Hou chuckled evilly, "What's the matter? Want to do a little more? That's fine too. Once you're on the train, you can just carry a kettle and go from seat to seat, serving every single passenger without missing one."

"Get lost!"

Li Xiangdong glared at Third Hou with annoyance.

With all those people on the entire train, could he possibly manage to keep up with that?!

Naturally, if he could save himself some effort, he definitely wouldn't go looking for trouble. If he had that kind of high-minded awareness, why would he even return to the city?

He might as well have just planted roots in the countryside and carved out a vast world for himself!

"The two of your jobs are seriously comfortable."

A-Zhe gritted his teeth with jealousy. As a train attendant, he had to wait on people the moment passengers boarded until they reached their destination and got off, and even after that, he still had to clean up!

Compared to Li Xiangdong and Third Hou, he looked just like an indentured laborer!

Third Hou shook his head. "It's not as easy as you think. Whether we're tired or not mainly depends on how thirsty the passengers are."

Chatting along the way, the three of them arrived at the logistics warehouse.

They saw a man in his thirties sitting in a chair, reading a newspaper and drinking water with his legs propped up on the desk, looking immensely relaxed.

Third Hou stepped forward and greeted him, "Brother Jun, busy?"

Zhang Dagun put down the newspaper, smiled, and said, "Third Hou is here. What could I possibly be busy with here? Just passing the time every day with a pot of water and two newspapers. What brings you guys here?"

"Two friends just started their jobs today, and I brought them over to get their supplies from you. Could you get their things for them?"

Third Hou introduced Zhang Dagun to the other two. "This is Zhang Dagun, our logistics warehouse manager. He's been doing this for over a decade. You two can just call him Brother Jun along with me. Brother Jun, this is Li Xiangdong and... A-Zhe, what's your full name?"

A-Zhe replied, "Shi Zhengzhe."

Zhang Dagun stood up with a smile and said, "Welcome, both of you, to our passenger transport division."

Li Xiangdong smiled. "Hello, Brother Jun. You're too polite."

"Brother Jun, have a cigarette."

A-Zhe offered a Front Gate cigarette, but Zhang Dagun refused. "The warehouse is a restricted area where smoking is not allowed. If the leadership sees it, they'll dock my pay. Since you and Third Hou are friends, then we're friends too. Friends don't need to stand on ceremony like this. I'll definitely get your supplies properly sorted out."

Standing to one side, Li Xiangdong felt the slick, worldly vibe radiating off Zhang Dagun wash over him.

Someone who could hold down a lucrative position like the warehouse for over a decade was either an utterly honest man or an absolute veteran slippery fox!

Li Xiangdong and A-Zhe handed the requisition slips issued by the logistics section over to Zhang Dagun. He glanced at them and said, "I'll go inside and get your labor protection supplies first. There's water right here—if you're thirsty, just drink. Don't stand on ceremony with me at all."

Li Xiangdong and A-Zhe only smiled.

Third Hou, however, took Zhang Dagun at his word and picked up the tea mug, taking several big gulps.

"Spit, spit, spit!"

Spitting out the tea leaves in his mouth, Third Hou said, "Well? Don't I, Third Hou, carry weight wherever I go?"

Li Xiangdong and A-Zhe completely ignored his comment.

The two of them had already figured out Third Hou's temperament and personality. To say he would start a dyeing workshop the moment you gave him a little bit of color was already underestimating him.

You wouldn't even need to hand him an artillery piece; given just a single match, he'd dare to set the entire Ping'an County on fire!