Chapter 45: You, Hou San, are no Bai Laoqi!

Seeing how excited Ah Zhe and Hou San were, Li Xiangdong just smiled and kept his mouth shut, deliberately keeping them in suspense.

Hou San reached out, took the canvas shoulder bag off Li Xiangdong’s back, and slung it over his own. "Brother Dong, carrying that must be exhausting. Let me hold it for you."

Ah Zhe, quick to read the room, hurriedly pulled a pack of Front Door cigarettes from his pocket, plucked one out, and stuffed it into Li Xiangdong’s mouth before striking a match to light it for him.

Enjoying the attentive service, Li Xiangdong took a drag from the cigarette and stretched lazily. "Don't be in such a rush, you two. This isn't the place to talk."

With a beaming, ingratiating smile, Hou San said, "Right, right, right. Let's go to my dad's office to talk. My dad's gone to a meeting at the Beijing Railway Bureau, so nobody's there and we can speak freely."

Acting like a pair of devoted flunkies, Hou San and Ah Zhe waited on Li Xiangdong hand and foot.

The three of them arrived at Hou Jianshe’s office.

"Brother Dong, want some tea? I'll pour you a cup."

As he spoke, Hou San rummaged around until he found a tin box filled to the brim with tea leaves. Grabbing a generous handful, he tossed them straight into a tin enamel mug.

"Use less!"

Li Xiangdong’s warning came just a fraction too late. He looked at the mountain of tea leaves packed into the mug and was momentarily left speechless.

In this day and age, ordinary folks considered it a luxury just to have a sip of tea. Behavior like Hou San's, grabbing a fistful all at once, was pure prodigal wastefulness!

While Li Xiangdong felt a pang of heartache, Hou San didn't care in the least. He patted his chest and laughed, "Don't worry, Brother Dong. As long as you take me along to make money, I'll gift this whole box of tea leaves right to you."

"This is your dad's tea. Are you even authorized to give it away?"

"My dad only has one son. Do you think I have a say or not?"

Li Xiangdong waved his hand to drop the subject and signaled for Hou San to say no more.

Noticing that Hou San had even contributed his father's tea in his eagerness to make money, Ah Zhe hurriedly picked up the thermos flask and said, "The water in here isn't hot anymore. I'll go fetch a fresh pot. Hou San, where's the boiler room?"

"There's a boiler room at the very eastern end of the corridor."

Seeing the two of them trying to outdo each other with their attentiveness, the corners of Li Xiangdong’s mouth lifted slightly. He was very satisfied with their attitude. Even true brothers must settle accounts clearly!

The money-making ideas were his, so he would naturally be the leader moving forward, and he had to secure the largest share of the profits. Therefore, it was crucial to establish right from the start that he was the boss among the three of them.

Ah Zhe returned with the thermos, filled the enamel mug with steaming hot water, and handed it over.

Li Xiangdong took the cup from Ah Zhe and took a small sip. "My Uncle Hou's tea really is fragrant! Alright, let's stop standing around. Let's sit down and talk."

Once the three of them were seated, Li Xiangdong looked at Hou San and asked, "Can you find a way to adjust the shifts so the three of us can travel all over the country without restriction?"

Hou San nodded. "No problem at all. That's just a minor detail."

Li Xiangdong nodded, confident that Hou San had the capability. "Then do you know how other people bring goods back?"

"Of course I do. They take cash directly to other places to buy wristwatches, radios, televisions, fashionable clothes, beef jerky, mutton, and chocolate—basically anything we can't get here in Beijing, they haul it back."

Hou San rolled up his sleeve to show off. "The wristwatch I'm wearing right now was bought for me from Shanghai by someone I asked a favor of."

Seeing that Hou San was about to go on bragging, Li Xiangdong interrupted, "Alright, I get it. In other words, when everyone else tags along on the train to other places, they only carry cash on them."

"Operating that way is far too inefficient for making money. What if we bring little to no cash, and instead convert our money into goods first? Once we arrive elsewhere, we sell the goods and convert them back into cash. That way, a single round trip will yield a much higher profit."

Hearing this, Ah Zhe and Hou San’s eyes lit up. Even if they were foolish, they understood that this method would make money much faster!

Hou San asked, "But what kind of goods should we bring?"

Ah Zhe chimed in, "Yeah, Dongzi. Everyone else isn't stupid. If we could easily bring goods out to sell, who would bother just carrying cash? But what does Beijing even have? Roast duck? Tianfuhao braised pork elbows? We surely can't lug those things out of town!"

Speechless, Li Xiangdong retorted, "Why not throw in Liuliuju pickles while you're at it!"

At that moment, Hou San suddenly exclaimed in excitement, "I know what we should bring!"

Ah Zhe looked at Hou San expectantly. "Quick, tell us what!"

Hou San stood up, stuck his neck out, and said smugly, "Neiliansheng cloth shoes!"

"Hou San, sit your butt down right now!"

Ah Zhe shoved Hou San back into his chair, feeling like an absolute fool for actually believing that an idiot could come up with a good idea!

Hou San protested anxiously, "What did I say wrong? Neiliansheng cloth shoes are extremely comfortable to wear. I won't wear anything except Neiliansheng cloth shoes!"

Li Xiangdong rolled his eyes at Hou San. You're hardly Master Bai Laoqi!

Living with such extravagant fastidiousness—insisting on wearing nothing less than Neiliansheng for a pair of old cloth shoes...