Chapter 47: I’ve Even Eaten Elm Bark

A Zhe anxiously said, "Dongzi, if a fifty-fifty split doesn't work, how about a forty-sixty split? I'll take forty and you can take sixty, is that alright?"

Hou San nodded. "That's right, Brother Dong, I only want forty too."

Li Xiangdong nodded and said, "Alright, then with the three of us together, I'll take sixty percent, and the two of you can have twenty percent each."

Hou San and A Zhe had no objections. They didn't understand anything anyway; they were just putting up some money and at most helping to carry things around, without having to worry about anything else. These shares were already quite generous.

"Hou San, A Zhe, you two need to learn from me going forward. Once both of you learn how to tell the real from the fake, the three of us will change the split to forty, thirty, thirty."

"Got it, I'll learn slowly from you in the future."

A Zhe agreed verbally, and Hou San grinned from ear to ear, repeatedly promising that he would study hard and apply himself.

However, both of them knew very well that they weren't cut out for this kind of work. Even though learning it might earn them an extra share, rather than wasting effort on that, it would be much better to pour all their energy into Li Xiangdong. As long as they stuck close to him, the amount of money they could make would just accumulate through frequency.

Li Xiangdong saw right through their perfunctory attitudes and could guess what schemes they were hatching in their hearts. Still, he was willing to let them have their way—they could study if they wanted to, and if not, that was fine too.

He said, "Then let's consider this a gentleman's agreement. If either of you wants to quit in the future, remember to give me a heads-up in advance."

A Zhe replied, "Don't you worry, Dongzi. A real man's word is his bond; whatever we say goes."

Hou San patted his chest. "You can rest assured, Brother Dong. What I, Hou San, say, I will do."

"Then your next task is to figure out how to raise capital. The more money you have, the more you'll earn—I shouldn't need to explain that logic, right? Alright, that's it for now. I'm going to take a nap, you two go think things over."

Li Xiangdong yawned. Full and feeling drowsy, he didn't even want to go home, deciding instead to rest his head on Hou Jianshe's desk for a little while.

Seeing Li Xiangdong resting with his head on the desk, A Zhe and Hou San exchanged a glance and then quickly parted ways.

Both of them felt wonderful inside, filled with bright visions of their future lives.

The afternoon shift bell rang.

Li Xiangdong got up from the desk, sat in his chair, and stretched. Feeling a bit dizzy in the head, he sat blankly for a moment longer before finally standing up to stretch his limbs.

A Zhe walked over and said, "Dongzi, I've got water ready for you. Go wash your face and wake up, we still need to go to the labor union."

Hou San eagerly carried a thermos bottle, watching Li Xiangdong wash his face in front of the iron stand. With a smile, he asked, "Brother Dong, do you need me to add some hot water?"

"No need for hot water, cold water is just right. It helps me wake up."

Li Xiangdong scrubbed his face, took the towel handed over by A Zhe, and wiped himself dry.

Hou San waited for him to finish washing and spoke up again, "Brother Dong, the things you and A Zhe picked up are still in my dad's office. Once we get back from the labor union, we'll grab them and head over to the railway station building at the front."

"Alright, let's do it your way."

Li Xiangdong said, "Lead the way, Hou San."

"You got it."

Hou San pushed the door open and led the way out.

The labor union's office was located on the third floor.

There was only one staff member in the office. Upon learning that Li Xiangdong and A Zhe were there to report for duty, the staff member first had them fill out a form and then launched into the usual clichés.

Staff codes, rules and regulations, precautions—listening to the lengthy speech, the echoes seemed to linger on and on in the air.

"The two of you are no longer ordinary citizens, but glorious railway workers. What is the railway? It is the economic lifeline of the country. You must always remember the pioneering and enterprising spirit of us railway people."

"Remember to ask your team leader for leave if you have matters to attend to, and if you encounter any difficulties, you can explain them to the leadership; the leadership will definitely help us resolve them. However, no matter when it is, as long as you wear this uniform, you must strictly abide by the station's discipline and relevant regulations, concentrate your thoughts during working hours, and focus your energy on doing production work well..."

After listening to some glorious deeds and advanced reports, Li Xiangdong walked out of the labor union feeling as though his soul had been sublimated. He actually felt ashamed of himself for planning to flip silver dollars!

Good grief, he had almost applied to join the organization right on the spot!

Taking a couple of deep breaths, he slowly came back to his senses.

Making money—he had to make money!

The three of them returned to Hou Jianshe's office once more.

Hou San hurried over to the desk, laid out a piece of newspaper, and opened the tea caddy on the table, dumping all the Tieguanyin tea leaves from the tin onto the newspaper.

After wrapping up the tea leaves securely, he wedged the empty tea caddy straight into his armpit while handing the package of tea leaves directly to Li Xiangdong.

"Brother Dong, take this home to drink."

"No, you put it away properly. I can't possibly take this."

Hou San stared straight at Li Xiangdong. "Brother Dong, are you looking down on me?"

"Of course not. We're about to make money together, how could I look down on you?"

"If you don't take this package of tea, it means you look down on me! If you won't take it, I'll just throw it straight in the trash!"

Seeing Hou San open the window and genuinely look ready to toss the package of tea outside, Li Xiangdong hastily said, "Don't throw it away... Fine, I'll take the tea."

With a smile, Hou San handed the tea package to Li Xiangdong and then patted the empty tin tea caddy.

"Brother Dong, I won't give you the tea tin; I still have use for it."

"If you have a use for it, keep it."

Since Li Xiangdong had accepted the man's tea, he naturally wasn't going to demand the tea caddy back.

In this era of material scarcity, a tin tea caddy was a great item. Even twenty years from now, such a thing would still be very practical.

At that moment, Li Xiangdong suddenly spoke up, "Hou San, since you were kind enough to give me tea, I certainly can't drink it for nothing. How about this, I'll lay my cards on the table for you right now: before the Chinese New Year this year, I guarantee you'll safely become a ten-thousand-yuan earner."

"Ten-thousand-yuan earner" was still a fresh buzzword at this time, having first appeared in the People's Daily back in February of this year.

Hearing these words, Hou San finally set his mind at ease. Foolish as he might be, he understood well enough that as long as Li Xiangdong was still working at the railway unit, it was impossible for him to scam him.

Stepping out of the administrative building and arriving at the main gate, Li Xiangdong glanced through the window of the dispatch room to see Grandpa Hou sitting in a chair, holding a newspaper, his head nodding as he dozed off.

He pushed the window open and shouted, "Grandpa Hou, there's a fire!"

"Where? Where!"

Grandpa Hou snapped wide awake from his nap, leaped to his feet, and looked around frantically. When he saw the smiling face pressed against the window, he realized he had been played.

He indignantly cursed, "You little rascal! I'm an old man, what if you scared me into a medical emergency? I'll end up eating and drinking at your place and make you wait on me for the rest of my life!"

Li Xiangdong chuckled and said, "The coarse cornmeal flatbreads at my house scratch the throat, they don't taste good."

Grandpa Hou replied dismissively, "It's fine, I've even eaten elm bark, your grandpa here isn't a picky eater."

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "Hey, I kindly woke you up because I couldn't bear to see a veteran revolutionary comrade who has worked conscientiously for his entire life stumble right before retirement just because he was lazy, and now you want to sponge off me?"