Chapter 62: Brother Loudspeaker

Li Xiangdong was sipping his freshly brewed tea when he noticed Wang Dahai, sitting across from him, with dark circles under his eyes and yawning continuously.

"Uncle Hai, did you not sleep well last night?"

Wang Dahai wiped away a tear brought on by a yawn and took two large gulps of strong tea. "Just got back from Shandong Province in the early hours of the morning, and now the sleepiness is really kicking in."

Li Xiangdong asked, "Then why didn't you hurry home to get some rest?"

Wang Dahai waved a hand. "No rush for that. I'm waiting for Team Leader Liu to come over and discuss something. Are you running the train today?"

Li Xiangdong nodded. "Heading to Tianjin at 10:30."

Wang Dahai said enviously, "Tianjin is a great place, much better than where I've been. There are no good things there at all, and the most famous things are crickets. They say they used to be imperial tribute items back in the day, but those bugs are completely useless—can't eat them, can't drink them."

Crickets???

Li Xiangdong thought for a moment and asked, "Are you talking about Ningyang in Shandong Province?"

"You got it, that's the place."

Wang Dahai sighed, "I must have terrible luck. I'll have to make trips down there for the next month."

Just as the two were talking, the door was kicked open with a loud *bang*.

"Master! I've bought the buns you wanted!"

A young man in his early twenties walked in carrying two oil-paper parcels.

Wang Dahai walked over angrily, snatched the paper parcels from the youth's hands, and kicked him right in the thigh.

Watching the young man tumble to the floor, Wang Dahai raged, "Who taught you that? You haven't learned a single useful thing around me, but you've learned how to kick doors open, haven't you?"

The young man got up with a grin and dusted off the large footprint on his trousers. "Master, don't be mad at me. The buns won't taste good if they get cold."

Wang Dahai glared at his apprentice, then turned to Li Xiangdong. "Dongzi, this is my apprentice. He's running the route with me this time. You can just call him Erguangzi."

"Erguangzi, this is Comrade Li Xiangdong, our team's newcomer."

Li Xiangdong and Erguangzi introduced themselves to each other.

Erguangzi's real name was Zhang Zhi. Before he was eight years old, human traffickers had tried to abduct him twice. Fortunately, he was a lucky guy; both times the traffickers failed and ended up getting caught themselves.

The second time, Wang Dahai was the one who rescued him. Erguangzi's father was so deeply grateful that he stubbornly insisted on having his son become Wang Dahai's godson.

Once Erguangzi reached adulthood, Wang Dahai brought him into the passenger transport section, transitioning him from godson to official apprentice.

That was the exact reason why Erguangzi simply met Wang Dahai's kicks with a smiling face.

Erguangzi sat down next to Li Xiangdong, a look of admiration in his eyes as he gestured wildly. "Big Brother Laba, I heard about what happened yesterday! Everyone is saying you're the modern-day Zhang Fei—with one roar at Changban Bridge, you made the river flow backward and shattered the bridge!"

Li Xiangdong: "..."

"Big Brother Laba, have some..."

Li Xiangdong interrupted Erguangzi. "Erguangzi, can you please stop calling me that? It sounds so awkward."

Erguangzi chuckled. "Then I'll call you Brother Dong, alright? Brother Dong, did you have breakfast yet? These buns I just bought are still hot."

Erguangzi pushed his own portion of buns from the oil-paper parcel toward Li Xiangdong.

Li Xiangdong smiled and refused. "You eat them. I've already had breakfast."

Seeing that Li Xiangdong wouldn't take any, Erguangzi picked up a bun and began to eat heartily.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, he said, "Brother Dong, you better watch out. I heard that because of what happened yesterday, the Beijing railway station's broadcasting room had their entire month's production bonus deducted."

"Ahem!"

Li Xiangdong choked on his tea. "What does that have to do with me? What do I need to watch out for? They were the ones lagging behind in their reactions, how can they blame me?"

Wang Dahai, sitting across from him, laughed. "Dongzi, whether the broadcasting room getting penalized has anything to do with you is something you know best in your heart. Erguangzi is right, you'd better watch out for Old Kong from the broadcasting room coming after you."

Li Xiangdong asked, "Who is Old Kong? Is he from the broadcasting room too? What right does he have to come after me?! If he has the guts, he should go straight to the leadership!"

Erguangzi chimed in, "Uncle Kong is the head of the broadcasting room, nicknamed 'Kong the Explosive'. His temper blows up at the slightest spark, and the worst part is he fights dirty. Brother Dong, just remember to be careful."

Damn it!

Between the two master and apprentice, Li Xiangdong completely lost his mood to drink tea.

He looked at Wang Dahai, who was reading the newspaper while eating a bun, and said, "Uncle Hai, you guys go ahead and eat. I'm going outside for a smoke."

Wang Dahai didn't even raise his head. "Go ahead."

Li Xiangdong stepped out of the office, walked down the corridor to the outside of the building, pulled out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes he brought from home, struck a match, and stared blankly at the bustling crowd.

"Dongzi, Dongzi."

"Huh? You're here."

Li Xiangdong looked at A-Zhe standing in front of him and asked, "You didn't forget what we discussed yesterday, did you?"

A-Zhe asked in return, "What matter?"

Li Xiangdong said speechlessly, "What else could it be? Money. Did you get your money ready?"

"You mean that. I remember, it's just that... when I got home, I honestly didn't know how to bring it up."

A-Zhe wore an awkward expression, hesitating and stumbling over his words.

If he didn't have a job, he could naturally ask his father for money without feeling guilty.

But he had already collected his full salary for this month. After returning home yesterday, he hesitated time and time again and still couldn't figure out how to open his mouth.

"Sigh~"

Li Xiangdong sighed and patted A-Zhe on the shoulder.

A-Zhe looked at him. "Dongzi, why don't you give me an idea?"

"I don't have one."

Li Xiangdong shook his head. If he could think of a good way to get money, would he even need to drag A-Zhe and Hou San into this?

A-Zhe wore an equally worried expression. "What should we do then? If all else fails, I'll go borrow some from someone else."

"Who are you planning to borrow from? Who has money to lend you?"

Li Xiangdong gave him a sideways glance. He felt it was necessary to give A-Zhe a bit of psychological conditioning.

"A-Zhe, you're different from me. I still have two older brothers, but your dad only has you as an only son. Won't his money be yours sooner or later? What's the difference between giving it to you sooner or later? Stop overthinking it and just ask him boldly! Listen to me and you can't go wrong. Think carefully about whether what I'm saying makes sense."

A-Zhe pondered this carefully for a moment before a realization hit him. "Dongzi, are you treating me like some fool and trying to trick me? If my dad asks me what I need the money for, what am I supposed to tell him?"

"I don't know. If you want to make money, figure out a way yourself."

That blockhead A-Zhe actually didn't fall for it, which genuinely surprised Li Xiangdong. Now all his hopes could only rest on Hou San!

Li Xiangdong stopped paying attention to A-Zhe and turned back to the office.

"Brother Dong!"

"Brother Dong!"

Li Xiangdong was slumped over his desk, dozing off out of boredom, when he suddenly heard someone calling his name in the corridor. It was Hou San's voice. He hurriedly rushed over and opened the door.

"Brother Dong, come quickly and give me a hand."

When Hou San saw Li Xiangdong, he limped toward him.

Li Xiangdong quickly stepped forward to support Hou San. "What happened to you?"