Chapter 63: That Kick Was Full of Fatherly Love!

Hou San said in a rush, "Stop talking for now, my dad is right behind us! He found out about the tea. Help me support my weight and let's run!"

Li Xiangdong: "..."

He didn't even know what to say. Had he known it would come to this, no matter what Hou San said yesterday, he would never have accepted that package of Tieguanyin!

"Why didn't you run toward the platform?"

"Huh?"

"Huh what? There are lots of people on the platform, your dad definitely wouldn't have the nerve to lay a hand on you there!"

Hearing this, Hou San looked utterly full of regret. "I didn't think of that!"

"Forget it, it's too late to say anything now."

Seeing Hou San's pathetic state, Li Xiangdong asked, "Your leg didn't get broken by your dad, did it?"

Hou San leaned heavily against Li Xiangdong. "No, I tripped and fell myself. I wasn't paying attention and stumbled while I was running just now."

Li Xiangdong asked again, "What did you tell your dad about the tea?"

"I told him I used it to boil tea eggs."

Hou San urged anxiously, "Brother Dong, can you please stop asking? My dad is going to be here any second!"

Unbelievable~

For a blockhead like Hou San, Li Xiangdong admired him from the bottom of his heart.

Literally any excuse would have been better than saying he boiled tea eggs!

Wasn't this pure water in the brain?

However, Hou San was still relatively loyal and hadn't sold him out. To live up to this camaraderie, he could only quicken his pace!

"You two, stop right there!"

Hou Jianshe's exasperated shout came from behind them.

Li Xiangdong instinctively stopped in his tracks. He turned around and saw a furious Hou Jianshe walking toward the two of them, holding a familiar tin tea caddy.

He whispered instructions to Hou San, "Hou San, hurry up and run to the office. I'll block your dad."

"Brother Dong, I'm counting on you."

Before Hou San's voice even faded, he limped his way into the office.

Li Xiangdong followed right behind Hou San, closed the door after him, and blocked the entrance.

Hou Jianshe strode up to Li Xiangdong. "Dongzi, get the hell out of my way!"

Li Xiangdong stood unmovable and said, "Uncle Hou, getting angry hurts your health. Can't we discuss whatever is the matter calmly?"

The commotion in the corridor aroused the curiosity of the people inside the offices on both sides.

They opened their doors one after another and poked their heads out to look.

"What are you looking at?! What's so interesting?!"

Hou Jianshe swept his gaze across them, and the curious onlookers hurriedly pulled their heads back inside.

The head of the Labor and Personnel Section of the Passenger Transportation Segment was not someone to be trifled with!

Hou Jianshe turned his gaze back to Li Xiangdong. "I'm telling you, Dongzi, I can't stay calm right now, and I'm certainly not feeling peaceful. Get out of my way immediately!"

Li Xiangdong wiped away the spittle Hou Jianshe had sprayed onto his face. Suddenly, his expression turned grim as he grabbed Hou's arm. "Quick, Uncle Hou, go to the clinic and get a doctor. My appendicitis is acting up."

Hou Jianshe shook off his hand. "Dongzi, don't pull that crap with me. When your Uncle Hou was out making his way in the world, you were still drinking milk at home!"

Li Xiangdong gave a dry, awkward chuckle—it was indescribably embarrassing...

He pulled a pack of Da Qianshumen cigarettes from his pocket. "Uncle Hou, would you like to smoke a cigarette to cool your temper?"

Taking advantage of the moment Li Xiangdong was distracted by taking out the cigarettes, Hou Jianshe shoved him directly into the office.

Hou Jianshe's angry gaze swept around the office before landing on Hou San, who was hiding under the desk. He said with extreme fury, "Go on, run! Why aren't you running anymore?!"

Wang Dahai stood up to mediate. "Old Hou, what are you doing? Is there anything that can't be talked about nicely?"

Hou Jianshe said, "Dahai, stay out of this. I'm disciplining my child."

Hearing Hou Jianshe say this, Wang Dahai had no choice but to sit back down in his chair.

Hou Jianshe walked over and slapped the desk twice with a loud *thwack*. "Get out here right now!"

Hou San was like a mouse seeing a cat; the calves of his legs were trembling as he stammered out an explanation, "Dad, I have to work a train run shortly. Can we talk about whatever this is when I get back?"

Hou Jianshe raged, "Number Three! You..."

"Yeah!"

Li Xiangdong hurriedly chimed in, making a diversion. "Uncle Hou, why are you calling me?"

Hou Jianshe turned back to look at Li Xiangdong. "I'm calling Hou San! What are you answering for?!"

Li Xiangdong smiled. "Oh, you weren't calling me? I thought you were yelling for me. Sorry, Uncle Hou, I'm just used to it—I'm also ranked third at home."

Hou Jianshe looked at him with a half-smile. "Oh~ You're number three at home too? Then let me ask you, did you eat yesterday's tea eggs or not?"

Li Xiangdong played dumb. "What tea eggs? Are people selling tea eggs nowadays?"

Hou Jianshe said word by word, "I'm talking about the tea eggs Hou San boiled. Did you eat them or not?"

"I didn't eat them."

Li Xiangdong shook his head rapidly. Hou Jianshe's anger clearly hadn't subsided yet; he didn't want to get dragged into this mess.

"As long as you weren't involved in this."

Hou Jianshe had no reason to doubt him.

Liu Erdan happened to walk in at that moment. "What's going on here? Dad, why did you come over?"

Hou Jianshe placed the tea caddy in his hand onto the desk. "Open it and see for yourself."

Hearing this, Liu Erdan opened the lid and looked inside. "This..."

Now he finally understood what was going on. This brother-in-law of his had pulled off a brilliant trick of swapping the pillars, dragging even him into the muddy waters.

"Old Hou, wasn't this the Tieguanyin I gave you? What's wrong?"

Wang Dahai reached out, pulled the tea caddy over in front of him, and peeked inside. He let out a snort of laughter. "Alright, Old Hou, stop getting angry. I still have some Mingqian Longjing tea here that I managed to get my hands on a while ago."

As he spoke, he stood up and walked toward the storage cabinet.

Hou Jianshe let out a sigh, a mix of helplessness and gnashing of teeth. "Dahai, that's not what I mean. It's that scoundrel Hou San; he actually managed to dig out the Tieguanyin I had hidden away."

"If he dug it out to drink a little, I wouldn't say anything. But no, the brat went and used all of it to boil tea eggs! Normally, I wouldn't even bear to drink it myself, and now it's completely gone."

A dead silence filled the office...

Wang Dahai's hand, which was in the midst of turning the key to the lock, paused for a moment.

Liu Erdan persuaded, "Dad, don't be angry anymore. If you want to drink Tieguanyin, I'll go source some more for you."

"Let's put that aside for now; I need to vent the anger in my chest first."

Seeing the Longjing tea Wang Dahai had taken out and hearing his son-in-law's words, Hou Jianshe wasn't actually as furious as he had been just a moment ago, but there was still a ball of fire burning inside him that he hadn't released yet.

He urged once more, "Number Three, get out from under that desk right now."

Liu Erdan noticed the change in his father-in-law's demeanor and gave Hou San, who was hiding under the desk, a kick. "Come out. Stop hiding."

Shivering, Hou San crawled out from beneath the desk. Standing before his father with a sheepish and disgraced expression, he said, "Dad, I was wrong. I'll never touch your tea ever again."

Hou Jianshe didn't entertain that at all. "First, hand over my meal tickets!"

"What meal tickets?"

Hou Jianshe remained silent. Hou San grew unnerved under his father's unblinking stare. With a nervous chuckle, he fished a stack of meal tickets from his pocket and handed them over to Hou Jianshe.

After stuffing the meal tickets into his pocket, Hou Jianshe commanded, "Turn around and stand straight."

"Oh."

Hou San was no stranger to getting beaten and knew what was coming next. He smoothly turned around and presented his back to his father.

"You little scoundrel!"

With that, Hou Jianshe delivered a kick straight to Hou San's backside.

That kick was powerful and solid—overflowing with the love of an old father~