Chapter 44: Everyone Wants to Make Money!

Seeing Hou San suddenly turn so eager, Li Xiangdong knew immediately that he was up to no good.
Moreover, whatever this guy was thinking could never be hidden; it was written all over his face!
He flatly refused, "Don't bother, I'll go myself."
Just as A-Zhe returned after washing his lunchbox, Li Xiangdong handed his own lunchbox to him and said, "A-Zhe, help me wash this lunchbox. I'm going to get another portion of food."
"Alright, go ahead."
A-Zhe felt that something was a bit off between the two of them and had no idea what mischief they were up to. He took the lunchbox and headed back toward the sink.
Under Hou San's resentful gaze, Li Xiangdong picked up the meal tickets and the lunchbox left on the table and walked toward the serving counter.
"Two portions of shredded pork in gravy and one portion of scrambled eggs with tomatoes!"
The middle-aged woman serving the food took the lunchbox and meal tickets, scooped the food with a loud clatter of her large spoon three times, and placed the filled lunchbox on the counter.
The woman asked, "Young man, are you a new hire? I saw you sitting with Hou San. Are you friends? You're quite thoughtful about your family, bringing back so much food at once."
Li Xiangdong smiled and replied, "You're right, Auntie, I just started today. But Hou San and I aren't just friends, we're brothers. Besides, I don't have that many meal tickets myself; these all belong to Hou San."
With that, he picked up his lunchbox and walked away, leaving the woman muttering to herself.
Hou San had brothers?
Didn't he only have two older sisters?
Besides, Hou San was notoriously thick-skinned and thoughtless around the depot!
To think he would actually remember to bring food home for his family—had he finally grown up, become sensible, and learned to show filial piety?
The queue for food was rather long. By the time Li Xiangdong returned carrying a box brimming with food, Hou San had already finished eating and washed his lunchbox as well.
Li Xiangdong asked, "Hou San, where are we going to rest at noon?"
"My dad's office. This afternoon, I'll take both of you to the trade union and the office building at the front railway station to check in."
Hou San seemed a bit absent-minded; he was still aching over the meal tickets he had just lost.

"Let's go then, so we can clear out a spot for the colleagues coming in to eat."
The three of them stepped out of the cafeteria. Li Xiangdong took the Daqianmen cigarette handed over by A-Zhe and passed it directly to Hou San. "Smoke?"
"Smoke! Why wouldn't I smoke?"
Hou San immediately took the Daqianmen cigarette, lit it, and took a deep drag. "I must smoke back the meal tickets you took from me!"
A-Zhe protested with dissatisfaction from the side, "Hou San, that's my cigarette! I knew something was wrong with you two. So the food Dongzi just bought was paid for with your meal tickets, Hou San!"
With the cigarette clamped between his teeth, Li Xiangdong reached into his pocket, pulled out three meal tickets, and shoved them directly into Hou San's pocket.
"He, Hou San, was flashing a whole stack of meal tickets to show off. I kindly reminded him, and instead, he mocked me for drooping over his meal tickets. Don't I have to cure this bad habit of his? I'm planning to bring you two along to make money, how could I possibly sponge three meal tickets off him?"
"Keep showing off, Hou San. When your dad finds out his meal tickets are gone, he's definitely going to sort you out. Don't say I didn't warn you."
Having his meal tickets returned, Hou San was overjoyed. He had no idea what kind of warning Li Xiangdong was talking about!
"Brother Dong, are you planning to take us to smuggle goods from other places back to Beijing to make money?"
A-Zhe wore a puzzled expression and asked curiously, "What are you two talking about? Smuggling goods to make money?"
"You didn't know?"
Hou San was amused. To think there really was someone who didn't know.
A-Zhe urged Hou San, "I don't know anything about it. Hurry up and tell me what's going on."
Seeing A-Zhe asking him for advice, Hou San puffed out his chest, raised his chin, and said smugly, "In our railway system, the most lucrative positions are the train-accompanying posts. Don't look at our low basic salary; as long as you can make a trip out on the train and smuggle some goods back from outside, the money you make is huge."
"I'm not boasting, but I've even seen people getting on trains while dragging their IV poles. You might think they are just devoted to their jobs, but actually, they just can't bear to miss out on the extra cash from a trip outside!"
A-Zhe swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he asked, "What you're saying sounds way too outrageous, Hou San. Isn't there anyone keeping an eye on this kind of thing?"
Seeing that A-Zhe actually didn't believe him, Hou San felt a bit annoyed. "We're all our own people, who's going to care? Once you get on the train, you'll see. Everyone is doing it, and nobody cares at all. Even the train inspectors only check ticket sales revenue; they completely ignore this."
A-Zhe asked, "Don't the train police care either?"
Hou San slanted his eyes. "What do you think? Do you suppose they don't do the same thing?"

"How outrageous! Won't we be getting rich in the future then?"
A-Zhe beat his chest in frustration and said, "You have no idea, I almost decided not to come to work today. I thought being a train attendant meant serving people and wasn't a good job at all!"
Hou San was dumbfounded listening to him. Everyone always said he wasn't very bright, but he felt A-Zhe was even more foolish and simple-minded!
A-Zhe abruptly grabbed Li Xiangdong by the arm. "Dongzi, you knew about this all along, didn't you? No wonder you kept trying to talk me out of changing positions this morning! Did you do it on purpose just to watch me make a fool of myself?!"
Li Xiangdong chuckled, neither admitting nor denying it. He indeed had intended to watch A-Zhe make a fool of himself, but he hadn't expected Hou San to expose it so quickly.
A-Zhe said excitedly, "If we can make money every time we run a train trip, won't we be rolling in wealth?"
At this moment, Hou San poured a bucket of cold water over his enthusiasm. "You can't make money on every single trip out. You can only smuggle valuable things back from the South; other places will at most get you some food to bring along."
A-Zhe said indifferently, "Bringing some food back is fine too. Once we turn around and flip it..."
Li Xiangdong directly interrupted A-Zhe's daydreaming, "And then get caught for speculation and profiteering, and end up sent to the Xishan stone quarry to swing a sledgehammer and smash rocks for the rest of your life."
"Bah, bah, bah!"
A-Zhe spat three times in rapid succession. "Dongzi, can't you wish me something good for a change!"
Li Xiangdong smiled and said, "Ask Hou San if that's even a possibility."
Hou San laughed awkwardly. "Everyone's just bringing things back for our own people; nobody goes out to do actual speculation and profiteering."
Seeing Li Xiangdong's gaze sweeping over him, he honestly confessed, "Alright, fine. Some people have indeed been caught doing speculation and profiteering. Whether they were sent to the Xishan stone quarry, I don't know, but I do know that a guy was directly executed by firing squad a couple of years ago!"
Hearing Hou San's words, A-Zhe shivered all over and began to lose his nerve, wanting to back out. "This is way too dangerous, I think we'd better forget it."
Seeing his lack of backbone, Li Xiangdong said, "I have a way to let us make money steadily and reliably without any risks."
Hearing this, A-Zhe instantly perked up, and even Hou San pricked up his ears, eager to hear what good idea Li Xiangdong had.
Seeing that Li Xiangdong stopped talking after saying only half of it, the two of them said in unison, "If you have a way, spit it out!"