The two stepped into the office building as the 8 a.m. work bell rang. At the entrance, a full-length Dongfanghong mirror stood. Li Xiangdong glanced at his reflection, then followed Hou Jianshe up the stairs to the second floor, stopping at an office door.
Hou Jianshe pushed it open. "Go in, find a chair, and sit. I'll get someone to help with your paperwork."
"Alright, Uncle Hou. Go do your thing—I'll be fine."
"What's with 'Uncle Hou'? Didn't you hear the work bell? It's work hours—call me Chief Hou. No sense of protocol!"
With that, Hou Jianshe ignored Li Xiangdong and headed to the HR office next door.
What the hell!
One minute, he's "Uncle," and now he flips out?
Li Xiangdong let out a scornful 'hmph', strolling into Hou Jianshe's office.
The room, about thirty square meters, had a desk and chair, a standing cabinet, and two large wooden file cabinets. An iron rack by the door held an enamel washbasin, with two thermos flasks on the floor.
Li Xiangdong walked over, popped open a thermos, and saw steam. Suddenly, he felt thirsty.
He'd gotten carried away chatting with Grandpa Hou in the gatehouse, and now his throat was dry.
Screw protocol—Hou Jianshe told him to call him Uncle Hou, so what's a sip of water? The guy took two packs of his Peony cigarettes!
Li Xiangdong grabbed the thermos, went to the desk, opened the tea mug's lid, poured a bit of hot water to rinse it, and splashed the water onto the cement floor—no need to fuss.
He filled the mug, but it was too hot to drink yet.
Pulling up a chair, he sat for about ten minutes. The hard wooden seat made his backside ache, so he stood to stretch, about to grab the water, when Hou Jianshe walked in with a middle-aged woman.
Hou Jianshe reached his desk, saw the mug filled with water, touched it—perfect temperature—glanced at Li Xiangdong, and downed it in one go.
"Not bad, thinking ahead."
Li Xiangdong: "…"
Hou Jianshe set down the mug, seeing Li Xiangdong staring. "What're you standing there for? Say hi to Sister Sun."
"Oh, hello, Sister Sun. I'm Li Xiangdong."
"Hello, Comrade Xiao Li," Sister Sun replied with a smile.
"Sister Sun's a veteran clerk here, knows the ropes. Just follow her lead," Hou Jianshe said, then instructed her, "Take Li Xiangdong through the onboarding process."
"Got it, Chief Hou. Leave Comrade Xiao Li to me—you can rest easy," Sister Sun agreed cheerfully, turning to Li Xiangdong. "Come with me to the next office, Comrade Xiao Li."
"Alright, Sister Sun."
"Chief Hou, I'll go with Sister Sun to handle the paperwork."
Li Xiangdong said goodbye to Hou Jianshe and followed Sister Sun out.
"Dongzi, remember what I said—young folks should smoke less. Next time you've got good cigarettes, bring 'em to me quick, hear me?"
Li Xiangdong, not even at the door, heard Hou Jianshe's voice and felt exasperated. The guy was hooked on extorting him!
Turning back, he said weakly, "Got it, Chief Hou."
Seeing his reluctant look, Hou Jianshe shook his head with a smile, saying no more, and waved him off.
Once they were out of sight, Hou Jianshe picked up the office phone and made a call.
In the hallway, Sister Sun glanced back at Li Xiangdong, extra warm. "Dongzi, you related to Chief Hou?"
Her address had shifted from "Comrade Xiao Li" to "Dongzi."
Li Xiangdong suddenly got it. That last comment from Hou Jianshe wasn't about wanting more cigarettes!
A dignified HR chief at the capital's railway station short on smokes? No way.
It was meant for Sister Sun, signaling that Li Xiangdong was his guy.
Interesting.
This Uncle Hou was even more intriguing than Grandpa Hou!
Sister Sun, seeing him silent, said, "Keeping it hush-hush? Don't worry, your big sister's not a blabbermouth."
"Sister Sun, you're reading too much into it. Don't you know how Uncle Hou is? During work hours, I can only call him Chief Hou, or he'll give me the cold shoulder!"
Hearing Li Xiangdong's nonsense, Sister Sun grew even warmer. "I get it, I get it, all clear."
Li Xiangdong's face said, 'Sure, sure, whatever you say.'
But inside, he was scoffing: 'You get nothing! Clear as mud!'
What connection did he have with Chief Hou?
At most, two packs of Peony, maybe three with the Daqianmen!
Sister Sun eagerly led Li Xiangdong to the HR office.
"Everyone, quiet down! Let me introduce—this is Li Xiangdong, our new colleague at the station."
Sister Sun clapped her hands, and the chatting, laughing office went silent.
They wondered why Sister Sun was making such a fuss over a new hire. They'd seen plenty—what's the big deal?
But looking closer, wasn't this the guy from the gatehouse, chumming it up with Grandpa Hou?
And with Sister Sun introducing him so formally, it clicked: this young guy was Chief Hou's relative!
Their faces lit up with warm, friendly smiles.
"Comrade Li Xiangdong's quite the looker!"
"Truly, not many are that tall—rare at our station!"
"Comrade Xiao Li, you married? Big sister can set you up with a station beauty."
"Married already? Two kids? One boy, one girl? That's perfect!"
"Dongzi, you're a lucky guy!"
Li Xiangdong nodded, smiling, overwhelmed by their enthusiasm!
He was just a returned educated youth here for onboarding, but they treated him like some big leader's kid!
"Xiao Wang, get Dongzi some water."
"On it, Sister Sun."
Sister Sun led Li Xiangdong to her desk, instructing a young guy to her right, then pointed to the chair across from her.
"Dongzi, sit here. Got your household booklet and one-inch photos?"
"Right here."
Li Xiangdong sat, pulling the booklet and photos from his bag.
"That's how our process works, Dongzi. Don't think I'm picking on you."
Sister Sun took his booklet and began checking it carefully.
Every workplace verifies identities. An introduction letter alone doesn't cut it.
Checking the booklet against the letter was just step one. Later, staff would verify with the street office.
Stricter workplaces might even trace an employee's entire life from birth to reporting day.