The train driver in the courtyard

"I suffered a great loss. I was fooled by the Third Uncle."

"There are thousands of employees at Qianmen Locomotive Depot, so there must be more than one Li Aiguo."

"Li Aiguo is just a train driver. He knows everything about building trains."

After consulting Jia Zhang, Jia Dongxu quickly "came to his senses" and immediately chose to abandon the facts.

Like Xianglin Sao, he spent the whole day mumbling in the courtyard and telling the residents about his grievances.

Every time this happens, the residents always burst into laughter and the air is filled with a joyful atmosphere.

At the end of a busy and ordinary day, residents gathered around the sink to wash up.

Jia Dongxu was still chattering there.

Xu Damao smoked a cigarette and said, "Jia Dongxu, what would you do if Li Aiguo really built a train?
Don't call me grandpa this time, Li Aiguo doesn't care."

Again?
A lie repeated a thousand times will become reality. Jia Dongxu said confidently: "Then I will call him Grandpa."

The voice just fell.

Two foreigners in gray Zhongshan suits walked in from the gate.

The foreigner with blond hair, blue eyes, tall stature and distinct facial features instantly attracted everyone's attention.

The third uncle didn't bother to fiddle with the waste, he stood up and went to meet him.

"Puliweit?"

His half-baked Russian was even more dialect-like than the local dialect. Old Sando and Bald Philip looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Hurrah?" The third uncle adjusted the frame of his glasses, and a wise look flashed in his eyes.

Only then did Lao Shanduo realize that this person was greeting him.

He said in broken Chinese: "Hello, comrade, we are experts from Hungary. We are friends, not Russians."

Uncle Three: “.”

He felt that he had lost face in front of the foreign guests.

The residents also gathered around at this time.

Although we often see Russian experts on the streets, this is the first time we have come into such close contact with them.

Jia Dongxu said timidly: "Mr. Expert, are you lost? I am very familiar with the roads in the capital and can take you back.

Don't worry, I'm a good person, it's free. All I need is a letter of praise."

With the letter of praise from foreign experts, you may be able to get commended by the factory.

As smart as I am, Jia Dongxu!
Xu Damao was originally planning to lead the way, but he felt regretful for being overtaken by Jia Dongxu, so he could only stand there with his head down.

Lao Shanduo felt that this person was a little bit strange.

However, he said kindly: "Comrade, we are going to visit Li Aiguo. Li Aiguo is the train driver of Qianmen Locomotive Depot."

To explain it clearly, he raised the gift in his hand.

Jia Dongxu: "."

He felt that the letter of praise had flown away like a kite.

Xu Damao jumped up excitedly, carried Jia Dongxu to the side on his shoulders, and said, "Thief Sun, it's my turn."

He rushed over, grabbed Lao Shanduo's arm, and said affectionately: "My name is Xu Damao, and I'm a good brother of driver Li. Come on, I'll take you to Li Aiguo's house."

"Thank you so much." Lao Shanduo felt the enthusiasm of a class comrade from Xu Damao.

"You're welcome. Although I, Xu Damao, am an ordinary resident in this compound, the residents here all respect me very much. Apart from the three managers, I am the only one who can manage things."

Xu Damao took the experts to the backyard, looking as proud as he could be.

Seeing Liang Ladi passing by, Xu Damao pointed at Laoshanduo and said proudly: "See, foreign experts, guests!"

Guests? Liang Ladi looked at them with envy.

"Xu Damao has foreign expert friends?"

"That's Li Aiguo's friend, Xu Damao is just a guide." Jia Dongxu was very jealous at this moment.

If he hadn't made a mistake in operation, he would have been the one leading the way.

The group walked towards the backyard. The third uncle looked at Lao Shanduo's back, slapped his thigh and said, "Hey, hey, hey, this guy just said he was from Hungary. Isn't he one of those experts from Hungary who bought the Patriotic Steam Locomotive?"

Hearing this, the residents all turned their eyes to Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu was feeling depressed because Xu Damao got there first.

When he met the gazes of the residents and then looked at Lao Shanduo, he suddenly lowered his head.

Li Aiguo plans to go to Wuhan City tomorrow to participate in the opening ceremony of the Yangtze River Bridge.

There is no driving mission today, and I am at home watching Miss Chen help me pack my luggage.

"Take both sets of oil-packed clothes with you. You will need to change into clean clothes when the time comes."

"The weather over there is changeable, so I'll bring you an extra mattress."

"Aunt Liu knew you were going on a business trip, so she sent you salted duck eggs."

Li Aiguo has already told Miss Chen that this business trip will be arranged by the General Administration and she does not need to bring any luggage.

Miss Chen didn't listen and continued to pack various items into the package.

Toothpaste, toothbrush, enamel mug, iron lunch box, white-line socks. If someone didn’t know, they would think Li Aiguo was going to the frontier.

The air was full of the breath of life, and no one stopped Li Aiguo from smoking.

I saw Miss Chen take out a bottle of medicinal wine and prepare to put it into the bag.

Li Aiguo could no longer sit still and stepped forward to grab her arm.

"Wife, you want me to make a mistake."

".That's right."

Miss Chen understood what was happening, her face turned red with shame, and she hid the medicinal wine in the cupboard.

"This stuff can only be drunk at home."

At this time, a large package had been packed. Miss Chen was very experienced. She found two cloth straps and tied the package into a "well" shape.

In this day and age, packing a package is a necessary skill. Even Miss Chen can pack a package as thin as a tofu block.

Those delicate toiletries must be packed in a canvas bag with prints on it.

Canvas bags are rare items these days, but Li Aiguo still took the opportunity to buy one during the Canton Fair.

After finishing everything, it’s almost time for lunch.

Man is iron and food is steel. Li Aiguo prepares to cook with Chen Xueru.

At this time, Xu Damao's voice came from outside.

"Patriotic brothers, come out quickly, there are guests coming, foreigners!"

Foreigners? Li Aiguo walked out of the house quickly and saw Lao Shanduo and Bald Philip.

Lao Shanduo reached out his hand and walked over: "Dear driver Li, I will leave Beijing tomorrow. Before I leave, I want to see you. You promised me."

Li Aiguo then remembered that he had promised to treat Lao Shan to more drinks.

"I am very happy to have friends coming from afar. Mr. Sandor, Mr. Philip, please come in."

Li Aiguo welcomed the two of them in warmly.

Xu Damao stood outside and said with some envy: "Brother Aiguo, I have nothing to do at noon."

"??"

“I have Maotai at home.”

"??"

"My family took ten kilograms of eggs."

Li Aiguo finally understood Xu Damao's intention and patted him gently on the shoulder.

"Brother Damao, not today."

Li Aiguo felt that Lao Shanduo's visit was probably not just to have a drink with him, so he rejected Xu Damao.

"Yeah."

Xu Damao originally wanted to have a drink with the foreign experts, and it would be more face-saving if he said this to others.

There's nothing I can do now.

However, just leading the way just now is enough to brag about.

Xu Damao instantly became happy, walked to the door of Zhang Gangzhu's house, and looked at Zhang Gangzhu who was cleaning pig intestines.

"Brother Gangzhu, you may not know this, but I just responded to the call of the Street Office for hospitality and showed the fine style of our courtyard house. I took two foreign experts to visit our courtyard house and explained it to them."

Xu Damao spoke a lot proudly, but when he saw that Zhang Gangzhu didn't respond, he immediately became unhappy.

"I've done something big, Zhang Gangzhu, stop washing pig intestines and express your opinions."

"What, you want to steal my pig intestines?" Zhang Gangzhu raised his head.

Xu Damao: "."

He felt that this guy had gone crazy over eating pig intestines.

But when he saw Zhang Gangzhu take out the butcher knife, he immediately shrank his neck and slipped away.

"Liu Haizhong, please stay. You didn't see that there were two foreign experts."

It was also the first time that Chen Xueru met a foreign expert, and she subconsciously looked at Li Aiguo.

"Sheru, this is Sandor, this is Philip, they are Hungarian train operators."

"Lao Shanduo, bald man, this is my wife, Comrade Chen Xueru."

Lao Shanduo seemed to be prepared. After learning Chen Xueru's identity, he took out a tablecloth from his handbag.

The tablecloth is embroidered with openwork peony patterns.

“This is our most precious Matyó embroidery.”

When Chen Xueru saw the exquisite majolica embroidery, she realized that the tablecloth was worth a lot of money. Instead of reaching out to take it, she looked up at Li Aiguo.

"Keep it, Lao Shan is mostly a friend."

Only then did Chen Xueru take the tablecloth and put it carefully in the cabinet.

Li Aiguo also breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a tablecloth, so it would be relatively easy to report. If it was books or something, it would be more troublesome.

When guests come, they should be entertained warmly.

Chen Xueru was going to the market to buy some dishes and asked Li Aiguo what Hungarians liked to eat.

Li Aiguo only knew that the Russians liked to eat black bread and drink borscht, and he really didn't understand Hungarians.

I only remember a traditional Hungarian food called cabbage rolls.

Lao Shanduo was so anxious that he kept waving his hands: "Dear Li, when I was in Hungary, I ate cabbage and meat rolls. When I came here, I still ate cabbage and meat rolls. Didn't I go abroad for nothing?"

Li Aiguo: "."

Chen Xueru: "."

In the end, Chen Xueru decided to treat Lao Shanduo with traditional Beijing dishes.

It just so happens that I still have more than ten pounds of sea cucumbers that I brought back from the south last time, and I can make scallion-braised sea cucumbers.

Eggs and flour can make a three-no-stick dish.

I have fresh pork belly and noodles at home, so I can make casserole with pork.

Li Aiguo has never had any cooking skills, but after learning from Nan Yi for a period of time, he can cook these home-cooked dishes well.

After a while, a fragrant smell wafted out of the kitchen.

The aroma of meat, seafood, and eggs intertwined and mixed together, floating out through the window gaps.

These aromas are like an iron hook that can reach into the human stomach, hook up the stomach and stir it up randomly.

Jia Zhang was squatting at the door sewing shoe soles. She sniffed and identified the source of the fragrance as Li Aiguo's. Her face suddenly darkened.

"That damn Li Aiguo made delicious food but didn't even bother to serve a bowl to me, an old woman. Aren't you afraid of choking to death?"

Before he finished speaking, Jia Dongxu rushed out and covered Jia Zhang's mouth.

"Mom, please stop making noise. Grandpa is inviting foreign experts to dinner. Foreign experts can't be choked to death."

Grandpa?
Jia Zhang's eyes widened. Oh my god, what did Jia Dongxu do again?

Ever since Yi Zhonghai learned that foreign experts were visiting Li Aiguo's house, he has been sitting at the table sighing.

"I didn't believe that Li Aiguo was the one in the newspapers. Now that foreign experts are here, my position as the head of the compound might be taken away by Li Aiguo."

An old lady placed a bowl of cornmeal porridge in front of Yi Zhonghai.

"Old Yi, is there a possibility that they are patriotic and don't care about your position as an uncle?"

"How is this possible!" Yi Zhonghai widened his eyes.

The aunt knew that Yi Zhonghai had gone insane, so she stopped talking about it and comforted him with a smile.

"You didn't offend Li Aiguo this time, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

"Yes." Yi Zhonghai came to his senses and slapped his thigh.

After he breathed a sigh of relief, he came to his senses and put on his bossy attitude again.

"So what if he can build trains? As long as he is a resident in this compound, he should be managed by me, the uncle."

Aunt: "."

Yi Zhonghai picked up the bowl and took a sip of the cornmeal porridge.

After smelling the fragrant aroma, I found the cornmeal porridge hard to swallow.

******
Lee loves his country.

A family dinner where guests enjoy themselves.

The food was secondary. Lao Shanduo was particularly interested in Li Aiguo's medicinal wine.

When the medicinal wine entered the stomach, all the pores on the body dilated and made one feel extremely comfortable. There was also a warm current flowing in the lower abdomen, which made one feel an inexplicable impulse.

"Patriotic comrade, your turtle display wine is a good thing." Philip's eyes also shone at this time.

He is a few years younger than Lao Shan, about forty years old, which is the age when life is on the decline.

The key point is that this guy’s wife is his student, who is only in her twenties.

"Since you two like it, I will give you a jar each." Li Aiguo asked Chen Xueru to take out two jars of wine from the cabinet and put them on the table.

Old Sando and Philip thanked him repeatedly.

"Comrade Chen Xueru, I see that you like Matyó embroidery very much. When we return to Hungary, I will ask my wife to make a set of bragi with embroidery for your wife."

Bald Philip felt that he had taken advantage and offered, "My wife has inherited the craft from her ancestors, and her Matyó embroidery is very beautiful."

Chen Xueru was a tailor by training, and it was her first time seeing such exquisite embroidery. She was naturally very interested. After getting Li Aiguo's nod, she agreed immediately.

After chatting for a while, Li Aiguo found an excuse and invited Lao Shanduo into his study.

Lao Shanduo looked at the densely packed books on the bookshelf and said with a smile: "Driver Li, this is the first time I see you love reading books so much."

Li Aiguo poured him a cup of tea and said, "Mr. Sandor, I'm afraid you came here today to call me to task."

Hearing this, Lao Shanduo froze in place.

He stared at Li Aiguo for a moment, and suddenly smiled bitterly.

"You really guessed it right. Before I entered the study just now, I had already thought about how to question you.

I want to ask you why you told your leader the information I leaked to you."

"now what?"

“Now I realize that I seemed to have misunderstood.

These latest journals on internal combustion engines are enough to show that you have a deep understanding of internal combustion engines.

Even without my prompting, you would have made suggestions.”

Lao Shanduo smiled bitterly and sat on the chair.

You didn't remind me at that time. Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and smoked it lightly, motioning Lao Shan to continue.

Lao Shanduo sighed and said, "The truth is just as you guessed. After we got the Russian ND1 diesel locomotive technology, we thought we had found a treasure.

It took a huge amount of manpower and material resources to build several prototypes.

Who knew that the ND1 diesel locomotive was simply not capable of carrying out the transportation mission.

After realizing this, we decided to abandon the ND1 diesel locomotive.

It just so happens that you are interested in internal combustion engine technology.

We were planning to recycle it, but who knew you would give up buying it.”

"Waste utilization? I think you are planning to cheat us?" Li Aiguo said with a smile.

Lao Shanduo's face flushed: "We are technicians. How can technical matters be called pitfalls? That's called a different route."

Laoshanduo’s behavior seems a bit "shameless".

However, it is common in international technology transactions.

Especially here we like laymen to guide professionals.
Leaders who are not familiar with the technology are willing to pay a high price to buy it as long as they hear that it is international high-tech.

As a result, the equipment I bought was actually obsolete.

Therefore, it is easier to fall into traps.

Technical personnel also have a motherland, so Li Aiguo cannot blame Lao Shanduo.

Li Aiguo withstood tremendous pressure and insisted on opposing the practice of exchanging technology, which aroused Lao Shanduo's admiration.

He failed to withstand the pressure at the beginning, so the Ministry of Railways spent a huge price to introduce the ND1 internal combustion engine technology.

"Driver Li, you are my friend."

Looking at Lao Shanduo's serious expression, Li Aiguo gently uttered two words, "Friend!"

A pair of hands were clasped tightly together.

The two chatted for a while and agreed to exchange letters frequently to share experiences in train design and manufacturing.

Old Sando and Philip were going to go back with the Hungarian President on a special plane, so they said goodbye.

Li Aiguo sent them to the gate of the compound and watched the jeep go away.

Although he has different positions, Li Aiguo still likes Laoshanduo very much.

This person is already the chief adviser and can definitely be a technocrat and live a life of luxury.

Now he is running around for the Ministry of Railways and Hungary's railway transportation industry.

He is a friend worth making.

Back in the courtyard, Li Aiguo had just sat down to drink a sip of tea when Liang Ladi brought two kilograms of pea sprouts with Ermao.

Liang Ladi worked during the day and stayed up late at night to modify electric sewing machines. In less than a month, she had modified ten electric sewing machines.

Liang Ladi earned 30 yuan just for the renovation costs, and her living conditions improved greatly.

"How many orders have you received this time?" Li Aiguo was not polite and asked Chen Xueru to put the pea sprouts into the basin.

"Only five."

Liang Ladi said somewhat depressedly: "Electric sewing machines are still too expensive, and many residents are reluctant to spend money on them."

"Liang Ladi, you are just a part-time worker, and you should act like a part-time worker." Li Aiguo said.

"You're saying someone is jealous of you, part-time job?"

Liang Ladi thought about it carefully and felt a chill on her back.

The money she earns every month from modifying electric sewing machines is enough to cover someone else's monthly salary.

"My patriotic brother, you are right to remind me. I will be more low-key in the future." Liang Ladi nodded heavily.

Li Aiguo knew that although Liang Ladi looked noisy, she was actually a smart person, so he didn't say anything more.

In the afternoon.

Li Aiguo took Chen Xueru to Chen's Tailor Shop.

Chen Xueru showed Chen Fangxuan Lao Shanduo's embroidery.

Chen Fangxuan praised repeatedly: "I didn't expect that there are also skilled embroiderers in foreign countries."

"Dad, I've heard from Lao Shan that this kind of embroidery is already a traditional culture. The hair embroidery passed down from our ancestors is also a traditional culture."

Chen Xueru stared with big eyes and said, "Dad, can you teach me?"

Li Aiguo's eyes widened when he heard this and he looked Chen Fangxuan up and down.

I didn’t expect that this father-in-law actually knew the lost embroidery skills!
In later generations, everyone knows that traditional embroidery includes Suzhou embroidery, Hunan embroidery, Sichuan embroidery and Guangdong embroidery.

In fact, in the province of Dacong, where the people are rough, there is a unique embroidery technique called Lu embroidery.

"Embroidered Portrait of Confucius", "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", "Six Horses" and "Portrait of Dongfang Shuo" are all representative works of Lu embroidery.

Hair embroidery is the finest of Lu embroidery and was considered an artistic tribute in the Tang Dynasty.

In the Qing Dynasty’s book “Gu Xiu Kao”, there is a record that “hair embroidery from Tang and Song dynasties was inherited”.

The "Statue of Dongfang Shuo" that was snatched away by Britain was embroidered using the hair embroidery technique.

The characteristic of hair embroidery is the combination of human hair and silk thread, including the use of human hair alone or the mixture of human hair and silk thread.

The embroidery process is complicated and takes a long time. It takes several months to create a piece of work, so it gradually disappeared in the long river of history.

Faced with Chen Xueru's request, Chen Fangxuan seemed a little hesitant.

He came from a family of tailors in Dacong Province.

She did inherit the art of hair embroidery from her ancestors, and before liberation she created several hair embroidery works for her own amusement.

However, Chen Fangxuan soon realized that with the emergence of foreign cloth, such ancient things as hair embroidery no longer had a market.

It is impossible to support myself by hair embroidery, let alone start a family.

Chen Fangxuan gave up further studies and became an apprentice to a mediocre tailor, concentrating on making gowns and dresses for people.

After liberation, the government promoted a new trend, and people on the streets wore work clothes, Lenin suits, and Mao suits.
Under this kind of atmosphere, it is even more impossible for Chen Fangxuan to do hair embroidery.

"Xueru, hair embroidery is very difficult and not very useful. I think it's better to forget it." Chen Fangxuan hesitated for a moment and wanted to refuse Chen Xueru.

Li Aiguo spoke up: "Hair embroidery is the crystallization of the wisdom of our ancestors, and has been passed down for thousands of years. Although there is no market for it now, it is a symbol of culture, and maybe someone will like it in the future.

Xueru is a clerk in the street office and doesn't need to rely on hair embroidery to make a living. Since she is interested, let her learn it."

Chen Xueru also said: "Dad, Hungary's history is much shorter than ours, and they have been able to pass down their embroidery culture. How can we give it up?"

In fact, Chen Fangxuan was reluctant to see the hair embroidery disappear in his hands.

Seeing this situation, he nodded and agreed.

“Xue Ru, hair embroidery is different from the embroidery techniques you learned before.

Hair embroidery can also use a variety of flexible needlework techniques such as rolling, spinning, wrapping, applying, messing, cutting, buckling, virtual and real, depending on the different pictures. You need to be careful and steady, and be able to endure loneliness. "

"Dad, don't worry, I will definitely pass on our ancestors' skills." Chen Xueru agreed hurriedly.

Chen Xueru had the genes to be a tailor in her bones, and now that she had inherited it, she pulled Chen Fangxuan to teach her hair embroidery that afternoon.

In the small tailor shop in Daqianmen, under the guidance of Chen Fangxuan, Chen Xueru started basic training with an embroidery needle.

On the satin, the needle and thread slowly meander in the fine weaving, like ripples blown by the breeze.

The colorful threads crisscross and slowly render colors of varying shades, as if drawing a beautiful picture.

The picture is beautiful and the atmosphere is gentle. If there were an oil painter here, he would definitely be able to draw a beautiful oil painting.

Li Aiguo just felt sleepy.

This thing is really good-looking, but it takes too much effort.

After two full hours, there was still no sign of progress.

It’s not as fun as riding on a big train.

Thinking of going to Wu Han tomorrow, Li Aiguo reminded: "Xue Ru, I'm going back now."

"You go."

"."

Looking at Chen Xueru who was concentrating on embroidery, Li Aiguo scratched his head and whispered: "Can embroidery be addictive?"

(End of this chapter)