The train driver in the courtyard

When Lao Mao asked what a "music household" was, Meng Duanchang seemed a little embarrassed and hesitated, not knowing how to explain.

At this time, a local team leader stepped forward and explained the origin of "Music Households".

Lao Mao and Li Aiguo were both amazed.

From the 1920s to the 1930s, the three towns of Wu and Han were prosperous cities in China.

The prostitution industry also entered a new period of prosperity.

At that time, in order to make money, the government first "designated brothel areas" and demarcated the business areas of the branches;
The name of the branch is uniformly called "Lehu".

During the day, a uniformly issued magnetic "Le Hu" sign with blue letters on a white background must be hung in front of the door of each household.

At night, a "door lantern" with the word "Music House" written on it is hung.

Isn’t this the so-called “red light district”?

Women working in the industry were required to wear an "identification badge" on their chest (equivalent to the current "job permit") and to undergo regular checks to see if they had syphilis.

After these "supporting services" are provided, the authorities can legitimately collect "flower donations".

It includes various items such as donations from musicians, donations for hotel guests, license fees for supporting prostitutes, and license fees for musicians.

In order to attract attention, Wu Han also held "Women's General Elections" from time to time.

Moreover, it is done in a relatively "formal" manner, and its popularity is no less than that of various beauty pageants today.

During these "flower world elections," some tabloids would publish ballot papers for a small fee per piece.

And a popular female branch girl will ask her regular customers to buy tickets for her.

Some big-money ticket buyers often buy in packages, which is called "package tickets", to support their favorite female supporters.

The selection process is similar to the imperial examination. The top three are named Zhuangyuan, Bangyan, and Tanhua, and the following are several Hanlin.

The value of the female prostitutes who won a prize increased greatly, and their status in the entertainment industry also improved significantly.

After Li Aiguo understood, he asked in surprise: "After liberation, these musicians disappeared, didn't they? What does this have to do with Liu Dali?"

There were many women from the imperial court in the capital at the time. After liberation, a one-size-fits-all approach was adopted, which quickly reversed the situation.

The team leader sighed and said, "It's not that simple. The number of musicians in Wu Han is several times that of the capital. In order to avoid causing unrest and being exploited by those with ulterior motives, the higher-ups have adopted the reform policy of [strictly restricting, gradually reducing, preparing conditions, and finally eliminating]."

Because the effect was not very good, in 1951, the strategy of [cutting off the source, controlling the bosses, educating the female branches, and troubling the ticket customers] was adopted.

Trouble ticket customer?

Li Aiguo took a breath of cold air.

This approach really has a long-term vision.

If this practice were implemented in later generations, he would not be able to collect folk songs.

"For a long time after liberation, Wu Han was a regular musician.

Moreover, because brothels were closed in big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai, prostitutes, singers and dancers all turned to Wu Han's [stage].

At one time, the number of Wu Han's musicians increased dramatically.

It was not until June of this year that Wu Han announced that the campaign to ban prostitution had been a complete victory.

My goodness, Wu Han actually had a formal "music household" area for six or seven years after liberation.
No wonder the train drivers in the locomotive depot all like to run this line.

After figuring out the whole story, Li Aiguo looked at Meng Duanzhang and asked, "What's the name of that musician?"

"Xiao Fengxian." Meng Duanchang.

Li Aiguo: "."

This name is so representative.

Twenty minutes later.

Li Aiguo appeared in the Wuhan City Women's New Orphanage (now near the Yuehan Wharf on the Hankou River Beach).

After the prostitution system was completely abolished and all brothels in the city were closed, Wu Han's musicians were once reformed and educated here.

After receiving education, those prostitutes were assigned from the Women's New Education Institute to work in factories, where they could support themselves.

After looking through the materials, the officer of the reformatory found a file.

"The Xiao Fengxian you are looking for was originally named Zhao Ermei, and she entered the reformatory in August 1952.

After 9 months of education and transformation, he got rid of his bad habits of laziness and greed for pleasure, and went to work at the Red Star Tannery.

We don’t know much about the follow-up situation, and we need you to contact the Red Star Tannery.”

Well, it seems I have to go to the tannery again.

Li Aiguo and Lao Mao thanked the staff of the reformatory.

Then we took a jeep to the Red Star Tannery on Hanhuang Road, Jiang'an District, Hankou.

This is one of Wu Han’s largest tanneries. You can smell the pungent odor when you get close to the factory.

After learning the purpose of the two people's visit, the comrades from the tannery's security department checked their documents and quickly found out Zhao Ermei's current situation.

"She took leave yesterday on the grounds of not feeling well."

"Where is her home?"

The jeep roared toward the residential area not far from the tannery.

Li Aiguo sat in the jeep, feeling a bit like he was fighting monsters and passing levels. He was particularly looking forward to fighting the final big boss.

It’s just that the whole arrest process seemed a bit lackluster.

Just like last time, the team leader and a few guards jumped over the wall and opened the door.

The team members went in again and blocked the surroundings, and when the other team members kicked the door open, they rushed in and carried out the arrest.

Liu Dali was sleeping with Xiao Fengxian in his arms at that time. Facing the long and short guns, he was so scared that he almost collapsed on the bed.

Xiao Fengxian refused to do it. She sat up without hesitation, shook the cloth bag and shouted, "I just want to earn some extra money. Why do I need to be arrested by someone with a gun?"

Li Aiguo ignored her and directly pulled back the quilt with the barrel of his gun. He looked at the shivering Liu Dali and said, "Driver Liu, your story has been exposed."

After saying that, Li Aiguo looked at the open-minded Xiao Fengxian.

This woman is quite a seductive creature, with fair skin and makeup on her face. Although she is in her thirties, she looks like a young wife in her twenties.

Liu Dali looks like a toad, but he has a good vision.

After verifying his identity, the guards rushed forward and pulled Liu Dali out of the bed.

In order to prevent him from hiding weapons, even Xiao Fengxian, who was in bed, was required to stand up and jump hard wrapped in the quilt.

This trick was suggested by Li Aiguo. He came here in a hurry today and did not bring his female comrades with him, so it was inconvenient to search him, so he had no choice but to resort to this last resort.

It really worked. After jumping about seven or eight times, a pistol suddenly fell out from under the quilt.

The pistol's magazine had been removed and the barrel was covered with a rubber sheath.

Looking at the pistol in the captain of the guard's hand, Li Aiguo frowned in disgust.

This is a real man's weapon, not a fake man's weapon.

Liu Dali is so despicable for desecrating the sacred weapon!

The captain of the guard was a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old. He didn't understand the situation very well. He picked up the pistol, opened the rubber cover and started to smell it.

Li Aiguo wanted to vomit after seeing this, so he reminded him: "Don't smell it. Don't you think about what this thing is doing in the bed?"

The captain of the guard looked at the gun barrel, then at Liu Dali, and suddenly changed his mind. He quickly put the pistol into the bag and threw it into the jeep.

Liu Dali also calmed down at this time, looking at Li Aiguo, his eyes flashing with hatred.

"This driving mission was originally mine! Why did you snatch it away from me? I won't accept it!"

"Just because you're not convinced, you can do something dirty?"

Li Aiguo stepped forward and grabbed Liu Dali by the collar and said, "You know, although the flash point of lubricating oil is over 200 degrees, it is not flammable.

However, the high temperature generated by the friction of the wheel at the rear of the large connecting rod is as high as 700 to 800 degrees, which is very likely to detonate the lubricating oil.

In addition, when the connecting rod loses lubrication, it will cause severe friction, which will eventually cause the steam engine to be scrapped.

In order to take revenge on me, you would rather destroy a train. Are you still qualified to be a train driver?"

The moment Liu Dali saw Li Aiguo, he knew that the truth had been revealed and lost all resistance. He sneered and said, "Li Aiguo, what does the train have to do with me?
If I can get the first pass, it doesn't matter if ten trains are destroyed in the locomotive depot."

Hearing this, Li Aiguo looked at Liu Dali in disbelief.

This person is beyond help!
He lost interest in getting entangled with Liu Dali and suggested that Lao Mao take him away.

Liu Dali had a cloth bag on his forehead and was taken to a jeep. He appeared to be well behaved throughout the whole process.

Xiao Fengxian was unwilling to do so.

"Boss, I'm just dating Liu Dali. I didn't take any money. You can't punish me."

"Don't worry, if we investigate thoroughly, we will give you a clear name."

Lao Mao and Li Aiguo didn't care about Xiao Fengxian's affairs. They said a few perfunctory words and took her away.

Afterwards, the guards searched Xiao Fengxian's house and found an account book and a wine jar under the bed.

The notebook contained many people's names, dates, and the number of eggs at the end.

Usually it is four eggs, and regular customers like Liu Dali can get a 50% discount.

He is a good businessman.

There were eggs in the wine jar. I counted them and found that there were more than thirty eggs.

"This woman hasn't done much business."

Before the captain had finished his words, he had taken out all the eggs and fished out a handful of banknotes from the bottom of the jar.

After a rough count, there were more than two hundred yuan.

Li Aiguo: "."

Old Cat: “.”

Team leader: "."

Obviously, this money came from selling eggs.

Well, this little Fengxian is really hardworking.

Li Aiguo handed the wine jar and account book to the captain of the guard and took them back to the maintenance section.

Catching the person is half the job.

Speaking of this arrest, it was the easiest arrest Li Aiguo had ever experienced, as Liu Dali did not resist at all.

I also swept the yellow one.

Everyone would say that Li Aiguo is a good young man who has no regard for gambling and drugs.

It was almost dusk when the convoy returned to Jiangan Locomotive Depot.

Because the gate was blocked, the employees in Jiangan Locomotive Depot had no way to leave after work and were gathered at the gate.

It was because the guards were fully armed, otherwise the employees would have caused a commotion.

Seeing the jeep coming, the captain of the guard first asked the guards to set up the machine guns, ordered the employees to stand far away, and then opened the gate.

In order not to affect the lives of the employees, Lao Mao sat in the jeep, looked at the employees, and said, "Okay, now that the person has been caught, these people can leave."

"Yes!"

After releasing the people in the maintenance depot, the guards escorted Liu Dali and Xiao Fengxian into the maintenance workshop.

The maintenance workshop was temporarily requisitioned and a table and chairs were placed next to the train.

Lao Mao brought people into the workshop and interrogated Liu Dali and Xiao Fengxian separately.

Since Li Aiguo's official identity was just a train driver, it makes sense that he participated in the arrest.

But if there is an interrogation, there is no reasonable grounds.

So I didn't get involved in the interrogation.

While he was checking with Liang Sicheng about tomorrow's "First Opening" celebration traffic, he was waiting for news from Lao Mao.

It was already dinner time.

Section Chief Meng ordered that all the stock in the canteen of the Jiang'an Locomotive Depot be taken out and a sumptuous dinner be prepared.

Everyone was given a lunch box of Jiangan Locomotive Depot's braised pork, a plate of scrambled eggs with green onions, and a large bowl of steamed rice.

The so-called Jiang'an Locomotive Depot braised pork is just ordinary braised pork.

The reason for this name is to show the generosity of this unit.

In Beijing, for example, there are dishes like stewed mutton from Qianmen Locomotive Depot, pig ears with green onions from the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, stewed cabbage with tofu from the No. 1 Machine Tool Plant, and roasted eggplant from the Foundry.

After dinner, the old cat brought news.

Li Aiguo said goodbye to Liang Sicheng and came to the outside of the maintenance workshop.

The old cat was smoking a cigar, his brows twisted into knots, standing alone, the setting sun shining on him, looking extremely lonely.

"Team leader, what's the situation?" Li Aiguo walked forward and asked.

Lao Mao took out a cigar from his pocket and threw it to Li Aiguo.

"After interrogation, it was found that Liu Dali tampered with the train out of jealousy in order to obtain the qualification for the first run. He was not a member of the third group."

Li Aiguo didn't find it strange.

Liu Dali was so careless that he left candle residue at the scene when he was taking action.

If there was someone like him in the third group, he would have been exposed long ago.

"Team leader, don't worry too much, we have already developed a complete protection plan.

Even if the third team attacks on the day of the celebration, we can capture him on the spot."

Li Aiguo said with his chest puffed out.

The old cat nodded heavily.

He had confidence in the defense plan formulated by Li Aiguo.

After the case of the train sabotage was investigated, Lao Mao handed the case over to his comrades on the railway because it had nothing to do with the third team.

The case involved the destruction of a train, so comrades from the General Administration attached great importance to it and sent four or five railway police officers to escort Liu Dali out of the maintenance workshop.

Liu Dali looked at the leader timidly and whispered, "I have already admitted my mistake. Can I be released after two years in prison?"

"What are you dreaming about! Your case has been registered with the ministry.

You will be lucky if you can eat peanuts comfortably in the future."

The leader of the General Administration looked at Liu Dali with anger.

In recent years, there has never been an incident in the country where a train driver has actively sabotaged a train.

Liu Dali's behavior brought shame to all train drivers and railway workers.

Liu Dali didn't expect the consequences to be so serious.

He burst into tears at the top of his lungs, "It's unfair. This is not my fault. It was Li Aiguo who bullied me and took away my driving license. That's why I am dealing with him.

If you want to arrest someone, arrest Li Aiguo as well."

"."

Night falls.

After Li Aiguo sent the old cat away, he returned to the railway police station.

Cao Wenzhi had already learned what happened in the Jiangan Locomotive Depot and said angrily: "He has no ability to obtain the first pass, but he wants to harm others. This kind of person is too hateful.

Fortunately, Patriotism is smart, otherwise it would have caused a disaster."

Xing Duanchang waved his hand at Cao Wenzhi and said, "It's getting late now. Go to bed early. We still have to participate in the first pass tomorrow!"

The members of the 131 driver team returned to their respective rooms.

Li Aiguo lay on the bed, staring at the pink and white ceiling, lost in thought.

The enemy's third group has not taken any action until now. Are they really planning to take action during tomorrow's ceremony?
(End of this chapter)