The train driver in the courtyard

[A bridge spans the north and south, turning a natural barrier into a thoroughfare]

June 15, 1957

It was about three o'clock in the morning.

Li Aiguo was awakened by a hurried knock on the door.

"Driver Li, we need to go to the Jiang'an Locomotive Depot in advance to prepare for the trip."

"understood."

Li Aiguo responded, took out the brand new oil-covered suit placed at the bedside and put it on.

This clothing is specially provided by Jiangan Locomotive Depot for the drivers of Shoutong.

It was originally supposed to be worn by Liu Dali, but now it has fallen to our Li Aiguo.

Holding the enamel basin, Li Aiguo went to the bathroom to get some water and washed his face with a huff, and was about to leave.

Huang Jing came up and said, "Master, you can't do this. Today is a big day, you have to dress up properly."

Before Li Aiguo could react, Huang Jing pulled him into the room and made him sit in front of the mirror.

It's called dressing up, but in fact it's just combing your hair.

Huang Jing originally wanted to apply lotion on Li Aiguo, but was rejected by Li Aiguo.

Just kidding, the vanishing cream is too sticky.

If you apply it on your face, your face will be covered with coal dust while driving.

"Just leave it like that."

After some grooming, Li Aiguo looked at himself in the mirror and bared his teeth.

Hey, the boy is quite handsome.

It was still early and the guesthouse had not yet provided breakfast.

In order not to delay the driving mission, Li Aiguo took Huang Jing, Cao Wenzhi, Liu Qingquan and others to a noodle restaurant called Chen Fangji not far from the gate of the guesthouse.

There are many noodle shops like this in Wu Han, which mainly sell sesame noodles (hot dry noodles), shredded pork noodles, beef noodles and other foods.

In those days, there was no such thing as hot dry noodles. It was generally called sesame paste noodles or hot dry soup.

Before liberation, most of the people selling sesame noodles were hawkers carrying poles on their shoulders, doing business in the small streets and alleys.

He carries a load of sesame noodles, pots, stoves, bowls and basins... weighing more than 100 pounds, and he carries them unsteadily to his fixed stall, getting up early and going to bed late, and his work is extremely hard.

After liberation, vendors gradually settled down and were allocated small shops. They set up a few tables and did business on the land.

Because the shop is too small, although it is a public-private partnership, it is still run by an individual.

Mr. Chen, a chef and part-time boss, was captured by the Japanese and forced to work as a soldier to build fortifications. Unfortunately, the index and middle fingers of his right hand were blown off.

He used three fingers to hold a long-handled bamboo basket and deftly scooped out the noodles, making bowls of steaming, fragrant sesame noodles.

The flour is yellow, shiny, fluffy and dry after being dusted.

Soy sauce, vinegar, sesame paste, secret marinade... pour it on the noodles, scoop a ladle of bright red chili oil, and sprinkle with chopped green onions.

Pour the special sesame sauce on the noodles, and Old Man Chen called his eldest daughter Chen Hongmei to bring the hot dry noodles over.

"Comrade driver, I added a little more chili for you.

Miss Huang, since you don't like spicy food, I added some more chopped green onions for you."

Chen Hongmei's original name was Chen Hongmei, and she changed her name to Chen Hongmei after liberation.

She is about eighteen or nineteen years old, has a junior high school education, and is an employee of the nearby Xinhua Bookstore. She only comes to the store to help out in the morning.

Now the noodle shop has become a joint public-private venture, and it doesn't matter whether you sell a lot or a little, so Chen Hongmei doesn't have to help at all.

However, the customers who came to eat here were all old neighbors, and Old Man Chen couldn’t turn them away.

"Thanks, Hongmei."

Huang Jing took the noodles, picked up the chopsticks and stirred them, then said with a smile, "I heard you're getting married soon, right?"

The Jiang'an Locomotive Depot was full of rough guys. After Huang Jing arrived at the depot, she often ate noodles in the noodle shop, and that's how she got to know Chen Hongmei.

Huang Jing liked the diligent Wu Han very much, and Chen Hongmei also admired Huang Jing for her courage to become a train driver. The two quickly became friends.

"Even you know about it!" Girls are always a little shy when talking about their marriage, and even the lively girl Wu Han is no exception.

Chen Hongmei blushed with shame and whispered, "Next week, the date has been chosen, and we are buying things now."

"I have five kilograms of national food coupons here. You can exchange them for cloth coupons." Huang Jing looked at Li Aiguo.

Seeing that Li Aiguo agreed, he took out five kilograms of food coupons from his pocket and handed them to Chen Hongmei.

"Oh, how can this be possible?" Chen Hongmei hesitated when she looked at the national food coupons.

Huang Jing stuffed the food coupons into her hands and said with a smile: "Just take it. This is what I saved, and it's not much. Consider it my wedding gift to you."

Chen Hongmei was a very open-minded person, so she didn't refuse when she heard this.

She held the food coupons in her hand and indicated that she wanted to invite Huang Jing to her wedding.

After the opening ceremony, Huang Jing was going to leave Wu Han with the locomotive depot. Although she knew that she might not have time, she still agreed to Chen Hongmei's request.

The sky gradually brightened and more and more customers came to the noodle shop. Chen Hongmei was like a diligent little bee, busying herself in this cramped noodle shop.

A young man in a gray Zhongshan suit came into the noodle shop and called Chen Hongmei out.

Chen Hongmei's joyful look in the face of the young man caught Li Aiguo's attention.

While tasting this early version of "hot dry noodles", he asked, "Is that Hongmei's fiancé?"

"Yes, I think his last name is Chen too. He is a distant relative of Hongmei's family. He came to Wuhan a while ago. He is now working in an electrical material store and earns more than 40 yuan a month."

"Wu Han who came here a while ago."

Before Li Aiguo had time to think more, Huang Jing suddenly said, "Oh, it's almost time to gather, Master, let's go back to the guesthouse."

Li Aiguo was interrupted. When he looked up again, Chen Hongmei and her fiancé were gone.

It seems that the two of them went to work.

"Let's go back to the guesthouse."

Li Aiguo took out two cents and a national meal ticket and handed them to Old Man Chen.

Old Man Chen tried to refuse: "You have already given five kilograms of national food coupons."

"That was Xiao Huang's wedding gift to Hongmei. It doesn't count. Dad, this has to be entered into the public account." Li Aiguo said.

After hearing the reminder, Old Man Chen finally took it over.

Generally speaking, in public-private joint ventures like this, you need to pay first before you can eat.

It's just that Old Man Chen's business is a local business and he doesn't have a public manager, so he can be so casual.

But if someone saw him "intentionally running away from the bill" and reported him to the neighborhood committee office, Old Man Chen would be in big trouble.

Li Aiguo stood up and took Huang Jing to the outside of the guesthouse.

Xing Duanchang, Cao Wenzhi and their companions had been waiting for a while, and there was a truck parked nearby that was specially sent to pick them up.

The truck was in charge of a guard, who took a list, checked the people one by one, and pointed at Section Chief Xing.

"Comrade, you are not on the list. Please stay away."

Duan Chang Xing: "."

It is a great honor for railway workers to be able to participate in the "first run".

Duanchang Xing originally planned to take a ride on the "Shoutong" bus, but he didn't know that the rules were so strict.

"I don't know which idiot came up with the idea of ​​calling out names. If I knew about this, I would definitely hang him from the rafters."

Li Aiguo: "."

He raised his head and looked towards the sky.

"Duanzhang, look, there's a plane."

(End of this chapter)