The train driver in the courtyard

These days, in most railway worker families, the men have formal jobs and support the entire family.

Every family has four or five children, and life is relatively difficult, so the job of making hot packs is particularly attractive.

At six o'clock on Monday morning, after eating a bowl of cornmeal porridge, I took my younger brothers and sisters to the auditorium of the locomotive depot in the cold wind.

At this time, the auditorium was already crowded with employees' families.

Everyone is curious, what exactly is a hot pack?
More importantly, how to make a warm baby?
Eight o'clock in the morning.

The door of the auditorium opened and Monday followed the crowd in.

This was her first time attending such a conference. She felt that there were so many people, so densely packed that she couldn't see the podium at all.

Zhou Yi tiptoed in the crowd and saw Chief Xing of the locomotive depot and that familiar figure.

"He's really tall."

The large number of people in the auditorium also shocked Director Xing Duan.

Looking at the families of employees below the stage with pale faces, thin bodies, and clothes full of patches, the old section chief felt a little heavy-hearted.

Most of the railway workers are retired railway soldiers.

They came from all corners of the country to the locomotive depot to support railway construction and dedicated their youth to the railway transportation industry, but the locomotive depot did not take good care of them.
Director Xing looked at Li Aiguo who was sorting out the materials and felt a sigh in his heart.

If this "handmade work" model can be successful.

At least it can solve some of the living problems of the locomotive depot employees.

Seeing that everyone was present, Director Xing stood up and made an opening speech.

After saying the right things, he said loudly: "Now, Li Da Che will introduce the handicraft mode and how to make a warm baby to everyone."

As soon as these words were spoken, the families of the employees below all looked puzzled and started to discuss in low voices.

"What is manual labor?"

"I don't even know that. Manual work is just manual work."

"."

"What is a warm baby?"

"I don't even know that. A warm baby is a warm baby."

"Ah, it's not impossible for Li Dache to teach us how to have a baby. Look, Li Dache is so handsome."

"."

Hearing the discussions below, Li Aiguo was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

He is a train driver, but now he has to work part-time in the Women's Federation. Is this fair?
"Ahem, everyone, be quiet." Li Aiguo stood up and tapped the table lightly.

The auditorium suddenly became quiet and people stared at Li Aiguo.

Monday took out a notebook from his schoolbag and spread it on his legs, then took out a pen to take notes.

Li Aiguo stood up, looked around the crowd, and said loudly: "The so-called manual work model is that you receive materials from the locomotive depot, go home to produce the warm packs, and after the production is completed, you hand over the warm packs to the locomotive depot.

After acceptance by the maintenance section, we will pay you a certain amount of labor remuneration according to the number of warm packs.

The Warm Baby is a new product developed by our Qianmen Locomotive Depot. It can..."

Li Aiguo explained the situation of the handicraft and the hot pack in detail.

The old women and young wives in the crowd were a little disappointed.

I was originally waiting for Li Dache to teach me how to have a baby, but this is it?
But soon they became excited again.

They realized that they could take over the manual work of making the hot packs for the locomotive depot.

The reason why the families of these employees are unable to find formal jobs is that they have to work as temporary workers.

The biggest reason is that they have to take care of the elderly and raise children and cannot leave their families.

it's good now.

According to the handicraft model, the warm packs can be taken home, and you can make them during your free time taking care of the elderly and children.

It doesn’t matter if the production efficiency is not high, at least you can earn some money.

Zhou Yi's eyes lit up instantly.

She can make the hot packs after school without having to delay her studies.

"Li Da Che is really amazing. He can come up with such a good idea."

When Section Chief Xing saw the enthusiastic response from the employees' families, he also gave them a thumbs up.

According to the manual work model, the locomotive depot does not need to provide workshops and equipment, nor does it need to directly hire workers, and it does not need to submit reports to the department and go through procedures.

The employees' families can also earn money through their labor.

It's a win-win!

Afterwards, Li Aiguo explained the detailed production method of the warm baby.

Gelatin and vinyl are provided by the locomotive depot.

The employees' families only need to put the materials into the bags according to the specified proportions and sew the bags with needle and thread.

After production, the locomotive depot is responsible for purchasing it and delivering the goods every three days.

"Isn't this just needlework? Even a child can do it!"

I wrote down the steps on Monday and felt relieved.

The employees' families also felt that the production process was very simple.

We are fully capable of producing qualified products.

This is the characteristic of manual work: simple to make, low difficulty, and no equipment required.

"The first batch of warm baby packs has 20,000 in number. If you are interested in the manual work of producing warm baby packs, you can sign up with Chief Liu of the Logistics Department."

As Li Aiguo's words fell.

The employees' families all stood up and rushed towards Section Chief Liu.

The manufacturing process of the hot pack is very simple, and you can get 2 cents for each one, which is simply picking up money.

Section Chief Liu had never seen such a situation before and was shocked. He quickly asked Section Chief Xing for help.

Director Xing transferred someone from the security department and finally managed to maintain order at the scene.

Li Aiguo was also shocked. If a stampede happened, it would be troublesome.

He also had to go to the maintenance workshop to discuss the large-scale production of gelatin with Director Zhang, so he prepared to leave early.

Just walked out of the auditorium.

He was stopped by a thin girl.

The girl stared at Li Aiguo with her dark eyes: "Li Da Che, can you sign your name for me?"

Li Aiguo was a little confused when faced with the notebook handed to him by the girl. He was not a star, so why should he sign his name?
Seeing that Li Aiguo didn't move, his dark eyes were covered with a layer of mist. Li Aiguo was most afraid of the little girl crying, so he quickly took the notebook.

"What's your name?"

"on Monday."

Zhou Yi burst into laughter and said while biting his lip.

".This name is really easy to understand."

After finding out that Zhou Yi was a junior high school student and wanted to go to college and become a female scientist in the future, Li Aiguo smiled, picked up a pen and signed on the notebook.

After handing the notebook back, he strode away.

On Monday, I saw the words written on the notebook: "Study hard and make progress every day. I hope Comrade Zhou Yi can become a great scientist and contribute to the construction of the motherland!"

The handwriting is sonorous and powerful, and although it cannot compare with the calligraphy masters, it has its own style.

"Comrade. Li Da Che calls me comrade!"

Zhou Yi looked at Li Aiguo's back and clenched his fists.

"Li Da Che, I will definitely become a scientist!"

The rising sun broke through the dark clouds and shone on Zhou Yi's dry hair, turning her hair golden.

Li Aiguo discussed with Director Zhang and a group of technical masters how to produce gelatin on a large scale.

It was already ten o'clock in the morning when we came out of the maintenance workshop.

I was just about to ride my bike home to play Stickers with Miss Chen.

A figure stopped in front of the bicycle.

Li Aiguo was in a trance for a moment and almost forgot to step on the brakes, causing him to crash into the car. Fortunately, he activated the foot brake and managed to stop the bicycle.

Seeing that it was Yan Jiecheng who was blocking the way, Li Aiguo frowned and said, "Jiecheng, if you want to die, you can just stand in front of the train."

Yan Jiecheng was also startled and smiled awkwardly: "Brother Aiguo, I have something urgent to discuss with you."

Li Aiguo looked at him.

Yan Jiecheng rubbed his hands and said embarrassedly: "I also want to get some materials for the hot packs and take them back to let my mother make them. You know, my mother doesn't have much to do on weekdays."

Auntie, nothing happened? Are you kidding me?
Don’t think that the three aunts don’t have jobs.

Every day she had to take care of the four children and the third uncle's eating, drinking, defecating and urinating, and also help the third uncle clean small fish and sort out waste cardboard.

In addition, the three aunts also planted a lot of green vegetables in the flowerbed in the backyard of the courtyard.
He is so busy every day that he even complained to Chen Xueru about his back pain a while ago.

Just looking at Yan Jiecheng's money-grubbing look, Li Aiguo thought for a moment and said, "You are now an employee of the locomotive section, and the third aunt is also considered an employee's family member. According to the regulations, she can also receive manual labor.

Please help her register her name first, and then go to the Logistics Department of the Locomotive Depot to participate in the training on the manufacturing of warm baby products in two days."

"Thank you, patriot brother"

Yan Jiecheng left happily.

Each hot pack can get 2 cents as labor compensation.

If you make a thousand hot packs, wouldn’t that be twenty yuan?

Get rich!
"We are going to get rich. Our family is going to get rich."

Inside the Yan family house.

After listening to Yan Jiecheng's explanation, the uncle's face flushed with excitement. He rubbed his hands and said, "If we can make 10,000 warm baby packs, we can earn 200 yuan! We can buy a bicycle."

Yan Jiecheng: "."

He felt that his ideas were still a bit conservative.

Seeing the father and son discussing how to make a fortune, Auntie reminded them quietly: "It may not be that easy to make a warm baby. How can I make 10,000 of them?"

Yan Jiecheng came to his senses from his ecstasy: "Yes, this is the first batch of warm packs, and they need to be delivered within three days. Time is a bit tight."

The third uncle nodded and said, "Old lady, you will attend the training tomorrow, so you can get 100 warm packs. That way we can also earn two dollars."

The three aunts are still a little worried.

However, she also knew the Third Uncle's temper and nodded heavily.

The handicraft of making warm baby quickly spread in Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

The families of the employees signed up enthusiastically, with more than 500 people willing to receive the warm-up pack materials in the first batch alone.

Two days later, the gelatin was ready.

Chief Liu of the Logistics Department of Qianmen Locomotive Depot, together with comrades from the Education Office, provided skills training to the families of these employees and invited Li Aiguo to serve as a part-time lecturer.

At the meeting, Li Aiguo explained all the manufacturing details.

He also reminded the employees' families that the hot packs would be distributed to workers as cold-resistant supplies in the future, and that their quality must be guaranteed.

The families of the employees agreed in unison.

The three aunts stood in the crowd and looked at Li Aiguo standing on the podium.

This kid is so arrogant. I wish Yan Jiecheng could be as arrogant as him.

Afterwards, comrades from the Logistics Department counted the number of people and distributed the raw materials.

Li Aiguo was watching from the side. Seeing that the third aunt had collected the materials for 100 warm baby packs at once, he reminded her, "Third aunt, the warm baby packs may look simple, but the production process is still very complicated. Can you finish 100 of them?"

“It’s patriotism.”

The third aunt wrapped the materials in a bag and was about to leave, but she stopped and said awkwardly, "It's okay, I don't have much to do at home, I can always finish it if I spend more time."

Seeing that the third aunt was so confident, Li Aiguo did not persuade her anymore, but just reminded her to ensure the quality.

"Thank you."

The three aunts ran away with the materials.

She had to go back quickly to make the hot packs.

On Monday, because I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to complete the production on time, I only received the materials for thirty hot packs.

After returning home, she followed the steps recorded in the notebook and made the hot packs step by step with her brothers and sisters.

I found out on Monday that sewing a hot pack is actually quite easy.

The most difficult part was to mix the various materials in the prescribed proportions. There were no electronic scales in those days, and the old-fashioned beam scales with weights were used, which were inconvenient to use.

The regulations are particularly strict in the locomotive depot, and the weight of various materials is accurate to 0.1 ounce.

It takes a lot of effort and time to match the materials every time.

It took Monday and his brothers and sisters one night to make five hot packs.

Looking at the five exquisite hand warmers, Zhou Yi rubbed his sore wrist and felt a little excited.

This is enough to cover their living expenses for the whole day tomorrow.

Night falls.

On Monday, I remembered that I hadn’t seen Su Xiaohong all day.

He told his younger brothers and sisters to stay at home and wait for their mother to come back, and then he went to the Su family.

As soon as he entered the door, Zhou Yi saw Aunt Su grab a handful of toner with her sturdy hands and put it into a black plastic bag.

The scale was placed on the table next to her, and there was a pile of materials on the table.

The materials were a mess, all mixed together.

Zhou Yi was startled and quickly ran over to stop Aunt Su.

"Auntie, the toner can only hold one or two or three coins. This is too much."

"Oh, it would be too much trouble to weigh them one by one. They are all in bags anyway, and we can't take out every bag to check."

As Aunt Su spoke, she grabbed a few more handfuls of iron powder and threw them into the bag.

Feeling that the bag was almost full, she didn't have any release stones, so she picked up the needle and thread and sewed the bag shut.

Zhou Yi frowned: "Auntie, Li Da Che said that if the proportions of the materials are not correct, it will affect the effect of the warm baby.

These hand warmers are to be distributed to the workers to keep warm."

Aunt Su said disapprovingly: "With so many hot packs, it's normal that some of them don't work well.

Besides, who knows which worker will receive this hot pack?
How could I be so unlucky to be in the hands of your Uncle Su? "

Zhou Yi wanted to explain, but Aunt Su became a little impatient.

At this time, Su Xiaohong heard the sound and came out, pulling Zhou Yi in.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Zhou Yi angrily confided to his friend.

"Isn't your mother lying?"

Su Xiaohong chuckled: "Monday, you are just too stupid. You mix little by little, which takes so much time. Didn't you see that my mother sewed ten hot packs in a short time and earned two cents."

“But that’s cheating.”

"Let's not talk about this anymore. I borrowed a manuscript from someone today."

Su Xiaohong didn't like what she heard and pulled out a worn notebook from under the mattress.

Reading the manuscript secretly is a little secret between Zhou Yi and Su Xiaohong.

Feel the thrill of a little sin every Monday.

In the past, Mondays would have been a time for me to enjoy a rare happy time with my friends.

But when Zhou Yi thought of what Aunt Su did, he felt very upset.

In order to help employees' families solve their living problems, Li Dache took great pains to research out the simplest production procedures so that family members could carry out production activities on their own.

However, in order to save trouble, Aunt Su deceived others.

This is so inappropriate.

"Xiao Hong, I still have to go home and sew a warm baby, so I'll leave first."

Seeing Zhou Yi leave, Su Xiaohong muttered softly: "This girl is really stubborn."

After returning home.

Zhou Yi was in a state of hesitation. She wanted to report the matter to the maintenance depot, but she was worried that Aunt Su would be punished.

At this time, Aunt Zhou came back from get off work. Seeing Zhou Yi looking upset, she asked him about the whole story.

Aunt Zhou rubbed Zhou Yi's hair and said slowly, "Child, we should not meddle in other people's affairs. We just need to be true to our conscience."

Zhou Yi was not convinced: "Mom, but Aunt Su"

Aunt Zhou interrupted her: "We are neighbors with the Su family, and you and Xiaohong are still friends.

Your Uncle Su and your father were workmates. If Aunt Su knew that it was you who filed the complaint, how would our two families get along in the future?"

The relationship between neighbors is very deep these days, and Zhou Yi is also aware of this.

But she still felt that she could not allow Aunt Su to harm the locomotive depot.

Didn't sleep well on Monday night.

The next morning, before going to school, I quietly arrived at the locomotive depot.

Li Aiguo was checking the train with Huang Jing at this time, and saw the little girl who had asked him for an autograph before walking towards him hesitantly.

I took the initiative to greet him: "Your name is Monday, today is Monday, why don't you go to work?"

Facing Li Aiguo, Zhou Yi nervously pulled at the corner of his clothes and mustered up the courage to say, "Li Da Che, I want to ask, if the materials in the warm pack are not mixed according to the prescribed ratio, will it affect the effect of the warm pack?"

Li Aiguo heard this and smiled, "Of course. The heating pad generates heat through chemical reactions in the internal materials. Why do you ask this?"

Is it a mistake in the ratio? It doesn’t matter, every family has the error allowance of two warm baby warmers.

When the time comes, you can hand over the used hot packs to the comrades in the logistics department and ask them to mark them out.

Those hand warmers will not be distributed to the workers.”

"It's not me, it's"

When the words were on the tip of his tongue, Zhou Yi's ears rang with his mother's words, and the figures of Su Xiaohong and Aunt Su appeared before his eyes. His voice choked in his throat and could no longer come out.

"Li Da Che, you have to pay attention to the quality of the hot pack."

Monday finally gritted his teeth, uttered something vague, turned around and ran.

Looking at the two braids flying in the air, Li Aiguo frowned.

The biggest concern about manual work is the uneven production skills of employees’ families.

In order to prevent quality problems with the hot packs, he has established a strict acceptance procedure, so there is no need to worry about quality issues at all.

What on earth does this girl want to say?

At this time, Huang Jing had finished inspecting the train.

"Master, we can set off now."

Li Aiguo boarded the train, blew the whistle, and pushed down the valve. The train started slowly, humming along.

Warm baby is a new thing now.

Yan Jiecheng, who has been promoted to a loud speaker, has been explaining the functions of hot packs to residents in the compound in recent days.

Of course, he focused on manual work.

"Brother Damao, did you know that you can get two cents for making a hot pack? I'm going to get rich!"

"If I make hundreds of them, wouldn't the money I get be higher than my monthly salary?"

Xu Damao was also jealous.

He went to the countryside to show movies, risking being caught by the villagers, and only earned two dollars by stealing an old hen.

It is so unfair that the Yan family can earn dozens of dollars just by sitting at home and doing some work.

At this time, the unemployed old women and young wives in the compound also gathered around and asked Yan Jiecheng about the warm baby.

Yan Jiecheng raised his head proudly and said, "So, the pig skin that Li Aiguo used for scientific research a while ago was really used for scientific research.

This is how the warm baby does it."

The residents in the compound originally thought that Li Aiguo was buying fat in the name of scientific research.

Now that they heard that the hot pack had really been invented, everyone felt that they had misunderstood Li Aiguo.

"Ms. Jia Zhang really deserved it. If she had destroyed all the pig skins, the locomotive depot would definitely not be able to develop a baby warmer now."

"Yeah, a hot water bottle that can heat itself is amazing."

"Ahem, it would be nice if we could get some handiwork too."

The old ladies and young wives looked at each other.

Li Aiguo drove back and just as he walked into the gate, he was stopped by Xu Damao and a group of old women and young wives.

"Brother Aiguo, I heard that your locomotive depot has some handmade products for making warm baby products, can you give some to my family?"

"Yes, we have nothing to do at home. If we can earn some money, our lives will be more comfortable."

Li Aiguo didn't expect the news to spread so quickly.

Just wanted to explain.

When Yi Zhonghai came back from get off work, he saw a large group of people surrounding Li Aiguo. He rolled his eyes and walked in with his hands behind his back.

He looked at Li Aiguo, coughed twice and said, "Aiguo, we are all neighbors in the same compound. Now that you have a job that makes money, you should at least take care of these neighbors."

Yi Zhonghai felt proud.

If Li Aiguo did not help, he could be accused of deliberately destroying the unity of the compound.

"Yi Zhonghai, are you okay?" Li Aiguo did not answer him but asked back.

These words almost broke Yi Zhonghai's defense. He covered his head and looked around to see if Jia Zhang was nearby. Only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Li Aiguo turned around and looked at the ladies and young wives and said:
"I understand your feelings. This time it really won't work.

According to the regulations of our locomotive section, the manual work of making warm baby products can only be assigned to railway employees for the time being.

Don't worry, if the production scale is expanded in the future.

The locomotive depot has decided to distribute the manual work to the public, and I will definitely give priority to our neighbors in the compound."

Although the residents felt it was a pity, they didn't say much since they were not railway workers.

Yi Zhonghai, however, had a stern face and said in a cold voice: "Be patriotic, but don't be too selfish. Now that you have a good life, have you forgotten the neighbors in our compound?"

Before Li Aiguo could say anything, Xu Damao, who had just been clamoring for manual work, stood up.

He tilted his fat face, squinted his eyes, and said in a sarcastic tone: "Uncle, you are a level 7 worker, and you earn more than 80 yuan a month. You and Auntie can't spend it all, and I don't see you helping these neighbors.

But he has set up a poverty alleviation fund out of patriotism and helped a lot of people.”

The residents in the compound who received help from the poverty alleviation fund also spoke in unison.

"Yes, we get five dollars a month. Although it's not much, it's enough to buy cornmeal. This is all thanks to their patriotism."

"This is the regulation of the locomotive section. It's not up to one person, just because he loves his country, to decide."

"An old man who does nothing but shouts slogans all day long, is that interesting?"

Yi Zhonghai realized his mistake this time.

Just now, Li Aiguo did reject those residents under the banner of the locomotive depot.

But he still left a burden behind - the locomotive depot might expand production in the future, and the manual work might be handed over to the residents at that time.

In this case, the residents must not offend Li Aiguo for the sake of "future" manual labor opportunities.

What a sinister thought!

After Yi Zhonghai came to his senses, he felt discouraged. He hadn't realized that this kid had become so difficult to deal with.

He just felt his heart pounding.

"I-I have to take medicine."

Yi Zhonghai turned around and staggered back home.

back home.

The old lady looked at him and sighed helplessly.

"Old Yi, I have advised you so many times not to cause trouble with Aiguo, but you just won't listen."

"Li Aiguo was very ruthless. He bribed all the residents with just a few dollars. The money was not his but donated by the residents.

He also made false promises to keep the residents hooked.”

Yi Zhonghai said, slapping the table.

"People who seek fame and reputation like this will bring disaster to our compound sooner or later. As a master, how can I ignore them?"

The aunt smiled bitterly and shook her head.

She felt that Yi Zhonghai seemed to be in a state of impotent rage.

(End of this chapter)