The train driver in the courtyard

Chapter 594: Two people were knocked down, and the No. 131 train was set free

Time can heal all wounds, and the passing years will erase all stories.

December 1957, .

The first heavy snow fell in the capital.

The fluttering snowflakes fell from the sky like elves, covering the land of the capital with a blanket.

Li Aiguo was woken up from his sleep by He Yushui early in the morning.

"Brother Aiguo, my mother asked you to accompany me to build a snowman!"

"Yushui, I've been busy for a few days. I finally have a break. I have to go to the maintenance section to do some work. Please let me sleep a little longer."

I, Li Aiguo, am not a lazy person and I also want to crawl out of bed.

But he couldn't bear to leave the warm bed.

He Yushui lay on the bed, holding her chin with both hands: "Then hurry up and give me a little niece, I will take her to play with me."

Li Aiguo: "."

Chen Xueru heard the noise and walked in from outside. She smiled and said, "Aiguo, go and help them build a snowman. Otherwise, these little guys won't leave."

Li Aiguo turned his head and saw that the window had been filled with little heads, and those big, twinkling eyes were full of anticipation.

Li Aiguo built several big snowmen last year, which completely intimidated these guys.

Even Xu Damao, who always looked down on others, gave a thumbs up and praised, "Who is the best at making snowmen? It's our Siheyuan Li Aiguo!"

Well, the greater the ability, the greater the responsibility.

Li Aiguo stretched and got up from the bed, dressed like a big bear, and came to the courtyard with He Yushui.

At this time, many little idiots had gathered in the yard, including Liu Guangtian, Zhang Tiedan, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiefang.
Seeing Li Aiguo coming out, Zhang Tiedan handed him a shovel that was several heads taller than him.

"Uncle Patriot, let's build a snowman."

Huhuhuhu. Our Li Aiguo is a master at making snowmen. He picked up the shovel and shoveled hard, and finally made a big snowman more than one meter tall next to the pond in the yard.

Xu Damao, Hailong and Haitao came over when they heard the children's laughter and helped.

Just as he was busy, Li Aiguo saw Jia Zhang coming out of the house with a broom.

There was a thick bandage wrapped around Jia Zhang's forehead, similar to what happened to Yi Zhonghai a while ago.

Xu Damao also saw it and felt strange: "Brother Aiguo, tell me, who broke Jia Zhang's forehead?"

"Who knows." Li Aiguo smiled and continued to work.

A while ago, an old lady was sent to the hospital by Li Aiguo because of a heart attack. Because she was treated in time, she was not seriously injured.

After the old lady woke up, Yi Zhonghai rushed into the emergency room and asked her why she fainted.

When the first aunt saw Li Aiguo, Aunt Liu and the second aunt were all nearby, she opened and closed her mouth.

Yi Zhonghai seemed to have noticed something and stopped asking.

They just announced to the public that the old lady fainted due to a sudden heart attack.

Everyone thought the matter was over.

On the day when Aunt Yi was discharged from the hospital, a commotion was heard in the Jia family.

When Jia Zhang appeared in front of everyone again, her head was wrapped in gauze.

According to Aunt Zhang, whose relative works as a nurse in the hospital, Jia Zhang's forehead was hit with a brick.

Everyone thought that Yan Jiecheng was the one who did it. After all, Yan Jiecheng had been saying a while ago that he wanted to kill Jia Zhang.

However, unexpectedly, Jia Zhang flatly denied the incident, saying that she accidentally bumped into a tree when she went to the toilet at night.

Jia Zhang is not a child anymore, how can she hit a tree? No one believed her reason, but they couldn't figure out the real reason.

This incident has also become one of the mysterious events in Siheyuan. If the "Science Approaches" program team knew about it, they could have filmed at least ten episodes.

After learning about this, Li Aiguo gave his comment: A ranged mage like Yi Zhonghai will also turn into a melee fighter when he is provoked.

When all other methods have failed, physically destroying the enemy becomes the only option.

Just look at Amei's family next door. The former president was forced to undergo ear surgery in public, in front of the national television audience.

The scenery over there is indeed very beautiful.

For a period of time thereafter, the Yi, Jia and Yan families were in a delicate balance.

Jia Zhang was feeling guilty, so she didn't dare to cause trouble for Yi Zhonghai, nor did she dare to go to the third uncle's house to ask for compensation.

The three uncles and aunts got ten yuan, which compensated for their losses.

Yi Zhonghai treated Jia Dongxu as usual, but looked at Jia Zhang coldly.

Li Aiguo had not expected that a small disturbance would grow bigger and bigger, become so complicated, and even knock down two people.

At this time, Jia Zhang also saw Li Aiguo and Xu Damao. Thinking of what had happened recently, she became furious and walked past them with a gloomy face.

If Li Aiguo hadn't invented the hot pack, would she have been killed?
All the mistakes were blamed on Li Aiguo.

Seeing Jia Zhang's gloomy face, Xu Damao said in a sarcastic tone, "Jia Zhang, you are becoming more and more active now. You rush to clean the toilet early in the morning. You will definitely get the red money this month."

Upon hearing this, Jia Zhang was so shocked that she couldn't catch her breath, staggered, and almost fell to the ground.

"Damn Xu Damao."

She wanted to curse a few more times, but when she thought about being late soon, she no longer cared about arguing with Xu Damao. She turned around and ran towards the neighborhood sanitation station.

With the help of a group of little guys, the snowman was quickly built.

The body is composed of multiple snowballs of different sizes.

The snowballs at the bottom are the largest, while those at the top are the smallest.

Li Aiguo took the carrot from He Yushui and stuck it on the snowman's head. With a bright red nose, the snowman instantly came to life.

"Patriotic brother, your skill in making snowmen is impeccable." Xu Damao gave a thumbs up.

My goodness, this can be called a craft?
At this time, Chen Xueru had prepared the meal. Hearing the shouting, Li Aiguo returned home with his hands behind his back.

While I was eating, an old lady appeared at the door with a bunch of juicy vegetables in her hand.

"Xue Ru, the weather is too cold. The vegetable patch in the backyard is dying. I pulled out all the vegetables. Look at these green ones. I'm eating them now."

Chen Xueru quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks, took the vegetables, and said with a smile: "Have you eaten? The meal has just been prepared and is still hot."

"No, I have to go back to take my medicine. The doctor told me to take it on time." The old lady smiled and nodded at Li Aiguo, then turned around and left.

Since Auntie was discharged from the hospital, she often brings small gifts to Li Aiguo's home, a handful of vegetables today and a bag of peanuts tomorrow.

Although Yi Zhonghai was unwilling, he could only pretend that he didn't see it.

After dinner, I rode my bike to the locomotive depot in the wind and snow.

Li Aiguo cannot drive today, but he will help comrades in the logistics department to distribute hot packs.

The hot packs have been distributed to frontline railway workers a while ago.

Due to its unique efficacy, the warm baby quickly became popular among railway workers.

Some employees are even willing to spend money to buy hot packs.

After learning about the existence of the warm-keeping artifact, the hot pack, the neighboring brother units also went to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to buy it.

In view of the great demand for the hot packs, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot expanded its production scale and "recruited" nearly three hundred employees' family members in total.

At the same time, the plan for establishing the third-line Nuanbaobao factory has been submitted to the Ministry of Railways, and construction will start in the early spring of next year.

This batch contains a total of 50,000 hot packs.

Thirty thousand tickets were distributed to the employees of Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and the remaining ones were distributed to several brother units including Harbin Locomotive Depot and Zhengzhou Locomotive Depot.

There are still some hot packs left in the cardboard box.

The cardboard box was made of kraft paper, which was particularly rare in those days.

Seeing Li Aiguo walk into the warehouse, Chief Liu of the Logistics Department solemnly handed a list into his hand.

"Driver Li, there are 2,000 hand warmers here. They are all made by trustworthy family members of employees. Each one has the name of the manufacturer registered on it and has been inspected twice. There will definitely be no problems."

"Thank you for your hard work, Lao Liu."

"This is the glory of our locomotive section. I am not tired at all!"

Section Chief Liu was a former railway soldier. When he thought about the role these warm packs would play, he couldn't help but get excited.

After checking the list with Nuanbaobao, Li Aiguo signed his name on it and handed the list back.

The box containing the hot packs was picked up by a pair of strong arms, left the logistics warehouse, and placed on the back seat of a bicycle.

The box left the locomotive depot and traveled along the historical streets of Beijing, finally arriving at the General Political Department compound.

The box changed its owner here and took a GAZ jeep to a quiet courtyard.

"Teacher, this is a gift from the patriotic representative of the locomotive section."

"Two thousand warm baby bags. Zhao Gang, go to Captain Zhang and withdraw one hundred yuan to give to the patriotic comrade."

"Teacher, this is unacceptable. Patriotism will not be paid."

"Then tell Aiguo not to send hot packs anymore!"

".All right."

After some conversation, the box was placed on the table.

A pair of big hands opened the box, picked up a hot pack, and their eyes were full of relief.

"Such a small thing can actually play such a big role. Aiguo is a talented person. The proposals he quickly printed should be brought to the meeting for discussion as soon as possible so that arrangements can be made earlier. Time is running out!"

After a sigh, the hot packs in the box were divided into seven parts.

The head teacher kept one copy, and the remaining six copies were packed in six cardboard boxes and delivered to six old friends by the guards.

When Li Aiguo learned from Zhao Gang that the head teacher insisted on paying the fee of 100 yuan, he did not refuse.

He knew that the teacher was someone who had truly been tested by iron and blood, and he always set high standards for himself.

If you don't take the money, the teacher will definitely throw the hot pack out.

"Aiguo, the teacher has become much more energetic recently. Thank you."

"You're welcome. It's just a little thing."

After a few pleasantries, Li Aiguo rode his bicycle and left Zhao Gang's house.

After returning to the locomotive depot, he handed the hundred yuan to the logistics department for recording.

The arrangements for the warm baby have been made.

As the end of the year approaches, Li Aiguo also focuses on driving.

At the end of each year, factories and units are evaluated. This year, the locomotive depot has already announced the results.

If the 131 crew can win the title of National Outstanding Crew again, each person will be rewarded with two wool blankets and two front-row tickets to the Tianqiao Theater.

Li Aiguo had no shortage of blankets, but he was very interested in tickets to the Tianqiao Theater.

In 1955 and 1956, a large theater was built in the southern part of Tianqiao, which people jokingly called the "Tianqiao Theater."

All internationally famous dramas, musicals, and dance dramas can be seen here.

Often in one performance, you can see the Russian Swan Lake paired with the Korean Qin Xiang Chuan, which has a unique flavor.

Thanks to its "forward-looking openness", Tianqiao Theater quickly became the most popular theater in Beijing, and tickets were often hard to come by.

Captain Bai wrote a letter of determination on behalf of the 131 crew. For a period of time afterwards, the atmosphere within the crew suddenly became serious.

While driving, Liu Qingquan, who always liked to tell jokes, also closed his mouth and kept sticking his head out of the window in the cold wind.

This was Huang Jing's first time experiencing "award judging" work, and she was more proactive than before. Her thin body was either helping the boiler operator Lao Zheng shovel coal, or helping Liu Qingquan lookout.

Li Aiguo didn't take it to heart and continued to drive carefully as usual.

The days passed.

One day a month later.

As usual, small snowflakes were floating in the sky. As usual, Li Aiguo boarded the train with the 131 driver team, and the train set off as usual.

Arriving at Jingcheng Station, passengers crowded to board the train.
Everything today seemed exceptionally peaceful, just like in the past.

The black train belched out black smoke as it traveled along the rails, passing through Yizhuang and Wuqing successively.

After passing the military food station, the train climbed to the top of the uphill slope at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour, and then there was a long downhill slope with a slope of 6‰.

As usual, Liu Qingquan retracted his frozen head from outside and shouted, "The next section is a long downhill route, be careful to avoid the train from letting go."

Considering the extremely cold weather and the layer of ice on the rails, the friction between the wheels and the rails was relatively small, so Li Aiguo decided to conduct a braking test.

When Liu Qingquan learned that a brake test was going to be carried out, he found it a little difficult to understand.

“Brake tests are usually carried out on freight trains, which carry heavy loads and are not often serviced.

We are a passenger train, and the maintenance workers in the maintenance workshop are watching us every day. There may be something wrong with the brakes."

Liu Qingquan is not a careless train driver, but after years of driving, even the most cautious person can become negligent.

It is not a driving rule to conduct a brake test on a long slope, and it may cause a poor riding experience for passengers in the rear compartment due to a sudden drop in vehicle speed.

That's why Liu Qingquan spoke out against it.

Li Aiguo convinced him with just one sentence.

"It's better to be careful. Pay attention to the speed!"

While calling for instructions, Li Aiguo pushed the brake handle to the braking position, and then the sound of exhaust was heard on both sides of the front of the car.

This piercing sound could not be drowned out even by the noisy sound of wheels hitting the rails.

Hearing the sound, Li Aiguo frowned instantly, and the cigarette butt between his fingers trembled.

Because it was a long downhill stage, Huang Jing did not need to help Master Zheng shovel coal. At this time, she was assisting Liu Qingquan to pay attention to the condition of the line ahead. When she turned around and saw Li Aiguo's expression, she felt a little strange.

"Master, what's wrong? Didn't the car speed decrease?"

"not enough!"

"??"

"The exhaust volume is not enough, and the speed reduction is not enough."

As soon as these words came out.

Both Liu Qingquan and Huang Jing looked confused.

Is it really possible to judge whether the exhaust volume is sufficient by the sound volume?
The speed at which the vehicle speed is reduced is related to factors such as the original vehicle speed, the weight of the passenger car, and the friction coefficient of the rails, and these factors are difficult to measure objectively.

It is even more difficult to measure.

At this time, even Huang Jing felt that Li Aiguo's worries were a bit unnecessary.

"Master, we have run this route countless times. Although there is a long downhill slope of more than ten miles ahead, there has never been a problem. Are you too nervous?"

Li Aiguo listened carefully for a moment and based on his experience he felt that he had not heard wrong.

He ignored Huang Jing and closed all the big and small gates.

The train slowed down dramatically, and sparks flew as the wheels rubbed against the rails.

Seeing that the original driving system test turned into an emergency brake, Liu Qingquan frowned and was about to remind Li Aiguo that if the speed could not be increased, he might be late.

At that time, it will inevitably affect the title at the end of the year.

At this moment, the speed of the car suddenly increased.

The train has entered a long downhill phase and is speeding up under the influence of gravity.

"The brakes failed!" Liu Qingquan swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue. He was so frightened that his scalp went numb.

He was an experienced assistant driver and knew very well that even on a long downhill slope, the train would slow down rapidly and eventually come to a stop after it reached the bottom.

Huang Jing's face also turned pale, and she tightly grasped the handle on the roof of the car with both hands.

"Master, what's going on?"

The car's speed confirmed his guess, but Li Aiguo did not feel excited.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down, and shouted to Liu Qingquan: "According to the sound of the exhaust, the brakes of at least two carriages at the back have failed. There is a small turn ahead. Stick your head out and see which two carriages they are."

Liu Qingquan didn't say anything else. He stuck his head out of the window and took the opportunity of the train turning to clearly see the rear carriage.

"Driver Li, the brake shoes of the vehicles from carriage 10 to carriage 13 are hugging the wheels! The friction between the brake shoes and the wheel rims has produced sparks."

After learning the result, Li Aiguo's face became serious.

Liu Qingquan's heart was in his throat, and the usually calm Old Zheng now looked ashen as he held the coal shovel.

Huang Jing took a deep breath. Although she was a driver's apprentice, she knew that the train had a certain braking ability at this time and could still maintain its speed.

Once the brake shoes of the four carriages are worn out and melted, the train will lose its braking ability and will completely run wild.

If anything happens on the route ahead, unimaginable serious consequences may occur.

Train No. 131 was speeding up as it went downhill, and was about to reach the track maintenance area at the bottom of the slope. Beyond the track maintenance area was Huangcun Railway Station.

There are no guardrails at Huangcun Station or the railway line, so pedestrians, vehicles and livestock can cross the railway at will.

The problem is that Huangcun Station borders Dongmaquan Township and Huanghuadian Township in WQ District, Jinshi to the east and north, Matou Town to the south, and Qiuzhuang Township to the west. It is considered a small transportation hub.

On weekdays, people from dozens of miles around like to go to Huangcun to attend the market.

The highway connecting the four places crosses the railway. This road is usually crowded with pedestrians and vehicles. If a train loses control of its brakes and is allowed to rush forward, it will hit people and cars.

Even if Train No. 131 was extremely lucky and was able to pass Huangcun Station smoothly and cross a small railway bridge at the Zhangjiagou crossing, there was a sharp turn of less than 130 meters a few hundred meters away from the bridge head.

At the current speed, the car will definitely go off the track if it passes this curve, instead of turning smoothly and safely!
"Now someone needs to go to the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth sections to troubleshoot."

Before Li Aiguo finished speaking, Liu Qingquan raised his hand: "According to the rules of our locomotive section, if there is a fault during driving, the assistant driver should fix the fault, and the fireman should take over the assistant driver's duty to strengthen the lookout! I will go and fix the fault."

Lao Zheng looked at Liu Qingquan and said, "Lao Liu, your leg injury hasn't healed yet. If you want to get to the rear carriage now, you have to climb over the roof. How can you do that in this state?"

Liu Qingquan fell down while riding a bicycle in the snow a while ago. It was quite serious and according to the doctor he needs to stay in bed for a month.

But now is the stage of selecting advanced crew groups, and letting Liu Qingquan lie at home is more painful than killing him.

He thought that as a co-driver he only needed to keep lookout, so he went into battle despite being injured.

As a result, this kind of thing happened.

Lao Zheng and Liu Qingquan have been partners for many years, and he couldn't let him take risks, so he gritted his teeth and said, "I'll go instead of you."

Lao Zheng threw away the coal shovel and was about to open the side door and climb out when a big, hard hand grabbed his arm.

Turning his head, he saw a calm face.

"Master Zheng, let me go. The cause of the failure is unknown now. Among us, I know the most about trains, and I am also the youngest." Li Aiguo said in a deep voice.

Master Zheng hurriedly shook his head: "Driver Li, you are the regular driver, you can't take risks."

A train driver is equivalent to a general of an army, responsible for commanding the troops. How can he carry a big knife and fight against the enemy?

Li Aiguo patted his shoulder and said, "I am the chief driver. According to the regulations of the locomotive section, I have the final say during driving. Now I order you to return to your position as a boiler operator."

Crawling on a high-speed train is very dangerous.

Old Zheng knew that Li Aiguo made this decision because he couldn't bear to see him take the risk, but he had no choice but to return to his post.

Li Aiguo looked at Huang Jing and said, "Huang Jing, you will now take my place as the train driver."

"Master." Huang Jing bit her lip and was about to say something when Li Aiguo grabbed the guardrail above the side door with both hands and jumped out.

"master."

Seeing that Huang Jing was about to cry, Liu Qingquan comforted her and said, "Don't worry, girl. Li Dache is the best train driver I have ever seen. He will be fine."

"Yeah, my master must be the best!"

Huang Jing is not an ordinary girl after all. Having participated in driving missions many times, she knows very well that when there is danger, someone must step forward and risk his or her life.

Now that the master has gone to save the train, she has to fulfill her duty as well.

Huang Jing kept telling herself that the master would be fine, and then slowly sat in the driver's seat.

This position that she had longed for had no appeal to her now.

Woo hoo hoo. Eat like crazy, eat like crazy, eat like crazy
The train was speeding at a speed of over 70 kilometers per hour, and a figure climbed up the water tank of the train with difficulty.

There is a price to pay for showing off.

Li Aiguo now deeply understood this truth.

The wind was so strong that it felt like a knife cutting my face.

The small snowflakes blown by the wind made me unable to open my eyes.

The most difficult part was that a layer of ice formed on part of the top of the train.

Even though he was wearing anti-slip leather shoes, Li Aiguo almost fell several times. Fortunately, he grabbed the railing in time.

Li Aiguo had climbed onto a moving train before, but this was the first time he encountered such a difficult situation.

He half-crouched on the top of the train, waited for his abdominal muscles that had just been injured to relax, then held on to the handrail and walked across the more than ten-meter-long coal and water car.

The passenger carriage was at the rear of the coal-water truck. Li Aiguo took a deep breath, bent down, and tried to keep his balance in the violent shaking and strong wind while moving towards the tenth carriage with difficulty.

At this time, some members were doing winter plowing in the fields nearby.

Seeing a man on top of the train, the members stopped their hoes and stared with wide eyes: "Wow, it's the Railway Guerrilla!"

(End of this chapter)