The train driver in the courtyard

Time has unknowingly come to the end of December, and the weather is getting colder.

The driver's building was like a steamer, and when you got out of the car, it was an icy cave outside. Most people couldn't stand it.

Li Aiguo put on a tiger-skin four-piece suit and put a hot pack around his waist before he staggered off the train.

"Aiguo, this hot pack you made saved my life." Lao Zheng followed behind and climbed down.

"Since Aiguo came to our driver team, we have been living a good life." Liu Qingquan also praised.

Now there are rumors circulating in the department.

Li Aiguo has already reserved the title of this year's advanced train driver.

As employees of the same team, they will also be praised when the time comes.

Although this news is a bit unbelievable, there is an unwritten rule in the locomotive depot that the more outrageous the rumor, the more likely it is to be confirmed to be true.

Li Aiguo also heard the news and felt it was a bit ridiculous. How could an advanced train driver be re-elected?

He smiled and shook his head, crossed the railroad tracks, weaving in and out of the crisscrossing locomotives, and finally came to a freight locomotive.

"Master Zhou, are you there?"

He shouted at the top of his voice.

A head popped out of the side window of the locomotive, and then a basket with a rope tied to it came down from above.

Master Zhou shouted, "Dr. Li, the things you want are in the basket. It's cold outside, and I have to drive later, so I won't go down."

Wow, he’s too lazy to even get off the train. It seems that this Old Zhou is the kind of person who treats the driver’s building as his own home.

Train drivers have different personalities.

Some go to get off work and come home according to routine.

There are also people like Lao Zhou who stay in the driver's building all day and never leave unless necessary.

A long-distance driving trip sometimes takes more than ten days, and eating, drinking, defecating and urinating are all done in the driver's building.

It is somewhat similar to social phobia in later generations.

There was an oil paper bag in the basket.

Li Aiguo opened it and found it was full of walnuts. He picked it up in his hand and found it weighed at least five kilograms.

Li Aiguo stuffed the money into the basket, pulled the rope, and the basket was pulled up again.

Carrying the oil paper bag, Li Aiguo returned to the dormitory, took a shower, and prepared to go back.

Today is the last day of the solar calendar. I will spend New Year’s Eve with Miss Chen in the evening. It will be a great pleasure.

As soon as he walked out of the dormitory, Yan Jiecheng grabbed his arm.

"Brother Aiguo, come on, there's a dance party in our locomotive depot, let's go dance."

"Dancing? I'm big and strong, and people call me ruthless. No, no." Li Aiguo waved his hands repeatedly.

There was no wind during this period, and no natural disasters occurred.

People had just come out of the war and were beginning to enjoy a better life. It became a trend for city dwellers to learn ballroom dancing.

Every unit in Beijing holds a dance party almost every week. For example, the Cultural Palace holds three dance parties every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.

Large public welfare venues such as the First Workers' Cultural Palace, the Second Palace, and the People's Auditorium often hold dances open to the public.

Trade unions or the Communist Youth League often organize social dances to allow male and female employees to get to know each other, fall in love, and some people even get married.

When Li Aiguo first entered the locomotive depot, Zhou pulled him to jump several times.

He danced quite well, but he needed too many partners. The little girls were terrified of Li Aiguo when they saw him.

Later, in order to avoid delivering performance to the Railway Hospital and because he was already married, Li Aiguo had to bid farewell to the dance floor reluctantly.

"The situation is different this time. Maybe you don't know this, but a friendly delegation from the Gorky Railway Bureau is visiting our locomotive depot to exchange ideas and learn from them. They have the custom of dancing on New Year's Day.

This dance party of our locomotive section is held for them."

Yan Jiecheng looked at Li Aiguo enviously and said, "The female leader of the delegation specifically asked you to attend the dance."

The Russian delegation is famous for their love of dancing.

In order to prepare for the dance party, the locomotive section decided to send young comrades who were good at dancing and had no problems with political review to participate.

Yan Jiecheng was also very young and could dance, but he came from a small business family, so he was eliminated.

Seeing that Li Aiguo was still hesitant, Yan Jiecheng lowered his voice and said, "Brother Aiguo, this is a rectification task."

Well, once things involve rectification, it will be particularly troublesome. Li Aiguo also wanted to know how hard the old Russian women were.

"Let's go now."

The so-called dance hall of the locomotive depot was actually converted from a dilapidated auditorium.

The broken windows are covered with cotton curtains, and springs discarded from trains are installed under the wooden floor, giving a sense of ups and downs when dancing.

There must be lights in a dance hall, but the spotlights specifically for dance halls are too expensive and hard to buy.

Someone came up with a good idea, which is to hang the red and green signal lights for learning on the wall. They will flash in the dim light, which is quite interesting.

The dance was hosted by the Education Room.

Director She was discussing something with a few Russians. When he saw Li Aiguo come in, he waved to him.

"Comrade Patriot, please come here quickly. I will introduce you to someone."

Director She pointed to a plump woman and said, "This is Natalie, the head of the Gorky Railway Bureau's friendly delegation and the conductor of the local train."

"Hello, Captain Natalie." Li Aiguo extended his hand and shook it with the woman.

Natalie was probably in her thirties, about 1.9 meters tall, with a broad back and strong build, typical characteristics of a Russian woman.

"Dear Comrade Li Aiguo, hello, hello." Natalie said in broken Chinese, "I heard that you are the best train driver in the Beijing Railway Bureau, but I didn't expect you to be so young. This time we came to your locomotive depot to learn from you, and we hope you can give us more guidance."

"You're welcome. Our locomotive section started late, so we should learn from the older guys."

After a round of commercial praise, melodious dance music started playing.

Conductor Natalie took Li Aiguo's hand and walked into the dance floor.

Ten minutes later, she limped back and sat down on the table.

Director Xing Duan had just finished his work and arrived at the dance party.

Seeing Natalie grinning, he asked in confusion: "Captain Natalie, what's wrong? Is our driver Li not a good dancer?"

"That's not the case. It's just that the kick was too hard." Natalie said.

Duan Chang Xing: "."

Li Aiguo didn't do it on purpose, he was just knocked out by the Russian's body odor.

Then the two of them sat aside and chatted.

Although Natalie is only in her thirties, she has worked on the railway for more than ten years and even participated in the Great Patriotic War.

"Comrade Natalie, it is truly admirable that you were able to deliver ammunition to the soldiers on the front line under the hail of bullets." Li Aiguo gave her a compliment at the right time.

"Driver Li, you are good at everything except dancing." Natalie rubbed her feet and said, "However, as a train driver, how can you not dance?

How about this, let's continue dancing tomorrow night. I believe I can train you to be a good dancer."

Li Aiguo: "."

That night, the maintenance workshop received an urgent task. The locomotive depot urgently needed to manufacture a pair of iron shoes.

Li Aiguo certainly would not waste his time dancing with the Russians.

The next evening.

The fire clouds in the sky are burning beautifully.

Li Aiguo brought Chen Xueru to a place less than one kilometer away from Qinghua University and Jingcheng University.

This place was later called the North Fourth Ring Road.

The North Fourth Ring Road was also very prosperous in this era. The streets were crowded with traffic, and pedestrians, tricycles, and bicycles were bustling together, forming a picture full of life.

Different from the hustle and bustle around, under the mottled shadows of the trees, a few elderly people sat together chatting in a courtyard on the corner.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle with Chen Xueru around the corner, stopped at the gate of the courtyard, verified his identity with the gatekeeper, and continued walking inside.

A brand new three-story gray brick building in the courtyard stands out among the low tiled houses and bungalows.

The uniform red wooden windows of every household in the building are divided into eight small squares.

There is a black number 14 on the wooden building sign.

It was freezing cold, and all the cubicles were closed; the sound of radio and cooking could be faintly heard from inside the house.

This is the legendary "Special Building". (End of this chapter)