The train driver in the courtyard

In the early morning, the sun shines all over the capital, coating everything with a faint golden glow.

"Would you like to try some traditional snacks from Beijing?"

Li Aiguo took Wang Hong into a state-owned hotel next to Xizhimen.

Wang Hong looked at the furnishings in the store curiously and felt they were very novel.

"I've heard that the snacks at Old BJ have a unique flavor. I finally came to the mainland this time, so I can't miss it."

Li Aiguo smiled and asked the boss for two fried cakes, a bowl of tofu pudding and a bowl of soy milk.

Wang Hong looked at the soy milk in front of him, then at the tofu pudding in front of Li Aiguo, and felt a little strange: "Comrade driver, why do we have different breakfasts?"

"Douzhi is the most traditional delicacy in the capital. It is said to have appeared in the late Northern Wei Dynasty. Do you know Jia Sixie's Qi Min Yao Shu? It specifically records douzhi."

Li Aiguo looked at the bowl of bean juice and said with a smile: "I wanted to have a bowl, but my budget is limited. You also know that our conditions are difficult. We can only give the best gifts to the most distinguished guests."

Hearing this, Wang Hong suddenly felt a little embarrassed.

"My father admires domestic delicacies the most, and I must try them today."

Done.

Wang Hong brought the bowl to his mouth and took a big gulp.

As soon as he drank the soy milk, his face changed.

The sour taste instantly exploded on the tip of the tongue, as if biting into an unripe green apricot, so sour that it made one's cheeks twitch.

After the sour taste, there is an indescribable sour smell, like the smell of leftover food that has been left for many days in a stuffy environment, which hits the nasal cavity and taste buds.

If possible, he would definitely spit it out and throw the bowl of soy milk into the trash can.

But looking at the words "Waste is shameful" on the wall and Li Aiguo's expectant eyes, Wang Hong pinched his nose with one hand, raised his head, and gulped down the drink.

"How does it taste?" Li Aiguo asked with wide eyes.

Wang Hong gave a thumbs up: "Wow, good thing! Old BJ's food is really as good as its reputation. Hiccup."

Li Aiguo: "."

He thought this guy was really good at acting.

After a simple breakfast.

Wang Hong borrowed a bicycle and followed Li Aiguo back to the locomotive depot.

Today is Li Aiguo's driving day. Compared with studying computers, driving a train is his main job.

It was the first time for Wang Hong to enter the driver's building. He felt everything was new and he touched and looked around.

Although Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng were not clear about Wang Hong's identity, they still figured out something from his accent and kept their mouths shut all the way.

Wang Hong also knew the reason, but did not care about it. Instead, he stood beside Li Aiguo and discussed the technical details of producing magnetic core memory.

This is also the real reason why he boarded the train today.

Seeing Li Aiguo's skillful operation of the train, Wang Hong sighed in his heart, this man is really a train driver.

"Driver Li, why don't you like being a leader and insist on being a worker?" Wang Hong chatted for a long time and couldn't help asking.

Li Aiguo gently pushed the valve, blew the whistle, and the train slowly drove out of the Qianmen locomotive depot.

He took the time to look at Liu Qingquan: "Old Liu, do you want to be a leader?"

"Who wants to be a crappy leader?" Liu Qingquan leaned out from the side window, lit a cigarette and took a long puff.

"Can you tell me the reason?"

Wang Hong's father left the mainland before liberation.

At present, the mainland and foreign servers are not yet connected, and most of the time Wang An can only read mainland news from newspapers.

Although he had established contact with comrades in the mainland, as a man who was proficient in business, he always believed that seeing is believing and hearing is not.

The reason for sending Wang Hong back to the mainland this time may be to verify the situation in the mainland.

Liu Qingquan leaned against the side window, smoking a cigarette and said, "My monthly salary is 110 yuan, the same as the head of the education department.

The grain and meat rations are even higher than those of the section chief.

The house I was assigned was the same as the section chief. If the section chief dared to bully me, I would rush over and kick his ass. Tell me, if I gave up such a good job and became a section chief, wouldn’t that be a sign of something wrong with my head? "

The workers' wages and housing benefits were better than those of their leaders. Wang Hong's first reaction was that this person was following orders from his superiors and was fooling him.

But when he thought about it carefully, he felt that he was judging others by his own mean standards.

Wang Hong boarded Train No. 131 today on a whim, and even left behind his comrades from the foreign affairs department along the way. It was impossible for the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to be prepared at all.

Looking at the co-driver who was trying his best to stick his head out of the window to look out.

Looking at the fire operator busy in front of the hot furnace, the blazing flames illuminated his bronze face, sweat slid down his cheeks, but he didn't bother to wipe it off.

Wang Hong seemed to understand why the workers in the mainland could not compare with those in the United States in terms of clothing, food and clothing.

But their spirit and energy are much higher than that of the Americans.

The train was rushing towards Tianjin, eating crazily, eating crazily.

After Wang Hong and Li Aiguo talked about technical details for a while, he suddenly asked, "Driver Li, how did you come up with the idea of ​​using the spinning method to expand the capacity of the magnetic core memory?"

"My wife is a tailor, and she has great skills."

"."

Wang Hong felt that Li Aiguo was fooling him.

Just then, the speed of the train slowly decreased and a clicking sound was heard outside.

Wang Hong was startled: "Did something happen?"

"It's not a big problem. This is an uphill slope, so the wheels must have slipped a little." Li Aiguo said as he immediately turned on the switch to spread sand.

Spreading sand is a technical job. There are tricks to knowing when to spread sand, under what circumstances, and how much to spread.

If you spread too little or too early, it will be ineffective and wasteful, while spreading too much will become a hindrance.

If you spread sand too late, the driving wheels will spin and the car will lose speed. Then you will remember to spread sand, which may further hinder your climbing.

The previous substitute train driver was an idiot. When we encountered a long uphill slope, the sand was scattered all over by the truck in a few seconds.

I stared at the wheels spinning, unable to climb the hill, and could only go back.
As the inventor of sandbags, Li Aiguo is naturally an expert at spreading sand.

Just one move.
Li Aiguo pulled the switch twice in succession and his face changed suddenly.

He didn't feel the bumps of the wheels rolling over the sand!
At this time, the wheel slipped more seriously, the speed dropped suddenly, and the clicking sound turned into a hissing sound, which is the sound of the wheel spinning when slipping.

Liu Qingquan reported loudly: "Reporting to the driver, we are still at least one kilometer away from the top of the slope. If the speed drops further, we may need to stop."

Old Zheng was already trying his best at this time. He threw away his work clothes which had long been soaked, picked up the coal shovel and desperately pushed coal into the furnace.

He wanted to increase the power of the train by adding coal, but it was in vain.

If the wheels are spinning, no matter how powerful the power is, it will be useless.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the driver's building suddenly became tense.

Even Wang Hong felt that the situation was not good. He wanted to ask about the situation, but he opened his mouth several times but no sound came out.

"The amount of sand added is far from enough. The sand in the sandbags must have become compacted." Li Aiguo listened for a moment and quickly analyzed the cause of the accident.

Hearing this, Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng's faces turned pale.

According to the regulations of the locomotive section, in order to prevent compaction, the sand packed in the sandbags needs to be fried to ensure it is absolutely dry.

But if it rains, the sand may get damp.

This year alone, the situation where the sand was too compacted to spread has occurred several times.

"The sandbags are on the roof of the car. We have to climb up to remove the sand. Otherwise, let's stop the train," Liu Qingquan suggested.

"No, the slope is quite steep. If the train stops and loses speed, it will be difficult to start again."

As Li Aiguo was speaking, he stood up, pointed at Liu Qingquan and said, "Assistant driver, now I order you to perform the duties of the chief driver in my place."

"You're going to climb on top of the train?"

Liu Qingquan was shocked and quickly advised: "Driver Li, the train is going at least 40 now. If you are not careful, you will fall down. Then..."

If you fall from the roof of a train several meters high at a speed of 40, even if you don't die, you will be left disabled.

Too dangerous!

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Li Aiguo said with a stern face: "Comrade co-driver, please obey orders!"

"You" Liu Qingquan wanted to say something more, but he also knew that the best way now was for someone to climb up and pull the sand down.

He had no choice but to leave the co-pilot seat and move to the driver's seat.

Li Aiguo walked to the side window, grabbed the window with both hands, pulled it up with both hands, and leaned his whole body out of the window.

Only then did Wang Hong react.

He was startled and rushed over to stop Li Aiguo.

"Driver Li, should we get someone else to do this?"

Just kidding, Li Aiguo is in charge of magnetic core storage.

If something goes wrong with him, the cooperation between Wang Laboratories and Hextech Technologies may fail.

In addition, after returning to the Friendship Hotel last night, Wang Hong called Wang An again and asked why Wang An agreed to give the original shares to Li Aiguo.

Wang An only said one sentence: "From now on, we will be partners with driver Li. Take advantage of these few days to learn more from him."

If something went wrong with his father's partner in front of him, Wang Hong couldn't imagine himself getting beaten to a pulp when he returned to the Americans.

Wang An is a traditional parent who has always believed in the idea that beatings produce filial sons, and he hurts a lot when he beats people.

"Change someone? I'm the train driver. I'm responsible for the safety of the entire train and for transporting the passengers to their destinations safely. Now that something has gone wrong, I must take over!"

The train sped along the track, making a deafening roar, and strong winds whistled into the carriage through the windows.

Before Li Aiguo finished speaking, he grasped the edge of the window tightly with both hands, carefully stretched one leg out of the window and stepped on the window frame. The vibration of the train made his body shake involuntarily.

Wang Hong's heart was in his throat at this moment.

Just as he was hesitating whether to rush forward, grab the legs, and drag in this ignorant train driver.

Li Aiguo pulled his other leg out of the window, kicked his legs hard, and exerted force with both arms at the same time. He flew into the air and disappeared outside the window.

The whole process looked complicated, but it actually took less than two seconds, so that before Wang Hong could react, he could no longer see the figure.

"It climbed up already?" Wang Hong couldn't help rubbing his eyes.

While carefully adjusting the speed of the train, Liu Qingquan said, "Don't worry, Driver Li is the best train driver in our Qianmen Locomotive Depot. It's Driver Li, nothing will go wrong."

His tone was uncertain, more of a wish.

"Yes, he is an excellent computer expert, there will definitely be no problem." Wang Hong couldn't help but clutch the Buddha statue in his pocket and prayed for Li Aiguo in his heart.

At this time, Li Aiguo was lying on the roof of the car, his hair was blown by the strong wind, and his clothes were rustling in the wind.

This was not the first time Li Aiguo climbed onto the train. After he was able to open his eyes, he took a deep breath, hunched over and stood up facing the wind.

He staggered to the sandbag, opened the lid and took a look inside. Sure enough, he saw that the sand in the sandbag was all compacted together.

Li Aiguo took out the maintenance hammer he carried with him and hit the sandbag twice.

The violent vibration loosened the compacted sand, which passed through the cut-off valve, along the sand-spreading pipe, and finally fell on the rails.

Click, click. The wheels rolled over the sand, the friction suddenly increased, and the train became more powerful. In the driver's building, Liu Qingquan stared at the dashboard and felt the speed increase. He stood up suddenly and shouted excitedly: "Driver Li succeeded!"

Lao Zheng also raised his shovel and cheered.

Suddenly, a figure climbed in from the car window. It was Li Aiguo who had just climbed out of the window.

He looked calm, lightly dusted himself off, took over the driver's seat, and stared at the dashboard.

While controlling the train, he gave orders to the assistant driver and the fireman.

There were no slogans, no celebrations, it was just like completing a very ordinary thing.

Wang Hong sighed in his heart, it turned out that this was a train driver from the mainland.

Compared with the workers in the factory over there, the workers here seem to be more willing to work hard for their jobs.

In the following time, Wang Hong asked Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng about Li Dache's previous driving experiences.

The story of extreme braking to save a 70-year-old lady, and the story of towing an accident train in the rain, left him dumbfounded after hearing each and every one of them.

"The Train Man, this is definitely the Train Man! If Disney makes it into an animated film, it will definitely be a big hit."

".The copyright belongs to us."

Li Aiguo was shocked.

It turns out that people who come from capitalist countries have a good sense of business.

He had previously planned to make an animated film about trains, but due to domestic conditions, he had not started yet.

Looks like this should be brought forward!
Wang Hong was just joking. After all, all the energy of Wang An Computer Company was still on computers.

In the camping car on the way back to Beijing, Wang Hong also raised the key issues of this trip.

"Comrade Aiguo, I have carefully studied the magnetic core memory you produced using the textile method. This technology is indeed very ingenious, but the threshold is too low. If those computer companies want to copy it, it is not too difficult."

"As for the patent issue, there are many ways for those companies to circumvent it."

This is also Dr. Wang An’s concern.

In fact, after learning about the textile method, Dr. Wang An also wanted to abandon Hextech and directly produce magnetic core memory.

This would save at least three million dollars.

The reason why he didn't do so was that his moral standards were not that low. Wang An, who always advocated traditional morality, would not do such a despicable thing.

Secondly, the direction of computer development revealed by Li Aiguo during the conversation with him.

Wang An realized that compared to millions of dollars, cooperation with Li Aiguo was more important.

Li Aiguo put the drawings away and whispered something into Wang Hong's ear.

Wang Hong's face suddenly changed, and he said in a lost voice: "What? Magnetic core memory technology is not a core technology. You still have a backup plan!"

Chicken thief!

This train driver is such a cunning guy!

They actually hid the key technology.

Wang Hong felt that he could not see through the train driver even more.

How could an upright person come up with such a sinister trick?

******
Return to Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After several train drivers learned that Li Aiguo had also encountered a sandbag accident, they came to him to complain.

"Dacht Li, the guys in the sand frying workshop are really too careless. Last month, I went to the Northeast to transport wood, and halfway through the journey, the sandbags had problems."

"Yes, I think we should unite and make suggestions to the section chief, asking him to rectify the sand frying workshop."

Director Chen from the sand frying workshop was standing nearby and was so scared that he didn't dare to say a word.

Since the first incident of sand compaction in sandbags.

He has set up a double-post system during the sand frying process, and he personally checked the sand after it was packed into sandbags.

Absolutely no problem.

But these train drivers are unreasonable. If I step forward now, I will definitely be beaten.

Li Aiguo pressed his hands down, and after the train drivers calmed down, he said, "I have checked while the train was running, and it is the sand that has become hardened. This cannot be blamed on the sand frying workshop."

Although the train drivers did not know what sand compaction meant, they believed in Li Da Che and their angry expressions gradually disappeared.

Chen Dache, who specialized in the coal transportation line, raised his hand and said, "Li Dache, what should we do? We are train drivers, not circus performers. We can't climb high every time, right?"

"It's still okay now that it's summer, but when winter comes, it'll be freezing cold outside and you'll freeze to death."

Li Aiguo was also worried about this matter.

Sand compaction is a natural phenomenon and there is no way to prevent it.

When he got home, Li Aiguo was still worried about the sandbags.

Seeing that he was sweating profusely, Chen Xueru turned on the electric fan in the room.

The blades of the fan in the west room spun rapidly, blowing on Chen Xueru's hair, which fluttered in the wind. Li Aiguo clapped his hands suddenly: "There is a way!"

"What's wrong, Brother Aiguo?" Chen Xueru asked curiously.

Li Aiguo pulled her over and bit her little face.

"Wife, you are really my great hero."

Chen Xueru was still confused at this moment. How did she become a successful minister out of the blue?

But she thinks it's not important at all!
******
Wang Hong went directly to Hong Kong the next day and signed an agreement with Hextech Technology. He then announced the news to major American media.

The news quickly caused a sensation, and major media outlets published press releases in their own newspapers.

The ancestor of the Shock Department wrote: "Shocking, $3 million technology transfer breaks the price of computer patent licensing!"

A serious computer journal published: "Wang Laboratories and Hextech Technologies jointly develop computer market"

A third-rate tabloid published: "The untold story of Yang Jizong, the heir of the Yang family, and Wang Hong, the son of Wang An"

It has to be said that the same thing is presented in completely different ways when reported by different media.

Ordinary people just marvel at the high price of three million dollars.

Or maybe they admire the fact that the young couple Yang Jizon and Wang Hong were able to break through the secular gaze and come together.

The directors of the computer companies sensed the wolf coming.

In particular, Wang Laboratories received orders for more than 500 computers from all over the world in just a few days.

This number may not seem large, but you have to know that all computers back then were mainframes, and each one cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

With this order alone, Wang Laboratories was able to gain a foothold in the computer market.

Thomas Watson Jr. of IBM was already a little overwhelmed.

In the past few days, seven or eight laboratories that originally planned to purchase IBM mainframe computers, including Bell Labs, Lincoln Laboratory, and Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory, have canceled their orders.

IBM can afford to lose seven or eight orders.

The key is that these laboratories are the weather vane in North America.

Once they switch to Wang Laboratories, major research institutions, data analysis companies, and even Wall Street clients will leave.

In particular, IBM's old customer, Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory, also sent a fax yesterday, asking IBM to immediately introduce the latest magnetic core memory.

The Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory is a specialized laboratory for testing propulsion systems in the U.S. military. It has the world's most powerful full-scale engine high-altitude simulation test facilities.

Because of confidentiality reasons and considering the background of Wang Laboratories, the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory would definitely not purchase computers from Wang Laboratories.

But it also had a negative impact on IBM's reputation.

You have to know that IBM is not the only one who wants to make a living from the military industry these days.

Thomas Watson Jr. felt like he was being stared at by a pack of hungry wolves.

He put out his cigar on the ashtray, took a deep breath, and dialed the familiar number again.

"Hello, is this Uncle Jefferson? Cousin Mike's admission procedures have been completed, and the scholarship has been issued, fifty thousand dollars per school year."

"Oh, this scholarship is not much at all. Cousin Mike is a talented child. Our company's investment in him will be rewarded in the future."

"What? Things have started to move in the East? All right, uncle. I'll wait for your good news!"

The gilded telephone sat on the set, and Thomas Watson Jr. leaned back in his chair, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

As long as the secret agents Langley had arranged in the East in advance began to act, then obtaining the method of manufacturing magnetic core memory would be just around the corner.

"Three million dollars! Wang Anke is really stupid."

The outcome was decided, and Thomas Watson Jr. leisurely relit a cigar and puffed on it with contentment.

He stood in front of the French window, overlooking the ants downstairs.

The pedestrians downstairs are still busy walking around, they don’t know that on top of this tall building, there is a person who is looking at the world with the attitude of a winner.

It has been raining in Beijing for the past two days.

The sky was overcast and the wind was blowing hard.

Li Aiguo didn't pay attention to the weather. After Wang Hong left, he stayed in the studio all day.

That day, the door of the studio was pushed open from the outside.

"It's raining really hard outside, Brother Aiguo. Thanks to the umbrella you gave me, it doesn't leak at all."

Zong Xianfeng walked in, leaned his wet umbrella outside the door, closed the door carefully, and walked to the test bench.

He looked at Li Aiguo who was assembling parts and asked, "Brother Aiguo, why did you call me over here?"

Li Aiguo put solder on the thread end, wiped his hands with a towel, and handed over the drawing that he had prepared long ago.

"Pioneer, take a look at the design on this diagram to see if there is anything that needs to be changed."

Zong Xianfeng took the drawing and looked at it carefully. His brows furrowed immediately. "This is a fan device. No, the voltage is so high, it doesn't look like a fan. There is also a duct connection underneath."

Zong Xianfeng became more and more confused. He looked up at Li Aiguo and said, "Brother Aiguo, what the hell is this?"

"This device is called an air duct blower. Its function is to blow the sand out of the sandbag with a high-pressure airflow. At the same time, the air ducts of the blowing device enter the conveying pipeline from both sides, and can spray the sand from the sandbag onto the rails at high speed."

That’s right, the equipment that Li Aiguo made this time is used to make air duct blowers.

The last time he saw Chen Xueru’s hair being blown up by the fan, Li Aiguo thought, since the wind can blow up hair, can it also blow up sand?

As long as you install an air duct blower in the sandbag and open the air duct blower before starting the sandbag, you can use high-pressure gas to blow away the compacted sand.

The principle of the air duct blower is simple and the structure is not too complicated.

In the spirit of diligence and thrift, Li Aiguo did not spend points to purchase technology from the system.

The design drawings were quickly completed, but some of the electrical designs felt a bit unreasonable, so Zong Xianfeng was invited over.

Zong Xianfeng became excited upon hearing this.

Last time, he made great contributions to the improvement of the electric fly trap and was praised by Qinghua University. He was also named as an advanced element in eliminating the four evils in the school.

He knew that he had gotten a pure bargain last time and was thinking about how to repay Li Aiguo, and now the opportunity had come.

"Brother Aiguo, don't worry. I have already checked the drawings. There are basically no problems. It's just that you didn't consider the node resistance problem in the circuit design." (End of this chapter)