The train driver in the courtyard

In the evening, Yan Jiecheng returned home dejectedly. Without paying any attention to anyone, he went into the house and started to eat and pack his bedding.

The third uncle saw that something was wrong and asked him the reason.

Upon learning that Yan Jiecheng was exiled to Yexi Railway Station, the old teacher was shocked.

"Does that mean you made a mistake?"

"I guess so." Yan Jiecheng recounted the incident of gossiping at the morning meeting.

"How could you make such a simple mistake? It's also my fault. I didn't teach you the trick when you first started working."

Yan Jiecheng's eyes widened: "Dad, does this thing have any tricks?"

"Of course. Your father has never made a mistake in all these years of work, and it's all thanks to this secret weapon." The third uncle adjusted the frame of his glasses and acted mysterious.

The third aunt was anxious and hurriedly urged him: "Old man, please tell me quickly. Look how anxious the child is."

Yan Jiecheng became anxious, and the third uncle became even more arrogant.

It was the third aunt who understood the third uncle well, so she quickly poured him some tea and even added some aged tea leaves from her home.

The third uncle sat down and sipped his tea, then he slowly reminded Yan Jiecheng: "Remember this when you attend a meeting in the future. No matter what the leader says, there are two things you can do. One is to raise your hand to agree, and the other is to applaud to agree."

"What if I don't agree? Meetings are meant to discuss things. If everyone raises their hands and applauds, wouldn't it become a one-man show by the leader?" Yan Jiecheng asked with his neck stiff.

"It's okay if you don't agree. Aren't we going to the switch station now?"

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and pointed at Yan Jiecheng with his finger: "The mistake you made this time is to shake the morale of the troops. Even if the leader fires you, you are not wronged.

I guess the leader gave you a lighter sentence because he saw your patriotic brother as his friend."

Seeing Yan Jiecheng becoming a stickler, the third aunt also advised Yan Jiecheng: "Just listen to your father. Your father has eaten more salt than you have eaten rice."

Yan Jiecheng said aggrievedly: "I was just saying it. I actually regret it now."

"It's normal for young people to make mistakes. Okay, don't regret it. Work hard at the switch station. It won't be long before you can be transferred back."

"Go to the mountain. Dad is going to give you a gift."

Yan Jiecheng was quite touched that his father was really considerate.

Then, the third uncle went into the house and came out holding a wooden box.

The wooden box was covered with dust. The third uncle shook it off twice, and the room was filled with smoke.

"Dad, what is this?" Yan Jiecheng pinched his nose in surprise.

"A gift for you." The third uncle opened the box and found a shotgun inside.

The shotgun looks old, but it is well maintained.

Its wooden buttstock was rubbed smooth and warm, and the black barrel flashed coldly under the light.

Yan Jiecheng was startled by the gun, "Dad, you still have this thing hidden?"

"This is a life-saving gadget. Before liberation, there was chaos and war. I bought it from a soldier with one dollar. It once saved the lives of my whole family."

The third uncle loaded the gunpowder skillfully, and it was obvious from his movements that this was not his first time doing this.

Yan Jiecheng was also interested in the Yan family's past.

He was still young at that time, and he only remembered that his family used to run a pawn shop and he had taken advantage of the situation to make a lot of money.

Later, the pawnshop disappeared and the Yan family became small business owners, but he didn't know the reason, and the third uncle strictly forbade them to ask.

Seeing that the third uncle took the initiative to bring up the past, Yan Jiecheng took the opportunity to ask, "You, have you ever fired a gun? Have you ever killed anyone?"

“Back then, my family ran a pawn shop, and people from all walks of life came to pawn their things.

The group of starving soldiers entered the pawnshop and shouted, "Boss, please give me a price for this gun."

If you give a price, you have to pay. This is not pawning, it's clearly robbery.

So, your grandfather had foresight and sent me to the sports club in Tianjin to learn shooting in advance, and he also bought several quick-firing guns to keep at home.

When the rebels came to the door, I hid on the beam with my rifle. Your grandmother poured boiling water into the fire-fighting water gun and stood behind the railing on the second floor. She made all the preparations.

It was the first time that Yan Jiecheng heard about these things. When he thought of the scene of the third uncle confronting the rebel soldiers, his blood suddenly boiled.

"Dad, I didn't expect you to be a martial artist. Have you ever fired a gun?"

The third uncle smiled and said, "That's not the case. Those bands of soldiers know that our pawnshop has been very successful, so they usually don't dare to come and cause trouble. Even if they come in, they will run away after being scared by us."

"Kai Hong?" Yan Jiecheng pulled a chair in front of the table of the third uncle and held his chin with both hands: "Dad, what is Kai Hong?"

The third uncle usually pretends to be an old teacher and really thinks himself as an honest old teacher. At this moment, he felt Yan Jiecheng's burning gaze and seemed to have returned to that chaotic era.

He took a sip of tea, squinted his eyes and said, "Before our pawnshop opened, your grandfather paid money to bribe the government.

The government took the criminals who were originally going to be sent to a mass grave for execution to our pawnshop.

If your grandfather gives the executioner another dollar, he will adjust the time and wait until our pawnshop opens, then chop off the prisoner's head with a single click.

The blood spurted up one or two feet high and landed right in front of our pawn shop.

At this time, your grandfather just lit the firecrackers. The firecracker paper is red, and blood is red. This is called opening the red firecrackers.

Yan Jiecheng was so shocked that he couldn't help swallowing.

Bribe the government and kill people in the street!
His ancestors were really wealthy!
"Dad, our family is so powerful, why is the pawn shop gone?" He suddenly realized a big problem.

"Well, two fists are no match for four hands. I was not afraid of a few soldiers. I handled them by myself. Later, those soldiers escaped and attracted two or three hundred more people. They also threw grenades into our pawnshop." The third uncle's mouth twitched when he thought of the past.

He turned his head and looked at Yan Jiecheng, glaring at him: "Hey, kid, when will you be able to change your bad habit of talking so much?"

Yan Jiecheng: "."

The third uncle handed the Hanyang-made rifle to Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiecheng took the Hanyang-made rifle in a daze and asked in confusion, "Dad, what do I need this for?"

The third uncle blinked his eyes and said, "The switch station is built in the mountains, right? This time you went there, you came back once a week and brought me a wild wolf every time.

Wolf skins and wolf meat can be brought to the pigeon market to exchange for food. We haven’t saved enough food yet, and you may not know that there is no food to exchange in Zuojiazhuang.”

Yan Jiecheng: "."

He felt that if the Third Uncle was in the world before liberation, he would be Huang Shiren.

At this moment, the incandescent lamp hanging on the roof flickered twice, and Yan Jiecheng was startled while holding the Hanyang-made gun.

The third uncle turned around and shouted outside, "Yan Jiedi, don't be lazy, push harder."

The sound of Yan Jiedi panting tiredly came from outside the door.

Yan Jiecheng: "."

He thought the third uncle was Huang Shiren.

At night, Yan Jiecheng was lying on the bed and touching the Hanyang-made sword, when he suddenly remembered something.

Today he asked the third uncle whether he had ever killed anyone, but the third uncle never gave a direct answer.

"How is that possible? The old man would definitely feel bad when he thinks about spending a dime on bullets just to pull the trigger. How could he kill someone?"

******
The next day was the day to go to measure the switch station and track maintenance area.

Li Aiguo took Zhou Ke and the staff of the Material Department to the switchman station early in the morning, measured the nearby land, and planned out an area for farming.

Farming is a hobby, and railway business is my main job. The safety of railway transportation cannot be affected by farming.

When the switchmen learned that farming was going to be done nearby, they all raised their hands in approval and tried their best to cooperate.

They stay in the switchman station every day, feeling so lonely that they can only talk to the birds in the sky. In the future, the families of railway workers will come to farm, and they will have someone to chat with.

Li Aiguo had participated in the planning of railways and was familiar with railway safety regulations. In just a few days, he traveled by train to more than 50 switch stations.

Li Aiguo still underestimated the area occupied by the switch station and maintenance area. After specific measurements, there were more than 1,200 acres of land available for cultivation.

Moreover, because those lands have been idle for many years, their fertility is far greater than that of the fields in nearby communes, and the yield should be higher.

After determining the number of fertile fields, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot announced the depot's farming plan to its subordinate railway employees.

In order to avoid suspicion, Li Aiguo changed the specific name of the plan to "Self-reliance and Carry Forward the Spirit of Railway Corps Plan", abbreviated as the Self-reliance Plan.

Deputy Section Chief Zhou, who was always good at ideological work, agreed: "We farm to be self-reliant. If anyone dares to complain, let him take out hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain!"

When it comes to the implementation details of the plan, Li Aiguo referred to the model of the Agricultural Reclamation Corps.

All family members of railway workers who participate in farming will receive a ration like the workers of the agricultural reclamation corps.

In addition, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot also allows employees' families to grow vegetables in areas where food cannot be grown without affecting railway transportation safety.

Seeds and farm tools are provided by the locomotive depot, and the harvested grain also belongs to the locomotive depot.

As soon as the plan was announced, hundreds of railway workers' families signed up that day.

The maintenance section was worried that some employees' families did not know how to farm, so they decided to ask Li Aiguo to go to Wei Zhuang Commune and invite an old master to come and give them some advice.

"There's no rush for this. You have a driving mission these days, so you can just help run one trip on the weekend. Of course, our locomotive section can't let its members suffer losses, so each member will be given a subsidy of one yuan per day."

The locomotive depot was only short of food, not money, so Section Chief Xing offered a high price.

"Don't worry."

Li Aiguo agreed immediately.

When Chief Liu of the Materials Department learned that Li Aiguo was going to Wei Zhuang Commune, he handed him an envelope.

A while ago, the locomotive section commissioned Wei Zhuang Commune to purchase a batch of mountain products. This time when Li Aiguo went to Wei Zhuang, he could just bring some back.

In the past two days, Yi Zhonghai took advantage of his off-get off work time to visit several communes, even to Zuojiazhuang, where his third uncle often went.

But all the food was taken away by those who were well-informed.

"I can't go on like this. I'll always feel uneasy if I don't have some food stored at home." Yi Zhonghai walked around the room with his hands behind his back.

The eldest lady suggested: "Why don't we go to Jiajiazhuang to collect grain? Jia Zhang is a well-known person there."

"Don't mention it. Last time I sent Jia Zhang back to the countryside, everyone in the village had a problem with Jia Zhang. Even if they had food, they wouldn't sell it to Jia Zhang." "How could that be? Old Jia is a worker in the city after all."

The aunt was surprised.

Family ties are still quite strong these days. Even if there are grudges, when help is needed, people will lend a helping hand without hesitation.

Moreover, since the Jia family moved to the city, they should be considered a respectable family in the eyes of their fellow villagers, and everyone in the village would be willing to associate with such a family.

"It was Jia Zhang who cut off the road." Yi Zhonghai sighed and said, "After Old Jia moved to the city, Jia Zhang was worried that she would be dragged down by the poor relatives in Jiajia Village, so she cut off contact with the Jia family and only went back once to collect rent."

"Even though the members of the commune live in poverty, they are unwilling to put their faces on the cold buttocks of Jia Zhangshi."

"Alas, this Jia Zhang is just like that," the aunt sighed, "where are you going?"

"The south and west are no longer viable, so I plan to go to the communes in the northeast to collect some food."

"Northeast. Are you going to Weizhuang Commune?" The aunt panicked and grabbed Yi Zhonghai's arm: "Old Yi, have you forgotten what happened last time? How dare you go to Weizhuang Commune?"

"How could I forget that? I've never suffered such a big loss before. It's all because of that kid Li Aiguo."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hands angrily: "Don't worry, I will not go to Weizhuang this time, but to the neighboring communes. I won't believe it, and the people in those communes will also believe Li Aiguo."

"Then be careful"

For some reason, the aunt always felt a little uneasy.

"How about you take Jia Dongxu with you, so that there will be more people to look after you."

"Jia Dongxu is just a burden! Every time I'm with him, I'm always in trouble."

Yi Zhonghai threw down a sentence, turned and went into the house, changed into tattered clothes, and put on a torn cotton mask.

He found some torn sacks, picked up a broken beam scale, and dressed himself up like the peddlers who went to the countryside to collect grain from the pigeon market. Then he left home, borrowed a bicycle, and headed straight for the Bama Commune.

Yi Zhonghai was a shrewd man and had done his homework before going to the countryside.

Bama Commune is more than 20 miles away from Weizhuang Commune. It has many fertile fields and a small river, so its annual grain output ranks among the top communes around the capital.

It is said that the Bama Commune still has a lot of private land, and we will definitely be able to receive food when we go to the Bama Commune this time.

After riding the bicycle along the road for a full half hour, Yi Zhonghai left the capital and just turned the last corner when he saw a familiar figure riding a bicycle heading northeast.

"Li Aiguo? Why is this guy here? By the way, he must be here to collect grain from Wei Zhuang Commune. Should we deal with him today?" Yi Zhonghai's eyes rolled around.

Selling contraband grain is a serious crime. If Li Aiguo is caught, even the police station of the locomotive depot will not be able to protect him.

After a moment, Yi Zhonghai gave up the idea.

The relationship between the party secretary of Wei Zhuang Commune and Li Aiguo is almost as good as that of sworn brothers.

Even if he went to the police station to file a complaint, the militiamen in the commune would protect him and they wouldn't be able to do anything to Li Aiguo.

He is not a brainless guy like Jia Dongxu and would not do such a thankless task.

"Li Aiguo is too cautious in doing things. He doesn't leave any loopholes."

After Yi Zhonghai understood the situation, he sighed regretfully and rode his bicycle towards the Bama Commune.

"That old man just now looked familiar. Who is he?"

Li Aiguo also saw a familiar figure, but the bicycle was traveling so fast that it flashed by without him being able to see it clearly.

Li Aiguo was concerned about his tasks in the locomotive depot and did not take the matter to heart. He rode his bicycle straight to Wei Zhuang Commune.

At this time, the members of the commune were busy in the fields under the leadership of production team leader Wei Dazhu.

Seeing someone riding a bicycle coming, Wei Dazhu raised his head and covered his eyes with his hands. After seeing clearly that it was Li Aiguo, the production team leader quickly ran over.

"Brother Aiguo, why are you here today?"

Li Aiguo took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Wei Dazhu: "Where is Village Chief Wei? I have something to discuss with him."

Hearing this, Wei Dazhui was immediately excited. Every time Li Aiguo came to Wei Zhuang Commune, good things would always happen.

"The village chief is having a meeting in the commune. Come on, I'll take you there." Wei Dazhu turned and shouted at the members, "I'm taking our patriotic comrades to see the party secretary now. Don't slack off! If anyone dares to slack off, I'll punish him when I get back!"

Only after seeing that all the members agreed did Wei Dazhu take Li Aiguo to the commune.

"My patriotic brother, you don't know that since we started eating from the big pot, the lazy people in the village have had a good life. They pretend to go to work every day, but they don't work hard. It makes me angry."

"Do you have work points? Can't you just give him a few less work points every day?"

"Well, you don't understand the situation.

Those lazy people don’t care about work points. Take the two landlords in our commune for example, they just play at work every day.

Even if you don't give her work points, she won't be in a hurry.

When it’s time to eat, you stand in front of the big pot with your bowl in hand. You can’t just watch them starve to death.”

"Hasn't the commune thought of a solution?"

"What can we do with people who have negative thoughts? We can only hold a meeting at night."

While chatting, the two arrived at the commune, and Wei Dazhu ran in quickly and shouted.

Village chief Old Wei came out with several commune leaders.

"Patriotic brother, long time no see."

"Uncle, you are still strong and healthy."

Seeing that they were in a meeting, Li Aiguo did not say much and told them about the Qianmen Locomotive Depot hiring an old master to teach the families of the depot employees how to farm.

"That's easy. I will definitely find you some of the best masters! As for the wages, don't ask for them. You have helped us so much. If I still charge you for such a small thing, wouldn't that be heartless?"

The leaders of those communes knew very well that Wei Zhuang Commune was now living better than other communes.

It was not because the members were diligent, nor because there were a lot of fertile fields in the commune, but because of its relationship with the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Now the mountain products delivered to Qianmen Locomotive Depot every month can bring huge profits to the commune.

They also expressed their opinions.

"Is it necessary to pay just to borrow a few members?"

"Isn't this a slap in our face?"

"Brother Patriot, if you continue like this, we won't be able to interact with each other in the future."

Looking at the excited commune leaders, Li Aiguo cupped his hands and said, "My dear brothers and uncles, let's put one thing on one thing. This is the rule of the section. You don't want me to break the rule, do you?!"

These commune leaders had once worked with Li Aiguo to arrest Dieter, and they knew that he was not the kind of person who would boast. Seeing his firm attitude, they stopped talking.

Village chief Old Wei pointed at Chief Wei Dazhu and prepared to ask him to go and find the members.

Li Aiguo pointed at Wei Dazhu while smoking a cigarette: "Uncle Wei, a bird cannot fly without a head, and an animal cannot walk without a head. The members must also have a leader. Let me name someone. Comrade Wei Dazhu is a role model."

Village Chief Old Wei was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Dazhu, this is Aiguo's trust in you, you must perform well."

Wei Dazhu was also very happy at this moment.

After his son was killed by a wild wolf in the middle of the night, he and his wife were devastated for many years.

In the past two years, I finally figured it out, and my wife gave birth to two sons in succession.

Although he holds the position of production team leader, Village Chief Lao Wei is a person who cannot tolerate any grain of sand in his eyes. If he, the production team leader, dares to drink one more mouthful of porridge, he will be kicked in the butt.

So life was quite hard.

If I could go to the locomotive depot with other members to "farm", I would definitely be able to earn a lot of money.

"Brother Aiguo, don't worry! I will go and help you recruit people now, and I will definitely recruit the best farmers for you."

Wei Dazhu turned around and ran away in a hurry.

Each member was paid one yuan a day. This was a job that was hard to find even with a lantern. When the members heard the news, they signed up enthusiastically.

Wei Dazhu selected four hard-working old members and brought them to the commune to meet Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo knew at a glance that Wei Zhuang Commune had brought its best members.

People who can really grow good crops always have the same simple and down-to-earth temperament as the crops.

Those young people may be stronger than these members, but when it comes to growing crops, they are no match for these old farmers.

Village chief Lao Wei slapped the table and said, "This is driver Li from the Qianmen locomotive section. You are all going to Beijing with driver Li this time. You must work hard. If anyone dares to embarrass our Weizhuang Commune, don't blame me for being ruthless."

This time, they can get one yuan as a wage for going to the city. Wei Dazhu just said that the money will be split 40% to 60% with 40% for them and 60% for the commune.

They can earn 40 cents a day, which means their monthly income is higher than that of Village Chief Lao Wei.

In addition, once they arrive in Beijing, the locomotive depot will definitely provide food and accommodation. Village chief Old Wei and the mute have eaten in the locomotive depot canteen and heard that there was even animal oil in the cooked cabbage.

"Secretary, don't worry. If we fail, you can punish us!"

Afterwards, Wei Dazhui and the other members went back to prepare for their trip to the Beijing Locomotive Depot and said goodbye to his wife and children.

Village chief Lao Wei called on militia captain Wang Jieba to transport the mountain products that were to be sold to the locomotive section from the granary.

"This time, the total is 500 kilograms of dried wild vegetables, 200 kilograms of chestnuts, and 60 kilograms of pecans."

Village chief Old Wei counted the mountain products one by one in front of Li Aiguo.

"There's no need to be so meticulous. How could I not trust my uncle?" Li Aiguo said as he reached into the sack, grabbed a hickory nut and squeezed it hard. With a click, the shell of the hickory nut was crushed.

Inside are plump walnut kernels. If placed in the pigeon market, these walnuts can be sold for at least 20 cents per pound.

“They are all good stuff.”

Li Aiguo checked all the mountain products and made sure there were no problems. Then he took out the envelope he had prepared long ago from his pocket and handed it to the village chief, Lao Wei.

There was a stack of banknotes in the envelope. Village chief Wei also said, "We have been dealing with each other for so long, how can I not trust you?" However, he kept counting the money one by one.

Both Li Aiguo and Village Chief Lao Wei are clear that they do not represent themselves.

(End of this chapter)