The train driver in the courtyard

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour, but the speed of the ox cart was very slow. It was already midnight when he returned to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Li Aiguo, Wei Dazhui and four other members stayed in the dormitory for a night.

The next morning, after having lunch in the locomotive section cafeteria, they were taken to the office of Section Chief Xing.

"Okay, okay, okay!" Director Xing looked at the few people and said several good words. He called Chief Liu from the Materials Department and asked him to settle Wei Dazhui and others.

Now the self-reliance team of Qianmen Locomotive Depot has been formed, the depot has purchased a batch of seeds, and the agricultural tools are also in place.

The group of team members were waiting in the "farmland", and the old masters were preparing to take the train to work that day.

"Brother Patriot, thank you so much this time."

It was the first time that Wei Dazhu ate steamed buns with his stomach full.

Although the steamed buns were mixed with corn flour, in his eyes they were already white flour steamed buns.

Now, to go to the fields, people actually have to take the train, which is something that an old member of the cooperative who has been farming for a lifetime cannot even imagine.

"Come to my house and play on the weekend."

Li Aiguo watched the train leave and delivered the dried vegetables and mountain products shipped from Wei Zhuang Commune to the logistics warehouse.

After finishing these chores, Li Aiguo went to work in the greenhouse in the studio for a while, then rode his bicycle back to the courtyard.

At this time, an old lady was standing at the door, looking outside with an anxious look on her face.

Seeing Li Aiguo coming over, Auntie stopped him in a hurry: "Aiguo, your uncle didn't come back last night, have you seen him?"

"Auntie, I was at the Bama Commune yesterday."

Li Aiguo stopped his bicycle and was about to tell what happened.

A deep voice came from the gate of the compound: "Old Yi family, Yi Zhonghai has thirty or forty people, can he be lost?!
He might have gone out drinking with his friends. You were making a fuss so early in the morning. Do you want the whole compound to know about it?"

I saw a deaf old lady who had not been seen for a long time staggering out from the yard.

Compared with before, the deaf old lady has aged a little, her hair has turned completely white, and her face is like a wrinkled piece of parchment.

The deaf old lady is now very thin, like a dry branch, and it seems that a breeze can easily blow her down.

But even such a frail old lady had extremely sharp eyes. She just glared at the old lady and she couldn't help but shiver.

"Grandma, why did you come out?" The aunt didn't bother to ask about Lao Yi's matter, but walked forward and supported the deaf old lady.

"If I stay lying in the room any longer, Lao Yi's story will probably spread throughout the compound."

When the deaf old lady spoke, her eyes would narrow slightly, and two cold gazes would shoot out from her deep eye sockets.

As expected, the older you are, the wiser you get. Once the news of Yi Zhonghai's arrest spreads, regardless of whether he really made a mistake or not, it will definitely affect his reputation in the compound.

The best way to deal with it is to pretend you don't know, then try to figure out what happened and then take appropriate measures.

Afterwards, the deaf old lady handled the situation just as Li Aiguo had guessed.

The residents in the compound felt it was a bit strange that they hadn't seen Yi Zhonghai all day, so Jia Dongxu even went to ask an old lady.

"Master's Wife, my master hasn't been to work these days, and he's not in the compound either. Is there something wrong?"

"Look at what you said, kid. What could possibly happen to your master? He had a distant uncle who was sick, so he went out of town to attend the funeral. He left in a hurry and forgot to ask for leave."

An old lady helped Yi Zhonghai cover up in the compound.

The deaf old lady went to the steel rolling mill to use her connections to ask for leave for Yi Zhonghai, and then went to the street office to inquire.

It was already dark when the deaf old lady dragged her tired body back to the courtyard.

An auntie asked anxiously, "Grandma, is there any news about my old Yi?"

"He went to the countryside to collect grain and was arrested by someone who mistook him for Dieter." The deaf old lady said as she rubbed her sore knees.

The aunt panicked: "Then, what should I do?!"

"I'm here, why are you panicking?" The deaf old lady squinted her eyes and said, "After the people from the Ba Ma Commune arrested Lao Yi, Lao Yi was a smart man. He didn't directly tell us where he worked, but asked the commune to contact Deputy Director Ma of the Street Office."

Deputy Director Ma is an old friend of the deaf old lady. The aunt recovered and asked excitedly, "So, Deputy Director Ma suppressed this matter?"

"Old Ma did put in some effort this time and vouched for Old Yi. The matter has been almost sorted out. Don't worry, Old Yi will be back in a few days."

The aunt finally breathed a sigh of relief and thanked the deaf old lady repeatedly.

"Keep your mouth shut these days to prevent the news from leaking out." The deaf old lady warned the aunt.

The auntie became nervous again: "Li Aiguo seems to know about this, he won't tell anyone, right?"

"That guy always likes to play overt tricks and disdains to do these dirty things."

The deaf old lady narrowed her eyes, looked at the darkness outside the door, and squinted her eyes and said, "He now controls the neighborhood patrol team and has won over so many courtyard residents. There is no need to risk being stabbed in the back by spreading the news."

When the aunt thought about it carefully, she realized that it was true.

Whispering about others behind their back may not seem like a big mistake, but it is still annoying.

The situation is getting more and more tense now. Every family has some little secrets that they don't want others to know. How could the residents trust someone who leaked the secrets?

Xu Damao in the compound is also an old resident. He works as a projectionist in the Propaganda Department and has the help of Old Xu.

The reason why Xu Damao has no status in the compound is because everyone knows that he has a loose mouth.

In particular, Yi Zhonghai’s arrest this time was just a “misunderstanding”.

The Bama Commune has already defined the situation.

Even if the matter got out of hand, at most he would lose some face and damage his reputation, but it would not cause serious damage to Yi Zhonghai.

"Conspiracies and tricks are never acceptable," the deaf old lady sighed, "In fact, I hope that Li Aiguo can leak the news so that I can have a chance."

The deaf old lady's voice became smaller and smaller, until it was almost inaudible. She closed her eyes and snored slightly.

The old lady couldn't help but shiver, stood up, covered the deaf old lady with a quilt, and turned to leave the house.

It started drizzling outside without me noticing.

Every autumn rain brings a chill. It’s estimated that winter will come to the capital soon.

Before I knew it, a week had passed.

When Yi Zhonghai reappeared in the compound, the third uncle was busy drying small fish.

When he saw Yi Zhonghai, the third uncle was completely stunned.

"Old Yi, didn't you go out of town to attend a funeral? How did you become like this?"

Yi Zhonghai's face is now as pale as paper, without a trace of blood. His once rosy face is now covered by a layer of dark haze.

His hair was disheveled and hung lifelessly on his head like a pile of dead grass. The strands were greasy and stuck together, as if they had not been washed for a long time.

Yi Zhonghai trembled his cracked lips and opened his mouth to explain. After hearing the news, Auntie rushed over and supported Yi Zhonghai while explaining to Uncle Three: "Old Yi is not used to the climate there and has fallen seriously ill."

"Sick? What's with the bruises on your face?" The third uncle muttered to himself and continued to ask.

An old lady had already helped Yi Zhonghai away.

"It's obvious that Old Yi was beaten? Why doesn't he dare to say it out loud?" The third uncle narrowed his eyes and looked at the backs of the two men.

Yi Zhonghai returned home and after drinking a few sips of tea, he finally calmed down.

"If Li Aiguo had been willing to help me, I, an old man, would never have suffered this injustice!" Yi Zhonghai gritted his teeth.

An old lady advised: "Old man, you are lucky to be back, so don't make trouble."

"Why should I make a fuss? If I go to find Li Aiguo now, wouldn't I be slapping myself in the face?" Yi Zhonghai felt really aggrieved.

This time when I went to the countryside to collect grain, not only did I not get any grain, I was also detained for seven or eight days.

He just complained about the bad food and said it was pig food, and then he was beaten and kicked by the group of members.

This is not the key point. The key point is that we cannot speak out this grievance, and there is no way to find trouble with the culprit Li Aiguo.

The lady changed the subject: "This time it's all thanks to the deaf old lady. If it weren't for her, you would definitely be in big trouble."

"This old lady is a pillar of stability." Yi Zhonghai nodded: "Make some white noodles at noon and send them to the old lady."

The aunt agreed and went into the kitchen to busy herself.

Yi Zhonghai picked up the tea and took a sip, his face looking terribly gloomy.

"Damn you Li Aiguo, I won't let you go!"

******
As news of the food shortage spread, members of surrounding communes also hid their food.

Residents of the capital city went to grain stations early every day to queue up, while trying to find ways to save food.

The big white steamed buns of the past were replaced by cornmeal steamed buns, and wild vegetables were added to the rice porridge.

Li Aiguo's cellar contained thousands of kilograms of grain, enough for his family to have enough food and drink.

But Chen Xueru felt that eating white flour buns was too eye-catching, so she changed her family's recipe to follow the local customs.

In the morning, we eat corn cakes, cornmeal or sorghum flour steamed bread. At noon, we make cornmeal paste cakes and cornmeal stuffed paste cakes. In the evening, we eat cornmeal vegetable buns and cornmeal cakes. Three meals a day, no matter how different.

Whenever Li Aiguo burps, his burps smell like corn.

But he didn't comment.

After all, these days it is a good life to have pure cornmeal without any bran.

Perhaps due to malnutrition, the train drivers at Qianmen Locomotive Depot have been suffering from lack of concentration recently.

When driving a train, it would occasionally kill some small animals such as pigs, cows, horses, sheep, etc.

Li Aiguo is no exception. He ate too much corn these days, and his arms are sore and weak, and his reaction speed is a bit slow. Liu Qingquan's eyesight is a bit blurry.

Train No. 131 passed the military food station and turned a corner. There were clearly seven or eight sheep on the tracks, but he did not sound the alarm.

When the train was only a dozen meters away from the sheep, Liu Qingquan shouted at the top of his voice: "Report to the driver, sheep, sheep, sheep!"

Sheep, sheep, sheep? I'm still Hengyuanxiang!

Li Aiguo's reaction was half a beat slower than before.

The two forces combined, and the train rushed forward, knocking seven or eight sheep to the ground, and it was obvious that they were dead.

"Report to the driver, we hit a sheep!" At this time Liu Qingquan's dizziness immediately healed, grinning with his big front teeth showing.

Li Aiguo pulled the brake valve, stopped the train, and turned to look at Liu Qingquan: "Comrade deputy driver, according to relevant regulations, what should we do?"

Now the driving regulations are the red book of the crew. The train conductor will check them randomly during every meeting. If you can't recite them, you will be criticized in person, which is very embarrassing.

Liu Qingquan was very experienced in his job: "Reporting to the chief driver, according to the newly revised driving regulations for train drivers, in order to avoid affecting the smooth flow of the railway and prepare to deliver the passengers to their destination, our driver team has the right to act at its discretion."

"Stop talking nonsense, what is the specific operation method?"

"Let's go down and buy the sheep from the members, and then report to the Materials Department for reimbursement when we return to the maintenance section." Liu Qingquan said loudly.

"Since there are regulations, let's follow them."

Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and leaned on the steel throne to smoke, while Liu Qingquan opened the side door and jumped down happily.

Liu Qingquan ran over, pulled the sheep-herding uncle up from the ground, helped the uncle brush off the dust on his pants, and said with a smile: "My fellow villager, I am so sorry for hitting your sheep. The current market price of mutton is 40 cents per pound, and your sheep are all half-grown, each weighing at most pounds.

I'll calculate based on the maximum weight. You have seven sheep here, so I need to compensate you a total of 126 yuan. Wait, I'll get the money for you."

After Liu Qingquan counted on his fingers, he ran to the driver's building and made a gesture to Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo took out a stack of money from under the steel throne, counted out 126 yuan from it and gave it to Liu Qingquan.

This money is specially prepared by the locomotive depot to prevent train accidents and is usually kept by the chief driver.

What? Someone robbed me? You must be kidding. Li Aiguo's pistol is not a firewood stick.

Liu Qingquan took the money and turned around and ran away.

The shepherd uncle had not yet recovered from the shock, and a dozen banknotes appeared in his hand.

"My friend, please keep the money. As for the sheep, it is evidence. We need to take it back to the locomotive depot."

The uncle who herds sheep is an honest man. The money he gets from them is more than what he earns from selling the sheep to the food station. Even if he returns to the commune, the commune secretary will definitely praise him.

Besides, the commune has also publicized that it is strictly forbidden to graze sheep on both sides of the railway, and he was the one who violated the regulations today.

Not only did the railway comrades not pursue the matter, they even offered a high price.

What else can I say? Just consider it as a sale.

The shepherd put the money in his pocket and helped Liu Qingquan carry the sheep to the driver's building. Then he got off the train and watched the train restart. He sighed, "What a good man."

Woohoo. Eat like crazy. Eat like crazy. Eat like crazy.
In the driver's building, Liu Qingquan looked at those fat sheep and praised them repeatedly: "This fellow is really a good person."

While pushing the gate to speed up, Li Aiguo asked according to the regulations: "Comrade co-pilot, did you kill the engine head this time?"

"Reporting to the chief driver, a total of six sheep were killed." Liu Qingquan said as he looked at the seven sheep in the coal truck.

The boilerman, Lao Zheng, also nodded: "Six were indeed killed."

When the train arrived at Jincheng Station, Captain Bai also learned about the sheep being hit and killed.

She led two police officers up to the driver's building, climbed into the tender and took a look around, then nodded, "Six were definitely killed."

As the driver spoke, he opened his wallet and took out today's "extra money". He took out 18 yuan and handed it to Li Aiguo: "Put this money back."

Li Aiguo put the money in an iron box under his seat and locked it.

Cao Wenzhi came to take over the shift, took the key to the cash box, looked inside the tender, and nodded, "Yes, that's right, six heads."

"Then report the number of six."

Li Aiguo stood up and picked up the driving log book hanging above the driver's head. He took out a pen and wrote on it: "Train No. 131 accidentally killed six sheep when passing through the Mazhuang Commune of the Military Grain Station. The members were compensated for their losses on the spot."

In the evening, the train returned to Qianmen Locomotive Depot in the afternoon. Li Aiguo reported the incident of the sheep being killed to the Safety Department in accordance with regulations.

"It's just a few sheep that were killed. It's a small matter." Section Chief Chen took the driving record and blinked: "Did you bring the sheep back?"

"I brought it back. It has been sent to the logistics department now." Li Aiguo said.

"Oh, that's great. Our cold storage in Qianmen locomotive section is now empty." Section Chief Chen patted Li Aiguo's shoulder happily and said, "Li Da Che, you are a hero in our locomotive section."

During the entire process of handling the sheep-hitting accident, no one, whether it was Section Chief Xing, the Logistics Department or the Safety Department, asked how many sheep were killed.

The reason is simple. As the "perpetrator", one has the reason and power to leave some spoils.

This is the unspoken rule of the locomotive depot.

You know, it’s not easy to kill a small animal.

Some drivers have been driving for half a year, with their eyes as big as bells, but they still cannot kill anyone.

Li Aiguo killed more than a dozen of them in just two months. This requires some real skill.

Those jealous train drivers can only be jealous. If you have the ability, you can also hit and kill a few small animals.

Li Aiguo felt in a trance that as a train driver, he now seemed to have become a hunter hunting in the mountains.

After reporting the situation, the money for the six sheep was withdrawn from the Security Department, and the money needed to be put into a cash box.

Every time when changing shifts, the train driver who takes over has to count the money, not a penny can be missing.

After finishing these chores, when Li Aiguo returned to the studio, Cao Wenzhi, Liu Qingquan and others had already moved the big fat sheep over.

Captain Bai, Zhang Yazhi, the train attendants and police officers all came, filling the already small studio to the brim.

"Old Zheng, you should do it this time." Cao Wenzhi and a few people hung the sheep upside down on the iron rack.

According to Li Aiguo, this iron rack is a horizontal bar used to practice arm strength, but Cao Wenzhi thinks it is a slaughtering rack.

The only difference is that one is about people and the other is about sheep.

Lao Zheng’s ancestors were butchers, and their generations were all butchers. When he was young, he followed his father to slaughter animals for a period of time, so he was considered half a butcher.

Butcher Zheng was seen wearing a coarse cloth apron stained with oil. His rough hands tightly grasped a sharp sheep-slaughtering knife as he strode to the rack.

Skinning and gutting. Butcher Zheng's movements were neat and tidy. As he moved, the sheep's internal organs were taken out one by one and placed in a large basin. The mutton was cut into small pieces of similar size and placed on the table.

"It's twenty-three dollars in total. There are thirty-five people in our chartered group, so each person gets one dollar. The money for the mutton will be deducted from the extra income each time."

The size of the mutton may be different, but no one will care. After all, you can’t buy meat with money in the capital now.

After the mutton was distributed, the mutton offal and bones belonged to the driver team. Li Aiguo made the greatest contribution and was given four extra sheep trotters.

The sheep's trotters can be stored for a while after being air-dried, and will be used by Chen Xueru to produce milk after she gives birth. The most important thing now is how to process the mutton.

As night fell, Cao Wenzhi and Captain Bai wrapped the mutton in oil paper, hid it in canvas bags, and left one after another.

Li Aiguo rested for a while, moved out a hand-welded barbecue rack from the inner room of the studio, got some charcoal, and started a fire.

Cut the mutton into small pieces, string them together with wire, sprinkle some salt on them and add cumin powder.

Under the licking of the flames, the mutton sizzled and a rich aroma filled the air.

The end of the year is approaching and there are more things to do on the street. This year there is also the issue of dealing with blind migrants. Chen Xueru was busy in the street office until after six o'clock before returning to the courtyard.

After returning home, Chen Xueru prepared to make corn porridge as usual.

At this time, Li Aiguo came back and closed the door mysteriously.

"Wife, let's have something delicious tonight."

Hearing this, Chen Xueru immediately put down the basin, walked over and closed the door.

When she entered the inner room, Li Aiguo had already opened the wooden board covering the cellar.

"Brother Aiguo, what did the locomotive depot crash and kill again today?"

After closing the door and going into the cellar, Miss Chen stared at Li Aiguo with her big, Caroline-like eyes.

Li Aiguo took out skewers of mutton from his canvas bag.

The rich aroma of the mutton was like a hook that reached into Miss Chen's stomach, twisting her intestines together and twisting them violently several times.

Gulp. Miss Chen swallowed her saliva in a very unconvincing manner.

Her face suddenly turned red with embarrassment.

"Come, try it and see how it tastes." Li Aiguo pretended not to see it and handed the lamb skewers to Chen Xueru.

Chen Xueru reached out to take it and couldn't wait to take a bite. The fragrant mutton instantly burst into a wonderful taste in her mouth.

Her eyes narrowed slightly, and her face was filled with satisfaction, as if the whole world became beautiful at this moment.

A sheep weighs only 40 kilograms. After removing the offal and bones, each person gets less than one kilogram of mutton.

However, Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru were reluctant to finish even the pound of mutton, and left more than half of it.

"We can eat the rest tomorrow." Miss Chen put the mutton skewers in the cabinet in the cellar, stood up and said, "I will send two skewers to Yu Shui and Aunt Liu now. Yu Shui is still growing, so he must eat some oily food. Aunt Liu is also old, so she needs to supplement her nutrition."

Li Aiguo pointed at the corner of Miss Chen's mouth.

Miss Chen was stunned for a moment before she realized that there was oil on the corners of her mouth, and she quickly picked up a towel to wipe it.

(End of this chapter)