The train driver in the courtyard

In the middle courtyard.

Seeing that the residents were all sitting there without saying anything, Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to resort to some means.

"Our compound is an excellent compound, so we should behave in an excellent manner. This is an honorable thing, so everyone should be more proactive."

"If the family is really in trouble, you can squeeze out a pound or half an ounce of money, as long as you can help the Jia family get through this difficult time."

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai emphasized his tone and swept his eyes across the faces of the residents: "Everyone encounters difficulties sometimes. Only when you help others will others help you."

I have to say, when it comes to moral kidnapping, we have to look at Yi Zhonghai.

Just one sentence put the residents in control.

The residents all jumped up and contributed some food, some half a catty and some two ounces.

Even Nan Yi contributed some corn flour.

He didn't want to go out in the first place, and Liang Ladi felt that there was no need to get a reputation for being inactive because of these things.

Especially since Nan Yi's background is worse than others, he should be more proactive.

Seeing that they had only gathered a few dozen kilograms of grain, Yi Zhonghai was not in a hurry. Wasn’t there a rich household out there?

He glanced at Li Aiguo and said, "Aiguo, you have the best life in our compound. Aren't you going to donate some money?"

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, he turned his head to look at Liu Haizhong and the third uncle.

Liu Haizhong stood up and echoed, "Aiguo, you are an advanced member in the compound. It's just a few dozen kilograms of food. Don't ruin your reputation. We are doing this for your own good."

The third uncle pretended to tie his shoelaces to avoid Yi Zhonghai's gaze.

Without one person to cover him, Yi Zhonghai felt a little less confident, and added: "You are the captain of the neighborhood patrol team, and you should set an example. A few dozen kilograms of food is not a big deal for you."

Li Aiguo watched enough of the performances of several people before he spoke: "Originally, it's okay to donate some food, but my wife is pregnant, and there is not enough food at home."

"Is your family also short of food?" Yi Zhonghai was stunned.

"We at Qianmen Locomotive Depot have also begun to advocate thrift and frugality, and the food saved is sent to support railway construction at the front."

"Haven't you noticed that what we've been eating these days is cornmeal and wild vegetable porridge? I'm so greedy that my eyes are turning green."

Li Aiguo's meals are indeed no different from those of other residents. In the past, residents in the compound often saw Li Aiguo eating meat, but now they can no longer smell the meat.

Besides, his wife is pregnant and is being taken care of.

Yi Zhonghai was speechless for a moment.

Jia Dongxu got anxious when he saw this. He pinched his waist and said, "Aiguo, you can fool others, but you can fool me?! You must be hiding at home and eating meat secretly."

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want." Li Aiguo's face turned cold. "If you slander others intentionally, I can arrest you right now!"

Zhang Gangzhu stood up immediately when he heard this.

Jia Dongxu then remembered that Li Aiguo was the captain of the patrol team, and he was so scared that he immediately shrank behind Yi Zhonghai.

"Master, take a look."

Yi Zhonghai also looked helpless. In the past, he could use his status as a big boss to control Li Aiguo at will, and Li Aiguo would not be able to turn the tables.

Now this damn guy has a patrol team, and he will tie people up if they don't agree with him. Who can stand this? !

"Dongxu, Aiguo is right. We are all neighbors and we can't talk about others casually."

Yi Zhonghai had no choice but to pretend to reprimand Jia Dongxu, then turned to look at Li Aiguo: "Dongxu was wrong in this matter, I have already criticized him."

Only then did Li Aiguo sit back in his chair.

There is no hope for Li Aiguo, so Yi Zhonghai turns his attention to Xu Damao.

"My patriotic situation is special. He is a train driver and cannot afford to be short of food. My wife is also pregnant, so I will not donate this time."

"Da Mao, your family is doing pretty well, why donate some?"

"My wife is pregnant too." Xu Damao said with his chest puffed out and in a very imposing manner.

"I know all this, but your family eats white flour buns every now and then, while Liu Lan eats red dates and pecans as snacks. No matter how you look at it, your life is better than others."

"I" Xu Damao now realized that I seemed to have made a mistake.

He and Liu Lan both like to show off, and they always open the door when steaming white flour buns, which is completely different from Li Aiguo's situation.

Yi Zhonghai continued, "You are a projectionist. You often go to the countryside to show movies. You eat and live in the homes of the villagers, so you can save food."

He paused for a moment, and looked at Liu Lan intentionally or unintentionally, "Your wife works in the canteen of the steel mill, and she often brings back leftovers."

Liu Lan's face suddenly turned pale.

After Sha Zhu was captured, Nan Yi was unwilling to take him with him.

The leftovers in the cafeteria were shared among the young apprentices, and Liu Lan, as a temporary worker, occasionally got some.

She thought she was being very secretive and hid her lunch box in a canvas bag every time. How did Yi Zhonghai know?
Although smuggling leftovers may seem like a small matter, once it is taken seriously, it can be charged as poaching from the factory.

At the beginning, Sha Zhu dared to do this because he had a good relationship with Director Yang and felt confident.

Liu Lan is just a temporary worker. If she really makes trouble at the steel mill, she will definitely be in big trouble.

Xu Damao had attended the meeting today with the intention of dealing with Yi Zhonghai, but he didn't expect that the clown would become himself.

"I'll donate ten kilograms of food, is that okay?" Xu Damao knew he couldn't avoid it today, so he could only grit his teeth and express his position.

Yi Zhonghai did not continue to pester her.

After all, Xu Jixiang now lives in the Xu family. If Xu Jixiang is provoked out, there will definitely be big trouble.

Yi Zhonghai then had "individual" talks with several residents who were living well, and the results were pretty good, as he managed to secure another seven or eight kilograms of food.

There were dozens of kilograms of grain in total, and Yi Zhonghai asked an old lady to carry bags and collect them from every household.

Xu Jixiang watched Xu Damao hand over ten kilograms of corn flour to Yi Zhonghai, then stood up and closed the door.

"Da Mao, what's going on? Tell Dad about it." Xu Jixiang smoked his pipe, his face darkening.

Xu Damao had no choice but to recount what happened at the conference.

"You really think you are Li Aiguo!" After hearing this, Xu Jixiang pointed his pipe at Xu Damao and said, "He is a train driver, how could he not get meat? But he eats it secretly in his room."

"You two are so good, you want everyone in the compound to know that you are eating a steamed bun."

"Other people are eating black steamed bread, but seeing you eating white steamed bread, they must feel uncomfortable. They wish Yi Zhonghai would punish you!"

Xu Damao was scolded severely and hung his head in silence.

the other side.

After Yi Zhonghai deducted the five pounds from his third uncle's grain, he asked his aunt to scoop it out of the flour bag and carried the rest to the Jia family.

Jia Zhang was waiting for food. When she heard footsteps, she immediately jumped out of bed.

"Sister-in-law, this is the food donated to your family by the residents." Yi Zhonghai handed over the food.

Jia Zhang took it, picked it up, and her face suddenly became gloomy.

"Why is it just this little?"

"Everyone is having a hard time now, and I have tried my best to persuade the residents to donate these money," said Yi Zhonghai.

Jia Dongxu chimed in, "Mom, you don't know how despicable Li Aiguo is. He didn't donate any food, but you still made ten kilograms of food from Xu Damao!"

"That bastard Li Aiguo is a piece of shit. He wants to starve me to death!" Jia Zhang's hair almost stood up.

Yi Zhonghai looked at her plump waist and didn't know what to say for a moment.

After leaving the Jia family, Yi Zhonghai did not go home directly, but turned and opened the door of the deaf old lady.

The dim flame of the kerosene lamp reflected on her wrinkled face, like a strange ancient portrait.

"how is the situation?"

Yi Zhonghai walked over carefully and whispered to him about the grain donation that evening.

When she heard that Li Aiguo had not donated grain, the deaf old lady frowned and said, "Old Yi, why don't you force Li Aiguo to donate?"

"I" Yi Zhonghai's heart suddenly jumped.

If he had forced the residents to donate, it would not only have caused resentment among the residents, but Li Aiguo would also not surrender.

The two of them are bound to have a big fight.

These two consequences were extremely unfavorable to Yi Zhonghai, so Yi Zhonghai chose to give in.

There was no way the deaf old lady couldn't understand this.

Unless she deliberately wanted him to deal with Li Aiguo. Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai felt an inexplicable sadness in his heart.

In the eyes of the deaf old lady, she, her godson, will never be as good as her "biological grandson" Sha Zhu.

"Okay, you can go back." The deaf old lady keenly noticed Yi Zhonghai's thoughts and waved at him.

After the door is closed.

The deaf old lady was completely immersed in darkness, and a creepy sound was heard in the house.

"What a great opportunity! As long as Li Aiguo causes trouble, Qin Huairu will definitely be involved.

Qin Huairu is pregnant, if anything happens to her, Li Aiguo will be sent to prison, and Sha Zhu's revenge will be avenged."

"Old Yi is a useless old man. He is useless even if you give him a chance!"

"It's just that Li Aiguo always likes to meddle in other people's business. How come he held back this time?"

"Pity"

"A-choo! Who is thinking about me again?" At the desk, Li Aiguo rubbed his nose, put down his pencil and stretched.

He picked up his watch and looked at it. It was already twelve o'clock in the evening.

Fortunately, I didn’t waste time in the Intermediate Court at night, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to finish even half of the drawings today.

Yawning, Li Aiguo pulled out the wires from the battery, staggered back to the inner room, took off his clothes and got into bed.

A warm body fell into his arms, and he held her tightly and fell asleep.

In the following few days, the courtyard was calm and peaceful.

Although the Jia family only received less than 30 kilograms of corn flour, they were able to hold on.

But now, Jia Zhang has to eat black steamed buns like ordinary residents.

Yi Zhonghai presided over the grain donation conference and felt himself getting stronger again. He began to walk around the compound with his hands behind his back again.

Yi Zhonghai didn't notice that Xu Damao's eyes turned cold when he looked at him. Xu Damao learned a lesson from Xu Jixiang, and he and Liu Lan became low-key. Every day they hid outside and ate red dates before returning to the compound.

Our Li Aiguo still lives a good life of eating steamed buns during the day and lamb skewers at night.

Time goes by day by day.

One morning a week later, Li Aiguo ate two steamed buns, drank a bowl of cornmeal porridge, packed up the drawings and put them into a canvas bag.

"Wife, I have to deliver the blueprints to the section today, so I can't go back to your parents' home with you."

"You go ahead, I can do it myself."

In the past, Miss Chen would have already ridden her bicycle away by this time.

But today he was a little abnormal. He wiped the table spotlessly clean and looked up at Li Aiguo from time to time, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Wife, is there something wrong with dad?"

Li Aiguo slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and looked at Miss Chen with a smile.

“The last time I went back to my father’s house, life was not easy at home.

I haven't bought any food for half a month, and the price of food in the pigeon market has doubled.

Although Dad didn't ask, I think he wanted to borrow some food."

Miss Chen said a little embarrassedly: "I want to borrow a few kilograms of food from Dad."

"It doesn't matter whether we lend or not. We are all family. Go to the cellar and scoop a few pounds of flour for Dad later." Li Aiguo paused for a moment and told Chen Xueru seriously: "Don't scoop all white flour. Mix some corn flour in it. It won't attract people's attention."

Miss Chen nodded.

"Also, tell dad that if anyone asks, just say that these noodles were bought from the pigeon market. Don't tell even your sister-in-law and brother." Li Aiguo reminded again.

"Do not worry."

Li Aiguo seemed a little long-winded. Miss Chen had seen a lot of things while working in the neighborhood office and understood that it was never too cautious.

Li Aiguo trusted Chen Fangxuan. Although the old tailor looked weak, he had lived through the turbulent times with his children and knew how serious the situation was.

But the eldest sister-in-law, and even the eldest brother, grew up under the protection of their parents and do not know how dangerous the world is. An unintentional word from them may bring them into big trouble.

After arranging these things, Li Aiguo walked out of the house with a canvas bag, greeting the residents along the way and walked towards the outside of the courtyard.

Walking to the front yard, the third uncle was tending to the flowers and plants. He walked up to him and asked with a smile, "Aiguo, today is the day to change the battery. When should I go to your house to bring the battery back for charging?"

"Maybe it won't be needed. My work here has come to an end." Li Aiguo patted the canvas bag and said, "If everything goes well, the battery will have to be returned to the locomotive depot."

The third uncle was stunned.

It was not until Li Aiguo's figure disappeared at the gate that he reacted and let out an incredible sound.

“Oh, I’m unemployed?”

Yan Jiedi, who was hiding at the door: “^_^!”

She, a small bonded laborer, was finally liberated.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle against the cold wind and rushed all the way to the maintenance workshop of Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Director Zhang had just come to work. When he saw Li Aiguo coming in, he stood up and asked, "Aiguo, have you finished drawing the blueprint for that lawn mower?"

"Take a look at it first. If there are no problems, we can try to make a prototype first."

Director Zhang is an old technician. He did not give up his business after becoming the workshop director. He picked up the drawing, took a look at it, and nodded repeatedly.

Electric motors, housings, mowing ropes, mowing rope reels and control handles
"What is this? It looks like the yoke and yoke of a carriage."

There was nothing wrong with the drawing; the design was reasonable and very practical. However, when Director Zhang saw the picture at the back, he frowned.

"It's the carriage yoke and the hook." Li Aiguo pointed to the blueprint and explained, "Our lawn mower is mainly used along the railway track. There are no roads there, so it's very difficult to tow the lawn mower by manpower."

"Yes, yes, yes, let's use oxen to pull it, and then we can install four large wheels for carts on the lawn mower!" Director Zhang became excited when he understood it.

He was also worried about the problem of moving the lawn mower and wondered whether it should be installed on a tractor. Who would have thought that Li Aiguo solved the big problem with a simple design.

After all, there are more cows than tractors these days.

After finalizing the design plan, Director Zhang immediately brought a group of workers to find materials and started tinkering in the maintenance workshop.

The structure and principle of the lawn mower are very simple, the only troublesome thing is the battery.

After a few days of experimentation, Li determined that a set of ordinary batteries would be enough to keep the lawn mower running for a full day.

After ordinary batteries are charged three times and discharged twice, electrolyte needs to be added, which is a hassle for ordinary people.

However, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot's maintenance workshop has workers who are specifically responsible for adding electrolyte, which can meet the requirements of recycling.

Of course, in order to prevent the battery from being damaged by bumps, Li Aiguo specially made an iron box and put the battery in it.

Two days later, a strange device was born in the maintenance workshop.

When Duanchang Xing heard the news, he rushed over. When he saw the lawn mower, he was so shocked that his mouth was wide open.

"This thing is pulled by oxen and has an electric motor. It has four large wheels underneath and a flagpole on top. What kind of style is this?!"

Li Aiguo also thinks this thing is rather abstract.

The main part of the lawn mower is made of metal and wood, with an old ox pulling the cart in the front and a high-tech ordinary battery in the back. The whole thing has a bull-punk style.

Director Zhang is proud of the lawn mower: "It doesn't matter what style it is, as long as it works well."

Practice makes perfect. Whether a lawn mower is easy to use still needs to be verified through practice.

Section Chief Xing nodded and said, "It just so happens that the General Administration has called on all locomotive sections to launch a tough battle to clear the weeds on both sides of the tracks. Aiguo, your crew has also been assigned an area. Now that the lawn mower is ready, you can bring the lawn mower and one dollar to join the battle tomorrow."

Hearing this, Li Aiguo suddenly became excited.

The fire at Majiabao Inspection Station alarmed the General Administration.

The bureau took into consideration that severe winter is a high-incidence season for fires, so it launched a vigorous campaign to clear weeds in all locomotive sections across the bureau.

Several subordinate locomotive depots, including Qianmen Locomotive Depot, Nankou Locomotive Depot, Huairou North Locomotive Depot, and Fengtai Locomotive Depot, dispatched elite forces to clear weeds along the railway lines.

In order to improve the enthusiasm of employees, the General Administration has also set up special awards. The person who harvests the most weeds will be awarded the title of weeding expert and can get an enamel pot.

The group that harvests the most weeds will receive a grand prize certificate.

The 131 package crew is off duty these two days, and Captain Bai and his team have been busy along the railway line for two days.

Li Aiguo failed to keep up with the team because he was developing a lawn mower.

The lawn mower is a machine in size, so it is troublesome to transport it to the Wild Creek Station.

Section Chief Xing called the comrade in charge of dispatch and arranged a carriage specifically for transporting the lawn mower.

"The area your group has been assigned to is near Yexi Station. It's late today, so you can't make it there. Tomorrow morning, there will be a timber train passing by Yexi Station. You can take the timber train."

Li Aiguo agreed immediately and then returned the borrowed old ox to Uncle Zhang who lived not far from the locomotive depot.

The old ox is a live animal, which is too troublesome to transport, and it is not a rare thing.

When we get to Yexi Station tomorrow, we can just borrow another one.

Miss Chen's belly is getting bigger and bigger, and her nerves are becoming more sensitive than before. She gets startled at the slightest movement.

When Li Aiguo returned home, he told Chen Xueru that he was going to Yexi Station.

“It will probably only take two or three days. Yexi Station is not far from the capital.

If you have an emergency, use the street office's phone to call the Railway Police Station, and Zhou Ke can contact me."

Chen Xueru had just heard that Li Aiguo was going on a business trip again, and she was indeed a little nervous, but she relaxed after hearing that.

"Although it's only a few dozen miles, you still have to go out. I'll pack some bedding and food for you."

"Forget about the food. This is a unified operation of the General Administration. Food and drink will be provided by the General Administration. Our family is not well off."

Li Aiguo stopped Miss Chen, went into the inner room, grabbed a quilt and stuffed it into the sack, clapped his hands, and said, "That's it!"

Chen Xueru watched as a job that used to take her half an hour was completed in just a few seconds by Li Aiguo. She didn't know what to say for a moment.

"By the way, isn't Yan Jiecheng at the Yexi switch station? A while ago, Third Aunt was complaining about the cold weather. I wonder if Yan Jiecheng is cold over there. How about I go ask Third Aunt if she has anything to bring to Yan Jiecheng?"

Li Aiguo would certainly not object.

Chen Xueru left the house and went to her third aunt's house. A moment later she came back with a wooden box.

The box was quite heavy, so Chen Xueru and Yan Jiedi carried it into the house.

Li Aiguo was connecting the battery switch to the desk lamp at this time.

What? Why is the battery still in Li Aiguo?
Just kidding, scientific research can actually be completed overnight.

Li Aiguo originally planned to return the battery to the Materials Department, but was stopped by Section Chief Xing.

Chief Xing's original words were: "Although the harvester has been developed, it still needs to be optimized later. These batteries will be left at Aiguo's home to avoid the need to go through the formalities later."

In this way, the battery remained in the Li family temporarily. The only change was that the battery was charged with a large amount of electricity during the day, and the third uncle was completely unemployed.

"Brother Aiguo, this is something dad wants to give to your brother. Please deliver it to him." Yan Jiedi said to Li Aiguo very politely.

"These are all small things." Li Aiguo took the box from her, just lifted it, and immediately frowned.

There was a rustling sound in the box.

"Jie Di, what did your father bring for your brother? A broken bowl?"

"Bullet." Yan Jiedi uttered a word that made Li Aiguo break out in a cold sweat.

Li Aiguo immediately put the box on the ground and opened it. He rummaged through the clothes for a while and found a wooden box inside.

After opening the box, Li Aiguo's eyes widened suddenly.

There are more than a dozen hand-made ropes made of wormwood, grass, etc. There is black powder on the ropes. These ropes should be the matchlocks used in matchlock guns.

There was a pile of lead bullets and a soy sauce bottle next to it.

The clinking sound is made by lead bullets hitting the soy sauce bottle.

Li Aiguo picked up the bottle, which was filled with black powder. It was obvious that it was homemade gunpowder.

Good opportunity, this old Yan is my friend who would rather die than die. Although this thing is not contraband, it is making a loud noise in the box and might explode.

Especially the gunpowder in the soy sauce bottle. If it really exploded, the house would collapse.

(End of this chapter)