The train driver in the courtyard

The sun sets in the west, and its afterglow gently falls on the wilderness like a golden gauze.

The wild grasses on both sides of the railway tracks swayed gently in the breeze. They were yellow and messy, like strands of hair scattered randomly on the earth.

These beautiful scenes are meaningless in the eyes of Captain Chen of Train No. 1621.

What he and his crew had to do was to weed out all the weeds and eventually win the title of expert weeder.

Captain Chen looked back at the water deliveryman who was measuring the length: "How much work have we completed this afternoon?"

"Report to the driver, it's six kilometers!" the water drinker answered excitedly.

Six kilometers, one kilometer beyond the expected target, this time it’s stable!

Captain Chen raised his wrist to check the time. It was already six o'clock in the afternoon. He estimated that the train would arrive soon.

"Go and call everyone over for a small meeting."

"Yes!" The water attendant ran over quickly.

Not long after, the crew members, drivers and police officers of crew 1621 came over carrying shovels and hoes.

Captain Chen's eyes slid across their tired faces and he said loudly, "I have good news for you guys. We have completed a total of six kilometers of mission this afternoon!"

"Six kilometers! We won!"

"Yes, Big Red Flower, here I come!"

Everyone jumped up excitedly.

Captain Chen pressed his hands down and continued, "Pride is the mother of failure. Although we have achieved a staged victory and far surpassed the 131 crew, the 131 crew is not idle, so I decided to continue the night battle tonight!"

After several days of sleepless efforts, everyone was exhausted, but they decided to grit their teeth and persevere for the final victory.

Woo woo woo. Eat, eat, eat, the little train is coming.

Captain Chen took all the members of crew 1621 onto the train.

As soon as they got on the bus, the water attendant told the other crew members the amount of work they had to complete that afternoon like a loudspeaker.

"You've already surpassed us by one third of the way through the six kilometers. This time the big red flower is definitely yours."

"Where is the 131 package crew? I saw driver Li coming here today."

"Driver Li from the 131 crew is indeed a capable person, but there are too many female comrades in their crew, so how can they compare to the 1621 crew?"

"that's true!"

Amid the discussions, although Captain Chen spoke modestly, he felt as sweet as if he had drunk honey in his heart.

Which railway worker doesn’t like honor!

The train continued to move forward and soon arrived at the section where the 131 package crew was located.

As the distance was quite far, Captain Chen stuck his head out of the window and looked outside. He frowned after just one look.

I saw that the crew members of crew 131 were all sitting on both sides of the tracks to rest, only a cow was pulling a strange thing along the tracks.

"Did Driver Li really violate the rules and use the plow for victory?" Captain Chen was shocked.

When the train stopped, he couldn't wait to jump off.

At this time, Captain Bai and Li Aiguo were already waiting by the tracks with the crew of package 131.

Seeing Captain Chen jump down angrily, Captain Bai felt a little strange. Just as he was about to ask a few questions, Captain Chen ran to Li Aiguo.

"Driver Li, I, Old Chen, misjudged you!"

“???” Li Aiguo’s head was full of question marks at this time.

Cao Wenzhi saw that the driver Chen was in a bad mood, so he stepped forward and stopped him: "What's the matter, Old Chen? Why are you bluffing my apprentice?"

Train conductor Chen looked at Cao Wenzhi, pointed to the distance on the track and said, "Old Cao, I thought your apprentice was a good kid who knew that if he wanted to win, he had to rely on his real skills.

Who knew he would have such a shady idea? He is a nationally recognized train driver!

"Old Chen, please explain clearly, what's wrong with patriotism? If you can't explain it clearly today, don't blame me for ignoring decades of feelings!"

Cao Wenzhi also became angry at this time and rolled up his sleeves.

The drivers were very united. Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng from driver group 131 also gathered around.

When the comrades from crew 1621 saw that the conductor was surrounded, they quickly jumped off the train and confronted crew 131.

Everyone had heavy weapons such as hoes and shovels in their hands.

The atmosphere at the scene became tense for a moment.

Li Aiguo felt that something was amiss, so he stopped both parties, walked up to the driver Chen and asked, "Driver Chen, you just said that I was playing tricks on you, what was that about?"

"Plowing! Our locomotive depot strictly prohibits plowing around the tracks. You ignored the rules in order to win! You are just cheating."

The comrades in the train crew were watching the fun from the sidelines.

Upon hearing this, the eyes towards the crew of Package 131 and Li Aiguo suddenly became different.

In the locomotive depot, capable people eat meat, and incapable people drink Xishui.

What train drivers and railway workers hate most are people who cheat and commit fraud.

In particular, Li Aiguo is a national advanced train driver, a benchmark for the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and an "idol" of train drivers.

Now that their idol’s image has collapsed, they are even more angry.

The bright red flags fluttered in the wind.

At this time, Captain Chen's face had turned red. Li Aiguo suddenly laughed and put his arms around Captain Chen's neck.

"Old Chen, I thought it was something serious. Come with me and check to see if we are up to something."

Captain Chen tried to break free from Li Aiguo's arms, but failed after several attempts.

He could only be "sandwiched" by Li Aiguo and came to the ox cart in a very intimate manner.

When Captain Chen saw that there was only a layer of floating grass on the ground and no signs of plowing, he immediately felt something was wrong.

He didn't believe it and quickly kicked away the floating grass with his feet, revealing solid ground underneath, which was covered with grass stubble.

"What, what's going on?" Captain Chen was shocked and a little confused.

The crew members who followed behind to watch the fun also frowned.

"This grass has all been cut, and all the grass is the same length. It's so weird."

Only then did Li Aiguo let go of Captain Chen's neck, pointed at the ox cart and said, "This thing is called a lawn mower. It can cut grass quickly without turning the ground over."

Although the flight attendants didn't know what a lawn mower was, the floating grass on the ground said it all.

Captain Chen also understood what was going on and asked impatiently, "Driver Li, how much work did you complete this afternoon?"

"A full twenty kilometers!" A voice came from the crowd. Zhang Chenxing squeezed out with his hand raised, "I measured the distance myself, it can't be wrong."

“Twenty kilometers.”

Hiss! The flight attendants all gasped.

They worked for the entire afternoon and only mowed five kilometers.

Even the crew of package 1621 only mowed six kilometers, while others completed twenty kilometers with one lawn mower in one afternoon.

This is beyond their imagination.

Even though Captain Chen had realized that the lawn mower was no ordinary device, he was still shocked by the amount of the task.

"How is this possible? Even if we walk and do nothing, a person can only walk 40 kilometers in an afternoon."

"Hey, Lao Chen, you really got it right."

After Cao Wenzhi figured out what was going on, he heaved a sigh of relief, walked out with his arms folded, and said loudly, "The lawn mower designed by Aiguo uses ox power plus electricity. People just need to follow it. It's like taking a walk!"

"Mowing the lawn is like taking a walk. Isn't this too easy?"

"It seems that we have been working so hard for a long time, but we are still not as good as others taking a walk."

"This thing is a good thing!"

"It's a pity that it was invented by Li Aiguo and is now used by the 131 crew."

The crew members of crew 1621 instantly realized what the appearance of the lawn mower meant. Their faces darkened and some of them were even whispering behind their backs.

"That's not fair! Using the lawnmower doesn't count."

"They can harvest dozens of miles in a walk, how can we compare with them?"

"Enough!" After finding out the reason, Captain Chen had remained silent until now, but now he was getting angry at the crew members of crew 1621.

"Why doesn't a harvester count? Just because it's a machine?"

"When trains were introduced a hundred years ago, those horse-drawn carriage drivers and rickshaw drivers thought the same thing!"

"I think we should stop being train drivers and train attendants and just go home and herd cattle!"

The crew members of package 1621 hung their heads and said nothing.

Looking at their tired faces, the train conductor Chen felt a little reluctant and said in a softer tone, "Driver Li has developed a harvester, which will be produced in the future and equipped to various switch stations.

Only one track inspector can complete the weed clearing work along the railway line. We no longer have to worry about encountering a fire when driving in the future!"

How many times have I told you to look beyond your own small world?

The crew members of package 1621 all hung their heads.

Whether they are willing to admit it or not, the ultimate beneficiaries of the emergence of the harvester are the entire railway department, the passengers, and these railway workers.

Captain Chen took a deep breath, walked up to Li Aiguo, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and handed it to him with both hands.

"Driver Li, I misunderstood you! I apologize."

After listening to the speech by Captain Chen, Li Aiguo had a new understanding of this seemingly reckless captain.

Come to think of it, a train conductor has to come into contact with all kinds of people and also has to be able to keep his composure.

A person who can serve as a train captain for a long time is not a simple person.

On the railways, generally speaking, even if a misunderstanding occurs, no apology is given.

The misunderstanding was resolved and they just smiled at each other and felt relieved.

Captain Chen's actions have exceeded Li Aiguo's expectations.

"You're welcome, Lao Chen. We are all working for the development of the railway. I admire the work of your 1621 crew." Li Aiguo took the cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.

Captain Chen raised his head and said, "Can you please make a suggestion to the locomotive section? Let's settle our weeding campaign now.

After all, you have a harvester, so the future games will be a little unfair."

Well, I was waiting here. Li Aiguo patted the driver Chen on the shoulder and said, "Old Chen, have you heard of the saying, Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood?"

After saying that, Li Aiguo put his hands behind his back, smoked a cigarette and left.

Just kidding, he is not that kind of pedantic person.

I worked so hard to make this lawn mower, and now it doesn't count. It would be a waste of my work.

Captain Bai and the crew members of crew 131 all breathed a sigh of relief.

You know, Captain Chen's performance just now was so realistic.

He criticized the flight attendants of flight 1621, handed out cigarettes, and apologized. If it were someone who liked to show off his style, he would probably feel that he was taking advantage of others and was cheated.

Fortunately, Li Aiguo never suffers any loss.

Train Captain Chen looked at their backs and smiled helplessly: "Well, this time the big red flower is completely ruined. Alas, since Qianmen Locomotive Depot already has me, Chen Zhouyu, why does it still need Li Aiguo? God is so unfair!"

"Captain, if there is Yu, why is there Liang?" The water boy corrected, "Later, Zhou Yu was angered to death by Zhuge Liang."

Captain Chen's eyes widened with anger: "If you can talk, just say a few more words."

Any equipment needs to go through layers of verification from design to market launch to avoid various unexpected failures.

Although there are not so many requirements these days and there are no various national standards, Li Aiguo still decided to try his best to find out the design flaws before mass production.

After returning to Yexi Station, Li Aiguo contacted Section Chief Xing of Qianmen Locomotive Depot by phone, reported the production efficiency of the lawn mower, and expressed his intention to conduct a one-week production experiment.

Director Xing Duan became excited and agreed immediately.

He also told Li Aiguo that he would immediately go back to arrange for the maintenance workshop to prepare the raw materials, and start mass production of the lawn mower once the lawn mower passed the production test.

After Section Chief Xing hung up the phone, he called a meeting of the leaders in the section.

When the leaders heard the good news, they became excited.

At this time, a leader suggested: "Now that we have a lawn mower, shouldn't we withdraw the assault team? The comrades have worked too hard."

Section Chief Xing shook his head: "This grass-cutting campaign is a task uniformly deployed by the General Administration. It has a great impact. In addition to cutting grass to prevent fires, the ultimate goal is to strengthen the cohesion of our railway team. We can't withdraw now."

Deputy Director Wang of the labor union, who was in charge of labor union work, suddenly raised his hand and asked, "Then crew 131 used a lawn mower. Isn't that unfair to other crews?"

When the driving pedal was being pushed out, Deputy Director Wang of the Labor Union and Deputy Director Huang of the Education Office tried their best to stop it and even tried to put a accusation on Li Aiguo.

Later, Deputy Director Huang was dismissed from his post and sent to guard the switchman station.

Deputy Director Wang of the trade union managed to keep his position because he suddenly changed sides at the meeting, leaving Director Xing with no reason to take him down.

In the following period, Deputy Director Wang of the trade union had been very honest and behaved like a deaf person, never speaking in every meeting. But at this time he jumped out.

It seems that it is hard to change one's nature!
Xing Duanchang looked at him deeply and said slowly, "The General Administration has not stipulated that other equipment cannot be used, right? If other crews have the ability to invent more efficient mowing equipment, I will definitely not stop them."

"But." Deputy Director Wang wanted to say something.

Section Chief Xing interrupted him: "Blindly pursuing fairness will definitely hurt the enthusiasm of our comrades. If enthusiasm is affected, it will inevitably affect railway transportation work."

His tone became more serious: "Old Wang, do you have other thoughts?"

Deputy Director Wang originally intended to put a big hat on Li Aiguo, but he was put on the hat by Director Xing instead, and his face immediately turned pale.

"Duanzhang, you are right. My understanding of the policy is wrong. I will reflect on it!"

Deputy Director Wang admitted his mistake straightforwardly, but he felt resentful in his heart.

Now Director Xing Duan has completely trusted Li Aiguo. If he wants to use this little thing to deal with Li Aiguo, it's probably impossible.

But he is not in a hurry, as the situation is getting more and more tense.

Perhaps it won't be long before he can take control of the locomotive depot.

By then, dealing with Li Aiguo would be as easy as crushing an ant.

After the meeting, the Materials Department of Qianmen Locomotive Depot began to prepare production materials according to the list issued by Li Aiguo, and Director Zhang in the maintenance workshop also began to organize the production team.

Duanchang Xing also contacted the surrounding communes and prepared to rent oxen.

Everything is ready, just waiting for Li Aiguo to complete the production experiment.

Li Aiguo has been living a particularly happy life these days.

The railway workers rolled up their sleeves and worked hard. Every day when he went to work, he would hold Dazhuang's hand and pull the lawn mower along the railway track, strolling while observing the operation of the harvester.

Dazhuang is indeed a good cow. He works hard to pull the harvester every day and never slacks off or complains. He even rarely moos. Naturally, we, Li Aiguo, cannot treat him badly.

There is a small river at the foot of the mountain not far from the Yexi switch station.

Although it is already the severe winter season, there are still many aquatic plants on the riverside that have not completely dried up because the mountains cover the river.

Occasionally, wild duck eggs and bird eggs can be picked up from the water plants, and Da Zhuang can eat the water plants and have a meaty meal at the same time.

Every evening after work, Li Aiguo would ride Da Zhuang to the river and give Da Zhuang a good meal.

After eating enough aquatic plants and drinking enough river water, Li Aiguo rode Dazhuang back to Yexi Station.

The sun sets that day and the scenery is beautiful.

Li Aiguo lay on the hillside by the river, holding a horsetail grass in his mouth and humming the most popular song "The Little Widow Visiting the Grave".

Suddenly, the sound of cows mooing came from a distance.

Although the cow cannot speak, the tension mixed in its roar aroused Li Aiguo's vigilance.

You should know that old oxen are large animals in rural areas. Although they are gentle in nature, they rarely have rivals. Even wild dogs avoid old oxen.

Something is wrong!
Li Aiguo stood up suddenly and pulled out a pistol from his waist while running.

Jumping from the hillside to the river bank, Li Aiguo saw two wild wolves appearing in the grass by the river.

The wild wolf was circling around the old ox, trying to attack it.

Li Aiguo felt that he had been negligent. It was common knowledge in the Qianmen Locomotive Depot that there were many wild wolves on the Yexi River.

In the logistics department of the locomotive depot, there was a warehouse manager with a scar on his neck named Lin Yanba.

Although Lin the Mute was a little slow and sometimes liked to drink, no one in the section ever complained about him, and even the leader pretended not to see it.

When Li Aiguo first met Lin the Mute, he felt very strange and asked his master Cao Wenzhi.

It turns out that this Lin the Mute was not a mute before. His name was Lin Youfu. He became mute because his throat was bitten by a wild wolf.

Five years ago, Qianmen Locomotive Depot organized the Yexi Switch Station in order to better control coal-carrying trains.

Lin Youfu, who was in his forties and was originally an employee of the section, signed up enthusiastically and became the first switchman.

Because there was a shortage of staff in the locomotive depot at that time, there was only one switchman, Lin Youfu, in the entire switchman station. Fortunately, there were not many trains passing through, so they were able to cope with it.

After Lin Youfu arrived at the Yexi switch station, although he heard that there were wild animals in the mountains, he took the pistol provided in the station and did not take it seriously.

The days went on peacefully.

When summer came, the shack at the switch station was too hot. Two coal trucks were about to pass through the aisle in the early morning, so Lin Youfu tore off a mat and lay down on the platform outside.

It was late at night and dark, and no one noticed his presence.

In the middle of the night, a wolf came and bit Lin Youfu's neck.

Lin Youfu woke up from holding it in. His desire to survive made him muster up all his strength. He grabbed the wolf's mouth with both hands and pried it open.

Lin Youfu, who was in his forties, was very strong and actually pried the wolf's mouth open. After the wolf howled, it turned around and ran away without a trace.

Lin Youfu's neck was bitten through, and although the aorta was not damaged, if the blood was allowed to flow, his life would be in danger.

He wanted to call the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to report, but found that he couldn't make any sound.

There was exactly half an hour left before the coal truck was about to pass through the aisle.

In order not to delay traffic order, Lin Youfu did not choose to go down the mountain directly. Instead, he covered his neck with a piece of cloth and stood by the gate until the coal truck arrived.

According to Zhou, the driver of the coal truck at the time, Lin Youfu was covered in blood, as if he had just come down from a battlefield.

For the first time, the coal truck ran at a speed of 80 miles per hour and rushed all the way to the locomotive depot. Lin Youfu was sent to the hospital.

Although he survived, his vocal cords seemed to be damaged and Lin Youfu could no longer speak.

The section transferred Lin Youfu back from the switchman station and placed him in the logistics department, which was considered a retirement position.

Later, considering that there were wild wolves near the Yexi switch station, the station specially arranged two people to be on duty at the switch station.

Only since there have been no more wolf attacks in recent years did the Yexi switch station relax.

"Da Zhuang, run away quickly!" Thinking about these things, Li Aiguo had already rushed to the river bank.

Da Zhuang seemed to realize that he was in danger and turned around to run.

At this time, a wild wolf suddenly pounced towards Dazhuang. Even Li Aiguo, who was dozens of meters away, could see its sharp teeth clearly.

Li Aiguo's heart skipped a beat. He raised his pistol, aimed at the wolf and was about to pull the trigger.

Snapped!
The gun didn't go off.

The wolf flew out.

It turned out that Da Zhuang, who was about to turn around and run away, suddenly stopped and kicked at the wild wolf with his hind legs.

The wolf never expected that an honest old ox would be so cunning. It was already in mid-air and had no way to dodge, so it was kicked by the ox's hoof.

Li Aiguo had no idea how much strength the old ox's hoof had.

But after the wild wolf flew out, it knocked down a small tree and fell to the ground. There was a big hole in the wolf's head, and blood ooted out of the hole every time it breathed, but it could not move.

The whole process looks complicated, but in fact, it only took two or three seconds from Da Zhuang's strategic retreat to the wild wolf falling to the ground.

When the other wolf saw that its companion was defeated so easily, it felt that the several hundred kilograms of beef in front of it would not be so easy to eat.

Plus, there was a two-legged monster next to it, holding a golden thing. The threat posed by that guy was far greater than that of the big yellow cow.

What to do? Run away!

The wild wolf turned around and tried to escape into the forest.

Snapped!
This time there was a real gunshot.

The wild wolf fell to the ground.

At this time, Da Zhuang returned triumphantly as a winner and strode up to Li Aiguo with his head held high.

Moo moo!
Li Aiguo rubbed the hair on its neck and said, "Pay attention, this cow is called Dazhuang, and it just performed a great deed by killing a wild wolf."

Moo moo!
Da Zhuang is proud.

(End of this chapter)