The train driver in the courtyard

sunset.

After being quiet all day, Yexi Station also welcomed the busiest time of the day.

The railway workers who participated in the tough battle, the crew members of each crew group, the driver group, and the police group returned to Yexi Station after a tiring day.

The employees at the station ran to a stream three miles away and fetched water.

Everyone washed off their fatigue, squatted on the platform, chatting and bragging, while enjoying the rare leisure time.

"Today I saw a rabbit in the bushes over at Ma Wan. If I hadn't brought my gun, we would have had rabbit meat to eat tonight."

"Master Zhou, that rabbit is very fast. Even with a gun, you can't do anything to it."

Master Zhou looked up and saw that it was Yan Jiecheng. He frowned and said, "Aren't you the switchman at the Yesi Switch Station? Why are you here?"

"It's our shift change today." Yan Jiecheng smiled.

"It's time to change shifts, so you go home or stay at the switch station and take a nap." Master Zhou was puzzled.

Yan Jiecheng continued to grin foolishly.

At this time, an employee who was familiar with Yan Jiecheng spoke up: "Oh, Old Zhou, why are you so stupid? The food at Yexi Station is good these days. We make plenty of white rice every day. Even comrades from the nearby switch station come to eat for free."

"I am also a railway employee. I helped cut the grass today."

Originally, no one paid attention to this matter, but Yan Jiecheng felt guilty and added another sentence, which made the employees on the platform laugh.

For a moment, the air was filled with joy.

At this time, there came a clinking sound of cow hooves stepping on the concrete floor of the platform in the distance.

The railway workers stood up one after another, and saw Li Aiguo riding Da Zhuang and swaying back from a distance.

"Driver Li, how much grass did you cut today?"

"About sixty or seventy miles."

".You alone are more powerful than our entire team! What's on this harvester?"

The workers were greeting Li Aiguo when they caught sight of the two wolves on the harvester and could not help but gasp.

"Wild wolves! Two at that. Driver Li, did you kill these?"

"I met him by the creek over there."

Li Aiguo greeted the employees while riding his cow into the station.

When they learned that Li Aiguo had killed two wild wolves, people inside the station and on the platform rushed over to watch the fun.

Although wild wolves are not uncommon these days, it is rare for one person to take down two wild wolves.

Yan Jiecheng looked at the two wild wolves, turned his eyes and ran over. While Li Aiguo was washing his hands, he squatted behind him and whispered, "Brother Aiguo, how about leaving these two wild wolves to me?"

"For you?" Li Aiguo was surprised.

Yan Jiecheng: "Not for free, I'll give you a high price. Pork in Beijing is 25 cents per pound, I'll charge you cents per pound. These two wolves will have pounds of meat at most, I'll give you yuan. How about it?"

Li Aiguo: "."

He thought Yan Jiecheng was really smart.

The price of wolf meat is indeed not as high as pork.

But wolf skin is a rare commodity. If the elderly suffer from cold legs or something like that, it would be very comfortable for them to wear a sheath made of wolf skin.

"Jie Cheng, I'll prepare the wolf meat."

Li Aiguo was speaking.

Captain Bai and Cao Wenzhi came over and greeted him.

"Aiguo, is this the wolf you killed? Do you want us to help transport it back to you?"

Li Aiguo said, "You guys have worked hard recently. How about leaving these two wild wolves here to provide a snack for everyone tonight?"

Captain Bai and Cao Wenzhi couldn't help rubbing their ears.

"Aiguo, this is dozens of kilograms of meat. If you take it back to your family, it will last you a year."

"This is the wild wolf you killed yourself. No one will mind if you bring it back."

They felt that Li Aiguo had to develop his own style because he was concerned about other people's opinions.

Li Aiguo really didn't take these two wild wolves seriously now.

The food stored in the secret room was enough to last for several years, and he could also drive the train to go hunting from time to time, so there was no need to be greedy for this little bit of meat.

Li Aiguo straightened his chest and said, "Captain, Master, this is my personal opinion. You know me well."

Captain Bai and Cao Wenzhi believed it a little after hearing what he said, and they looked at Li Aiguo with unusual eyes.

This guy has an extraordinary ideological awareness as he was able to voluntarily share dozens of kilograms of wolf meat with his comrades.

Cao Wenzhi patted Li Aiguo on the shoulder and said, "Good, good, good. You are worthy of being my disciple!"

Captain Bai turned around and announced loudly that Li Aiguo had left the wolf meat for a snack.

Although the railway workers had long been craving for the meat, no one said anything because it was hunted by Li Aiguo.

Now when they heard that Li Aiguo had taken the initiative to keep the meat, they were stunned for a moment, and then cheered loudly.

"You are worthy of being a national advanced train driver. Look at his awareness. We can't compare to him."

"Yes, this is more than 50 kilograms of meat. If it were someone else, they would have secretly taken it home by now."

"Driver Li has distributed real benefits to everyone, unlike those leaders who only talk big."

"If anyone dares to say something bad about Driver Li behind his back again, don't blame me for being rude to him."

After the driver, Chen, who had a conflict with Li Aiguo yesterday, shouted a few words, he took the initiative to step forward and patted Li Aiguo on the shoulder: "Driver Li, good job!"

The members of the 1621 crew also felt that they should express their opinions, so they came forward one by one and gave Li Aiguo a thumbs-up.

Looking at Li Aiguo who was surrounded by the crowd, Yan Jiecheng secretly curled his lips: "After giving away so much meat, he only got a few nice words in return. Brother Aiguo really made a fool of himself this time."

Snapped!
He was slapped hard on the forehead.

Turning his head, he saw the driver Chen staring at him angrily: "Yan Jiecheng, I just said that if anyone dares to talk about driver Li behind his back again, I will not be polite to him.

Do you want to taste my iron fist?"

Facing the fist of Captain Chen, Yan Jiecheng turned around and ran away, covering his head.

Of course, Yan Jiecheng only retreated temporarily. He walked around outside the station, picked up some wild fruits and put them in his pocket, and then came back when it got dark.

He still has to eat wolf meat!
As night falls, darkness wraps the earth tightly like a carpet.

Bonfires were lit on the platform of Yexi Station, and railway workers roasted wolf meat on iron forks over the flames.

The aroma of barbecue filled the air.

"Liu Dahong from the 162nd crew, I heard you sing well. We're all so happy today, can you sing a song for me?"

I don’t know who shouted in the crowd.

A young girl in a flight attendant uniform stood up and walked to the bonfire with confidence.

"How loud the victory song is

Sing our dear motherland

vast and beautiful land

It's our dear hometown
The heroic people stood up

We are united and strong as steel
"

Amid the melodious singing, the young men could no longer hold back and stood up and started dancing.

Their dancing moves were strange, but they won warm applause.

Amidst the applause and singing, Li Aiguo took the roasted wolf meat from Zhang Yazhi and bit off a piece.

Although there was no seasoning on the wolf meat except a little salt, it tasted average, but it was the most delicious wolf meat Li Aiguo had ever eaten.

What Li Aiguo didn't notice was that Huang Shuxian in the education room had already taken out paper and pen and wrote down this scene in a notebook.

Now the Qianmen Locomotive Depot is vigorously promoting good people and good deeds. Li Aiguo distributed wolf meat to everyone, which is a great thing.

Early the next morning, Huang Shuxian sent the written manuscript to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot via the commuter bus.

Our Li Aiguo didn't know all this. At this time, he was already leading Da Zhuang and testing the lawn mower along the railroad tracks.

Happy days always pass quickly.

In the blink of an eye, a week has passed.

After a period of experiments, Li Aiguo found a total of twelve design flaws, two of which were major flaws that could affect the durability and safety of the harvester.

After making sure there were no more omissions, Li Aiguo planned to return to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to prepare for production.

But before leaving, Li Aiguo still had something to do.

He took the commuter bus to the Yexi switch station.

After getting off the train and before reaching the door, Yan Jiecheng pushed the door open and walked out, stopping Li Aiguo with a panicked look in his eyes.

"Brother Aiguo, you're here? What's the matter?"

Well, it seems that Yan Jiecheng is teaching female students to read again.

Li Aiguo pretended not to know that the female student was hiding in the shack and said with a smile, "Jie Cheng, today I'm here to trouble you to go with me to Zhangzhuang Commune to meet Zhang Jinsheng."

"You want to meet Guifang's father? Oh, is the experiment over? Is it time to return the old ox? No, where is the ox?!"

Yan Jiecheng stretched his head and looked around, but didn't see the old ox and felt a little strange.

Li Aiguo said: "I plan to buy the cow."

"No, no. Brother Aiguo, did I hear you right? You are a train driver, why do you need a cow? Do you want to eat beef?" Yan Jiecheng was confused.

After spending some time with Dazhuang, Li Aiguo felt that he was a good cow and did not want it to stay in the commune.

It just so happens that if the Qianmen Locomotive Depot wants to popularize lawn mowers on a large scale, Dazhuang will be needed to continue his efforts.

"That won't explain it. Just buy the cow."

Seeing that Li Aiguo had made up his mind, Yan Jiecheng hesitated for a moment and went into the shack.

There was a murmur from inside.

After a while, Zhang Guifang came out confidently. Her first words were: "Driver Li, I'm here to learn Chinese from Teacher Yan today."

"Yan Jiecheng is a good teacher, and you are indeed a good student." Li Aiguo said perfunctorily and repeated his idea of ​​buying a cow.

"My father is a stingy man. If you go to buy the cow directly, he will definitely cheat you." Zhang Guifang pinched her voice and imitated Zhang Jinsheng, raised her hand and said: "Young man, this old ox was raised by me. It is like my son. I can't bear to sell it!"

"An old ox can give birth to a calf, and when the calf grows up, it can give birth to more calves. This is not just one ox, but seventy or eighty oxen."

"This old ox is the best in the whole area. It can plow 200 mu of land a day."

I have to say that Zhang Guifang learned it quite well, especially the tone, which is exactly the same as Zhang Jinsheng.

Yan Jiecheng burst out laughing: "Why do I feel like he looks like my dad?"

Zhang Guifang's face flushed immediately. She lowered her head, tugged at the corner of her clothes, and glanced at Yan Jiecheng: "Brother Jiecheng, do you really think so?"

Yan Jiecheng came to his senses and his face changed drastically: "Comrade Zhang Guifang, you misunderstood, I was referring to my biological father."

"It would be even better if I could treat him as my real father." Little stars appeared in Zhang Guifang's eyes.

Yan Jiecheng felt that he couldn't explain it clearly and could only sigh to the sky.

Li Aiguo interrupted them with a smile: "Okay, it's getting late, it's time to set off."

Only then did Yan Jiecheng escape the disaster.

A few people walked along the rugged path and arrived at Zhangjiazhuang Commune.

When Zhang Jinsheng heard that Li Aiguo wanted to buy a cow, he behaved exactly as Zhang Guifang had expected.

First he expressed his deep affection for the old ox, and then he said that this was not just one ox, but countless cows.

Finally, he said that this was a sacred cow.

"Sacred cow? Secretary Zhang, if this gets out, do you think you can still be the secretary?" Li Aiguo reminded him.

Zhang Jinsheng heard this and quickly said, "Comrade driver, you misunderstood me. I was just making an analogy."

Li Aiguo was not the kind of person who would take things too seriously, and was just about to ask Zhang Jinsheng to name a price.

Da Zhuang is indeed a good cow. If the price is right, I will buy it directly.

At this moment.

A member rushed in from outside.

He wanted to report something, but when he saw Li Aiguo and others were there, his expression changed and he whispered something into Zhang Jinsheng's ear.

"Weighing the land? What kind of land? Can the land be weighed?"

"Oh, secretary, it's not about declaring oneself emperor, it's about declaring oneself emperor! Zhang Jinyin has declared himself emperor! He has become the emperor!" The members of the cooperative became anxious and their voices became louder.

Zhang Jinsheng's face changed drastically: "Zhang Jinyin really dares to do this? She is tired of living, but I am not tired of living! Is your information accurate?"

"You asked me to keep an eye on Zhang Jinyin. I saw it clearly. She took a dozen members of the commune to a dilapidated temple in the mountains. I don't know where she got a set of bright yellow clothes from. She put them on. There was a dragon embroidered on it.

She also asked the members to secretly buy incense and candles, preparing for some kind of coronation ceremony."

The member wiped the sweat from his forehead and spoke anxiously.

"It's over, all over." Zhang Jinsheng walked back and forth in the yard with his hands behind his back.

He raised his head and saw Li Aiguo and others were still there. His expression suddenly became even uglier.

Zhang Jinsheng smiled awkwardly: "Comrade, there was a small incident in our commune today, and I am in a hurry to deal with it. Let's talk about selling the cow another day."

Since the other party had something to do, Li Aiguo took Yan Jiecheng away.

Before they left the village, they heard Zhang Guifang's voice behind them.

"Driver Li, Brother Jie Cheng, wait a minute."

Yan Jiecheng looked at Zhang Guifang and said, "Aren't you at home helping your father deal with things?"

Zhang Guifang sighed: "Our family is in big trouble."

Li Aiguo frowned and said, "Is there anyone in your commune doing those messy things? Your father is the commune secretary, can't you just send the militia to arrest them?"

In those days, not long after liberation, there were still many people among the people who liked to play tricks.

There was a lazy man in Wei Zhuang Commune who suddenly fell seriously ill one day.

After waking up again, he claimed to be a disciple of Wong Tai Sin and could cure people's illnesses as long as they were offered corn noodles.

The lazy man hid in the house all day, pretending to be a ghost, talking nonsense, and deceived many people.

When the village chief, Old Wei, learned about this, he called Zhang Jieba and two militiamen, and in front of the members who believed in shamans, they asserted that the lazy man was suffering from hysteria.

Just add two large buckets of pig manure and the hysteria can be cured immediately.

Sure enough, after pouring the pig manure, the lazy man admitted on the spot that he was talking nonsense and promised to be an honest person in the future.

Zhang Guifang looked around and saw that no one was paying attention. She sighed and said, "Driver Li, you are from the city, so I won't hide it from you. The person who caused the trouble is Zhang Jinyin, and she is my cousin."

Zhang Guifang was also at her wit's end, so she told the whole story.

It turned out that Zhang Jinyin was a top figure in Zhangzhuang Commune.

Before liberation, because her family could not make ends meet, she worked in the county town sewing and washing clothes for the landlords.

Because she was beautiful, she was favored by the landlord and taken in as his concubine.

Zhang Jinyin lived a good life for a few years, but after liberation, the landlord left.

Zhang Jinyin was driven out by the landlord's family and had to return to Zhangzhuang (the commune had not yet been established at that time).

Zhang Jinsheng was elected village chief because he performed particularly well by leading his fellow villagers to help the soldiers during the war.

Although Zhang Jinsheng looked down on the lazy Zhang Jinyin, she was his cousin after all, and Zhang Jinyin's father had once saved Zhang Jinsheng's life.

So Zhang Jinsheng let Zhang Jinyin return to the village and returned her old house to her.

Later, a commune was established in Zhangzhuang, and Zhang Jinyin became a member and ate from the same pot.

It stands to reason that as long as you work hard, you won't go hungry.

But she had lived in the county town for so many years that she was no longer content to be a member of the commune working in the fields for a living, so she started to get involved in all kinds of messy things.

Zhang Jinyin learned to read and become educated from the landlord. He made up a story about being the reincarnation of "Empress Wu Zetian" and fooled many people who liked to believe in such nonsense.

"My father originally thought that Zhang Jinyin was just joking, and that the matter would end when he got older and couldn't make any more noise.

Who would have thought that she would dare to claim to be an emperor? This is something that will get her shot at."

After understanding the whole story, Li Aiguo did not express his opinion immediately.

Yan Jiecheng couldn't help it: "Brother Aiguo, Zhang Jinsheng is not a bad person, and Guifang has been good to us. Now they are in trouble, we should help them if we can."

Li Aiguo pondered for a moment: "The key point of this matter is that we cannot let the local authorities intervene. If the local authorities intervene, the matter will inevitably escalate."

"Yes, my father has been reluctant to mobilize the militia because he is worried that there will be too many people and that my family and even our commune will be implicated." Zhang Guifang said worriedly.

When there are many people, there will be many gossips, and what people say can be scary.

Especially since this matter involves the national capital, if it is really escalated, everyone in Zhangzhuang Commune and who knows Zhang Jinyin will have to be screened.

Zhang Guifang did help a little, and if Li Aiguo could help, he would naturally help.

Of course, the premise of helping others is not to put yourself in trouble.

Li Aiguo reminded himself to be careful.

He thought for a moment, walked to the village entrance with his hands behind his back, looked up at the high mountains in the distance, and suddenly asked, "Comrade Zhang Guifang, in which mountain is your cousin hiding?"

"Uncle Zhang said it's in the pile of rocks in the Longmen Gorge to the east."

Longmenjian is a long and narrow valley. During the war, people from Beijing who fled liked to hide in Longmenjian.

People escaped the war, and some people thought that there was a god blessing here, so they built several small temples, and incense was burned day and night.

After liberation, the small temple fell into disrepair and became an abandoned house, making it the perfect place to do all sorts of messy things.

Li Aiguo nodded: "The railway line is only four or five kilometers away from Longmenjian. Is there any ruined temple near the railway?"

Yan Jiecheng was most familiar with the situation along the route. He frowned and thought for a moment, then said, "There is one, not far from our Yexi switch station."

After figuring out the situation, Li Aiguo waved to Zhang Guifang and said, "There is a way now that can solve Zhang Jinyin's problem and prevent the situation from getting worse, but it requires your father's cooperation."

When Zhang Guifang heard that Li Aiguo was willing to help, she almost jumped up with excitement.

"I'm going back now to tell my father."

At this time, there were quite a few people in the Zhang family yard.

Zhang Jinsheng thought about it over and over again, but he couldn't find a way to solve the problem.

Seven or eight members, the militia captain, and the commune leaders all began to worry: "Secretary, if this gets out, our commune will be in big trouble. Tell me, will the higher-ups think that I am following Zhang Jinyin to cause trouble?"

Zhang Jinsheng's wife kept complaining to him: "Zhang Jinsheng, I thought Jinyin was a disaster back then. Look at her when she came back from the county town. Her face was smeared with white and her lips were as red as if she had eaten a child.

You refused to listen to me and kept her with us. Now, Zhang Jinyin has caused such a big mess, and everyone in our commune has to take the blame for her."

"I just saw that she was homeless." Zhang Jinsheng said halfway through his sentence, gritted his teeth and said, "Catch her! Catch her immediately!"

The members were shocked: "Secretary, if they arrest someone, we might not be able to escape responsibility as well."

Zhang Jinsheng sighed and said, "Don't worry, I'm Zhang Jinyin's cousin. If our commune is involved, I will stop everything!"

After these words were spoken, the members looked at Zhang Jinsheng with completely different eyes.

Even Accountant Zhou from the commune, who always thought Zhang Jinsheng was too stingy, was moved at this moment.

"And me. I personally handled the procedures for Zhang Jinyin to return to the village." Accountant Zhou stood up with his chest puffed out.

The top two leaders in the commune gave the order, and militia captain Zhang Qingtian called on a few militiamen to bring ropes, red tasseled spears, and hunting rifles and prepare to capture Zhang Jinyin.

Suddenly, several people appeared outside the door.

Seeing Zhang Guifang bringing back two outsiders, Li Aiguo and Yan Jiecheng, Zhang Jinsheng frowned: "Guifang, didn't I ask you to take them away? Why are they back again?"

"father"

Zhang Guifang wanted to explain, but Zhang Jinsheng waved his hand to interrupt her, walked up to Li Aiguo, and said with a stern face: "Young man, our commune is in trouble now, you should leave quickly."

"Is it about Zhang Jinyin claiming to be the empress?" Li Aiguo asked with a smile.

As soon as these words came out, Zhang Jinsheng's pupils suddenly trembled. He turned his stiff neck and looked at Zhang Guifang: "Guifang, why did you tell this to outsiders?!"

"Dad, this man is Brother Jie Cheng's friend. He has a way to help us." Zhang Guifang said, stamping her feet.

"Help? How?" Zhang Jinsheng smiled bitterly and looked at Li Aiguo: "Young man, I appreciate your kindness, but if this matter is not handled well, even you will be involved."

"By the way, Dazhuang, you can take him away. Leave some money for Lao Zhou." As he spoke, Zhang Jinsheng winked at Li Aiguo and said, "You are the leaders of the railway. You will definitely not treat us members unfairly, right?"

Good guy, Zhang is really stingy. Even at this time, he still wants to take advantage.

(End of this chapter)