The train driver in the courtyard

On the road section about ten kilometers away from Yesi Station, two big red flags fluttered in the wind.

On one side, the words "Railway Police Station of Qianmen Locomotive Depot" can be vaguely seen.

On the other side were written the words "Qianmen Locomotive Depot Women's Federation" in large letters.

Zhou Ke squatted beside the railway tracks, holding a flag in one hand and two flags in both hands.

He held a piece of dogtail grass in his mouth and looked at the group of chattering old women, feeling very annoyed.

Now it's almost the end of the year, there are so many things happening on the railways, and so many thieves on the trains, all waiting for him.

Now, I can only mow the grass with this bunch of old women.

"Director, why did you agree to the director of the Women's Federation in the first place?"

"Doesn't he know that the fighting power of the women in the Women's Federation is mostly their talking skills? If you want to argue with them, aren't you courting death?"

This story has to start with the battle to overcome the difficulties at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

All departments of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot have sent out teams to cut grass, and the police station must also be more proactive.

It’s just that it’s the end of the year now, and the police station is extremely busy with so many things waiting to be dealt with.

There are many thieves at the end of the year, so we have to be careful on the train.

The Railway Police Station couldn't spare any manpower at all.

The Women's Federation of Qianmen Locomotive Depot is a small department.

There were only a dozen lesbians.

They say that the female comrades are diligent in their work, can provide logistical services, and can also sing songs to encourage the male comrades.

As long as you agree to form a team with them, you will definitely win the lawn mowing championship in the future.

The director was fooled by the Women's Federation director's ever-lasting lies, which made life difficult for Zhou Ke and his gang of railway police.

You have to know that three women make a play.

As I was sighing, I heard the roar of a small train in the distance.

"This shouldn't be the case. It's not time to get off work yet, so why is the commuter train here?" Zhou Ke looked up and saw that it was the familiar little train. He raised his wrist to check the time.

At this moment, the little train had rushed over, puffing its exhaust, and stopped in front of him.

Li Aiguo stuck his head out of the driver's window and smiled at Zhou Ke: "Captain Zhou, if something happens, take your people and get in the car immediately!"

These words were like the sound of nature that saved Zhou Ke from his suffering.

He immediately turned around and yelled at the comrades who were surrounded by the old women: "Xiao Ma, Xiao Chen, something's wrong, get in the car!"

Xiao Ma took the opportunity to tease the group of old women.

Liu Cui failed to tease her and ended up being teased instead, and was about to get angry.

Xiao Ma had already run onto the train with the young men.

The speed was so fast that Liu Cui was stunned.

She suddenly laughed out of anger, pointed at the train and said loudly: "Well, you dare to tease me, when you come back, I will let you know what it means to be powerful!"

Xiao Ma boarded the train and checked the weapons, then he realized that he seemed to be careless. What serious danger could Li Aiguo have?

"You're so mean. When you come back later, you'll definitely be scolded by these old women."

Zhou Ke also found it strange and handed Li Aiguo a cigarette: "Brother Aiguo, weren't you researching that lawn mower? How did it get involved in this big thing?"

"You'll understand later."

After the comrades from the police station got on the rear carriage, Li Aiguo opened the door and let Zhou Ke get on the train. He pushed the air valve, and the train whirred away.

The driver's building of the small train was already cramped, and now with Zhou Ke's presence, it seemed even more crowded. Yan Jiecheng's shovel almost hit Zhou Ke several times.

"Isn't this the switchman Xiao Yan? Why is he here too?" Zhou Ke became even more puzzled when he saw Yan Jiecheng.

A train driver is investigating something with a switchman?
"This matter is a bit special. Jie Cheng, please talk to Captain Zhou about it." Li Aiguo started to reverse the car and had no time to explain.

While shoveling coal, Yan Jiecheng gave a brief introduction to the situation.

"click"

Zhou Ke was so shocked that his mouth opened and the cigarette butt fell to the ground.

"Yan Jiecheng, you are kidding, right? There are actually people who dare to do this now." Zhou Ke rubbed his ears, thinking that there was something wrong with his ears because they had been bombarded by those old women for several days.

"There are all kinds of birds in the forest. What's there to be surprised about?"

Yan Jiecheng recounted the story of Zhang Jinyin in detail.

After Zhou Ke confirmed that there was no misunderstanding, he immediately became excited: "This is the first time I've seen something like this. This time I'm going to have some fun."

Thinking of the shocked faces of his colleagues, Zhou Ke's mouth almost twisted into that of a crooked-mouthed dragon king.

The train stopped at Yexi Station, and Li Aiguo used the branch track at Yexi Station to complete the U-turn. After all, although the train could go backwards, he was not familiar with it.

Li Aiguo had just turned around when Zhou Ke had already arrived at the train.

"Driver Li, are you ready to assign some tasks?" Zhou Ke felt that this was a large-scale operation after all, and there had to be some sense of ceremony.

Li Aiguo was just about to explain the situation clearly, so he jumped out of the car and walked in front of everyone.

"The target of this mission is a dilapidated house three miles away from the Yexi switch station."

*
*
*
Half an hour later, Li Aiguo took Zhou Ke and some people out of the dilapidated house and boarded the train.

The train left the Yexi switch station and passed the Yexi station at lunch time.

Yan Jiecheng was bragging and chatting with Li Aiguo in the driver's building. Looking at the employees eating lunch with lunch boxes on the platform of Yesi Station, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

"Brother Aiguo, why don't we stay here for lunch and then leave? Anyway, the mission has been completed now, so it won't be a waste of time."

"As you know, white rice is not common. Also, I heard that some employees brought their own bacon here today."

"Salted pork with rice, that thing is so delicious, I guarantee you'll want to eat it again after you've had it for the first time."

“I’ve never eaten anything so delicious in my life.”

"Anyway, it's still early, why don't we stop first."

"Besides, the comrades at the Wild Creek Station must have cooked for us. If we don't stay to eat, it might be a waste."

"I'm not doing this for myself, I'm doing this for everyone else!"

When Zhou Ke heard this, he reached out and patted Yan Jiecheng on the shoulder: "You kid, do you know that we are on a mission now? You actually tempted us with food. I can kick you down with one kick."

Are you kidding? He has made a great contribution this time and will get the credit soon. How could there be any problems at this time?

At the same time, Zhou Ke also had a new opinion of Yan Jiecheng.

In the past, he thought Yan Jiecheng was a pretty good guy, with nimble legs and a sweet mouth.

Who would have thought that this guy seemed to have something wrong with his brain.

Every time at a critical moment, the ideas are often different from others.

Take the case of Yan Jiecheng being exiled to the Yesi Railway Station.

There is nothing wrong with what the section chief said. Even if someone disagrees, they will keep their thoughts to themselves and not speak them out.

Yan Jiecheng, on the other hand, spoke directly from his heart. The most important thing was that his little thoughts were completely inherited from Yan Bugui's style.

It was because of Li Aiguo's consideration that Director Xing gave Yan Jiecheng a lighter sentence.

Otherwise, Yan Jiecheng would probably have been more than just exiled.

"I'm just making a suggestion. If you don't want to, then don't worry." Yan Jiecheng shrank his neck and said nothing.

He looked at the Yexi Station which was gradually moving away, feeling extremely melancholy.

Goodbye, my dear bacon and salty rice.

Goodbye, my dear bacon and salty rice.

However, Yan Jiecheng was not completely disappointed. He had done something big this time. When he returned, he could brag about it to Zhang Guifang, his good student.

No. Maybe I should take the opportunity to return to the locomotive depot to meet Yu Li.

It has been nearly two months since Yan Jiecheng came to the Yexi Switch Station. Since Yu Li is not an employee's family member, there is no way to get in touch with her on the phone.

Moreover, there was no mailbox at the switch station at that time, and the two could not talk on the phone, so Yan Jiecheng and Yu Li were essentially out of touch.

This was almost unbearable for a young couple.

The train was emitting black smoke and speeding back to the Qianmen locomotive depot at a speed of 40 miles per hour.

Railway workers also gathered at the station to watch the excitement. Section Chief Xing also came over after hearing the news. He looked at Li Aiguo and dropped his cigarette butt on the ground: "I asked you to mow the grass, but you made a lawn mower. I asked you to experiment with the lawn mower, but you made such a big thing again."

Li Aiguo was also helpless.

He just wanted to buy Da Zhuang back.

I never thought that I would encounter such a thing.

But since we have met.

We certainly can't just sit back and do nothing.

What happened afterwards had nothing to do with Li Aiguo.

He has arrived at the maintenance workshop.

Generally speaking, material allocation plans are formulated at the beginning of the year or at the beginning of the quarter. Even if emergency procedures are followed, it will take more than a month from application to material allocation.

Fortunately, the railway is the big brother these days, and the Qianmen Locomotive Depot has good relations with major factories in Beijing.

Director Xing Duan personally stepped forward to coordinate and borrowed various necessary materials from seven or eight factories.

At this time, the supplies were ready and Director Zhang was waiting for Li Aiguo to arrive.

"Patriotic comrades, we have all the materials and personnel, but we have no idea how to make the lawn mower."

Li Aiguo had anticipated this and took out a document from his canvas bag and handed it over: "These are all the standard steps and process requirements for producing harvesters. Starting today, let's train these workers together."

"This is great!" It was the first time that Director Zhang saw the "Installation Instructions" and he felt that this thing was extremely useful.

Afterwards, Director Zhang gathered together the railway workers drawn from various workshops and trained them with Li Aiguo as the teacher.

While Li Aiguo was busy in the maintenance workshop, Yan Jiecheng had already returned to the courtyard.

Although the Yan family lived a hard life, they could still eat their fill. However, Yan Jiecheng suffered a lot at the Yesi Switch Station and lost a lot of weight.

When the third aunt saw Yan Jiecheng suddenly appear in front of her, the enamel basin in her hand fell to the ground.

"Son, why have you lost weight? Come, let me see."

Yan Jiecheng chuckled: "Mom, it's okay. Although I've lost a little weight, I'm a lot stronger. You don't know, I'm stronger now than when I was a coal carrier."

The third aunt still felt a little distressed. She looked at the third uncle who was correcting his homework and said, "Old man, our Jie Cheng has lived in the capital all his life, but now he has been assigned to the wilderness. How much suffering he will have to endure in the future? Otherwise, you can talk to Aiguo and ask him to find leader Duan to find a way to transfer our Jie Cheng back."

Hearing this, the third uncle put down his pen, frowned and said, "Old woman, listen to what nonsense you are talking about. The reason why Jie Cheng was sent to the switch station was to punish him, but it also tempered his mind.

Don't say that Aiguo will not ask the locomotive section leader for help for personal matters. Even if Aiguo agrees, I can't agree.

If Xie Cheng deserts this time, he will have no hope of promotion in the future.

Old woman, do you want to see Jie Cheng only be a small correspondent for the rest of his life? "

The three aunts were suddenly speechless.

Although she had never worked, most of the residents in the compound were workers. Over the years, she knew a lot about what went on in the factory.

In the factory, you can be lazy, but you must never be a deserter. If you are a deserter, not only will your coworkers look down on you, but even your boss will think you are a coward.

After realizing the seriousness of the problem, the three aunts had no choice but to put their little thoughts aside.

"Jie Cheng has finally come back, mother will make you a delicious meal." The third aunt stood up and scooped a spoonful of white flour from the flour jar.

The third uncle saw this and quickly embraced her: "Old woman, life is not going well. The New Year is coming soon. We need to save this little flour to make dumplings and entertain guests."

The third aunt had no choice but to pour half of the white flour in, and then mix it with half of corn flour to make two-piece noodles.

The Yan family only ate cornmeal noodles. Even if the noodles were made of only two kinds of flour, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang and Yan Jiedie still enjoyed them with relish.

"Brother, we all benefited from you this time." Yan Jiefang looked at Yan Jiecheng with a smile while picking noodles: "Brother Jiecheng, I heard there are a lot of sweet potatoes in the countryside. They are so sweet. Didn't you get some more?"

Speaking of sweet potatoes, Yan Jiecheng perked up, put down his chopsticks and said, "You may not know this yet, but I am very popular in the nearby commune. The members all like me and often give me sweet potatoes. I can't finish them all."

"Really? Then next time I want to go to the countryside with you." Yan Jiekuang widened his eyes.

Yan Jie Di also nodded: "Even if it's a little hard in the countryside, it's much more comfortable than grinding the electric wheel all day. Brother, you don't know that after you left, my father took over the power generation task of your locomotive section and made me grind the electric wheel for a whole week. My feet are full of blisters."

Hearing Yan Jiedi's complaint, the third uncle knocked on the table and said, "Yan Jiedi, I have told you so many times. Dad didn't spend a penny of the money you earned from grinding the electric wheel. I kept it all for you. When you grow up, I will give you all the money."

If the third uncle's words were told to Zhang Gangtie, Zhang Gangtie would have been fooled.

But Yan Jiedi knew the Third Uncle's temper too well.

If she dared to ask for the money at that time, the third uncle would definitely ask her to pay out all the living expenses, electricity bills, radio bills, and even the money for diapers when she was a child.

At that time, not only would Yan Jiedi not be able to get the money, but she would have to hand over a large sum of money to the third uncle.

But at this moment she could only pretend to believe it and nodded repeatedly: "Dad, of course I trust you. I'm still young and I don't know how to spend money at all. You can use the money."

"My girl, what you said makes sense." The third uncle nodded with satisfaction.

These children have become more sensible under his education. Unlike Liu Haizhong, who beats the children all day long, which is of no use.

Liu Guangfu had entered his rebellious period seven or eight years earlier and would often play pranks on Liu Haizhong, either adding something good to Liu Haizhong's wine glass or smearing wood ash on his face when he was drunk.

The third uncle also asked Liu Guangfu if he was not afraid of being beaten by Liu Haizhong.

Liu Guangfu's words silenced the third uncle.

"Uncle, even if I don't do those things, my father will still beat me. If that's the case, why should I put up with him?"

Well, this is an early awakening.

After dinner, Yan Jiecheng thought about going to look for Yu Li, so he pushed his bicycle and prepared to go out.

Before he had taken two steps, he was stopped by the third uncle.

"Jie Cheng, where are you going?"

Yan Jiecheng knew that his uncle was against him being with Yu Li, so he said, "Dad, I've been in the countryside for so long, I want to meet some old friends. You know, if friends don't visit each other often, they will become strangers."

To Yan Jiecheng's surprise, the third uncle didn't care who he met.

"Xie Cheng, your idea is good, but have you forgotten the rules of our family?"

"Rules? What rules?"

"You have to pay to ride a bicycle. The residents in the compound have to pay thirty cents each time they borrow our bicycles. I only ask you for fifteen cents. You are getting a great bargain." The third uncle blinked his eyes.

Yan Jiecheng was speechless for a while. You know, the third uncle is very cunning and is well versed in sales.

In order to make the residents feel that they were getting a good deal, he set the bicycle fee very high. Then every time someone borrowed a bicycle, the uncle would claim that he had a good relationship with the person and give them a 50% discount.

Calculated in this way, the cost of using the bicycle by Yan Jiecheng, a family member, is almost the same as that paid to an outsider.

Yan Jiecheng found it hard to accept: "Dad, I have given you all my monthly salary, leaving only five yuan in change. How can you still ask me for money for the bicycle?"

Although Yan Jiecheng was only the lowest-level worker in the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, the salary there was higher than that of the steel rolling mill. Even though Yan Jiecheng no longer had to worry about coal, he could still get 35 yuan a month.

Paying thirty yuan to the third uncle every month is already a huge fortune.

The third uncle blinked his eyes and said, "Boss, what you said is wrong. This money is the money I used to raise you. How much money have you spent since you were a child?"

"Let me calculate for you. Before you were born, your mother ate five crucian carps, more than three hundred kilograms of corn flour, and fifty kilograms of vegetables. When you were born, I also hired a midwife for you. Midwives were very expensive in those days."

"Later, when you were born, I couldn't let you eat cornmeal porridge. At that time, there was a shortage of food, and I had a hard time buying refined white flour at a high price. I won't ask you for more money, just two small yellow croakers."

"You need money to study and go to school, and you also need money to eat and drink over the years. All this money added up is enough to buy three small yellow croakers."

"These are already five small yellow croakers, and you haven't calculated the interest yet. I won't ask you for more, just 5%. Calculate how much you owe me over the years?"

Yan Jiecheng was stunned when he heard this. It was the first time he saw living expenses calculated in this way.

Yan Jiecheng felt that he was no match for the Third Uncle, so he could only take out 15 cents and hand it to the Third Uncle.

Then he got on his bike and sped towards Yu Li's house.

The cultural level of railway workers may be average, but their operational skills are no worse than those of the master craftsmen in the factory.

In particular, when Li Aiguo designed the lawn mower, he had already taken into account the production conditions of that time, so he adopted technology to simplify the installation.

So it only took two days for most railway workers to be able to start producing harvesters.

Li Aiguo also breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to go back to the greenhouse in the studio to pick some green vegetables and go home to make clear soup noodles in the evening.

As soon as I went out, I heard the mooing of cows outside.

"Driver Li, I'm here to bring Da Zhuang to you." A dozen members came over with drums and gongs, led by Secretary Zhang, who was holding Da Zhuang's hand.

Da Zhuang is dressed in red and green today and looks very impressive.

(End of this chapter)