The train driver in the courtyard

The team from Zhangzhuang Commune that sent Dazhuang off, beating drums and gongs and wearing red and green clothes, alarmed most of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

The railway workers and department heads came over to watch the fun.

Zhou Ke interrogated the thief who had just got off work. When he saw someone delivering a cow, he came up to Li Aiguo with a smile.

"Brother Aiguo, a while ago, Nanshi Commune sent a pig named Xiaozhuang to the machine repair factory, and the whole factory held a banquet for it."

"Now that Zhangzhuang Commune has sent Dazhuang here, should we have a whole-beef banquet?"

Da Zhuang pushed his front hooves back, making a charging bull posture, and turned his head to stare at Zhou Ke: "Moo!"

Zhou Ke: "."

At this time, Duanchang Xing also received the news and rushed over. He was a little puzzled when he saw Dazhuang.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot pays attention to local relations. The railway construction teams and railway workers often help with small chores such as cleaning houses, and the local people often thank the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

But this is the first time I’ve seen such a big cow as a gift.

"Patriotism, what's wrong with that?"

"This is Zhang Jinsheng, the Party Secretary of Zhangzhuang Commune, and the cousin of Empress Zhang Jinyin."

Li Aiguo briefly explained the situation and then introduced the two people.

After understanding what was going on, Xing Duanchang came forward enthusiastically and extended his hand to shake hands with Zhang Jinsheng: "Secretary Zhang, you are so polite. We just did what we should do."

"If it weren't for driver Li, our Zhangzhuang Commune would be in big trouble this time.

It just so happens that driver Li has taken a fancy to Da Zhuang, so our commune held a meeting and decided to give Da Zhuang to your Qianmen Locomotive Depot."

Zhang Jinsheng blinked his eyes.

Just now it was given to driver Li as a gift, but now it is given to Qianmen Locomotive Depot. This guy is really good at calculating.

Sure enough, when Section Chief Xing heard this, he said, "We have rules in our locomotive section. We cannot take things from members without reason. Let's do this. We will take the cow at the market price."

"That's so embarrassing. Just give half the money."

In the end, Zhang Jinsheng still had a little bottom line and insisted on only taking half of the money.

Section Chief Xing couldn't let the members suffer, so he issued more than a dozen industrial tickets.

From then on, Dazhuang returned to Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After seeing off Zhang Jinsheng and the members of Zhangzhuang Commune, Director Xing looked at Li Aiguo and said, "Aiguo, what are you going to do with Dazhuang?"

"We are about to promote the use of lawn mowers, and Dazhuang can come in handy. We'll keep him at the back of the studio for the time being." Li Aiguo has already thought it through.

"That's good. We can save some money on renting cows." Director Xing agreed.

Mowing the grass is not a task that can be completed overnight, and the locomotive depot also needs some hardworking people.

In the evening, Li Aiguo led Da Zhuang to the backyard of the studio, which was a piece of abandoned land overgrown with weeds.

Li Aiguo called on his comrades from the rescue team to find bricks, tarpaulin, and wooden beams, and built a simple cowshed against the back wall of the studio.

A sewage channel was dug under the cowshed, and cow dung can flow along the channel into the manure pool next to it. After fermentation, it becomes excellent farm fertilizer.

The families of the employees of Qianmen Locomotive Depot need these things for growing vegetables, and those ladies would definitely be happy to pick them up.

The cowshed is simple, but it is not easy to build it solidly. After working until the evening, the cowshed was finally built.

Li Aiguo pointed to the cowshed and said, "Da Zhuang, this will be your new home from now on."

Da Zhuang: “Moo!”

After finishing Da Zhuang's work, Li Aiguo rode his bicycle back to the courtyard.

As soon as I walked to the door of the locomotive depot, I saw a familiar figure squatting on the side of the road.

"Secretary Zhang, you didn't go back?"

This person was Zhang Jinsheng, the party secretary of Zhangzhuang Commune.

Zhang Jinsheng saw Li Aiguo, picked up the torn sack beside his feet, gathered his clothes, stood up and said, "Driver Li, I'm waiting for you."

"wait for me?"

"It's like this. I'm bringing some wild mushrooms back for Teacher Yan. I don't know where Teacher Yan's home is."

"I just need to go back. Come on, I'll take you there."

Li Aiguo handed Zhang Jinsheng a cigarette. Zhang Jinsheng sat on the seat, got on his bicycle, and sped back to the courtyard.

The third uncle was picking up the salted fish at the door as usual, and Xu Damao was squatting beside him watching the fun.

"Uncle, your fishing skills are getting better and better. Your family is the best off in our compound."

"Why are you being so sweet today, kid? But these fish are the food that my family needs to survive, so I can't give them away easily."

Xu Damao curled his lips. This old man Yan had bought a lot of mountain products from him in the past. Today he lent two fish to Liu Lan to make fish soup, but old man Yan didn't respond.

When the third uncle saw Li Aiguo coming in, he squinted his eyes and greeted Li Aiguo.

"Uncle, this is the party secretary of Zhangzhuang Commune. He is a friend of Jie Cheng. Please bring back some things for Jie Cheng."

Li Aiguo introduced Zhang Jinsheng's identity to the third uncle.

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and smiled: "Hello, Secretary Zhang, hello, hello, oh, this Jie Cheng kid is really too lazy, I have to trouble you to make a trip."

"You're welcome. Teacher Yan has helped me a lot. It's my duty to do this small thing." Zhang Jinsheng said as he handed the torn sack to the third uncle.

When the third uncle opened the sack and saw a lot of wild mushrooms inside, he was so excited that he couldn't close his mouth, but he soon frowned.

"Your name is Jie Cheng, Teacher Yan?"

"It's like this, Jie Cheng often teaches my daughter to read," Zhang Jinsheng explained briefly.

After the third uncle understood what was going on, he asked Zhang Jinsheng to go into the house and drink some water before leaving. Zhang Jinsheng said that he had to get back to Zhangzhuang Commune and did not stay any longer.

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and said, "I am so sorry."

Zhang Jinsheng narrowed his eyes: "What's there to be embarrassed about?"

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and said, "Please make the trip."

Zhang Jinsheng narrowed his eyes: "No trouble."

The two of them squinted their eyes, and even Li Aiguo noticed something.

He had originally planned to go back to cook, but now seeing that there was something fun to watch, he squatted on the flower bed.

The third uncle originally planned to wait until Zhang Jinsheng left so that he could continue to pick up his salted fish.

Zhang Jinsheng's heels were welded to the ground. He was mumbling something but couldn't move.

Xu Damao was so surprised that he handed Li Aiguo a cigarette and shouted at the third uncle, "They came all the way here, shouldn't you give them something to thank them?"

How could the Third Uncle not see what Zhang Jinsheng meant? He just pretended not to know. After Xu Damao pointed it out, his face turned ugly.

Zhang Jinsheng narrowed his eyes and said, "What do you want? This is just a small matter. How can I ask for five small salted fish? Wouldn't that be a slap in my face?"

"Besides, Yan Jiecheng ate twenty sweet potatoes, fifteen heads of corn, seven or eight kilograms of wild fruit, drank twelve buckets of well water, and used eighteen bundles of firewood in our Zhangzhuang Commune, and I never asked Yan Jiecheng for money."

The war has begun!

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and said, "My Xie Cheng taught your daughter to read and write. If it was before liberation, your family should have paid tuition."

Zhang Jinsheng narrowed his eyes and said, "Yan Jiecheng's clothes were torn, and he used two of my threads. You know, we got our threads by exchanging them for eggs."

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and said, "It's just two strings. Even if it costs an egg, it's still far less valuable than the gift."

Zhang Jinsheng narrowed his eyes and said, "Eggs can hatch chicks, and chicks can grow up to lay eggs. Eggs hatch chickens, and chickens hatch eggs. Those two threads are not two threads!"

The third uncle was so shocked that he didn't even bother to squint and asked in surprise: "If it's not a string, then what is it?"

Zhang Jinsheng narrowed his eyes: "It's an egg."

The third uncle narrowed his eyes and said, "Eggs are not as good as a gift."

Zhang Jinsheng leaned back, put his hands on his hips, and squinted his eyes: "If I save some eggs, I can buy a calf. The calf grows into a cow, and the cow can give birth to calves. I need at least 30 cows."

Lore!

Uncle Three: “.”

Li Aiguo: "."

Xu Damao: "."

Xu Damao felt that Zhang Jinsheng was somewhat familiar at first, but it was only when he saw this that he came to his senses.

He touched Li Aiguo's arm again and asked in a low voice: "Aiguo, where did you find another uncle?"

The third uncle felt a little depressed at this moment.

Those lines were supposed to be his, but now someone else has said them first.

Yan Jiecheng is also a person without tact. Why would he pick on such a stingy person when there are so many other people to pick on?

But Zhang Jinsheng just stood there and didn't leave. When the residents came back later and found out that the Yan family was being blocked by the members to collect debts, they would come to watch the fun again.

The third uncle had no choice but to pick up two small salted fish and pass them over: "Brother, we hit it off right away. Take these salted fish home to try."

Seeing that there were only two salted fish, a hint of disappointment flashed in Zhang Jinsheng's eyes, but he also realized that he had met his match and decided to quit while he was ahead.

He took the salted fish without any embarrassment.

"Oh, brother, I'm so sorry. Next time you come to Zhangzhuang Commune, I'll treat you to roasted sweet potatoes."

“No, no.” The third uncle was sweating coldly. If he really ate the sweet potatoes, he might have to button up his clothes.

Zhang Jinsheng VS Uncle Sanda’s squinting battle, first round.

Zhang Jinsheng wins!
After eating the melon, witnessing the squinting battle, and watching the excitement, Li Aiguo went home humming a little tune with his hands behind his back. Xu Damao also went to the vegetable market to buy vegetables to prepare a meal for Liu Lan.

The third aunt came back with Yan Jiedi, and when they reached the door, they immediately felt something was wrong.

"Mom, can you see if there are fewer salted fish in our house?" Yan Jiedi sat on the electric bicycle as usual and pointed at the clothesline.

The third aunt counted them, her face suddenly changed, and she pushed open the door and rushed into the house.

"Oh, old man, it's bad! Our salted fish has been stolen."

"It wasn't stolen. I gave it away." The third uncle said angrily while drinking tea.

"You're sending someone off?"

No matter what, Auntie couldn't connect Uncle Sanye with the words "giving things as gifts".

The third uncle sighed and told the story of Zhang Jinsheng helping Yan Jiecheng to carry something.

After the third aunt understood the situation, she almost laughed out loud: "Old Yan, don't be angry. Jie Cheng works in the switch station, which is close to the commune and he needs the care of the members. The two small salted fish are just a gift for him." "That's right." Yan Bugui felt much better when he thought about it.

At this time, Yan Jiedi came into the room and asked, "Dad, is my brother dating the daughter of the branch secretary?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Yan Bugui and the third aunt's expressions suddenly changed.

They all came from a young age, and they knew very well what would happen when a man and a woman were alone in a shack in the wild.

"Old man, I think this is a good thing. You dislike Yu Li for not having a job, but she is the daughter of the party secretary, and she is also the daughter of a leader," said the third aunt.

Yan Bugui frowned: "The key is that she doesn't have a city hukou."

For a moment, Yan Bugui felt even more depressed.

Yu Li has a household registration but no job, and her family conditions are average.

The daughter of the village chief has a good family background, but she has no household registration.

The third aunt said, "Children have their own blessings. Yan Jiecheng is already an adult. He knows what to do."

The third uncle shook his head: "I'm just afraid that this brat will cause trouble. You didn't see Zhang Jinsheng today. He is not someone you can easily mess with."

Although the third aunt had never met Zhang Jinsheng, she was able to take the salted fish away from Yan Bugui. How could she be an ordinary person?

She also felt that Yan Jiecheng would be in trouble.

"I'll ask Aiguo for the number of the switch station. When you get to school tomorrow, use the school phone to call Jie Cheng and remind him."

The third aunt left the house and came to Li's house.

At this time, Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru were having dinner.

When she saw the third aunt, Chen Xueru pointed at the cornmeal porridge and pickles and asked the third aunt to stay and have a bite.

"No, Xueru, I have something urgent to ask Aiguo."

The third aunt came into the room and told her about borrowing the phone.

Li Aiguo said with a smile: "The telephones installed in the switch station are all internal telephones. You can't dial them with an outside phone."

"What should I do?"

Seeing the anxious look of the third aunt, Li Aiguo also guessed that it might be related to Zhang Guifang. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Our locomotive section has a rule that the family members of employees can use the telephone in the section to contact employees on business trips once a month. Tomorrow I will take the third uncle to the locomotive section."

"Oh, thank you so much."

The three aunts left excitedly.

Miss Chen was puzzled at this time: "Brother Aiguo, why did the third uncle and aunt call Yan Jiecheng for no reason?"

"It may be because of Zhang Guifang's matter." Li Aiguo picked up the bowl of porridge and told the story of Yesi Switch Station while drinking the porridge.

Miss Chen was surprised: "I didn't expect that Yan Jiecheng, who looks so honest, could actually be so cunning."

"No one can tell how it will turn out. Let's not talk about other people's affairs. You went for a check-up today. How was the situation?"

Miss Chen is now six months pregnant and her belly is very big. Today she went for a regular pregnancy check-up.

"The doctor said everything is normal, but the baby is not obedient and is moving around in my stomach. Look, the baby is kicking my belly again."

Li Aiguo went over and put his hand on Miss Chen's belly. As expected, he felt her belly bulging a little. The feeling of blood connection instantly spread throughout his body.

He also has blood ties in this world, and has a greater sense of belonging.

"The kid might be greedy. I still have two pieces of roasted wolf meat I brought back from Wild Creek Station. Let's go have some midnight snack."

As night fell, every household turned off the lights.

In the Li family's cellar, little girl Chen was tasting the delicious roasted wolf meat, her eyes smiling with joy.

Being able to eat meat these days is considered a godly life. Miss Chen never dared to imagine having such a good life before.

She looked at the rough man who was placing the food, and couldn't help but walk over and hugged him from behind: "Brother Aiguo, I am so happy."

Li Aiguo was stunned for a moment, then asked faintly, "Did you rub the oil from your mouth onto my clothes?"

Chen Xueru: "."

Her face turned red with shame and she stuck out her tongue to lick her lips. Her tongue was very flexible and licked all the oil stains on her lips clean.

Li Aiguo gave a thumbs up.

Miss Chen used a handkerchief to wipe the corners of her mouth a few days ago, but now she has made progress.

The night was quiet.

Early the next morning.

Li Aiguo brought the third uncle to the education room of the maintenance section and asked Huang Shuxian to help him with the procedures for making a phone call.

"Aiguo, thank you very much this time." One phone call saved at least 20 cents, and the third uncle was really touched at this time.

"Why are you being so polite? We are all neighbors, so we should help each other if we can. We should not just think about ourselves, right?"

Li Aiguo said this and hurried to the conference room to attend the meeting.

The third uncle scratched his head and said, "When did this kid learn Old Yi's tricks?"

Today's meeting discussed the promotion of lawn mowers.

Due to problems with raw materials and production technology, the first batch of lawn mowers only had twenty units.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot has dozens of stations, switch stations, maintenance stations, and thousands of miles of railway lines that need lawn mowers. However, the lines are long and there are few lawn mowers, so there are not enough to go around.

Mowing work is related to railway safety, especially the stationmaster and deputy stationmaster who caused a big fire last time were both severely dealt with.

The leaders of the railway station and the switchyard all requested that the harvesters be allocated to their own stations first.

"Section Chief, you don't know that the weeds on both sides of the railway track on our side are more than two meters deep. People can't see them when they go in. We need a lawn mower urgently."

"Two meters tall? Your weeds are sorghum, right? It would be a waste of your talent if the Academy of Agricultural Sciences didn't invite you to come."

"Hey, Lao Kui, why do you always contradict me? Your station is responsible for the shortest track line, so you shouldn't have come here today."

"Snapped!"

Seeing the mess below, Section Chief Xing slammed the table, stood up and said loudly: "The task of mowing the grass is related to the safety of the railway, it is not a matter of fighting for it.

Well, considering that the next batch of lawn mowers will not be produced for another month.

Our lawn mowers are used in rotation, and personnel from each site are selected to participate in training. After passing the training, they are used in a unified manner. "

Seeing that Director Xing was angry, the station leaders fell silent and nodded.

In this way, our Li Aiguo has added another job, which is to train lawn mowers in the section.

There's no way around it, lawn mowers are considered high-tech products these days.

If you start working without training, it's not a big deal if you break the machine, but it would be troublesome if someone gets hurt.

All stations attached great importance to mowing, and in the afternoon, mowing specialists were sent to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

In the backyard of the maintenance section's studio, Li Aiguo led Da Zhuang out of the cowshed, combed its hair first, and then fed it some grass.

"Our lawn mower is pulled by oxen, so finding a docile old ox is the most important step. We also need to take good care of the old ox."

It never hurts to read more. Li Aiguo used to read a lot of random books in order to gain points.

Among them were many books on raising oxen and how to drive ox carts, which came in handy at this time.

Those lawn mowing specialists who originally came here to learn high technology are now feeling depressed as they have to learn how to raise cattle.

But as Li Aiguo started speaking, their expressions became serious and they started writing rapidly in their notebooks.

These contents involve delivering babies and treating cows. In the future, if you no longer work in the maintenance depot, you can become a veterinarian.

Veterinarians are also in great demand these days.

As the days passed, with the cooperation of Dazhuang, the first lawn mower training class was successfully completed, and the lawn mowing specialists returned to the station with their lawn mowers and started working.

Li Aiguo drove as usual every day. After coming back, he took Dazhuang and the lawn mower for a ride along the railroad tracks. His life was wonderful.

That day, after driving back, Li Aiguo was feeding hay to Dazhuang in the cowshed when he received a notice from Section Chief Xing that Liu Guozhang from the institute asked him to come over.

"It should be about the automatic railway signal." Xing Duanchang said excitedly: "I heard that the railway over there has been renovated. The renovation work in our capital can also be started next year."

For trains, safety always comes first. In recent years, many accidents have occurred in Qianmen Locomotive Depot due to the old and backward railway signing machines.

Now that this situation is about to change, how can Commander Xing Duan not be happy?

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle to the Railway Research Institute.
As soon as I entered the director's office, Liu Guozhang greeted me with a smile.

"Aiguo, the ministry has learned about your offering of wolf meat. They are planning to publicize it vigorously. You should be prepared."

"About wolf meat?"

Seeing Li Aiguo's bewildered look, Liu Guozhang smiled and said, "No wonder you didn't know. This matter is a unified plan within the ministry, and your Qianmen locomotive section hasn't received any street notice yet."

Li Aiguo naturally knew what the so-called vigorous publicity meant these days.

They were just two wolves, was it worth making such a fuss? Was there something else going on?
Liu Guozhang saw his doubts and said with a smile: "You are too cautious this time. As far as I know, it was Minister Teng who named you this time, and it has nothing to do with those messy things.

The big rivers are dry, the small rivers are dry, the local life is hard, and the life on our railway is getting harder and harder. If we want to get through the difficult times, we must raise a flag to boost everyone's spirits. "

At this time, Liu Guozhang felt that Li Aiguo was so lucky.

There are countless heroic deeds on the railways. Last week, a railway worker rescued two children from a speeding locomotive while on patrol.

Deputy Minister Chen in the ministry was so exhausted from working on the electrification of the Baoji-Chengdu Railway that he vomited blood in his office and was sent to the hospital.

These deeds are either too far away from ordinary railway workers or fail to resonate with the majority of workers.

Either the main theme of the promotion does not fit.

Li Aiguo was lucky to get a bargain this time.

"Teacher, don't worry, I know what to do!" Li Aiguo's face straightened and he nodded heavily.

Seeing that the always humble Li Aiguo did not refuse, Liu Guozhang felt a little strange at first, but he understood after thinking about it carefully.

The power of example is infinite. Only when Li Aiguo becomes a role model can the railway be better helped to overcome the difficult times.

"What happened just now is just gossip from the ministry. Just keep it to yourself."

Li Aiguo nodded, sat down opposite Liu Guozhang, and handed him a cigarette: "Teacher, you called your students here in your busy schedule, not just to tell me this news, right?"

Propaganda within the ministry is indeed a big deal, but leaders like Liu Guozhang who get down to business don't pay much attention to it.

"You are simply a monkey. You have guessed everything." (End of this chapter)