The train driver in the courtyard

"Old Yi, you have to catch more field mice when you go back today."

"It's a Java sparrow. What's wrong with you, old woman? How could we eat field mice? We eat Java sparrows."

"Yes, yes, it's the Java sparrow."

The early morning sun shines on the entrance of the courtyard.

The aunt sent Yi Zhonghai out the door with a look of both anger and amusement.

Yi Zhonghai walked out unsteadily, carrying a sack.

The sack swung with his steps, and his appearance of making a big purchase immediately aroused the curiosity of other residents.

"Uncle, where are you going?"

"Ahem, I haven't been back to my hometown for a while. I went back today to visit my relatives." Yi Zhonghai replied with a slightly unnatural expression, quickening his pace as he spoke.

"Yeah."

Other residents noticed something was going on, but considering Yi Zhonghai's identity, no one said anything.

However, there is one person who doesn't care about all this, and that is Xu Damao, who had just been dealt with by Yi Zhonghai.

He squatted at the door of his house early in the morning, slurping cornmeal porridge with his two children.

This guy is a mean-spirited person who is always looking for revenge.

Hearing Yi Zhonghai's answer, Xu Xu Damao immediately shouted at the top of his voice: "Uncle, are you going to catch a mouse and stew it too?"

"What nonsense! I'm a level 7 worker. Why would I want to be greedy for a little mouse?"

Yi Zhonghai staggered suddenly, then quickly quickened his pace and ran out of the yard as if he was escaping.

His guilty look made the residents present burst into laughter.

After the laughter gradually died down, the residents looked at each other, and saw a hint of different thoughts in each other's eyes.

After breakfast, everyone went out with sacks in hand.

"Old Ma, are you coming back to your hometown too?"

"Yes, how about you?"

"What a coincidence! I also want to go back to my hometown to take a look."

This vole meat has high nutritional value and can be obtained for free without the effort of hunting in the mountains.

The most important thing is that Li Aiguo has clearly explained the difference between field mice and those dirty rats. In the eyes of the residents, field mouse meat has suddenly become a hot commodity.

However, in order to avoid the unpleasant name "mouse", people still call voles "birds of paradise".

In the following days, the courtyard seemed to be caught up in a craze for hunting Java sparrows.

The scene was extremely lively as residents carried sacks and hoes and shuttled through the countryside of the surrounding communes, looking for vole holes.

For a while, the residents of the compound were busy catching Java sparrows, and even He Yushui joined in the Java sparrow operation.

In the first few days, everyone gained a lot.

Take Zhang Gangzhu and his wife for example. They caught five Java sparrows in one night and also harvested ten kilograms of miscellaneous grains.

Nan Yi also used the field mouse babies caught by Damao to create a dish called Sanjiaoer.

However, this dish was only cooked once. Because Liang Ladi thought it was too cruel, she was banned from making it again and even the recipe was burned.

As the food shortage became more and more serious, members of the surrounding communes and residents in the suburbs of the capital all turned their attention to the Java sparrow.

The vole holes in the fields were dug up one by one, and the number of Java sparrows decreased sharply.

Gradually, more and more residents began to return empty-handed, and the Java sparrow hunting operation gradually came to an end.

All the residents were very depressed, but Jia Zhang was very happy.

Her family was one of the few that did not participate in vole hunting.

It’s not that Jia Zhangshi doesn’t crave field mice, it’s just that the Jia family doesn’t have the right person to do this.

Jia Zhang has never worked in her life. It is simply wishful thinking to ask her to catch field mice in the dark.

As for Jia Dongxu, he claimed all day long that he worked extremely hard in the workshop, his legs ached from exhaustion, he couldn't run at all, and it was impossible for him to catch voles.

Qin Huairu was pregnant and had difficulty moving, so it was impossible for her to go to the countryside with the other residents to catch voles.

Every midnight, when Jia Zhang smelled the aroma of meat in the air, she felt so angry that her teeth itched.

She gritted her teeth in hatred, her cheeks puffed up like an angry toad, and couldn't help cursing in her heart: "These damn guys are eating alone! They don't even know how to send some cooked field mouse meat to my house. They are so heartless."

Now, no one can catch the field mouse, all beings are equal, and a smile appeared on Jia Zhang's face again.

Li Aiguo did not join in the craze of catching voles.

However, early this morning, the Li family welcomed several familiar guests.

"Aiguo, long time no see." Li Aiguo was pushing his bicycle to go to work as usual.

As soon as I reached the door, I saw Village Chief Lao Wei and Wang Jieba walking towards this side.

Village chief Old Wei was still dressed simply, with a simple smile on his face, and Wang Jieba followed closely beside him.

"Aiguo, long time no see." Village chief Lao Wei greeted warmly from a distance.

"Uncle Wei, are you here to deliver mountain products to the locomotive section again today?" Li Aiguo tied up his bicycles and welcomed them into the house.

Seeing this, Chen Xueru hurried over to help and brought out a few cups of steaming hot tea.

Village chief Lao Wei and Wang Jieba drank tea to dispel the coldness in their bodies.

"In order not to delay things in the section, we set out in the middle of the night and delivered the mountain products to the section before six o'clock."

He paused, a hint of mystery flashed in his eyes, "I came here this time and brought you some small things."

As he said this, he winked at Wang Jieba.

Wang Jieba understood what he meant and bent down to hand over the sack at his feet.

Li Aiguo opened the bag in front of the two of them. There were some dried wild vegetables and a bundle of something that looked like bacon in it.

"Is this bird of paradise?" Li Aiguo took out the "bacon", looked at it for a moment, and instantly recognized the origin of the "bacon".

Village chief Lao Wei lit up his pipe, smiled so hard that the wrinkles on his face seemed to be smoothed out, and said, "Hehe, that's right. According to your previous idea, our commune organized a large-scale operation to catch Java sparrows.

Jie Ba led the militiamen to sweep all the vole holes in the commune. The scene was spectacular.

The harvest of this operation was not small. We caught thousands of voles and also harvested thousands of kilograms of grain. It was a great harvest!
These field mice are a token of our gratitude to the villagers, please don’t think it’s too little.”

It turned out that a while ago, when the village chief, Old Wei, went to the city to deliver mountain products, he met Li Aiguo.

While the two were chatting, Li Aiguo asked about the field mice.

He knew that although the members of Wei Zhuang Commune had also started catching voles, they were doing it secretly in the middle of the night for fear of being discovered.

This is not only inefficient, but also will waste a lot of food in the vole holes during the capture process.

Therefore, Li Aiguo proposed that the commune organize a unified action to catch field mice. He just said it casually at the time, but he didn't expect that the village chief Wei would remember it and make intensive arrangements after returning to the commune.

Not only that, in addition to catching field mice, Wei Zhuang Commune also organized people to go into the mountains for two hunting operations, catching a lot of small animals such as hares and weasels.

With the addition of the food that had been stored previously, the commune could at least survive until next year.

This smoked vole looks similar to bacon and has a long shelf life, not deteriorating even after four or five years.

Li Aiguo did not refuse anymore and asked Chen Xueru to put the field mouse meat away.

Then he took out a large bag of cloth strips collected from the tailor shop and handed it to Village Chief Lao Wei.

Although these strips of cloth cannot be made into complete clothes, they are perfect for sewing and mending.

"Kid, you are always so distant." Village chief Old Wei knew Li Aiguo's character and did not refuse.

Because Li Aiguo still had to go to work, the few of them chatted for a while and then walked out of the courtyard together.

Jia Zhang was sitting at the door sewing shoe soles with a group of old women. When she saw Village Chief Wei and Wang Jieba, a trace of fear flashed in her eyes and she sneaked into the house.

After they left, she came out of the room and spat, "These peasants, they are definitely up to no good by looking for Li Aiguo."

"I guess they are sending the sparrows to the country." The third aunt squatted beside the sink to wash clothes, and said as she washed: "My old Yan also went to the countryside a while ago, and he got some results in other communes.

Only in Wei Zhuang Commune, all the vole holes were dug up. It was said that this was a unified action of the commune.

Wei Zhuang has a good relationship with Li Aiguo, so he will definitely send some sparrows to Li Aiguo."

"I am older than Li Aiguo and an old resident. These peasants have no sense at all. Why didn't they deliver it to me?" Jia Zhang was furious.

The three aunts: “.”

She felt that speaking another word to Jia Zhang would be an insult to her intelligence.

Li Aiguo stood there, following the oxcart until it gradually disappeared at the end of the street. Then he rode his bicycle and swayed towards the Qianmen locomotive depot.

The locomotive depot was as busy as ever, with the air thick with a buzzing atmosphere.

The roar of machines, the shouts of people, and the collision of tools interweave together to form a melody that belongs only to railway workers.

After the morning meeting, Li Aiguo, carrying a lunch box of beef kidneys, came to the station with Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng.

The station yard was a busy scene, with trains parked quietly on the tracks, like steel behemoths waiting to set off.

Just as Li Aiguo was about to check the locomotive, he saw Huang Jing coming to the station with the assistant driver and the fireman.

"Master, are you ready to drive? Let me help you check it."

When Huang Jing saw Li Aiguo preparing to crawl under the car to inspect it, she quickly put her iron waist lunch box on the ground without saying a word.

Then he squatted down swiftly, picked up the inspection hammer and started working under the car. For a while, there were clinking sounds coming from under the car.

Liu Qingquan looked a little envious: "Aiguo, you have accepted a good disciple."

Li Aiguo had nothing else to do at the moment, so he handed a cigarette to Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng, squatted on the station and said with a smile: "Lao Liu, it seems that you have several apprentices, right? Are there any outstanding ones?"

Liu Qingquan was considered an old deputy driver in the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. After liberation, he took on the responsibility of training deputy drivers for the depot and accepted several apprentices.

"Oh, don't mention it." Liu Qingquan took a deep puff of cigarette, a depressed look on his face, "Your apprentice can help you repair the locomotive, Lao Zheng's apprentice can help Lao Zheng shovel coal, and my apprentice... what can they do? Should I let them replace me as owls?"

Li Aiguo thought about it carefully and burst out laughing.

That’s right. The main job of the co-driver is to look out. Before driving, he has to stare at the traffic lights intently without blinking, just like an owl.

In this way, the role of the co-driver's apprentice in actual work is relatively less obvious.

Huang Jing is now considered an experienced driver. She completed the maintenance work of the train in a short while.

She climbed out from under the car, raised her arm, wiped her slightly oily cheek with her sleeve, and said with a confident smile: "Master, everything is normal."

"Huang Jing, shouldn't your K16 train have departed half an hour ago?"

Li Aiguo stood up and was about to take Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng to board the train, when he suddenly turned his head to look at Huang Jing with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

Huang Jing said helplessly, "We should have departed at 8:15, but today the freight workshop has two cars of goods that need to be taken to Jichun, so we postponed the departure time."

In those days, with limited train numbers and tight rail lines, it was common for passenger trains to run behind freight cars.

Huang Jing was about to explain when the assistant driver's voice came from a distance: "Driver Huang, the dispatch order has come down, we can set off now."

"coming."

Huang Jing replied, looked at Li Aiguo and said, "Master, I have to go drive first. Today is my birthday. When I come back, I will invite you and Master's wife to Donglai for a meal."

The master is almost like a father. Although Li Aiguo is only one year older than Huang Jing, he is still a master. How can he let his apprentice treat him?

"I'm your master, I'll treat you tonight."

"Master, it's time to leave. I have to leave quickly."

Huang Jing ran towards the K16 train before Li Aiguo finished speaking. Her cheerful steps were like a leaping deer.
"This girl is so anxious all day long." Li Aiguo smiled and shook his head, then took Liu Qingquan and Lao Zheng to the locomotive.

After checking the dashboard and making sure everything was normal, the dispatcher gave the dispatch order, and Li Aiguo blew the whistle twice and gently pushed the valve.

The train roared along the black rails, and Li Aiguo officially began a busy new day.

Li Aiguo has run the route from Beijing to Tianjin countless times. It can be said that the route is engraved in his mind. He can drive the train back and forth even with his eyes closed.

Today's driving was naturally extremely smooth. At 4:30 in the afternoon, Li Aiguo drove the locomotive back to Qianmen Locomotive Depot on time.

The train slowly stopped at the station, and Li Aiguo nimbly jumped out of the front of the train. As soon as he landed, he keenly noticed that the atmosphere around him was a little strange.

Looking up, he saw his rescue comrades looking hurried, carrying various rescue equipment on their shoulders, and running towards the rescue train parked in the corner of the station.

Director Zhou and deputy director of the freight workshop, as well as a group of other leaders, along with seven or eight employees, followed the rescue team with serious expressions and quickly boarded the rescue train.

Liu Qingsong, captain of the train rescue team, was standing at the dispatch office, nervously coordinating the departure time of the rescue train with his dispatch colleagues.

Cao Wenzhi frowned and said, "Maybe there was an accident on a train."

Liu Qingquan listened and nodded, "It seems that it is not a small accident. Look, they even brought a new equipment winch."

Train accidents happen from time to time in any era. Li Aiguo didn't care about it at first and was preparing to go to the workshop for a meeting with Cao Wenzhi and others.

At this time, Liu Qingsong turned his head and saw Li Aiguo, and waved to him hurriedly: "Aiguo, there is an accident on the K16 train!"

K16 train? Isn't that the train Huang Jing was on?
Li Aiguo's heart suddenly tightened, as if being grasped by an invisible big hand, and a chill surged from the bottom of his heart.

Without saying a word, he took big strides and rushed towards Liu Qingsong.

"Lao Liu, what's going on? Is it serious?"

As one of the few female drivers in Qianmen Locomotive Depot, Huang Jing has attracted much attention. Liu Qingsong also knows that Li Aiguo is Huang Jing's master, so he took the initiative to tell Li Aiguo the news.

However, in response to Li Aiguo's question, Liu Qingsong shook his head helplessly and said solemnly: "The specific situation is still unclear.

The section received a call from the Hangou switch station more than ten minutes ago. The comrades from Hangou reported on the phone that the K16 train had a carriage rollover accident, people were injured at the scene, and the train was severely damaged, which had blocked the Beijing-Harbin line. "

He paused, and then continued, "As soon as the section realized the seriousness of the problem, they immediately notified our railway rescue team and sent them off."

Accidents such as car rollovers have always been extremely serious, and the slightest carelessness can cause heavy casualties and losses.

Li Aiguo made a decision without hesitation: "Lao Liu, I don't have any driving tasks tomorrow. How about I go to Hangou with you?"

"That's great! I was worrying about how to carry out the operation in Hangou. With you as a rescue expert, I don't have to worry." Liu Qingsong immediately perked up.

Afterwards, Li Aiguo hurried to the section chief's office, explained the situation to him and applied to join the rescue team.

Xing Duanchang agreed without hesitation, and then comforted him: "Aiguo, the situation is not very clear now, so don't be too anxious or worried."

"Captain Duan, I'm not worried. Although my stupid apprentice is not very capable, he was taught by me. It's impossible for him to make such low-level mistakes."

After saying this, Li Aiguo rushed out like a gust of wind.

Duanchang Xing was slightly stunned as he looked at Li Aiguo's departing back. It was the first time he saw Li Aiguo so anxious.

"This kid seems to not care about anything on weekdays. He can remain calm no matter what happens. I didn't expect that he is also a warm-hearted guy."

Hangou switch station is located near Shanhaiguan, 300 kilometers away from Beijing, and is located at the junction of Beijing Railway Bureau and Harbin Railway Bureau.

Considering the urgency of time and the fact that it was already dinner time, the rescue team members did not even have time to eat. They just took some dry food and boarded the rescue train.

At this time, the dispatcher also coordinated with the Harbin Railway Bureau to clear the railway line from Beijing to Hangou.

"Captain Liu, you can set off now."

At this time, the comrades in the maintenance workshop had also completed the work of adding coal and water to the rescue train.

Driver Zhang from the rescue team saw Li Aiguo following Liu Qingsong over, so he stood up from the driver's seat and opened the side door: "Driver Li, why don't you be the driver today?"

To a train driver, a train is like his wife. Generally speaking, train drivers don't like others touching their trains.

But driver Zhang was also aware of the relationship between Huang Jing and Li Aiguo, and he knew that the sooner he arrived at the rescue site, the greater the loss could be saved.

Li Aiguo originally had the idea of ​​driving the train himself, but he didn't expect driver Zhang to take the initiative to propose it.

After a pause, he nodded heavily to driver Zhang: "Thank you, Lao Zhang!"

"Oh, we are all train drivers and family. You are too polite." Driver Zhang turned aside and Li Aiguo climbed onto the locomotive holding the railing.

The switchman had already changed the branch track, and the dispatcher had also issued a dispatch order. Driver Zhang helped the fireman to keep the furnace burning vigorously.

As usual, Li Aiguo blew the whistle twice, then pushed the gate down with force. The rescue train was like an angry steel beast, with flames coming out of the front of the train. It rushed out of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot at lightning speed and sped towards Hangou.

In the corner of the station, a young man in a gray union uniform stared at the train until it disappeared in the distance, then turned around and ran towards the fifth floor of the office building.

The young man was very excited. He took two steps at a time when going up the stairs. When he reached the fifth floor, he was already panting heavily.

Without taking a rest, he quickly walked along the corridor to the door of an office with the nameplate reading "Deputy Director".

The young man knocked gently on the sallow door, then held his breath and waited quietly.

After hearing a response from inside, he carefully pushed the door open and walked in.

At this time, Deputy Director Wang of the labor union was sitting at his desk leisurely as usual. He was holding a teacup in one hand, sipping tea, and reading a newspaper in the other hand with great interest, just waiting for the end of the day to end.

He saw the young man coming in through the gap in the newspaper, frowned slightly, and said with a hint of dissatisfaction in his tone: "Xiao Chen, what happened? Look at you, you are so anxious."

Union official Chen turned around, closed the door, walked over quickly, and said excitedly, "Good news, Director Wang, there was an accident on the K16 train in our locomotive depot."

Deputy Director Wang put down the newspaper, frowned and stared at Officer Chen, pretending to be angry and said, "How can a train accident be a good thing? Xiao Chen, although we are not in the same team as Section Chief Xing, we cannot gloat over the train accident."

The wind is blowing stronger and stronger now, and many factories have started vigorous educational activities.

Deputy Director Wang also wanted to stand out in this wave and raise his own "flag".

As a result, as soon as he jumped up, he was beaten by Li Aiguo and Xing Duanchang. Now he can only curl up in the union and rarely take care of the affairs of the section. (End of this chapter)