The train driver in the courtyard

finally.

Yan Bugui went back into the house, stuck his butt out, took out the porcelain jar, took out forty cents from the jar and gave it to Zhang Dakuan.

"That's about right!" Zhang Dakuan nodded with satisfaction, and then spent five minutes carefully counting the money. After confirming that it was correct, he solemnly put the 40 cents into his pocket.
He put his hands behind his back and walked away in a swagger.

For this incident, Yan Bugui spent a total of thirty-five yuan and sixty-one cents, which made him so distressed that he felt like his heart was bleeding.

The third aunt had just heard the news from her neighbor and hurried back. When she saw Yan Jiecheng's horrible appearance with a bruised face and nose, her eyes instantly turned red and she felt so heartbroken.

She hurriedly found the mercurochrome and prepared to apply it on Yan Jiecheng's wound.

"Be gentle...hiss...it hurts, mother, be gentle." Yan Jiecheng's wound was touched by the medicine, and he grimaced in pain and sucked his lips.

He was filled with depression and cried, "Brother Aiguo, you are too cruel."

"If Li Aiguo hadn't been a little more ruthless, you probably wouldn't have come back today." Yan Bugui glared at him fiercely, and said angrily: "With all the bad things you did, do you think someone like Zhang Jinsheng would let you go so easily?"

"I..." Yan Jiecheng was choked and speechless.

Seeing that the third aunt had applied the medicine to the major wounds and was about to continue applying it to the minor wounds, Yan Bugui quickly reached out and snatched the bottle of purple medicine.

"This purple medicine is free, right? The remaining wounds can heal slowly."

When the third aunt saw that Yan Bugui was really angry, although she was a little unhappy, she had no choice but to give up. She and Yan Bugui helped Yan Jiecheng into the house.

"Fry two small fish tonight and I'll treat Aiguo to a drink." In the evening, the third aunt was preparing to cook dinner but was stopped by Yan Bugui.

"You're treating others to drinks?" The third aunt was shocked.

"It's not someone else, it's Aiguo. He helped a lot this time!" Yan Bugui saw that the third aunt's eyes were not right, and said loudly: "Do you think I only know how to calculate?"

The three aunts: “.”

Night fell quietly, and Li Aiguo slowly returned from the locomotive depot on his bicycle.

The third aunt arrived at the Li family early and invited Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru over with a smile on her face.

When we arrived at Yan's house, we saw that the food was already on the table.

Two fried fish were placed in the middle, their bodies slightly yellowed and exuding an enticing aroma;
A plate of peanuts, a plate of fried Chinese cabbage with bok choy, a plate of fried Chinese cabbage with bok choy, a plate of fried white radish with carrots, and a plate of fried carrots with white radish.

Six main dishes filled the small table.

"Old woman, bring us the half bottle of wine from a while ago." After the third uncle asked Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru to sit down, he shouted towards the kitchen.

The third aunt wiped her hands and came out, opened the cupboard, took out half a bottle of Lao Fenjiu and placed it on the table.

When Li Aiguo saw the wine, he couldn't help but joked, "Uncle, this wine isn't made by Wan Guo, right?"

"That's impossible. You've helped me so much this time, how can I trick you with some inferior liquor?" The third uncle picked up the bottle and explained while pouring the wine.

Only then did Li Aiguo feel relieved and picked up the wine glass.

After eating and drinking, the three aunts took Chen Xueru aside to talk about having children.

Yan Bugui poured a cup of tea for Li Aiguo and handed it to him: "Aiguo, how will the case be handled in the solution?"

"No conclusion has been reached yet." Li Aiguo said as he drank a sip of tea: "We still need to hold a meeting to discuss this."

"Then...can you help plead for mercy?" The third uncle looked embarrassed and hesitated for a moment, but had to bite the bullet and say it.

"This matter is not easy to handle. The mistake Yan Jiecheng made this time is a serious violation of discipline."

Li Aiguo shook his head slightly and did not agree to the third uncle's request.

He knew in his heart that he didn't mind helping his neighbors, but there was a bottom line to everything.

Although Yan Jiecheng's incident was not a big deal, its nature was extremely bad. If Zhang Guifang had any unexpected situation because of it, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot would definitely be in chaos.

The leaders in the section will certainly make an example of someone to scare others.

Yan Bugui understood all this in his heart and could only sigh helplessly.

Yan Jiecheng finally got a permanent job and had a chance to become a leader, but he made two mistakes in a row...

"This child..."

Things turned out just as Li Aiguo had expected. Duan Li quickly made a decision to punish Yan Jiecheng in view of the adverse impact caused by the incident of Yan Jiecheng's bride being kidnapped.

Yan Jiecheng was punished by having one year's salary deducted, and was given a serious warning. He was also transferred to the coal transportation workshop as a coal carrier.

In that era, the iron rice bowl in the hands of workers was not an empty talk. Unless they committed extremely serious mistakes, few workers would be fired.

As far as the punishment Yan Jiecheng received this time is concerned, it is already quite severe.

The deduction of salary is secondary; the key point is the serious warning.

This record will be included in the archives, which means that Yan Jiecheng will never make any progress in his career in the future and his path to promotion will be completely blocked.

The coal carriers in the coal transport workshop are usually temporary workers.
Yan Jiecheng was transferred here to carry coal as a regular worker this time. Especially considering that he himself was a coal carryer, Yan Jiecheng felt extremely humiliated.

"Dad, this is too embarrassing. Otherwise, I might as well just quit my job."

"Resign?!" Upon hearing this, the third uncle stood up suddenly, picked up a stick, and poked Yan Jiecheng's forehead with the stick. He said angrily: "Can you blame others for this? It's your own fault!"

"I" Yan Jiecheng hung his head and said nothing.

When the third aunt saw that the third uncle was about to hit the child, she quickly stood up and held the third uncle's arm tightly with both hands.

She persuaded him in a gentle voice: "Xie Cheng, you know very well how difficult it is to find a job nowadays.

Besides, now that you have been punished, no other factory would want you.
In my opinion, you should work in the maintenance section first. As long as you perform well in the future, you may have opportunities."

Yan Jiecheng also knew this and could only nod helplessly.

Early the next morning, Yan Jiecheng, whose injuries had not yet healed, changed into the gray work clothes of a coal carrier, carried a canvas bag, and prepared to report to the workshop.

As soon as I walked to the door, I happened to meet Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai going to work together.

Jia Dongxu already knew that Yan Jiecheng had been punished.

Seeing Yan Jiecheng at this moment, he couldn't help but gloat and tease: "Yan Jiecheng, what's wrong, you become a coal carrier again? Tsk tsk, you are really good, you have a good job but you like to carry coal. You are really too 'positive' in your thinking."

"You" Yan Jiecheng was furious at the time and wanted to deal with Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu quickly hid behind Yi Zhonghai and made a face at Yan Jiecheng: "Uncle, you saw it too. Yan Jiecheng wanted to beat me up. Report this to the subdistrict office immediately."

If it were in the past, Yi Zhonghai would have criticized Yan Jiecheng without hesitation.

However, at this moment, he just said indifferently: "Dongxu, Jiecheng is in trouble now. As neighbors, we should help each other and not add insult to injury. Okay, let's go to work."

After saying this, Yi Zhonghai put his hands behind his back and left quickly.

Jia Dongxu was full of doubts and couldn't understand why he had fallen out of favor.

But seeing the furious Yan Jiecheng, he hurriedly followed Yi Zhonghai, fearing that Yan Jiecheng would catch up with him.

"A villain is successful!" Yan Jiecheng spat fiercely at Jia Dongxu's back, sighed deeply, and walked slowly towards the locomotive depot.

When the workshop director of the coal transportation workshop saw Yan Jiecheng reporting in, he didn't say much and helped him with the formalities.

Yan Jiecheng was still assigned to the previous team and was still taught by his former master, Master Zhang.

Master Zhang specially selected a pair of top-quality shoulder poles for Yan Jiecheng and handed them to him: "Jiecheng, although carrying coal requires strength, it is also a way to make a living, and it is not shameful. Although it is dark, the mind is bright."

Yan Jiecheng gently stroked the shiny shoulder pole with his hands, muttering to himself: "Although the coal is black, my heart is clear..."

Just as Yan Jiecheng resumed his old job of carrying coal, Li Aiguo had leisurely arrived at the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill on his bicycle.

After several days of unremitting efforts, the masters of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill, under the guidance of eighth-level worker Zhou Gong, successfully built 26 containers.

Today is the time of delivery. Director Zhang of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot's maintenance workshop led the technicians to conduct a comprehensive and meticulous inspection of the container, and even used professional instruments to perform precise measurements on the container.

Although Deputy Director Li was chatting with Li Aiguo, his eyes were always on Master Zhang.

The scale of this cooperation is not large, but the significance is different. It is the first time that the steel rolling mill has helped the railway big brother to produce equipment, so it has received special attention from the factory and Director Yang.

If the delivery can be successful, he, the deputy factory director at the bottom of the list, may have to move to a higher position.

Deputy Director Chen was also standing nearby, looking a little unhappy.

Originally he had done enough work to help Yi Zhonghai become an eighth-level worker, but because of Li Aiguo's interference, Yi Zhonghai was kicked out before he even started the assessment.

This is not critical.

The key is that Zhou Gong was promoted to level eight worker.

Once you become an eighth-level worker, you can be considered a "representative figure" of the workers.

This Zhou Palace was not in Deputy Director Chen’s plan.

It can even be said that the relationship between Deputy Director Chen and Zhou Gong is particularly bad.

Since the steel rolling mill was integrated into a public-private partnership, an eight-level system for workers has been implemented in the country.

Based on Zhou Gong's level at the time, he should have been able to be promoted to a sixth-level worker.

But there were only ten vacancies for promotion that year. Under the covert manipulation of Deputy Director Chen, Zhou Gong was unfortunately excluded and suffered a "balance".

At that time, Zhou Gong had a stubborn temper and he confronted Deputy Director Chen on the spot and argued with him based on reason.

Deputy Factory Director Chen severely suppressed and disciplined Zhou Gong on the grounds that his cultural level was too low and his ideological awareness was poor.

Unexpectedly, Zhou Gong could "sleep on straw and taste gall" and successfully pass the graduation examination of night school, and now he has been promoted to "Grade 8 Worker" in one fell swoop.

“Maybe we should ease the tension a little bit.”

While Deputy Director Chen was thinking, Director Zhang had already brought people to check the carriage.

He ran over and reported to Li Aiguo: "Driver Li, after inspection, these containers fully meet the standards."

Li Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief, walked up to Zhou Gong, and shook hands with him: "Master Zhou, thank you for your hard work."

"You're welcome. This is what we should do." Zhou Gong nodded.

Afterwards, Li Aiguo signed his name on the receipt notice and asked the workers of the steel rolling mill to transport the container to the station inside the factory.

A flatbed train was dispatched, the container was lifted onto the train, and then taken back to the Qianmen locomotive depot.

As the train gradually went away, cheers suddenly broke out at the scene.

Deputy Director Li seized the opportunity and walked quickly towards Zhou Gong, saying with a smile on his face, "Master Zhou, you have made great contributions to the factory this time. I have decided to hold a celebration banquet. You must come tonight."

Zhou Gong didn't think much about it and agreed immediately. He didn't notice that Deputy Director Chen's face had turned ugly.

A total of twenty-six containers can just meet the transfer needs of two trains.

At this time, the maintenance workshop has also successfully converted two trains that can be used to carry containers.

Everything is ready, now only the road test is left.

After returning to the locomotive depot, Li Aiguo took all the information with him and rode his bicycle to the Railway Research Institute with Zhou Qigong at a leisurely pace.

In the director's office.

Liu Guozhang arranged for Engineer Dong to lead the technicians to carefully review the technical data of the containers and container trains, while he personally made tea and brought it to Li Aiguo and Zhou Qigong.

Li Aiguo took the tea and asked with a smile: "Teacher, when does the road test start?"

"It is tentatively scheduled for three days later. The route has been selected. The route is to depart from Beijing, arrive at Tianjin Port for loading, then arrive at Huizhou Port by sea, and then be transferred to Beijing by rail."

The biggest role of containers is in sea transportation. Now that both sea and rail transportation are carried out, Liu Guozhang's choice is reasonable.

However, Li Aiguo is still a little worried about whether the port will cooperate.

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"This should be no problem. After all, we are all transportation departments and should cooperate with each other."

Liu Guozhang stood up and dialed the phone to contact his colleagues in the transportation department, explaining the Railway Research Institute's idea of ​​using the port and cargo ships for road tests.

Unexpectedly, the other party did not agree immediately, but instead said that they had to discuss it with the relevant leaders.

Although the other party did not refuse, the stiff tone still caught Liu Guozhang's attention.

After hanging up the phone, Liu Guozhang frowned and muttered quietly: "Are these people angry because we took away their project?"

Li Aiguo and Zhou Qigong looked at each other, neither of them spoke.

This kind of thing involves the cooperation between the two departments and also involves higher levels, so it is not something they can interfere with.

Liu Guozhang knew that the road test was of great importance and could not be taken lightly.

He made several more phone calls and even submitted a letter of assistance to the transportation department in the name of the Railway Research Institute.

However, the transportation department only had one reply: "Containers are new things. Transporting containers is related to all aspects. We are studying it. Please don't worry."

This time the reconciliation was reasonable. Although Liu Guozhang felt that the other party was being perfunctory, he had no choice but to wait.

"Aiguo, Mr. Zhou, our Railway Research Institute will continue to communicate with the transportation department. You guys go back first, don't worry."

The leader had spoken, so Li Aiguo and Zhou Qigong had no choice but to return to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot studio.

Zhou Qigong took advantage of the fact that he was from Jincheng Port and contacted his old friends at Jincheng Port. Jincheng Port said that they had not received any notice from the ministry at all.

After learning the whole story, Professor Zheng and Professor Chen both gave up hope that the transportation department would pass the road test.

"Patriotism, this thing probably won't work, we might as well just use your railway and conduct a railway road test."

"Yes, I know some leaders too well. They can't just sit there and watch their credit being taken away by the railway."

Li Aiguo is not worried about whether the container can pass the road test.

What he cares about is the promotion of containers.

If containers are only tested on railways, they will certainly not be promoted for sea transportation in the future.

"Let's wait a little longer. Maybe the Railway Research Institute can convince the transportation department."

"We will use this time to arrange the dispatch of the containers. Once the containers pass the road test, they can be used in a small area."

After listening to Li Aiguo's advice, Zhou Qigong, Professor Zheng and Professor Chen could only suppress their anxiety and devote their energy to the follow-up work.

One day, two days, three days. In the blink of an eye, a week passed, and there was still no news from the Railway Research Institute.

Just when Li Aiguo couldn't help but go to the Railway Research Institute to inquire, Liu Guozhang personally called Li Aiguo and asked him to prepare all the road test materials and bring them to the Railway Research Institute.

"Teacher, has the transportation department agreed?" Li Aiguo asked impatiently after entering the office.

"That's not the case, but it won't prevent us from conducting the road test." Liu Guozhang stood up and said, "The road test includes the sea test and the railway transportation test, and this principle remains unchanged.

However, the Jincheng Port was replaced by the Jincheng No. 2 Port under the Material Supply Bureau. The Huizhou Port was replaced by the No. 1 Pier of the Hankou Base Material Factory. "

"The port of the Material Supply Bureau?" Li Aiguo widened his eyes.

Liu Guozhang chuckled: "You didn't expect that we have a port and large cargo ships on the railway."

As a railway worker, you may not know where your wife is, but you definitely know the Railway Materials Supply Bureau.

In 1949, when the Ministry of Railways was established, the Railway Materials Supply Bureau was also established to be responsible for the supply of railway materials across the country.

The Material Supply Bureau is responsible for preparing railway materials and has built six base material factories in Shanghai, Tianjin, Xinhe, Shenyang, Hankou and Harbin, as well as the Harbin Timber Factory across the country.

During the war in the north, the Material Supply Bureau also served as a material support army, accompanying the railway troops to the battlefield and supplying the materials needed for war in a timely manner.

These six base material factories are an important part of the national railway layout. As the railway industry continues to grow and develop, they are the predecessors of the five regional railway companies.

That’s right, it is the iron object that became famous in later generations.

After patiently waiting for several days at the transportation department, Liu Guozhang determined that those people had adopted a delaying strategy, so he reported the container plan to the Ministry of Railways.

After research, the Ministry of Railways determined that containers had a certain degree of feasibility, so it notified the Jincheng Base Materials Factory and the Hankou Base Materials Factory.

Although the base material factories in the two locations did not know what containers were, they raised their hands without hesitation to express their cooperation with the road test.

"Now Engineer Dong has taken the information to the Jincheng Base Materials Factory, and Engineer Liu has taken the information to the Hankou Base Materials Factory. The two of them are responsible for the preliminary preparations. Three days later, we will officially start the road test." Liu Guozhang seemed very excited and said, patting the table.

Li Aiguo also clenched his fists excitedly.

After Zhou Qigong understood what the base material factory was, he felt a sigh in his heart.

The transportation department thinks that just because they own the port, they can control other people’s railways.

Who would have thought that they also have a port!

Alas, what is Big Brother? This is the real Big Brother.

Because the road test involves all aspects of work and requires three days of preparation, Li Aiguo also received three days of vacation.

Three days later, he will follow the train carrying containers and travel around the land of China.

This trip will probably take at least a month and a half.

Li Aiguo was already accustomed to business trips, but Chen Xueru's due date was approaching, and he was a little worried.

After Li Aiguo returned home, he took Chen Xueru to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot Hospital for a check-up.

The doctor determined that Chen Xueru's due date was only about a month away.

After learning the news, the eldest sister-in-law rushed to Li's house and complained to Li Aiguo.

"Aiguo, your wife is about to give birth, and you still have to go on a mission. Is this appropriate?"

"Sister-in-law, you can't blame Aiguo for this. When I got married, Secretary Huang told me that if you marry a train driver, you have to be prepared for your husband to go on business trips at any time." Seeing her sister-in-law getting angry, Chen Xueru quickly stopped her.

"You silly girl." The sister-in-law felt depressed when she saw that Chen Xueru was reluctant to even blame her.

If it were Chen Xingjia, he would have to sleep outside the gate tonight.

The eldest sister-in-law knew Chen Xueru's personality and knew that she couldn't stop Li Aiguo from going on a business trip, so she could only come up with an idea: "Xueru, why don't you move back home this month so that we can take care of you and send you to the hospital in time if you give birth."

"How can this be possible? How can I give birth to a child at my parents' home? This is not logical." Chen Xueru refused without hesitation.

Li Aiguo also felt that it was too dangerous for Chen Xueru to stay at home alone.

You have to know that there were no mobile phones in those days and there were very few ambulances. If a baby was born in the middle of the night, it would be difficult to get to the hospital in time.

Li Aiguo suggested: "Sister-in-law, since Xueru doesn't want to go back, you can move in here for a few days."

"That's fine. Jiujin and Yijin are now weaned, so we can just let Xingjia take care of them."

Even though my sister-in-law is always complaining and likes to take advantage of others, she is still a family member after all.

Realizing that Chen Xueru was in trouble, the sister-in-law hesitantly extended her hand.

Even though his sister-in-law came home to take care of Chen Xueru, Li Aiguo was still a little worried and asked He Yushui to come home often.

"Brother Aiguo, don't worry. If my sister-in-law's family hadn't come, I would have wanted to accompany her at night. Your bed is too soft."

"This girl just likes to make trouble!" Aunt Chen scolded He Yushui and turned to look at Li Aiguo: "Aiguo, you can go to work without worry. I will take care of you at home. I don't have any other skills, but I have rich experience in giving birth."

When Liang Ladi learned that Li Aiguo was going on a business trip, she also came to Li's house and said that she would visit Chen Xueru often.

For a moment, the Li family's house was extremely lively.

"See? That kid Li Aiguo has no conscience at all. His wife is about to give birth, but he is going on a business trip." Jia Dongxu was originally showing off to Qin Huairu that he was a good man.

Seeing this scene, he immediately spoke.

Qin Huairu touched her belly and sighed helplessly.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the early morning, when the sky was just beginning to turn pale, Li Aiguo got up from bed early and quickly changed into a clean and tidy set of oil-covered clothes.

After breakfast, Li Aiguo put on his canvas bag and prepared to leave.

"Brother Aiguo, I'll wait for you to come back." Chen Xueru didn't bother to clean up the dishes and chased to the door.

"wait me back!"

Li Aiguo nodded heavily at Chen Xueru, turned around and pushed his bicycle away.

Looking at Li Aiguo's back, Chen Xueru felt that the whole world became blurred.

"Oh, why are you crying for no reason?" The eldest sister-in-law arrived at the courtyard at this moment, and saw Chen Xueru standing at the door at a glance. Her eyes were already red and swollen. She couldn't help feeling distressed, and hurried forward to gently wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Li Aiguo is so cruel that he is willing to leave you alone." The sister-in-law felt distressed and couldn't help but mutter a few words in a low voice.

"Sister-in-law, he is a man, how can he stay at home?"

Hearing Chen Xueru defending Li Aiguo again, the sister-in-law sighed helplessly.

She understood Chen Xueru's personality. Once she made up her mind about something, it would be difficult for her to change her mind.

(End of this chapter)