The train driver in the courtyard

The residents in the compound are very interested in the weather forecast.

Uncle San and Liu Haizhong had originally planned to listen to the radio together, and Uncle San even specifically instructed Yan Jiedi: "Hurry up and get ready."

Around dusk, Xu Damao came back and saw him busy doing something. He said cheerfully, "Uncle, are you still hanging around here? Everyone else has gone home to watch TV!"

"Oh, how could I forget about that?" The Third Uncle quickly stopped Yan Jiedi: "Don't generate electricity anymore. If this flywheel gets worn out, we'll have to find Liang Ladi to repair it, which will cost two small fish every time. It's too expensive."

"Then I'll go and lend a hand to Sister Xue Ru."

Yan Jiedi never liked riding that old bicycle, so as soon as she jumped off, she dashed to the backyard.

The news that the Li family was going to turn on the TV that evening quickly spread throughout the entire compound, and even residents from the neighboring compound came to join in the fun.

It's so hot outside, what could be more relaxing than watching TV and chatting?

Li Aiguo figured there must be quite a few people, so he asked Xu Damao and Zhang Gangzhu to clean the courtyard.

Aunt Liu, along with Chen Xueru, Liu Lan, and a few other women, boiled a large pot of water, added some grass stalks, and brewed it into a herbal tea.

Before evening, Li Aiguo's house was already bustling with activity.

Jia Dongxu chased away a few sparrows on the roof, then strolled over to Yi Zhonghai's house with his hands behind his back. As soon as he pushed open the door, he shouted, "Master, Li Aiguo is turning on the TV tonight, do you want to come over?"

"No, no, I still have to write my self-criticism summary," Yi Zhonghai said irritably.

Jia Dongxu quickly said, "It's just a weather forecast, what's so great about it? I don't care."

Upon hearing this, Yi Zhonghai's expression softened, and he looked at him, saying, "How's your summary of your thoughts coming along? If it passes this time, we won't have to go to that lousy training class anymore."

A while ago, both of them were punished because of Jia Dongxu's clothes-selling incident, and they had to attend training sessions organized by the factory every day after work.

"Ah, I forgot. Master, I'll go back and write it right away." Jia Dongxu was most afraid of Yi Zhonghai bringing this up, so he turned around and ran away in a flash.

An older woman came out of the house at this moment and asked, "Old man, the courtyard is so lively, it's almost like a democratic life meeting. Old Yan and Liu Haizhong have both gone to help. It wouldn't be appropriate for you not to go."

"What do you know?! Li Aiguo is trying to win people's hearts!" Yi Zhonghai said sternly. "If I went, that would be a real loss of face!"

"Sigh, old man, patriotism doesn't have so many twists and turns, I just want everyone to have some fun."

"Stop talking, and you're not allowed to go!"

Seeing Yi Zhonghai get angry, the middle-aged woman could only shake her head helplessly and go into the kitchen to get busy.

The sun sets in the west.

The fiery clouds on the horizon bathed everything in the capital in a crimson glow.

Liu Lan took out a large bag of dried dates from the cabinet: "Da Mao, take this to Aiguo later and share it with everyone."

Xu Damao was completely baffled: "Wife, I went through a lot of trouble to bring this back from the countryside."

"Are you stupid!" Liu Lan pointed her finger at Xu Damao's forehead: "Didn't you see that Aiguo even contributed the TV and boiled some water?"

"That's the enthusiasm of patriotic brothers."

"They are indeed proactive, but there are deeper reasons behind it; this is the best way to build closer relationships with the people."

Liu Lan looked at Xu Damao and said with exasperation, "All you ever think about is currying favor with the leaders. Have you forgotten that if you want to get a permanent position, the factory still has to conduct a survey of the masses in the compound?!"

"Oh dear, wife, thank goodness you reminded me."

For Xu Damao, getting a permanent position is now the most important thing.

Forget about the cost now, after taking the red dates, they also took a large bag of walnuts.

Looking at the two large bags of things, Li Aiguo admired Xu Damao's ability; this guy always managed to bring back good stuff every time he went to the countryside.

"Brother Aiguo, let me take care of everyone." Xu Damao seemed very enthusiastic at this moment.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, Brother Da Mao."

Li Aiguo was about to tidy up the TV with Nan Yi and Zhang Gangzhu, so he didn't refuse.

Several people carried the television out and placed it on the table, while Xu Damao greeted the residents.

The residents drank herbal tea, ate walnuts and dried dates, and chatted, creating a lively atmosphere.

Qin Huairu noticed Jia Dongxu listlessly shuffling towards Li Ai's house and asked in bewilderment, "Didn't you just say you weren't going?"

"If you don't take advantage of a good deal, that's what makes you a fool!" Jia Dongxu darted around faster than a rabbit, grabbed a handful of dried dates, and stuffed them into his mouth.

"Hiss... why does this thing smell so fishy?"

Jia Dongxu couldn't bear to spit it out, so he chewed it a few times and swallowed it.

Before we knew it, it was 7:30 in the evening.

The news program ended, and the female reporter appeared on the television screen.

"Good evening, viewers. This is Renren TV. I will now be reporting the weather across the country."

The drought continues in the Beijing area, while there is heavy rainfall in the northeast. Below is the weather situation for major cities in the southwest.

Beijing: Sunny, low of 25 degrees Celsius, high of 35 degrees Celsius. Hot weather; please take precautions against heatstroke. Tianjin:

"Still no rain. Sigh, when will this drought end?"

"The forecast already said it would take at least another month."

"What a terrible forecast! It's all nonsense! I can tell with my toes that it's not going to rain anytime soon!" Jia Dongxu scoffed and grabbed a handful of walnuts, stuffing them into his pocket.

Xu Damao had been staring at him the whole time, and grabbed his wrist: "Jia Dongxu, what are you doing here?"

Caught red-handed, Jia Dongxu remained calm and unperturbed: "I'm just bringing Bang Geng some things, what's wrong with that?"

"You're not only eating and drinking for free, but you're also taking money home! What kind of nonsense is this?!" Xu Damao was furious.

You should know that he had to grit his teeth to bring out these things today, and Jia Dongxu ended up ruining a lot of them.

Jia Dongxu wanted to argue further, but the Third Uncle stepped forward: "Dongxu, this is outrageous! Even if you want to take advantage, there should be some rules, right?"

"You did nothing all night but stare at the dates!" Knowing he couldn't get away with it, Jia Dongxu slammed the door and left in a huff.

"What the hell!" Xu Damao spat at his back, then turned to Zhang Gangzhu: "Gangzhu, we're not playing with Jia Dongxu anymore."

Zhang Gangzhu: "."

****
The premiere of the weather forecast received unanimous praise from viewers across the country.

The television station quickly received letters of commendation from all over the country.

It's the perfect time for sowing in the Shenyang area of ​​Northeast China.

Upon learning that it was going to rain, the Hongqi Commune organized its members to prepare for sowing in advance, and took advantage of a brief period of rain to complete the sowing task.

Upon learning that a Force 7 gale was about to hit the sea, the coastal fishing commune stopped fishing boats that were about to set sail, thus preventing huge losses.

According to incomplete statistics, the viewership of weather forecasts is as high as 82%.

Later, even people in the port city set up antennas specifically to watch the local TV station, just to receive the weather forecast.

After conducting research, relevant departments decided to include weather forecast programs as official programs.

The female host also received the title of Outstanding Host at the end of the year.

Of course, these are all things for later.

On Monday, Li Aiguo entered his studio and first took a walk around.

The most important task in the workshop and maintenance shop at present is to produce railway tamping picks, which is not technically difficult.

Back in his office, Li Aiguo opened the system and glanced at it. A full 2,600 points—that's a fortune!

Two-stroke motorcycle manufacturing technology. 100 points, bought it.

Spending money is a momentary pleasure, so Li Aiguo went on a buying spree and acquired seven or eight technologies related to two-stroke motorcycles.

Crankcase pre-compression technology, three-hole valve control, hybrid lubrication system, and air-cooled heat dissipation design.
These technologies are not particularly difficult; the key is how to produce them under the conditions of this era.

The motorcycle's cylinder block is much larger than a tamping pick and can withstand much greater air pressure, so the old makeshift method is no longer feasible.

After careful consideration, Li Aiguo chose cast iron material with air intake, and added dense bores to ensure airtightness.

The cast iron ring piston needs to be replaced with an aluminum alloy one.

The crankshaft connecting rod mechanism has been replaced with a forged steel crankshaft equipped with needle roller bearings, which can withstand high-speed impacts.

The carburetor used is a simplified version of the large off-road carburetor, a simple float carburetor with a choke cold start function.

As for the ignition system, considering the harsh environment on the battlefield and to reduce operating costs, Li Aiguo adopted a mechanical contact magneto generator to directly drive the spark plugs for ignition, eliminating the need for a battery.

These are not difficult; the most important thing is the process.

Piston rings require compensation machining to avoid insufficient precision.

"Patriot, doesn't this look like a motorcycle?" Just as we were busy with our work, the wild car expert pushed open the door and came in.

"Two-stroke motorcycles."

The expert on the wild car went over and, after just a couple of glances, immediately became interested.

“I’ve tinkered with a motorcycle before, but those things break down way too easily. Two-stroke motorcycles are much more robust and durable. Luckily, the workshop has all the materials we need, so let’s get it working!”

Seeing the wild car expert's enthusiastic expression, Li Aiguo knew that it was a wise decision to transfer him.

"I'll take care of the engine; you help me get the body, suspension, and tires out."

"Leave it to me."

The untrained car expert took the blueprints and returned to the workshop with great enthusiasm.

The veteran technicians in the workshop had long been bored from watching the production of tamping picks.

Upon learning that Li Aiguo was going to tinker with something new, they all gathered around.

"Motorcycles! If this thing were made, we could all have one, how cool would that be?" "Go away, one for everyone? You're dreaming."

With the participation of amateur automotive experts and veteran workshop technicians, motorcycle manufacturing progressed rapidly.

Especially after receiving that large calligraphy piece, Li Aiguo felt that the support he received from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot and the Ministry had reached a new level.

Now, all the necessary materials can be delivered by a single phone call from the dispatch department.

Section Chief Xing personally visited the studio several times and had fruits and vegetables delivered to it.

Are two-stroke motorcycles expensive to produce?

"It costs at least two-thirds less than the Happiness 250, with a total estimated cost of 300 yuan. If we mass-produce it, we can reduce the cost by another third," Li Aiguo replied, taking a bite of watermelon.

Section Chief Xing looked at the half-assembled motorcycle and suddenly pointed to the wheels, asking, "Can this thing be replaced with those bumpy tires?"

"A lump?" Li Aiguo was stunned for a moment before he understood what Section Chief Xing was planning: "It's the kind of tire used on engineering vehicles, mainly for driving on rough roads and mountain roads? Of course, our domestic tire factories can now produce steel-belted tires."

"Good, good, get it done quickly. Then we can equip the track maintenance workshop with a few motorcycles, and the track workers can ride them to inspect the track, which will save them a lot of effort."

"Section Chief, that's a good idea." Li Aiguo wiped his mouth and gave Section Chief Xing a thumbs up.

Two-stroke motorcycles, due to their characteristics, are similar to mountain bikes and can fully meet the requirements for patrolling.

Before it was even built, they received orders, which greatly boosted the morale of the untrained car experts and the experienced workers in the workshop.

Around noon, the motorcycle-specific two-stroke engine was assembled.

Li Aiguo lit the engine and, as usual, let it run for a week.

Li Aiguo went into the greenhouse and picked a few cucumbers and tomatoes to take back to Aunt Liu.

It's been so hot lately that He Yushui has been complaining a lot about how Aunt Liu can't eat. It makes sense, considering how old she is and how hard it must be for her to take care of He Yushui and Xiao Kuangsheng.

Just outside the locomotive depot, we saw Village Chief Wei and several villagers squatting under the shade of a tree to rest.

"Uncle Wei, you've come to deliver mountain produce again? Come on, let's go home."

"No, we have to rush back later; we still have work to do tonight." Old Wei, the village chief, stood up and picked up the towel hanging around his neck to wipe his sweat.

Li Aiguo was somewhat surprised: "Why are you working at night?"

"Don't even mention it. It hasn't rained here for a while now. We should have been planting crops, but the ground has cracked open. There's nothing we can do but organize people to irrigate the fields." Li Aiguo wasn't an outsider, and Old Wei, the village chief, didn't hide anything from him.

"Relying solely on people carrying water to irrigate the land?" Li Aiguo recalled that there was indeed a small river in Weicun Commune, but the river was three or four miles away from those plots of land.

"What can we do? Let's irrigate the land first and plant as much as we can," said Village Chief Wei, who was at a loss.

Ordinary people rely on the weather for their livelihood. Now that the weather is not providing food, they can only try to squeeze some grain from the heavens.

The situation in Weicun Commune was somewhat better. Every year, they relied on selling mountain products to Qianmen Locomotive Depot, so even if grain production decreased, they wouldn't go hungry.

It's hard to say about the other communes in the surrounding area.

After seeing off Village Chief Wei, Li Aiguo rode his bicycle freely through the dry streets.

Now that the weather forecasting system has been built, it can only play a forecasting role; it cannot change the weather.

"If only I could knock the clouds down!" Li Aiguo looked up at the few clouds in the sky and suddenly squeezed the bicycle brakes.

"Artificial rainmaking! How could I have forgotten about that!"

Due to the drought in the Beijing area, the Hydrology Bureau and Professor Huang and his team held a special seminar to retrieve meteorological data and investigate the causes.

The cloud layer already meets the requirements for rainfall; the main problem is the lack of updrafts to lift the cloud layer, preventing water vapor from rising to the low-temperature condensation zone and thus preventing raindrops from forming.

The old saying goes: "Even if there are clouds in a drought, there will be no rain," which describes this situation perfectly.

If we could get a rocket, add some materials, and launch it at the clouds, we should be able to make it rain.

Alternatively, artificial rain can be created using airplanes.

However, airplanes have greater limitations; without accurate information, it's impossible to decide which type to use.

Li Aiguo recalled the conditions for artificial rainmaking, then slammed his hand on the car handle: "Dry it up."

Back at the courtyard house, Li Aiguo delivered cucumbers and tomatoes to Aunt Liu's house, and He Yushui personally cooked tomato noodles.

After eating and drinking his fill, Li Aiguo rode his bicycle toward the General Staff Hydrological Bureau.

At that time, there was no concept of artificial rainmaking in China, and no organization was responsible for this task.

Obtaining materials for artificial rainmaking and contacting rockets or airplanes are both tedious and extremely troublesome tasks.

The General Staff Hydrological Bureau has now become involved in weather forecasting and has special connections with the military industry, making it well-suited to undertake this project.

Zou Jieguang, the leader of the Hydrology Bureau, had just received praise from his superiors for his weather forecast. Upon seeing Li Aiguo, he excitedly grabbed his hand and said, "Aiguo, call Staff Officer Xiao and come to my house for a good meal tonight."

"Brother Zou, that's great, but I have some things to take care of." Li Aiguo knew Zou Jieguang's personality well, so he didn't waste any time and directly explained his idea of ​​artificial rainmaking.

"Artificial rain?!" Zou Jieguang was also stunned by Li Aiguo's idea.

It's important to understand that launching a rocket or deploying military aircraft are major events in Beijing.

Furthermore, this is unprecedented in the country, so we should be even more cautious.

"Let's have a meeting and discuss this carefully." Zou Jieguang convened a meeting, inviting several leaders from the Hydrology Bureau, as well as Professor Huang and several meteorological experts from across the country.

"This is a plan submitted by Comrade Aiguo. Let's discuss it together," Zou Jieguang said, then looked at the experts.

Professor Huang glanced through the documents and stood up: "Currently, foreign countries have begun to study artificial rainmaking, especially Xiaomei's family. They have conducted several experiments, and although the results were not ideal, they have still achieved some success."

A leader from the hydrology bureau frowned: "Xiao Mei's family."

Li Aiguo knew what he was worried about, and seeing this, he raised his hand and said, "Artificial rainmaking isn't Xiaomei's patent. In fact, we've made more progress here. A couple of years ago, the Nans family launched an artificial rainmaking rocket, and the Mao family also used airplanes to conduct artificial rainmaking."

Zou Jieguang nodded: "Technology has no bias. As long as it is beneficial to solving the drought, we should use it. The question now is whether to use rockets or airplanes for artificial rainmaking."

"We need more detailed information to determine this," Professor Huang replied.

"The situation is urgent, retrieve the relevant information immediately."

Zou Jieguang himself came from a military background, and his greatest characteristic was his decisiveness. Instead of dismissing the meeting, he had the weather forecast command center send weather data for the Beijing area.

They also contacted experts from the Air Force to attend the meeting.

Stacks of documents were laid out on the table.

Professor Huang and a group of experts began to peruse the document.

Li Aiguo did not get involved. These meteorologists are the real experts, and professionals should do professional things.

"Recently, the height of cumulonimbus clouds in the Beijing area has been around eight kilometers."

Professor Huang looked at the Air Force expert.

An air force expert frowned: "High-altitude operations for fighter jets and transport aircraft are extremely dangerous; they can generally only operate at low altitudes, around six kilometers."

Professor Huang nodded and then flipped through the data: "The clouds over Beijing are convective clouds, and their state is unstable."

Before the air force expert could answer, Professor Huang continued, "It's difficult for an aircraft to keep up with the altitude of convective clouds."

The leaders who attended the meeting also understood that, at present, rockets are more suitable than fighter jets for carrying out artificial rainmaking missions.

"What about the rocket debris? Will it damage houses when it lands on the ground?" a leader asked.

Li Aiguo straightened up: "When using rockets to create artificial rain, we usually choose mountainous areas where there are few people, making it easier to evacuate."

In fact, the upper atmosphere in mountainous areas is more stable and predictable because it is less affected by the ground, making it more suitable for artificial rainmaking operations.

Now all conditions point to using rockets for artificial rainmaking, and everyone's attention has turned to Zou Jieguang.

Zou Jieguang stood up and said, "Rockets! We'll use rockets to create artificial rain. I'll submit the application to the higher-ups right away."

The higher-ups received the application report around dinnertime.

After listening to the assistant's report, the superior gave the following evaluation: "If God doesn't send rain, we'll make him send rain. That's true fighting against nature. It hasn't been long, and Comrade Aiguo has already achieved new results."

"Comrade Aiguo is studying hard and making progress every day." Seeing that his superior was in a good mood, the assistant also joked.

"This kid is indeed a talent." The superior nodded as he reviewed the plan.

This kind of proposal is very difficult to write.

Not only do we need to consider all aspects of the problem and propose feasible solutions, but we also need to transform those obscure principles into simple and easy-to-understand content.

Li Aiguo did this very well.

"When it comes to getting things done, you have to be bold in thinking and acting. Let's carry out our first artificial rainmaking operation according to plan."

"What's the plan for the rocket?" the assistant asked.

"There's been progress at the Fifth Academy, which is a good opportunity to conduct a small experiment. The question is, which comrade should be assigned to liaise with Professor Qian?"

The Fifth Academy is related to the establishment of deterrence, and like the Mushroom Base, it is a top secret. Only a handful of people in China know about it.

"Comrade Aiguo seems to have a pretty good relationship with Professor Qian. He also contributed to the rockets we got from the Russians back then." The assistant had already thoroughly reviewed Li Aiguo's files.

"This interesting little guy, first he got his hands on rockets, now he's tinkered with artificial rain and needs rockets again, he's got everything covered." The higher-ups were hearing about this for the first time and couldn't help but chuckle.

The superior tapped his finger on the report: "Let Comrade Li Aiguo take full responsibility for this matter."

"Yes!" The assistant's eyes widened suddenly.

Not to mention that this artificial rainmaking was the first of its kind in China.

It also involves seven or eight important units, including the General Staff Department, the General Staff Department Hydrology Bureau, the Beijing Air Defense Force, the garrison troops, and the Fifth Academy of National Defense.

The fact that the higher-ups have actually put Li Aiguo in charge of this coordination shows how highly they regard him.

(End of this chapter)