The train driver in the courtyard

Early the next morning.

Li Aiguo originally planned to contact the mining department through the meteorological station to inquire about the situation of Liu Tianquan's exploration team.

But then I received a call from the department.

"Patriotism, go to the ministry for a meeting immediately."

Riding his motorcycle into the ministry, Li Aiguo pushed open the meeting room door and was stunned by what he saw inside.

Besides the department leaders, there were several strangers dressed in Zhongshan suits in the meeting room.

"This is Deputy Director Zhang of the Geological Work Planning Steering Committee."

"This is Comrade Li Aiguo, the train driver who developed the vehicle-mounted drilling rig."

The ministry leaders introduced both sides.

Upon hearing the identity of the man in the Zhongshan suit, Li Aiguo was taken aback; this man was a bigwig in the domestic mineral exploration field.

In previous years, after years of war, the country was in dire need of rebuilding and urgently required geological work to provide the most basic industrial raw materials for economic and social development.

Therefore, Mr. Li suggested establishing an organization to unify the planning of geological work nationwide—the Geological Work Planning Guidance Committee.

A working mechanism of "one committee, one bureau, and two institutes" was formed, namely the Geological Work Planning Guidance Committee, the Mineral Geological Exploration Bureau, the Institute of Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the Institute of Geology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The Steering Committee coordinates exploration work nationwide.

When Li Aiguo was working at Factory 211, he encountered an exploration team from the Mineral Resources and Geology Exploration Bureau.

Deputy Director Zhang was slightly surprised that Li Aiguo was so young, and stood up to shake his hand tightly.

After exchanging greetings, Deputy Director Zhang stated his purpose directly.

"Comrade Patriot, can the vehicle-mounted drilling rig you developed be used in exploration work?"

Li Aiguo finally understood.

After playing an important role in agriculture, railways and other fields, airborne drilling rigs have also attracted the attention of exploration departments.

An airborne drilling rig is essentially a complete mobile work platform.

The drilling rig is self-powered. If a supply wagon is attached to it, loaded with supplies, fuel, and other materials, it can enable continuous mineral exploration operations in the field.

In large-scale mineral exploration, it can save a lot of manpower and resources, and enable rapid regional mineral exploration.

After inspecting the drilling rig, Deputy Director Wang became increasingly convinced that it could be used for mineral exploration.

So the question was raised: "Can this drill rod be lengthened further?"

"The length of the drill pipe is not a problem. The main issue is that the specifications of the rotary head need to be increased by at least double to provide the necessary drilling speed and torque, and to have forward and reverse rotation capabilities."

Li Aiguo had long harbored the idea of ​​further developing applications for airborne drilling rigs.

"A winch also needs to be installed to lift the drill bit and casing. In the event of a stuck drill bit, the winch can perform a powerful lifting operation."

Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Wang was somewhat surprised: "I didn't expect Comrade Aiguo to have such a deep understanding of field exploration."

“My neighbor is an older brother. He works for the exploration team. Oh, and his wife also works for the exploration team.”

"Oh, they're from our own side. Which exploration team do they work for?" Deputy Director Wang asked warmly.

"I don't know the specific exploration team number, but their names are Liu Tianquan and Huang Ting." Li Aiguo was just about to inquire about the two when he heard Deputy Director Wang mention it, so he casually replied.

Deputy Director Wang nodded slightly, changed the subject, and continued to inquire about the geological drilling rig.

“The geological conditions in the field are complex, and drilling rigs should be manufactured in different types according to the actual situation.”

"For dealing with rocky geological conditions, use powerful drilling rigs with larger drill bits, and adopt a vertical shaft structure."

"For geological conditions exceeding fifty meters in depth, rotary drilling rigs should be used to maintain the stability of the drill bit."

"For terrains with complex conditions, tracks can be added."

Deputy Director Wang nodded repeatedly as he listened: "You've thought this through very thoroughly, Comrade Aiguo. We'll need your help with the geological exploration drilling rig."

Li Aiguo did not refuse, after all, compared with agricultural production, geological exploration work was also quite important in those days.

Especially oil.

With the improvement of industrial levels and the progress in South Asia, the demand for oil is increasing.

A while ago, we planned to buy a batch of oil from Xiao Yi's family, but we were refused.

It is said that both the Russian and American families were behind it, and Becker had to give in to Arif's opposition.

"It seems Sadam still hasn't been able to persuade Becker," Li Aiguo thought to himself, re-examining his work.

Li Aiguo currently has a lot of work on his hands.

We need to keep an eye on a range of products, including twin-cylinder motorcycles, four-cylinder motorcycles, and off-road motorcycles.

Fortunately, the studio has now doubled in size, with dedicated motorcycle and steel mill manufacturing, which frees up Li Aiguo's time.

When the wild car expert learned that Li Aiguo was going to build an engineering geological exploration drilling rig, he became particularly enthusiastic and took the initiative to ask to join the group.

Upon hearing the news, Chen Baiya rushed back to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, wanting to participate in the research and development, but was refused by Li Aiguo.

“The work over there is also very important. If anything goes wrong, don’t blame it on my apprentice.”

"Yes," Chen Baiya said, somewhat annoyed, scratching her head as she left.

A short while later, Chen Baiya returned, this time with a young woman.

"Master, this is Liu Xinyu, the dispatcher from the dispatching workshop."

The girl was wearing a railway worker's uniform, had a ponytail, and an oval face. When Li Aiguo glanced at her, she blushed slightly and lowered her head.

"Huh?" Li Aiguo was a little confused.

"Aiguo, this is Chen Baiya's boyfriend. She brought him here for you to meet." The wild car expert reminded him, and Li Aiguo finally understood.

These days, a master is like a parent. Before getting married, Chen Baiya would bring her partner over so that her master could take a look.

"Very good, quite nice." Li Aiguo looked him up and down, feeling a little embarrassed. Shouldn't the master give him something in return?

Li Aiguo also didn't experience it.

Just then, the department distributed a few movie tickets, and I handed over two of them: "These are department welfare tickets. Young people shouldn't always be so busy with work; you also need to take breaks."

"Thank you, master."

Chen Baiya happily accepted the gift, thanked Li Aiguo, and then left the office with Liu Xinyu.

"See? I told you, my master is very kind," Chen Baiya said excitedly.

Liu Xinyu also breathed a sigh of relief.

Chen Baiya had great respect for this master.

Originally, both sets of parents had already met, but Chen Baiya insisted on taking her to meet her master, fearing that Li Aiguo would not approve of her.

"Driver Li isn't actually more than two years older than you."

“Age doesn’t matter, a master is a master.” Chen Baiya took out the movie tickets and smiled, “I’ll pick you up tonight.”

"Mmm!" Although the two had confirmed their relationship, Liu Xinyu still felt a little embarrassed. She nodded with a blush on her face and turned to run into the dispatch workshop.

Geological exploration is very different from ordinary well drilling work.

After studying it for a while, Li Aiguo decided that if he was going to do it, he should do it the best, so he splurged and purchased deep drilling technology from the system.

This technology enables the design and production of specialized drill bits, breaking through the 5000-meter drilling bottleneck and adapting to the exploration of basal layers such as shale and hot dry rock.

Considering applicability, Li Aiguo abandoned the simple drilling platform and redesigned the exploration platform.

The vehicle uses a tracked chassis, is equipped with hydraulic outriggers, has a tower mounted on top, and also has an independent hydraulic operating platform.

After reviewing the blueprints, Deputy Director Wang commented, "It looks almost exactly like the small offshore operation platform that the Russians have just developed!"

"The ocean covers 71% of the Earth's surface. If we could extract all the minerals from the seabed, we wouldn't have to worry about resources anymore."

Li Aiguo does indeed have the idea of ​​exploiting seabed resources.

On land, if you want to mine in someone else's territory, you either have to fight or pay a high price.

This isn't a problem in the ocean.

Especially these days, without the "Seabed Mining Ordinance," mining is allowed in international waters, and whoever succeeds depends on their own abilities.

However, the technology is not yet mature and we need to wait a few more years. Li Aiguo is also building up his technological reserves.

Deputy Director Wang had no idea that Li Aiguo was actually interested in marine exploration; he had only mentioned it casually.

Subsequently, several exploration experts were convened to study the drawings.

Ultimately, it was determined that the geological exploration drilling rig designed by Li Aiguo met the standards in terms of both performance and durability.

"Comrade Patriot, we're counting on you this time." The Geological Work Planning Guidance Committee then placed an order for three prototype machines.

Once it is confirmed that there are no problems with the machine, we will continue to place additional orders.

After returning to his studio, Li Aiguo began working on the prototype.

These days, engineering geological exploration drilling rigs are considered high-tech engineering equipment, and the workshop alone cannot complete the task independently.

Li Aiguo adopted the old method, with the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop responsible for the design and assembly.

Those extremely difficult-to-find parts are supplied by major factories across the country.

The tracks and chassis were provided by Baotou No. 1 Machinery Plant. After receiving the drawings, Zhang Tan said he would manufacture them within half a month.

The steel rolling mill received an order for custom-made drill bits, and several other factories in China received the corresponding parts drawings.

To maintain secrecy, Li Aiguo even asked the meteorological station to send a security specialist with blueprints to various factories.

With more than a dozen factories involved in the manufacturing, the development of the engineering geological exploration drilling rig is progressing rapidly.

Time passed day by day, and before they knew it, it was November. Chen Baiya and Liu Xinyu planned to hold their wedding at the end of the year and invited Li Aiguo to be their witness.

This was the first time Li Aiguo had encountered his apprentice's wedding, and his first thought was to send an expensive gift.

When he married Chen Xueru, Cao Wenzhi gave her a mahogany dressing table worth twelve yuan.

However, Chen Baiya's family is a family of doctors and they are quite well-off. The new house is furnished with all new furniture and even has a ceiling fan.

Radios and bicycles are all available.

It seems like we don't lack anything.

When it was time to leave work, Li Aiguo still hadn't figured out what to send, but instead received a call from Wan Ming, the director of the animation studio.

"Patriotism, Kung Fu Panda is finished and has been submitted to the ministry for review. Shouldn't we get together?"

After nearly a year of production and an investment of over 300,000 yuan, the film is finally complete.

Li Aiguo was particularly excited.

That evening, Wan Ming and a group of technical personnel were invited to dinner at the Ministry of Railways' canteen.

Wan Ming has a high alcohol tolerance. After his colleagues in the publicity department drank nearly half a bottle of wine, their tongues were tied in knots.

"Patriotism! I wonder how much money our 'Kung Fu Panda' will make?!"

The meaning of this statement is quite clear. In China, for example, a movie ticket costs 25 cents, and with the free tickets given by companies and factories, there's practically no profit to be made.

The only place to make money is the port city.

But the port city is too small, and the population is also small.

"Perhaps we should screen it worldwide."

As soon as Li Aiguo spoke, the once noisy cafeteria fell silent.

The propaganda officers and technicians in the department all looked at Li Aiguo with incredulous eyes. Before liberation, a film called "Zhuangzi Tests His Wife" was indeed shipped overseas for screening, but only at a film festival, where it was merely seen as a novelty.

No film has ever achieved overseas box office success.

They were already thrilled that "Kung Fu Panda" was being shown in Hong Kong; they never even dared to dream of it being shown overseas.

"Patriotism, you're not kidding, are you?" Even the veteran director Wan Ming was taken aback.

"There's no road ahead because nobody's walked on it. If we make our way through, then there'll be a road, won't there?"

"Okay, I'll do it with you!" Wan Ming hesitated for a moment, then nodded emphatically.

As a filmmaker, who wouldn't want their movies to be seen by audiences all over the world?

However, in order to be released overseas, foreign language dubbing will be added to the film.

This was no problem for Li Aiguo.

Students at the Beijing Foreign Language Institute study languages ​​from various countries.

The most crucial issue is obtaining approval from the relevant authorities.

Fortunately, this time "Kung Fu Panda" was jointly prepared by the Ministry of Railways and the Fine Arts Products Factory, so it can be said to be a movie with a parent company.

Li Aiguo wrote an application and knocked on the door of Leader Teng's office.

"It's only been a few days, why are you here again? My office is practically your home." Director Teng had just received an order from the geological department and was in a good mood. When he saw Li Aiguo, he joked with him.

However, after seeing the application report, his expression immediately turned serious: "Patriotism, this is indeed a matter that needs to be taken seriously."

“Leader, there are some positions that, if we don’t occupy them, will be occupied by our opponents. Things like movies, if we go overseas, we can earn foreign exchange and promote our culture, just like Hextech’s Chinese education work.”

Upon hearing this, Leader Teng's expression immediately softened.

Hextech's Chinese language training courses are now all over the world, and the students, after being exposed to Chinese, inevitably become interested in the local culture.

Some of these students have a significant influence, which has subtly enhanced our hidden strength.

"I'm going to report to Haizi now. You wait here."

After reviewing Li Aiguo's plan again and confirming that there were no omissions, Leader Teng reported the plan to his superiors.

Upon returning, an additional signature appeared on the report: "Strive to make domestic films successful!"

"Comrade Patriot, don't let down the expectations of your superiors." Leader Teng hadn't expected the trip to go so smoothly. Some leaders even tried to raise different opinions, but they were directly rejected.

Don't worry!

This application report is like a key to unlock the door to your home.

To get a movie into a movie theater, you need someone else's house key.

This matter then fell to Red Star Entertainment.

After receiving Li Aiguo's call, Lou Xiao'e quickly took action.

With the connections built up from shooting television commercials, a few days later, a company called Red Star Entertainment quietly opened on a secluded street in Hollywood.

Upon seeing the Chinese sign on the Red Star Entertainment Film Studio's signboard, the Hollywood reporters immediately lost interest.

After all, no film company from that region has yet achieved success in Hollywood.

The only thing that interested them was the beautiful general manager of Red Star Entertainment Film Company.

Speaking fluent foreign languages, her aura is in no way inferior to that of Hollywood socialites.

That's all.

Since its opening, Red Star Entertainment Film Company has been deserted, with even third-rate reporters refusing to come and join the fun.

A few kilometers away from Red Star Entertainment Film Company, tourists crowded together in front of a small brick building.

Many tourists from all over the world take photos in front of the building, simply because the plaque on the building bears the name of The Hollywood Reporter.

The Hollywood Reporter is the most famous movie newspaper in America's hometown and a bellwether for Hollywood. Its reviews can even determine a movie's box office performance.

Some entertainment gossip can make a female star famous, or it can ruin a star who is already in the spotlight.

Smith!
A reporter for this newspaper.

Unlike regular reporters who need to go out to conduct interviews, veteran reporter Smith only needs to sit in his office and wait for film companies and agents to provide news leads.

And today.

Smith then found the news lead he needed: Universal Pictures' "Spartacus".

Universal Pictures is one of the eight major Hollywood studios.

Spartacus is a well-known story in Europe and America, and the combination of the two is a guarantee of box office success.

Since the start of filming, Hollywood news media have been covering the film extensively. In an effort to attract attention, comprehensive coverage has filled the entertainment sections of major newspapers with news about the movie.

It stands to reason.

It's already difficult to find newsworthy stories about movies that are about to be released. Some industry peers have already started to shift their focus to movies that are in the planning stages.

Unfortunately, Universal Pictures offered just too much.

"He who takes another's money is bound to do his bidding"—this saying applies everywhere.

It takes some skill to make it seem like you're creating hype.

Smith happens to have that ability.

He browsed through some recently released movies, and after watching "Kung Fu Panda," he quickly realized something—

Why not compare this movie to "Spartacus"?

Both are adapted from folk tales and were released on the same day. Even if you force a comparison, no one can really say anything.

Think of this.

Smith smiled.

He pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing tomorrow's press release, the headline of which was: "Spartacus's Box Office Will Crush Kung Fu Panda."

the next day.

It's seven o'clock in the morning.

Lou Xiao'e vaguely heard someone knocking on the door. Not yet used to life in North America, she was stunned for a moment before she came to her senses.

I forced myself to get dressed despite the cold and opened the door, only to see Ruan Qingqing standing there with a newspaper in her hand and an undisguised smile on her face.

"What's going on? Someone's willing to interview us?"

Lou Xiao'e yawned.

Although they quickly established a film company and obtained film distribution rights by leveraging the connections they had built in the advertising industry through Hextech and Red Star Entertainment.

Interlaced like mountains.

Hollywood media outlets have absolutely no interest in this "advertising madwoman." Since the news broke, not a single media outlet has come to interview her.

"Take a look at this first; I'm sure you'll be just as happy as I am."

"what?"

Lou Xiao'e was stunned for a moment.

Then I saw a newspaper handed to me by Ruan Qingqing. It was a well-known newspaper called The Hollywood Reporter.

"News about us!"

Before Ruan Qingqing could finish speaking, the newspaper was in Lou Xiao'e's hands. The headline on the front page stunned her: "Spartacus's Box Office Will Crumble Over 'Kung Fu Panda'"

She didn't bother to put on warm clothes and just looked at it.

It must be said that the reporter named Smith is indeed quite capable.

The article analyzes the films "Spartacus" and "Kung Fu Panda" from various perspectives, praising Stanley Kubrick's directing skills, Kirk Douglas's acting skills, and Jane Simmons's beauty.

He said that Spartacus is an outstanding work of Hollywood cinematic art.

They also said that Spartacus is faithful to the original work, but surpasses it.

If Lou Xiao'e hadn't remembered that her movie was called "Kung Fu Panda," she would have already given this article a thumbs up.

The latter half of the article briefly introduces "Kung Fu Panda": an excellent work from a film culture wasteland, coupled with its niche cartoon format, destined it to be a worthy supporting role.

The ending went even further, making a straightforward prediction: "With the support of several movie stars and the high standards of Universal Pictures, Spartacus will gross around five million dollars. Kung Fu Panda, as a niche film, is expected to gross around one hundred thousand dollars."

read it.

Lou Xiao'e almost doubted her own eyes.

"Ruan Qingqing, what's there to be happy about?"

Ruan Qingqing's eyes widened: "This is The Hollywood Reporter, the most famous film publication here. To be able to compare it with Spartacus, we've already succeeded."

cough.
Lou Xiao'e thought this girl had no ambition.

Around 9 p.m., Lou Xiao'e figured that people on the mainland had already started working, so she called Li Aiguo and gave him a briefing on the situation here.

"Brother Patriot, shouldn't we also get some media outlets to hype this up?"

Li Aiguo understood the meaning of "please" and also knew the meaning of "bragging," so he shook his head and said, "North America is different from Hong Kong. If you take out money to entertain those reporters now, they will sell you out in the blink of an eye."

"But this is too disadvantageous for us."

"Don't worry, Smith has written a great article. In a few days, someone will come to help us promote it."

Lou Xiao'e only heard vaguely, and considering that Li Aiguo had to work, she could only hang up the phone.

Things went as Li Aiguo had predicted.

"Kung Fu Panda, a cartoon movie? Didn't Disney's Sleeping Beauty failure remind these Asians of that?"

"What is a panda? Oh my, this little animal is quite cute."

"Kung Fu Panda, an animal adventure from a foreign land."

Journalists have always had a keen sense of smell.

Yesterday's review of "Kung Fu Panda" by The Hollywood Reporter was just the beginning. In the following days, media outlets of all sizes flocked to Red Star Entertainment, hoping to get their hands on firsthand information.

Lou Xiao'e warmly received the reporter's interview, but remained silent about the film's content.

It was simply stated that the film incorporated a significant amount of Chinese kung fu.

This further piqued the interest of the reporters.

"An animated film where you can learn kung fu!"

"Spartacus vs. Kung Fu Panda: Who will win?!"

Would you bring your child and spend $1.75 to see a clumsy bear?

For a time, discussions about "Kung Fu Panda" occupied most of the pages of entertainment newspapers.

Smith slapped his thigh as he looked at the newspaper: "What a huge loss! I should have charged Red Star Entertainment for the PR fee."

Discussions are one thing, but everyone knows that comparing "Kung Fu Panda" to "Spartacus" is just a joke.

Even Universal Pictures, a direct competitor of Star Entertainment, didn't care.

"Cartoons should be broadcast on TV. Hopefully, the failure of 'Kung Fu Panda' will teach Disney a lesson!"

(End of this chapter)