The train driver in the courtyard

It was late at night and all was quiet.

"Help, help!"

The urgent shouts were like a heavy hammer blow, shattering the silence in an instant.

Lights gradually came on in the courtyard house.

Li Aiguo was also startled awake and subconsciously reached for the pistol in the drawer.

He used to keep the pistol under his pillow, but after getting married, fearing that Chen Xueru might accidentally touch it, he moved it to a different place.

"It sounds like Xu Damao." Chen Xueru was also startled awake, rubbed her eyes, and sat up.

"I'll go check on them. You keep an eye on the two children."

I could hear Xiao Hongsheng and Xiao Mingwei making noises next door.

Li Aiguo gave Chen Xueru a few words of advice, then dressed, tucked his pistol into his waistband, picked up his flashlight, opened the door, and went out.

At this moment, Zhang Gangzhu, Liu Haizhong, and Yi Zhonghai were also awakened and looked outside while wearing their clothes.

Zhang Gangzhu pointed to the front yard: "It's over there."

"go!"

The group arrived at the front yard, and Li Aiguo turned on his flashlight and shone it on the figure. It was Xu Damao.

At this moment, Xu Damao's clothes were dirty, his face had several bloody cuts, and blood was dripping from the corner of his mouth. He looked very disheveled.

Xu Damao was knocking on the door of Uncle San's house when he saw Li Aiguo and the others and ran over immediately.

"Quick, save them!"

"Don't rush, tell me what happened slowly," Li Aiguo reminded Xu Damao when he saw that Xu Damao couldn't even speak coherently.

Xu Damao took a deep breath: "Third Uncle fell into a ravine!"

"Ah?! Something happened to my old man?" The third aunt had just pushed open the door and walked in when she heard this. She swayed and almost fainted.

Li Aiguo quickly told Yan Jiedi to help the three women to the side so they could catch their breath.

When the residents learned that the old man was in trouble, their hearts jumped into their throats, and the atmosphere instantly became tense.

"Da Mao, which ravine? How is Uncle San's condition? Tell me clearly!"

Li Aiguo's voice remained completely calm. The sooner they figured it out, the sooner they could set off to rescue people.

Xu Damao understood this principle and suppressed his panic to recount the events.

He spoke incoherently because he was in a hurry, but everyone still understood him.

This story begins when Xu Damao took his third uncle to show a movie at the Sijiqing Commune.

The two hurried to the commune, where everyone was waiting in the threshing ground to watch the movie.

The third uncle perfectly fulfilled his role as generator, the film reel didn't jam, and the screening went very smoothly.

Around 11 p.m., the screening ended, and the commune members were very hospitable, giving the two of them some wild dates.

Just as they were about to embark on their journey home, the Third Uncle suddenly took out thirty catties of national grain coupons and wanted to exchange them for grain from the commune members.

One jin of national grain coupons could only buy one jin of grain in the capital, but in the countryside, they could be exchanged for one jin and two liang of grain. It was a good deal.

“We brought so much stuff, but we only had one bicycle, so we couldn’t carry any food at all.”

“I told him I couldn’t take it, but Uncle San wouldn’t listen and still brought a full thirty catties of grain.”

"There was no other way, so the two of us had to make do. Who knew that when we were passing Tuofeng Mountain, our bicycle tires blew out, and Uncle San was thrown off the seat and fell into the ravine."

Tuofeng Mountain is very close to Beijing. Although the mountain is not high, the road is very rugged. The area has long been designated as a scenic area. There are many wild wolves in the mountain, and there are no villages nearby.

After several unsuccessful attempts to rescue the Third Uncle, Xu Damao had no choice but to run back down the mountain to the courtyard.

After hearing this, the residents became anxious. The old man's life was in danger, and they had to find a way to rescue him as soon as possible.

After the three women calmed down and learned the whole story, they also started wiping away tears with a wide grin.

"Hey guys, please save my old Yan!"

While fastening his belt, Liu Haizhong asked, "How deep is the cleavage?"

"It's big, probably several tens of meters, but it's too dark, I can't see clearly." Xu Damao still looked panicked.

Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed slightly.

At a depth of tens of meters, a person falling in would definitely be injured.

They wanted to save people, but they had no idea how to do it.

It's pitch black here. If I rashly go into the mountains, I might even lose my life.

Everyone turned their attention to Yi Zhonghai, the old man in the compound, who should try to save the people.

Yi Zhonghai stroked his chin, looking troubled, and said, "It's too dangerous. I think we should wait until dawn. Please have the street offices and police stations organize personnel."

Just kidding, there are wolves in the mountains, and going up now could be fatal, so Yi Zhonghai wouldn't put himself in danger.

As for Yan Bugui, whether he can survive depends on his fate.

"By dawn, Old Yan might be dead." The third aunt didn't expect Yi Zhonghai to stand idly by. She became anxious and asked Yan Jiecheng to help her up so she could bow to the onlookers.

Li Aiguo quickly stepped forward to stop her: "We're all neighbors. Now that Uncle San is in trouble, everyone will definitely help."

Li Aiguo held the arms of the three women with both hands, feeling that they were trembling all over. After comforting them for a few words, he turned to look at the residents who were watching.

"We're going up the mountain right now. Because it's very dangerous, we're doing this on a voluntary basis. Who wants to go? Raise your hand now."

The words were spoken.

Zhang Gangzhu was the first to raise his hand: "Patriotic brother, it's me."

Several more young men stepped forward and raised their hands.

These people are all members of the neighborhood patrol team.

After hearing the news, young people from other courtyards also signed up, and the number quickly reached fourteen or fifteen.

"Alright, everyone go back and prepare flashlights, bayonets, and ropes." Li Aiguo counted the number of people.

At that moment, a hand was raised: "Me too!"

The person who raised their hand was Liu Haizhong.

"Second Uncle, this trip up the mountain isn't for sightseeing, are you sure?" Li Aiguo reminded Liu Haizhong.

“I’m the second oldest in the compound, and I’ve been Old Yan’s neighbor for decades. Now that he’s in trouble, how can I just stand by and watch?” Liu Haizhong fastened his belt, clenched his fist, and made a strong gesture.

“In this compound, there aren’t many people stronger than me.”

That's true. With Liu Haizhong's strength, it would be a waste not to use him to pull the rope. Li Aiguo nodded and agreed.

"And me, even though Uncle San always gets a better price for collecting recyclables than outside, we're still neighbors."

"Me, and me too, my third uncle has put in a lot of effort for the studies of my three children."

At this moment, more and more residents raised their hands, and even Nan Yi and Liang Ladi sent their children to Li Aiguo's house, planning to go up the mountain together.

"Women don't need to go. Too many people will only hinder the rescue efforts."

Eventually, the number of people increased to almost the entire compound, with all the residents raising their hands. Li Aiguo told the women to stay and the men to go home and prepare their things.

He then took Xu Damao on a motorcycle to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, found a truck, and knocked on the door of the rescue team's duty room.

When the team members on duty learned that someone was trapped in a ravine, Li Aiguo needed to borrow some rescue equipment, so he immediately reported it to the team leader.

"Open the warehouse, let Aiguo take whatever he needs."

"Yes!"

In fact, the terrain on the mountain is complex, and most of the equipment in the railway rescue team was not needed. They only brought a few rescue ropes, a dozen headlamps, compasses, and the like.

Everything was loaded onto the truck, and Li Aiguo drove it back to the courtyard house.

The residents had been waiting outside for a while, and when they saw the truck return, they climbed onto it without being told what to do.

In the pitch-black night, the lights were dim.

The bus was filled with young, energetic men, while the passengers were elderly people, women, and children. The atmosphere was quite somber.

One young man even mimicked a scene from a battle, saying to the girl he admired with a heavy heart, "This journey may be one of never returning. You don't need to wait for me."

"Get in the car!" Li Aiguo kicked the guy in the butt, and the guy scrambled into the car while clutching his backside.

Laughter broke out from the crowd, dispelling the somber atmosphere.

"Yan Jiedi, take good care of your mother."

"Xueru, quickly take the children home to sleep; they have school tomorrow."

Li Aiguo waved to the residents, got on the truck, stepped on the gas, and the truck roared away, its bright headlights dispelling the darkness on the road.

In the corner, Jia Dongxu saw this lively scene and spat, "Master, Li Aiguo has stolen your thunder again this time."

Yi Zhonghai narrowed his eyes and said, "Don't worry, when something happens, Li Aiguo, as the ringleader, will definitely suffer a great loss. Not only will the neighborhood committee not let him off the hook, but even the families of those residents won't forgive him."

"Master, this is what they mean by 'the nail that sticks out gets hammered down,'" Jia Dongxu nodded excitedly.

"Wow, Dongxu, you're getting smarter and smarter," Yi Zhonghai exclaimed, nodding in admiration.

"I learned everything from you."

"Ahem, good apprentice indeed."

The two of them took turns praising and complimenting each other for a while.

When Yi Zhonghai returned home, an older woman whispered, "I saw you chatting quite well with Dongxu just now. Have you two made up?"

"Make peace?" Yi Zhonghai's face darkened, and he said coldly, "Jia Dongxu is starting to flatter me now."

"Is there a problem with this?" an older woman asked, puzzled.

“We haven’t lent the Jia family any money or grain lately. Do you think Jia Dongxu’s behavior is normal?”

The older woman also sensed something was wrong. In the past, Jia Dongxu would always complain, but this time he didn't react at all.

An older woman looked at Yi Zhonghai and asked, "What is Jia Dongxu planning to do?"

Yi Zhonghai sneered: "A venomous snake often disguises itself before it attacks."

The older woman didn't understand and was about to ask a few more questions, but Yi Zhonghai ignored her, yawned, and went back to his room for a nap.

The old woman shook her head with a wry smile. What exactly were these two, master and apprentice, up to?
She hesitated for a moment, then took out her hidden stash of money, which she had kept for a long time. It wasn't much, only eighty cents. While Yi Zhonghai was sleeping, she delivered it to her third uncle's house.

****
How many steps are involved in rescuing a person from a ravine tens of meters deep?
Two steps.

The first step is to throw down the rope.

The second step is to pull the rope up.

However, when there was no response from the ravine, the entire rescue operation became complicated.

"Uncle, if you're still alive, please call out! I'm Da Mao!" Xu Da Mao called out several times, but no one answered.

"Watch me." Yan Jiecheng squatted down, cupped his hands and shouted, "Dad, I've given all the money you saved, the money in the jar under the bed, to Yu Li's family."

Li Aiguo gave a thumbs up, saying that Yan Jiecheng understood the Third Uncle.

The sound drifted and echoed through the mountain valley.

Everyone held their breath, but there was no response from the ravine.

"It seems that the Third Uncle has fainted." Li Aiguo was now quite certain.

Li Aiguo asked Xu Damao and confirmed that this was the place where the Third Uncle had fallen. Actually, there was no need to ask, as the bicycle was right next to him.

"I'll go down and check the situation." Li Aiguo ordered someone to prepare a rope.

Zhang Gangzhu stepped forward and said, "Brother Aiguo, let me do it."

"It's nothing, it's just a small ravine." Although Zhang Gangzhu was strong, he wasn't very agile.

Zhang Gangzhu was aware of this, so he could only instruct his team members to prepare ropes.

Li Aiguo took the rope, tied it around his waist, tested its sturdiness, and then pulled on the rope with both hands in the opposite direction, sliding down the hillside.

Landslides are no simple matter. The loose stones on the hillside are scraped off by the soles of your shoes and fall down in a flurry. With each step down the slope, you have to first stabilize your center of gravity and grip the protruding grass roots in the soil with your fingertips.

Especially since it was pitch black all around, even with a headlamp, I couldn't see clearly several times and almost fell off.

Fortunately, Li Aiguo reacted quickly, using his feet to push off the hillside, thus avoiding a direct confrontation between his abdomen and the rock.

The residents upstairs were all worried for Li Aiguo.

Xu Damao peered down from the edge of the ditch, clutching at the clods of earth: "Comrade Aiguo, slow down! If you really can't make it, come up first!"

Li Aiguo didn't turn around, but simply waved one hand upwards.

After sliding down about twenty meters, he suddenly touched a relatively flat ground. He used the rope to steady himself and shone his flashlight back and forth.

As the beam of light swept across the pile of rocks at the bottom of the ditch, it suddenly caught sight of a piece of dark gray cloth, the same cloth that Uncle San often wore for his Zhongshan suit.

"Found it!" Li Aiguo jumped down, squatted down, and cleared away the rubble that was pressing on the third uncle's legs.

The leg was likely comminuted fractured; the old man fainted from the excruciating pain.

"He's still breathing, but his leg might be injured!"

The people above the ditch erupted in chaos upon hearing this. "What should we do? Should we tie him to a rope and pull him up?"

"Stop shouting! Comrade Patriot is watching down there, follow his instructions! The ropes need to be tied securely, we can't afford any more mishaps!"

Li Aiguo took out a spare rope, put the old man's arm on his shoulder, let him lean against his back, and then tied it tightly with the rope several times.

Although the third uncle was thin, weighing only 120 or 130 pounds, he was now unconscious and extremely heavy.

It would be great if we had a rescue helicopter. It would also need to be a turboshaft engine helicopter.

Most helicopters nowadays use piston engines, treating them like cars.

Only after realizing that this path was not feasible did they start frantically investing in the turboshaft engine technology.

The turboshaft engine doesn't seem complicated either; like the turboprop engine, it evolved from the turbofan engine.

Turbo fans sound high-tech, but they are actually just small centrifugal fans that are often used to cool CPUs and graphics cards.

Especially for those graphics cards used for alchemy, turbine fans are standard equipment. Li Aiguo modified a few of them; it's very simple.

Thinking it over, Li Aiguo directed the people above to slowly pull the rope upwards: "Slow down! Pull at a steady speed! Keep an eye on the rope for any wear!"

The entire ascent went exceptionally smoothly. Everyone knew that this concerned Li Aiguo and Uncle San's lives, so they pulled with all their might.

Liu Haizhong's advantage was also evident at this moment; he was almost squatting on the ground with his butt sticking out, and one person could do the work of three people.

Li Aiguo finally carried the third uncle up the mountain, and everyone rushed over.

Yan Jiecheng quickly squatted down, reached out to check the old man's breath, and then touched his hand. His eyes immediately reddened: "He's still alive, it's good that he's still alive..."

No matter how much the father and son argue at home, they are still father and son.

Then, the old man was placed on a stretcher that had been prepared in advance. Since the truck could not go up the mountain, the door of the old man's house was removed in advance.

The residents carried bicycles and grain on their backs. Li Aiguo raised his flashlight and said, "Let's go down the mountain."

"Get off the mountain!"

At this point, the residents' emotions clearly rose.

The mountain road was rugged, so we walked very slowly. We were also carrying the elderly man, so we had to stop and rest every now and then.

"Brother Aiguo, I'm going to relieve myself." Xu Damao relaxed at this moment and took advantage of the break to run to the nearby woods.

As soon as he entered, a sound of wailing and crying came from the woods.

"Wolf! Wolf!"

The residents stood up and wanted to run, but when they saw the old man's stretcher, they stopped and picked it up.

"Zhang Gangzhu, come with me to take a look." Li Aiguo's heart skipped a beat. He drew his pistol, held it in his hand, and disappeared into the woods.

The flashlight beam swayed through the woods, and soon a dark shadow appeared heading this way.

Behind the shadow, a wolf bared its teeth and relentlessly pursued them.

Xu Damao could almost smell the stench of wolves. He scrambled toward Li Aiguo, shouting at the top of his lungs, "Comrade Aiguo! Shoot! Shoot!"

The two were only four or five meters apart when Xu Damao, with his wolves, charged toward Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo's finger was on the trigger of his pistol, but he did not fire immediately. Xu Damao stood in front of the wolf, so there was no angle to shoot.

In the blink of an eye, the wolf opened its mouth wide, revealing its sharp, white teeth to Xu Damao's neck.

Zhang Gangzhu had just arrived when he was stunned by the scene. The usually audacious man stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.

If the gun is fired, Xu Damao will be shot and die.

If he hadn't fired, Xu Damao would have had his neck bitten off by a wild wolf and would have died.

In any case, Xu Damao is doomed.

Zhang Gangzhu felt that Xu Damao was extremely unlucky, and even thought about how much money to give as a funeral gift. Since they were all on good terms, he decided to give seven cents.

"Steel pillar, knife!"

At the critical moment, Li Aiguo let out a loud shout.

Zhang Gangzhu snapped out of his daze. Although he didn't know what Li Aiguo was going to do, he still pulled out a knife from his waist without hesitation and threw it over.

At this moment, the wolf and the man were already very close.

Before even getting the knife, Li Aiguo kicked out with his right foot. Once he had the knife in his hand, his right foot had already kicked Xu Damao. The kick was so powerful that it sent Xu Damao flying.

"Woof!" If the wolf could speak at this moment, it would have already started cursing.

Seeing its prey vanish, the wolf's oily green eyes flashed with rage as it pounced on Li Aiguo.

"Pfft"

Using the force of his right leg, Li Aiguo leaned to the side, and the wolf missed its target.

That wasn't all. He swung his right hand out, and the sharp butcher knife gleamed coldly in the pale moonlight.

This knife is very sharp.

That's very strong.

The knife rises.

The head fell to the ground.

The wolf's neck was severed, and its head tumbled through the air before landing in Xu Damao's arms.

"Oh my god." Xu Damao's pants were instantly soaked.

At this moment, the residents behind also hurried into the woods, some carrying sticks and others carrying stones.

The flashlight beams focused on Li Aiguo, and they witnessed an astonishing scene.

Li Aiguo was covered in blood, drops of blood running down his forehead and staining his dark blue uniform.

He gripped the butcher knife tightly, the blade streaked with blood and gleaming coldly in the flashlight beam.

"Ai, Aiguo, are you injured?" Liu Haizhong was so frightened that his face turned ashen, and he rushed over in a panic.

"It's not me, it's a wolf."

The flashlight beam shone in front of Li Aiguo, and a wolf carcass fell to the ground, blood still gushing from the wound on its neck.

The residents then came to their senses, and the two quickly helped Xu Damao up. The wolf head in his arms rolled off, his face was pale, and he was staring at Li Aiguo, trembling.

Zhang Gangzhu swallowed hard, full of admiration: "That was such a clean cut! I thought Xu Damao was beyond saving!"

Li Aiguo wiped the blood from his face: "The situation was urgent. Luckily you threw the knife away quickly. Don't delay, get this sorted out and get down the mountain. Uncle San needs to be taken to the hospital as soon as possible."

The crowd responded, and the stronger ones carried the wolf carcass into the woods. Someone handed Li Aiguo a water bottle, and he quickly washed his hands and face.

The rest of the trip was quiet, as several young people had already learned about what had just happened from Xu Damao.

Kicking Xu Damao flying with one foot, or slaying a wolf with a swift stroke of the knife—either of these actions is enough to get anyone's blood pumping.

Ahem, the main thing was to kill the wolf; kicking Xu Damao was just a side effect.

The truck took the elderly man to the hospital in the early morning.

After examination, there was nothing seriously wrong, except that five ribs were broken, the bridge of the nose was crooked, and the left leg was comminuted fractured.

It can only be considered a minor injury.

After receiving an IV drip, the old man gradually woke up. His first words to Li Aiguo were, "Aiguo, where is my food?"

Li Aiguo: "."

Zhang Gangzhu: "."

The three aunties: "."

Resident X21: "."

****
Uncle San is being looked after by Yan Jiekuang; Aunt San will be notified to come and take over later.

Li Aiguo was still concerned about the people from Gangcheng, so he led Yan Jiecheng and the residents back to the courtyard house.

Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu were washing up by the pool when they saw him return, and their expressions changed slightly.

Chen Xueru, Liu Lan, Liang Ladi, and a group of other women were waiting for news at home. Upon hearing footsteps, they immediately ran out of their houses.

Chen Xueru immediately noticed the bloodstains all over Li Aiguo's body, and tears almost welled up in her eyes: "Brother Aiguo, you're injured."

"No, it's wolf blood."

Chen Xueru was confused about what had happened, but she was relieved to see that Li Aiguo had no wounds.

Only then did she belatedly realize that she was still holding Li Aiguo's hand tightly. Her cheeks flushed red, as if she had applied rouge, and she quickly and quietly let go of his hand.

"Did you encounter wolves in the mountains?" Only then did the residents notice the wolf carcass at the back of the group, and they immediately surrounded them, asking questions all at once.

"Of course!" Xu Damao held up the wolf's head high and squeezed out of the crowd: "Look! I carried this wolf's head all the way back!"

Li Aiguo: "."

Zhang Gangzhu: "."

Resident X21: "."

Where are the three aunties?

She'll be taking care of her third uncle at the hospital.

The residents were all very happy that they rescued the third uncle and even hunted a wolf.

Liu Haizhong circled the wolf once, then asked the question everyone wanted to ask: "What should we do with this wolf?"

“Each family that participated in the rescue will receive some wolf meat. The remaining wolf meat and offal will be used for a wolf meat feast at noon.”

Li Aiguo's proposal was approved by the residents of the compound.

In the courtyard lived a butcher named Zhang Gangzhu, who, wielding a pig-slaughtering knife, quickly skinned the wolf and cut the wolf meat into small pieces.

The wolf was very fat, weighing over forty pounds. Each family received one and a half pounds of wolf meat, and everyone lined up to receive their share.

Jia Dongxu, envious, quietly joined the queue and soon it was his turn.

When Zhang Gangzhu saw it was Jia Dongxu, he picked up a butcher knife and yelled, "Get lost!"

"Okay, sure." Jia Dongxu quickly took a few steps back, turned around and ran away.

He felt as if he had been tricked by Yi Zhonghai.

If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai, he would definitely have joined the rescue team and would be getting wolf meat now.

"Yi Zhonghai is trying to get me killed!"

Qin Huairu was amazed by Jia Dongxu's thought process when she heard this, but she didn't try to persuade him. Even if she did, Jia Dongxu wouldn't listen.

The compound hadn't been this lively in a long time. The residents were celebrating like it was a festival, with adults and children all participating.

They set up stoves and cleaned the wolf meat and offal; some families even brought out side dishes such as radishes and cabbages.

Li Aiguo, however, arrived at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Because Yang Jizong had already arrived with Zheng Yushan from the Zheng family.

"This is Comrade Patriot, the real person in charge of Hextech."

"This is Zheng Yushan from the Zheng family's fleet."

Zheng Yushan was probably in his forties or fifties, wearing a slightly worn Zhongshan suit and round-toed black cloth shoes. From a distance, he looked like an ordinary person.

Li Aiguo, however, was very clear about this person's abilities.

He was no ordinary person to have been able to develop a small fleet of a few sampans into a large fleet of more than a dozen cargo ships during turbulent times.

Zheng Yushan's journey has been full of hardships.

In the 1930s, Zheng Yushan owned more than 30 cargo ships and had transported goods for this area several times. However, when the port was occupied, his ships were seized by the Japanese.

With only a few boats left in the company, Zheng Yushan went from being the boss to a small boat owner in exile.

After the Japanese were driven away, most of the supplies transported by the Yang family from overseas were handed over to the Zheng family. The Zheng family's fleet gradually rose to prominence by relying on the port city and quickly grew into a large fleet.

As the saying goes, "the taller the tree, the more the wind blows." Three years ago, when Zheng's fleet was transporting a batch of goods through the Panama Canal, it was detained by the local authorities on the grounds that it was carrying prohibited goods.

The Zheng family suspects that it was Xiao Mei's shipping company that did this, and they can only hope that the Hong Kong government can step in, but how could Hong Kong possibly offend the white people?

The local authorities deliberately delayed the process, conducting inspections for a full six months before finally releasing the vehicle.

At that time, a large amount of grain on the ship was on the sea surface and had long since become moldy and spoiled.

In addition to compensating for the lost cargo, Zheng's fleet also had to pay a large sum of liquidated damages to its European customers.

Fortunately, after learning about this, the Yang family lent the Zheng family a large sum of money, which helped them overcome the crisis.

After this incident, Zheng Yushan was somewhat disheartened. Without a powerful backer, engaging in shipping would only make him easy prey for others.

After Yang Jizong proposed to buy the fleet, Zheng Yushan, knowing Hextech's background, agreed without hesitation.

After introducing themselves, Li Aiguo led the two into his office and had the Wild Car Expert bring them tea.

"Mr. Zheng."

"Please address me as Comrade Zheng." Zheng Yushan took the teacup.

(End of this chapter)