The train driver in the courtyard

Holding a large meeting has always been an important event.

When Li Aiguo arrived at the auditorium with Fang Xian and Staff Officer Zhou, it was already crowded with workers.

There wasn't even a place to stand, so many people had to squat on the windowsills, and a few tried to climb onto the roof beams, but Li Aiguo stopped them.

You're not afraid of dying, but it would be bad if you fell and hurt someone else.

The noise inside was constant, and there was a faint smell of gunpowder in the air.

Upon seeing Li Aiguo and his group enter, the workers shouted, "The leaders of the investigation team are here, everyone make way!"

The workers were satisfied with the investigation team's work, and upon hearing this, they parted to make way for them.

This conference was of a very high level. A row of leaders sat on the dais, including top leaders from ministries, several deputy leaders, and directors of relevant departments.

The investigation team was located on the far west side. After Li Aiguo sat down, he glanced around and could tell their attitudes just by looking at their posture.

Those who are close to each other will stay close, while those who are not close will stay far apart and will not even make eye contact.

The people on the dais were roughly divided into two groups: one group was mainly composed of senior leaders, and the other group was mainly composed of Deputy Director Liu.

Li Aiguo always felt that this Deputy Director Chen was not the leader.

"Everyone, quiet down!"

Seeing that most of the people had arrived, Zhang De from the security department came up carrying a metal megaphone and said loudly to the workers, "Now everyone, please recite it first."

The leaders and workers all stood up and recited it once.

After the recitation was completed, the meeting officially began.

The meeting was chaired by a deputy director of the machinery factory. He first thanked the senior leaders for their presence and guidance, and then gave a self-criticism on behalf of the machinery factory.

After the deputy factory director took his seat, he handed over the power to support the meeting to the senior leader.

The senior leader looked up at the investigation team: "Has the case of the machinery factory been investigated and clarified? Team Leader Fang, give everyone a report."

"Yes!"

Team Leader Fang stood up, picked up the materials he had prepared beforehand, and reported the investigation results to the public.

The workers had also heard rumors, but when Team Leader Fang announced that Liu Feng had been framed by Commander Wang and the factory leaders, the noise in the auditorium continued.

Several young workers even raised their fists and shouted slogans.

Zhang De and his security officers had to step in to maintain order before things calmed down again.

Deputy Director Liu's expression remained unchanged as he gently tapped the table: "Sir, may I say a few words?"

The senior leader looked at him and said, "Comrade Changde, we value democracy. If you have any opinions, you can raise them."

Deputy Director Liu cleared his throat and said, "Commander Wang did make a mistake, but his intentions were good. This does not mean that Commander Wang made a mistake. As for the factory leaders, they were also thinking about the factory."

Fang Xian stood up: "Deputy Director Liu, we haven't finished presenting our investigation results yet. Could you please wait a moment?"

Deputy Director Liu narrowed his eyes, nodded, and gestured for Fang Xian to continue.

Fang Xian continued, "According to our investigation, Commander Wang has an improper lifestyle, engages in illicit sexual relationships, and even keeps a diary. In addition, Commander Wang has forced female comrades on several occasions. Now we have both witnesses and physical evidence."

Fang Xian nodded to Zhou Ke, who then placed the diary and other evidence in front of the high-ranking leader.

As for the lesbians who were forced into this situation, they only wrote letters of complaint to avoid revealing their identities.

The scene fell silent as the evidence was examined.

This is what a game-winning shot looks like!
Deputy Director Liu blushed deeply on the spot.

Just now, he described Commander Wang as a leader who was devoted to public service, but this is how it turned out?
The senior leader looked at Deputy Director Liu and said, "Comrade Changde, leaders shouldn't be swayed by one-sided opinions."

Deputy Director Liu quickly apologized: "Yes, yes, I was deceived. This is my mistake, and I will not shirk responsibility."

After saying that, he quickly winked at the leaders next to him.

A leader stood up and said, "Commander Wang did commit a crime and should be arrested, but that doesn't mean Liu Feng is innocent."

“Yes, Liu Feng has questionable morals and likes to get involved in all sorts of messy things.” Another leader stood up.

Deputy Director Liu felt that the time was almost up and nodded, saying, "I suggest transferring Liu Feng away from the machinery factory. This is also for his protection."

When Li Aiguo saw this, he almost couldn't help but applaud.

This is what it means to confuse right and wrong.

The senior leader frowned slightly: "Comrade Changde, you've accused Liu Feng of having improper thoughts. Do you have any evidence?"

Deputy Director Liu nodded: "I received a report that Liu Feng wrote a diary, which involves capital attention."

"A report?" The top leader finally understood; these people had already set up a trap.

No wonder they didn't dwell too much on Commander Wang's issue; they had already made up their minds.

To prevent senior leaders from protecting Liu Feng, the issue was specifically raised at the meeting.

This is going to be murderous!

The auditorium gradually quieted down, filled with a somber atmosphere.

The workers' hearts were in their throats, and their eyes were fixed on the big leader.

The senior leader was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "Since someone has reported it, we should investigate."

Although he was unwilling, he was now in a predicament.

Deputy Director Liu was waiting for this very sentence, and looked at a leader next to him: "Old Zou, could you please go to Liu Feng's house?"

"Yes."

When Leader Zou was about to leave with his team, Fang Xian stood up as well: "Leader, I am the head of the investigation team, so I should come along as well."

"Follow along." The senior leader nodded slowly.

He knew Deputy Director Liu's character all too well. Although he wasn't a high-ranking official, he had managed to stir up quite a few troubles by taking advantage of the situation.

Their capabilities are top-notch, but their chances are slim this time. It's just a pity for the machinery factory.

Leader Zou didn't mind Fang Xian following along. He led a few people and hurriedly left the meeting place, heading towards Liu Feng's house.

The meeting in the auditorium is still ongoing.

Staff Officer Zhou delivered a speech on behalf of the team, emphasizing the importance of military industrial tasks.

Taking advantage of the situation, the top leader stated: "I think the mission to support the Qianmen Locomotive Depot is excellent and should be continued."

This statement was not unfounded; it pointed out that even if a new leader came, at least he could help the machinery factory retain one project.

Deputy Director Liu was already eager to taste victory and didn't care about any of this.

Even less willing to antagonize the top leader, he nodded in agreement: "I think we can continue."

They then discussed some trivial matters. Li Aiguo was not qualified to speak, nor did he want to, so he simply listened quietly from the side.

Ten minutes later.

Leader Zou and Fang Xian returned with a wooden box that was locked. Leader Zou suggested opening it first, but Fang Xian refused, citing the need to ensure fairness and impartiality.

Leader Zou reported the situation to Deputy Director Liu, who waved his hand dismissively: "Open the box in front of everyone and let everyone see whether Comrade Liu Feng is black or red."

After speaking, Deputy Director Liu glanced at the senior leader.

The senior leader sighed and nodded to Fang Xian: "Open it."

Leader Zou walked up to Liu Feng and extended his hand: "Comrade Liu Feng, please hand over the key."

Liu Feng glanced down and his gaze landed on Jiao Min, who was also staring in his direction. Their eyes met in mid-air, and Jiao Min quickly turned her head away.

Leader Zou then reminded Liu Feng of something else.

Liu Feng slowly pulled a key from his pocket, looking extremely dejected. Leader Zou even said, "If you had known this would happen, you shouldn't have gone down the wrong path!"

Deputy Director Liu was worried that things would take too long, so he urged Leader Zou to hurry up. Only then did Leader Zou take the key and unlock the door.

Zhi Ning.

The box was opened, and everyone's eyes turned to what was inside.

Leader Zou's face visibly flushed red.

"Old Zou, what's going on? Hurry up and take it out!" Deputy Director Liu urged.

The workers below also started talking about it.

"What happened?"

"Could the box be empty?"

"No way, these people have clearly made thorough preparations!"

Fang Xian noticed that Leader Zou's expression was off. Although he didn't know what had happened, he could only assume that something had gone wrong.

He rushed over, and when he saw what was inside, he froze, a chill running from the soles of his feet straight to the back of his head.

He reached into the box, took the object out, and held it up in his hand.

It was a red booklet.

The bright red cover caught Deputy Director Liu's eye, and he couldn't help but shudder: "How could this be!"

When Leader Zou looked at the red certificate, he couldn't believe his eyes.

According to Jiao Min, there should be a notebook inside. Could it be that Jiao Min deliberately covered up for Liu Feng?

No, that's impossible. Jiao Min already considers herself the deputy factory director.

That is
A thousand thoughts flashed through his mind, and Leader Zou suddenly looked up at Li Aiguo.

According to a tip from the security department of the machinery factory, the train driver had spoken with Liu Feng alone.

Did Li Aiguo already anticipate that Jiao Min might report Liu Feng?
The idea was nipped in the bud by Leader Zou.

No, that's even more impossible.

Li Aiguo could not possibly be a prophet.

Leader Zou's mind was even more confused and he couldn't understand it anymore, but he also realized that things had fundamentally changed.

The top leader was also unaware of what had happened, but knew that something had gone wrong on Deputy Director Liu's side.

"Old Chen, is there a problem with this book?"

Deputy Director Liu dared not say there was a problem; that would be suicidal. He shook his head repeatedly, saying, "No problem, absolutely no problem."

The senior leader chimed in, "I think Comrade Liu Feng is a good comrade with advanced thinking and a love for learning. What do you think?"

Deputy Director Liu had completely given up by this point. His shoulders slumped, and he nodded reluctantly: "Comrade Liu Feng is indeed fine."

The senior leader stood up and announced in front of everyone: "Now the matter is very clear. Comrade Liu Feng was maliciously framed. There is nothing wrong with what he did. From today onwards, Liu Feng will continue to serve as the director of the machinery factory."

The words were spoken.

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience.

The workers stood up and applauded enthusiastically.

Fang Xian then turned his attention to Li Aiguo, as Li Aiguo was the only one who could remind Liu Feng.

Li Aiguo simply sat there, smiling and clapping, like an outsider.

******
After the conference at the machinery factory concluded, the ministry leaders did not linger and left in a hurry.

Liu Feng ordered the canteen to prepare a sumptuous meal to entertain the investigation team, but it was obvious to everyone that Liu Feng was not in a good mood.

After finishing lunch, Li Aiguo hurriedly returned to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. With the matter at the machinery factory settled, it was time to put the manufacturing of the tanker trucks on the agenda.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot originally planned to select the Jiefang Factory to manufacture the tanker truck chassis.

Later, considering the need for additional vehicles such as fire trucks and minibuses, the Second Automobile Works was ultimately chosen. After all, the Second Automobile Works was a factory jointly built by the railway and the First Ministry of Machine Building.

After Li Aiguo produced the chassis blueprints, he planned to first use the Second Automobile Works' equipment to manufacture a prototype, and then proceed with large-scale production after the tests were successful.

Li Aiguo was busy until the afternoon. He went to Workshop 116 to chat with Professor Qi. The progress of Project 116 is very good, extremely good.

According to feedback from various regions, it may be three or four months before prototype assembly can begin.

"Comrade Aiguo, this is the first time I've seen researchers with such high work enthusiasm; they're practically risking their lives." Professor Qi visited a local research institute a couple of days ago.

To be called "fearless" by someone as reckless as Professor Qi must mean he truly is fearless.

Li Aiguo nodded: "Yes, everyone is full of enthusiasm."

We Chinese are not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but we worry that our efforts will be worthless, or even that we will become someone else's stepping stone.

Fortunately, this situation does not exist in this era.

Before leaving get off work in the afternoon, Li Aiguo took another tour of the heavy engineering plant.

Excavators and loaders have begun production, and the first batch of vehicles will be prioritized for military personnel.

Li Aiguo was extremely busy, feeling like he had so many things to do, yet there were only 24 hours in a day.

It would be great if this system had a space where time and space could be frozen.

The system is so unreliable.

What? The points required to purchase technology will be doubled from now on?
"Big brother, you're my real big brother!"

After calming down the system, it was time to leave work.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle home, wobbling along.

As soon as I got to the door, I realized something was wrong. The broken steps at the entrance had been repaired, and the broken glass in the window had been replaced.

Laughter could be heard coming from inside the house.

Upon seeing Li Aiguo return, Liang Ladi came out of the house and called out, "Brother Aiguo, you're finally back! Everyone has been waiting for a while."

Li Aiguo entered the room and was immediately stunned.

There were at least a dozen workers standing inside. Judging from their work clothes, they were probably machine factory workers.

Chen Xueru was warmly welcoming the masters.

The workers are usually very straightforward and wouldn't even give face to factory leaders, but now they keep talking about patriotism and calling each other brothers.

Although she didn't know what Li Aiguo had done to gain the friendship of these workers, she felt sweeter than if she had drunk honey.

In particular, when the craftsmen saw that the Li family had some small jobs, they helped them without saying a word.

After hearing Chen Xueru's explanation, Li Aiguo felt a surge of excitement and quickly asked Chen Xueru to bring out the cigarettes from the house and offer them to the workers.

"No more work, Aiguo, we're going back. If anything happens in the future, just have Liang Ladi come to the factory and call us!" The leading worker was an eighth-grade worker and had a high reputation among the workers.

His words were not empty promises, but a commitment.

Although Li Aiguo did not have this idea, he still thanked the workers and personally saw them out of the backyard.

"No wonder he is a national model worker. Even though he is a leader, he still treats us workers the same way."

"Yes, if it weren't for Comrade Aiguo, our machinery factory would be in big trouble this time."

The workers chatted as they walked outside.

Seeing this scene from the poolside, Jia Dongxu said sarcastically, "What's so great about a train driver? He's just good at fooling people."

Jia Dongxu is now working with Yi Zhonghai in the oil tank workshop. He feels that the oil tanks are too damn simple; they're just big tanks. He thinks he could design them too.

A worker stopped in his tracks.

The two workers stopped in their tracks.

All the workers stopped in their tracks.

All eyes were on Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu felt a little uncomfortable under their stares, but he remained defiant: "What, are you going to hit me?!"

Workers from other factories would never dare to do that, but the machine factory has always been known for its fierce style, and every time there's a fight, the entire factory is mobilized.

The eighth-grade worker pointed at Jia Dongxu and said, "Beat him up."

Seven or eight workers rushed over, and Jia Dongxu didn't even have time to escape before he was severely beaten.

He covered his face and cried all the way to Yi Zhonghai: "Master, your disciple has been beaten up! You must stand up for me!"

"Who was beaten?"

"I don't know," Jia Dongxu pointed to Li Aiguo's house, "but it's definitely related to Li Aiguo. Those people came from Li Aiguo's house."

Yi Zhonghai: "."

He's finally made it into the tanker truck workshop and is planning to bide his time; he definitely can't cause trouble.

"It's okay, it's over. Let an older woman put some red medicine on it for you. It'll be fine."

At this moment, the seed in Jia Dongxu's heart finally sprouted.

As for whether the fruit that grows will be bitter or sweet, no one knows.

Li Aiguo was unaware of these things because he was chatting with Liang Ladi.

"I heard that Liu Feng is going to divorce Jiao Min after he goes back. That's so strange. Liu Feng isn't the kind of person who's fickle. Now that he's finally escaped a disaster, why would he want a divorce?" Liang Ladi sat there, taking a sip of tea, looking puzzled.

Li Aiguo picked up Xiaomingwei and rode him on his back, laughing, "How do you think Deputy Director Liu and his people knew that Liu Feng had a notebook?"

Liang Ladi's series of doubts froze instantly. First, she was shocked, then incredulous, and finally, she suddenly realized. Her expression was incredibly varied.

"I never expected Jiao Min to betray Liu Feng."

After Liang Ladi finished speaking, she frowned slightly: "Jiao Min might really be that kind of person; she's too selfish."

While they were chatting, Nan Yi's voice came from outside.

"Ladi, your master is here."

"Why is Master here? It must be about Liu Feng's divorce from her." Although Liang Ladi was unwilling to get involved, she was Jiao Min's apprentice after all, so she had no choice but to rush back.

Li Aiguo has been busy with matters related to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Several young employees in the studio are getting married, and as their leader, he definitely has to attend. He doesn't know how things have developed between Liu Feng and Jiao Min.

It wasn't until the following weekend that I learned from Liang Ladi that Liu Feng and Jiao Min had divorced.

"Jiao Min asked many people to do the work, and even asked Liu Feng's parents to intervene. Liu Feng was determined to get a divorce. Jiao Min made a scene several times, but when she saw that there was no other way, she had no choice but to divorce him. It's such a pity for these two."

Although Liang Ladi had opinions about Jiao Min, she was still Jiao Min's apprentice after all, and she felt sorry for the two of them.

Li Aiguo showed absolutely no sympathy for Jiao Min.

Jiao Min is a woman who is all too common in later generations. She only thinks about treating Liu Feng as a patron and extracting benefits from him.

If anything happens, she will not hesitate to betray Liu Feng.

After his divorce, Liu Feng picked himself up and threw himself into his work. The organization, seeing that he was still young, tried to introduce him to potential partners, but he refused.

These are all things for later.

On Tuesday, the workshop's experts assembled the tanker truck chassis using parts from the Second Automobile Works.

Li Aiguo and his team planned to go to the oil tanker workshop of the steel rolling mill to inspect the oil tanks and then complete the subsequent installation work.

Chen Baiya is still in charge of the work at the steel rolling mill. She contacted the tanker truck workshop early in the morning, and the workshop was busy from early morning.

"Sweep the floor clean."

"And all those tools, they're all neatly arranged."

Upon hearing the workshop director's order, Jia Dongxu curled his lip: "It's just picking up goods, what's the big deal? People who came to pick up goods before were practically begging us."

That's true. This was an era of scarcity of industrial products. Being able to get products smoothly was already a stroke of luck. Who would dare to be picky?

The workshop foreman scolded, "Jia Dongxu, whether the oil tanks are up to standard is related to whether our workshop can get more orders. If you quit later, don't blame me for dealing with you."

Jia Dongxu was also afraid of being punished, so he could only obediently get to work.

At 8:30 a.m., Li Aiguo arrived at the workshop with several experts.

"Welcome, welcome! A warm welcome to the comrades from the locomotive depot for their inspection!" The workshop director took the lead in applauding, and the workers quickly followed suit, filling the workshop with enthusiastic applause.

The applause lasted for about half a minute, and then it was over. At this point, there was still clapping, "clap clap, clap clap clap, clap clap, clap clap clap," and it was a weird rhythm of clapping.

The workshop foreman's face immediately darkened. He turned around and saw it was Jia Dongxu, and grabbed him, yelling, "What are you doing!"

"Director, you said we should clap, so I clapped too." Jia Dongxu was seething with anger; he absolutely couldn't let that kid Li Aiguo steal the spotlight.

"Fine, fine, from today onwards, you'll be in charge of cleaning the workshop." The workshop director was also angered by Jia Dongxu.

The workshop was usually cleaned in shifts. It was a large area and very difficult to clean, which made Jia Dongxu anxious.

He quickly looked at Yi Zhonghai, hoping that Yi Zhonghai would step forward, but Yi Zhonghai turned his head away, pretending not to see him.

The seed that had sprouted in Jia Dongxu's heart has grown its first leaf.
The inspection of the oil tank went smoothly. The experts used a pneumatic generator to check it, and its pressure-bearing capacity was found to be fine.

The interior was inspected using instruments, and the flatness was found to be acceptable.

"Patriotic comrade, no problem."

Li Aiguo signed his name on the receipt and handed it to the workshop director: "Old Zhang, thank you all for this."

"Look at what you're saying, we should be the ones thanking you." The workshop director was right. The wages offered by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot were twice that of other factories, and there was also a large amount of food and supplies. This was a job that you couldn't find even with a lantern.

After a brief chat, the workshop director directed the crane operator to install the oil tanker onto the tanker truck, on which a red five-pointed star was painted.

Li Aiguo personally drove the tanker truck back to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot and parked it on the station yard.

That's not all; heating equipment also needs to be installed.

Just as Li Aiguo was busy with his work, Director Zhang from the maintenance workshop also came over to watch the excitement.

"Patriot, your tanker truck can only carry gasoline, right?"

“Diesel, lubricating oil, or even crude oil are all fine,” Li Aiguo replied while squatting under the car, busy with his work.

"Crude oil too? Isn't that stuff pretty thick?" Director Zhang asked, puzzled.

Li Aiguo pointed to the heater under the vehicle: "This thing can heat up the oil and prevent it from solidifying."

"Is that so?" Director Zhang squatted down to examine the heater, but couldn't figure it out. After a worker reported on the work, he left.

After the heater was installed, Li Aiguo contacted Staff Officer Zhou and conducted a long-distance road test.

The gasoline was transported from Beijing to Shijiazhuang, taking advantage of back roads where a training corps was conducting exercises and their vehicles needed refueling.

Staff Officer Zhou personally took charge of receiving the vehicle. Seeing the tanker truck arrive, he glanced at his watch and said, "This speed is comparable to when we personally drive the truck to the base to load oil in oil drums."

The tanker trucks could meet the team's needs in terms of speed and transport capacity, and could also be used to transport clean water. Staff Officer Zhou quickly wrote an application report.

The following day, the military ordered one hundred tanker trucks from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, intending to transport them to South Asia.

Li Aiguo's side started getting busy.

The foreman of the oil tanker workshop at the steel rolling mill was beaming with joy: "One hundred oil tanks! We've made a fortune this time!"

The workers were very excited; with this batch of orders, they would be able to keep busy for several more months.

Just as Li Aiguo was discussing mass production of car bodies with the leaders of the Second Automobile Works, Director Zhang of the preparation workshop received a call from an old friend.

"Old Zhang, do you have any ideas on how to heat up an oil tanker train without causing it to explode?"

(End of this chapter)