The train driver in the courtyard

"Comrade Patriot, these two are Engineer Chen from the Equipment Department of Sartu Station, and this is Section Chief Xu from the Technical Section of Sartu State Farm."

In the morning, a confidential clerk sent by the meteorological station led the two men into the office and introduced them to each other.

Chen Gong was one thing; he was a railway engineer, always wearing a railway uniform and sporting a scruffy beard. Li Aiguo had seen him many times at the Railway Technology Research Institute.

This Section Chief Xu, despite being the head of the technical section of the State Farm, had a piercing gaze and looked like no ordinary person.

The key question is: what is the relationship between the station's equipment department and the farm?

"The State Farm General Farm?" Li Aiguo asked, somewhat surprised.

"Comrade Aiguo, the State Farm General Farm is Daqing Oilfield." The security officer knew Li Aiguo's security clearance level and didn't hide anything from him, explaining the situation to him.

At that time, news about the Daqing Oilfield had not yet been released.

Information such as the total reserves, production, and specific location of the oil field is kept strictly confidential.

To protect this core secret, the name Daqing Oilfield was not made public, and the oilfield's employees and leaders operated under the name of Sartu State Farm.

The subordinate units were called state farms, and the Sartu Railway Station was jointly managed by the State Farm General Farm and the Railway Bureau.

"Section Chief Xu, Engineer Chen, hello, hello." After Li Aiguo understood the situation, he warmly invited the two men into his office.

The group consisted of tech-savvy individuals who were quite straightforward. Without any preamble, they went straight to asking about the details of the tanker truck heater.

Section Chief Xu took the cigarette and said directly, "Comrade Aiguo, the oil field's crude oil production has now reached five million tons. We are using oil tankers that we got from the Russians, and tank blockages often occur. I heard that you have a way to heat the oil tanks."

"Take a look at this." Li Aiguo said with a smile, inviting the two to sit down and handing over the blueprints he had prepared beforehand.

Section Chief Xu was in charge of exploration technology and didn't know much about transportation, so he handed the drawings to Engineer Chen.

"Is this a railway tanker truck?" Engineer Chen, who was in charge of the project, recognized the blueprints instantly.

The blueprints were spread out on the table. When Engineer Chen saw the inner heating device on the blueprints, he almost couldn't believe his eyes. He took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and looked again.

It's still the same device, nothing's changed!

No, no, we mustn't get excited. There are devices that can heat things up, but what about their ability to sustain heating? What about heat release? And their safety?

Suppressing his excitement, Engineer Chen continued flipping through the pages, and this time his mouth was agape.

"Ingenious, absolutely ingenious!" Engineer Chen was almost moved to tears. This oil tank was exactly what he had been dreaming about day and night, and it had appeared out of nowhere.

It took Chen a while to calm down and come to his senses. He looked at Li Aiguo and asked, "What is the highest viscosity that this kind of oil tank can produce?"

"The viscosity at room temperature is 70 centitols, at zero degrees Celsius it is 48 centitols, and at minus ten degrees Celsius it is 30 centitols." Li Aiguo hadn't tested it yet, so he gave a relatively conservative figure.

Engineer Chen looked up, his face filled with shock: "How much? Say it again."

Li Aiguo said with certainty: "30 cents to 70 cents."

Engineer Chen knew no one would dare joke about something like this, but he still couldn't help but ask, "Really?"

Li Aiguo nodded: "Really, this is only using a low-power heater. We designed a temperature control device on the heater. In special weather conditions, turning on the highest setting can double the heating effect."

"That's enough! The most viscous oil drilled from the oil field only has a viscosity of 35 centiliters." Engineer Chen's breathing quickened, and he then asked, "Will oil with high wax content have any impact?"

Daqing crude oil is a low-sulfur paraffin-based crude oil with high wax content and low sulfur content. These properties can affect the viscosity of the oil.

Li Aiguo shook his head: "Since external heating is used, these things don't have any impact."

Seeing that Engineer Chen was somewhat excited, Section Chief Xu asked, "Old Chen, can this oil tank meet our needs?"

"Satisfied? Old Xu, you're too conservative. With the tanker trucks built according to this tank design, we can transport crude oil even at minus 35 degrees Celsius."

Upon hearing this, Section Chief Xu perked up: "I suggest that we immediately design a new type of oil tanker truck based on Comrade Aiguo's oil tank, and then mass-produce it on a large scale. We can't delay for a moment!"

"I need to make a phone call to my boss."

Section Chief Xu stood up and borrowed the office phone to report to the leaders of the State Farm.

The leaders of the State Farm then called the railway department, requesting increased investment in the research and development of oil tankers.

In those days, the work in Daqing was of paramount importance, and the State Farm General Farm was of a very high level.

After receiving the call, the leaders of the railway department gave a direct answer.

"I immediately notified the Qianmen Locomotive Depot and the Railway Technology Research Institute to send personnel to tackle the problem collectively."

This kind of work habit is very common in this era. As soon as they see a glimmer of new hope, they can't wait to get to work and get things moving.

While Engineer Chen was still reviewing the blueprints, Section Chief Xing received a call from the Railway Technology Research Institute. Liu Guozhang said on the phone that he would send a group of technicians to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

After hanging up the phone, Section Chief Xing was somewhat bewildered: "Aiguo just built an oil tank, yet it caused such a commotion?"

This was great news for the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and Section Chief Xing immediately arranged for people to prepare to welcome these technicians.

The team leader had worked with Li Aiguo before, and upon meeting him, he smiled and said, "Aiguo, we'll be working together again this time."

"Engineer Zhang, welcome to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot workshop." Li Aiguo stood up and shook hands.

A technician standing nearby said with a smile, "Now Engineer Zhang is the deputy chief engineer."

"Deputy Chief Engineer? Oh, Lao Zhang, congratulations." Li Aiguo was also happy for Lao Zhang.

Old Zhang is only in his forties this year, and he has already been promoted to deputy chief engineer. He will have the opportunity to be promoted to chief engineer in the future.

"Oh, thanks to Director Liu's care," Deputy Chief Engineer Zhang replied with a smile.

That's true. For senior engineers like this, once they get promoted to a certain level, personal connections become extremely important.

Old Zhang followed Professor Liu Guozhang closely from the moment he arrived at the Railway Technology Research Institute. He suffered many setbacks along the way, but now he has finally made it through.

Everyone here is an old acquaintance, so the work is easy to carry out.

Li Aiguo then introduced Deputy Chief Engineer Zhang and the technicians to Section Chief Xu and Engineer Chen, and then held a short meeting to assign relevant tasks.

The tanker train consists of two parts: the tank and the car body.

Deputy Chief Engineer Zhang was in charge of the car body, which was handed over to the preparation workshop for trial production. After the manufacturing was completed, it was handed over to the locomotive factory for production.

The oil tanks were still handed over to the oil tank workshop of the steel rolling mill for trial production.

The oil tank workshop at the steel rolling mill now manufactures oil tanks specifically for the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. The quality is quite good, and the efficiency is also very high.

Because it was a train oil tanker, the internal structure was quite complex, so Li Aiguo and Engineer Chen needed to keep an eye on it on-site.

When Li, the deputy director of the steel rolling mill, learned that the Qianmen locomotive depot had an experimental task, he was particularly happy: "Aiguo, you can leave this to our oil tank workshop."

He then called the workshop director into his office and emphasized the importance of the task.

The workshop director took the blueprints, returned to the workshop, suspended the original oil tank production, and switched to producing train oil tanks.

Although the master craftsmen in the workshop were confused about the situation, they didn't ask too many questions. After all, they were only "contract workers" at the moment, and they had to listen to the instructions of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Jia Dongxu saw Li Aiguo chatting and laughing with the workshop director and became somewhat displeased: "Why should we listen to them? We are workers in the steel rolling mill."

"Because they are the big brother of the railway, they gave us the order." The team leader knew that Jia Dongxu was a troublemaker, so he warned him: "Even Deputy Factory Director Li attaches great importance to this work. If you dare to cause trouble, don't blame me for being impolite."

"Okay, okay," Jia Dongxu said angrily as he sat down.

After discussing it with Li Aiguo, the workshop director studied the blueprints with several experienced workers and assigned production tasks. Each group was arranged perfectly.

"Let Jia Dongxu handle the cleaning work," the workshop director said, pointing at Jia Dongxu.

"Huh?!" Jia Dongxu lowered his head.

The trial production of train oil tanks is proceeding in an orderly manner.

Since the oil tank also involves electrical circuits and heating systems, Zong Xianfeng and his electrical technicians also came to help, and Li Aiguo also had to keep an eye on things from the side.

The cut plates are sent to the workshop, where they are rolled once on a four-roll plate rolling machine, and then deep penetration welding is achieved using submerged arc welding.

To make the oil tank more robust, after welding, personnel need to enter the tank to clean the welding slag, then assemble the main structure, weld again, and remove the welding slag once more.

Cleaning welding slag is very tiring, especially now that the weather is hot. The inside of the oil tank is like a stuffy can, and you get soaked in sweat after just a short time inside.

The cleaning was done by the factory workers, including Jia Dongxu.

Today, Jia Dongxu was assigned cleaning work by the workshop director again.

Jia Dongxu picked up a broom, looked at the sweltering oil tank, then at Li Aiguo sitting next to him, sipping tea and flipping through blueprints, with several technicians around him. He looked incredibly smug.

Jia Dongxu immediately felt a surge of anger.

"Director, why should I go? I've been working shifts for several days now, and I'm not feeling well today, as you know."

The workshop foreman was also getting annoyed: "Jia Dongxu, every time it's your turn to clean lately, you make excuses, saying you have a stomachache or a headache. What's wrong? Do you not want to work in the oil tank workshop anymore?"

Since entering the workshop, Jia Dongxu has been picky, unwilling to do difficult tasks and uninterested in simple ones. The workshop director had long been dissatisfied with him.

When Yi Zhonghai saw that Jia Dongxu had been criticized, he quickly came over to ask what had happened.

The workshop director pointed at Jia Dongxu and recounted what had just happened.

"Director, this child is just being immature. Don't worry, I'll teach him a lesson." Yi Zhonghai quickly offered a cigarette to the workshop director, smiling apologetically.

"Old Yi, I'm leaving this to you. Our workshop needs to win the little red flag, so please don't cause me any trouble." The workshop director still gave Yi Zhonghai face and turned to assign other tasks.

Yi Zhonghai pulled Jia Dongxu aside and advised, "Dongxu, what are you doing?"

"Master, this job is simply inhuman."

As soon as Jia Dongxu finished speaking, several workers nearby cast angry glances at him.

Good heavens, they've all been expelled from humanity in one fell swoop.

Seeing that Jia Dongxu was about to cause trouble again, Yi Zhonghai said irritably.

"If you don't work properly again, I'll have the workshop foreman send you back to the fitter's workshop."

"Master, you..." Jia Dongxu glared at Yi Zhonghai resentfully, then turned around, picked up his tools, and crawled into the oil tank.

The sapling in his heart quietly sprouted its first branch.

The workshop was bustling with activity.

At 3 p.m., the oil tank was cleared out, and several veteran welders, carrying their equipment, crawled inside.

As soon as I went in, a worker ran out.

"Who cleaned up the third one from the left? Is this how you do your job? There's trash everywhere."

Jia Dongxu, who was catching his breath nearby, was annoyed when he heard the shout: "It's me, so what! Master Liu, is there something wrong with your eyes?"

When the workshop foreman saw that something had happened, he rushed over and crawled into the oil tank with the flashlight in his hand.

Li Aiguo also stood up and went inside with a flashlight.

He shone the flashlight beam across several compartments and frowned: "With this slag, the welding will definitely have problems, and the entire oil tank will be scrapped."

Upon hearing this, the workshop director flew into a rage, summoned Jia Dongxu to the oil tank, and pointed at the grid, saying...

"Jia Dongxu, is this what you cleaned up?"

"What's wrong? I think it's fine. It's the people from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot who are deliberately making things difficult for me." Jia Dongxu rolled his eyes at Li Aiguo. He had worked hard and yet he still had to be nitpicked. What kind of situation was this?

Li Aiguo glanced at Jia Dongxu but ignored him. Instead, he looked at the workshop director and said, "Stop work. All the cubicles need to be inspected."

"Ah?! Consultant Li, is it really necessary to stop production?" The workshop director was startled. If production really stopped, their workshop would not be able to complete its production target for this month.

"Director Liu, this worker has been in charge of cleaning, right?" Li Aiguo pointed at Jia Dongxu. Jia Dongxu wanted to roll his eyes, but Yi Zhonghai pulled him back and he quickly lowered his head.

"Yes."

"Can you guarantee that there were no problems with the areas he cleaned before?"

"This," Li Aiguo patted the workshop director on the shoulder, "this oil tank has a special purpose. If there is a quality problem, not only will you, the workshop director, be in trouble, but we will all suffer the consequences."

Li Aiguo wasn't exaggerating. The oil tanker was transporting crude oil, and if it leaked en route, the State Farm would definitely investigate thoroughly.

"What special purpose? It's just an oil tank!" Jia Dongxu felt that Li Aiguo was deliberately making things difficult for him. Even Yi Zhonghai couldn't stop him now, and he shouted, jumping up and down.

Li Aiguo originally didn't want to argue with Jia Dongxu, but seeing this situation, he grabbed Jia's collar.

Li Aiguo was so strong that even he himself didn't know how strong he was; he actually managed to lift Jia Dongxu off the ground.

"As for the purpose of the oil tanks, Jia Dongxu, I can tell you now, do you dare to listen?"

Upon hearing this, Jia Dongxu, who had been desperately jumping and trying to break free, suddenly turned red in the face and stammered, unable to speak.

He is now afraid of encountering the same situation again, and that he would be detained for ten days to half a month if he found out the purpose of the oil tank.

Although Jia Dongxu didn't think the oil tank had any important use, he didn't dare to gamble!
"You, you let me go, I won't ask anymore, just let me go."

Li Aiguo easily released his grip, and Jia Dongxu, who was jumping up and down, lost his footing and fell headfirst onto the steel pipe.

The steel pipes achieved an undeniable victory.

Jia Dongxu could only cover his forehead.

The workshop foreman was also reluctant to stop production, but upon hearing that the oil tank had an important purpose, his heart skipped a beat. After hesitating for a moment, he waved his hand and said, "Stop production!"

The workers who were working were a little depressed when they saw that the work was about to stop, and they dropped their tools and gathered around in twos and threes.

"I was just about to receive my production bonus, but this whole thing has caused a stir."

"The Qianmen Locomotive Depot did nothing wrong. If there really is a quality problem, no one can take the blame."

"We can't let substandard oil tanks be sent out."

"It's all Jia Dongxu's fault. Who told him to produce without following the rules and regulations?"

After discovering the culprit, angry gazes were cast at Jia Dongxu.

Jia Dongxu stood there with his neck stiff and didn't say a word.

Jia Dongxu felt that Li Aiguo was deliberately causing him trouble.

At this point, Li Aiguo no longer had time to pay attention to Jia Dongxu. After stopping work, he summoned the technicians to re-inspect the oil tank.

Five more areas were found inside the oil tank where the original welding slag had not been cleaned up, which is considered a minor production accident.

Since some areas have already been welded, it is necessary to use the kerosene leak test method to check the tightness of the weld, which is quite time-consuming.

I was busy until the end of the workday before I finally finished all the testing.

The welded sections have three sections with substandard welding quality, requiring removal, re-grinding, polishing, and re-welding.

Upon hearing the report, the workshop director felt a wave of fear wash over him.

Although he didn't know the purpose of the specially designed oil tank, he knew that if it were filled with oil and a leak occurred, the problem would be serious.

Yi Zhonghai quietly tugged at the workshop director's clothes, pulled him aside, offered him a cigarette, and whispered, "Director, no accident has occurred yet. I think you should plead with that consultant Li to cover this up so as not to affect the workshop's evaluation for the 'Little Red Flag' award."

These words, seemingly in support of the workshop, actually pit the oil tank workshop against the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

If the Qianmen Locomotive Depot doesn't agree, it's disrespectful to the workshop director and workers.

If you agree, you'll definitely leave yourself some leverage, which can be used in crucial moments.

I have to say Yi Zhonghai is incredibly cunning.

However, he overlooked one point: the reason why the workshop director was able to serve as the workshop director was because he was an advanced individual in the factory.

“Old Yi, the higher-ups entrusted us with the task of producing oil tanks, which is a sign of their trust in us, but you’re trying to cheat us. Don’t you know what kind of life you had in the factory before liberation, and what kind of life you have now? Sigh, you’ve disappointed me so much.”

"I was also thinking about the workshop's situation."

"It goes without saying."

The workshop director ignored Yi Zhonghai and had the production specialist report the situation to the production department.

The production department quickly sent people to investigate the cause of the accident and issued a penalty decision.

"Jia Dongxu, a worker in the oil tank workshop, was negligent in his work and disregarded rules and regulations, which resulted in the scrapping of three steel plates and delayed the delivery of the oil tank. The nature of the offense is particularly serious. He will be given a major demerit, his annual bonus will be deducted, and the incident will be reported to the entire factory."

“Yi Zhonghai, a worker in the oil tank workshop and Jia Dongxu’s mentor, not only failed to supervise Jia Dongxu’s work, but also tried to cover it up after the accident. He was given a major demerit, had half a year’s bonus deducted, and was notified to the whole factory.”

"Comrade Chen Xian, the workshop director of the oil tanker, failed to discover it in time. He will have six months' bonus deducted, receive a warning, and be notified to the entire factory."

"Another decision was made to deduct ten points from the advanced performance evaluation of the oil tank workshop."

The punishment for Jia Dongxu and Yi Zhonghai was extremely severe. Steel rolling mills now offer very generous production bonuses, and the demerit was recorded in their personnel files.

Yi Zhonghai was also in a bad mood. This matter had nothing to do with him, but because he wanted to harm others, he got himself into trouble.

Although the workshop director was fined, the warning was not recorded in his file and would not have any impact on his future.

The oil tank workshop was penalized and completely dropped out of the competition for the little red flag.

When Jia Dongxu learned of the outcome, he was furious: "This is Li Aiguo deliberately making trouble for us. It was a small matter, and he could have just kept it to himself. He had to make a big deal out of it. He just wants to cause trouble for our workshop."

The workers, who were already furious, gathered around.

"Jia Dongxu, how dare you! If it weren't for Consultant Li's insistence, we would all be in jail if the oil tank had malfunctioned."

“We workers are the elder brothers, we should work hard and produce qualified products, but you are the rotten apple who cheats and shirks responsibility.”

"Beat him up! Beat him up!"

The workers all cared about their reputation; they could brag about getting a little red flag for a whole year, but now it's all gone.

The workers immediately rolled up their sleeves, ready to beat Jia Dongxu up, but fortunately the workshop director stopped them.

"What are you all doing? Fighting is not allowed in the workshop!"

If we can't fight inside the workshop, what about outside?

The workers exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

Due to a production accident, the workers worked overtime until 10 p.m. in order to complete the production task.

Yi Zhonghai was going to talk to the workshop director about the disciplinary action, while Jia Dongxu hummed a tune as he walked towards the courtyard.

"You son of a bitch, stop right there!" A group of people rushed over from behind and surrounded him.

These people were all wearing veils and masks, and you could tell from their faces that they were up to no good.

"What are you doing? I'm calling the security team right now."

"Shout! I'll teach you to shout! Shout your mother's legs!"

Before Jia Dongxu could finish speaking, he was kicked to the ground.

"Ahhh, don't kick my groin!"

These people came quickly and left quickly, and soon only Jia Dongxu was left lying on the ground, crying uncontrollably.

That's ruthless! These people are too ruthless!

The chicken's neck was almost broken.

Yi Zhonghai had also left the factory when he saw Jia Dongxu lying on the roadside and rushed over.

"Dongxu, are you alright?"

"Get out of the way! Stop pretending to be a good guy here." Jia Dongxu shoved Yi Zhonghai, causing him to stumble, and pointed his finger at him.

"Yi Zhonghai, did you know all along that these people were going to beat me up, and that's why you stayed far away?"

"Dongxu, how could you think of your master like that?" Yi Zhonghai wanted to explain, but Jia Dongxu had already turned around and staggered away.

Watching Jia Dongxu walk further and further away, gradually disappearing into the darkness, Yi Zhonghai was also somewhat dazed.

Whether he was delayed because he wanted to talk to the workshop director about the disciplinary action, or whether he deliberately let Jia Dongxu leave alone, even he himself is now confused.

After standing in the darkness for a long time, Yi Zhonghai sighed deeply and took the first step without hesitation.

But he now knows what to do.

*****
"Hey, Jia Dongxu, what happened to you?" Yan Jiecheng was squatting at the door drinking noodles when he saw Jia Dongxu limping back and asked with a smile.

"Get lost!" Jia Dongxu wasn't in the mood for idle chatter, rolled his eyes, and left.

The news of Jia Dongxu's beating was quickly spread by Yan Jiecheng. There were many steel mill workers in the courtyard, and everyone quickly figured out what had happened.

"How dare you slack off! You deserve to be beaten."

"Yes, he can get so many bonuses every month now, his salary can support the whole family, and he still doesn't work hard. Jia Dongxu is going too far."

“I think Li Aiguo did the right thing, and this matter should not be tolerated.”

Not a single resident in the compound stood by Jia Dongxu's side; even Qin Huairu felt that Jia Dongxu had brought it upon himself.

If everyone doesn't treat the factory like their own home and only thinks about cheating and shirking responsibility, then they will only harm themselves.

Late at night, Jia Dongxu lay in bed, staring at the dark ceiling.

The sapling in his heart gradually grew into a big tree.

******
These matters were none of Li Aiguo's concern, and he paid no attention to them, instead focusing his efforts on developing oil tankers.

Although the rework of the oil tank caused some delays, the workshop's master craftsmen worked overtime through the night under the workshop director's initiative, and the original production plan was not affected.

On Tuesday, the oil tank was produced and, after testing, its sealing performance was deemed fully satisfactory. The oil tank was then sent to the preparation workshop.

Director Zhang and his team of technicians had already modified a freight car according to the blueprints.

Although it's called a freight car, the oil tanker uses the most advanced beamless structure of later generations, so it's actually just like having only two traction beams connecting the front and rear wheels.

The tank was designed with a horizontal sloping bottom. Li Aiguo called on several welders to weld the tank onto the traction pillow.

Several workers circled the tanker truck twice, then pushed the truck body; the wheels did not deviate at all as they rolled on the rails.

The subsequent installation went very smoothly, and the joy on Section Chief Xu and Engineer Chen's faces grew stronger and stronger. By the time the last test item was completed, their faces were beaming with happiness.

"Comrade Patriot, shall we test it out?"

“That’s easy,” Li Aiguo nodded.

The Qianmen Locomotive Depot has no shortage of steam locomotives.

Li Aiguo then reported his idea of ​​a road test to the section.

The trains were readily available, and the routes could be coordinated. The only problem was that there were no oil refineries or storage facilities for viscous oil near the capital.

Li Aiguo recalled the Baoding Coal Machinery Factory, with which he had previously collaborated.

This factory is responsible for the production and research and development of coal mining and oil drilling equipment, and has stored a considerable amount of viscous oil, mainly for experimental purposes.

When the coal machinery factory heard that they wanted to test a new type of oil tanker, they were very cooperative and willing to lend oil for the test.

The road test started at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, proceeded to the Baoding Coal Machinery Plant, and then circled back.

"The railway network has coordinated everything; the time is set for 8:00 AM tomorrow. Patriot, don't delay the time."

As an experienced driver, Li Aiguo naturally wanted to personally drive the train for a road test.

(End of this chapter)