The train driver in the courtyard

Chen Sanyun was overjoyed to learn that the Qianmen Locomotive Depot had captured Black Tiger.

If this thing is real, then the People's Zoo will have another prized possession.

"This Li Aiguo is really a lucky star. Last time he sent a giant panda, and this time he caught a black tiger. However, black tigers have only appeared in ancient books, so we should still be cautious."

Chen Sanyun, the deputy director of the zoo, did not have any special knowledge about tigers, so he first thought of Zhao Bangjie, the head of the zoo's scientific working group.

When Chen Sanyun arrived at Zhao Bangjie's office, Zhao Bangjie was standing on a map, pointing at it with a pencil.

"Old Zhao, what are you busy with?" Chen Sanyun and Zhao Bangjie were old friends, so he didn't stand on ceremony and poured himself a glass of water and sat down.

“I received a letter from Chen Jiayu a while ago. Some members of the commune saw a black tiger in the mountains. This may be a new breed of tiger. Old Chen, you’ve come at the right time. I plan to apply to go and investigate.”

Upon hearing Chen Sanyun's voice, Zhao Bangjie didn't even turn his head, continuing to write and draw on the map.

"Old Zhao, take a few men and come with me to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. It's urgent."

Zhao Bangjie was a little confused.

What are you asking me to do? Do you think the train driver can conjure up a tiger?

However, Chen Sanyun was, after all, a leader, so Zhao Bangjie gave him some face, stopped writing, and turned to look at him with surprise.

"Ahem, Lao Zhao, the Qianmen Locomotive Depot has caught two black tigers."

"What?!" Chen Sanyun was stunned, almost unable to believe his ears.

Only after Chen Sanyun repeated it did he realize he hadn't misheard.

"Black Tiger? Boss, you're not kidding me, are you? You really caught him?"

Chen Sanyun looked at him and said, "Don't believe me? That's easy. You bring your men and come with me to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. Seeing is believing, and it will also help you verify the authenticity of Black Tiger."

Zhao Bangjie quickly gathered several key personnel and nodded: "Director Chen, let's go."

Chen Sanyun picked up the phone and called the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, explaining that they needed to send someone over and asking Li Aiguo to help receive them.

Li Aiguo is still at the station.

It wasn't that he didn't want to go back to work, but the black tiger was just too attractive.

First, employees from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot came to visit, and later their family members also came.

In particular, some employees even brought their babies who were only a few months old, and they kept rubbing their babies against Black Tiger's buttocks.

Li Aiguo quickly asked Zhou Ke to stop them, but the family members were unwilling. Later, after inquiring, they learned that the family members hoped to give their child some courage.

"Some people say that if a child is exposed to the scent of a tiger, it can ward off evil spirits."

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo was both amused and exasperated.

There's nothing we can do if some people believe this; we can't just watch something really happen.

"Tell them to give them some tiger urine later."

Upon hearing this, the family members then stood a little further away with their children in their arms.

Li Aiguo was actually reluctant to give away tiger urine. This stuff was considered a special biological weapon. If a meteorologist on a mission smeared a little on himself, even passing dogs would run away with their tails between their legs.

This is not an exaggeration by Li Aiguo; it is the truth.

Tigers have a natural advantage over dogs, and even the much-hyped Tibetan Mastiff is no exception.

Three Tibetan mastiffs sink an aircraft carrier, five mastiffs destroy God, and ten mastiffs creating the world is just a joke. In front of a tiger, a Tibetan mastiff can't even last a single round.

Li Aiguo once watched a surveillance video showing that it took the tiger less than three seconds from the moment it appeared to the moment it killed the Tibetan mastiff and took it away. One of those seconds was spent breaking the iron chain.

The so-called "one mastiff fighting three tigers" actually means one mastiff can only last three seconds.

"Brother Aiguo, since tiger urine is so useful, why don't we get more?" Zhou Ke was also very interested in tiger urine.

These words did indeed enlighten Li Aiguo.

He walked slowly to the two black tigers, stroked his chin, and said, "Brother Tiger, you must be thirsty after working so hard all day."

Tiger A: "."

Tiger B: "."

Looking at the large water buckets that had been moved over, they felt as if they had fallen into a den of wolves and tigers.

When Chen Sanyun and Zhao Bangjie arrived at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, they saw two black tigers locked in a cage with a water pipe next to them and wild boar meat beside them.

It seems like it's being treated quite well, so why is this tiger crying so hard, looking so aggrieved?
"Patriotism, what are you doing?" Chen Sanyun greeted them.

"It's nothing." Li Aiguo winked at Zhou Ke, signaling him to quickly take away the oil drum containing tiger urine.

He pointed to the tiger and said, "We're feeding the tiger and giving it water."

The tiger was almost in tears, with a gun pressed against its mouth. If it didn't drink water or eat meat, it would really be shot. If the tiger could talk, it would definitely have started cursing.

"You really are a kind-hearted person." Chen Sanyun didn't think much of it; who would have thought someone would dare to force water down a tiger's throat?

He remarked something and introduced Zhao Bangjie's identity to Li Aiguo.

"Team Leader Zhao, hello." Li Aiguo perked up immediately upon hearing Zhao Bangjie's name.

Zhao Bangjie was a well-known tiger expert in China. He had already participated in organizational work before the liberation and devoted himself to animal protection after the liberation. He once represented us at international conferences.

"Hello, hello." Zhao Bangjie's mind wasn't on Li Aiguo; his eyes lit up the moment he saw the two tigers.

He took off his glasses, wiped them, put them back on, and looked again.

Still two black tigers, nothing has changed!
No, don't get excited. Tigers' fur color can change in unusual ways, and it's not unheard of.

But what about its size, claws, and teeth?
These are all issues that need to be addressed in classifying tigers.

"Comrades, do you have any anesthetic needles?" Zhao Bangjie planned to start the research immediately.

"We don't have that thing, but we have a way to deal with tigers." Li Aiguo waved to Zhou Ke, who quickly led a few men over with ropes.

"Brother Tiger, we need to do an inspection. If you cooperate, everything will be fine, and we'll have plenty of wild boar meat. If you don't cooperate, then we'll have to use nets."

Faced with Li Aiguo's friendly negotiation, the two tigers looked at each other and obediently lay down in the cage, letting Zhou Ke tie their limbs with rope.

Anyway, it's not the first time. It has four legs and one body. Just close your eyes and finish quickly so as not to disturb my sleep.

Zhao Bangjie stared in disbelief: "Comrade Aiguo, you trained these two tigers?"

If pointing a gun at a tiger and force-feeding it water is considered training, then that's not wrong either.

“Team leader, these two tigers are both very intelligent and can understand human speech,” Zhou Ke explained.

Tigers have an IQ of 27.5, which is equivalent to that of a 2-year-old child and is even more intelligent than dogs. It is not surprising that they can obey some simple commands.

Zhao Bangjie didn't think much of it and led his team members to squat down and get to work.

"Xiao Wang, measure body length and shoulder height. Xiao Li, record skull width and canine tooth spacing."

As professionals, the team members acted swiftly.

He took out a portable measuring kit from the toolbox, and used a non-elastic tape measure to measure the black tiger's body: "Body length 2.92 meters (including tail length 0.85 meters), shoulder height 1.16 meters, skull width 28.3 centimeters, and canine tooth spacing 5.2 centimeters."

Three hairs with follicles were taken from the back of the black tiger using tweezers and placed into refrigerated sample tubes labeled "Black Tiger No. 1" and "Black Tiger No. 2".

Zhao Bangjie led his team members through the tests while discussing the issues.

"We have now ruled out hybridization and pathological factors."

Chen Sanyun couldn't help but interject, "Old Zhao, given the current situation, could we first determine the personality?"

Zhao Bangjie took off his glasses and wiped them, his tone serious: "From the perspective of morphology, behavior and population clues, these two individuals have met the condition of 'significant and stable differences from existing tiger subspecies,' and are preliminarily identified as a new tiger subspecies."

However, the specific situation can only be determined after the items are transported back to the zoo and further examination is conducted.

Chen Sanyun knew Zhao Bangjie's personality well and knew that he wouldn't make a definitive judgment without being 100% certain.

"Comrade Patriot, congratulations! You may have discovered a new breed of tiger. Once it's confirmed, I will recommend you for credit."

Li Aiguo was also quite excited, he hadn't expected that the black tiger was a new breed!

"This is not my achievement alone. It is thanks to the comrades in the armed forces department and the commune that we were able to catch the tiger successfully."

Then he called out to Zhou Ke, who was not far away, "Zhou Ke! Bring over the canvas and cotton pads we prepared, we'll use them to transport Hu Zi later!"

Just kidding. If this tiger is really a completely new species, it might become a national treasure like the giant panda, so naturally it should be treated well.

The two tigers seemed to have noticed this as well, and they turned their heads in unison and snorted at Li Aiguo: Kid, now you know we're of high status, right?

Seeing that it was getting late, the People's Zoo decided to transport the tiger back, as the truck and cage were readily available.

Zhao Bangjie, just like transporting precious eggs, busied himself with getting the tiger away from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

"Big Black, Little Black, I'll come visit you when I have the chance," Li Aiguo waved goodbye to the two tigers.

Tiger A: "."

Tiger B: "."

After seeing the tiger off, Li Aiguo quickly instructed Zhou Ke to remove the tiger's urine from the oil drum and divide it into glass bottles with lids, sealing the lids with wax to prevent the smell from escaping.

Li Aiguo gave the armed forces department two bottles of tiger urine. Minister Niu suddenly slapped his forehead and said, "I thought those two tigers looked pitiful and I must have been mistaken. Turns out it was you who did it."

"Old Niu, just tell me if you want it or not?"

"Yes, of course I want it! This is such a rare find!" Minister Niu hurriedly accepted it.

That's true. The tiger has been sent to the zoo, so it's impossible to get tiger urine now.

Li Aiguo delivered the rest to the equipment department of the weather station, kept two bottles for himself, and then went back to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to get wild boar meat before leisurely riding his motorcycle back to the courtyard house.

Before even entering the courtyard, we heard Yan Jiecheng's voice.

“You weren’t there at the time. I faced two black tigers all by myself, and my hands didn’t shake and my legs didn’t tremble!”

Xu Damao posed a question: "Once it's solved, then what?"

"Of course I ran away! Do you think I'm stupid enough to go up against two tigers?" Yan Jiecheng wasn't ashamed at all; he had already been very brave, okay?

Xu Damao: "."

You made such a big claim earlier, were you just trying to fool people?

Zhang Gangzhu asked, "How was the tiger caught?"

"Of course it's Brother Aiguo! Brother Aiguo invented a gun that can fire nets. With just two shots, those two tigers were caught in the net." Yan Jiecheng emphasized this point: "The villagers down the mountain all call Brother Aiguo the tiger-fighting hero."

Xu Damao's eyes lit up as he listened, wishing he could get the title himself.

This title is much more prestigious than a leader's title. If he went to the countryside, he could make all the young girls swoon.

Jia Dongxu was also nearby, but this time he just pursed his lips and said nothing.

After all, the gap between the two is now so large that he has lost the right to be jealous.

Qin Huairu had also heard about Li Aiguo catching the tiger.

If she had persisted for two more years and not changed her mind, she would have been the wife of the tiger-fighting hero.

Qin Huairu knew she regretted it.

The night was quiet.

Li Aiguo told his three children the story of fighting the tiger, and after they fell asleep, he went to his study.

The parts for the double-headed donkey oil pump are now complete, and assembly will begin tomorrow. He also needs to be prepared.

People always have great respect for the heroes who fought tigers.

The next morning, Li Aiguo carried a basin to the pool to wash up, and the way the other residents looked at him changed.

"Patriotism, have those two tigers been sent to the zoo yet? Were they really black tigers? When can we visit them?"

Liu Haizhong asked while brushing his teeth.

"It will probably take a while. I heard from experts that this tiger might be a new species," Yan Jiecheng said preemptively.

"A new species?" Liu Haizhong was taken aback by this question and asked, "Aiguo, I heard that whoever discovers a new species of animal can name it. What name do you plan to give this tiger?"

Li Aiguo had never really thought about this question.

There are tiger species such as Siberian tiger and South China tiger in China. This black tiger should logically be named according to the region. It can't be called Li Aiguo tiger, can it?
Even if the zoo agreed, Li Aiguo wouldn't dare to do it.

The children went to the zoo and kept shouting, "Uncle, we want to see Li Aiguo!" What kind of nonsense is this?

The residents of the compound were also interested in this topic and offered their suggestions.

Some people think it should be called the Beijing Tiger, while others think it should be called the North China Tiger.

Xu Damao had a very creative mind and suggested calling it the Tyrant Tiger.

"It's called Tyrannosaurus Rex, does it have any culture?" The third uncle looked down on Xu Damao.

“Dragons and tigers go hand in hand. If there’s a Tyrannosaurus Rex, there must be a Tyrannosaurus Tiger. Don’t you, an old instructor, even understand this?” Xu Damao retorted, unconvinced.

Amidst laughter, Li Aiguo washed up, went home, ate breakfast, and then rode his motorcycle to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

The locomotive depot was just as busy as yesterday, with the yard filled with the roar of steam engines.

Cao Wenzhi and Liu Qingquan were just about to set off when they saw Li Aiguo coming over and called him over, bringing up the matter of fighting tigers.

When Li Aiguo arrived at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, Section Chief Xing and the other leaders of the depot also arrived.

"Section Chief, give the order!"

"Alright, let's get started." Section Chief Xing, holding the people in the workshop, thought to himself, "Li Aiguo is a genius leader. In such a short time, these technicians have all grown into engineers who can work independently."

Section Chief Xu and Chief Engineer Wang from the State Farm also came to help.

The traveling beam was hoisted into the air by a crane, and then assembly began.

The four-bar linkage has been installed; simply install it directly. The front and rear levers, motor, and other accessories are assembled according to fixed standards.

The oil pumping unit is painted entirely in red, making it very conspicuous in the wild.

As Section Chief Xing watched the oil pumping unit gradually take shape, he felt his heart racing. This... this must be the first oil pumping unit designed and manufactured independently by the railway, right?

Especially given the nationwide support for the State Farms, this matter is even more significant.

Section Chief Xing then realized the importance of the issue. He exchanged glances with several section leaders, who were also very excited.

More than three hours later, the oil pump was assembled. Li Aiguo checked the electrical circuits and oil lines and confirmed that there were no problems.

Next is the idle test.

Considering that there are no oil wells at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, and it is not permissible to have oil wells there, Li Aiguo, on the advice of Section Chief Xu, decided to divide the test into two phases.

The first stage is the no-load test, which mainly tests the stability of the pumping unit. This can be completed in the workshop.

The second phase is field simulation testing, which tests various parameters of the pumping unit and its practicality. This requires drilling a well nearby.

The current test is an indoor test.

Li Aiguo first had Zong Xianfeng turn on the switch, and with a low hum of the motor, the oil pump started running.

The front donkey moves slowly with its head down, while the rear donkey moves with its head up, and then repeats this motion.

This thing is actually not complicated.

After running for a few minutes and seeing that there were no problems, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

"Patriotism, this thing looks like kowtowing." Section Chief Xing was in a good mood at the moment, joking.

Li Aiguo nodded solemnly: "Actually, this kind of oil pump also has another name, called a nodding machine."

These words caught the attention of Section Chief Xu.

"The nodding machine, that's a pretty descriptive name, more common than the oil pump."

After a few casual words, Li Aiguo arranged for Zong Xianfeng and a few others to be on duty, and to run the nodding donkey machine for five days before conducting field tests.

As Section Chief Xing and the other section leaders were about to leave, he suddenly remembered something and looked at Li Aiguo, saying, "Look at my memory! Yesterday afternoon, the section held a meeting, and the results of the negotiations with the Russians came out. We will only sell the oil tanker trains, not the technology."

A delegation from a Russian locomotive manufacturing plant is coming to visit soon, and the ministry has put you in charge of their liaison work.

Upon hearing this, Li Tiechui clenched his fists tightly.

The leaders and technicians in the section had also heard about the Russians' desire to purchase the technology, and they were extremely satisfied with this outcome.

We've worked so hard for so many years so that we won't be bullied. If we're bullied again, wouldn't all our efforts have been in vain?
No one objected to making a fair trade with the Russians, after all, the two countries are still members of the same family.

The weather in Russia is freezing cold, with temperatures much lower than here, and the demand for new oil tanker trains has exceeded Li Aiguo's expectations.

On Wednesday, Li Aiguo met with a delegation from the Novoklamatorsk Heavy Machinery Plant.

The team leader's name was Gennady. He was a leader in the factory, with gray hair and a scholarly appearance. He spoke very kindly and kept talking about brotherhood.

Sending a scholar to be in charge of importing equipment is a very common practice, after all, it requires calculating costs and agreeing on maintenance and other matters.

What caught Li Aiguo's attention the most was an aide standing behind Gennady.

"This is Comrade Anton, who is in charge of the security of the delegation." Gennady shook hands with Li Aiguo and then introduced the entourage.

Normally, for marginal figures like this, a simple greeting would suffice, but Li Aiguo directly extended his hand to Anton: "Comrade Anton, welcome, welcome."

"Hello." Anton's Chinese was clearly not very fluent. He hesitated for a moment before shaking hands with the outstretched hand.

The ministry leaders were also somewhat puzzled by the situation. Now that the two had shaken hands, they immediately said, "We have prepared a meeting room."

The leader led the Russian delegation into the meeting room. The senior leader spoke first, welcoming the delegation, then discussing the friendship between the two countries, and finally looked at Li Aiguo and said, "Comrade Aiguo, you are in charge of this negotiation. You must treat these leaders well."

This means that the negotiations have officially begun.

As is customary, Li Aiguo first handed over the relevant documents to the representative group for review, then inquired about the number of oil tankers and the delivery time, before finally negotiating the price.

“Comrade Patriot, this is the most advanced oil tanker train I’ve ever seen.” Gennady seemed very interested, flipping through the documents as he said, “We will purchase two hundred trains in the first batch, with a time limit of six months.”

Seeing that Gennady was so agreeable, Li Aiguo also offered a relatively fair price based on the price agreed upon beforehand.

"Each tanker train costs 1.25 million rubles, and we provide a six-month quality guarantee."

The ministry attached great importance to this cooperation, and the agreed price was not high. Gennady knew the cost of the oil tanker train and nodded.

"The price is acceptable, but we lack sufficient funds. Could we use supplies to pay for it?"

“Of course, ores and furs are both fine,” Li Aiguo readily agreed.

“Okay, I will report to the factory. If the factory agrees, we can sign the agreement immediately.” Gennady stood up and shook hands with Li Aiguo again.

The group was then accommodated at the Friendship Hotel by the ministry.

The order for two hundred trains is a large order, but it does not involve confidential technology, and the senior management of both parties have actually discussed it.

According to the normal negotiation schedule, it is expected that the cooperation can be formally agreed upon in two or three days.

However, to the ministry's surprise, the Russian delegation did not sign the agreement in the following days, but instead began to focus on many details.

For example, maintenance costs, the cost of dispatching personnel each time, the price of spare parts, etc., and the team representatives kept getting bogged down in these issues.

"Comrade Gennady, I have other work to do here. The ministry will send another comrade to continue the discussion with you tomorrow."

After a meeting, Li Aiguo suddenly stood up and looked at Gennady.

The expressions of the ministers in charge of the negotiations changed slightly, worried that these words might offend Gennady.

To their surprise, Gennady simply smiled awkwardly and nodded in agreement.

"Comrade Patriot, this negotiation work has indeed taken up your time. We are just going through the necessary procedures, and we hope you can understand."

After the talks, the ministry leaders held a small meeting to address the difficulties encountered during the negotiations.

One leader remarked, "I have a feeling that the Russian delegation is deliberately stalling for time."

Another leader waved his hand and said, "What nonsense are you talking about? The Novoklamatorsk Heavy Machinery Plant will definitely need to calculate costs. We can't rush it."

The ministry leader looked at Li Aiguo and asked, "Comrade Aiguo, what do you think?"

"It's hard to say. Perhaps the Russian representatives have some other concerns." Li Aiguo also had his doubts, but it was inconvenient for him to say them at the meeting.

This meeting was destined to end in failure.

After the meeting, Li Aiguo rode his motorcycle to the weather station.

The farmer wasn't there; the old cat was on duty.

"Team Leader Cat, contact the comrades from the Russians immediately and help me investigate someone."

(End of this chapter)