The train driver in the courtyard

In the afternoon, after lunch, Li Aiguo called over a wild car expert and moved his motorcycle onto the four-legged vehicle.

He then went to the armed forces department to collect fifty rounds of ammunition. The previous incident served as a reminder to Li Aiguo that he still needed to be careful about safety.

The procedure is very simple; all you need to do is sign.

"Aiguo, take these bullets and play with them for now. If you need more, just come and get more anytime," said the officer from the armed forces department, who had also heard about Li Aiguo's attack.

"No problem, I was just thinking of practicing my marksmanship too," Li Aiguo replied politely, offering him a cigarette.

After doing all that, Li Aiguo and the wild car expert drove their hybrid vehicle out of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

There were very few cars on the road in those days, and once you left Beijing, you could see even fewer. Most of them were buses or ox-drawn carts. Seeing the huge, strange creatures, I didn't know what they were, but I was very envious.

The road to Weizhuang Commune was not good, but the Siberian Husky was good at navigating rough roads, so it was still quite fast.

It's been a while since I've been here. The crops along the roadside have grown tall, and you can see commune members working in the fields from time to time.

The four-legged creature had already attracted the attention of the commune members even before it entered the commune.

"Aiguo?" Old Wei, the village chief, was leading a group of villagers to hoe the ground when he saw this strange creature and was surprised to see who it was. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was Li Aiguo.

"Uncle Wei." Li Aiguo slammed on the brakes, brought the four-legged vehicle to a stop, jumped out of the car, and greeted Village Chief Wei.

"Hey, what kind of vehicle is this?" Village Chief Wei circled the four-legged beast. The huge wheels, the sturdy cargo bed, and the thick drive shaft made it clear that this thing was powerful.

"These are newly manufactured trains from our Qianmen Locomotive Depot. We plan to donate them to your commune." Li Aiguo took out a pack of cigarettes and offered them to everyone.

"For us?" Old Village Chief Wei, holding a cigarette, suddenly became breathless.

This thing looks strange. After all, it's a car, so it must be very valuable. I bet it wouldn't be worth several cows. How could it be donated so easily?

The other members were also stunned; some even rubbed their ears, unable to believe what they were hearing.

“Uncle, our Qianmen Locomotive Depot and your commune are counterpart units, so we should help each other. You support us with grain, and we will repay you with industrial products. This is also a policy advocated by the higher authorities,” Li Aiguo explained.

"No, no, no, this stuff is too valuable. You've already paid for all the grain and mountain produce. We can't accept it," Village Chief Wei said, waving his hands repeatedly.

This is why Li Aiguo values ​​Village Chief Wei; he is a typical man who has worked his way up from the bottom in the countryside.

For the sake of the commune members' livelihood, they would go to great lengths, even to eliminate illegal and petty tricks, but they would never be greedy for small gains. It is very reassuring to deal with such people.

"We built this car ourselves; the parts are all old and not worth much."

"Then we'll accept it."

Village Chief Wei knew Li Aiguo's personality well and knew that he couldn't refuse now, so he would find a way to make up for it later.

The villagers were initially worried that the village chief wouldn't accept the money, and they were quite anxious, but now they were all delighted to see this situation.

"Our commune has a car now."

“From now on, when we deliver goods to the capital, we won’t have to rely on that old ox anymore.”

"Patriotism is true brotherhood!"

The accountant also walked around the car and asked, "Patriot, should this kind of car have license plates?"

"It needs to be hung up, but there's no overall coordination from above yet," Li Aiguo replied.

Vehicles like these are usually registered as agricultural machinery and have green license plates. They are not under the jurisdiction of the transportation bureau but are supervised by the local agricultural machinery department.

"It doesn't have a license plate. How about we give it a name?"

The accountant, a cultured man, stroked his beard and said, "Since this symbolizes the friendship between our two families, let's call it the Workers' and Peasants' Association!"

"Worker-Peasant Train." It sounds a bit like a high-speed train, but that does fit the characteristics of the times. Li Aiguo nodded: "Let's call it the Worker-Peasant Train!"

"Today is a good day for the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to donate the Gongnong truck to us. Everyone stop working and go to the commune for a meeting." Old Wei, the village chief, called to the commune members, who then carried their tools into the truck bed.

Li Aiguo drove his four-wheeled vehicle towards the commune.

Soon, a passionate and generous voice came from the loudspeaker at the village entrance.

"Fellow commune members, good news! Good news! The Qianmen Locomotive Depot has donated a vehicle to our commune. Everyone, hurry over to the commune!"

The commune members, who were working, picked up their farm tools and came to the commune in droves.

Village Chief Wei held a simple ceremony and, on behalf of Weizhuang Commune, presented Li Aiguo, representing the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, with a big red flower.

The bright red flowers made Li Aiguo's face glow red.

The ceremony ended quickly, and the members returned home filled with excitement.

Now that the commune has transportation, there is more hope for the future.

After the villagers left, Village Chief Wei raised a crucial question: "Patriotism, how difficult is it to drive this car?"

"It's not difficult, it's just like driving a tractor. The tractor drivers at the commune's agricultural machinery station should be able to drive one," Li Aiguo said, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Our place is too remote. The name 'agricultural machinery station' is just for show; it's really just a place to dry grain," explained Village Chief Wei.

Hearing this, Li Aiguo felt it was necessary to take the opportunity to open the agricultural machinery station.

If harvesters and seeders are developed in the future, there will be a place to repair them.

But it was too late now, so Li Aiguo asked Old Wei, the village chief, to find a few young villagers to come and learn to drive.

"You all need to pay attention later. Whoever studies well will become the 'four-legged driver' in our commune in the future."

Village Chief Wei, with a stern face, gave instructions to the villagers.

The commune members were all in high spirits. This four-legged creature was much more powerful than an oxcart, and the driver of that four-legged creature must have a higher status than the cart driver.

They had witnessed the power and prestige of a coachman.

"Look, this is the accelerator, and this is the clutch." Li Aiguo had taught those driving school students with Lan Xiang, and now he could be considered a semi-driving school instructor.

The operation of the four-legged creature is very simple, and several members can quickly get the hang of it.

"This thing is really powerful."

"Turn left, turn left, turn."

While Li Aiguo was busy coaching, Liang Ladi rode her bicycle to the Beijing Machinery Factory.

Liang Ladi was praised for her outstanding performance in the excavator training group and has now been appointed as the deputy group leader of the workshop.

"Ladi, the factory manager wants to see you."

As soon as she entered the factory, Liang Ladi was called to Liu Feng's office.

"Comrade Liang Ladi, please sit down, please sit down." Liu Feng was particularly enthusiastic today, first offering her a seat and then pouring her a cup of tea.

Liang Ladi was somewhat flattered: "Director Liu, do you want me to act as a matchmaker for you?"

Since his divorce from Liang Ladi's mentor, Jiao Min, Liu Feng has been raising his child alone. He is the factory manager and is still very young, considered a golden bachelor.

Liang Ladi and Liu Feng had a good relationship. The female cadres often asked her to help them make connections, but Liu Feng always refused.

"Sigh, I'm doing just fine living alone now." Liu Feng smiled awkwardly. The pain of being betrayed by his wife had long since made him lose faith in marriage.

Liang Ladi knew Liu Feng's personality well, so she didn't say anything more.

"Comrade Liang Ladi, I remember you have a good relationship with Comrade Aiguo, right?" Liu Feng got straight to the point.

“That’s great. You’re aware of the situation, otherwise I wouldn’t be the leader of the training group.” Liang Ladi didn’t hide anything from Liu Feng.

"Here's the thing, I got news from an old leader in a ministry that Li Aiguo has created a 'four-legged tractor' and is preparing for mass production. I was thinking of bringing this project to our factory." Liu Feng added, worried that Liang Ladi wouldn't understand: "This 'four-legged tractor' is actually a large tractor with a trailer."

Liang Ladi's eyes lit up instantly.

The machinery factory was originally a tractor factory, but the tractor production line was later shut down, and it was reduced to repairing tractors.

There's a hierarchy in factories too; repaired factories are definitely inferior to newly built ones.

If the factory could take on projects that are neither fish nor fowl, it could regain its former glory.

"Factory manager, I will do my best." As someone working at the machinery factory, Liang Ladi nodded in agreement without hesitation.

When Liang Ladi arrived at the workshop, the workers there also learned about the factory's plans.

“Ladi, most of our factory workers are on leave right now, you have to keep an eye on this.”

"Yes, we older folks are alright, we have some savings. But those young guys have no work and just laze around all day, they're bound to get into trouble."

These craftsmen usually took good care of Liang Ladi.

Liang Ladi nodded and said, "Master Zhang, Master Zhou, I will try to talk to them. As for whether it will work out, that depends on what the Qianmen Locomotive Depot thinks."

The experienced craftsmen understood this principle and didn't say anything more.

When Li Aiguo returned to the courtyard house from Weizhuang Commune, it was already eight o'clock in the evening.

Liang Ladi waited for him after get off work.

Seeing him return, he greeted him with a smile, took his arm and said, "Brother Aiguo, Nanyi caught a pheasant today. Come on, let's go to his house for a drink."

"I haven't gone back yet." Li Aiguo felt that Liang Ladi's attitude was a bit strange.

"I've already spoken to Xue Ru. Today you're part of my family, so come on over."

Without saying a word, Liang Ladi pulled Li Aiguo into the house.

On the table was a plate of stir-fried pheasant and a plate of peanuts. The children had already eaten their fill and were playing nearby.

Liang Ladi asked Nan Yi to take the child to the next room and poured Li Aiguo a glass of wine.

"Brother Aiguo, I really have to thank you for making me the leader of the maintenance training team," Liang Ladi said sincerely, raising her glass.

Although the machinery factory takes a cut of her salary, the subsidies from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot are real and substantial.

With five catties of refined white flour and brown sugar every month, the children have grown a lot in the past six months.

Li Aiguo didn't stand on ceremony and drank the wine in one gulp.

After a few drinks, the atmosphere in the room became lively.

Liang Ladi said with a smile, "Brother Aiguo, I heard you created a four-legged creature that doesn't resemble anything else."

"Yes, that's true." Li Aiguo picked up a piece of pheasant meat with his chopsticks and chewed it slowly. The taste was more tender than that of ordinary chicken.

"Our factory used to manufacture tractors, specifically the Julong brand tractors."

Li Aiguo had also heard of this brand of tractor.

It was copied from the Russians, but the machinery factory made some modifications, installed an automatic chassis, and it can be used for both water and land purposes.

The idea is quite good, and the technique is also decent.

Well, for a tractor, it's too flashy.

On dry land, it was not as good as Dongfanghong; on irrigated land, it was not as good as the water buffalo cart. It was also particularly prone to breaking down. After several batches were produced, it was discontinued due to quality issues.

“We have experience in producing tractors and a large number of skilled workers. If you entrust the production of the four-wheeled vehicle to us, we can definitely produce it with guaranteed quality and quantity,” Liang Ladi added.

Li Aiguo finally understood what Liang Ladi meant. In fact, thinking about it, the machinery factory was indeed a good fit.

In addition, the machinery factory itself has repair personnel, so in the future, the maintenance of the four-legged vehicle can be handed over to them, which can be regarded as providing after-sales service.

Of course, Li Aiguo wouldn't make any guarantees.

“Liang Ladi, this matter still needs to be approved by the Ministry of Machine Building. I can only offer my opinions.”

Hearing this, Liang Ladi felt relieved.

Liu Feng had found out everything: the higher-ups specifically requested to hear Li Aiguo's opinion this time, and as long as he spoke up, the matter was practically settled.

"Come on, patriotic brother, let me toast you." Liang Ladi saw that Nan Yi was still in a daze, so she nudged his arm: "Nan Yi, hurry up and pour the wine."

"Huh?" Nan Yi quickly stood up.

It was past nine o'clock at night when Li Aiguo left the Nan Yi family's house. It was pitch black outside, and he could vaguely hear stray cats meowing. As for why the stray cats were meowing, those who know, know.

After taking only two steps, I saw two dark figures carrying things out of the Jia family's house.

Could it be a thief? Li Aiguo grabbed a flashlight and shone it over.

But instead, they saw Yi Zhonghai and Qin Huairu.

Qin Huairu was carrying a chair when she was blinded by the beam of the flashlight, and she looked somewhat flustered.

Yi Zhonghai was also startled and quickly said awkwardly, "It's Aiguo. These chairs are broken. I'll take them back and help Qin Huairu fix them."

After saying that, Yi Zhonghai quickly gave Qin Huairu a wink, and the two of them carried the chairs away.

Repairing chairs so late at night?

Li Aiguo sensed something was wrong, but he couldn't quite figure it out.

Xu Damao, who lived across the street, came out when he heard the commotion and offered Li Aiguo a cigarette.

"Brother Da Mao, what's going on here?" Li Aiguo asked, pointing at the two men's backs as he held a cigarette between his fingers.

“I don’t understand either. Liu Lan said that Qin Huairu came back from the neighborhood office today and started secretly moving all the valuable furniture from her house to Yi Zhonghai’s house.” Xu Damao scratched his head, seemingly puzzled as well.

Li Aiguo narrowed his eyes slightly; Qin Huairu's behavior was too strange.

However, this matter had nothing to do with Li Aiguo, so he turned around and went home. At this moment, Chen Xueru was awakened. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Li Aiguo, and then she fell asleep again in a daze.

Silent all night.

The next morning, Li Aiguo was awakened by the sound of arguing outside.

"Fine, you not only don't pay your debts, but you've also hidden your things!"

"Qin Huairu, get out here right now!"

Li Aiguo immediately knew it was about Jia Dongxu's debt.

When will this ever end? It's all this same old nonsense again.

The three children were also awakened and started crying because they hadn't slept well. Chen Xueru frantically tried to soothe them.

As a new father, Li Aiguo knew how difficult it was to soothe a child, so he put on his clothes and went out.

The residents of the compound were alerted and came to the central courtyard one after another.

"Brother Zhang, Brother Wang, what brings you here?" Qin Huairu had no choice but to open the door and come out because the door was blocked.

Banggeng and Xiaodang hid behind her, looking somewhat frightened.

“Sister-in-law, do you know why we’re here? It’s time to pay back the money Jia Dongxu owes,” Zhang Youde said first.

Zhang Youde and Wang Liangxin were both card-playing friends of Jia Dongxu, and Jia Dongxu borrowed money from them quite a bit.

“Didn’t we agree on this yesterday? Dongxu didn’t leave any money behind. That little bit of compensation is for me to raise my child,” Qin Huairu said, biting her lip.

“Okay, even if the compensation is yours, what about the furniture in the house?” Wang Liangxin said. “Jia Dongxu borrowed so much money and hasn’t paid it back. Today we’re going to move the furniture.”

"Furniture." Qin Huairu was still a little hesitant.

"You should think this through. We're all from this area, and we might run into each other again sometime."

The surrounding residents had already gathered around.

"Everyone, we are Jia Dongxu's creditors. We're here today to collect our debts. We don't want any trouble. The little money we've saved isn't easy to come by. Our wives and children are waiting to buy rice. If we've disturbed you all, I apologize in advance." Zhang Youde cupped his hands in greeting to the residents.

This made it difficult for the surrounding residents to intervene.

“This is a debt dispute between us and the Jia family. Don’t worry, we’re not bad people. We have an IOU,” Wang Liangxin said.

Qin Huairu looked conflicted. She felt that Yi Zhonghai's method was somewhat inappropriate, but she had no other choice.

Seeing that the time was right, Yi Zhonghai walked over with his hands behind his back.

"What furniture? The Jia family is dirt poor, where would they have any furniture?"

As he spoke, Yi Zhonghai pushed open the door.

The residents all looked inside, and Li Aiguo glanced in as well. Good heavens, the main room was empty except for a small stool.

It's obvious without asking that Yi Zhonghai took Qin Huairu and moved into his house last night.

The two of them went a bit too far; they didn't even leave behind their bedding, and the large iron pot they used for cooking was gone too.

This reminded Li Aiguo of the practices of deadbeats in later generations.

"Great, all the furniture's been moved! But Qin Huairu works at the steel mill, so she must get a monthly salary, right?" Zhang Youde, being an experienced man, immediately saw through the trickery.

Yi Zhonghai straightened his collar and said calmly, "Jia Dongxu has borrowed a lot of money from me before, and he always wrote IOUs. Starting next month, I will collect Qin Huairu's monthly salary on her behalf."

Li Aiguo nodded.

That's right, it's the same old deadbeat who transferred assets.

"Well, old man, this was all your design, wasn't it!" Wang Liangxin was rather impulsive and immediately rolled up his sleeves.

Zhang Youde pulled him aside, walked up to Yi Zhonghai, and said coldly, "Who are you? This is a family matter between us and the Jia family. Don't meddle in other people's business."

"I am Yi Zhonghai, the eldest uncle in this courtyard. What happens in this courtyard is my business." Yi Zhonghai raised his head high and glanced at the surrounding residents, intentionally or unintentionally.

Li Aiguo did come up with a good idea, but it still didn't solve the problem. There was still furniture in the Jia family's house, so in the end, it was up to him, the old man, to take care of it.

"Yi Zhonghai, huh? I'll remember that name. I just don't know if your head is sturdy enough." Zhang Youde raised his fist and cracked his knuckles.

Yi Zhonghai's expression changed: "What do you want to do?"

"I'm not doing anything, just reminding you to be careful when walking at night in the future, and also to be careful with Qin Huairu and her little brats."

Hear this.

Qin Huairu's face turned ugly.

These scoundrels are capable of anything.

When Yi Zhonghai helped Qin Huairu transfer her assets, he didn't think of this and now feels somewhat regretful.

What if someone throws a brick at you while you're walking at night? Wouldn't that be a terrible injustice?

"Friend, let's talk things over."

"There's nothing to talk about. If you don't hand over the money today," Zhang Youde said, raising his fist.

"Hey, what are you doing, causing trouble in our compound?" Li Aiguo couldn't stand it anymore. No matter what, he couldn't just stand by and watch someone cause trouble in the compound.

"Looking for trouble, huh? This is none of your business. Go somewhere cool and stay put." With that, Zhang Youde shoved Li Aiguo.

This time he was determined to get the money, and it would be even better if he could take over the Jia family's house. Trying to reason with these thugs? Who do they think they are?

Therefore, Zhang Youde exerted a great deal of effort.

But when I pushed it, it didn't budge.

"Kid, you want to fight? You dare to be so arrogant in our yard? Beat him up!" Li Aiguo shouted, pushing Zhang Youde three or four meters away, where he crashed into a tree.

Xu Damao, Yan Jiecheng, and Yan Jiefang, a few other young men, had actually been holding back their anger for a long time.

Their conflict with Yi Zhonghai and the Jia family was an internal conflict.

Now that someone is bullying us in the compound, if we don't step in, we'll definitely be labeled as cowards and never be able to hold our heads high again.

Upon hearing Li Aiguo's shout, the group rushed forward.

Li Aiguo was the main strategist, Yan Jiecheng was the cooperating strategist, and Xu Damao used dirty tricks, throwing dirty punches and even a "Thousand Years of Kill" attack on Zhang Youde.

In the blink of an eye, the two were knocked down.

Yi Zhonghai also wanted to join in and scratch a few times, but the person had already fallen down, which made him very unhappy, like not getting any experience points in a game.

“This is a new society now. You’re harassing people with debts in their homes and even trying to take their furniture. You’re pretty impressive.” Li Aiguo grabbed Zhang Youde by the collar and pulled him up.

“You’re talking nonsense. This is a debt dispute. Jia Dongxu wrote an IOU. Even if we take this to the authorities, we’re in the right, and the authorities will stand up for us,” Zhang Youde said angrily.

"You think you can stand up for me? Fine, I'll call the police for you right now. You can go to the police station and have a good talk, and then go to court."

If the court awards the Jia family's furniture to you, I won't say a word.

But I'm afraid you wouldn't dare. Your perverse and heinous actions are truly suicidal.

Li Aiguo directly and forcefully slapped a big label on him.

He wasn't trying to scare the two of them, but with that much poop on their butts, they probably wouldn't make it out of the police station.

This is actually the same as the predatory loan sharks of later generations. The more afraid you are of those who are pressing for repayment, the more arrogant they become.

If things really come to a head, what else can we do?
"Do you want me to come with you?" Li Aiguo then asked.

"No need, no need." Zhang Youde's expression changed several times, but he finally waved his hand.

These people are so experienced, how could they not understand this?

They saw that Qin Huairu was a woman who was easy to bully, and that Yi Zhonghai was a pushover, so they first used the IOU to break the ice, and then directly threatened him.

Looking at the people in front of me, they were all tall and strong, especially the young man who looked like he knew martial arts. I couldn't beat him.

If you want to play tricks, you need an iron fist; otherwise, you'll only be good at talking.

This applies to an individual, a family, and especially to a large community.

As for why Li Aiguo stepped forward and deliberately brought along young people like Yan Jiecheng and Xu Damao,

This incident has been elevated to the level of a traditional courtyard house, meaning it's a matter for the courtyard house, and in the future, if anyone encounters a similar situation, everyone will help them.

This forms a collective, preventing them from becoming atomized individuals.

Take Indians for example. Everyone thinks they're dirty, but they do this very well.

Once they arrive abroad, they quickly become like barnacles on land, bringing all their relatives and friends with them, and then taking over their original ecological niche.

The locals were brought in and given visas because of a labor shortage.

A few days later, they discovered that their home had been raided.

In the end, only the local big capitalists benefit. Since it's all cheap labor anyway, does it make a difference whether they use locals or outsiders?

As long as they can be provided with benefits, that's enough.

Li Aiguo was puzzled.

Why can't some people understand such a simple truth?

Now, the people in the courtyard understand this principle, and their fighting spirit is aroused. Even Yan Jiedi came over carrying bricks.

Zhang Youde was also somewhat bewildered.

Now, his anus was in excruciating pain after Xu Damao's "thousand-year kill," probably because it was bleeding. He suspected that Xu Damao was an experienced practitioner.

"Let's go," Zhang Youde said softly.

“Let’s go, let’s go.” Wang Liangxin nodded.

The deal is completely off; we definitely won't get that money back.

Zhang Youde sighed.

After glancing at Li Aiguo, he realized that all the problems stemmed from Li Aiguo; he was the one who had brought down the people, and he was the one who had rallied these young people.

In the end, the two of them slunk away.

(End of this chapter)