The train driver in the courtyard

The commotion outside came suddenly.

Li Aiguo had only applied gun oil to half of the barrel when he was too preoccupied to discuss the intricacies of gun maintenance with Miss Chen.

He put on his clothes and went out of the house to the middle courtyard.

The residents of the courtyard house were already awakened by this time.

The lights in the east and west rooms gradually came on, and in the dim light, people moved about.

Xu Damao, Yan Jiecheng, Uncle San, and Aunt San all ran over, while Yi Zhonghai stood outside the door.

"What happened?"

"It's Huai Ru!" An older woman emerged from the house, her face beaded with sweat. "She had a bowl of cornmeal porridge tonight, and less than half an hour later she was clutching her stomach and moaning. She's probably about to give birth!"

The three women were quite experienced. After calculating the time, they slapped their thighs and said, "It should be about time. Hurry up and get them to the hospital!"

The third uncle also said, "Giving birth is a major event, not a penny can be saved, take her to the hospital! She must be taken to the hospital!"

The residents in the compound all suggested sending him to the hospital immediately, but they all turned their attention to Yi Zhonghai.

It's obvious that although Qin Huairu is currently a worker, her salary is only a dozen yuan, and having a child costs money.

Yi Zhonghai had been waiting for everyone to help, but seeing the situation was not good, he said dejectedly, "Everyone, take Qin Huairu to the hospital, why are you looking at me?"

Xu Damao, standing to the side, said sarcastically, "Old man, are you really stupid, or are you pretending to be stupid, or do you think we're all idiots? Don't you all know what kind of tricks you're up to?"

Lately, Yi Zhonghai has been treated like Qin Huairu's father-in-law, with an older woman taking good care of him and constantly sending good things to the Jia family.

Rumors are circulating in the compound that Yi Zhonghai has taken a liking to the child in Qin Huairu's belly.

Li Aiguo chuckled: "Some people only want to take what's readily available. There's no such thing as a free lunch. One shouldn't be too selfish."

"Yi Zhonghai, Qin Huairu is your apprentice. Now she has no relatives or friends in the capital. As her master, it wouldn't be right for you not to help her, would it?"

These words were far more hurtful than Xu Damao's sarcastic remarks, and Yi Zhonghai's face instantly turned red and white.

"Look at what you're saying. Huai Ru is my apprentice, almost like my daughter. How could I not help her? Come on, I'll take Huai Ru to the hospital."

The residents said they wouldn't help, but when it came to something as important as childbirth, they had to put aside any past grievances.

Nan Yi borrowed a tricycle from the neighboring compound.

The third aunt helped spread out the quilt, and the second aunt and Liang Ladi helped Qin Huairu onto the tricycle.

A group of people pushed their tricycles out of the courtyard in the dark and headed towards the hospital along the dark street.

On the tricycle, Qin Huairu leaned against the quilt, cold sweat beading on her forehead, staring at the dark night sky above, her heart heavy with anxiety.

When Chen Xueru gave birth, she rode in a large SUV, sheltered from the wind and rain, and had someone to take care of her.

But what about her?
The man is gone, and now she is pregnant. She needs the help of her neighbors to give birth, and she has to ride a tricycle through the dark to make it.

If she had persevered for a few more years back then, she wouldn't be in such a dire situation now.

Qin Huairu knew she regretted it.

After Qin Huairu was taken to the hospital, Yi Zhonghai first went to the payment counter to pay the bill, and then took the receipt back to the front of the delivery room.

He looked at the wooden door, his heart filled with anticipation, and he even began to imagine what the child would look like.

Ideally, the child should look like Jia Dongxu, be handsome, and have fair skin.

His personality is similar to that of Sha Zhu; he's not very bright, so he'll be easy to manipulate, and he'll have to be exceptionally good at fighting.

When the child grows up, he can be used as a weapon against Li Aiguo.

After a while.

A cry came from the delivery room, and Yi Zhonghai's heart began to pound.

"Has she given birth?"

"gave birth."

The delivery room door opened, and a nurse came out carrying a baby, looking around and asking, "Who are the mother's family members?"

"I, I am, I am her master!" Yi Zhonghai hurriedly ran over and asked, "Is he a man?"

"It's a little girl," the nurse replied.

"Huh?!" Yi Zhonghai felt like he had been doused with a bucket of cold water.

She put her raised foot back down and whispered, "How could that be? I clearly had someone calculate it, and it was definitely going to be a boy for Qin Huairu. How could it be?"

The nurse frowned: "What's wrong with you, old man? These days, it's the same whether it's a boy or a girl. Besides, you're the new mother's mentor, why are you meddling so much?"

Yi Zhonghai then realized his lapse in composure, reached out and took the child, forcing a smile onto his face.

He felt like he had tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead.

Yi Zhonghai barely knew how he got home. He lay diagonally on the bed, sighing repeatedly.

"What a mess! I thought I could get a good deal, but who knew Qin Huairu would give birth to a girl? What are we going to do?"

An older woman, unable to bear it any longer, said, "Old Yi, Huai Ru didn't give birth to a son this time, but she's still your apprentice. What, you're not going to help her?"

Yi Zhonghai snorted and said, "Help? A daughter raised is like water spilled; even Qin Huairu wouldn't rely on this child for her old age. How could I?"

"Relying on her is like throwing that money down the drain."

An older woman tried to persuade him further, but Yi Zhonghai interrupted her: "Stop talking, let's focus our energy on Sha Zhu."

This guy isn't exactly a good person, but his advantage is that he's brainless. If handled properly, he can be a good retirement prospect.

The older woman knew that Yi Zhonghai was now focused on finding someone to care for him in his old age, and that there was no point in trying to persuade him otherwise, so she had to give up.

Qin Huairu only stayed in the hospital for a few days before taking her child back to the courtyard house.

Yi Zhonghai no longer takes care of the Jia family like before; only a few older women from the compound occasionally come to help out.

Qin Huairu knew the reason, and picked up the crying child, her brows furrowed with worry.

Seeing that she was in a bad mood, the second aunt didn't know how to comfort her, so she changed the subject: "Huai Ru, the baby hasn't been named yet, has it?"

Qin Huairu looked outside and sighed, "I raised her all by myself, without rice or flour, and life was so hard that I couldn't get through it. I just hoped that she would be like this locust flower, with a humble life that is easy to raise, and not picky about food or clothing. Let's call her Little Locust Flower."

*****
"Little locust flower?" Li Aiguo learned about this while having dinner.

"The residents in the compound saw that Qin Huairu was having a hard time, so they all gave her some things. What about our family?" Chen Xueru asked, tilting her head.

"Just follow the crowd. Whatever Aunt Liu and the others give, we'll give them something too. Just don't make it too flashy, but don't make it too shabby either." Li Aiguo didn't care about those little things anymore.

"Okay, I'll ask Aunt Liu tomorrow what would be suitable to send."

Chen Xueru stood up, collected the dishes and chopsticks, and went into the kitchen to wash and clean.

Li Aiguo was not paying attention to Qin Huairu's childbirth; at present, the Ministry of Railways' state-owned farms were transporting large quantities of grain seeds to the local areas.

To prevent any mishaps, Li Aiguo suggested that the meteorological station mobilize meteorologists from various regions to participate in the seed distribution work.

However, some people at the weather station had some doubts about this.

"Seeds are so tiny, they can be easily put in a pocket and taken out. Even if we wanted to, we couldn't prevent them from coming out."

Old Cat, who was in charge of the mission, chuckled: "You still don't understand what Comrade Patriot means."

When the officials pressed for more details, Old Cat hardened his expression and said, "Have you forgotten the rules of our weather station?"

"Yes," the meteorologists immediately understood.

This isn't about supervising the distribution of seeds; it's about catching mice!
As fully armed escort trucks drove off to all parts of the country, a vast net was cast.

As the person in charge of a certain area in Northeast China, Lao Mao also said goodbye to his fiancée and boarded the truck.

Looking at the receding scenery outside, the old cat muttered to himself, "Seeds are something you can just slip into your pocket and take out. Why is the train driver making such a fuss?"

A few days later.

In a remote forest in Northeast China, a middle-aged man dressed as a hunter shared this principle with Chen Tou, a member of the Dongfanghong Fishery Cooperative.

"Brother, is this matter as simple as you make it sound?" Chen Mai looked at the middle-aged man, his mind somewhat dazed.

The middle-aged man was named Chen Mai, and he was Chen Mai's older brother. Before the liberation, he ran away with his landlord father and thought he would never see him again in this life.

Who knew that Chen Tou would run into his older brother again in the mountains near the cooperative.

His older brother also brought him a lot of gifts, many of which Chen Mai had never even seen before.

After exchanging pleasantries, the older brother told Chen Mai that he had initially worked for a large seed company owned by Xiao Mei's family.

I came back here this time because I heard that the mainland has developed high-yield corn seeds, and I wanted to take them back to learn from them.

"Don't worry, I've arranged everything. Just get me fifty kilograms of seeds this time, and I promise I'll take you out of here." Chen Mai took out a packet of Hademen seeds, pulled out a root, and handed it to Chen Tou.

"Try this, it's foreign cigarettes. One pack is enough for you to work in the commune for a year."

Chen Tou still felt it was inappropriate; if he got caught, he would definitely be imprisoned.

Chen Mai had anticipated his reaction and said calmly, "Do you really want to stay here and be a lone wolf for the rest of your life?"

These words struck a nerve with Chen Tou.

After liberation, although Chen Tou became a member of the cooperative and had no worries about food and drink, no girl was willing to marry him because of his family background.

He's almost thirty years old and has never even held a woman's hand.

"Let me tell you, foreign women are so fair-skinned, and they're incredibly open-minded. If they like you, they'll sleep with you that very night." Chen Mai had been watching Chen Tou's expression closely, and seeing his look, he had pretty much guessed what was going on.

He coaxed, "Once things are done, the company will give you a huge bonus, tens of thousands of dollars. I'll give it all to you. You can have any beautiful woman you want."

Chen Tou had also heard about things abroad.

He was completely convinced at this point and nodded emphatically: "Brother, I'll listen to you. I'll start planting as soon as the corn seeds arrive at the commune tomorrow."

"Alright, alright, brother, I won't treat you unfairly."

After agreeing on a meeting place, Chen Mai turned and went into the grove.

Chen Tou stood there, gazing at the distant scenery, seemingly already envisioning a bright future.

He stood there for more than ten minutes before returning to the commune.

The next morning, Chen Tou was awakened by a knock on the door. When he opened it, Aunt Wang from next door was standing outside.

"Hey, everyone's gone to welcome the seeds, why aren't you up yet?"

Aunt Wang said somewhat anxiously, "This is a good time to perform, you have to be proactive, you know?"

"I understand, Auntie." After Chen Tou's parents and brother left, he survived thanks to Aunt Wang's care.

Seeing the concern on Aunt Wang's face, Chen Tou hesitated for a moment.

If I get arrested, will it implicate Aunt Wang?
"Go on, here, this is a steamed bun I got for you from the cafeteria. Eat it quickly, don't let anyone see you." Aunt Wang stuffed a hot steamed bun into his hand before leaving.

Chen Tou watched Aunt Wang's retreating figure, let out a long sigh, and finally placed the steamed bun on the table. He then straightened his collar and strode towards the commune.

The truck had already stopped in front of the commune.

The production team leader was leading the commune members to move bags of corn seeds into the warehouse.

"Everyone be careful. The higher-ups said the yield of these corn seeds is over 1,000 jin per mu. Our commune's grain output is going to double!" the commune secretary shouted from the side. "Then we'll never have to go hungry again!"

"Once we have enough food next year, it's time to arrange marriages for the children."

"Yeah yeah!"

The scene immediately became lively, and the faces of the members were filled with hope for the future.

Chen Tou looked at it with a sinister expression for a while, then quickly walked up and said, "Secretary, can I help transport the seeds too?"

"Can you carry it?" The Party Secretary was worried that Chen Tou wouldn't be able to handle it.

"It's okay, everyone's not afraid of getting tired, and neither am I." Chen Tou rolled up his sleeves and raised his fist.

"Alright, alright, Chen Tou, it seems you've thought it through. Let bygones be bygones. As long as you work hard, you'll be a good member of our commune."

The Party Secretary nodded with satisfaction, then called over the production team leader and assigned Chen Tou to the grain transport team.

The sacks were very heavy, weighing nearly 200 pounds each, and Chen Tou staggered as he carried them on his shoulders.

I was exhausted and covered in sweat after carrying just a few bags.

When the production team leader saw how exhausted he was, he told him to take a break.

While people outside were discussing how to plant the seeds, the commune members inside the warehouse were only concerned with carrying heavy sacks.

Chen quietly crept to the back of the warehouse, took off his outer pants, and surprisingly found he was wearing another pair of pants underneath.

Chen tied his trouser legs with a rope and then stuffed corn inside them.

The corn was very gritty and made my body very itchy, but Chen Tou filled both pant legs completely before putting on his outer pants.

"Chen Tou, what are you doing?" A voice came from outside as soon as he stood up.

Chen Tou turned pale with fright and stood there stunned.

The production team leader walked over and looked him up and down: "This is the granary. If it's convenient for you, go outside."

"Right, right, I almost forgot." Chen hurriedly fastened his belt, then clutched his stomach and staggered out of the warehouse.

It's sunny outside.

Laughter and cheerful voices could be heard outside.

As long as these corn seeds are sent out, you can marry a foreign woman and live a life of luxury, instead of eating coarse food and wild vegetables here.

Hope is within reach.

Just as Chen Tou was pushing through the crowd and about to disappear into the grove, a dark gun barrel emerged from the side and aimed at him.

"do not move!"

At the critical moment, Chen Tou did not panic.

Turning his head, he saw that the person who came was a militiaman from the commune, and quickly said with a smile, "It's Ershuanzi! It's me, Chen Tou. My stomach hurts, I need to go to the toilet."

"Team Leader Cat, is there something wrong with this guy?" The militiaman ignored Chen Tou and turned to look at a comrade wearing a gray Zhongshan suit.

That's right, the person who came was the cat leader of the weather station.

At this moment, the cat leader's face was calm, but his heart was filled with turbulent waves.

He originally thought the train driver's worries were unnecessary, but he never expected that someone would actually steal the seeds.

"Whether there's a problem or not, we'll find out by checking." Old Cat composed himself, pointed at Chen Tou, and ordered the militiamen to take him away.

Although Chen Tou did not recognize Lao Mao or know his identity, he knew that things were in trouble. He pushed aside the militiamen next to him and ran into the grove.

The militiaman raised his hand as if to fire, but hesitated.

They were all from the same commune, and no one wanted to believe that the brother who was bragging and joking with them yesterday was Dieter.

In just a few seconds, Chen Tou darted seven or eight meters away, leaving only about thirty meters from the shadows of the woods. He could run a couple more steps and disappear into the misty forest and escape!

"boom!"

Gunshots were fired.

Chen Tou's left leg went numb, he lost his balance and fell heavily to the ground like a torn sack, his face covered in mud.

The militiamen turned around and saw that it was Old Cat who had fired the shot.

"Bring the person over here!" A hint of anger appeared on Old Cat's face.

The militia captain then realized that he had almost made a big mistake and hurriedly led his men to arrest Chen.

As soon as they reached Chen Tou's side, their expressions changed simultaneously.

Chen Tou's left leg was pierced by a bullet, leaving a dark hole in his pants.

At this moment, corn seeds flowed out of the cave. Those corn seeds, stained with blood, were particularly glaring on the black soil.

"It's seeds! He hid seeds in his trouser leg!"

"You bastard Chen Tou, it's Dieter!"

"That son of a bitch Dieter dared to steal seeds."

"This is the hope of our commune!"

"Hit him!"

The commune members heard the commotion and rushed over. Seeing the situation, they swarmed forward, grabbed their weapons, and were about to beat Chen Tou up.

The militia captain quickly stopped the villagers: "Fellow villagers, I understand your anger, but the comrades above still need to investigate the case and keep this son of a bitch alive."

The commune members then stopped and stood aside.

Once the situation was under control, Old Cat stepped forward, bent down, and stared coldly at Chen Tou.

"Tell me, who ordered you to do this?"

I, Chen, originally wanted to deny it.

The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he looked at the angry commune members, then at Aunt Wang who looked incredulous, and finally sighed deeply: "It's Chen Mai, he's hiding in a shack in the mountains."

The old cat stood up, his heart filled with excitement.

This time we caught a big fish.

Big Fish is cunning and might escape at the slightest noise. To prevent any leaks, Old Cat kept all the militiamen and commune members inside the warehouse.

Then a group of meteorologists were transferred from the Jichun Meteorological Station and sent to the commune.

The arrest was easier than anyone expected. Chen Mai was completely unsuspecting and stayed hidden in the shack, waiting for Chen to bring him corn seeds.

He didn't realize what was happening until the gun barrel was pressed against his forehead.

The arrest went smoothly, but the interrogation went somewhat erratically.

Chen Mai admitted that he came in from outside to steal the seeds, but denied that he was instructed by Langley. Instead, he claimed to be an employee of a seed company and that he was entrusted by the company to do such a thing.

"What kind of company is this? It's so powerful! You still won't confess now!" the interrogator shouted.

"I've confessed everything. I really am an employee of Mengshandu Company. The company sent me here." Chen Mai was crying and trembling, but he didn't seem to be lying.

That's strange. How could such a small company have the audacity to send people here to steal seeds?
Old Cat sensed something was amiss, so he ordered his men to escort the brothers Chen Mai and Chen Tou to the capital.

Li Aiguo was assembling a sports car when he received a call from the weather station, asking him to attend a meeting.

"Professor Chen, the brakes need to be adjusted again. I'll be right back."

The V12 engine has now passed testing, and the assembly of the sports car is underway. As this is the first batch of sports cars, extra care is required.

"Go ahead." Chen Zunan squatted down and continued to guide the workers.

Li Aiguo arrived at the weather station on his mountain bike and saw Lao Mao coming out of the interrogation room as soon as he entered.

"How's it going?" Li Aiguo handed Old Cat a cigarette and asked with a smile.

“We used a lie detector expert, and the interrogation results are similar to those in Northeast China. Aiguo, can you help analyze this? What kind of agricultural company is so audacious? Do they really think they are the East India Company?” Old Cat said, handing the interrogation records to Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo took it, his gaze falling on the three words "Fierce Poison Mountain," and he immediately felt relieved.

"So it's Poison Mountain. That makes everything clear."

"What? This company is really more powerful than the East India Company?" Old Cat exclaimed in surprise.

"Ha, Venom Mountain's apparent strength is certainly inferior to that of the East India Company, but in the agricultural sector, it is by no means inferior."

Seeing that Lao Mao didn't believe him, Li Aiguo asked the clerk to retrieve the reports related to Mengdu Mountain from the archives and the Beijing Library.

Mengdushan appears to be an agricultural biotechnology company, but it actually started out in the chemical industry.

After making a fortune by extracting saccharin from coal tar in the 18th century, they began to reap the benefits of combining food and chemical industries.

Knowing that polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) contain highly toxic substances, they were used to produce rice bran oil, resulting in thousands of people being poisoned and dozens of deaths.

The orange agent used by Xiaomei's family was mostly produced by Mengdushan Company.

As for the pesticide industry, the evil things that Mengdushan has come up with are countless.

It can be said that in the past half-century, the number of people who have died directly or indirectly at the hands of Venomous Mountain may exceed that of a small war.

Li Aiguo did not oppose agricultural chemical industry; in fact, he was quite supportive of it.

However, regardless of the type of technology being promoted, the principle of safety first should be followed.

Can you imagine that when MightyMobil was promoting DDT, they had models eat hot dogs and drink beverages on-site while DDT was being sprayed, in order to prove the safety of DDT?

DDT has also successfully harmed a large number of people.

This is the kind of evil company that is now planning to enter the seed industry, which is why Chen Mai ran back to steal the seeds.

"How could Xiao Mei's family allow such a company to exist? And even allow them to enter the seed industry?" The farmer also looked through the information and felt that something was wrong. With all the crazy things that Meng Du Shan had done, they should have been punished long ago.

Li Aiguo asked, "Teacher, have you ever heard of the concept of a food war?"

Li Aiguo briefly explained the operating model of the four major grain merchants (ABCD) in later generations.

These four grain merchants are also known as the "Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse," representing war, plague, death, and famine.

"If you control the food, you control all of humanity."

To control food production, one must control seeds, pesticides, and so on. While Venom Mountain may appear to be an ordinary agricultural biotechnology company, it is actually backed by Whitehouse and is merely a front man.

At this point, Li Aiguo felt a sense of relief.
It was only because our predecessors had a long-term vision and insisted on self-sufficiency in staple foods that we were spared from harm.

The Indians were really screwed over.

"The food war."

Although Li Aiguo's explanation was vague, the farmer, who had survived countless battles, instantly realized the danger of a food war.

"Aiguo, write down your thoughts in a report, and I'll submit it right away."

This war without gunfire is far more terrifying than a real hail of bullets.

(End of this chapter)