The train driver in the courtyard

"Radish, oh my radish!"

The next morning, Li Aiguo was awakened by a commotion.

The sound was terrifyingly mournful, carrying a sense of despair as if the sky were falling; it was no small matter!
Li Aiguo was startled and, not daring to delay things, changed his clothes and ran out.

At this moment, Zhang Gangzhu and Xu Damao were also alerted and ran out.

"What happened?"

"Perhaps the radishes from Uncle San's house are missing."

"A thief broke in? A radish thief?" Zhang Gangzhu's expression changed. Ever since the neighborhood patrol team was established, not a single needle or thread had been stolen from the compound.

When the group arrived at the cellar, a large crowd had already gathered outside.

The third uncle, Yan Bugui, was squatting on the ground, clutching several radishes tightly in his arms. His shoulders were shaking, and he was muttering, "My radishes...it breaks my heart..."

"Uncle, the radishes weren't stolen, were they?" Li Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this; it seemed no thief had broken in.

"It wasn't lost, but look at these radishes, they've been ruined like this."

The old man held the radish high in his hand, and everyone could see that the middle of the radish had been hollowed out.

Yi Zhonghai, who rarely comes to watch a spectacle, said with great experience, "It must have been done by rats. Old Yan, how could you be so careless?"

Two years have passed since the Fourth Rebellion, and the number of rats in the compound has increased again. Especially after the troubles of the previous two years, the rats have become more cunning.

Poisoning and mousetraps are no longer effective; residents in the compound now rarely store vegetables in cellars.

Yan Bugui wiped away his tears, looking at the pile of ruined radishes, feeling utterly helpless: "What can I do? I can't just move all these 1,000-plus jin of radishes into the house and pile them up, can I?"

Seeing that no thief had entered, the group felt the melon was not very interesting and dispersed in twos and threes.

Li Aiguo also went home to prepare to wash up and eat. Tomorrow, Lao Mao is getting married, and he needs to prepare gifts for them today.

The third uncle dared not leave the cellar, fearing that the rats would come and steal his radishes again.

But the third uncle has to go to work today, so he can't stay here all the time.

He squatted at the entrance of the cellar for a moment, then shouted to the three old women, "Old woman, call Jiecheng, Jiefang, Jiekuang, and Jiedi over. We need to have a family meeting."

Upon hearing this, the three women quickly ran back into the house and called all the children out.

Li Aiguo and Xu Damao, along with several other young men, sat at their doorsteps, holding bowls and chopsticks, drinking corn porridge and eating pickled vegetables while waiting to see what would happen.

When the Yan family children arrived, they were all completely bewildered.

Yan Bugui cleared his throat, glanced at the children's faces, and adopted the demeanor of an old teacher: "The purpose of this meeting today is to discuss how to prevent rats from stealing our radishes. We need to develop an action plan and fight these wretched rats to the bitter end!"

Li Aiguo took a sip of corn porridge and couldn't help but interject, "Uncle, I think this plan should be called 'Protect the Carrot,' it's easy to remember and quite fitting."

"Protect the Carrot?" Yan Bugui clicked his tongue twice, his eyes lighting up. "Great! It's catchy, concise, let's call it that!"

Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang felt that the name sounded a bit strange, but they didn't think much of it; it was just a name.

The name of the plan has been chosen, but the problem lies in how to formulate the plan.

Rats are too difficult to deal with.

The third uncle suggested setting up beds in the cellar, with the Yan brothers taking turns on duty.

The fifth person is Yan Jiecheng, the second and sixth person is Yan Jiefang, the third and fourth person is Yan Jiekuang, the third person is Uncle on duty on weekends, Yan Jiedi is a girl and it is inconvenient for her, and the third person is Aunt in charge of logistics.

The entire plan can be said to have ensured that responsibilities were assigned to specific individuals, and that everyone had something to do.

However, the plan was immediately opposed by several children.

"Dad, I have to go to work! It's just some radishes, why make such a fuss?" Yan Jiecheng said reluctantly.

“I’m the class monitor, I have to be the first to open the school gate, how can I have time to guard the vegetable cellar?” Yan Jiefang retorted stubbornly.

"Dad, I'm afraid of the dark."

The third uncle rubbed his forehead in frustration, lamenting, "The incompetence of the army is killing its commander!"

At this moment, the third aunt slapped her thigh and said, "Aiguo has researched a lot of good things to deal with rats before, we can ask Aiguo for advice."

All eyes immediately turned to Li Aiguo.

"You've definitely completed 'Defend the Radish'." As an expert, Li Aiguo didn't refuse and shared some methods based on his experience.

For example, build more area-of-effect turrets, especially frost turrets.
Ahem, it’s a conspiracy.

"Uncle, the rats have become clever these days, and a single trap is no longer enough to catch them."

I think you should set up a series of traps, starting from the entrance of the cellar and continuing inside, creating a trap array.

Li Aiguo felt that this method was similar to the "Protect the Radish" model.

"Hey, patriotism, you know what, this is a pretty good idea!"

The old man's eyes lit up, and he suddenly stood up, raising his fist: "Now, I declare the Great Carrot Protection Operation officially open!"

The old man was not usually an impatient person, but when he saw the precious radishes being eaten by rats, he instantly transformed from an old teacher into a general on the battlefield.

He led Yan Jiecheng to find seven or eight mousetraps, which they placed inside the cellar from the entrance, forming a long, serpentine array.

They also set up a bucket trap with a flap on top; if a mouse jumped on it, it would fall down.

To prevent any skilled rats from crossing the area, the third uncle specially found a white steamed bun, stuffed rat poison inside, and threw it next to the sand pile.

The residents of the compound had long suffered from rats, so they came to help, and in just one morning, they managed to build up their stronghold.

The adults also specifically told their children not to go into the vegetable cellar for the next few days.

"Hehe, no matter how powerful the rat is, it can't get in. I'm sure I'll win this battle to protect the carrot!" The third uncle clapped his hands and smiled smugly.

Li Aiguo really wanted to see the results of the "Protect the Carrot" game, but he still had to go to work. After finishing his meal, he slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and went to the studio.

He first took a walk around the studio to handle some work, and then called Yang Jizong into his office around noon.

"I remember we exported some scooter motorcycles a while ago, and we still had some scrap materials left over, right?"

"Yes, we have the car body and the engine." Yang Jizong didn't know what Li Aiguo was up to, so he answered honestly.

“Pick a pink car body, something new, and assemble a women’s motorcycle. I need it,” Li Aiguo said, pulling out a wad of cash from his pocket and handing it over.

This is the money for purchasing waste materials, which will be recorded in the accounts later.

The studio now operates under standardized management, and every single expense must be meticulously recorded.

"Brother Aiguo, don't worry, I guarantee I'll get this done for you." Yang Jizong could tell that the motorcycle was going to be given away, so he didn't waste any time. He went into the warehouse, selected a set of materials, and personally led the team to assemble it.

In the evening, after get off work, Yang Jizong delivered the scooter to Li Aiguo's office.

Li Aiguo checked it and found only minor scratches on the shell, which would fit perfectly with the gold star sticker.

He then found a bright red "double happiness" character and pasted it on top. After doing all this, Li Aiguo put the scooter into the trunk of the large off-road vehicle.

I drove back to the courtyard house, and I'll give it to Old Cat as a gift when he gets married tomorrow.

With the large SUV parked outside the courtyard house, there was no fear of anyone having any malicious intentions.

Upon entering the courtyard, Li Aiguo immediately realized that something was amiss.

The children in the compound were nowhere to be seen, and the compound was very quiet. In the past, these children would often play wildly in the compound after school.

When I got to the backyard, I realized that the little guys were all squatting in front of the cellar, watching with longing as Uncle San protected the radishes.

Li Aiguo stepped forward and offered the Third Uncle a cigarette, teasingly saying, "Third Uncle, you're now a general who commands the three armies."

"Aiguo, you're teasing me again. I'm just a teacher, I can only fight with rats, what kind of general am I?" The third uncle took the cigarette and squatted down to the side so that Li Aiguo could stand there.

"How was the battle?" Li Aiguo gestured with his chin toward the cellar.

"Jie Cheng just went in; he'll probably catch a few rats."

Before the Third Uncle could finish speaking, Yan Jiecheng's voice came from inside.

"Dad, Dad, the radishes have been stolen again!"

"Hey, how many rats did you catch?" the old man shouted from the entrance of the cellar.

"Not a single one was caught!"

"."

The third uncle looked at his own long, single-line formation and could hardly believe his ears.

He called out a few more times into the room, and Yan Jiecheng replied somewhat dejectedly, "Father, if you don't believe me, come and see for yourself."

The third uncle opened the cellar door and went in, followed by Li Aiguo, Zhang Gangzhu, Xu Damao, and the children.

The cellar lights were switched on, and Li Aiguo could see the situation below clearly, but he couldn't help but frown.

Dozens more radishes were gnawed off. Perhaps feeling targeted, the rats deliberately vented their anger, taking a few bites and then throwing them aside.

The steamed bun that the third uncle had placed there was gone, but the rat poison had been thrown on the ground.

"Arrogant! Too arrogant! This rat is too arrogant!" The old man was so angry that his beard trembled.

"That's not right. None of the traps outside were triggered. How did the rat get in?" Xu Damao paced back and forth twice.

Although he looked down on the Third Uncle, he admired the traps the Third Uncle had set. Not to mention rats, even weasels couldn't escape them.

This caught everyone's attention, and they searched everywhere for traces of the rat.

Ultimately, it was Yan Jiedi who deserved credit. She pointed to a hole in the wall and said, "Father, look, isn't this a mouse hole?"

Third Uncle: "."

Xu Damao: "."

Li Aiguo: "."

Well, after setting up so many traps outside, the enemy was hiding inside the house.

The cellar of the courtyard house has a history of over a hundred years. It is estimated that it was filled with rat holes long ago. Even if the hole is sealed, the rats can still dig holes from other places.

Yan Bugui stared at the hole, his face turning pale and then red: "'Protect the Carrot' operation... has failed!"

However, this wasn't entirely without merit; at least it provided the residents of the compound with some topics for conversation after dinner.

In the evening, Li Aiguo returned home and discussed with Chen Xueru about attending Lao Mao's wedding banquet the next day.

The third uncle's family also held a second meeting. The room was filled with gloom, and the children all looked like defeated soldiers, their heads hanging low.

"No, we can't just let it go like this." The third uncle looked at Yan Jiecheng: "Eldest brother, you clear out the room, and we'll put the radishes in that room."

"Why should I?!" Yan Jiecheng immediately objected.

He had finally managed to clean the house thoroughly for the wedding and even pasted new newspapers on the windows.

The old man immediately realized that the words "One should not be too selfish" were inappropriate; wasn't that Lao Yi's line?

"Anyway, I don't agree!" Yan Jiecheng knew his third uncle's temperament well, so he didn't bother arguing with him and stormed into the house.

"This child, sigh, how can he be so insensible? I'm only doing this for the good of the family." The third uncle stood up to knock on the door, but was stopped by the third aunt.

“Old man, marriage is a major life event, what you did was really inappropriate.”

"We can't just watch those radishes get eaten by rats, can we?"

The old man was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly had an idea and slapped his thigh.

"I have an idea!"

"What method?" the third aunt asked.

"It's unspeakable, unspeakable! If we succeed this time, we can make a fortune." The third uncle excitedly put on his clothes and went to the cellar to continue guarding the radishes.

The three women watched his retreating figure, feeling that something was amiss, but they couldn't persuade him otherwise.

After all, this is Yan Bugui, who considers it a loss if he doesn't pick up money when he goes out.

*****
The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Li Aiguo got up and changed into clean clothes.

Today is Old Cat's wedding day, and he has to be responsible for picking up the bride.

As soon as he stepped outside, Li Aiguo saw a dark figure dart out of the cellar, shining a flashlight in his direction.

"Who?"

"It's me, I love my country, don't shout." The old man was blinded by the beam of light, shielding his eyes with one hand while holding several radishes in his other arm.

"Uncle, what are you doing in the middle of the night?" Li Aiguo saw that it was Uncle San and shone his flashlight, then moved the beam away.

"It's nothing, I was just worried about the rats, so I thought I'd take the radish back first." The old man's eyes darted around behind his glasses.

Li Aiguo was in a hurry to leave, so he didn't ask any more questions. He just told him to keep a low profile, since noise issues were now the responsibility of the neighborhood patrol team.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful. Aiguo, take care." The old man breathed a sigh of relief after watching Li Aiguo's figure disappear at the gate and hearing the car engine stop running.

"Ugh, it feels like I'm doing something wrong."

The old man shook his head, picked up the radish, and walked into the darkness outside.

****
Zhou Tao's parents had passed away long ago, and she had no relatives in Beijing. She lived in a large courtyard near the weather station.

Because Old Cat was getting married, the weather station allocated him an apartment in the newly built tenement building.

The two houses are actually not far apart, just a few steps away, but the formalities still have to be followed.

Someone at the station suggested holding the wedding banquet at Donglaishun, but the farmer rejected it and even gave a special instruction.

"Donglaishun has a large and diverse population, which is not conducive to confidentiality work. We must never do anything that violates confidentiality regulations."

After discussing it, Lao Mao and Zhou Tao decided to handle it inside the station and not involve the outside world.

After passing through several checks, Li Aiguo drove his large SUV downstairs, where several female employees from the meteorological station were already waiting.

"The train driver is here! Where's the bride? Hurry up and get off!" These female employees, who are usually efficient and decisive at work, are now no different from any other girl.

Zhou Tao was helped out of the building by her colleagues. Today she was wearing a red cotton jacket and had applied a layer of face cream, which made her originally delicate face blush. Her eyes were shy.

Li Aiguo drove his SUV and stepped on the gas twice, arriving at the tenement building.

The groom, Old Cat, was already waiting there. He was wearing a newly made Zhongshan suit, his hair was neatly combed, and he looked incredibly arrogant.

Zhou Ke, quick-witted and agile, opened the passenger door first and respectfully greeted, "Hello, Master's wife!"

This remark made everyone burst into laughter, and the atmosphere at the scene immediately became lively.

The new bride was received, and everyone presented their gifts.

No monetary gifts were given; instead, gifts were presented.

Zhou Ke gave a tea set, while the employees in the Old Cat Group gave a kettle and an enamel basin. The female employees gave instant noodles and pillowcases—all thoughtful and practical gifts.

Seeing Li Aiguo standing there watching the commotion, Zhou Ke asked with a smile, "Brother Aiguo, what did you give him?"

These words attracted a lot of attention. Everyone at the weather station knew that Li Aiguo and Lao Mao had the best relationship, even better than brothers.

Li Aiguo smiled, turned around, and opened the trunk of the SUV.

A pink scooter suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes, its body gleaming and shining brightly in the morning sun.

A small wooden stool was specially installed in front of the car, making it look particularly unique.

Although there are already quite a few scooters in Beijing these days, this is the first time anyone has seen one with a small stool attached.

“Patriotism, what’s this stool?” an employee asked.

"It's for the baby!" Li Aiguo joked. "Once Lao Mao and Zhou Tao have their baby, we'll put the child in front and take him for walks and shopping. It'll be so convenient!"

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd, with many joking, "Wow, they've even thought about the next generation!"

"Patriotism is a gift that is both practical and thoughtful!"

New iron standards are being developed for scooter motorcycles.

Considering the situation of a family with four or five children, the studio has one standard for modifying scooters: they must be able to carry children, and the more children they can carry, the better, provided that safety is guaranteed.

Zhou Tao was also stunned by the scooter; such a thing would cost at least two or three thousand yuan now, it was too expensive.

She wanted the old cat to refuse, but he stopped her.

"You know how patriotic he is. Once he's given something, he can't just throw it back. We'll repay this kindness later."

The motorcycle was parked downstairs, and the crowd escorted the newlyweds into the tenement building.

Without any elders to oversee things, and with colleagues at the weather station all being comrades-in-arms who had shared life and death, there weren't many rules, so things were done as casually as possible.

The table in the new house was covered with melon seeds, peanuts, and fruit candies. Everyone sat around it, eating melon seeds and candies while chatting about work and life, enjoying this rare moment of leisure.

Meteorological work is a special job, and we are always on edge. A slight mistake could lead to disaster, so this is the only time we can completely relax.

Around noon, the farmer arrived with the weather station leader to personally officiate the wedding of Old Cat and Zhou Tao.

As usual, the two held up the red booklet and read their vows. The farmer said loudly, "Now I declare Comrade Old Cat and Comrade Zhou Tao to be husband and wife. I hope that you will support and learn from each other on the road of ** and make greater contributions to the construction of the new society."

The farmer had to attend a meeting and left before the wedding banquet. As soon as he left, the staff at the weather station went wild.

The banquet was originally planned to be held in the weather station's canteen.

To avoid affecting the operation of the weather station, the farmer granted special permission to set up a few tables in the courtyard.

The young people at the weather station were the ones serving the dishes; this was called helping out, and it was a tradition at the weather station.

At work, senior colleagues meticulously guide junior colleagues, and even go so far as to shield them from criticism.

In life, young people should help their elders more. It's not a rule, but a spontaneous tradition that is closer and more reliable than the master-apprentice relationship in society.

Zhou Ke went to great lengths and managed to procure two cases of Moutai liquor, while a meteorological station employee working abroad sent over some wine.

The food and drinks were laid out on the table. The weather station staff had temporarily taken off their gray Zhongshan suits and gathered around the table like everyone else.

"Hehehe, everyone, please enjoy your meal." Li Aiguo, who was in charge of hosting the wedding banquet, looked around but didn't see Lao Hei, Lao Bai, and Yanzi. He figured they must all have missions to attend to and couldn't make it.

Li Aiguo took the wine bottle and began pouring wine for the employees.

There were no superiors or subordinates, and no rules in this setting. Several young men egged Li Aiguo on to drink three bowls of wine.

Li Aiguo retorted just as firmly: "Get lost!"

One hot dish after another was served: shredded pork with garlic sauce, braised pork belly, stewed ribs—all hearty and substantial dishes.

After a few drinks, everyone started talking more, chatting about life and the future, with laughter echoing throughout the courtyard.

As they were drinking and eating, Old Cat led Zhou Tao in.

"Come, come, comrades, let the groom and bride toast you all."

Li Aiguo shouted something and led Lao Mao and Zhou Tao around to each table.

As the newlyweds began toasting from the head table and continued until the very end, the wedding banquet came to a close.

The young men started clearing away the tables, chairs, and benches, returning them to their original locations.

The floor had to be cleaned, and even the "double happiness" character pasted on the wall was torn down.

In the blink of an eye, the joyous atmosphere transformed into solemnity.

Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru arrived at Lao Mao's new home. The two sat in the living room chatting, while Chen Xueru pulled Zhou Tao into the inner room.

Soon, a muttering sound came from inside.

"When I first got married, my sister-in-law confided a lot of things to me, and I'll tell you about them today..."

"Ahem, Old Cat, let's go out." Li Aiguo hadn't expected the house to be so poorly soundproofed. Just as he was about to stand up, there was a knock on the door.

The door opened, and Zhou Ke was standing outside.

"Aiguo, the third uncle in your compound has been arrested by the police station, and he's asking you to rescue him!" Zhou Ke said as soon as he saw Li Aiguo.

"What happened?" Li Aiguo felt strange. What could his uncle, an old teacher, have done wrong?

Even if he commits a crime, Uncle San knows everyone in the Nantongluoxiang Subdistrict Office and Police Station, so he doesn't need to ask him for help.

"I don't know the specifics, but the Third Uncle has been arrested by the district public security bureau."

Li Aiguo: "."

This old man has probably really gone too far.

(End of this chapter)