The train driver in the courtyard

"Tell me, how did you get in here?" Li Aiguo felt that Liu Huang wasn't lying, but these things needed to be proven by facts, so the interrogation continued.

Liu Huang slowly raised his head to look at Li Aiguo, his voice slightly hoarse: "Could I have a cigarette?"

Li Aiguo didn't even lift his eyelids, only giving Zhou Ke a look beside him.

Zhou Ke understood, took a cigarette from the pack and poked it to Liu Huang's lips. After the cigarette was lit, Liu Huang took a big drag, and the smoke rings spread out from the corners of his mouth.

After Liu Huang finished smoking the entire cigarette and spat out the butt, he continued, "

Langley's men first dumped me on a small island.

The people in the Telecommunications Development Office said that the investigation here is as tight as an iron barrel, and the old way of smuggling people by fishing boats has long been cut off.

The Northern Monkeys were locked in a fierce battle with Xiao Mei's family. Their position was heavily guarded, with sentries every three or five steps, making it impossible for even a fly to get in.

Finally, Langley made the final decision to allow the wolf to escape into the country.

Firstly, the Langtu region has close ties with this area, and the border defenses are not very tight.

Secondly, if they were caught at the border, they could shift all the blame onto the wolf.

Hearing this, Zhou Ke's expression changed slightly: "Even if they can't get in, they can still annoy this place. What a vicious idea."

Liu Huang said to Zhou Ke, "It's only natural to seek benefits for one's own camp. Young comrade, being too impatient is a major taboo in interrogation."

Zhou Ke's face turned bright red. Just as he was about to retort, Lao Mao nudged him with his elbow.

Interrogation requires momentum; one must press on with one burst of energy, then weaken with each subsequent attempt, and eventually exhaust oneself.

Once you're led by the nose by a suspect, it's difficult to turn the tables.

Li Aiguo suddenly slammed his hand on the table: "Correct your attitude! Be mindful of your status! Does the Telecommunications Development Office also have a site in Lang Tuo?"

Liu Huang shrank back, startled by the shout.

Liu Huang felt genuine admiration and even awe for this young man who could see through his perfect facade.

"There's no official station, but they've brought together a group of former defeated soldiers who specifically seek out smuggling routes in Langtu. I don't know the specifics of how they operate, as they're wary of me."

During those days, the people in the Telecommunications Development Office treated me to good food and drinks, and even hired girls to sing from the amusement park, but I didn't like them and declined.

At this point, Liu Huang paused again, looked at Li Aiguo and said, "The Telecommunications Development Office's methods are too clumsy. Do they think they can fool me by disguising female ditties as girls from the amusement park?"

I suggested they should just find a few girls from the amusement park, give them some money, and it would be more effective.

"You continue," Li Aiguo also noticed that Liu Huang had a problem: he liked to lecture others.

Liu Huang nodded and continued, "I had the people from the Telecommunications Development Office send over the materials here."

On the evening of the 25th of last month, I was going through these documents when someone from the Telecommunications Development Office came over and told me that we could set off.

They first took me to the elephant's house, and then, using a disguised identity, entered the wolf's den.

A local was already waiting for me in Phongsali. After we met, the local led me across the border and then had me wait by the railway.

Seeing a train approaching, I was prepared and climbed onto it.

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo spoke up: "Were you standing at the junction of the train cars?"

Liu Huang suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with astonishment: "How did you know?"

Li Aiguo's face hardened: "Answer the question!"

Liu Huang shrank his neck and nodded: "I originally wanted to go inside the carriage, but it's all sealed up. If I climbed onto the roof, I'd probably be discovered. The connecting area was the most suitable, but there are too many pipes there, and it's really uncomfortable to walk on, so I..."

Halfway through his sentence, Liu Huang seemed to realize something, his expression changed drastically, and his voice stopped abruptly.

After a long while, he took a deep breath and uttered an incredulous sound: "Could it be... could it be that there's something wrong with the wagon? Is that how you found me?"

"That's not right. Even if there's something wrong with the wagons, it wouldn't have alerted you people."

Li Aiguo asked with a smile, "Who are we?"

Liu Huang looked up at Li Aiguo: "Being able to spot me in a crowd at a glance, and being so skilled, and being able to mobilize so much manpower and resources at any time, what other unit here besides the weather station can do that?"

Li Aiguo nodded: "You are indeed a capable person, it's just a pity that you followed the wrong person."

After saying that, Li Aiguo looked at Lao Mao, indicating that he had finished asking his questions and asked if Lao Mao had anything else to ask.

Old Cat asked a few more questions about the bereaved families and Langley's side, as well as the origins of the documents, banknotes, and clothes.

"The documents were forged by Langley, the banknotes were collected by the Telecommunications Development Office through people here, and so were the clothes. They thought they had found the most suitable and popular clothes, but they didn't expect to be defeated by the details."

"Alright, even if there's no problem with the clothes, you'll be exposed sooner or later. Come on, sign your name here." Old Cat threw the record in front of him.

Liu Huang's hands were tied.

The old cat asked the weatherman to untie him, but after he finished writing, he tied him up again.

"Take him away first!"

"Wait!" Liu Huang, being helped out by two meteorologists, suddenly struggled to stop and looked at Li Aiguo. "I just have one question: what exactly was in that train car that could alarm your weather station?"

Li Aiguo looked at him and smiled: "No."

Liu Huang was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly sighed, "I wouldn't say it either. You have to keep the other person in suspense to get more information out of them..."

Old Cat: "."

Zhou Ke: "."

Li Aiguo: "."

Liu Huang: "."

"Sorry, my old problem has flared up again." Liu Huang shrank back and stopped talking. Old Cat watched Liu Huang being led away, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

This was the first time he had ever seen Dieter so "dedicated".

After the meteorologist took Liu Huang away, Lao Mao gathered several meteorologists and held a case analysis meeting with Li Aiguo and Zhou Ke.

Liu Huang's travel route here has been traced. Tomorrow, we just need to send someone to verify it, including the place where he got on the bus and the place where he entered the border, to confirm whether his words are true.

The old cat reported the situation to the farmer, who then raised several questions over the phone.

On the surface, Liu Huang didn't do anything destructive, but his real mission was clearly to investigate our overall strength from a macro perspective.

Why would Langley send someone of such caliber to infiltrate? What are they really up to?
What is the real relationship between Xiaomei and Comrade Jianfeng?
And what about the support that the bereaved families of the Little Notebook received from Langley or Xiaomei's family?
Each question is crucial, relating to the weather station's next steps in its work plan, and even to adjustments to some of its operations.

Liu Huang's importance also changed from a ditto to a crowbar used to open up a breakthrough for the enemy.

"The farmer demands that we immediately escort Liu Huang back to the capital for further interrogation, and we don't rule out using the drug team," Old Cat reported as he entered his office.

"Leave one group to guard Liu Huang, the rest of you can rest for a while." Old Cat raised his wrist to check the time: "The flight is at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

"Yes!" Li Aiguo's heart also became excited.

Although the weather station now has nails at Langley's and Little Ben's houses, it is inaccessible in many situations for safety reasons.

Now that the enemy has actually delivered such a person to us, we certainly can't miss this opportunity.

Know thyself, ever-victorious.

After the investigation into the detachment of the freight cars was completed, the staff from the General Administration's Safety Section had already returned to Beijing.

Li Aiguo greeted his colleagues at the Jijie Locomotive Depot and politely declined their suggestion to hold a celebration banquet.

Back in the office, Li Aiguo and Lao Mao were sorting through case files. Some valuable files were to be sealed in archives and taken back to the weather station, while the useless ones were to be burned on the spot.

Just as I was busy, Station Chief Xu from the local meteorological station in Kaiyuan came over.

Old Cat had someone take him to the office next door.

"Team Leader Cat, I heard you're leaving?"

"Yes, Station Chief Xu, this operation was a great success, and your local area has made a huge contribution." Old Cat handed a cigarette to the local leader.

We were able to quickly find out Liu Huang's whereabouts after entering this area, which guesthouse he stayed at, and who he met, down to the smallest detail, thanks to the help of the comrades at the local meteorological station.

The meaning of this statement is quite clear: the local authorities will undoubtedly receive the credit.

"You're too kind. Without you, we wouldn't have known a mouse had sneaked in. We've failed in our duty; we're ashamed," said Station Chief Xu.

"We meteorologists aren't the God of Thunder; we can't possibly keep track of weather changes in real time. This has little to do with you."

Hearing Old Cat say that, Station Chief Xu was relieved.

After chatting for a few minutes, Station Chief Xu asked again, "The cook and the young widow are still in the station's detention room. What should we do with them?"

Old Cat pondered for a moment and said, "As for the cook, he was involved in smuggling and brought people in with him. We should deal with whatever needs to be done."

"That Zhao Jinhua... her problem is about her conduct, it has nothing to do with the case," Station Chief Xu added.

"Let her go, let her return to the commune," Old Cat had just finished speaking.

Li Aiguo suddenly spoke up: "Station Chief, I have an idea."

Station Chief Xu quickly said, "Comrade Li, please speak."

“I plan to contact my colleagues on the railway and ask them to arrange a temporary job for Zhao Jinhua. We can do it for now, and we’ll talk about the future later,” Li Aiguo said.

“Of course.” Station Master Xu nodded.

After chatting for a few more minutes, the local leader, who had to go back to assign tasks, left.

Li Aiguo returned to his office and made a phone call to the leaders of the Jijie Locomotive Depot.

The area around Kaiyuan is quite large, with dozens of railway stations under its jurisdiction.

Those stations urgently need young women to work as temporary canteen staff.

It was a small matter, and the leaders of the locomotive depot readily agreed.

"Driver Li, we owe this matter to your help. If we hadn't been so pressed for time, we definitely would have had a celebration banquet and let you enjoy the performance here," Section Chief Liu said with some regret.

"It was really unfortunate this time, let's do it next time," Li Aiguo said with a smile.

He was also curious to see what was going on with the music show performances here.

the other side.

in the office.

Zhou Ke looked at the old cat and said, "Master, why don't you send Zhao Jinhua back to the commune?"

"You... you can't even understand this little thing."

Old Cat lit a cigarette and said, "According to the old rules of the commune, Zhao Jinhua has no way to survive if she goes back. She did commit a serious mistake by having affairs, but it doesn't warrant the death penalty. She also has several children. What will happen to the children if Zhao Jinhua is gone?" Zhou Ke was silent for a moment, then nodded, "I didn't expect Brother Aiguo to be so kind-hearted."

“We’re doing meteorological work, isn’t it all to help people live a better life?” Old Cat glanced at him and took the opportunity to give him a nudge. “Don’t be so cold all the time. Be ruthless to the enemy, but warm to your own people. Don’t investigate cases just for the sake of investigating cases. You’re doing a good job in terms of patriotism.”

“Some comrades are often in a tense atmosphere, and over time, they come to regard everyone as an enemy. This kind of work attitude is absolutely unacceptable.”

"Understood, Master." Zhou Ke nodded, then asked, "But can Zhao Jinhua, a member of the commune, work as a temporary worker for her entire life?"

“This is the real difference between you and patriotism,” Old Cat continued. “A broad-gauge railway will be built here soon, and when the construction workers from all over come, Zhao Jinhua might even be able to get married.”

Zhou Ke was completely stunned.

He also knew about the broad-gauge railway, which was exactly what Liu Huang had collected and analyzed in Kaiyuan.

However, he never associated Zhao Jinhua with the broad-gauge railway.

Inside the detention cell at this moment.

Zhao Jinhua squatted in the corner, hugging her knees with her hands, staring blankly at the ground.

These past few days, she hasn't thought about her own situation; her mind is filled with thoughts of her children at home.

Is anyone cooking for them? Will they get cold at night? My youngest son's cotton-padded coat is torn; will he be able to survive the winter?
After her husband left, she endured countless scornful looks and insults, being called "husband-killer" and "slut" all she could, hoping her child would grow up.

But now, she can't even see her child anymore.

Just then, the door was pushed open from the outside.

"Zhao Jinhua, you can go back now," a meteorologist said as he walked in.

"Ah?! I can go back." Zhao Jinhua was overjoyed at first, but then she remembered something and quickly shook her head: "No, I can't go back, those people in the commune will..."

"Who told you to go back to the commune?" The meteorologist handed over a cloth bag. "Someone helped you find a temporary job at the railway canteen. Food and lodging are provided, and you get a monthly salary."

"Really?!" After confirming that she hadn't misheard, Zhao Jinhua felt as if the sky had suddenly brightened.

With a salary, we can send our children to school. No matter how hard life gets, we can always get through it. The worst thing is not seeing any hope.

She grabbed the meteorologist's arm and asked eagerly, "Who is that person? Tell me, I really need to thank him!"

"They didn't leave their names, and they don't care about that," the meteorologist waved his hand. "Hurry up and go, someone's waiting for you outside."

Zhao Jinhua clutched her cloth bag and walked out of the detention cell step by step; the sun was shining brightly outside.

The next morning, Liu Huang was put into a military truck covered with a thick tarpaulin.

Lao Mao, Li Aiguo, and Zhou Ke traveled together in the car, bumping along the way to the military airport hundreds of miles away from Kaiyuan.

To prevent Liu Huang from having any connection with the outside world, he was given an opaque hood and his mouth was tightly gagged before he set off. Anyone who saw him would know that he was an important suspect.

The other leaders and comrades on the transport plane, upon catching a glimpse of Liu Huang's appearance and then looking at Li Aiguo and the other two, instinctively moved away, and no one dared to approach them to speak.

Speechless all the way.

After the transport plane arrived at Nanyuan Airport, the jeeps dispatched by the weather station were already waiting nearby.

After Liu Huang was escorted back to the meteorological station, the meteorological station took charge of the subsequent interrogation.

Li Aiguo first returned to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot to report for duty, and also gave a gift he brought back from Yunnan to Section Chief Xing, Cao Wenzhi, Liu Guozhang, and Chen Fangxuan. The farmer's gift had already been delivered to the meteorological station.

This is Li Aiguo's old habit; these things are not valuable, but they show his sincerity.

That's how life is; if you care about others, they'll care about you too.

The bonds between people are built up through this give-and-take; the stronger the bonds, the wider the path ahead.

After delivering the items, Li Aiguo first met with Professor Qi. The outer protective panels of the armed helicopter had already been installed, and the modification would be completed in five days at most.

"We have already contacted the Gobi Desert area, and once the armed helicopters are modified, they will be sent there. The comrades there are already waiting."

Professor Qi seemed particularly excited. As an aircraft engineer, being able to participate in the work on the giant mushroom was a lifelong honor.

Li Aiguo looked around and, seeing no other work available, turned and went to the car manufacturing laboratory.

Wild car expert He Zongxian and a group of technicians are working hard in the warehouse, and a minibus is basically completed.

The bright red paint job stood out in the warehouse, and the thickened, wide tires exuded a sense of solidity.

The seating arrangement inside the vehicle is quite ingenious, with a three-seater bench on one side and a two-seater bench on the other.

Next to the driver's seat stands a spacious platform, with the engine hidden underneath, and additional seats available on the platform.

The roof is equipped with reinforced luggage racks on both sides, which are sufficient to hold loose goods.

The entire vehicle is clearly designed for carrying passengers and goods, with extremely high space utilization.

"Aiguo, what do you think of this car?" The wild car expert was very excited to see Li Aiguo return.

"Not bad, not bad, have you tried it?" Li Aiguo walked around the minibus, nodding repeatedly.

"The engine has been tuned, and its performance and stability are fine. It just hasn't been road tested yet. We plan to drive it out of the city tomorrow."

"Did you report it to the section chief?" Li Aiguo asked again.

"Oh no! I forgot! The section chief came to ask about the progress just a couple of days ago..."

The expert suddenly slapped his forehead.

Before he could finish speaking, Section Chief Xing walked in with a smile: "I heard that Aiguo is back, and I guessed that your studio must have come up with something new!"

He immediately spotted the red minibus and couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, that's quite an impressive vehicle!"

"Section Chief, you've come at the right time. We'd like to conduct a road test here tomorrow."

Li Aiguo explained the situation and then said, "Should we submit an application to the transportation department?"

In the past two years, traffic regulations have become increasingly strict, and vehicles without license plates are not allowed on the road.

These days there are no temporary license plates; if you want to take a road test, you have to submit a report.

Section Chief Xing nodded: "That's easy. I'll talk to the transportation department. This is our factory's test vehicle; let's get it on the road first. As for the passengers..."

Li Aiguo chimed in, "All the members of our studio are the passengers."

"Alright, I'll go with you guys tomorrow to relax." Section Chief Xing initially thought it was a bit risky.

But upon closer examination, if even car manufacturers are afraid to ride in their own cars, how can the quality be guaranteed?

After the matter was finalized.

Section Chief Xing returned to his office and contacted the transportation department.

These days, there's no such thing as road testing, so the transportation department gave it the green light.

By this time, Li Aiguo had already ridden his mountain bike back to the courtyard house.

The fiery clouds on the horizon were burning beautifully.

The courtyard was as lively as ever, filled with the aroma of food mixed with the sounds of children playing, creating a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

When he got home, his sister-in-law was whispering something with Chen Xueru in the room. When she saw Li Aiguo come back, she stood up with a smile and said, "Xueru, your man is back, so I won't disturb you any longer."

As she spoke, she winked at Chen Xueru and led the three children outside.

The three little ones, who had been circling around Li Aiguo, immediately "betrayed" him when they heard that his sister-in-law was going to take them to see a movie, and skipped and jumped out after her.

"What is your sister-in-law doing?" Li Aiguo was a little confused. After seeing his sister-in-law out, he turned around and went into the house.

As soon as I entered the house, Miss Chen closed the door.

"I've boiled the water, let's wash up quickly."

Li Aiguo nodded. He really needed to take a shower after being busy for several days. The key point was that Miss Chen had also come in. What did that mean?

She even squatted down.

Hiss. Li Aiguo gasped.

*****
Just as Li Aiguo was concentrating on taking a bath.

In an office on the island, Comrade Jianfeng, his face ashen, berated several of his subordinates until they could not lift their heads.

"The Telecommunications Development Office colluded with Langley and even sent people there for training, and you didn't find out a single thing! Incompetents! All of you are incompetents!"

Comrade Jianfeng originally wanted to curse a few times, but then felt he wasn't qualified.

“Young Master, that old bastard Liu Xingli has always been at odds with us. He’s a veteran, and he has complete control over the Telecommunications Development Office. We can’t get involved at all,” a subordinate explained with a bitter face.

"Yes, I've heard that even notebooks are getting involved now."

Upon hearing this, Comrade Jianfeng became even more furious and slammed his fist on the table: "You ungrateful wretch! How dare you collude with foreign enemies!"

No matter how bad the relationship is between the two sides, they are still family after all. Now that the Telecommunications Development Office has allowed the Japanese to interfere, it has crossed the line.

However, Comrade Jianfeng was also aware that Langley was behind the Telecommunications Development Office, so no matter how angry he was, he could only suppress his anger.

"Report!" A knock came suddenly at the door.

"Come in!" Comrade Jianfeng took a deep breath, suppressed his anger, sat back down in his chair, and tried to calm his tone.

A young man in a black trench coat strode in, bowed, and reported, "Young Master, we have just received news that the man with the notebook has been arrested."

"what happened?"

"I don't know the specifics. The checks there are very strict, so our informants don't dare to ask around. All we know is that the person was arrested at the train station."

"real?!"

After confirming the authenticity of the news, Comrade Jianfeng was particularly excited.

"Langley has been criticizing us for our poor performance. Now look what's happened. They've teamed up with the Little Book and the Telecommunications Development Office, and they still suffered a defeat."

Comrade Jianfeng felt that he had regained his composure.

Most importantly, the Telecommunications Development Office suffered a defeat this time and is likely to be abandoned by Langley.

His opportunity will come then.

"I wonder who on the other side found this notebook. If I have the chance, I should thank them in person," Comrade Jianfeng said, walking to the window and looking east.

"Achoo." Li Aiguo rubbed his nose and muttered in confusion, "Who's talking about me?"

"Brother Aiguo, hurry up!"

(End of this chapter)