The train driver in the courtyard

Chen Zilan seldom attends meetings in the institute. When he was pulled into the meeting room, he was still confused.

Now that we're here, let's have a meeting.

Seeing that the conference room was full of people, Chen Zilan subconsciously wanted to walk to the back corner.

Deputy Director Zhang waved at him.

"Chen Ziran, today's meeting has something to do with you, sit in the front row."

"Did I make a mistake again?"

Chen Zilan's expression changed slightly, and his eyes behind his glasses widened.

"No, it's your honor." Deputy Director Zhang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He asked Xiao Liu to pull Chen to the front row and let him sit down.

Deputy Director Zhang looked around, his eyes sliding across the faces of those researchers, and said in a deep voice: "The reason why we are holding this meeting today is because Comrade Chen Ziliao from our research room has won the title of Advanced Individual of the Ministry of Railways.

This is an honor for Chen Ziyuan personally and for our Institute of Mathematics."

All the researchers knew that Chen Ziliao had received a reward for participating in an aid mission a while ago.

But that was just a letter of praise.

This time it's an honorary title.

The status between the two cannot be compared.

In these days, titles have a certain sacredness.

Those researchers immediately looked at Chen Ziran with envy.

"Just by helping to solve some problems, he got the title. Chen Ziran is really lucky."

"That can't be said. Chen's data level is good and he has made contributions. This is a reward from the railway department."

"Chen Ziliao has been lucky recently. Last time he was named an advanced individual in our institute, and now he has been awarded a title. I'm afraid it won't be long before he can become a full-time employee."

The researchers all knew that Chen Ziliao had a solid foundation in mathematics, but he had not been able to become a full-time employee because he was not good at interpersonal communication.

Now that we see that Chen finally has a chance to be converted to a regular employee, we are all happy for him from the bottom of our hearts.

Deputy Director Zhang waved his hand, signaling the researchers to be quiet, and then said: "Comrade Chen Ziyuan was awarded the title of advanced individual, which is enough to show the importance of mathematical research. I hope you can do this in your future work."

The reason why Deputy Director Zhang held the meeting was that he hoped to use this incident to boost the morale of researchers in the Institute of Mathematics.

In the subsequent meeting, researchers were called upon to learn from Chen Ziyuan and strive to make new breakthroughs in mathematical research.

Chen Zilan didn't hear a word of these words.

Because he had a big doubt in his heart.

I just solved a few problems, why can I get so much reward?
Chen Ziluan is not good at interacting with others, but that doesn't mean he is ignorant of the ways of the world.

He simply put all his energy into mathematical research and no longer had the energy to build relationships with people.

He soon realized that it must be his train driver friend who was behind this.

Chen Zilan had a rough life and experienced all the ups and downs in life. There were originally two people whom he was most grateful to, one was President Wang of Xiamen University and the other was Professor Hua.

It was Principal Wang who invited Chen Ziliao, who had only been a middle school teacher for one year, back to his alma mater to work as a library clerk, so that he had time to think about mathematical problems.

It was Professor Hua who brought him back from the south, allowing him to swim freely in the ocean of mathematics.

Now there is one more person, and that is the train driver.

Principal Wang is an elder to him.

Professor Hua is like a teacher to him.

The train driver is a friend and a student.
After returning to the "Boiler Room Office".

Under the dim light, Chen Ziliao hid the research materials under the bed and took out a set of carefully selected mathematics books from the box.

"These are the precious books I carefully selected. They are full of valuable knowledge!"

Chen Zilan thinks that treasures should be shared with friends.

At that time, he put the dozen or so math books into a canvas bag and took out the address Li Aiguo gave him.

“South Tongluo Lane.”

Chen Zilan walked out of the "boiler room dormitory" carrying a bulging canvas bag.

Senior Brother Wang Yuan happened to pass by and saw that Chen was willing to leave the boiler room. He asked curiously, "Xiao Chen, where are you going?"

"To teach students."

Chen Zilan didn't look like a junior fellow apprentice at all. He just left with a few words and his canvas bag.

Wang Yuan scratched the bald spot on his head, looked at his back, and muttered softly: "Xiao Chen has a student? This shouldn't be the case. Who is the blind guy who chose him as a teacher?"

at dusk.

When Li Aiguo rode his bicycle back to the courtyard, he saw Chen Ziran squatting at the gate of the courtyard.

"Brother Chen, why are you here?"

Chen Zilan was holding a branch, squatting on the ground with his butt sticking up, doing a math problem.

Seeing Li Aiguo coming over, he quickly memorized the calculation process in his mind and erased the formula with his foot.

"I have come to give you a present, but I don't know which house you live in."

"Why don't you ask around?" Li Aiguo was surprised: "Everyone in the compound knows me."

"I'm sorry." Chen Ziran lowered his head.

Li Aiguo: "."

He forgot that this guy suffers from social phobia.

"Come on, I just bought a fish today and asked your sister-in-law to cook it. Let's have a nice drink."

Chen Zilan came to deliver gifts, so Li Aiguo naturally had to treat him well.

Li Aiguo enthusiastically took his arm and brought him to his doorstep.

Chen Xueru had already finished work and was preparing to cook.

Hearing footsteps, he leaned half out of the window and saw Li Aiguo and a man who exuded a nerdy air walking towards him.

"Who is this?" Chen Xueru asked curiously.

"Comrade Chen Ziyuan from the Institute of Mathematics. We met at work."

"This is Comrade Chen Xueru, my wife."

Li Aiguo introduced the two of them.

He handed the fish in his hand to Chen Xueru and told her, "Wife, Chen is from the south and likes to eat fish. You can make a steamed fish dish."

"It just so happens that Aunt Liu sent some fermented black beans yesterday. We can make fermented black bean fish. I'll prepare it now."

Chen Xueru turned around and went into the kitchen, and Li Aiguo thought of something.

Chen Zilan seemed to have said just now that he wanted to send a gift.

In this case, gifts should be taken out to make the host couple happy.

Besides, Li Aiguo was also very interested in the gifts given by big shots like Chen Zilan.

"Brother Chen, where is your gift?"

Seeing that Chen was standing there like a piece of wood without any response, Comrade Li Aiguo, who was a social nerd, gave him a blunt reminder.

"Ah, I want it now." Chen Ziliang was stunned for a moment, and when he saw Li Aiguo nodded, he hurriedly took out the dozen or so math books from the canvas bag.

There are several advanced mathematics books in Russian, including a book called "New Research on Solutions of Important Problems in Geometry" from the Republic of China, Smirnov's "Advanced Mathematics Course", and A.I. Khinchin's "Concise Course in Mathematical Analysis".
"I have carefully selected these. Once you learn them, you won't have to worry about calculations in your research in the future."

Li Aiguo: "."

Is this what you call a gift?

Chen Xueru was also stunned. This was the first time she had seen a math book as a gift.

Seeing Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru's strange expressions, Chen Ziran scratched his head and said, "What's wrong? Isn't this a precious gift?"

"Forget it, of course." Li Aiguo smiled.

You have to know that mathematics books are relatively scarce these days, and it took a lot of effort for Chen Ziran to get so many good things.

"I'll look at these later. Let's have some tea first."

Li Aiguo planned to use these books as a tool kit to gain skill points. He stood up and placed the books on the bookshelf.

Chen Ziran stopped him and said, "Can you understand it by yourself?"

Of course, Li Aiguo can understand it.

Li Aiguo answered honestly: "How can I possibly understand it? I am just a technical secondary school graduate and I only learned quadratic equations in mathematics."

"So, I have an even more precious gift for you." Chen Ziran said excitedly, "I will be your teacher and teach you all the math knowledge in these books."

Li Aiguo: "."

It is indeed a precious gift to have a big shot like Chen Zilan personally teach mathematics.

Well, Li Aiguo is also a studious and inquisitive person, so naturally I cannot refuse Chen’s request for information.

Since he has nothing to do now anyway, Li Aiguo decided to be a good student.

"Teacher Chen, what should we learn first?" While Chen Xueru was cooking, Li Aiguo sat down at the desk.

"We are mainly studying number theory. Let's start with the simplest one, algebraic clusters or analytic clusters. You choose one."

??? Li Aiguo was full of questions. What are these two things? They sound very advanced. Are they really suitable for beginners?

Chen Zilan didn't notice Li Aiguo's expression. He put the book on the table and took out a wooden stick from his canvas bag and placed it on the table.

The wooden stick looks old.

The surface was polished to be very smooth and as thick as a finger. In later generations, this thing was called a teaching stick.

Li Aiguo looked at the wooden stick: “.”

Chen Zilan looked at the wooden stick, then at Li Aiguo, and slapped his forehead suddenly.

"Look, my occupational disease has come back again. I can't hit people. That's right, I can't hit students."

Li Aiguo: "."

He kind of understood why Beijing No. 4 Middle School suspended this big shot.

Li Aiguo felt that studying with this teacher was not a wise choice and was thinking about how to decline the offer politely.

At this time, He Yushui finished school and ran in, skipping and jumping with her schoolbag on her back.

"Sister Xueru, you stewed the fish. It's so delicious."

When Li Aiguo saw He Yushui’s face covered with mud, he knew that this girl was out having fun again.

There was no compulsory education those days, and He Yushui was about to take the junior high school entrance exam, so he would need a good teacher.

Li Aiguo smiled at He Yushui and said, "Yushui, you have some math problems that you can't solve. Teacher Chen is here. Ask him to help you solve them."

He Yushui looked at Chen's information curiously.

Teacher Chen wears glasses and looks gentle and polite. He always has a faint smile on his face. He is obviously an excellent teacher.

"Okay, okay, Mr. Chen, I'm just looking for someone to tutor me."

He Yushui was like a little white rabbit, falling step by step into the trap of the big bad wolf.

It’s just that Li Aiguo’s ideal is good, but the reality is very bleak.

After He Yushui left with a sad face, Teacher Chen picked up the teaching stick again and looked at Li Aiguo excitedly: "Driver Li, come and learn." Li Aiguo: "."

Chen Zilan seemed to have found the feeling of being a teacher again in Li Aiguo and He Yushui. The next day after work, he came to the courtyard again to teach them mathematics.

He Yushui was reluctant to study with Chen Ziliao. This teacher was too fierce, and the knowledge he taught was too profound. He just couldn't understand him.

So the next day He Yushui hid at home and didn't want to come to tutoring.

However, when Aunt Liu heard that Chen Zilan was a college student and a researcher at the Institute of Mathematics, she immediately escorted He Yushui to Chen Zilan.

"Researcher Chen, I'm handing this child over to you. If she doesn't listen carefully, you should beat her or scold her."

Chen Ziran frowned: "Auntie, why don't you fight?"

"This is my daughter, I can't do it." Aunt Liu said confidently.

Chen's information: "."

Of course, Aunt Liu was much more flexible than Chen Ziran, and she gave Chen Ziran more than a dozen salted duck eggs at that time.

Chen Zilan especially likes salted duck eggs. From now on, when he eats in the cafeteria, he only needs to buy steamed corn bread and no longer needs to order vegetables, thus saving two cents.

Delicious.

As for our Li Aiguo, he has never been punished because he performed very well.

After finishing his work on the railway, Li Aiguo felt that he might be able to display his talents in the field of mathematics in the future.

Therefore, I support Chen Zilan’s teaching activities.

The days go by one by one.

On the third night, Li Aiguo was reliving the feeling of attending cram school in his previous life when there was a hurried knock on the door.

"Who?"

Li Aiguo stood up and was about to open the door, but Chen Ziliao, who was giving He Yushui homework instructions, stopped him.

"You still have two questions to solve and you can't leave your seat, so I'll do it."

The teacher was teaching a class when someone outside suddenly interrupted him. Although Chen Zilan was unhappy, he could only stand up and open the door.

Standing outside the door were two comrades in gray Zhongshan suits.

When they saw Chen, they looked him up and down, narrowed their eyes and asked, "We are from the office of the Ministry of Railways. You are not driver Li, are you?"

The two men were from the Ministry of Railways and had already learned that Li Aiguo was a train driver before coming to the Siheyuan.

It's impossible to have a train driver wearing glasses these days.

"No, what do you want with Li Aiguo? He's in class now." Chen Zilan said as he wanted to close the door.

The two comrades were from the ministry office. They usually delivered messages and everyone who met them would treat them with respect.

Who would have thought that Chen Zilan would close the door just after saying one sentence.

The two could no longer hold back. One of them held the door with his arm outstretched while the other explained, "The department has something urgent to discuss with Comrade Li Aiguo."

"No matter how anxious you are, you have to wait until he finishes the problem. You guys wait outside first."

Now, Li Aiguo has been considered by Chen Zilan to be the best student in his life because of his outstanding performance.

As a teacher, how could I allow others to disturb students' studies?

"Brother Chen, I think there is something urgent going on in the department, so let's stop here for today's class."

Li Aiguo understood that Chen Ziran was stubborn. If he didn't come out, he might really be able to keep the two of them out of the door.

Li Aiguo pulled Chen Ziran's arm and said, "Your sister-in-law has already prepared dinner. Please eat before going back."

"Okay then." Chen Zilan decided to wait until the final exam and deduct ten points from Li Aiguo's regular grades.

But he didn't delay anything, after all, He Yushui was waiting for him to tutor him.

"Yushui, let the teacher teach you number theory."

He Yushui: “.”

The two comrades from the ministry looked at Chen Zilan's back, frowned, and whispered, "Driver Li, is there something wrong with this guy's brain?"

"Genius? He's always different from others."

Li Aiguo smiled and took out two cigarettes from his pocket and handed them over, asking, "Two leaders, what is the matter in the department that requires me to be summoned so late at night?"

"We don't know about this either, but the call was made by the minister himself." The two comrades from the ministry took the cigarettes and looked at Li Aiguo with much more relaxed eyes.

One of them hesitated for a moment and whispered, "I heard that comrades from the Harbin Railway Research Institute were also notified."

Is the Harbin Railway Science Research Institute trying to argue whether steam locomotives or diesel locomotives should be developed more vigorously?

After the celebration party, Li Aiguo heard that Professor Cui Mingde of the Harbin Railway Research Institute had found many old leaders to do work.

They even invited Russian experts in the hope of reducing the production of patriotic steam engines.

But they were stopped by Chief Engineer Liu and Liu Guozhang.

With doubts in his mind, Li Aiguo followed the two people out of the courtyard.

Along the way, residents greeted Li Aiguo from time to time.

"Aiguo, another mission?"

"No, I'm going to a meeting at the ministry."

"Ah, now you can go to the ministry for meetings, that's amazing!"

The residents couldn't help but smack their lips.

No matter why Li Aiguo went to the meeting, as long as he had the qualifications, it meant that he had reached a higher level.

By the pool, Jia Dongxu spat at Li Aiguo's back.

"What are you so proud of? You're just a small worker going to a meeting at a ministry. Why don't you go to heaven?"

"It's hard to say. A few days ago, Aiguo was commended by the Ministry of Railways. It was said that he improved some trains." Yan Jiecheng said while squatting on the ground with a bowl of rice in his hand.

Yan Jiecheng was well-informed and a worker at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, so his words were very convincing.

Jia Dongxu was suddenly speechless.

Qin Huairu looked at Li Aiguo's back with mixed feelings.

Li Aiguo is now able to attend meetings in ministries, but Jia Dongxu is still just a first-level worker.

If at the beginning
Qin Huairu regretted it a little.

at dusk.

People were coming and going in the compound, and Li Aiguo walked out, greeting everyone along the way.

I actually ran into Yi Zhonghai at the gate.

Yi Zhonghai was angry because he had lost money on modifying an electric sewing machine a while ago, and he saw Li Aiguo walking out with his comrades from the ministry.

When he found out that Li Aiguo went to a meeting in a ministry, Yi Zhonghai felt a throbbing pain in his heart.

"Old woman, medicine, medicine, medicine." Yi Zhonghai staggered back home.

It was already six o'clock in the evening when the GAZ jeep drove along the wide streets all the way to the ministry.

The summer sun always sets a little later.

At this time, under the reflection of the setting sun, the office appeared to be covered with a layer of gold.

Li Aiguo discovered that besides himself, there were also Liu Guozhang from the Railway Research Institute and Cui Mingde from the Harbin Railway Science Research Institute.

Both of them looked bewildered.

"Professor Cui, are you complaining again?" Liu Guozhang frowned.

Cui Mingde's face turned red: "As a professor, I reported the situation to my superiors to avoid waste of materials. How can this be called a complaint?
Besides, the production plan has been finalized and Mr. Liu from Datong has returned to the Datong factory, so there is no need for me to complain anymore.”

Cui Mingde, an old professor, was framed and felt as aggrieved as a child.

Liu Guozhang was confused at this time.

“Railway lines are being built in the east and northwest, and Minister Teng is so busy that he doesn’t even have time to sleep.

If it's nothing important, why would they specifically call us here?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Minister Teng pushed open the door and walked in from outside.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. I had already made arrangements, but I had to take a phone call and was delayed."

Minister Teng sat on the chair while speaking.

His face was full of fatigue. He lit a cigarette, took two deep puffs, and frowned tightly.

"Minister, if you have anything to say, just tell me on the phone. We..."

Professor Cui Mingde was obviously not the kind of professor who was ignorant of the world, and he said with a smile.

But Minister Teng seemed to be in a hurry and didn't have time to talk to him.

She waved her hand, cigarette in hand, to interrupt him.

"The reason why I called you here today is because there is a foreign affairs reception event that requires the participation of the three of you."

"Foreign affairs?"

Li Aiguo has been in "invisible state" since he entered the office, and he couldn't help but widen his eyes at this moment.

Cui Mingde and Liu Guozhang also showed a hint of shock on their faces.

Minister Teng said: "You may have already known that tomorrow János, the head of the Hungarian delegation, will come to our country to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the founding of the country.

Considering this is the second time Janos has come to our house.

And this time the delegation is huge, so the superiors decided to raise the standard of the reception to a higher level.”

Li Aiguo understood instantly. After János’s visit last year, Mr. Wu also visited Hungary in January this year accompanied by Hu Zishuai.

At that time, a big thing had just happened in Hungary and the situation was quite chaotic.

The visit of Mr. Wu and Hu Zishuai played a key role in the situation, and the relationship between the two families reached a new level.

That's why the Xiongtie family came to congratulate us with great fanfare when we had a wedding this time.

Since Hungarian Iron and Steel Group has given us so much respect, we should also welcome them warmly.

But this matter is under the jurisdiction of the foreign affairs department. What does it have to do with the Ministry of Railways?
Minister Teng went on to say: "The information about the Patriotic Steam Engine has been sent to Hungary through diplomatic channels. After the experts from the Hungarian People's Railway Department studied it, they were particularly interested in the Patriotic Steam Engine, so the original visiting team has been greatly upgraded.

The team was led by a senior consultant from the Ministry of Railways, and also brought a team of experts from the Ganz-Mavag Locomotive Works.

Ganz-Mawag Locomotive Factory? Li Aiguo saw Professor Cui Mingde suddenly excited and felt a little confused.

Minister Teng kindly explained: “The Gancz-Mavágur Locomotive Works is the largest train manufacturer in Hungary.

The spare parts of Type D motorcycle diesel multiple units were provided by them.

This time, according to the previous agreement, they will bring a full set of information on the D-type motorcycle diesel multiple unit."

"Considering that one third of the Hungarian delegation this time are people related to railways.

In order to facilitate follow-up work, the foreign affairs department suggested that we send someone to greet them."

Li Aiguo understood completely at this time.

This is similar to the leaders’ visits abroad in later generations, where they are followed by a large group of leaders from various factories and big companies.

After arriving at the destination, the leaders built relationships, while the task of the factories and companies below was to negotiate business.

In this mission, Li Aiguo and Liu Guozhang were responsible for selling the Aiguo steam locomotive, and Cui Mingde was responsible for receiving the information of the D-type motor diesel multiple unit. (End of this chapter)