The train driver in the courtyard

Siberia in December is a world of flowing birch forests and solidified white land.

The pale, dry trunk is covered with irregular brown scars, like the eyes of a glaring wolf.

A bunch of small hills flashed in the almost pristine wilderness, and crows on the barren rocks cawed.

On a slope next to the track, the white soil was blown bald by the wind, revealing the ugly mottled black soil.

The desolate scenery outside the car window is heartbreaking.

Li Aiguo leaned against the window, tapping the table lightly with his fingers.

I heard a Russian broadcast that the train had passed Novosibirsk Station and the next stop was Omsk Passenger Station.

There are only two days left to the destination, Moscow. If we can't find out where the courier is, we will not be able to take action.

This was the first time that Li Aiguo encountered such a difficult situation.

Just then, the door of the private room was pushed open, and the strong wind blew away the towel hanging on the window.

Li Aiguo picked up the towel, looked at Yu Jinan who rushed in, and asked, "What happened?"

"Xianglan, Chen Xianglan seems to be sick!" Yu Jinan, who was always calm, was so anxious that the veins on his forehead bulged as thick as his little finger.

"Are you sick? Let's go check it out."

As a train driver, no one knows the troubles of getting sick on trains better than Li Aiguo.

Director Xing also jumped down from the middle bed and followed them.

Several people came to the private room next door and saw Chen Xianglan curled up on the bunk, her long eyelashes trembling slightly. She was holding the quilt tightly, her nails almost sinking into it. It was a struggle as if she wanted to grab something but was powerless.

Anyone who saw her could feel the pain she was in.

The passengers next to him were at a loss as to what to do, and Fat Chen was rubbing his hands anxiously.

Seeing Li Aiguo and Xing Duanchang coming in, he hurriedly said, "Comrade train driver, you have been driving for many years and have seen a lot. Come and see what's wrong with this girl?"

Li Aiguo walked over, sat beside the bed, reached out and touched Chen Xianglan's forehead, took her pulse, and asked her a few questions.

Although Chen Xianglan was in unbearable pain, she still forced herself to describe her symptoms.

"Nausea and vomiting, abdominal discomfort, and I just went to the bathroom."

Li Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief and said, "It should be acute gastroenteritis, this disease is very dangerous and can be life-threatening if not treated properly.

But it is very common among passengers, and antimicrobial drugs are generally available on trains.”

Li Aiguo was halfway through his words when he realized something was wrong. He turned to look at Yu Jinan and said, "Where's the flight attendant? Didn't you notify the flight attendant?"

If a passenger on a train falls ill, the first thing to do is to notify the crew for assistance.

Yu Jinan looked a little annoyed: "I notified them, but the flight attendant said they couldn't talk too much with us Chinese passengers."

Li Aiguo's face suddenly turned pale.

Without the cooperation of the flight attendants, there would be no way to get the antibiotics.

"Now the passenger is sick, and they dare to stand by and watch. What kind of thing is this? Let's go find the flight attendant."

The passengers and Yu Jinan all felt that the Russian crew was going too far, and they all followed Li Aiguo.

Li Aiguo noticed that Fatty Chen, who was always peaceful and smiling at everyone he met, seemed particularly positive.

Fatty Chen is probably in his forties, chubby, and only carrying a backpack. This time he went to Lao Maozi's house, reportedly for tourism.

Of course Li Aiguo didn't believe what Fatty Chen said.

What a joke, if you want to backpack these days, why don’t you go to the moon?

Although Fatty Chen looked carefree, he was actually very tight-lipped. Li Aiguo tried to probe him several times but gave up when he failed to figure out his true identity.

At this time, the Russian flight attendant was guarding the connection between the carriages. When he saw several people coming, his face changed slightly.

"What do you want to do?"

Li Aiguo stopped the excited Yu Jinan, stepped forward, and said calmly: "Comrade crew, one of our passengers is seriously ill and needs medicine urgently. I believe the train must be equipped with medicine, so please help."

The female flight attendant already knew what happened and said with some embarrassment: "Dear comrade, it's not that we don't want to provide medicine, but we have regulations."

"Do the regulations allow you to watch a passenger's life in danger?"

Li Aiguo frowned and said, "As a train attendant, I believe you have received relevant education and should know that you must put the safety of passengers first at all times."

The female flight attendant originally planned to use the old method to prevaricate, but she didn't expect that Li Aiguo was so familiar with the flight attendant rules and regulations.

"Wait a moment, I need to report to the conductor." The female attendant turned and ran to the conductor's room at the back.

Li Aiguo and others made a lot of noise.

Chinese passengers in several nearby carriages and private rooms rushed over after hearing the news.

Li Aiguo noticed that Lao Mao and the others were also standing in the distance. He gave them a look, indicating that they should not be anxious for the time being.

After a while.

The female flight attendant came over with a female comrade in uniform.

The woman was about 1.9 meters tall, probably in her thirties, wearing a dark green cloak and long leather boots.

The whole person can be described with one word: "cool".

"Hello, I'm the train conductor, my name is Zoya. Do you have any requests?" Zoya's tone was steady, her face was tense, and her cold eyes swept across the faces of the passengers.

"Hello, I'm Li Aiguo, the train driver at Qianmen Locomotive Depot!"

Li Aiguo walked up to the conductor and shook his hand: "Zoya is a hero's name."

When Zhuoya heard that Li Aiguo was a train driver, her attitude softened a little.

"The flight attendant has already reported the specific situation to me. If it were in the past, I could indeed make an exception and get some medicine for you."

Zhuoya paused, as if organizing her words.

"But that's not possible now."

When these words were spoken, the passengers became angry.

Especially Yu Jinan, when he thought of Chen Xianglan suffering from illness, he was furious and started shouting.

The Chinese passengers angrily accused the Russian flight attendants of disregarding human lives.

The scene was in chaos for a moment.

"These guys are too bullying!" Swallow was getting impatient and wanted to rush over, but was stopped by the old cat.

"This matter may be related to carriage number three. Don't worry for now. Listen to driver Li's arrangements."

Hearing this, Yan Zi stopped and clenched her fists.

Zhuoya and several flight attendants were unexpectedly calm in the face of the aggressive passengers.

Only then did Li Aiguo notice that several flight attendants behind them had taken out their pistols and quickly stopped Yu Jinan.

"Yu Jinan, if you want to help Zhuoya, you have to listen to me!"

Yu Jinan, who was in a rage, didn't know why the anger in his heart disappeared. He nodded heavily and said, "Driver Li, I'll listen to you."

Li Aiguo stopped Fatty Chen and the passengers again and asked them to calm down.

Director Xing Duan also helped maintain order.

"Don't worry, everyone!"

Section Chief Xing once heard from the people in the locomotive depot that the railway management on the Russian side was in chaos.

Sometimes train hijackings occur, and the train police are extremely ruthless, some even shooting people secretly or throwing them off the train.

After the passengers calmed down.

Li Aiguo straightened his collar and looked at Zhuo Ya with a smile: "Dear conductor, can we talk in private?"

Captain Zhuoya nodded, and then Li Aiguo invited her to the side.

Li Aiguo got straight to the point: "Comrade conductor, I understand your dilemma, but if you refuse to help, I can only report this to your Ministry of Railways through personal channels."

"Do you know any comrades from the Ministry of Railways?" Zhuoya lost her composure.

For the first time, panic appeared on the snow-white face.

Power is accountable only to the source of its power.

The accidents that happened to the passengers had nothing to do with her, but the Ministry of Railways held her future in its hands.

"You forgot that I am a train driver. I was the one who received Professor Kirov from your place when he came to give us guidance last year."

"You know Professor Kirov?"

"His wife especially likes embroidery." Li Aiguo hesitated to speak.

Only then did Zhuoya realize that the train driver in front of her was not fooling her.

She sighed and said, "Comrade train driver, I am not heartless, but the carriage where the medicine is stored is in the first carriage, but it has been blocked."

Li Aiguo felt strange just now, although Russian flight attendants have always been afraid of dealing with Chinese passengers.

But under the siege of so many people and with the passengers' lives in danger, the Russian flight attendant should have given in.

Li Aiguo finally understood at this time.

It turns out that the problem lies with the Cheka.

Li Aiguo thanked Zhuo Ya and prepared to leave.

His arm was held by Zoya.

"Comrade train driver, the people who blocked the train carriages are very powerful. You'd better not offend them."

Is this considered friendship between colleagues? Li Aiguo smiled and said, "Comrade conductor, thank you for your kindness. I won't be so impulsive."

Li Aiguo returned to the carriage and explained the situation again.

Yu Jinan, Fatty Chen and seven or eight other Chinese passengers all said they wanted to go to carriage No. 1 to get their medicine.

Other passengers said that we are now in a foreign country and should abide by other people's rules.

Yu Jinan turned his head and looked at Li Aiguo: "Driver Li, are you going with us?"

"No, I still have to take care of Comrade Chen Xianglan." Li Aiguo waved his hand.

As soon as these words were spoken, Yu Jinan's expression suddenly changed.

He didn't expect that Li Aiguo, who was so active just now, would now back off.

Fatty Chen didn't expect that Li Aiguo would perform so poorly at the critical moment.

"That's right. He's a train driver and has connections with the Russian railway. It's impossible for him to come forward for us. Let's go to the first carriage and get the medicine!"

Fat Chen spat at Li Aiguo and ran towards a carriage with a few passengers.

"Driver Li, Brother Chen is just like that."

Yu Jinan felt that Fatty Chen's behavior against Li Aiguo was a bit excessive.

He wanted to make a few excuses and glanced at Fatty Chen, who then hurriedly followed him.

Captain Zhuoya did not expect that the Chinese passengers were so brave. They went to get medicine even though they knew there was martial law ahead.

In order to prevent any accidents, she ran towards a carriage with the flight attendants and police officers.

The noise and the friction of the wheels hitting the rails mixed together, and people were crowded together. For a moment, the carriage became a mess.
Li Aiguo made a gesture to the old cat.

After receiving the signal, Lao Mao pulled Lao Bai aside and whispered a few words. Lao Bai quickly followed the crowd. Li Aiguo patted Xing Duanchang's arm again.

"Captain, something big might happen. I need you to help keep an eye on these guys."

"Don't worry, I'm patriotic."

Although Director Xing didn't understand what Li Aiguo was going to do, he felt relieved when he saw that Li Aiguo did not give up.

With Director Xing Duan and Lao Bai mediating, I'm sure the Cheka gang won't open fire. Li Aiguo breathed a sigh of relief and returned to the private room.

He checked on Chen Xianglan's condition. The girl had drunk some clean water and her condition had improved a little.

He asked the female comrade in the same room to take good care of Chen Xianglan, and then walked towards the bathroom in the carriage.

At this time, all the attendants and police officers in the carriage had left.

With Lao Hei standing outside to assist, Li Aiguo quietly entered the bathroom.

Open the bathroom window.

The cold wind outside rushed in like a knife, and Li Aiguo couldn't help shivering.

"Climbing on the roof of a car in winter is not an easy job."

He muttered something quietly.

Li Aiguo leaned out of the window, leaned back and grabbed the top of the car, then jumped out of the window and landed lightly on the roof.

At this time, it was pitch black outside, and the blurry and hazy scenery on both sides was rapidly receding.

Li Aiguo felt as if he was in a deep well falling infinitely, and only the bright headlights in front of him could bring him some comfort.

He took a deep breath and ran along the front of the car.

Li Aiguo walked past the coal-water truck and came to the locomotive.

The sound of the steam engine's piston covered up all other sounds. Black smoke and sparks came out of the chimney not far away. There was a tremor under his feet. Li Aiguo felt like he was standing on the crater of a volcano that was about to erupt.

The train is always so majestic, even on this dark and cold night.

Li Aiguo sighed twice, slowly squatted down, took out a woolen glove from his pocket and put it on his hands.

International trains are equipped with ventilation equipment on the front of the train, which requires maintenance, so maintenance ladders are thoughtfully set up in each carriage.

Li Aiguo calmed himself down, took a deep breath, and climbed down the maintenance ladder. He pulled out a flashlight from his arms and put it in his mouth.

The bright flashlight shone on the connection between the locomotive and the rear carriage, dispelling the darkness, and there was a black pipe there.

Li Aiguo raised a smile and pulled out a wrench from his waist.

*****
At this time, the atmosphere at the connection between the three carriages was extremely tense.

Seven or eight Cheka officers and more than a dozen police officers drew their pistols.

The black muzzle of the gun was aimed at Fatty Chen, Yu Jinan and the passengers.

The major shouted in Russian: "Go back to your compartments immediately, or we will shoot you!"

There was no fear in Fatty Chen's eyes; the anger in his heart kept his feet firmly fixed on the spot.

"I don't know who you are, but there is a passenger in the carriage who is seriously ill and urgently needs medicine. We are just here to get the medicine."

"Yes, please, we will definitely not cause any trouble. We will just take the medicine and go back."

Yu Jinan also bravely stepped forward, faced the black muzzle of the gun, and expressed his demands.

The major waved his hand, called the commander over, and asked what had happened.

Captain Zhuoya explained the whole story and then suggested: "Comrade Major, I know you have a special mission, but they just need a box of medicine. How about I go and get it for them? This way we can avoid a conflict."

"You?" The major said with a stern face, "Comrade Commander, the order you received was to fully cooperate with our work. Is this how you cooperate?"

"You should know what the consequences will be if I report what you said just now!"

Thinking of the various legends about the Cheka, Zoya was shocked and wanted to explain.

The major's face was filled with gloom, and his tone became cold: "Go tell those people that even if they all die here, I will not let them pass!"

In fact, there was no need for Zhuoya to inform the passengers, as most of them could understand Russian and became angry immediately.

Several young passengers raised their fists.

"Raise your guns!" The major's expression did not change at all. He raised his hand and ordered coldly: "Prepare to shoot!"

At this time, Director Xing Duan finally squeezed over from behind and stood between the two teams.

"Don't be impulsive. Anything can be resolved through negotiation."

After Fatty Chen and the others calmed down, Xing Duanchang turned his head and looked at the major: "Comrade, if I'm not mistaken, you are the leader of the special department, you should be carrying out a mission, and your authority is very large.

But this is an international train. If bloodshed and sacrifice really happened, I'm afraid you would have a hard time explaining it to your superiors."

Commander Xing spoke fluent Russian, and every word he said touched the major's heart.

But he still said with a straight face: "I can give you a chance now, you leave immediately, otherwise we will shoot directly!"

Fatty Chen, Yu Jinan and the other passengers were unwilling to leave, the Chekas still raised their guns, and the situation fell into a stalemate again.

Lao Bai put his hands on his lower back, ready to shoot at any time.

He knew that with his own abilities, facing so many well-trained Cheka soldiers, once he opened fire, he would be dead.

However, he could not watch his compatriots die in front of him.

"Driver Li, what are you going to do? Hurry up and do it, or it will be too late."

The thoughts just fell.

Hiss, hiss, hiss. There was a loud friction sound outside the window. Sparks flew from the friction between the wheels and the rails, and everyone in the train leaned forward at the same time.

The train brakes!
The major realized something was wrong, raised his gun, and yelled, "Get back to your bunks now, or we'll shoot."

"Everybody, don't retreat." Fat Chen grabbed the guardrail connecting the carriages with one hand and raised his fist with the other in panic.

"boom!"

The major opened fire.

The bullet headed for Fatty Chen's head.

Fat Chen felt the breath of death, and for a moment even his thoughts became dull, and he looked like a photo taken by a camera.

Yu Jinan and the other passengers all looked horrified, but it was too late to help.

At this moment, a figure flew over from the side and hit Fatty Chen hard.

Fat Chen was knocked to the ground and his forehead hit the car. He woke up in severe pain.

"I've been shot! I'm going to die! Dad, Mom, your son is dead!"

"Snapped!"

Lao Bai slapped Fatty Chen on the forehead: "What nonsense are you talking about? Where did you get shot?"

"But I lost so much blood." Fat Chen pointed to his face, and everyone realized that his face was scratched by a bullet.

Thinking of the scene just now, the passengers all gasped.

Fatty Chen seemed a little unhappy, muttering, "I thought I was sacrificed. It's really boring."

Lao Bai: “.”

By the time Lao Bai pulled Fatty Chen up from the ground, the train had already stopped completely, and Captain Zhuoya had no idea what had happened.

Sensing that the problem was getting more serious, the major raised his gun again.

"I now order you to return to your respective carriages immediately, otherwise we will shoot."

After witnessing the major's brutality, the passengers' faces turned livid. Xing Duanchang shouted, "Something might happen now. Everyone go back first. We can always find a way to get medicine for Comrade Chen Xianglan."

The passengers all echoed what Director Xing said and turned around to retreat.

Everyone else had left, and Fatty Chen was still trying to rush over, but Lao Bai was quick to grab him by the collar and called Shangyu Jinan to drag him back together.

"This guy is really a lunatic. But he is lucky. He happened to encounter a train breakdown, otherwise he would have been thrown out of the carriage by now."

The major had never seen a man like Fatty Chen before. He muttered something in a low voice and called the train conductor Zhuoya over.

"Conductor, why did the train stop so suddenly!"

"There may be a malfunction. I have sent someone to contact the train driver at the front of the train." replied Captain Zhuoya.

"I hope you can find out what happened as soon as possible. We must arrive in Moscow at two o'clock the day after tomorrow."

For some reason, the major always felt that something was wrong.

He ordered all the train police and Cheka to be alert and keep a close watch in carriage No. 3.

After everything was arranged, the major lit a cigar and took a leisurely puff.

"Those guys hiding in the dark, if I don't let you pass through carriage number three, see what you can do!"

The major's lips curled up in a sinister smile.

The train captain Zhuoya, who had just left, came over and reported: "According to the comrades in the driver's team, the train had an inexplicable malfunction, which caused it to stop unexpectedly. Now they are working hard to investigate the cause of the malfunction."

The major did not take the malfunction seriously.

There are two sets of drivers and maintenance personnel on the train. As long as the train is not blown up, they can always repair it.

But after waiting for half an hour, the train still stood there motionless.

The major realized something was wrong and called Captain Zhuoya to carriage No. 3 again.

"Why hasn't it been fixed yet? Are all your people good-for-nothings?"

"Comrade Major, our masters are still troubleshooting the problem."

"Where are the Chinese driver team?"

“They were called out too.”

"."

The major raised his wrist, looked at his watch, and said in a cold voice: "I'll give you another half an hour. If you can't fix the train, you will be subject to military court."

Outside the car.

Seven or eight drivers and six maintenance workers carried flashlights and braved the heavy snow to check for faults in each carriage.

After learning the news from Captain Zhuoya, the bearded Russian captain quit.

"These lackeys only know how to shout on the train. If you have the guts, let them get off and investigate the fault yourself!"

Zhang Dache wiped the oil off his face with a towel and said to the crew member who came to report the news: "Dear crew member, we have tried our best. According to our estimation, there may be a malfunction inside the steam engine, which is not something we can solve.

So I suggest you send someone to the station ahead immediately to report the situation and have the station send out a rescue train."

In carriage number three, the major, who had just finished a round of inspection, frowned when he heard the news.

"Comrade conductor, how far is the next stop from here?"

Zhuoya was silent for a moment, then spoke with difficulty: "The next stop is Qiumen, which takes eight hours by train."

The usually calm major now showed a trace of panic on his face.

"Now we're in trouble."

(End of this chapter)