The train driver in the courtyard

“Chunhua went home to visit her parents.

My parents brought me letters several times.
I am too busy with spring ploughing to spare time.
(Alas) It's just because the production in the team is tight,
The weeds in the field are half a foot deep.

First look at the parents, then look at the cows.

Kill two birds with one stone.

"

On the country road, Zhang Guifang jumped up and down with her hands behind her back, singing a song with a unique rural flavor.

"These lyrics are quite interesting." Li Aiguo looked at Yan Jiecheng with a smile.

Yan Jiecheng turned his head away in embarrassment.

It was just around half past twelve, and some members of the cooperative were already working in the fields. When they heard the singing, they all looked over here.

"Guifang, are you back?"

"Uncle Dagen, where is my father?"

"The secretary felt uncomfortable after dinner and said he would go home and take a rest for a while."

Zhang Guifang turned to Li Aiguo and Yan Jiecheng and said, "My father is at home. Come on, follow me."

Zhangzhuang Commune had seven or eight villages under its jurisdiction, among which Zhangzhuang, the seat of the commune, was the largest, with a population of about one or two thousand.

This place is located in the mountainous area, and compared with the communes in the suburbs of the capital, the village is a little more dilapidated.

There are almost no decent brick walls to be seen in Zhangzhuang, and there are only farmhouse courtyards made of adobe everywhere.

Zhang Guifang's home is located at the east end of the village and seems a little poorer than that of ordinary villagers.

Part of the wall of the adobe house had collapsed due to the ravages of time, and the owner simply blocked the gap with a pile of branches.

In the yard, an old lady with bound feet was raking straw from the firewood pile.

"Guifang, didn't you go to the switchman station to learn how to read? Why are you back?" The old lady with bound feet heard the noise, put down the straw, walked out quickly with bound feet, and opened the door.

"Grandma, this is Yan Jiecheng, the teacher who taught me to read." Zhang Guifang pointed at Yan Jiecheng confidently.

"He's the teacher in the school. He's quite young." The old lady with bound feet squinted at Yan Jiecheng.

Yan Jiecheng hurriedly waved his hands and explained: "Grandma, you misunderstood. I am a railway worker. I just taught Comrade Zhang Guifang a few words. I am not a teacher."

"That's also a teacher, Teacher Yan, come in quickly."

The old lady with bound feet seemed very enthusiastic.

At this moment, a middle-aged woman in the room heard the noise and came out.

"Is this Little Yan?" The middle-aged woman looked Yan Jiecheng up and down, with an auntie's smile on her face, and nodded with satisfaction, "Come in quickly, there are fried peanuts at home. I'll pour you some tea."

Yan Jiecheng also realized that something was wrong. He was startled and took a step back.

Well, the matter of borrowing a cow turned into a blind date meeting.

If Li Aiguo had nothing urgent to do, he would definitely stay here and watch the fun.

But at this moment, Captain Bai and the others were still waiting at Yexi Station.

Li Aiguo reminded: "Jie Cheng, our purpose this time is to borrow the cow."

"Yes, yes, yes, let me borrow the cow!" Yan Jiecheng was now sandwiched between two women, one old and one young, and he quickly looked at Zhang Guifang and said, "Comrade Zhang Guifang, we do have an urgent matter."

"Grandma, Mom, people do big things on the railway. You will be looked down upon if you behave like this." Zhang Guifang got angry, and only then did Guifang's mother and grandmother shut up.

"Where's my dad?"

"He's lying on the bed."

Zhang Guifang smiled apologetically at Yan Jiecheng and Li Aiguo, then turned and went into the house.

After a while, a thin, gray-haired middle-aged man came out.

He puffed on his pipe and muttered quietly, "The cows in the commune need to eat dozens of kilograms of grass every day. If we lend them to others to work, won't the grass be wasted?"

"Dad, you are the branch secretary. It's just a cow. Is there any need to be so fussy about it?" Zhang Guifang pulled Secretary Zhang's arm and acted coquettishly.

"Eat enough to keep you from getting poor, spend enough to keep you from getting poor, but don't plan well to keep you from getting poor! Don't you see that we don't have enough food in our commune now?"

When Secretary Zhang walked out of the house, he came face to face with Li Aiguo and Yan Jiecheng.

Secretary Zhang immediately put on a warm smile and blinked his eyes: "You two, the people's railway is for the people. The comrades on the railway don't seem to use the members' things for nothing, right?"

He is not tall, but has a loud voice and speaks in a muffled voice.

Well, this is the member version of Yan Bugui!

Zhang Guifang introduced the two people. Coincidentally, Secretary Zhang's name was Zhang Jinsheng, which was only three characters different from the third uncle's name.

Li Aiguo stretched out his hand and shook hands with Secretary Zhang: "Secretary Zhang, Lao Huangniu works for the railway, so he is also considered a worker, and his salary is 1.2 yuan a day."

Secretary Zhang blinked his eyes and said, "You're being polite when you say money. That's not what I meant. The point is that I still need to give you a handlebar. The commune is very busy right now and we can't spare the manpower."

Guifang's mother suddenly spoke up: "Old man, what are you doing? The members of the cooperative only earn a few cents a day, and now you earn one dollar and twenty cents for a cow. You still have the nerve to ask them for money."

"If the members work one day less, our commune's grain production will decrease. Women don't know anything."

"That's the truth. Can't you show some style and support the railway construction?"

"I want to support it, too. We can't let the members go hungry."

Wow, this is a double act!
Zhang Guifang got angry before Li Aiguo even opened his mouth.

She stamped her feet and said, "Mr. Zhang, if you do this, I will never be able to face anyone again!"

Seeing his daughter was angry, Secretary Zhang quickly changed his words: "Comrade from the railway department, the driver doesn't need to pay. I will arrange one for you now."

"I can drive the cattle myself without a handlebar," said Li Aiguo.

"You can drive cattle? Young man, old oxen are big animals and can't understand human language. Even an experienced driver can get kicked sometimes." Secretary Zhang frowned.

Li Aiguo does know how to drive cattle, and this time he was experimenting with an oxcart lawn mower.

If there is a handlebar, one more person will be needed. If oxcart lawn mowers are promoted on a large scale in the future, it will cause a waste of railway personnel.

Secretary Zhang tried to persuade Li Aiguo for a few words, but seeing that Li Aiguo insisted, he stopped talking. He took Li Aiguo to the livestock shed in the commune compound.

The livestock farmer was combing the hair of the old yellow cow in the shed with a brush.

The old oxen are all fat and strong, without a speck of mud on their bodies. This livestock farmer is really a good cattle breeder.

"Lao Shuan, this is a comrade from the railway, a friend of Guifang. He is now borrowing our commune's old ox. Please pick out a strong, well-behaved and obedient one."

Although Secretary Zhang is stingy, he really does things after taking the money.

The herdsman led out an old yellow cow with shiny light yellow fur, a large body, and strong muscles on its four legs.

"This is the best cow in our commune. Its name is Da Zhuang. It is very obedient. You must not use the whip on it."

The herder was still a little reluctant to let go, and when he handed the reins to Li Aiguo, he reminded him twice: "It is picky about what it eats, so it only eats grass leaves. If it is hay, you have to mix some bran and wheat seeds in it."

The cow's name is Da Zhuang. Just by looking at the name you can tell that this is an extraordinary cow.

"Uncle, don't worry, we have enough food on the railway. We won't treat Da Zhuang badly."

Li Aiguo thanked Secretary Zhang and the animal husbandry worker, and prepared to leave leading the old ox.

Zhang Guifang wanted to go to the switch station with Yan Jiecheng at this time, but was politely declined by Yan Jiecheng.

"Comrade Zhang Guifang, there will be several trains passing through the station this afternoon, and there may be leaders inspecting. It is not appropriate for you to stay there."

"Then I'll go tomorrow." Zhang Guifang bit her lip and nodded.

When she saw Yan Jiecheng was about to leave, she called him back.

"Wait for me."

Zhang Guifang ran back to the small courtyard and came out a moment later with a few corn cobs in her arms: "Take these with you and roast them for later when you are on duty tonight."

Yan Jiecheng felt a little embarrassed to accept the gift when he saw Li Aiguo staring at him with a smile.

Zhang Guifang grabbed his arm, stuffed the corn cob into his arms, then turned and ran away.

The bouncing ponytail swung back and forth.

Li Aiguo retracted his gaze and smiled: "Let's go."

"Brother Aiguo, things are not what you think. Zhang Guifang and I really have nothing to do with each other." Seeing Li Aiguo leading the cow out of the village, Yan Jiecheng hurriedly trotted after him to explain.

Yexi Switch Station is the smallest switch station in Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

On weekdays, there are only two switchmen who take turns on duty. Switchman Lao Liu's family lives in a nearby village, so when he is not on duty, he goes back home.

Yan Jiecheng was the only one left at the switchman station.

The food in the switchman station is brought by the switchmen from the superior station. They receive one month's food each time, and then receive the next month's food when they are off duty next time.

Yan Jiecheng was exiled here and had no idea about the procedures. When he left, he only took a few steamed buns with him.

Yexi Station is not far away, and Yan Jieben can go to Yexi Station to get food.

The key point is that he still needs to be on duty and cannot leave the switch station, so he can only make plans after the shift is handed over during the day.

At night, Yan Jiecheng was so hungry that he sneaked into the nearby fields to find something to fill his stomach.

But it was the coldest time of the year and the land was bare. Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to walk farther and farther, and finally he found a vegetable garden in a vegetable field not far from the village.

There are big baskets of radishes grown by the members.

Yan Jiecheng sneaked in and had just picked up a radish when he was discovered by the female member in charge of patrolling.

This female member is Zhang Guifang.

Food was in short supply those days, and the commune imposed severe punishments on food thieves.

After learning about Yan Jiecheng's identity, Zhang Guifang not only did not tell anyone about Yan Jiecheng's stealing of radishes.

Instead, he went down to the commune's cellar, dug out some large sweet potatoes, lit a bonfire and roasted them.

After Yan Jiecheng ate two roasted sweet potatoes in a row, Zhang Guifang said that she had a low level of education and asked Yan Jiecheng to teach her how to read.

Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to agree, as he was grateful to the person who helped him. Besides, the other person had saved him.

In the following period, Yan Jiecheng had one more student.

This student was very respectful to his teacher and would bring some good things to Yan Jiecheng from time to time.

Two sweet potatoes today, a few corn cobs tomorrow, and once a few pancakes (the pancakes were made by soaking sorghum, corn, and dried melon in water, then grinding them into a paste with a stone mill, and then cooking them in a large pot. They are very different from the pancakes of later generations)
"That's what happened. Nothing ever happened between Comrade Zhang Guifang and me."

Li Aiguo originally didn't want to pay attention to these things.

After thinking about it, he reminded Yan Jiecheng: "Your personal emotional issues are your private affairs, and outsiders have no right to interfere.

But I remind you that our locomotive section has regulations that strictly prohibit railway workers from deceiving rural girls under the banner of railway work."

If trouble comes, no one can protect you."

Li Aiguo was not trying to scare Yan Jiecheng. There had been several similar incidents on the railway. The identity of a railway employee was considered a golden sign in those days.

Some railway workers, although they were married, flirted with young girls and ended up having affairs with them.

Nowadays, children follow their mother's household registration. If a man marries a rural girl, his children will not have a food allowance. City workers rarely marry rural women.

What to do? Of course, just run away.

Something bad will definitely happen as a result.

If she meets a weak-tempered guy, the girl will threaten her own life or even hang herself or jump into a river.

When faced with a tough guy, the girl blocked the door of the locomotive depot with her big belly.

Either one will bring shame to the maintenance depot.

Therefore, the Education Office conducts ideological education every year and strictly prohibits railway workers from having too much contact with young girls from surrounding villages.

"Brother Aiguo, don't worry, my heart is all with Yu Li, and I will never do anything rash." Yan Jiecheng also knew the consequences and nodded heavily.

The two men drove the cattle back to the switch station.

Cao Wenzhi also went down to the driver's building and carried a large piece of wood with Yan Jiecheng and laid it on the carriage.

Li Aiguo walked in front holding the reins. Da Zhuang was indeed a good ox and actually followed him obediently and got on the carriage.

Because he was worried that Da Zhuang would be frightened on the carriage, Li Aiguo asked Yan Jiecheng to find a piece of rag to cover Da Zhuang's eyes.

Even so, because the car body is specifically used to pull tools, there are no guardrails.

In order to prevent the cow from falling off the train while it was moving, Li Aiguo asked Cao Wenzhi to stay on the carriage and be responsible for looking after the old ox.

Li Aiguo was alone in the driver's building, serving as both a train driver and a fireman.

He shoveled a few shovels of coal, then quickly ran to the control panel and checked the instruments.

Fortunately, this little train is considered a "wild" train, otherwise if the comrades from the Lu Feng Office saw it, Li Aiguo would have to be suspended for inspection.

And just like that, the little train whirred back to Yexi Station.

At this time, Captain Bai, the 131 crew, and several other crew members had finished their meal and were carrying hoes and shovels, ready to go to the construction site to work.

They were all waiting by the railroad tracks, and were stunned when they saw Li Aiguo really bringing back an old yellow cow.

Train conductor Chen handed a cigarette to Li Aiguo who had just gotten off the train. "Aiguo, if you get anxious, tell me. I won't give in to you, but I won't laugh at you. It's a big taboo to use a cow to plow the grass, and you don't have a plow!"

Li Aiguo took the cigarette, lit it and took a puff, then pointed to the lawn mower next to him and said, "This thing is a plow."

As soon as these words were spoken, the originally noisy scene suddenly became quiet, and the flight attendants and track inspectors all rubbed their eyes.

The lawn mower looked very strange, with four wheels underneath and no plow, but instead a rope next to it.

Could this thing be a plow?
Cao Wenzhi also thought that Li Aiguo was joking: "Aiguo, a plow must have a harrow, right? You..."

"Master, you will understand in a moment."

At this time, the train whistle sounded, and the employees, who were anxious to go to work, boarded the train one after another.

A lot of equipment has been added to the lawn mower, and it now weighs about four or five hundred pounds.

Li Aiguo asked Cao Wenzhi and the train police officers Lao Zhang, Lao Wang, and Liu Qingquan for help, and together they lifted the lawn mower onto the train car and tied it with a rope.

"set off!"

The little train blew its whistle twice, and whirred along very quickly, and soon arrived at a section of road about seven or eight miles away from the Yexi switch station.

When Li Aiguo saw the words "Crew 131" on the red flag, he knew they had reached their destination.

Sure enough, the train slowly stopped.

Li Aiguo, Cao Wenzhi, and Captain Bai got off the bus.

The driver Chen stuck his head out of the window and shouted to the driver Bai, "Xiao Bai, don't worry. It's useless to worry. We will complete the 20-kilometer weeding task this afternoon."

Zhang Chenxing, the water delivery man and several female comrades were unhappy at the time and wanted to argue with Captain Chen.

Captain Bai stopped them and looked at Captain Chen with a smile:
"Weeding is related to driving safety. The earlier we clean up the railway line, the more safety we can have."

"Which crew wins first place is contributing to our locomotive depot and taking passengers' safety into consideration."

"We, the 131 crew, will definitely learn from your spirit of not fearing hardships and working hard."

Captain Bai's words raised the competition between the crews to a higher level.

The smugness on Captain Chen's face disappeared.

The train started, leaving his sneer in the air: "Yes, yes, yes, we, the crew, are all contributing to driving safety."

Although they said they didn't care, the tempers of all the crew members of package 131 were still aroused.

They came to the railroad tracks and stood in a row. At the command of conductor Bai, they bent their bodies, raised their hoes and started digging at the weeds.

When everyone thought of Captain Chen's words, they worked desperately, especially the female comrades who were unwilling to accept the defeat and waved their hoes like fire wheels.

As the speed increased, large pieces of soil were occasionally lifted up by the hoe and fell right over the heads of the comrades, covering their heads and faces with dirt.

"Xiao Zhao, slow down!" Zhang Chenxing brushed the dirt off his head, turned around and saw Li Aiguo still busy with that strange thing, feeling a little confused.

He swung the hoe a few times and caught up with the driver in front, muttering, "Driver, driver Li finally got here, but now he's just busy fiddling with that thing. If he could come and hoe the land, maybe we could still win."

After hoeing the land for hundreds of meters in a row, Captain Bai was a little out of breath.

She straightened up and took the opportunity to rest for a moment.

"Zhang Chenxing, Comrade Aiguo is testing new equipment. This is the work of the section. Stop talking behind his back."

"It turned out to be an experimental device. I thought he was here to help us hoe the ground."

Zhang Chenxing wanted to continue mumbling, but the train captain Bai's face turned serious: "Xiao Zhang, our crew is a small group, and the locomotive depot is a large group. We can't just focus on the small group and ignore the large group.

You have been a little lax in your thinking recently, you should go to the Education Office and ask Director She to give you a lesson."

"Yes, yes." Seeing that Captain Bai had escalated the problem, Zhang Chenxing quickly shut his mouth, picked up the hoe, and started working with his butt sticking out.

Li Aiguo felt that he was a little too arrogant.

In order to use the lawn mower alone, he refused help from Cao Wenzhi and Liu Qingquan and planned to operate the lawn mower by himself.

There are just some problems with the design of the lawn mower, especially the collar, which was designed based on the cow borrowed last time. It is a bit small now and cannot fit Dazhuang at all.

Fortunately, before going out this time, Li Aiguo brought a full set of tools, considering that he might encounter various troubles.

He cut the loop with scissors, connected a rope, and twisted the two ends into a knot. Although it didn't look good, it was enough.

"Da Zhuang, move your butt back!" Li Aiguo pulled the reins, and Da Zhuang's four hooves moved backwards. When they were just right in the ring, Li Aiguo pulled the reins again, and Da Zhuang stopped immediately.

"What a nice cow!"

Li Aiguo exclaimed, fixed the collar, and then led the cow to catch up with the team that was weeding.

Seeing Li Aiguo coming over with the ox cart and the strange thing, the crew members stood up and came over. Cao Wenzhi said with a smile: "Aiguo, is this new thing of yours used to weed?"

"Master, you have to understand me."

Li Aiguo asked Dazhuang to stop, walked to the harvester, and explained to everyone: "This thing is called a lawn mower, and it is specially used to deal with the weeds on both sides of the railway."

"Mowing the grass? Where's the sickle? Why can't I see any sickle?!" Zhang Chenxing also came over to take a look, and saw the flaw at a glance.

The white driver also nodded: "Aiguo, without a plow or a sickle, how can you mow the grass with your lawn mower?"

Li Aiguo took down the rope hanging on the lawn mower and connected it to the motor shaft.

"This rope is the sickle."

"The rope is soft, can it cut the grass? Driver Li, I am a junior high school graduate after all, a highly educated person, stop fooling me!" Zhang Chenxing's eyes were as big as a cow.

Li Aiguo laughed and ignored him, just connected the wires of the switch.

"Everyone, please move out to avoid getting hurt." Li Aiguo made preparations and shouted to the flight attendants surrounding him.

Although the flight attendants didn't believe how powerful a rope could be, they still took several steps back.

Only Zhang Chenxing hesitated, took a few steps reluctantly, and stood there with his arms folded.

Well, another stubborn one.

After looking at the distance, Li Aiguo ignored Zhang Chenxing.

He pressed the switch lightly, the electric motor roared, the shaft turned rapidly, and the rope spun rapidly under the rotation of the shaft.

UI.

In the world of martial arts, flying leaves can still hurt people, but now that the rope has a motor, it has suddenly become a deadly weapon.

Whoosh!
Zhang Chenxing only felt a flash before his eyes, and before he could see clearly, the hem of his clothes was hit by something.

This thing was extremely fast and powerful, and the hem of the originally very sturdy flight attendant uniform was actually torn apart, and the buttons flew out far away.

Zhang Chenxing was startled and subconsciously took a step back, which he was unwilling to take just now, just in time to avoid the rope that was continuously sweeping over from behind.

Looking at the hem of his clothes and then at the almost invisible rope, sweat dripped down Zhang Chenxing's forehead.

"Oh my god, this thing is really powerful! If it hits your arm, even if it doesn't break, it will still leave a path."

When Captain Bai saw that the hem of Zhang Chenxing's clothes was torn, his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Patriotic, come on, try to see if you can cut the grass."

Since the high-speed rotating rope can tear clothes, it can easily deal with weeds.

Li Aiguo pulled the reins calmly, Dazhuang pushed the ground with all four hooves and walked forward, and the harvester moved slowly.

Wherever it passed, only the sound of rustling could be heard. The sharp rope spun quickly like a whirlwind, cutting through the weeds in a row.

The grass leaves flew around like withered yellow snowflakes floating in the air, then fluttered down to the ground and spread out flat on the ground.

Captain Bai, Cao Wenzhi and the crew members had already anticipated the power of the lawn mower.

After seeing this kind of pretentious scene, I couldn't help but gasp.

"Oh my goodness, isn't this too fast?"

"We spend half a day digging with our butts bent, but it's still not enough for this thing to work in one minute."

Cao Wenzhi coughed twice and said calmly, "My apprentice has barely passed this time."

Captain Bai: “.”

Flight attendants: “.”

The train police: “.”

Da Zhuang: “Moo!”

(End of this chapter)