The train driver in the courtyard

Behind the hustle and bustle of the bustling city and in the peace of the quiet countryside, there is a group of people who silently stick to a special front.

For the sake of national security and people's happiness, they hid their identities in darkness and kept them secret even from their closest relatives.

Looking up at the dark night outside, Li Aiguo sighed, straightened his collar, and went home with his iron waist lunch box.

From now on, he is still the fifth-level driver.

Under the dim light, Chen Xueru prepared meals as usual and waited for him to come back. Xiao Hongsheng sat in the stroller, stretched out his hand and chattered at him.

As soon as he entered the house, the warmth accompanied by the aroma of food hit him in the face, instantly dispelling the slight chill in Li Aiguo's body.

Li Aiguo knew that this was the real purpose of the special front work.

He became more determined to protect this beauty.
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The next day, after having breakfast, Li Aiguo changed into a Zhongshan suit with four pockets, tidied himself in front of the mirror, put on his backpack and went out.

Strictly speaking, this was the first time in Li Aiguo's two lives that he went to a chemical plant.

The situation in a chemical plant is completely different from that in a locomotive depot and a general factory.

The black sedan whizzed all the way to the vicinity of Datou Street, which belongs to Chaoyang District and is a famous industrial area in Beijing. There is also the Beijing Coking Chemical Plant nearby.

The gas pipeline of the Beijing Coking Chemical Plant has been built to Chang'an Avenue, and the residents here can use gas for heating and cooking.

A while ago, Li Aiguo worked as a temporary freight train driver and delivered two trains of coal to a coking plant.

The car passed under the gas pipe and drove for more than ten minutes before a factory appeared in the distance.

Compared with the black coking plant, the Beijing Chemical Plant appears much more modern.

This newly built chemical plant in Beijing exudes a new and vigorous vitality.

The roof of the factory is flat and painted with light gray lime, emitting a soft light in the sun.

Although it does not have the cool curved shape like the later ones, it is simple and practical.

The walls are mostly made of red bricks with white joints, which are neat and simple, showing the unique industrial aesthetics of that era.

The factory gate is a heavy iron door that makes a creaking sound when opened. Several security guards wearing dark blue work clothes and red armbands are standing at the door.

Seeing the car with a special license plate approaching, the security personnel immediately ran forward and saluted the car.

Li Aiguo rolled down the window and handed over the documents: "We are from the Material Department of the 4373rd Army. We have already made an appointment with your factory leader."

Unit 4373 is a pseudonym for the Beijing Meteorological Station and is generally only used when dealing with sister units.

However, if you investigate according to the unit number, you can indeed find this team. They are a field team stationed around the capital.

The security personnel had obviously received the notice, and after confirming Li Aiguo's identity, they immediately opened the heavy door.

The car drove into the Beijing Chemical Plant. Along the way, there were a lot of workers and researchers who got up early to go to work. Although they were dressed simply, most of them were energetic and full of vigor.

Li Aiguo's destination was the production department.

This department is rarely seen in factories in later generations, but in those days it was the most core department in state-owned factories.

State-owned enterprises under the planned economy generally have production departments, equipment departments, supply and marketing departments, finance departments, safety departments, administrative departments, security departments, and fire departments (factories with high safety requirements, such as the Beijing Chemical Plant, have such departments), and there are also various workshops under them.

The management system is secretary-factory director-workshop-team.

Departments and workshops are on the same level, both are led by the factory director, and the secretary leads the factory director.

The factory director, deputy factory director, workshop director, deputy director, and team leader are all administrative affiliations.

The factory director can only manage the workshop directors administratively, and the production tasks are delegated to each workshop by the production department. In a factory like Jingcheng Chemical Plant that integrates scientific research and production, the production department is also responsible for formulating scientific research projects.

Under this model, the position of the production department head becomes very important.

In a large chemical plant like Beijing Chemical, although the Production Department is just a department in name, the chief is comparable to the director of a small state-owned enterprise.

Zhu Yuanrong, the head of the production department of Jingcheng Chemical Plant, also serves as the head of the technical department. He is also the chief engineer of the factory, which is considered a low-level position with high qualifications.

Such an arrangement is not only conducive to balancing production and scientific research, but also shows the importance that Beijing Chemical Plant attaches to technology.

Before liberation, Zhu Yuanrong worked as an engineer and director of the physics and chemistry laboratory at the Jiangsu Pharmaceutical Factory.

He then went to the University of Michigan to study at the Graduate School in Michigan and obtained a doctorate degree.

After liberation, Zhu Yuanrong was able to serve as the section chief of two departments in the largest factory in Beijing, as the chief engineer, and as a member of the Chemistry Department of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was responsible for both technology and political work, so it is natural that Zhu Yuanrong himself had outstanding abilities.

At this time, Zhu Yuanrong was a little troubled by the request of Deputy Director Zhan Ye.

"Director Zhan, you are also aware of the current situation of our factory. We have a shortage of technical personnel and a large production workload.

The Su Biao and analytical grade products introduced two years ago have not yet been put into production, and a group of researchers are working overtime.

Now the sodium silicate plant in the southern suburbs is about to start mass production of general fine chemical raw materials and fluorides, and the technical department has fifteen technicians who need to support that place.

Not to mention the organic reagent and inorganic reagent workshops in Yazizui, Dongjiao.

A few days ago, the workshop directors of these two workshops came to me and cursed at me, asking me to quickly transfer a group of technicians over there.

There is also the Dongjiao Dajiaoting, which produces polyvinyl chloride, phthalic anhydride, caustic soda and chlorine, which also requires a lot of manpower and material resources.

I now have ten enamel pots and five lids, how can I cover them all?"

As he spoke, several strands of his gray hair were scratched out, which made Director Zhan feel distressed.

"According to the Ministry's instructions, the southern and eastern suburbs will soon be expanded into two and three areas, and by then they will have little to do with us."

"That will take at least two years. When we were planning to build Jingcheng Chemical, I suggested taking over the researchers and leadership team of Xinhua Reagent Factory.

Ask Professor Wang to come and take charge, but you let Jinling Chemical take over most of the researchers at the reagent factory."

In the chemical plant, Zhu Yuanrong spoke with his real ability and did not give any face to Director Zhan at all.

Factory Director Zhan could only smile helplessly at Zhu Yuanrong, who was one level lower than him. "Old Zhu, this is a matter for the higher-ups. Even though I am the executive deputy factory director, I cannot be the boss. Now that the situation has come to this, we have to find a way to complete the higher-ups' task."

He paused and reminded, "Old Zhu, this time it was the head of the army who personally gave a heads-up to the department!"

“I understand.” Zhu Yuanrong was able to become a core figure in Jingcheng Chemical Industry, and he was not the kind of person who acted on impulse.

He was planning where to select some technicians to get away with this matter when Li Aiguo and Zhang Qingdian knocked on the door and walked in.

Li Aiguo had already learned the inside story of Jingcheng Chemical from Zhang Qingdian, and recognized the thin Director Zhan and the slightly gray-haired Zhu Yuanrong at a glance.

"Director Zhan, Section Chief Zhu, you are all here. We are from the Logistics Department of the 4373rd Army. I am Li Aiguo, and this is the specially appointed expert, Comrade Zhang Qingdian."

Li Aiguo greeted him and handed over the documents.

At this time, Director Zhan and Zhu Yuanrong in the office were stunned.

Zhu Yuanrong rubbed his eyes and looked at Wang Qingdian with an incredible look on his face: "Brother Qingdian, is it really you?"

(End of this chapter)