The train driver in the courtyard

Name: Super absorbent polymer composed of polyacrylic acid and polyacrylamide
Appearance: White granules
PH value: neutral

A brown glass bottle was placed on the table, with a label written in small characters on it.

Li Aiguo picked up the bottle excitedly, poured the white granular substance into the beaker, and then picked up a measuring cup of water and poured it in.

As the water poured in, the white granules seemed to melt into a colloid.
The researchers who were watching held their breath and waited for the subsequent chemical reaction.

It took the whole factory a total of nearly two months to make this thing, at a cost of 53,827.52 yuan.

It must be an incredible fun thing.

then
There is no more.

The military representative nodded with satisfaction, and specifically instructed the chemical laboratory to produce another batch of polymers according to the same standards.

At this moment, the group of researchers were shocked.

"This thing doesn't look like a chemical weapon, does it?"

"Did we make a mistake?"

"No way, we spent so much effort and only made a bunch of gel?"

Zhu Yuanrong, the deputy team leader, couldn't help but suck his teeth.

He approached Li Aiguo and asked quietly, "Deputy Li, does this material have any other chemical specialties?"

“It only has water-absorbing properties.”

Zhu Yuanrong: “.”

Seeing the expressions of those researchers, Li Aiguo did not give any further explanation.

If these researchers knew that he was going to make diapers, they would probably be furious and blame him for wasting scientific and technological funds.

Seeing that the situation was not right, Zhu Yuanrong took the initiative to find a way out.

"Ahem, these are special supplies needed by the troops. Everyone must abide by the confidentiality discipline and don't ask about things that you shouldn't ask about."

The term "special materials" successfully solved all the problems, and the researchers all showed expressions of "I see".

After the project was successfully completed, it was classified as confidential because it involved special materials.

Neither technology nor raw material formulas must be disclosed.

In particular, the production process of "special materials" is also kept confidential.

The production plan is replaced by a confidential code, the production workers are advanced elements with a high sense of confidentiality, and the workshop is not open to the outside world.

Even if diapers are promoted in the future, it will be impossible for someone with an interest to get the production details.

Li Aiguo did not treat those researchers and production workers unfairly and recommended merits for them in the name of the 4373 Unit.

At the celebration party held at the Beijing Chemical Plant, the researchers and production workers who participated in the research were awarded the third-class collective merit, and each received an enamel pot and a blanket.

Both the researchers and the production workers said from the bottom of their hearts: "This military representative is pretty good."

What puzzled Li Aiguo was that Wang Qingdian, the project leader, did not attend the celebration party.

Zhu Yuanrong and Wang Qingdian were comrades in the same trench, but their relationship had become somewhat distant due to their different philosophies.

After this project, the relationship between the two quickly became closer.

Zhu Yuanrong helped Wang Qingdian explain: "The old director has been busy in his laboratory recently. It is said that he has found a new way to synthesize ammonia."

After finishing speaking, Zhu Yuanrong added with some doubt: "We have also studied synthetic ammonia technology before, and we gave up only when we encountered particularly great difficulties. How did the old director find a new way so quickly?"

Hearing this, Li Aiguo picked up the wine glass and drank it all.

He felt that today's Erguotou was particularly fragrant.
-
Three days later, a large batch of super absorbent polymer material composed of polyacrylic acid and polyacrylamide as the absorbent core layer was produced.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle back home and as soon as he entered the door, he asked Chen Xueru to sew a bag with old cloth.

"What are you doing?" Chen Xueru was surprised.

Old cloth is precious these days and should not be wasted.

"I made a diaper for Xiao Hongsheng."

Li Aiguo took the absorbent core layer out of the canvas bag.

Chen Xueru touched the soft absorbent core.

Although it is not clear whether this thing is more absorbent than diapers, it is certain that it must be very comfortable to put on the buttocks.

Besides, all that was needed were two palm-sized pieces of cloth, so Chen Xueru didn't say anything more. She sat in front of the sewing machine and kicked her long legs hard.

After the cloth bag was made, Chen Xueru also sewed two buttons on it.

Li Aiguo wrapped the absorbent core layer with the non-woven fabric he had made a while ago, then put it into the bag and buttoned it up.

He placed the diaper on the table and looked at it from left to right. Although it was a bit rough compared to the industrially produced diapers in his previous life, it looked similar.

"Put this thing on the child tonight."

After dinner, seeing Chen Xueru was about to coax Xiao Hongsheng to sleep, Li Aiguo handed her the diaper.

Chen Xueru patted Xiao Hongsheng and whispered, "Brother Aiguo, is this possible? This is a whole night."

"Don't worry, if it leaks onto the bed, I'll wash the sheets for you."

"How can a man wash the sheets?" Chen Xueru couldn't persuade Li Aiguo in the end, and she wrapped the diaper around Xiao Hongsheng's butt with half belief and half doubt.

You know what, Li Aiguo designed it according to Xiao Hongsheng's size, and it fits perfectly after the buttons were fastened.

It was the first time for Xiao Hongsheng to wear a diaper. He looked down at the strange diaper and made babbling sounds, as if to express his protest.

Where are the diapers? Where are the diapers?
"Little boy, this is your diaper!" Li Aiguo slapped the little butt.

There is no other reason, it's just because it is bouncy and feels so good.

Xiao Hongsheng: “.”

The night is getting darker.

After Chen Xueru and Li Aiguo completed a round of driving training, they dragged their tired bodies and wanted to go to the next room to check on Xiao Hongsheng's diaper.

"Don't worry, it won't leak." Li Aiguo put his arms around her. Chen Xueru hummed and threw herself into his warm embrace.

It is especially hard for a mother to raise a child.

In the past, Chen Xueru had to get up four or five times every night to check on her period, which greatly affected her sleep.

Last night, under Li Aiguo's "coercion", she slept until dawn.

I opened my eyes and saw that it was dawn.

Chen Xueru was still a little dazed. When she heard Xiao Hongsheng's babbling voice next door, she suddenly woke up, put on her clothes and ran to the next room.

When a child cries, it either means he has wet the bed or he is hungry.

Chen Xueru picked up Xiao Hongsheng and reached out to touch the bed sheet.

The sheets were clean.

Looking more closely, the diaper had grown several times larger.

What surprised Chen Xueru was that after the diaper was taken off, there was no sign of wetness on Xiao Hongsheng's buttocks, as if he had not wet the bed at all.

"This, this is too magical."

Chen Xueru stared at the diaper with shining eyes.

She carried Xiao Hongsheng into the main room and asked hurriedly, "Brother Aiguo, did you make this diaper?"

"Yes."

"Is it expensive?"

Li Aiguo was sorting his clothes and was stunned when he heard this.

There are currently no plans to sell diapers domestically, and the prices have not yet been calculated.

After a simple calculation, he gave a figure: "The cost will probably be around 80 cents."

在后世尿不湿的成本中，30%-50%是材料成本、人工成本占20%-30%、研发和设计成本为10%-15%、销售渠道成本占10%-20%。

The total cost is about 60 cents per piece.

In these days, labor costs are very low.

Own research and development can be considered a one-time investment and is not included in the calculation. There is no sales channel cost at all.

However, the cost of materials was several times higher than that of later generations due to the lack of large-scale industrial production, which is why it was priced as high as 80 cents.

If mass-produced, the total cost is estimated to be reduced to 50 cents per piece.

Hearing "80 cents", Chen Xueru seemed hesitant, but she looked at Xiao Hongsheng, finally bit her lip and said, "Brother Aiguo, can you make another batch? I can use my salary to pay for it."

Chen Xueru's "luxury" was beyond Li Aiguo's expectations.

You should know that Chen Xueru is now an employee of the Street Office, enjoying the treatment of a level 13 clerk, and her monthly salary is only 32.5 yuan.

She was willing to give up eating white flour buns and spend 80 cents to buy diapers.

Sure enough, it’s easiest to make money from children!

Of course Li Aiguo would not accept this money from Chen Xueru.

"Don't worry, I have a way to get a batch of free diapers."

Chen Xueru's first thought was not excitement, but to ask: "Is there no mistake?"

Only after receiving Li Aiguo's affirmative answer did Chen Xueru feel relieved.

She ruffled little Hongsheng's hair and said with a smile, "Hongsheng's little butt will never get a rash again."

Li Aiguo also changed his mind. With Chen Xueru's example in mind, perhaps he should first produce a batch of diapers and test the waters through the internal store of Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

But you have to take one step at a time and eat one bite at a time. Don't be in a hurry.

After breakfast, Li Aiguo sent Xiao Hongsheng to the nursery, and Chen Xueru helped sew a batch of diaper bags at home.

After Li Aiguo finished "assembling" the diapers, he counted the number.

The first batch contained 350 diapers, 300 of which were packed in boxes and the remaining 50 were left at home.

Since diapers have been produced, they should be inspected.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle and came to the Shijingshan Meteorological Station unsteadily.

He first gave Wu Jingzhong the fried dough cakes he had bought on the way.

This old man has been almost "cleaned up" and perhaps he will be able to leave the courtyard and work in the weather station soon.

Afterwards, Li Aiguo brought the cardboard box to the supplies department and knocked on Director Shu's office door.

Director Shu was writing an application report. When he saw Li Aiguo, who was wearing a lieutenant colonel uniform, come in, he seemed to understand something.

She put down her pen and said with a smile: "Director Li, have diapers been developed?" Li Aiguo placed the cardboard box on the table, took out a document from the canvas bag and handed it over: "Report to Director Shu, with the strong cooperation of Jingcheng Chemical, we have produced the first batch of diapers, a total of 351.

However, 51 of them were found to be of substandard quality after inspection, and in the spirit of not wasting, I am personally willing to pay for them.”

Director Shu was experienced and immediately understood what was going on.

But she didn't care at all.

After all, diapers are not considered military products, and sometimes the masters in the supply department will buy unqualified products at a cheap price.

This not only avoids waste, but also provides convenience for the masters.

In particular, Director Shu knew very well that Li Aiguo was the sole person in charge of the diaper project. Even if he concealed the unqualified products, no one else would know about it.

Thinking of this, Director Shu looked at Li Aiguo with even more respect.

It seems that the farmer accepted this young man as his apprentice simply because of his merits.

"Director Li, there is no need for personal investment."

"Director, let's follow the rules."

Seeing that Li Aiguo insisted, Director Shu had no choice but to agree.

After she counted the diapers, she signed her name on the list, and then this batch of diapers was registered and filed in the materials department as special equipment.

Coincidentally, before Li Aiguo left the supply office, Lao Mao pushed open the door and walked in.

He brought three team members to collect equipment.

Seeing the tired faces of the four men who hadn't slept for seven or eight days, and smelling the sweat on their bodies, Li Aiguo knew that they were carrying out a surveillance mission.

Director Shu saw that Deputy Director Li Aiguo was watering the flowers leisurely, so he handed him the list.

"Director Li, please review it. If there are no problems, take them to the warehouse to get the equipment."

Li Aiguo was worrying that he had no way to inquire about the content of the mission because he was not involved in it. This was like a sleepy boy who got a pillow.

Take the equipment requisition form: bottled water (boiled water in beer bottles), telescope and bird watching device.

Li Aiguo was very sure that Lao Mao and his companions were carrying out a surveillance mission, and that this mission was quite important.

"Team Leader Lao Mao, what's the matter with these four sets of camouflage suits?" Li Aiguo looked at them for a while and pointed at one of them.

As deputy director of the Materials Department, he has the authority to review the equipment needed for the operation.

It is only natural for Lao Mao to introduce some details of the operation at this time.

It turned out that the surveillance mission that Lao Mao and his team were carrying out this time was very difficult and demanding, as they needed to keep the target in sight 24 hours a day.

The target of surveillance lived on the fifth floor of the tube-shaped building.

Because there were no buildings on the opposite side, Lao Mao had to lead two team members to climb up a big tree and stare at the other side with binoculars on the branches.

"These camouflage uniforms can prevent the team members from being discovered in the trees." Lao Mao explained: "Because every time we go up or down a tree, we may be discovered by the target, so we adopt a close watch method and rotate a group of team members every three days."

After squatting on the big tree for three days, Li Aiguo couldn't help but gasp.

"Then how do you solve your life problems?"

"In order to avoid excretion, you can only eat a small amount or not eat during these three days. However, you must drink water. If you drink water, it should be bottled water.

This way, you can avoid having to poop for three days, and you can only pee in the tree."

After Li Aiguo understood the details of the operation, his eyes lit up and he patted the old cat on the shoulder: "Captain Cat, I have recently invented a new gadget called diapers. Come and learn about it!"
-
In this way, Lao Mao's action team became the first team to be equipped with new equipment - diapers.

Three days later, the team members sent back feedback that diapers were particularly convenient for surveillance work. Lao Mao even listed the use of diapers as essential equipment for surveillance work in the action report.

The farmer didn't care much about diapers at first, but after listening to the old cat's advice, he officially included diapers in the ranks of special warfare equipment.

Half a month later, a special operations force in Beijing conducted an extreme field training.

In order to maximize the capabilities of special forces soldiers, diapers are also included in their backpacks as special warfare equipment.

Li Aiguo also wrote a manual for the special forces: "In addition to conventional uses, diapers can also be used as insoles."

Thanks to the use of diapers, the special forces team's training results have improved significantly, and the rate of foot injuries has been greatly reduced.

After the training, diapers were officially included in the military region’s special equipment procurement sequence.

The Beijing Chemical Plant received a large order from the military region. The secret production line started up again and produced a large number of diapers at an emergency rate.

Of course, these are all things for later.

After diapers were successfully used as military products within the weather station, the patent application process was also completed in Gangcheng.

Li Aiguo then packed the diapers into an international mail package and sent it to Andrei in Moscow via an international train.

Andre sat on the large leather sofa, looking at the parcel in front of him, a little confused.

"Driver Li told me on the phone that he could solve the astronauts' toilet problem, so how come they only sent a piece of cotton cloth?"

"Master, here is another letter." The butler held the letter in both hands and handed it to Andre.

Andre put out his cigar and picked up the letter.

"Dear Comrade Andre, this thing is called diaper, it has..."

After reading for more than ten minutes, Andre put down the letter and picked up the cotton cloth with a suspicious look on his face.

He couldn't understand how a piece of cotton cloth could absorb more than ten times its volume of water or urine.

But Andre did not hesitate for long.

After all, whether the problem of astronauts going to the toilet can be solved should be determined by the Moscow Academy of Sciences.

At this time, Andre was keenly aware that diapers can be used not only by astronauts but also by children.

This is a huge business opportunity.

"Let the Moscow Academy of Sciences help us test whether this thing is useful or not."

"But if the diaper is handed over by someone else, I'm afraid those guys will keep it for themselves."

"For tens of millions of rubles, I had no choice but to go to the Moscow Academy of Sciences myself."

"Vishniac, don't you think I'm really tired?"

Andre asked the butler with a smile while asking him to contact the Ministry of Aviation Industry.

The housekeeper whispered, "Master, you are different from those playboys. The master has made it clear several times in family meetings that you will inherit the family's glory in the future."

"Family glory. Hahahaha. The driver once said that it is better to save guns than money and food. How can I, who saves money, compare to my good brother who is in the Northern Fleet?"

Andre's words sounded somewhat joking, but his tone was heavy and full of reluctance.

The housekeeper was aware of the internal struggles within the family, but he did not dare to say much and could only pretend that he did not hear anything.

He shook the phone, waited for the call to be connected, and handed it to Andre.

The moment Andre got the phone, the resentment on his face disappeared without a trace, and a bright smile appeared.

"Uncle Yaroslav, I'm Little Andrei. How does the caviar you received last time taste? It's top quality from Finland."

"What? Capitalist things are inappropriate? Then don't do it again."

"In two days, there will be a batch of beef-flavored instant noodles shipped from the East. I'll send it to you."

"Yes, yes, it's the Red Star brand."

"Uncle, little Andre needs your help with something. Here's what's going on."

Andre spoke on the phone for ten minutes before hanging up.

"Prepare the car. Let's go to the Ministry of Aviation Industry first."

He stood up, changed out of his fur coat and put on a double-breasted long wool coat.

This coat not only has exquisite epaulettes and crisp fabric, but also a distinguished Astrakhan fur collar. More importantly, a row of medals is pinned on the front of the coat.
-
Because most of the diapers produced were purchased by major military regions, especially given priority to frontier corps.

Therefore, Li Aiguo's plan to sell diapers in Beijing was greatly delayed.

But he was not in a hurry.

As Beijing Chemical's production volume grows, diapers will one day be placed on the counters of supply and marketing cooperatives.

Li Aiguo has been living a happy life recently. He drives the train every day and continues to read books in his spare time.

With those defective diapers, little Chen no longer has to wash diapers and lives a happy life.

However, the residents in the compound soon felt something was wrong.

Because in the past, Miss Chen had to carry a basin of diapers and work by the sink almost every day.

He has been missing for a while recently.

Liu Lan muttered about this while washing diapers.

"Chen Xueru must have been lazy." Jia Zhang, who was sitting next to her, said with a pursed mouth.

She looked at Qin Huairu who was busy working and said, "Although our Jia family's daughter-in-law has no formal job, little education, and is not very smart, she still has her merits."

These days, it's a huge insult for a woman to be considered lazy.

Jia Zhang rarely praised Qin Huairu, and He Yushui, who was doing homework nearby, became angry.

"Ms. Jia Zhang, what nonsense are you talking about! Sister Xueru is a well-known hardworking daughter-in-law in our compound. The reason why she didn't wash the diapers is because Xiao Hongsheng doesn't need diapers now."

These words caused Jia Zhang to burst into laughter.

"What a joke! I've lived to this age and I've never seen a baby under one year old who didn't wet the bed. Yu Shui, you used to be a good girl, how come you were led astray by Li Aiguo?"

He Yushui was angry: "I'm telling the truth! Brother Aiguo made his own diapers. Just put them under the child's buttocks, and the child doesn't need to change diapers for the whole day."

"There are also diapers? Yu Shui, you can deceive me, an old woman, but don't deceive yourself." Jia Zhang still didn't believe it.

At this time, Liu Lan made a sound of "Eh", raised her head suddenly and said: "Don't tell me, I seem to have really seen it, it was wrapped in cloth, and inside was something very soft, like cotton.

Chen Xueru and I were taking out the trash yesterday, and I saw it in her basket."

"I've seen it too. At the time I thought it was good cotton, just wet. But when I took it back to dry, it didn't dry even after several days."

The third uncle took out a diaper from the house and handed it to the residents.

The residents were amazed after seeing it.

"This thing does look like cotton, but it's probably not."

"It must be so comfortable to put this pad under your butt. No wonder Xiao Hongsheng hasn't had a rash on his butt recently."

Liu Lan was also moved when she heard this.

These days, many children suffer from buttock sores due to lack of vitamins.

Although Liu Lan changes five diapers for Xiao Xuhua every day, Xiao Xuhua's butt is still red.

(End of this chapter)