The train driver in the courtyard

The sun sets in the west, and the clouds in the sky are burning beautifully.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle back to the courtyard.

As soon as I stepped into the gate of the courtyard, the crackling sound of firecrackers reached my ears.

Liu Guangtian and Zhang Gangzhu were seen playing with firecrackers in the yard with great excitement.
Only then did he remember that the Chinese New Year was only a month or so away.

"It seems that the work in the Gobi Desert must be completed as soon as possible, and we should try to return before the New Year."

When I got home, Chen Xueru had already prepared dinner.

"Brother Aiguo, the baby kicked me in the stomach today. She is so naughty."

"It's the end of the year, and the firefighting task in the neighborhood has become heavier. Last night, an old lady in the neighborhood accidentally set her quilt on fire while burning coal. Fortunately, the residents in the compound discovered it. Otherwise, it would have been a big accident."

"Dad is fully recovered now."

Chen Xueru sat at the dining table, chirping with a happy little magpie.

At this time, Li Aiguo said, "I have to go on a business trip and leave tomorrow."

"Ah" Chen Xueru was stunned at first, then a smile broke out on her face again, and she forced herself to say: "Really? Then I'll help you pack your luggage quickly."

As she spoke, she hurriedly left the dining table, walked into the house, picked up the box, and began to pack clothes into it.

At this moment, she could no longer hold back her tears, and they flowed down like beads from a broken string.

Li Aiguo picked up a noodle with chopsticks and put it into his mouth.

This noodle tastes really good.

The night is getting darker.

The lights in the house were dim.

The cheongsam show, which had been suspended for more than a month, was staged again.

"Wife, you are pregnant." Li Aiguo was so scared when he saw Chen Xueru making a few movements that he stood up quickly.

Chen Xueru blushed: "My sister-in-law said that I have passed the dangerous period now, and it will not affect the couple's life as long as the woman is on top."

"Sister-in-law is such a good person."

Li Aiguo sighed, lying on the pillow, squinting his eyes and looking at the roof.

Three hours later, Li Aiguo groaned, his brain seemed to be emptied, and he fell into a state of extreme relaxation.

The night was quiet.

The next morning, just after daybreak, Li Aiguo hurried out of the house carrying his slightly old bamboo suitcase.

Nan Yi and Liang Ladi were squatting at the door of their house with a few children to eat. When they saw Li Aiguo, they greeted him.

"Aiguo, going on a business trip?"

"There's a driving mission in the northwest."

Li Aiguo thought for a moment and stopped, looking at Liang Ladi: "Sister Liang, Xueru is pregnant. I'm not at home for a while, please take care of her."

When Liang Ladi heard this, she pretended to be angry, rolled her eyes at him, and said carelessly: "Oh, we are all family. I have long regarded Xueru as my own sister. Do I need you to explain it specifically?"

In that era, the relationship between neighbors was simple and deep, and when the critical moment came, they would definitely be able to handle it.

There are Aunt Liu, He Yushui, Huang Sen, Zhang Gangzhu's family, and Nan Yi's family in the compound, so Li Aiguo doesn't have to worry too much.

As I stepped out of the courtyard, a jeep was parked steadily outside the door.

Old Cat was sitting in the driver's seat. When he saw Li Aiguo turning his head to look into the yard, he raised his wrist to check the time and urged him softly, "Aiguo, let's go!"

"go!"

Li Aiguo got on the jeep, which sped away with a puff of black smoke.

Jia Dongxu quietly walked out from behind the tree and clapped his hands excitedly: "Li Aiguo, that bastard, is finally on a business trip."

****
In this era of reconstruction, the Lanzhou Railway (Lanzhou-Xining) has just broken ground and there is still a long way to go before it can be temporarily opened to traffic.

Therefore, if the calculator was to be transported to the Gobi Desert, it had to first take the Longhai Railway and then take the Baolan Railway (opened in 1958).

After arriving in Lanzhou, they will be transferred to the Gobi Desert by car, and finally reach their final destination with the help of the base's secret railway line.

Li Aiguo rode a jeep and arrived at Qianmen Locomotive Depot at lightning speed.

At this time, Master Zhang, who was in charge of driving the train, had already led the driver team and had been waiting in the station for a long time.

They had obviously received the notice from the locomotive section in advance. When they saw Li Aiguo, they immediately saluted him with a standard military salute: "Driver Li, the steam engine has been fully overhauled and is ready to go at any time!"

Unlike before, in addition to the intimacy between brothers, their eyes were filled with shock and respect.

What was different from the past was that when they looked at Li Aiguo, in addition to the familiar intimacy between brothers, there was also a bit of shock and sincere respect that was difficult to conceal.

This is no wonder. Anyone who knows that a colleague who always chats and brags with you on weekdays can now take on special tasks for a special department will have such a reaction.

"Master Zhang, the equipment has been installed in the carriage. Please hang the carriage first."

Li Aiguo looked at Lao Mao and saw that he had finished his work, then handed cigarettes to Master Zhang, the assistant driver and the fireman.

"You're too polite." Master Zhang took the driver team aboard the train, and then heaved a long sigh of relief, saying with emotion: "Our driver Li is really amazing now!"

The assistant driver whispered, "Brother Zhang, what position do you think Driver Li holds? What kind of official position?"

"Official? You are so obsessed with being an official that you are confused."

Master Zhang carefully lit up the Daqianmen, took a puff, and said in a low voice: "Driver Li is an advanced train driver in the country. He was able to carry out the secret mission this time because his superiors saw that he had a high level of ideological awareness.

This is a supreme honor. If I, Zhang, could have the opportunity to carry out such a mission, I would not be willing to trade it for a county magistrate!"

"Yes, yes, Brother Zhang, now I understand what you said. Otherwise, it would feel weird for Driver Li, a train driver, to hang out with comrades from these special departments." The assistant driver nodded with envy on his face.

"Okay, stop thinking about it. Driver Li has achieved what he has today by working step by step. We should also learn from Driver Li and perform every driving task conscientiously."

Master Zhang calmed his mind, reached out and blew the whistle.

Afterwards, the locomotive mounted two carriages, one for transporting equipment and the other for passengers. Lao Mao took Li Aiguo onto the passenger carriage.

As soon as I got on the car, a figure suddenly appeared from the side and shouted sternly: "Password!"

"Spring!" the old cat replied, "It's me, old cat."

He quickly pointed at Li Aiguo and introduced him, "This is the driver, put your stuff away."

Li Aiguo was shocked to find that he was being pointed at by the dark muzzle of a gun in the darkness.

A middle-aged man looked Li Aiguo up and down carefully, and after confirming that he was correct, he slowly put away his pistol.

He strode forward, saluted Li Aiguo solemnly, and said, "Comrade driver, Zhang Yan, the head of the special security section of the Ninth Bureau, reports to you!"

Li Aiguo returned the greeting: "Thank you for your hard work along the way."

At this time, seven or eight young men in gray uniforms filed out from the dark corner of the carriage.

They are the specialists in charge of this transportation mission, all from the Ninth Bureau.

Li Aiguo had previously learned about the details of the ninth inning from the farmer.

In 1958, in order to successfully grow giant mushrooms, the Second Ministry of Machine Building established the Nuclear Weapons Research Institute, which was the Ninth Bureau of the Second Ministry of Machine Building.

The name "Ninth Inning" is just a cover.

The Nuclear Weapons Research Institute also has several other names, such as the Ninth Institute of Beijing, the Ninth Institute of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, the Ninth Institute of Unit 0, etc.

Many people in later generations were confused about the relationship between the Ninth Bureau, Factory 221 and Malan Base.

Simply put, the Ninth Bureau is the leading organization for mushroom cultivation and is also the main scientific research institution, mainly responsible for theoretical research.

Factory 221 is a mushroom research and production base, responsible for the production of large mushrooms.

The Malan Base is located in the heart of the Gobi Desert. It is an experimental base dedicated to testing large mushrooms.

Of course, there are intricate ties between the Ninth Bureau, Factory 221 and the Malan Base, and cross-jurisdiction often occurs in daily work.

But...what exactly does this special security department mean?

At this time, the train started slowly.

According to the regulations of the Ninth Bureau, this train responsible for transporting supplies to the Gobi Desert can go directly to Xizhimen Railway Station instead of passing through Jingcheng Station, where other carriages will be loaded.

When the train arrived at Xizhimen Railway Station, two passenger carriages had already been parked quietly in the station.

Li Aiguo looked through the window and saw a number of young people in gray Zhongshan suits in the carriage. They seemed to be technicians who were about to be transported to the Gobi Desert base.

Li Aiguo had participated in the compilation of Gobi Desert's confidentiality regulations and was well aware that large-scale personnel transfers like this could easily lead to the risk of leaks.

Therefore, the weather station adopted a "blind hanging" strategy.

These technicians had no idea where they were going. They were taken into the carriage by confidential personnel and asked to wait at the train station.

Not long after, a locomotive slowly came over, attached a few carriages and then sped away.

Afterwards, the carriage was abandoned at an unfamiliar small station.

Then, another locomotive would come and attach the carriages, and continue to run along the tracks at lightning speed.

All carriages along the way are kept closed except during meal times.

This happened many times, and after several locomotive changes, it became almost impossible for even someone with a keen eye to figure out where they were.

This transportation mission was no exception. Under Zhang Yan's command, the two carriages were quickly attached to the back of the train.

However, what surprised Li Aiguo was that Zhang Yan seemed to know everything about Xizhimen Railway Station and the situation along the way.

For example, when the train passed Huayuan Road and stopped at the switch station outside the city, Zhang Yan contacted the weather station and asked why there was a missing electric pole on Huayuan Road.

After emergency communication with the local authorities, the weather station learned that the electric poles had been removed due to road construction.

Zhang Yan then breathed a sigh of relief and ordered the train driver to continue moving forward.

Inside the car, Li Aiguo handed Zhang Yan a cigarette and couldn't help asking, "Chief Zhang, how did you know there was a missing electric pole?"

"I've got it down." Zhang Yan pointed to his head.

Li Aiguo: "."

Lao Mao smiled and said, "Comrade driver, did you see this? This is our special confidentiality officer.

In fact, Section Chief Zhang not only took note of the telephone poles along the railway, but also took note of the road conditions.
How many turns are there? How many settlements are there? How many buildings are there? How many bus stops are there? I know them all clearly.”

Li Aiguo really didn't believe it.

You have to know that there are so many buildings along the railway that even an experienced driver like Li Aiguo can't remember them all clearly.

"How many turns are there from Qianmen Locomotive Depot to Xizhimen Railway Station?"

"Eight, two of which have a bend of more than fifteen degrees." Zhang Yan said without hesitation.

"How many trees are there?" "Five hundred and thirty-one, of which one hundred and twenty are large trees, and twenty-eight of the large trees are suitable for ambush points."

"How many houses are there?"

"There are a total of 58,231 houses along the railway, of which 1,305 are high enough to ambush trains without being noticed by passersby."

Listening to Zhang Yan's fluent answer, Li Aiguo was completely stunned.

The most important thing is that although Li Aiguo was not clear about the exact number, he had paid attention to these situations in the past, and the data he guessed was surprisingly similar to Zhang Yan's answer.

Li Aiguo widened his eyes and looked up and down at this special front worker who had fair skin and looked like an intellectual.

"Hey, Lao Zhang, you are a genius, a precious egg."

"What genius? He just memorized it."

Zhang Yan lit a cigarette, sighed and said, "In order to figure out these data, our special security department, all the staff, a total of 56 people, worked hard for half a year."

As he spoke, a hint of bitterness appeared on the corner of his mouth: "In the end, all the efforts were in vain."

Li Aiguo had never seen anyone so lost.

That feeling.

It's like having prepared a generous gift and happily preparing to marry your beloved goddess, but suddenly finding out that the goddess is already pregnant with someone else's child, and it's her third child.

It's like going to a hotel late at night to give your goddess a contraceptive device, but the goddess complains that the contraceptive device you bought is too thick, not ultra-thin, and has no particles on it.

Of course, Li Aiguo has not experienced these things.

For a moment, he didn't know how to comfort him.

"It's too stuffy here. Let's smoke some cigarettes to show our patriotism."

Old Mao, the old-fashioned man, couldn't help it anymore.

Li Aiguo followed the old cat to the connection between the carriages.

Amid the noisy sound of wheels hitting the rails, Lao Mao recounted the story of Zhang Yan.

After listening to this, Li Aiguo couldn't help but sigh: "This child is too miserable."

Zhang Yan is a real prestigious university student - he graduated from the Magic City Russian Language College.

After graduation, I was directly assigned to the Ministry of Public Security as a translator, and my future was bright.

Later, the Russians agreed to help us grow mushrooms. The Ninth Bureau was short of personnel who knew both Russian and security work.

"I am a member of the organization and I will obey its arrangements!"

Zhang Yan gave up the opportunity for promotion without hesitation and came to the Security Department of the Ninth Bureau, where he served as the chief of the Special Security Section and also joined the Meteorological Station.

Zhang Yan’s first task was to be responsible for the transportation and protection of the Russian big mushroom teaching model.

In order to successfully complete this task, Zhang Yan led dozens of people to conduct a survey along the route day and night for several months, and wore out the soles of more than a dozen pairs of shoes.

Of course, the results were very gratifying. Zhang Yan developed a complete and perfect defense plan.

It is said that when the plan was submitted to the farmer's desk, the farmer made the decision immediately.

Everything is ready, just waiting for the east wind.

The east wind was slow to arrive.

A year later, the ministry received a report that the Russians had torn up the agreement and refused to hand over models and technical materials.

All of Zhang Yan's efforts turned into nothing in an instant, becoming a sad joke.

He fell ill at that time.

In view of his special situation, Lao Mao took Zhang Yan to the Gobi Desert.

From then on, he was responsible for the transportation of confidential materials.

"This child has a miserable life." The old cat sighed.

Li Aiguo looked at the scenery outside the window that was constantly receding, and had a deeper impression of the phrase "independence and self-reliance".

******
The train moves along the winding tracks, stopping and starting along the way, sometimes stopping at the platform to load new carriages, and sometimes unloading some carriages at a small station.

After a long five-day journey, we finally arrived at a switch station on the outskirts of Lanzhou.

Four GAZ trucks disguised as hay transporters were already waiting beside the railway tracks.

Coming to greet us were comrades from the Reception Office and Security Department of Factory 221.

The leader was a sturdy man in his thirties, his skin rubbed dark and shiny by the northwest wind and sand. He was wrapped in a thick sheepskin coat and wore a furry felt hat.

At first glance, they look just like the local herdsmen.

If he hadn't spoken fluent Mandarin, Li Aiguo would have almost believed it.

"This is Mr. Ma, Ma Dongxue, you can call him Teacher Ma." Zhang Yan was very familiar with Ma Dongxue and helped Li Aiguo introduce him.

"Cat Specialist is here too." Ma Dongxue seemed to be particularly in awe of the old cat. He did not bother to respond to Zhang Yan. Instead, he smiled and took the initiative to greet the old cat.

"Yeah." The old cat had a stern face and a cold expression. He simply waved his hand and said, "You receptionists should quickly finish your work and don't delay the trip."

"Yes!" Ma Dongxue responded somewhat guiltily.

Originally according to the plan of the Ninth Bureau, the transportation of top-secret equipment should have been carried out separately without any mistakes.

Coincidentally, a group of skilled workers from the south were about to be transferred to Factory 221. In order to save resources and time, their carriages were mounted on board together.

However, equipment transportation was a top-secret mission and Ma Dongxue was not qualified to participate in it. Even approaching was strictly prohibited.

He quickly ran to the carriage and smiled warmly at the young people who had just got off the carriage, "Comrades, welcome to the state-owned integrated factory."

At this time, Zhang Yan was directing the staff to move large boxes. Lao Mao handed Li Aiguo a cigarette, and the two of them squatted beside him and chatted while smoking.

"Factory 221 is the internal name, and the State-Owned Comprehensive Factory is the external name of Factory 221."

"We could have traveled day and night to Factory 221, but now that we've brought passengers with us, it will take at least four more days."

"Passengers? Captain Cat, why do you call these young people passengers? They should be technicians from various places supporting Factory 221, right?"

Li Aiguo turned his head and looked at those young people.

They were wearing thin clothes and it was obviously their first time to come to this vast Northwest and they had not yet adapted to the harsh climate here.

Fortunately, Ma Dongxue was well prepared and had someone give each of them the "four major items": a cotton coat, a felt coat, big-toed shoes and a cotton hat.

Even so, in this cold and windy environment, the young people were still shivering even though they were wearing thick clothes.

"You'll know later." Lao Mao raised his wrist to check the time, then stood up and walked over to help Zhang Yan pack the boxes.

Due to material limitations and the fact that Li Aiguo also made modifications to the calculators, each of these calculators is as big as a cabinet.

There were beddings spread under the truck, and five cabinets filled up the entire compartment.

Zhang Yan personally escorted the calculator with several security officers, while Li Aiguo followed Lao Mao and comrades from the meteorological station and boarded another truck.

There were more than 30 technicians transported this time, and the trucks were also loaded with tents and supplies. The remaining two trucks could not carry so many people.

Ma Dongxue shamelessly came to the truck where Li Aiguo was and said, "Commissioner Mao, can we have a discussion? I have seven technicians here. Can we have them with you? You know, these kids have never eaten sand before."

"Okay, let them come up quickly and don't waste time." Lao Mao gave Li Aiguo a look, the meaning of which was obvious: keep it confidential later.

"Thank you." Ma Dongxue thanked him repeatedly, turned around and left in a hurry.

After a while, he came to the truck with seven young men.

"This is Comrade Mao, an old employee in the factory. If you have any questions, you can ask Comrade Mao." Ma Dongxue gave these instructions and left impatiently.

"Cat? What kind of bird name is that?"

The seven young people included four men and three women with fair skin, and they looked like they were from the south.

The person who spoke was a young man with oiled hair. Although he was wearing a cotton jacket, he deliberately left it open, revealing a pen tucked into the pocket of his shirt on his chest.

"Chen Wencai, shut up!" A girl with braided hair stopped Chen Wencai and smiled apologetically at Lao Mao: "Comrade Mao, don't mind it, Chen Wencai just likes to joke."

The old cat glanced at Chen Wencai, closed his eyes, put his hands in his sleeves, and leaned against the side of the car.

He was here to carry out a mission, not to be a babysitter and take care of these little brats.

When the comrades from the Meteorological Bureau saw their team leader's attitude, their faces turned cold and they sat there without saying a word.

The atmosphere in the truck was a little cold for a moment.

"Is this how a state-owned integrated factory treats guests? Xiao Meng, I've warned you before that this is not a good place in our Magic City."

Chen Wencai wanted to talk more, but the female comrade gave him a sidelong glance and he immediately fell silent.

The female comrade looked around the car and saw that Li Aiguo, who was smoking, had the kindest expression.

His eyes suddenly lit up, and he took the initiative to greet him: "Comrade, you are new here too, right? My name is Zhou Xiaomeng, and I am from the Magic City."

Li Aiguo stretched out his hand and shook hers: "My last name is Li, you can call me Comrade Li, I'm from Beijing."

Zhou Xiaomeng secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Her father's ability to judge people was indeed correct. This comrade was indeed an easy-going person.

She will continue to work at Factory 221 in the future, so she can't have a falling out with the old staff in the factory right after arriving.

Li Aiguo often talks nonsense and likes to gossip.

Sometimes, information leaked unintentionally can often play a key role.

One was interested, the other was not, and the two started chatting.

Those young people also loved the fun and quickly joined the chat.

By the time the truck slowly drove away from the switch station, Li Aiguo had already had a general understanding of the situation of these people.

It turned out that these technicians came from various factories in the south, and among them Zhou Xiaomeng and Chen Wencai were from Shanghai.

One graduated from Peking University and the other graduated from Tsinghua University. Both are engineers at a factory in Shanghai.

This time they took the initiative to sign up to participate in the construction work of Factory 221.

"Comrade Zhou Xiaomeng, aren't you afraid of hardship?" After listening to her, Li Aiguo looked the delicate girl up and down and asked.

"No hardship. We have given our lives to the country, so what should we be afraid of?" Zhou Xiaomeng answered without hesitation.

The remaining technicians also nodded.

Only Chen Wencai secretly curled his lips and muttered: "Fake positivity"

Li Aiguo was a little puzzled.

Since Chen Wencai had objections to supporting Factory 221, why did he sign up to participate?
However, his current priority was to escort the calculator to Factory 221. He did not have much interaction with these people, so he did not ask any more questions.

(End of this chapter)