The train driver in the courtyard

The first half of the convoy's journey went smoothly. The GAZ trucks rolled over the simple gravel road, and the military canvas awnings fluttered in the spring breeze.

After passing the Paizi Mountain Pass, the lead car suddenly left the main road and headed diagonally into the vast Gobi Desert - there was no proper road on the saline-alkali land, and the two shallow grooves left by the front car were wiped out by the white wind in a blink of an eye.

The shaking in the car made my intestines tangled.

A few young men were able to hold on, but the girls with pigtails in the back row suffered.

Especially Zhou Xiaomeng, her knuckles turned white as she gripped the enamel pot, and she couldn't help but hold on to the side of the car and retched, her two long braids hanging and swaying in the yellow sand.

"Xiao Meng, look, you can't stand it even before we get to the factory. I've advised you a long time ago." Chen Wencai reached out for help, with half of his Swiss watch visible from his blue cloth cuffs.

Zhou Xiaomeng dodged and said seriously: "Pay attention to revolutionary discipline!"

Chen Wencai could only sit aside angrily.

Seeing this, Li Aiguo took off his military canteen and handed it over, saying, "Press the base of the thumb and upwards with three fingers, and it will be kept safe."

His rough thumb indicated the position on the female technician's wrist.

"Really?" Zhou Xiaomeng was skeptical and did it according to Li Aiguo's method.

Oddly enough, this method really calmed my churning stomach.

"Comrade Li, thank you." Zhou Xiaomeng thanked Li Aiguo in unison.

The female comrades who suffered from motion sickness followed suit and did the same thing, and they really felt much better.

"Comrade train driver, you are indeed a driver, and you know so much about motion sickness."

Because of motion sickness, Li Aiguo became closer to these young people.

They were all young people, and soon they started chatting.

However, what surprised Li Aiguo was that these young people knew nothing about their destination, specific work, or even mushroom growing.

The only thing they are clear about is that their motherland needs them at this moment.

For these young people, this is reason enough.

However, Li Aiguo did not dare to underestimate these young people.

They are all people who have passed many tests - three rounds of political review and two rounds of technical assessment.

Take Zhou Xiaomeng for example, her father is the director of a research institute and her mother is a mathematics professor.

This girl secretly joined the organization at the age of sixteen and thoroughly read the "Topology" compiled by the Russian experts.

"Topology? I didn't expect Comrade Xiao Zhou to be a mathematician at such a young age." Li Aiguo said in surprise while smoking a cigarette.

Zhou Xiaomeng was a little surprised in the bumpy car: "Comrade train driver, you also know mathematics?"

She realized something was wrong after she said it. It looked down on the laborers. She was so anxious that she pulled at her braids and said, "That's not what I meant."

"No problem!" The train driver grinned, "We calculate the braking distance for the locomotive using the function curve, don't we?"

He used saliva to draw a parabola on the car board, and recited the formulas in the Russian version of "Locomotive Dynamics" at will.

There was an uproar in the carriage. These gifted young men had never seen a worker who could explain complex functions better than steaming buns.

Chen Wencai stuck his head out of the car hood to eat the dust. Hearing this, he interrupted with a sour tone: "What's the point of showing off just being able to recite a few Russian sentences?"

His navy blue woolen Zhongshan suit was already covered with yellow sand, making him look like a gray pigeon with its feathers standing on end.

"Comrade Chen Wencai!" Zhou Xiaomeng raised her eyebrows, "Put away your petty bourgeois manners!"

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you." Seeing Zhou Xiaomeng was angry, Chen Wencai quickly apologized: "Don't be angry, the teacher asked me to take care of you. If you get angry again, I will let the teacher down."

"Don't talk about my father."

There was a burst of laughter in the truck bed - although everyone had only known each other for a short time, they could see that Chen Wencai came to the border just to chase Zhou Xiaomeng, the "white swan".

Looking at the two people bickering there, Li Aiguo seemed to understand something. It turned out that they were a young couple.

That’s not right. Why does it feel like Chen Wencai is just wishful thinking?

But this matter has nothing to do with Li Aiguo.

After a temporary stop, he and Lao Mao checked the truck loaded with boxes. After returning to the truck, they leaned against the side of the truck and prepared to rest.

"Hey, train driver, what's in your car?" Chen Wencai came over.

"The contents of the car are classified."

"It's just a few broken boxes, and they are suspected of keeping secrets. You train drivers are really good at bragging." Chen Wencai's eyes turned and asked, "Just now you said that you are proficient in mathematics, so let me test you."

"Not interested." Li Aiguo yawned, leaned against the side of the car and squinted his eyes.

He had no interest in getting involved in this jealous bullshit.

Chen Wencai became a little angry upon seeing this, but he could only sit back in dismay.

The GAZ trucks were bouncing across the Gobi Desert like happy iron camels.

Li Aiguo raised his wrist to check his watch, and suddenly shouted at the top of his voice: "Comrades! How about singing the Exploration Team Song to cheer ourselves up?"

It's the wind in the valley

Blowing our red flag

It was the violent rain that washed our tent

We overcame all fatigue and coldness with our fiery enthusiasm
Amid melodious singing, the convoy marched through the empty and desolate Gobi Desert.

Time passed by little by little, and it was dark everywhere around me and I couldn't tell the direction.

Inside the carriage, several young people could no longer hold on and began to yawn continuously.

At this moment, the truck suddenly stopped with a click.

Did the truck break down?
Li Aiguo was about to stick his head out when he saw Ma Dongxue coming over with a lantern in his hand. "Everyone get out of the car!"

Three clerks in navy blue Zhongshan suits trotted over to count the number of people.

Li Aiguo caught a glimpse of Lao Mao and his men setting up Type 56 semi-automatic rifles around a GAZ truck carrying wooden boxes. The barrels of the rifles shone coldly in the moonlight.

"Come down and rest, we will set off again tomorrow."

When Li Aiguo heard the news, he narrowed his eyes slightly.

Generally speaking, transport fleets have two or even three drivers, and they require that the people stop but the vehicles do not stop.

In order to prevent any problems with the security equipment, even peeing has to be done in the car.

Now we have to spend the night in the Gobi Desert. What on earth is the reception office of Factory 221 doing?
Ma Dongxue specially gathered the young people together for a short meeting, and reminded them not to get close to the trucks transporting confidential materials.

The technicians had just arrived and although they were curious, they also knew the rules. So they didn't say much and began to help the comrades at the reception desk set up the tent.

Only Chen Wencai was still jumping up and down: "Let us sleep in the sand? You are abusing our revolutionary comrades!"

Ma Dongxue was a good man. He rubbed his red ears and smiled apologetically. His suede boots crushed a few camel thorns. "Comrade Chen Wencai, I'm really sorry. The conditions at Factory 221 are difficult. Please understand."

Chen Dong wanted to say something, but was stopped by Zhou Xiaomeng: "Leader Ma, don't worry, we can all endure hardships. Besides, the more difficult the place, the more it can train people."

With Zhou Xiaomeng's intervention, a storm that was not really a storm was finally settled.

These technicians had never suffered hardship before, and in the end it was Zhang Yan and his staff who helped to set up the military canvas tent.

After Ma Dongxue arranged accommodation for the technicians, he walked up to Lao Mao and said, "Comrade Mao, I'll have to trouble you with the security work at night."

"You guys at the reception desk really take advantage of others and never get enough." Old Cat looked at Ma Dongxue with a smile.

There was nothing else they could do, so they had to dispatch a few comrades from the Meteorological Bureau to guard outside the tent with rifles in hand.

After several hours of running around, everyone's stomachs were rumbling with hunger.

Li Aiguo wanted to stand up and go into the carriage to get some instant noodles, but was stopped by Ma Dongxue.

"Comrade Li, when in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in Rome, do as the Romans do."

Although Ma Dongxue's words were unclear, Li Aiguo understood them.

This journey will probably be a test for these technicians.

No, maybe it can’t be called a test.

Instead, it is telling them what kind of life they will face in the future.

No wonder Lao Mao always calls these people "passengers". Passengers can get off the bus at any time.

Ma Dongxue and a few comrades picked up dry feces that was not sure whether it was cow dung or some other animal's feces.

They broke the dung cakes into pieces with shovels and mixed them with branches to form cone-shaped piles.

The old cat took out three matches and struck them together, and blue smoke rose up.

Ma Dongxue skillfully fiddled with the dry feces he picked up.

The pungent smell filled the air, but everyone was used to it, and only a few technicians stayed away from it.

"Comrades, our conditions are difficult, so please be patient." Ma Dongxue took out a few dry cakes from the bag and slowly baked them on the fire.

The pancake is made of flour, a mixture of more than a dozen leaves or stalks of sorghum, soybeans, sweet potatoes, etc., and bran. It tastes a bit musty and is particularly hoarse in the throat.

Li Aiguo, Lao Mao and others ate with great relish, but the technicians had a hard time eating.

Chen Wencai: "This thing is too harsh to feed pigs!"

"When we first entered the Gobi Desert, there were no supplies, and I survived for three days by licking the saline soil." A comrade from the weather station sneered as he chewed a biscuit, his Type 56 rifle lying across his knees, glowing faintly.

His gray Zhongshan suit was straighter than Chen Wencai's navy blue woolen Zhongshan suit.

Zhou Xiaomeng touched Chen Wencai's arm and said with a smile: "Everyone can break the pancake into small pieces and wash it down with water."

The technicians looked at each other and followed Zhou Xiaomeng's instructions, swallowing the pancakes with cold water.

After dinner, Ma Dongxue asked his comrades to take off their shoes and turn their socks inside out.

"We don't have much water here, so we don't have hot water to wash our feet. You should do the same in the future to avoid getting corns on your feet."

Chen Wencai looked at Ma Dongxue's actions and his face turned green: "He is eating pig food and turning over socks.

Leader Ma, are you trying to scare us?"

Ma Dongxue frowned slightly, put on his patched socks, and said in a deep voice: "This place is too far from the mainland, and it is inconvenient to transport materials. The domestic supply of materials is also insufficient, so the conditions are indeed difficult.

Take the food in the factory for example, it was called '2611', which means 26 kilograms of grain per person per month, one ounce of oil per day, and ten cents of dry vegetable soup.

Xiao Chen, who was in charge of planning and statistics last year, was so hungry that he couldn't sleep in the middle of the night, so he secretly squeezed toothpaste into a cup and drank it with water.

This kid even snatched rotten vegetable leaves from the pigsty and cooked them to eat.”

Hearing this, no one laughed. The scene was silent and everyone's face looked grim.

Chen Wencai hesitated for a long time and raised his hand: "Leader Ma, we are technical experts, so we should be paid better, right?"

"In the factory, workers, technicians, and leaders are all treated the same." Ma Dongxue put on his shoes and stood up. "Even Director Li gets '2611'."

Director Li is the first director of the Ninth Bureau and has a high military rank.

Chen Wencai could no longer speak.

The young people who had been singing all the way were also deeply shocked and became listless. The dinner ended in this dull atmosphere.

Ma Dongxue asked the young people to go back to their tents and told them that if they got up at night, they must notify the officer on duty.

"What's the matter? Are you afraid that we will run away?" Chen Wencai walked to the front of the tent and stopped.

Ma Dongxue pointed to the distance and said, "There are many wild wolves in this Gobi Desert."

"."Chen Wencai.

The technicians returned to the canvas tent one after another. Li Aiguo rubbed his sore temple and was about to get up.
Suddenly, a voice with a changed tone was heard from behind the sand dunes: "What a sin! The white flour cakes are buried in the sand and wasted!"

When the flashlight was shone, a comrade from the Meteorological Bureau fished out a cake from the ground and said, "Such a good cake was thrown away. You know, many people may have died on the battlefield in the north. These guys are so rude."

Ma Dongxue also rushed over after hearing the news. When he saw the pancake, the receptionist's cheeks were clenched with teeth: "Follow the rules."

Having said that, Ma Dongxue did not continue the investigation.

These students from big cities, who are used to eating Guanshengyuan cakes, cannot swallow cakes mixed with bran.

The night is getting darker.

Li Aiguo did not enter the tent at night, but curled up on the truck with the old cat, guarding the boxes.

I don’t know how long it was, but suddenly a scream was heard outside.

"Enemy attack, alert!" Li Aiguo slept with his eyes open. He jumped off the truck in an instant and pulled out his pistol.

The officers formed a defensive formation around the truck.

It was pitch black all around and it was impossible to tell how many enemies there were. Everyone's heart was in their throat at this moment.

"Aiguo, you stay here, I'll go take a look!" Lao Mao and a few other staff members held flashlights and chased in the direction of the sound.

After a while, the old cat came back dragging a person.

"It was a false alarm. It was this kid."

The flashlight beam shone on the man's face, and Li Aiguo recognized him. He was Chen Wencai.

At this time, the comrades in the tent were also awakened.

The young people came out of the tent one after another, and the flashlight beams shone on their bodies, making their shadows dim.

Ma Dongxue rushed over and saw that it was Chen Wencai who was causing the trouble. He immediately became angry: "What are you doing? It's the middle of the night, why are you pretending to be an enemy attack? Do you know that everyone is scared by you?"

In the flashlight beam, Chen Wencai was shaking like a sieve. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to go out for some fresh air, but I got lost. I panicked and started shouting."

"That's not right. When we found you, you were 500 meters away from the tent. It was so late at night, and you ran so far for a walk?" Li Aiguo said with a frown.

He didn't mean to make things difficult for Chen Wencai, but there was something weird about this matter.

As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly became tense and the only sound that could be heard was the whistling of the wind hanging on the tent.

Zhou Xiaomeng walked out of the crowd and squatted in front of Chen Wencai: "Chen Wencai, what did you do? Tell me the truth, quickly."

But no matter how she persuaded him, Chen Wencai remained silent.

At this time, Zhang Yan came back with his men: "No need to check, he was just stealing cookies."

As he spoke, Zhang Yan held up a beautifully packaged cookie jar.

"We also found wolf footprints more than 30 meters away from where the jar was found. It should be that when Chen Wencai was eating the biscuits, he encountered a wolf and screamed."

When everyone saw Chen Wencai’s pale face, they all understood that Zhang Yan’s investigation results were accurate.

"Chen Wencai, you are really something! Just for your stuttering, you run so far in the middle of the night. Don't you know how dangerous the Gobi Desert is at night?" A reception staff member was dissatisfied.

Chen Wencai struggled to stand up: "Is the responsibility all on me? If you can provide enough food, would I need to steal biscuits? I am an expert who is here to support you."

"You" The staff member was unable to answer for a moment.

Ma Dongxue silently handed the can back to Chen Wencai: "I think we should talk."

After saying that, Ma Dongxue turned around and went into the tent.

Chen Wencai also realized that something was wrong. He turned his head to look at Zhou Xiaomeng, but Zhou Xiaomeng quietly turned her face away.

Chen Wencai had no choice but to bite the bullet and go into the tent.

"Okay, everyone go back and have a rest." Li Aiguo clapped his hands and asked the young people to go back.

No one knows how long Ma Dongxue and Chen Wencai talked, nor does anyone know what they talked about.

The next morning, Ma Dongxue announced that he would send someone to send Chen Wencai back when they reached the transfer point.

His eyes swept across the faces of those young people: "The harsh conditions in the factory are far beyond your imagination.

You still have three days to consider. If you want to withdraw, you can do so before you reach the transfer point. Once you pass the transfer point, it will be too late for you to withdraw. "

Those young people were also frightened by the hardships of the Gobi Desert.

But after a moment's silence, no one wanted to leave.

When they set out again, the atmosphere in the truck was completely different. Chen Wencai sat alone in the back and no one dared to approach him.

Three days later, the convoy arrived at the so-called transfer point.

This is actually a temporary camp consisting of several stone houses with a GAZ jeep parked outside.

Hearing the roar of the convoy, an old man dressed as a herdsman came out early to greet them.

When he saw Ma Dongxue, he walked over excitedly and shook his hand: "Comrade Ma, we meet again. How many people fell behind this time?"

"There is only one technician among these technicians who is of good quality." Ma Dongxue pointed at Chen Wencai in the distance and said, "Send someone to take him to Lanzhou later. Take Route 2 this time and don't stop along the way."

"Don't worry." The old man nodded, opened the door and let them in.

Inside the house, Ma Dongxue once again emphasized the hardships of the base. Seeing that no one had quit, he led the young people to recite the oath to the flag.

A vow weighs a thousand pounds.

From now on, these young people may never be able to leave the base again.

the other side.

The dispatcher had already prepared a jeep to take Chen Wencai away.

Before leaving, Chen Wencai asked to meet Zhou Xiaomeng again.

After hearing the news, Ma Dongxue hesitated for a moment. He first looked at Lao Mao, and seeing that Lao Mao had a dark face, he quickly looked at Li Aiguo.

"Comrade Aiguo, can you accompany Comrade Zhou to meet Chen Wencai?"

His meaning was very clear. Zhou Xiaomeng was now a technician at Factory 221 and was from a completely different world from Chen Wencai. Direct contact between the two might cause some people to misunderstand.

And with Li Aiguo, the big boss of the Meteorological Bureau, following along, Zhou Xiaomeng can be cleared of any responsibility.

Li Aiguo had a very good impression of Zhou Xiaomeng.

Besides, this was part of the job, so I agreed.

The meeting point is right next to the jeep.

When Chen Wencai saw that Li Aiguo had also followed, his face suddenly became a little ugly.

However, he hesitated for a moment and still walked in front of Zhou Xiaomeng.

"Xiao Meng, go back. This is not a place for people to stay. You grew up drinking milk powder. You are not the same as these people."

Zhou Xiaomeng's eyes widened when she heard this: "Chen Wencai, so this is what you really think? All the slogans you shouted and the letters you wrote in blood over the years were all fake?"

"Of course not." Chen Wencai blushed and quickly defended himself: "I also want to contribute to the country, but I didn't expect the conditions to be so difficult. It's not that I'm not enthusiastic, it's true."

He felt that he had not explained it clearly.

Zhou Xiaomeng looked at Chen Wencai disappointedly: "I always thought you were a like-minded friend, just a little bit angry sometimes, I didn't expect your ideological awareness to be so low. I was wrong about you!"

"Chen Wencai, from now on, you go your way and I go mine, and we'll keep to ourselves!" Zhou Xiaomeng said, shaking her braids, turned around and ran into the house.

Chen Wencai looked at Zhou Xiaomeng's back and murmured to himself: "No. Xiaomeng, my thoughts are very positive. I want to become a revolutionary couple with you, but..."

"Comrade Chen, it's time for us to set off. Otherwise, if we encounter a strong wind, you will have to wait here for a month." The operator urged a few times.

Only then did Chen Wencai reluctantly get on the jeep.

Li Aiguo watched the jeep disappear into the barren Gobi Desert and turned around to go back.

As soon as I turned my head, I saw Zhou Xiaomeng standing behind the poplar tree, staring blankly at the jeep going away.

It turns out that this girl is not as heartless as she appears.

"Comrade train driver, can I talk to you?" For some reason, Zhou Xiaomeng felt very confused at this moment.

In her impression, although Chen Wencai was dissatisfied with many things, he was not a deserter.

The convoy was being repaired at that time, so Li Aiguo did not refuse. The two of them leaned against the poplar tree and looked at the barren Gobi Desert.

"Chen Wencai is my father's student and a major force in scientific research."

Amid the rustling sound of leaves colliding with each other, Li Aiguo also figured out Chen Wencai's past.

Chen Wencai is a level 5 engineer at the Modu Electromechanical Research Institute. He is a young and promising man with a particularly good family background. Both his parents are leaders of the institute.

He was still a student of Zhou's father, so Zhou's father wanted to bring the two of them together.

Although Zhou Xiaomeng did not have any special feelings for Chen Wencai, she did not hate him either.

If things continue in this direction, the two may get married soon.

At this time, Factory 221 recruited technicians from all over the country.

Zhou Xiaomeng knew that once she arrived in the Gobi Desert, she might have to stay there for the rest of her life, but she still signed up resolutely.

Seeing this, Chen Wencai also wrote a blood letter and followed Zhou Xiaomeng to the Gobi Desert.

Zhou Xiaomeng was moved by Chen Wencai's spirit. The two of them had already agreed to submit an application for marriage to the organization one year later.

"Comrade train driver, do you believe that Chen Wencai is not a bad person?" Speaking of the past, Zhou Xiaomeng's eyes flashed with tears.

"Believe it." Li Aiguo lit a cigarette.

"Do you really believe it?" Zhou Xiaomeng was stunned.

Li Aiguo took a puff of cigarette and looked at the desolation in the distance: "Many idealists claim to have proletarian consciousness, but their true nature is exposed in the face of the test of reality - some retreat and escape, and some lose their way and turn back.

On the thorny road of history, falling behind is the norm.

Only those with pure faith and steel-like will can stand firm in the storms of the times and become the backbone of the nation.

Those who retreat halfway are not villains, but a true reflection of human weakness."

Zhou Xiaomeng heard this and murmured to herself: "Only those with pure faith and steel-like will can persevere in the storms of the times and become the backbone of the nation."

The setting sun hangs low over the treetops of the poplar trees, and the Gobi Desert is shrouded in bright red.

(End of this chapter)