The train driver in the courtyard

Chapter 843: Lao Hei is back, fishing team

The next morning, it was just dawn.

Li Aiguo suddenly woke up from his light sleep, and his ears moved slightly to detect a strange sound outside the door - that was the sound of footsteps that was deliberately suppressed.

The friction between the soles of the shoes and the gravel ground made a slight rustling sound, but it was three times lighter than the falling autumn leaves.

His pupils suddenly contracted, the muscles in his back tensed instantly, and his right hand had already picked up the Type 54 pistol under the pillow.

His bare feet stepped on the cold ground, his spine arched like a cheetah, and he pressed his breath against the mottled wooden door.

The moment the footsteps froze outside the tent, his left hand rushed out of the door like lightning.

"I've got him!" He grabbed the man's neck with his iron-like hands and threw him into the house.

Before the intruder could react, he was hit hard on the knee and fell to his knees, and then the barrel of a gun was pressed against his temple.

Li Aiguo pressed the opponent's waist with his right knee like a jack, and skillfully touched the enemy's vital parts with his left hand, and searched out two pistols and a dagger from the opponent.

The whole process looks very complicated, but it actually only takes about four or five seconds.

After making sure that the opponent had no chance of turning the tables, Li Aiguo picked up a three-section flashlight and turned it on with a click.

The three-battery flashlight spun in his palm in a silver arc, and the strong light split the darkness, revealing a dark face with bared white teeth.

"Old Black?!"

At this time, Lao Hei, who was lying on the ground, grinned enthusiastically: "Comrade driver, your skills have improved again. But please get up, my ribs are almost broken by you sitting on them."

"Hey, why didn't you resist just now? It shouldn't be possible with your skills."

"If I resist, will you hit me harder? I guess you haven't used the three-edged thorn on your waist. I don't want another scar on my face."

Lao Hei stood up and brushed the dust off his clothes.

The lantern was lit, and the dim light filled the entire tent.

Li Aiguo gave Lao Hei a thumbs up: "As expected of an old comrade, you are always thorough in doing things."

Li Aiguo was not flattering on purpose.

Like the situation just now, if it were a stranger, he would definitely resist in a panic.

Since Li Aiguo had an absolute advantage, this kind of resistance could only lead to one result - injury.

Such injuries caused by misunderstandings are not uncommon within the Meteorological Bureau.

After lighting a cigarette, Li Aiguo also figured out why Lao Hei appeared here.

This guy followed the Russian expert group to inspect the situation at the Malan base. The expert group returned to the Ninth Bureau's research institute in Sichuan Province. After Lao Hei learned that Li Aiguo had arrived at Factory 221, he rushed over overnight.

"So you deliberately slowed down your footsteps to avoid disturbing the rest of the comrades in other tents around." Li Aiguo laughed in silence. This was really like mistaking a bamboo stick for a snake - a misunderstanding.

Thinking of bamboo strips, Li Aiguo suddenly had an idea.

"Lao Hei, you've been working at Factory 221 for a while. Do you know where to find bamboo strips?"

"Bamboo strips?" Lao Hei was stunned while smoking, but still nodded.

"Well, let's go fishing today!"

The sky outside had unknowingly brightened. Li Aiguo was just about to go look for bamboo strips with Lao Hei when he heard footsteps outside.

The person who came was Director Li’s bodyguard.

"Comrade Aiguo, we will probably have to wait until the afternoon to catch fish. The foreign trade department has sent a batch of soybeans, and Director Li has gone to pick up the car in person."

Speaking of the foreign trade department, the guard couldn't help but sigh: "Since last year, the supply of materials here has become increasingly tight, and many workers can't get enough to eat. Fortunately, the foreign trade department purchased food from overseas in time, otherwise it would be a big problem."

The fishing trip was postponed to the afternoon, which was exactly what Li Aiguo wanted.

After the guard left, Li Aiguo picked up his aluminum lunch box and prepared to go to the cafeteria to get his meal.

When he looked up, he saw Zhou Xiaomeng lifting the tent curtain.

The girl's face turned red from the cold wind, and her fingers were pinching the wrinkles on the hem of her military uniform. Liu Hong behind her pushed her while trying not to laugh.

This girl, who fainted at work yesterday, looks much better after replenishing her nutrition.

"That fish smells so good!" Zhou Xiaomeng took out an aluminum lunch box wrapped in a handkerchief from her pocket, her fingertips turning red from the heat.

She suddenly noticed Lao Hei, who was cleaning his gun in the corner, and her voice suddenly dropped. "I just came to say thank you."

Li Aiguo took the aluminum lunch box and returned the handkerchief. He touched the back of his head and said, "You're welcome, Comrade Zhou. We are all class brothers and should help each other. If there is nothing else, we will go to the cafeteria to eat."

"Well, okay then. Thank you anyway." Zhou Xiaomeng walked backwards and almost tripped over the tent rope.

Lao Hei came over with a cigarette in his mouth, staring at her back as she moved her hands and feet together and laughing: "Aiguo, when this girl looks at you, her eyes are brighter than the scope of a Type 56 rifle."

"Oh, after not seeing you for a few days, you, an old ginseng eater, now know how to appreciate jasmine tea. However, you, an old bachelor, know so much! Why don't you get married yet?" Li Aiguo put on his cotton-padded jacket and replied with a smile.

"." Lao Hei picked up the enamel pot and drank a mouthful of cold water: "Oh, this cold water really irritates my throat!"

Thirty meters away, Zhou Xiaomeng's rubber-soled shoes were crushing the gravel on the Gobi Desert, and Liu Hong suddenly grabbed her collar.

"Xiao Meng, before you left, didn't I give you the idea to help with the laundry?"

"Sister Liu, there's really nothing going on between me and the train driver. I just wanted to thank him. Besides, there are other people there. I would feel so embarrassed." Zhou Xiaomeng twisted her feet on the gravel a few times, as if to see if there was oil underneath like in Shihezi.

The morning light dyed her burning red earlobes into a Gobi sunset.

"You...just keep deceiving yourself here." Sister Liu poked her smooth forehead with her finger.

The two of them returned to their residence chatting and laughing, holding enamel basins and preparing to queue up to fetch water, but found that the water truck had not arrived today.

"That shouldn't be the case. It's already past six o'clock. Where's the water truck?"

"And what about those people who used to line up to get water?"

Just as the two were wondering, an acquaintance from the Second Factory smiled and explained, "You may not know this, but the engineers at the Fourth Factory installed some kind of electric heater on the water pipes. Even on the coldest days, the water pipes won't freeze."

"Oh, this is great. We don't have to queue in the cold anymore." Liu Hong's eyes widened with excitement. "The engineers from Factory 4 have done a great thing."

Clear water gushed out of the faucet. The workers, technicians and soldiers, holding enamel basins, solved a problem in less than five minutes, which used to take half an hour to solve.

*****
At noon in the Gobi Desert, the north wind blew sand and gravel onto the metal sheet of the jeep.

Li Aiguo glanced at his watch and saw the pointer at twelve-thirty trembling slightly on the dial.

He turned off the engine and stared at the dust rising from the direction of the headquarters of Factory 221 five kilometers away.

As two Sunflower cigarette butts were crushed into the gravel, two army green vehicles rushed towards them, tearing through the heat wave.

"Patriotic comrade, sorry for the long wait." Director Li's jeep had not yet stopped, but half of his body was already sticking out of the window.

The three guards behind the driver's seat had their backs as straight as guns, and seven or eight strong young men were standing on the truck behind.

Li Aiguo couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Ten little cat fish, Brother Li, you are really a fishing expert."

"." Director Li was silent for five seconds, then looked at the guard and said, "Drive!"

The convoy roared away.

Li Aiguo stepped on the accelerator, and the jeep followed the convoy into the depths of the Gobi Desert.

Along the way, Lao Hei was wondering: How did Director Li become a patriotic brother?
However, as a comrade in the special department, Lao Hei knew what to ask and what not to ask, so he kept these things in his heart along the way.

The closest river to Factory 221 is the Ganzi River, which is covered with a thick layer of ice at this season.

When Li Aiguo got off the car, Director Li had already brought a group of guards to smash a hole in the river.

The two guards scooped up the ice from the hole with their hands, then put two hooks into the lake and squatted there waiting for the fish to take the bait.

"Xiao Zhao and Xiao Wang are the best fishermen in the guard team. Brother Li, you just wait to eat delicious fish today." Director Li and the guards found dry firewood and built a bonfire. While warming themselves by the fire, they waited for the fish to bite.

But Director Li’s face soon turned dark.

Xiao Zhao and Xiao Wang spent two steamed buns and waited for an hour or so, but the fish float did not move.

"Maybe the fish are full today." Director Li was a little embarrassed.

Li Aiguo raised his lips slightly and said jokingly, "Well, the fish must have encountered a nest-making fairy."

"What is Dawoxianren?" Director Li looked confused. This was the first time he heard of this new term.

"It's the kind-hearted person who specializes in delivering bait to fish."

"." Director Li was speechless for a moment, feeling that he was being teased by this young man again. However, looking at the disappointing fishing results, he had no way to refute.

After all, most of these guards have joined the team since they were young.

Growing up in tough training and tasks, I never had the chance to get involved in fishing, and my skills were limited, which was really helpless.

"Don't be in a hurry, don't be in a hurry. You need to be calm when fishing." Director Li comforted himself while smoking.

He looked up and saw Li Aiguo and Lao Hei returning to the jeep and taking out four bamboo baskets and several steel chisels from the trunk of the jeep.

"Brother Li, what are you doing?"

"fishing!"

As Li Aiguo spoke, he walked along the river bank and found the turning point.

The water flow here is relatively turbulent, and although there is ice on the river surface, it is only a thin layer of floating ice.

Li Aiguo did not hesitate. He quickly took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs, and stepped into the river.

The biting coldness instantly hit him, and he couldn't help shivering, secretly complaining in his heart: This river water is really cold.

Birds die for food, people are cold for fish, in order to improve the food, our Li Aiguo decided to endure it. He took the bamboo basket from Lao Hei, which was made by a worker who was a bamboo craftsman specially found by Lao Hei.

The big bamboo is split into long "warp" strips and slightly shorter "weft" strips, which are cross-woven into giant dragon-shaped bamboo baskets, which are extremely heavy.

Li Aiguo lifted the bamboo basket with great effort with both hands. The river was rushing and his feet slipped, and he almost fell into the river.

At this moment, a pair of hands reached out steadily from the side, and a bamboo basket was lifted high from behind.

Li Aiguo looked back and said in surprise: "Brother Li, why are you coming down here too?"

Li Aiguo saw Director Li raise the bamboo basket high above his head, put his head in through the empty space, rubbing his cheeks and ears, and then put the water basket carefully on his shoulders with his head inside the basket. He was a little dazed for a moment.

This is the director of the Ninth Bureau.

"Brother Li, are you planning to catch fish with a bamboo basket?" Director Li had already realized Li Aiguo's intention at this time.

"Fishing can indeed cultivate one's sentiments, but it can't fill one's stomach. I see there are a lot of fish in this river, so using a bamboo basket should be a good idea."

As the two men were talking, they worked together to press the bamboo basket under the water. Lao Hei took the opportunity to ram the steel chisel into the riverbed along the mouth of the bamboo basket.

After a busy period of work, everyone was shivering with cold.

Especially Director Li, although he is not yet fifty years old, he has been busy running around in the Gobi Desert for many years, and his health is no longer as strong as before.

After coming out of the water, he sneezed several times and his body trembled slightly.

"Chief, please put on your pants quickly." The guard handed over a pair of cotton pants.

Director Li waved his hand and said, "Don't worry. I have to go down to the river with Brother Li to inspect the results. If you take it off and put it on again, you will catch a cold more easily."

The guard knew Chief Li's temper well, so he didn't dare to persuade him anymore and just kept the bonfire burning brightly.

Then, a strange sight appeared by the river. Three guys wearing felt hats, thick cotton-padded jackets, but with bare thighs, were squatting by the campfire, warming themselves with their buttocks sticking out.

Fortunately, no one was passing by here and the guards were all men, otherwise, people would have shouted "catch the gangsters".

Most people in the Gobi Desert do not eat fish. Although the Ganzi River is not very wide, it has extremely rich fish resources.

Before Li Aiguo's hands were dry, he heard a fluttering sound coming from the river. Looking closely, he saw a big fish struggling to get into the bamboo basket.

"Hey, hurry up." A guard had sharp eyes and when he saw the fish, his eyes lit up and he was so excited that he wanted to jump into the river to catch it right away.

But Director Li stopped him and said, "Don't worry, I want to see how many fish this bamboo basket can catch."

With Director Li blocking their way, the guards could only squat on the shore, staring at the bamboo basket.

After half an hour, Li Aiguo saw the steel spike of the bamboo basket shaking slightly. He knew that if he continued to grab, the bamboo basket might not be able to hold on.

“Now it’s time to test the results.”

Of course, this time Li Aiguo refused to let Director Li go down to the river no matter what, but brought Lao Hei to the bamboo basket himself.

Director Li was still a little angry at this time, but he was so happy that he couldn't stop smiling the next second.

Li Aiguo reached into the bamboo basket with his hands as if taking something from a bag, pulled out a big fish weighing three pounds, and threw it onto the shore.

"Ouch, three pounds!"

"Oh, five pounds!"

"My goodness, this fish must be about 15 to 20 pounds."

I have to say that although the Ganzi River doesn't look big, it has quite abundant fish resources.

The four bamboo baskets were filled to the brim.

There are fat crucian carp, heavy-mouthed schizothorax, and extreme flat-throated fish.

The most common one is a plateau cold-water fish with a smooth, scaleless body, a slender body, and a bluish-gray back.

According to Director Li, this fish is called naked carp in Ganzi River and Qinghai naked carp in Qinghai. It should be a kind of Huangyu.

Most of the fish in the basket were thrown onto the shore. Li Aiguo saw that there were still a dozen catfish at the bottom of the basket and said with disdain: "Throw it away, throw it away!"

A dozen little cat fish swam happily along the river.

Comrades from the Guard Company: “.”

Director Li: “.”

Director Li felt that his younger brother had looked down upon him, but he could not find any reason to be angry.

In particular, this young man was really nice and even lent the bamboo basket to the guards.

Seven or eight guards rushed into the river and caught four to five hundred kilograms of fish in less than half a day.

Next to the bonfire on the shore, Director Li threw the leftover fish bones into the fire, sparks flying.

He took out a cigarette case, took out two cigarettes, handed them to Li Aiguo and Lao Hei respectively, and said with a smile: "With these fish, we can add a meat dish to those researchers in the evening."

Li Aiguo was also full at this time, so he took the cigarette and took a leisurely puff.
There is a sense of comfort and ease in the light smoke exhaled.

The cigarette was finished and it was almost dusk. The sunset glow in the sky dyed the entire Gobi Desert an orange-red color.

The guards quickly loaded the fish into the truck and prepared to return.

Before getting into the car, Director Li looked at Li Aiguo's bamboo baskets and said with a smile, "Brother, lend these bamboo baskets to me tomorrow."

"I can give it to you, but, brother, there are more than ten thousand people in our 221 Factory, including their families, there are as many as to people. This amount of fish is not enough for everyone to have a sip of fish soup." Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and reminded.

"Yeah, I've been worrying about this, too. Brother, as the director, the first number I see when I wake up every morning is the food rations for these tens of thousands of people."

Director Li sighed, his expression full of worry, "Although we now have imported food, the ministry has also begun to increase its support for us.

The workers can basically fill their stomachs, but on this plateau, it is far from enough to engage in scientific research and production by simply eating highland barley noodles.

Many employees who are not used to the environment fainted from exhaustion at work.”

Director Li paused, looked at Li Aiguo, and continued, "Yesterday, in the Mechanics Calculation Room of the Ninth Institute, a female researcher from Shanghai fainted due to malnutrition. It was you who gave her the fish."

Wow, this Brother Li looks careless, but I didn't expect that he knows so much about the things in Factory 221. Li Aiguo secretly complained in his heart.

Director Li continued, "We also wanted to transfer some meat from other places, but as you know, the cost of transporting fresh meat from outside is too high."

"We can set up a fishing team." Li Aiguo threw out the idea he had thought of long ago without hesitation.

"Fishing team?" Director Li frowned. "The Ganzi River is not very big. Even if we hire dozens of people to fish, the fish we catch will not be enough to meet the needs of all the factory employees."

"The Ganzi River is not big, but there is Qinghai Lake beside it." Li Aiguo turned his head and looked into the distance.

Director Li immediately perked up and opened the car door: "Brother Li, come on, come back with me, and we can have a good chat on the way."

In the speeding jeep, Li Aiguo recounted in detail the valuable experience that Factory 221 had summarized after several years of exploration in later generations.

"In order to be self-reliant, prepare supplies and solve the problem of food, we can set up an agricultural and sideline products department. The agricultural and sideline products department will recruit a group of employees with fishing experience from among the employees to form a fishing team."

"It's cold now. The Ganzi River and Qinghai Lake are frozen, but there is definitely no ice at the mouth of the river where it meets the lake. We can send the fishing team there."

Director Li's eyes lit up when he heard this: "That's a good idea, but for such a large-scale fishing activity, it's far from enough to rely solely on bamboo baskets."

Li Aiguo went on to say, "You can use a motorboat to cast a net to catch fish. I've seen this method of fishing in the south. In places with lots of fish, you can use a motorboat to pull up the net, and you can catch thousands of kilograms of fish in one go."

"The third factory specializes in machinery production. The fifth factory has carpenters and painters. We can build our own boats. The boats must be large so that we can catch more fish."

Looking at Director Li counting on his fingers carefully, Li Aiguo felt a sigh in his heart.

In later times, the situation became even more difficult due to the shortage of external food supply.

It was Director Li who led the comrades from the Agricultural and Sideline Products Department to work hard day and night for more than four months by the Qinghai Lake and built two motorboats with a carrying capacity of up to 50,000 kilograms, which successfully solved the urgent problem.

Facts have also proved Director Li's foresight.

There are huge waves on Qinghai Lake.

Precisely because of the large size of the boat, the fishing team was able to deliver a steady supply of fish from Qinghai Lake to Factory 221 over the following six months, providing a solid material foundation for the significant "mushroom growing" project.

Unexpectedly, in this era, when Director Li heard Li Aiguo’s suggestion, his first reaction was still to build a big ship.

"I'll discuss it with Lao Song and the others when I get back." The more Director Li planned, the more he felt that the idea of ​​attacking the fishing team was reliable, as if it was an idea he had come up with himself.

Li Aiguo proposed again: "I see there are many wild wolves in the Gobi Desert. In addition to the fishing team, we can also set up a hunting team."

Hearing this, Director Li raised his head suddenly and blurted out: "Little brother, how did you know that I just thought of the hunting team?"

Li Aiguo: "."

******
Just when Li Aiguo returned with a full load, a critical moment also arrived in the computer room of the Ninth Bureau and the Ninth Institute.

As the data results popped out of the calculator, Professor Zhou became more and more nervous.

As long as the final results are out, their basic theoretical work on "growing mushrooms" will be half completed.

At this time, Director Deng, the highest leader of the First Office of the Ninth Institute, also put down his work and rushed to the computer room.

He saw several professors carefully recording their results in their notebooks, so he stood quietly aside.

Time passed bit by bit, as Professor Huang Jin entered the last equation and pressed the button to solve the equation, and the neon lights on the wooden board formed a number.

"We finally figured it out!" There was warm applause at the scene, and Director Deng couldn't help but raise his hand and cheer with the professors.

However, just when the joyful atmosphere reached its climax, an abrupt voice was like a basin of cold water, instantly shattering the joy.

“This data is wrong!”

(End of this chapter)