The train driver in the courtyard

night.

It's so dark.

Dim lights were on in every household in the courtyard.

Inside the Li family house.

Chen Xueru coaxed Xiao Hongsheng to sleep.

Ever since Panda Chichi came to the Li family, he quickly became good friends with Xiaohongsheng.

One man and one bear played for a whole day.

The bear is tired.

The little guy is still very strong.

Li Aiguo sat at his desk with a pen in hand, calculating whether it was feasible to use forging to strengthen the proximity fuze casing.

The sound of pens brushing and the children's songs coaxing children, under the dim light, intertwined together, achieving perfect harmony.

"Tuk Tuk"

A knock on the door broke the harmony.

Chen Xueru opened the door holding the child, and standing outside the door were Liu Haizhong and the second aunt.

"Uncle, Aunt, you are rare guests. Please sit down." Chen Xueru invited them into the house and poured them some tea.

The second uncle asked quietly, "Are you still busy with your love for the country?"

"You are looking for Aiguo. Wait a minute." Seeing that the two of them were busy, Chen Xueru knocked on the study door.

When Li Aiguo came out, Xiao Hongsheng was also very sleepy. Chen Xueru held the child, said "sorry", and went into the inner room.

Li Aiguo sat down and asked directly without any nonsense: "Second uncle, why are you here so late at night?"

The second uncle looked a little embarrassed.

The second aunt touched him, and seeing that he was almost silent, she could only sigh and said, "Aiguo, auntie will not hide it from you. This time your second uncle came here to ask you for a favor."

Li Aiguo actually had a good impression of the second aunt, and said with a smile: "Well, look at what you said, we are all neighbors, there is no need to ask for anything."

After hearing this, the second uncle dared to speak: "Aiguo, if you really have any good projects for our steel mill, can you consider me? To be honest, your second uncle is having a hard time now."

If it was just a test in the afternoon, then this time the second uncle has made it clear.

Li Aiguo didn't know much about the steel rolling and forging process, and was thinking of finding someone who knew about it, but he had to figure out the ins and outs first.

"Second uncle, you are a level 6 worker in the steel mill, earning more than 60 yuan a month. Guangqi is already working, and Guangtian and Guangfu are still young. Your life is better than most people, right?"

“Alas, every family has its own problems.” Liu Haizhong sighed and explained the whole story.

Although Liu Haizhong was not caught for cheating last time, he still left a bad impression in front of his boss.

Deputy Director Li criticized Liu Haizhong by name.

In addition, as he is getting older, he is not as flexible as before. If he doesn't have another chance to be promoted, he will never be able to be promoted to a level 7 worker in his lifetime.

"I know I did a lot of stupid things with Lao Yi in the past, and I am sorry for you. Now I am too embarrassed to ask you for help, for the sake of patriotism, just pretend that Second Uncle didn't come tonight."

After he finished speaking, seeing Li Aiguo's cold attitude, Liu Haizhong felt extremely regretful. He stood up and was about to leave with the second aunt.

At this time, a voice came from behind.

"and many more."

Liu Haizhong turned around and looked at Li Aiguo in disbelief: "Aiguo, you are willing to help."

Li Aiguo waved his hand: "It's hard to say. First, tell me what kind of steel you have in your steel mill."

Li Aiguo explained the strength and toughness requirements of the shell, and then said: "Master Liu, this is the situation. See if your steel rolling mill has any way to produce a shell with such parameters."

Hearing Li Aiguo calling him "Master Liu" and acting in a businesslike manner, Liu Haizhong knew that Li Aiguo was going to wait and see how he performed in the future.

Liu Haizhong was excited and nodded: "The parameter requirements of this shell are indeed very high, but our steel mill received a batch of military steel a while ago, which is a nickel-molybdenum alloy.

If it is mass production, the current technology is definitely not up to standard.

But if it's just a shell, we can take a shortcut.

This alloy is first used to form a steel billet using a rolling process and a crystallizer to increase the strength of the metal.

Then the hot rolling is carried out by warm rolling to balance the material ductility and surface quality.

After hot rolling, we will do another secondary rolling, this time using inclined continuous casting and rolling to optimize metal fluidity and crystallization uniformity.

After the metal is rolled, it is heated to about 1200℃ and then rolled three times, passing through a rough rolling mill to eliminate internal defects and stress.

After the rolling is completed, a stamping machine is used to make the shell.

If we make the shell and forge it at least twenty times, we should be able to meet the requirements.”

Liu Haizhong knew very well that this was a great thing, the kind that would bring him honors if he participated, so he naturally racked his brains and tried every possible way to come up with a complete plan.

All his plans were based on the experience he had accumulated in daily production. They were unconventional and carried great risks, and were not included in technical guidance at all.

If Li Aiguo had directly handed the task over to the steel mill, those engineers would never have taken the risk when designing the process.

This is also one of the reasons why Li Aiguo chose Liu Haizhong.

After saying this, Liu Haizhong looked at Li Aiguo eagerly.

Li Aiguo nodded: "That's great, Master Liu, go back and think about it. I'll go and confirm this with Director Li tomorrow."

When Liu Haizhong heard this, he was very happy: "Aiguo, thank you so much. Once the factory's procedures arrive, I will definitely be at the forefront. At that time, all the coordination work in the factory will be handed over to me. I still have some face."

Liu Haizhong realized that this was a good opportunity for him to turn his life around. If he messed it up, he would have to be a level 6 worker for the rest of his life.

After this was agreed upon, Li Aiguo said goodbye to the two of them.

After sending the two to the door, Liu Haizhong said before leaving: "Aiguo, if you have any problems in the compound, just let me know."

Li Aiguo appreciated his good intention, waved his hand and went back to the study to study again the method that Liu Haizhong had just mentioned.

Liu Haizhong and the second aunt walked towards the door. The second aunt said as they walked, "Old Liu, look at Aiguo, this kid has such a broad mind. From now on, I think you should stop fooling around with Old Yi."

"Yes, to be honest, I really didn't expect Li Aiguo to agree." Liu Haizhong nodded.

The yard was very quiet. The two walked to the door and heard Yi Zhonghai's voice in the distance.

"Hai Zhong, do you have time? Let's have a good chat, old brothers."

Seeing Yi Zhonghai, Liu Haizhong's face looked a little hesitant, and the second aunt quickly pulled the corner of his clothes: "Haizhong, you should remember this."

Liu Haizhong finally came to his senses and shouted to Yi Zhonghai, "Old Yi, it's late tonight and I have to go to work tomorrow. I'm going home first."

I watched Liu Haizhong turn around and go into the house.

Seeing this, Yi Zhonghai's eyes turned cold, his breathing turned cold, and his blood turned cold. The old man almost turned into an ice sculpture.

He saw with his own eyes that Liu Haizhong brought the second aunt into Li Ai's house and chatted for at least thirty minutes.

"This old guy is going to rebel!" Yi Zhonghai felt that the situation was not good.

Auntie knew what Yi Zhonghai was thinking and advised him, "Old Yi, let's put the things in the compound aside for now. We still have to find a way to make Jia Dongxu worship you as his godfather as soon as possible."

Ever since Jia Zhang left, Yi Zhonghai and Auntie discussed and divided the process of taking in Jia Dongxu as an elderly care provider into three steps.

1. Win over Jia Dongxu first.

2. Jia Dongxu worships Yi Zhonghai as his godfather.

3. Jia Zhang died.

The three steps are progressive and complementary.

As long as it is completed, Yi Zhonghai will have someone to take care of the elderly.

Now we have reached the second, most critical step.

Naturally, there can be no trouble.

It was already half past eight. Yi Zhonghai pondered for a moment, took a bottle of sweet potato wine, and walked towards the Jia family's house in the middle courtyard.

Yi Zhonghai knocked on the door and Qin Huairu opened it yawning.

At this time, Jia Dongxu was helping Bang Geng draw earthworms at home. When he saw Yi Zhonghai come in, he quickly stood up and welcomed Yi Zhonghai to sit down at the table.

"Master, why did you come here in person at this time of night?"

"Oh, I can't sleep anyway, so I came over to take a look."

Yi Zhonghai handed the wine to Jia Dongxu, chatted for a while, and then got down to business: "Dongxu, our steel mill has recently formed a volunteer work team to help the counterpart commune in the countryside clean up the mud pond this weekend."

Jia Dongxu was very curious: "Master, what does this have to do with me?"

Yi Zhonghai was a little disappointed: "The workers in the voluntary work team will be able to get an extra five points for ideology and morality in the promotion exam in April."

Jia Dongxu became interested when he heard this.

He hasn't been promoted for several years and there has been no way. If he can add five points now, maybe there will be hope.

Just thinking about going to the countryside to work, Jia Dongxu was a little scared: "Master, you also know the situation of my family. My mother was driven to the countryside. There are only Huairu and I at home. I have to go to work every day and take care of two children on weekends. It's too busy, really too busy."

Yi Zhonghai knew that he was being lazy, but there was nothing he could do.

I accepted my own apprentices and chose my own son.

Fortunately, Jia Dongxu is not good at work and is a bit lazy, but he is a filial child, otherwise he would not have been adopted.

Yi Zhonghai pointed at the wine in Jia Dongxu's hand and said, "I treat you like my son. I have already thought of a way for you. Give the wine to Director Chen, who is in charge of logistics support in our factory. Just say that you are my apprentice. He will give you some face and help you find a good place."

Jia Dongxu pretended to be embarrassed: "Master, what are you doing? You have helped me so much, how can I ask for your wine again?"

Qin Huairu also chimed in: "Master Yi, you have helped our family so much, it's unnecessary, it's really unnecessary."

Yi Zhonghai waved his hand: "Take it. I'm a level 7 worker, so I don't need it. Your family only has Dongxu's salary, and the three of you don't have any food allowances. I know what kind of life you live."

After saying that, Yi Zhonghai turned around and left. He took two steps, then stopped and reminded, "Dongxu, Director Chen lives in the house on the east side of the middle courtyard of No. 51 in Maoer Hutong.

They are still awake, so hurry up and deliver it, or else all the good spots will be taken up."

Jia Dongxu sent Yi Zhonghai out the door, turned around, yawned, and went into the house to sleep.

Qin Huairu grabbed him and said, "You don't listen to Master Yi, why don't you send the wine over?"

“It’s so late.”

"Oh, this is a good opportunity, let's go."

Seeing that Qin Huairu was a little angry, Jia Dongxu reluctantly carried the bottle of wine out of the house.

Xu Damao stood at the door and watched Yi Zhonghai come, Yi Zhonghai leave, and Jia Dongxu leave with his eyes slightly narrowed.

"Yi Zhonghai has been too active recently. What is he trying to do?"

Liu Lan's voice came from inside the house: "Da Mao, the children are asleep, roll over to the bed."

"Here I come." Xu Damao picked up the medicinal wine and took a big gulp, then walked into the inner room tremblingly.

The night is getting darker.

The entire capital city was shrouded in hazy moonlight. ****
On Saturday, Li Aiguo came to the weather station early in the morning.

First, the relevant drawings were encrypted, a document was written, and the official seal of the 4373rd Unit's Materials Department was stamped on it.

"Old Zhang, put on your military uniform and come with me to the steel mill." Li Aiguo handed the document to Captain Zhang.

When Captain Zhang heard that he could wear a military uniform, he was so excited that he almost jumped up.

Those who do special work can only wear casual clothes, but they all have a dream of wearing military uniforms in their hearts.

Captain Zhang is the captain of the action team with the rank of captain.

As soon as he put on this military uniform, his whole aura suddenly changed.

The GAZ jeep drove as fast as a rocket and headed straight for the Hongxing Steel Rolling Mill.

When the security officer of the Red Star Steel Rolling Mill saw a jeep approaching, he wanted to stop it for inspection, but Captain Zhang took out his work ID and waved it in the car window.

"The troops are doing business, open the door!"

"Notify your deputy factory director Li that the 4373rd Army's supplies department wants to see him."

At that time, the capital was still under military control, and the work permit was the pass.

The security officer quickly opened the door and the jeep roared into the steel mill.

At this time, Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu happened to pass by. Looking at the jeep, Yi Zhonghai said with a sigh: "The comrades in the army are really amazing."

Jia Dongxu stared at the co-pilot: "Master, I think I saw Li Aiguo."

"Impossible. Li Aiguo is an employee of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. How could he possibly get involved with his comrades in the army?"

Yi Zhonghai didn't care. He stopped and grabbed Jia Dongxu's arm: "Where did Director Chen arrange you?"

Jia Dongxu seemed very excited: "Master, Director Chen is really kind. This time we are helping the Red Star Commune. There are more than 50 people in total. The main task is to clean up the silt in the pond. Those people were assigned to dig the silt. Director Chen assigned me a correspondent. I just need to run errands and serve tea and water."

"He did that for the sake of my master." Yi Zhonghai was a little unhappy when he saw that Jia Dongxu did not thank him.

Jia Dongxu came to his senses and quickly said with a smile: "Master, thank you so much."

"Hey, kid, you still call me master? In the workshop, you call me master and I won't argue with you. But in private, what should you call me?" Yi Zhonghai struck while the iron was hot.

How could Jia Dongxu not know what Yi Zhonghai was thinking? However, the photo frame of Old Jia was still hanging on the wall, so he could only play dumb: "Master chef?"

Yi Zhonghai was a little confused: "."

He knew he was a little impatient.

"Okay, Master Chef, let's go to the workshop. Work hard today, and you will be the communicator tomorrow."

The two turned and entered the workshop.

At this time, Deputy Director Li was also a little confused.

How come his train driver brother brought a comrade from the army to visit him, and this comrade from the army was a captain.

The rank of captain was established between 1955 and 1965 and was usually awarded to battalion commanders, deputy battalion commanders and senior company commanders. It was not until 1988 when the military rank system was reintroduced that the rank of captain was abolished.

Captain Zhang, in particular, was very excited about his new skin, and he played the role of the black-faced officer to perfection.

Don't smoke when you are offered a cigarette.

Pour the tea but don't drink it.

The tone was cold.

He groans at every turn.

Deputy Director Li timidly glanced at Captain Zhang, pulled Li Aiguo aside, and asked in a low voice: "Aiguo, what's going on?"

Li Aiguo pointed at Captain Zhang and introduced him, "This is Deputy Director Zhang of the 4373rd Army's Material Department. This time he came to your steel mill to bring you credit."

"Giving away credit?" Deputy Director Li breathed a sigh of relief, but secretly complained: He thought that the fact that he was having an affair with someone had been leaked, and that they were going to arrest him.

Li Aiguo briefly introduced the shells and continued, "The 4373rd Unit continued to produce these shells and originally planned to send them to military factories for production. Deputy Director Zhang and I are old friends. When he mentioned this, the first person I thought of was you, uncle."

Being able to help the troops with military processing is indeed a great achievement.

Deputy Director Li was thinking about how to go further. After finding out the whole story, he suddenly became motivated.

"Aiguo, thank you so much. Don't worry, uncle is not the kind of person who doesn't know the rules."

Deputy Director Li’s meaning was very clear: he would definitely repay Li Aiguo for his matchmaking in the future.

Li Aiguo waved his hand: "Uncle, let's put the rest aside for now. We must first complete the mission successfully. The army's order requirements are very strict."

His meaning became clearer: if the task was not completed, Deputy Director Li would also have to bear the brunt of the consequences.

Deputy Director Li was aware of this and became a little worried, but when he saw that Li Aiguo had provided a complete set of technical processes and drawings, he patted his chest.

"Don't worry, I will organize people to start production right away. Tomorrow is the weekend, so let a few eighth-level workers in the factory work overtime."

Li Aiguo interrupted him: "The most important step in the production of the shell is forging. I think we should choose a good forger."

A good blacksmith, not an eighth-level blacksmith.

Deputy Director Li was such a cunning person that he immediately realized something was wrong.

He was wondering what Li Aiguo was thinking when he looked up and saw Liu Haizhong sneaking around outside the office. He immediately understood.

Deputy Director Li called out to the outside: "Master Liu, there is a job here that is related to forging. You are an experienced blacksmith, so come and take a look."

Liu Haizhong had been wandering outside for more than ten minutes. Finally, he waited for the opportunity, straightened his clothes, and strode into the office.

Deputy Director Li placed the drawings in front of him and repeated Li Aiguo's requirements.

Liu Haizhong already knew these requirements, and he answered calmly: "Director, this is a simple matter. Let's do this first, then that, then this again, and then this again, and we can make the shell."

When Deputy Factory Director Li heard this, he said, "Okay, you're an expert."

He first looked at Li Aiguo, and when he saw Li Aiguo nodded slightly, he put on the dignity of the deputy factory director: "Master Liu, the factory now has an important task for you, do you have the confidence?"

Liu Haizhong was expecting this moment, and he straightened his chest and said, "Don't worry, even if I am beaten into pieces by a big hammer, I will definitely complete the task."

Subsequently, Deputy Director Li decided to set up a task force with Liu Haizhong as the team leader.

Liu Haizhong assisted Li Aiguo in selecting workers from various workshops and organizing personnel to carry out the tasks.

"I'm the team leader?" Liu Haizhong felt a little dizzy after hearing the appointment.

Although this team leader only existed for two days, he was still considered an official.

Oh, Heaven, oh, earth, and all the ancestors of the Liu family, I, Liu Haizhong, have finally become an official.

"Team leader Liu Haizhong, get ready for work." Deputy Director Li felt that he had lost all his face because of Liu Haizhong and coughed twice.

Liu Haizhong came to his senses and straightened his back: "Yes!"

Being an official is Liu Haizhong’s lifelong dream.

Now my wish has finally come true.

Liu Haizhong didn't even bother to drink his saliva before picking out a group of workers and masters he thought were suitable.

Then, go to the workshop in person to inform these masters.

"Old Zhou, our comrades in the army asked us to carry out a difficult task, and you were the first person I thought of."

"Master Liu, I have to go to the Red Star Commune to work tomorrow." Liu Haizhong interrupted the steel rolling worker who was operating the machine opposite him before he finished speaking: "This is a production task assigned by the army. Deputy Director Li is in charge of it personally. Ideological and moral points can be increased by at least ten points, and there are additional subsidies."

Before Liu Haizhong could finish his words, he was interrupted by the old steel rolling worker: "I did it."

"Master Xu, I'm the team leader. If you work with me, there will be wine and meat."

"Master Mao, I'm the team leader. Come to work tomorrow and I'll give you 10 extra points for your ideology and morality."

Liu Haizhong understood that the success or failure of this mission would determine whether he could be promoted and his image in Li Aiguo's mind.

As soon as they received the task, they put all their efforts into it, which made hundreds of workers and masters anxious.

After hearing the news, Deputy Director Li was stunned. According to his estimate, only twenty people would be enough.

but.

There is strength in numbers, and more people means more delicious bread.

This time, the big brother of the army was very generous and transported more than 500 kilograms of white flour, enough to steam a lot of steamed buns.

Tomorrow is the weekend anyway, and the steel mill will take a day off, which will not affect normal production activities, so there is no obstruction.

Deputy Director Li didn't mind Liu Haizhong's fuss, but Director Liu from the Logistics Department couldn't sit still.

He has already contacted the Red Star Commune and is willing to help the commune clear the silt.

For this purpose, Director Chen specially selected dozens of activists from the factory.

Those activists often have good skills, but now more than 20 people have been transferred away by Liu Haizhong, and he can no longer complete his work.

So Director Liu personally went to Liu Haizhong and said, "Master Liu, this is not appropriate. How can I explain this to the members?"

"Hey, Director Liu, I understand your difficulties, but this is the big brother of the army."

Liu Haizhong felt the power for the first time. Director Liu, who always looked down on others, actually handed him a cigarette.

Liu Haizhong did not want to offend Director Liu, and pointed to the office: "You, go and discuss with the big brother in the army. As long as they postpone it for two days, I will definitely return your people to you."

Director Liu knew that Liu Haizhong was trying to evade the issue, but there was nothing he could do. After all, he could still tell the difference between what was more important and what was not.

Seeing that he was in trouble, Liu Haizhong gave him another idea: "Director Liu, we usually start work at 8 am and get off work at 5 pm.

You ask the workers to develop their style by coming to work two hours earlier and leaving get off work two hours later.

If we also send those who serve tea and water to help, won't we be able to complete the task?"

"Hey, Haizhong, I didn't expect that your management ability has improved after not seeing you for a few days." Director Liu looked Liu Haizhong up and down and clicked his tongue twice.

Liu Haizhong raised his head proudly: "That's right, I just suffered from my low level of education, otherwise I would have become a leader a long time ago."

At this time, Li Aiguo's voice came from a distance: "Team Leader Liu."

"Here it comes!" Liu Haizhong jumped over as fast as a rabbit.

"This guy is really suitable to be a leader." Director Liu shook his head and turned back to the office.

In the evening, Director Liu began to arrange tomorrow's work.

He informed the workers of the latest schedule.

The workers were all sincerely helping the fellow members, and when they learned about the manpower shortage in the factory, they expressed their support.

Jia Dongxu hid in the crowd and sighed, "I have to get up two hours earlier tomorrow, which is really annoying. But when we get there, we can just find a straw stack and sleep for the whole morning, which is worth it."

Director Liu looked around and pointed at Jia Dongxu: "Jia Dongxu is the communicator, right? We don't need a communicator tomorrow. You go with the workers to clean the mud pond."

"Ah?!" Jia Dongxu opened his mouth wide.

He couldn't understand why he was the one who got hurt in the end.

(End of this chapter)