The train driver in the courtyard

The battle between Xu Damao and Jia Dongxu lasted for a full half hour.

Xu Damao was so tired from carrying the heavy steel pot on his back that he was sticking out his tongue. He couldn't even straighten his back or run.

Jia Dongxu's wrist was numbed by the shock and he was hit by several sticks on his body. Now he couldn't chase anymore and just wanted to sit down on the ground.

Both of them wanted to call off the attack at this point, but they discovered an embarrassing reality - no one stepped forward to stop them.

Yi Zhonghai is still in the steel mill and has not been released?

The residents who were watching the show all had their arms folded, watching with great interest and shouting "Come on!" from time to time.

"Come on, Damao, kick!"

"Jia Dongxu, hurry up, the monkey is stealing peaches."

Especially that bastard Yan Jiecheng, jumping up and down, perfectly fulfilling the role of the atmosphere group.

It was the first time that Xu Damao and Jia Dongxu discovered that fighting could be so tiring.

"Jia Dongxu, I'll let you go this time, but if there's a next time, I'll skin you alive!"

Xu Damao really couldn't run anymore, so he pointed at Jia Dongxu with his stick, squatted on the ground and started to spray him wildly.

"You damn Xu Damao, if you keep being so arrogant, I'll beat the piss out of you!" Jia Dongxu also understood his spirit, pretended to spit, and squatted on the ground.

No one stopped them, and the two were too embarrassed to retreat.

There was no choice but to engage in a verbal argument for nearly fifty minutes.

Yan Jiecheng: "."

Resident X126 who was watching: “.”

Li Aiguo yawned as he watched: "This is so boring, let's go, let's go."

The residents who were watching the scene only wanted to watch a martial arts film and did not like watching women quarreling, so they shook their heads and dispersed.

When most of the people had left, Jia Dongxu sat down on the ground and said to Xu Damao, "I am so tired, you bastard. Next time, we should agree that we can only fight for ten minutes and then call it a day."

"Bang!" Before he could finish his words, Xu Damao suddenly jumped up from the ground and hit him on the forehead with a stick.

"Sun thief, you've been fooled!"

By the time Jia Dongxu reacted, Xu Damao had already turned around and ran away.

Jia Dongxu was so angry that he stomped his feet.

The usually peaceful courtyard gradually fell into a deep sleep amid the noise.

The next day.

Li Aiguo arrived at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot half an hour earlier than usual.

After all, if you accept an apprentice, you should fulfill the responsibilities of a master.

He took advantage of the time when Chen Boya had not yet left the car to take him to the driver's building and explained some of the experiences of a train driver.

Chen Boya is worthy of being a second-generation doctor. He has a strong learning ability and mastered most of it in a short time.

This guy is simply a disciple chosen by God.

It’s just a pity that Li Aiguo didn’t have a ten thousand times return system for accepting disciples, otherwise he would have made a fortune this time.

At eight o'clock, Li Aiguo finished his duties as a teacher, strolled to the maintenance workshop, and began a new busy day.

In the following few days, Li Aiguo fully enjoyed his leisure time. He worked as a teacher and a worker at the same time. When he returned home, he had a wife and children to live a happy life.

three days later.

The new member of the Red Star machinery family, the Red Star GJW trench excavator, has been assembled.

"Driver Li, I suggest that the excavator be tested at the factory according to military standards. Otherwise, if we ship it to Nanjing and then give up in front of the leader, we will be embarrassed."

After inspecting the excavator for the last time, Director Zhang of the maintenance workshop gave his opinions.

Li Aiguo had this idea a long time ago.

If trench excavators are to be mass-produced in the future, they must pass the acceptance inspection of the General Staff Engineering Corps and the First Bureau of the Ministry of Ordnance Industry, among which the factory appraisal test is the first acceptance link.

Although there is a lot of open space at the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, the railway requires that the ground is as solid and high as possible.

If it is dug up, wouldn't it increase the workload for the railway soldiers?

At this time, Section Chief Xing proposed an idea: "Last week, when Weizhuang Commune delivered mountain products to the locomotive section, Village Chief Wei mentioned that their commune was preparing to build a canal."

Staff Officer Xiao, who had been silent, suddenly brightened up: "The nature of canals is similar to that of trenches. We can use canal digging to test trench diggers."

Li Aiguo also nodded: "In this way, we can not only test the excavator, but also help the members. This is simply killing two birds with one stone. However, the trench excavator is a military machine, and the confidentiality work cannot be relaxed."

Staff Officer Xiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, I will contact the Beijing Military Region right now and ask them to help."

With the soldiers keeping it confidential, there will definitely be no problem.

It is better to choose a day than to hit it.

Director Xing immediately returned to his office and picked up the phone to contact Wei Zhuang Commune.

The canal construction site of Wei Zhuang Commune at this time.

The sun was shining brightly in the sky, and the steaming heat waves wrapped in yellow soil hit the faces of the members.

The red flag was faded by the sun, but it was still fluttering on the makeshift wooden frame.

The young and middle-aged men swung sledgehammers with their bare chests, and beads of sweat the size of beans fell to the ground, breaking into eight pieces.

Hong Tao'er led a group of women comrades, wearing coarse cloth scarves on their heads, bending over to shovel gravel into bamboo baskets. Sweat flowed down their backs and dyed their blue cloth shirts white.

Hong Tao'er was the female bandit who served the bandit group [Ya Dashui]. In order to settle down in Weijia Village, she married Zhang Jieba.

After the two bandit leaders Sai Yinghua and Liu Laohan were killed, Hong Taoer was sentenced to probation because of her good behavior.

The bandit's identity was known to the other members, so Hong Tao'er stopped pretending and started to show her strength.

She is very efficient at work and is well-educated. She has now become the women's director of the commune.

Children like Zhaodi and Dabao who are in school also had their holidays early and stuck their butts out to help push the wheelbarrow.

The atmosphere at the scene was very intense.

If for no other reason, it is because once this beneficial canal is completed, hundreds of acres of dry land in Wei Zhuang Commune will be transformed into water land, and the annual grain yield can be increased by thousands of kilograms.

Village chief Old Wei squatted down and the cigarette in his hand burned to the end without him noticing.

He looked at the half-finished canal with a frown on his face - the construction period was originally scheduled to be three months, but the progress was only one-third, and the opening date of the upstream reservoir was imminent.

What’s even more worrying is that there are only two boxes of explosives left on the construction site, more than a dozen shovels are broken, and even the iron pot used for cooking has three layers of patches.

"Comrade Village Chief, if we continue like this, we will definitely miss the opportunity. Why don't we stop the canal first and continue tomorrow." Liu Jishu from the County Water Conservancy Bureau had just dealt with a canal collapse accident and hurried over.

"The county has received a notice from the upstream reservoir. In ten days, the gates will be opened to release water."

“Once the water is released, the canal construction will have to stop even if we don’t want to.”

"Besides, your Weizhuang Commune is now the richest commune in the surrounding area, and there is no shortage of food. There is no need to take risks now."

Village chief Lao Wei knew that Liu Jishu meant well.

For the sake of Limin Canal, this college student who just graduated lived and ate on the canal.

However, he did not know the importance of the canal to Wei Zhuang.

"My son, it is because we can eat now and we have strength that we need to dig the canal."

Hearing this, Liu Jishu was speechless for a moment.

He wanted to persuade Village Chief Wei not to do something impossible, but after looking at the wrinkles on Village Chief Wei's face, he finally shut his mouth.

At this time, the militia captain came running over and said, "We are saved, we are saved, village chief, we are saved."

"What's going on!" Village chief Old Wei stood up quickly.

"Just now the commune received a call from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot. Section Chief Xing said that Driver Li has built a large machine that can help us dig canals. They will deliver the machine tomorrow."

"Really? That's great!" Village chief Old Wei's voice trembled with excitement.

Liu Jishu frowned and reminded, "Village Chief, the only thing that can dig a canal right now is an excavator.

In our country, only Fushun Heavy Machinery Factory can produce it, and the quality is very average. It takes half an hour of digging and two days to repair it.

Could it be that the machine made by the Qianmen Locomotive Depot is more powerful than the Fushun excavator? "

Village Chief Old Wei recovered from his surprise and looked at Liu Jishu deeply. "Liu Jishu, it's not the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, it's Driver Li. I don't know anything about excavators, but I know Driver Li. Driver Li is a very capable person. If he says he can help us, then he can definitely help."

Liu Technology: “.”

He felt that these members were too simple and even naive.

Now, when the members heard that Driver Li was coming, they actually dropped their hoes and baskets and cheered.

The genuine emotions on their faces could not be concealed.

"Who is this driver Li?"

"No, no matter what, no matter who it is, I can't let him deceive these members."

Liu Jishu wanted to persuade the members at that time, but he didn't do so.

Because at this time a group of soldiers came to the canal construction site.

The soldiers directly blocked the entire construction site and the soldier leader walked up to the village chief, Lao Wei.

"Comrade village head, according to the notice from the higher-ups, your Limin Canal has now been designated as a test site. From now on, no one is allowed to enter or leave. Also, no member is allowed to leak the relevant information."

Village chief Wei was also frightened by so many soldiers at first. But when he came to his senses, he stood up immediately, his pipe banging against the soles of his shoes, and shouted to the members: "Don't be afraid, everyone. These comrades are with driver Li. They are all helping us. We must obey the orders of the soldiers."

The members were a little panicked at first, but when they heard "Li Aiguo", they immediately understood and their expressions relaxed.

Hong Taoer also brought a few female comrades to bring water to the soldiers.

A few children even came up to the soldier curiously, wanting to touch the barrel of the rifle.

Seeing this scene, Liu Jishu scratched his head and asked, "Who is this driver Li? How can he mobilize soldiers?"

"Ah."

evening.

Li Aiguo rubbed his nose while watching Chen Xueru who was busying around.

"Wife, I'm going to Weizhuang Commune this time. It will only take three or two days. I don't need to bring any luggage."

Chen Xueru rolled her eyes at him cutely: "These things are not prepared for you."

"what?"

"The tailor shop has accumulated a lot of cloth strips recently. You can take them with you when you go to Weizhuang Commune this time."

"I guarantee to complete the task!" Li Aiguo came over with a smile and hugged her slender waist from behind.

"Stop making trouble, the children haven't gone to bed yet!" Chen Xueru blushed and gently slapped Li Aiguo's hand away.

Li Aiguo turned his head and saw Xiao Hongsheng and Xiao Minghui poking their heads out of the house, staring at them with puzzled eyes.

"Ahem, let's go to bed. We have to go to school tomorrow."

Li Aiguo felt like he was caught doing something bad, so he walked over, carried the two children to bed, and closed the door. Xiao Hongsheng lay in bed, muttering quietly: "Sister, is Dad going to beat Mom again?"

"Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"

Xiao Hongsheng: "I heard from Xu Hua and Nan Xiaoying that their father always beat their mother at night. He beat her so hard that she screamed in pain."

"Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"

Xiao Hongsheng: "If I get married in the future, I will never beat my wife."

"Eyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy"

After taking a look at Xiao Minghui, who was less than one year old, Xiao Hongsheng sighed and covered her with a quilt crookedly.

****
The trench excavator weighs more than 30 tons and is wrapped in tarpaulin. Although it is not as big as a tunnel boring machine, it still attracts a lot of attention.

Inside the trench excavator, Li Aiguo skillfully turned the steering wheel while looking at the curious eyes outside. He turned his head and said to the old cat, "Team Leader Cat, pay attention to the unfamiliar radio waves in Beijing these days. There may be new gains."

Old Cat also noticed that the crowd occasionally looked at the trench digger with scrutiny, and nodded: "Don't worry, the weather station has already made arrangements. Now there are three radio detection vehicles patrolling the streets."

As he spoke, the old cat felt a sigh in his heart.

People who work in meteorology worry most about encountering setbacks.

The other party entered a silent state and did not take any action, just like a normal person. Even with eagle eyes, there was no way to pick him out from millions of people.

This is when we need to alert the enemy.

This is what happened with the last tunnel boring machine.

The same is true for the trench digger this time.

This train driver not only studies machinery but also completes the work of the weather station at the same time. He is really dedicated.

The track wheels rolled on the ground with a rumbling sound. The trench digger was like a tank, roaring out of the capital and heading straight for Wei Zhuang Commune.

At this time, all the intersections leading to Wei Zhuang Commune had been blocked.

Although the soldiers followed the order without hesitation, they were a little confused. It was not until they saw a strange tank approaching that they understood.

"salute!"

Under the gaze of the soldiers, the trench digger arrived at the canal excavation site.

At this time, Village Chief Lao Wei had been waiting for half an hour. When he saw the trench excavator for the first time, he was stunned.

"Oh my God, there is such a big tractor!"

The members were also shocked.

It wasn't until Li Aiguo opened the car door and got out that they reacted.

"Driver Li, you're here."

"Uncle driver, have some fruit."

The villagers came forward very enthusiastically.

"Everyone, please make way. Driver Li has important work to do today."

Village chief Lao Wei quickly asked the militia captain to maintain order and walked up to Li Aiguo: "Aiguo, thank you so much."

"Village head, look at what you said. Now Qianmen Locomotive Depot and Weizhuang Commune have a supporting relationship. If you encounter some minor difficulties, it is only natural for us to lend a helping hand."

Li Aiguo explained it in a light-hearted manner.

However, Village Chief Old Wei understood that the presence of hundreds of soldiers and such a large machine was definitely not just a supporting relationship as described by Li Aiguo.

What is our family.

That’s it!

At this time, the comrade in charge of maintenance had finished his work and came over to report: "Report, excavator No. 1 is in good condition and can start working at any time."

Before coming, considering that the name Trench Excavator itself was a leak, it was specifically decided that the external name would be Excavator No. 1.

"Okay, time is running out, let's get ready to start the machine." Li Aiguo turned his head and looked around, frowning and asked, "Village Chief, where are the drawings of the canal and the technicians?"

"Tech Liu, where are the blueprints?"

Liu Jishu, who had been in shock, finally came to his senses when he heard someone calling him.

He had seen the Fushun excavator and the Russian heavy excavator with his own eyes.

Although Excavator No. 1 is wrapped with tarpaulin, judging from their size, the other two excavators are just toys in front of Excavator No. 1.

"This, this excavator, was made by our family?" Liu Jishu said as he stretched out his hand to touch it.

A soldier stepped sideways to stop him. Liu Jishu remembered the confidentiality regulations and quickly took several steps back.

Li Aiguo smiled and said, "Tech Liu, where are the drawings?"

"Ah?!" Liu Jishu reacted, pushed his glasses, rubbed his muddy hands on his clothes, and carefully took out a drawing from his canvas bag.

"Comrade driver, the Limin Canal runs from Weizhuang to Paoma River, with a total length of fifteen miles. Since it is a water diversion canal, the width is required to be two meters, and the excavation depth must exceed five meters."

As expected of a college student majoring in water conservancy engineering, Liu Jishu had a very thorough understanding of the canals and was able to explain the parameters of the canals clearly in no time.

Even in modern times, this canal is a feat.

It is particularly valuable that such a huge project could be completed in an era of food and clothing shortages.

"According to the planning standards for the water channel, the most difficult part is the slope and cliff at the east end of the village, where there are a lot of gravels and the geology is relatively hard."

Liu Jishu pointed to the red triangle mark on the blueprint and said, "It's impossible to dig with an ordinary shovel. We were just thinking of applying to the county armed forces department to coordinate a batch of military shovels. And you guys are here."

Liu Jishu glanced at Excavator No. 1 and swallowed the rest of the sentence.

Li Aiguo has always held the attitude of despising the enemy strategically and taking the enemy seriously tactically.

Although he had a trench excavator in hand, he still took a group of technicians to carefully plan the excavation plan.

"Three days, about 72 hours, is the standard time for factory certification tests. We must ensure that the trench excavator does not have any problems within these 72 hours."

"Don't worry, Driver Li, we have developed a complete maintenance plan." The technical team leader nodded in assurance.

After finalizing the excavation plan, Li Aiguo stood up and looked into the distance.

"start up!"

Following Li Aiguo's order, excavator No. 1 suddenly made a low roar, shaking the ground slightly.

As the tarpaulin slid off, the giant steel arm pierced through the morning mist and slowly rose up. The moment the bucket opened, it was like a dormant beast awakening.

Liu Jishu couldn't help but take a half step back, his eyes wide open behind the lenses - the tracks of this huge machine were half a person's height, and the condensed oil stains on the hydraulic rods glowed coldly in the sun, which was completely different from the clumsy Soviet-style machines in his memory.

As a water conservancy worker, my biggest frustration is that domestic engineering machinery is too backward.

Every time he saw the members and workers carrying things on their shoulders or in their hands, using the most primitive methods to complete the project, he felt indescribably sad.

But it is not easy to change this situation.

This was the first time that Liu Jishu felt hope.

But what exactly is this thing?

It doesn't look like an excavator.

Liu Jishu stood in the distance, tilting his head, and fell into deep confusion.

The members of the cooperative didn't have so many ideas. No matter what kind of machine it was, as long as it could dig canals, it was a good machine.

At this time, excavator No. 1 had arrived at the canal. When the first shovel went down, the solid soil suddenly cracked, shaking the nearby gravel and making it bounce.

The steel bucket was like the fangs of a giant beast, easily crushing the soil mixed with gravel. The splashing mud wrapped in broken grass hit the cordon five meters away, frightening Zhang Mamba, who was leading the donkey to transport soil, and hurriedly tightened the reins.

"This, this is too fast!" Tears welled up in Village Chief Wei's cloudy eyes.

"Yeah, this one shovelful is equivalent to what we do in the whole morning." Several young members who were squatting nearby were so shocked that they fell to the ground.

A young wife smiled and nudged her sister next to her: "This shovel is really hard. It's as hard as my husband's late-night shovel."

The women around were stunned at first, and then burst into sharp laughter.

"Tiezhu's, is your husband as fast as this machine?" Hong Tao'er relaxed now and said casually.

As the director of the women's department, I have to overpower these young wives in terms of dirty talk, otherwise I won't be able to do my job.

When the young wife heard this, she straightened her chest and said, "How about I move out tonight and you can try it on my bed."

"If you want to try, I'll try it with Driver Li. Driver Li can make such a hard machine, so it must be very hard too." Hong Taoer risked her life to maintain the dignity of the director of the women's department.

"Tsk, you wish!" the young wife curled her lips.

"Ahem! Everyone, please be careful of the impact."

Seeing that the men were getting more and more outrageous, the village chief, Lao Wei, coughed twice and said, "You are all so dishonest! Hurry up and clear away the rocks that have been turned over! And the soil on the side, move it away quickly, don't delay the work of the machines."

Only when the old ladies and young wives had work to do did they stop talking.

Li Aiguo wiped the beads of sweat the size of beans from his forehead with his sleeve. He could not handle the aggressiveness of these young wives.

He was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and smiled bitterly: the old saying "existence is reasonable" is really true here.

In this age of lack of physiological knowledge, these obscene words in rural areas, although seemingly primitive and vulgar, are actually "local teaching materials" that are passed down from generation to generation and can play a role in sexual enlightenment.

The fellow villagers use plain language to explain matters between men and women, so that newlyweds can understand the principles of having a baby even in the dark.

Trench excavators were originally designed for the complex environment of the battlefield and have higher technical requirements than general civilian machinery.

The gravel beach under the slope at the east end of the village was not able to stop the trench digger at all.

By evening, the trench digger had dug five miles of canal.

"Be patriotic and give your comrades a break."

Village chief Lao Wei organized the women comrades to deliver meals.

Li Aiguo raised his wrist and saw that the trench excavator had been working continuously for two hours, so he stopped the excavator.

"Come on, stop for a moment, let's finish dinner before we work."

Today is a big day for Wei Zhuang Commune, and the commune canteen is also open for business, with baskets filled with cakes.

The pancakes are made of sweet potato flour and wild vegetables. They taste both sweet from the sweet potato flour and the unique fragrance of wild vegetables, making them exceptionally delicious.

The wooden barrel was filled with millet and pickle porridge.

This thing is millet porridge mixed with pickled cabbage. Because it is a bit salty, eating it can increase your strength.

In those days, only wealthy communes like Wei Zhuang Commune could afford these good things.

After a tiring afternoon, eating is a real treat.

At dusk, with a cool breeze blowing, the canal construction site was bustling with activity.

Li Aiguo took a bite of the sweet potato pancake, took a sip of the millet porridge and pickled vegetable porridge, and began to eat happily.

At this time, Liu Jike came over and whispered, "Comrade driver, this doesn't seem to be a real excavator. Can it be converted into a civilian excavator?"

(End of this chapter)