The train driver in the courtyard

Weicun Commune had a bumper harvest, and everyone was very happy. They set up a large stove on the threshing floor and cooked a big meal.

After having dinner at the commune that evening, Li Aiguo got on a truck and left.

Upon returning to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot, Director Liu reported the situation.

Section Chief Xing was very pleased and told Director Liu not to publicize the matter so as not to attract the attention of any interested parties.

"According to Professor Wu's estimate, we need at least several thousand kilograms of Aiguo No. 1 corn seeds, as the Aiguo greenhouse is too small."

"Build a greenhouse! Our locomotive depot lacks everything, but not land."

With a command from Section Chief Xing, two more greenhouses were built in the backyard of the workshop, specifically for breeding.

Several agricultural experts, including Professor Wu and Professor Zhao, moved into the greenhouse to work with Li Aiguo on breeding.

Loosen the soil to a depth of 30cm before sowing.

"Regional Recommendation Density"

Pest and disease control

Experts are experts; they considered things more thoroughly than Li Aiguo, who was only a mediocre person. The preliminary preparations were handed over to Professor Wu.

Li Aiguo returned to the workshop, where the engine experiment was still underway.

After reviewing Yu Shu's records, he nodded and said, "Very good."

"Can we stop now?"

"Let it run for a few more days," Li Aiguo said, still somewhat uneasy.

It wasn't that he was being overly pessimistic; engines are a crucial component, and once they're widely adopted, any problems that arise will be very difficult to fix.

Haven't you noticed that even something as simple as a power bank can be produced in batches that are prone to exploding?

In particular, this engine will be installed in off-road vehicles and sent to the South Asian subcontinent to serve as command vehicles.

If someone abandons the project halfway through, it's not something that can be compensated for with a little money.

At this time, Director Zhang had already led his team to start producing the chassis.

The blueprints provided by Li Aiguo are for an improved Hummer, which is a very mature design. As long as it is manufactured strictly according to the blueprints, there will be no problems.

I'll be busy in the studio for a while.

Li Aiguo remembered that he had brought back a lot of fresh corn today. He hadn't seen Teacher Liu Guozhang for a while, so he rode his bicycle over there.

"You're too kind, child. You're so busy, yet you still remember your teacher." The teacher's wife warmly accepted the corn.

“A teacher for a day is a father for life. If I, as a student, don’t respect my teacher, who will?” Li Aiguo said with a smile, taking out a cigarette from his pocket and handing it to Liu Guozhang.

Liu Guozhang glanced at his teacher's wife, who rolled her eyes and said, "Since it's from Aiguo, you can smoke it, but only one."

"Okay, okay." At this moment, the chief commander of the Beijing subway was almost like someone with bronchitis.

He pulled Li Aiguo into the study, lit a cigarette, took a satisfying puff, and said, "I was just about to look for you."

"What happened on the subway?" Li Aiguo asked.

"Nothing went wrong. We've already dug through three stations, so we need to keep up with the follow-up work. According to the plan, sealed doors and explosion-proof doors should be installed between every two stations in the subway."

This was designed by Li Aiguo himself. He nodded and said, "In this way, even if there is water seepage, or if the station collapses due to an air raid, it will not endanger other stations."

“The design is fine, the key is how to design the sealing door cover.” Liu Guozhang scratched his head and said, “We contacted several factories, and none of their solutions can guarantee that the sealing door will not have problems within a hundred years.”

Sealed doors may seem simple, but it's incredibly difficult for them to last a century.

This is a characteristic of this era; the products produced here are designed to be durable.

If it were in later generations, I would want to replace the door every year.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Aiguo suddenly said, "Teacher, I remember that sealed doors are often used inside submarines, right? Why don't we contact the submarine manufacturing base?"

Liu Guozhang's eyes lit up: "You know, young people are quick-witted."

Li Aiguo wasn't particularly clever; rather, he had used sealed doors inside a submarine at the Qingdao Black Fish Base.

He was deeply impressed by the kind of sealed door that could maintain structural stability under 10,000 tons of water pressure.

Because the project was very urgent, with the goal of completing the excavation and follow-up work for four subway stations by the end of the year, Liu Guozhang contacted the relevant ministries the very next day.

Through connections within a ministry, they made contact with a base that was not shown on the map.

On the third day, Li Aiguo was staring blankly at the engine when he received a call from Liu Guozhang.

"Patriot, the black carp manufacturing expert is here. Come over as soon as possible to explain the design requirements for the subway sealing doors."

"almost there."

Li Aiguo also wanted to meet the blackfish expert, so he hung up the phone and drove his jeep to the station located in Apple Orchard.

Most of the work at Pingguoyuan Station is now complete, with the ticket gates, platforms, and other basic structures finished.

Li Aiguo crossed the platform, carrying his miner's lamp, and walked along the dark railway for a while before seeing a group of people ahead.

"Aiguo is here, Chief Engineer Liu. This is our designer, Comrade Li Aiguo."

Li Aiguo shone his headlamp over and saw a middle-aged man wearing a black Zhongshan suit and bottle-bottom glasses staring at him.

"You're Li Aiguo?" The middle-aged man stared intently at Li Aiguo, who felt a little uneasy. "Chief Engineer Liu, have we met before?"

"Never seen it before," Chief Engineer Liu said. He was a serious man and gave Li Aiguo a deep look before turning back to work on sealing the door.

"I just did the calculations. If it's made like the sealed doors on submarines, it can indeed guarantee no water ingress for a hundred years, but..."

Li Aiguo asked, "Just what?"

“The material for the sealed door is copper alloy, and copper is too expensive. Besides, you need more than just a door.”

The person in charge of the construction gasped. This one station alone has six sealed doors. Line 1 is currently planned to have 17 stations. How much alloy copper will that require?

These days, copper production in China is low and costs are extremely high, so many electrical wires use aluminum wire instead.

“How about we change the materials and modify the design?” Li Aiguo suggested.

The young engineer who came with Chief Engineer Liu wanted to raise his hand on the spot, but Chief Engineer Liu stopped him.

"Comrade Patriot, what good ideas do you have?"

Li Aiguo sensed that Chief Engineer Liu's attitude was a bit strange, but without thinking too much about it, he described the appearance of the sealed door he had seen in his previous life.

"Using a double-layered door can reduce the water ingress rate. This design is indeed ingenious. In this way, steel can be used as a substitute for other materials. What a great idea!"

Chief Engineer Liu pondered for a moment, then his eyes lit up instantly.

"Come on, comrade Aiguo, let's have a good chat."

Chief Engineer Liu pulled Li Aiguo out of the tunnel, squatted on the platform, and took out a pen to start calculating.

After a moment, he nodded and said, "According to your design, the sealed door can fully meet the requirement of not leaking for a hundred years. Patriot, I didn't expect you could design doors."

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Chief Engineer Liu, asking curiously, "Chief Engineer Liu, you should know me, right?"

Chief Engineer Liu tucked his pen into his jacket pocket, took the cigarette, and a slight smile appeared on his stern face: "I'm in charge of improving the 303 Blackfish. A few years ago, the Blackfish carried out a successful mission outside, which was designed by you. That operation was a success, and we received a collective third-class merit."

Li Aiguo never expected that the two had such a connection.

The relationship between the two immediately became closer.

"What? You're a native of Beijing?"

"Yes, my home is near Houhai, but I haven't been back since my parents passed away."

Like many military experts, Chief Engineer Liu lived his entire life in anonymity.

After entering the base, with the organization's help, he met his current wife, who was also a staff member at the base.

The family lives at the base and rarely leaves.

"Chief Engineer Liu, you've come all this way. After you're done with your work, come to my house for a simple meal. I'll be making boiled flatbread tonight."

"I haven't eaten boiled 'ga ga' in many years."

Faced with Li Aiguo's invitation, Chief Engineer Liu hesitated for a moment, but still agreed.

Chatting with Li Aiguo, I don't have to worry about not being able to write a report when I get back.

The design of the sealing door is actually very simple, and the production and manufacturing are not difficult either. The drawings are given to the purchasing department, and all that is needed is to give the production plan to the corresponding factory.

Before evening, Li Aiguo finished his work and drove the Jeep with Chief Engineer Liu toward the courtyard.

On the way, Chief Engineer Liu learned that Li Aiguo had two children and insisted on buying some White Rabbit milk candy, which Li Aiguo did not stop him from doing.

Chief Engineer Liu's wife just gave birth. When he leaves Beijing, sending him some diapers as a token of our gratitude will suffice.

Human relationships are built up through these exchanges of gifts and favors.

"Aiguo, you're back! Perfect timing, I have something to tell you. The neighborhood office notified us that you should come to the market to pick up potatoes this weekend morning." The old man squatted at the door, greeting us with a smile.

Potato seeds are a common name for potatoes. In Tianjin, they are called "ground eggs," in East China they are called "foreign yams," and in the south they are called "potatoes."

In those days, due to climate and technological limitations, domestic potato production was low, and potatoes could only be used as a side dish, costing even more than Chinese cabbage.

"Now we can even get potatoes?" Li Aiguo asked in surprise.

"It is said that we brought back a large batch of foreign potatoes from abroad, which were distributed as welfare benefits by the higher-ups."

Li Aiguo recalled hearing from comrades in the commerce department that this time, the Eastern European countries, lacking foreign exchange, could only exchange goods for the exported hydraulic presses, and it seemed that foreign potatoes were among them.

After greeting the residents, Li Aiguo led Chief Engineer Liu home.

Once inside, Chief Engineer Liu sipped his tea and said, "Actually, I still miss life in this tenement."

Li Aiguo nodded and said, "Indeed, this place has a more down-to-earth, human touch."

"The warmth of human life. That's a wonderful phrase. Back at the base, all we did every day was work, and we ate in the canteen."

The two chatted for a while, and Li Aiguo didn't ask about the current domestic black carp research and development plan, nor did Chief Engineer Liu mention it. The two were like old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time.

After picking up her child from work, Chen Xueru greeted the guests at home and then began preparing dinner.

The so-called "boiled cornmeal" is made by scalding cornmeal, cutting it into pieces, boiling it, and then mixing it with chive blossoms and sesame paste.

Just a few days ago, Li Aiguo brought back a lot of fresh corn from Weicun Commune, which has already been ground into flour.

After cooking the 'gaga' (a type of steamed dumpling), Chen Xueru wrapped the vegetable filling in cornmeal and steamed a few vegetable dumplings as a staple food.

"I haven't tasted this flavor in many years." Chief Engineer Liu slurped up a boiled flatbread, then took a bite of a vegetable dumpling, his eyes getting a little moist.

“We still have plenty of cornmeal at home. Please come to our house often,” Li Aiguo said.

"Now that we're back, we should get down to business," Chief Engineer Liu said with a smile and a shake of his head.

"It's serious business. Looks like we're preparing to develop a new blackfish." Li Aiguo picked up the wine bottle, poured a glass of wine, and handed it over: "Here, Lao Liu, I wish you success in your work."

"Wishing us success in our work!" Chief Engineer Liu, who doesn't usually drink, picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp.

It was dinnertime, and the evening breeze carried the sounds of the hustle and bustle of the courtyard into the air.

"Have you heard? They're giving away potatoes for free on the streets. Each household will get 100 jin (50 kg), and they're even imported potatoes."

"Foreign potatoes? So the people outside are so kind as to send us potatoes."

"Hey, I heard that we exported some equipment a while ago, and people outside wanted to buy it, so they traded some things for it."

"Why does this seem so familiar?"

“We used to do this all the time in previous years, exchanging grain and minerals for other things. I never thought we would become so powerful now.”

Upon hearing this, Chief Engineer Liu looked up at Li Aiguo.

As a blackfish expert, he had high access to classified information and often had access to internal documents, knowing that the batch of potatoes was related to the train driver in front of him.

Just then, Jia Dongxu's voice came from outside again: "The foreign devils don't dare to lay a hand on us? Back in the old days..."

Xu Damao curled his lip and interrupted him: "Rob? They would dare to do that. Haven't you heard? Our blackfish ran to Xiaomei's doorstep a while ago."

No one took Xu Damao's words seriously, and even Xu Damao himself knew he was bragging.

Li Aiguo looked up at Chief Engineer Liu, thinking that the deployment of the Black Fish was probably the work of the base.

Only with a hydraulic press can they exchange goods, and in order to avoid being robbed, they need to catch blackfish. In a short time, the two realized that although they had different professions, they were working for the same purpose.

The two men exchanged a smile and raised their glasses simultaneously. The peaceful clamor outside was drowned out by the bustling activity of the foreign potatoes.

After seeing him off to Chief Engineer Liu, Chen Xueru watched his retreating figure and asked, "Aiguo, which unit does this person work for? Why does he seem so mysterious?"

“This kind of person is mysterious. Come on, honey, let’s go home and make a baby.” Li Aiguo changed the subject and took Chen Xueru’s hand.

"What would the neighbors think if they saw this!" Chen Xueru blushed instantly at his audacity.

The night is getting darker.

Huh~!

Li Aiguo rolled over, leaned against the headboard, took out a cigarette, lit it, and stared into thought as he watched the wisps of smoke rise.

Chief Engineer Liu didn't reveal anything, but as a professional, Li Aiguo had already seen through the clues.

According to the timeline, the localization of R-class (Type 633) snakehead fish is currently underway in China. However, due to the withdrawal of experts from the older generation, the process has been very difficult and has taken seven or eight years to finally be launched.

Snakehead fish is a good thing.

Once we've created the giant mushroom, we'll need a suitable vehicle to carry it.

There is no fish more suitable than blackfish.

In particular, the relationships within the extended family have changed.

There's a lot of commotion in the South Asian subcontinent right now. Although Mao and the US are making a lot of noise, they're just watching from the sidelines because the South Asian subcontinent has little to do with them.

If we continue forward, I'm afraid those two will raise their fists.

When Li Aiguo most wants to completely break with them, we can get all these mushrooms and blackfish out.

This thing is meant to be a deterrent; in the hands of a weak person, it's just a toy.

But in the hands of those with strong wills, it becomes a deadly weapon.

This generation, however, is not lacking in spirit.

As for why Li Aiguo didn't bring it up himself.

Unlike other military industrial companies, Blackfish claims to be a self-contained system, which could raise suspicion if things go wrong.

The more Li Aiguo thought about it, the more he felt that creating black carp was a good idea.

Why have we been so slow to develop large warships?

One reason is technical issues.

Secondly, we can afford to build them, but we can't afford to maintain them.

Thirdly, there's another reason: they didn't want to provoke Mao and Xiaomei too much.

Compared to large warships, the Blackfish is just as intimidating, and it won't openly provoke either of them.

It can make the other party wary, but it also prevents them from completely breaking off relations.

"Let's get this done." Li Aiguo stubbed out his cigarette.

"I've rested up, come on!" Chen Xueru raised her rosy cheeks, her eyes sparkling with spring-like affection.

Li Aiguo: "."

*****
The next morning, Li Aiguo first went to the workshop for a look around. The engine was running normally, and Director Zhang had already started leading the workers to install the chassis.

Most of the chassis components were custom-made, and some have not yet arrived.

Considering that this is currently a test vehicle, the outer shell was pieced together by Yu Shu using the shells of several scrapped Jeeps, leveraging his expertise.

First came the welding, then the grinding. The craftsmanship was comparable to that of a refurbished used car dealer in later generations, and the refurbished exterior looked quite professional.

“The strength is definitely not enough; we’re just making do for now.” Li Aiguo checked everything over and looked at Yu Shu, saying, “I’m giving you a task: build the turbocharger according to the blueprints.”

Li Aiguo originally did not plan to install turbocharging, as it was a good technology but expensive. However, he realized that speed was the key to victory on the battlefield, so he decided to install turbocharging on the military version.

A V8 engine with turbocharging is a game-changer these days. When Li Yunlong drives this car, he'll be ecstatic.

Yu Shu is currently juggling two roles, keeping an eye on the engine while also researching turbocharging.

But he was very happy.

This turbocharging is truly ingenious.

The structure of just a blower can significantly increase the actual power of an engine.

"Patriotic Comrade, how did you come up with such a brilliant idea?"

Have you ever cooked or heated a stove before?

"No, not at all." Yu Shu shook her head.

"I suggest you try it. When you're burning the stove, hold a fan towards the stove door, and the flames will leap out. It's the same principle."

Yu Shu was stunned. He had always heard people say that Li Aiguo was good at creating good things from life, and now he believed it to some extent.

Speaking of turbochargers, Li Aiguo remembered something else: he asked Yu Shu to prepare all the information on turbocharging so that Hextech could apply for a patent in Gangcheng.

This thing became very popular in later generations, and it was able to make a fortune.

"Don't worry, I think I'll figure this thing out perfectly." Yu Shu saw Li Aiguo out of the studio and then got busy back home.

Li Aiguo went into the greenhouse, chatted with Professor Wu and Professor Zhao about breeding for a while, and only returned to his office after confirming that everything was normal.

After get off work, of course, one should go home to sleep. Recently, seeing that Li Aiguo has been getting busier and busier, even Section Chief Xing came to urge him to rest and not overwork himself.

"Ring ring!" Li Aiguo rode his bicycle back to the courtyard house.

"Ring ring!" Liang Ladi returned as well.

"Ring ring!" Uncle San is back.

There are more and more bicycles in the courtyard houses.

"Ding-a-ling!" Another bicycle returned.

"Xu Damao? How come you're riding a bicycle too? And it's a new one?" Jia Dongxu was squatting down next to him, sulking. He had finally written an anonymous letter, but why hadn't he received a reply?

Seeing Xu Damao pushing a bicycle, he became even more depressed.

"Da Mao, where did you get this new bicycle?" Li Aiguo was teasing Minghui and Xiao Kuangsheng when he stood up and greeted them.

Xu Damao ignored Jia Dongxu and looked at Li Aiguo, saying, "The old bicycle is no longer usable. The factory has provided a new one."

Xu Damao was extremely pleased with himself.

He inherited his last bicycle from Xu Jixiang. It was used to ride on bad roads all the time and even fell off a mountain. It was in terrible condition.

"Hey, Da Mao, that's great, a new bike!" Yan Jiecheng chimed in, reaching out to touch the bicycle.

"That's right. I'm an excellent projectionist now, a key member of the propaganda department. The organization took care of me and gave me a new 28-inch bicycle." Xu Damao said, glancing at Li Aiguo.

This matter actually has something to do with Li Aiguo.

The situation at the steel rolling mill recently can be described as turbulent.

After discovering something wrong with Yi Zhonghai and Jia Dongxu, Deputy Factory Director Li remained silent and did not retaliate.

Urged on by the deaf old lady, Director Yang forcefully intervened and passed a decision at the factory committee meeting to give the two people a lighter punishment.

However, this also brought trouble. The moment the decision was issued, Deputy Factory Director Li took the opportunity to launch an attack.

They also joined forces with the security department and the armed forces department to pressure Director Yang to resign.

It was a case of either the East prevailing over the West, or the West prevailing over the East. Director Yang was caught off guard and had no choice but to make concessions.

Now, Deputy Factory Director Li has taken back several workshops and is also in charge of publicity work.

Many people see the propaganda department as a useless department that neither produces nor sells anything.

That's not the case at all.

Regardless of the era, the propaganda department is always the most important department in any organization or factory.

Xu Damao was given an important position because he successfully chose a side recently, and it is said that the next step may be to consider making him a permanent employee.

How could Xu Damao not be happy?

"Xu Damao, where's your old bicycle?" The third uncle came up to him, blinking his small eyes.

"Of course it should be handed over to the factory."

"Well, I see the rear wheels are still pretty new. Take them off, and I'll go find you some old ones to install," the third uncle suggested.

"Uncle, I'm sorry, those are factory items." Xu Damao knew Uncle's temperament and quickly refused.

The old man was still a little unwilling and said, "I can't believe it. The people in the logistics department don't check carefully either."

“Uncle, please stop. If you think this is a good idea, how about you take off your wheel and I'll replace it with an old one? We'll split it 20/80, you get 80% and I get 20%.”

"Forget it"

In the past, Xu Damao might have actually agreed to the Third Uncle's request.

Now that he has a chance for promotion, how could he possibly do such things?

The residents in the compound all knew Uncle San's temperament, and they laughed a few times.

"I meant well, never mind, never mind." The old man shook his head helplessly and looked at the residents, saying, "Remember to pick up your potatoes this weekend."

The residents were very interested in the potatoes that came from abroad, after all, this was the first time such a thing had ever happened.

Early on the weekend morning, the neighborhood office started organizing people to go from courtyard to courtyard to collect potatoes. They would expire if not collected by the deadline, and each household could only collect one portion.

Residents headed towards the market in twos and threes; those with bicycles rode them, while those without walked.

When Li Aiguo arrived at the entrance of the supply and marketing cooperative, a long queue had already formed outside.

"Mine is so ugly, all black, why is it so unfair?"

"How would we know? These are all from abroad. If we don't want them, we'll move on to the next one."

These potatoes varied in size and shape; some had been stored on the boat for several months and had even turned black.

The market worker picked up a wooden shovel, scooped it up haphazardly, and that was it—good or bad.

"Look, these potatoes are all moldy, how can we eat them!"

"It's no use yelling at me. These are all imported from abroad. It's a gesture of friendship between brother countries, so don't be picky!" This time, a large quantity of potatoes was transported, enough for each household to receive 100 jin (50 kg). The market workers have been busy for more than half a month and are already exhausted.

"No way, I want the big one." Seeing that the young man was about to cause trouble, Li Aiguo rushed over and grabbed him by the collar.

"What are you being so arrogant about? These potatoes are free for you, and you're still not satisfied?"

The young man was about to get angry, but when he recognized Li Aiguo as the captain of the neighborhood patrol team, he quickly shrank back and obediently hid to the side.

The market manager arrived shortly after receiving the news and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that nothing serious had happened.

"It's patriotism, thank goodness you're here."

"Director Chen, this place is a mess. If we don't handle it properly, something bad might happen."

“I have already notified the police station, but several vegetable markets nearby are distributing potatoes, and Captain Liu and his team are very busy.”

As they were talking, the person in charge offered Li Aiguo a cigarette.

"I think we should bring the neighborhood patrol team over here."

"That's great!" the person in charge nodded quickly.

Li Aiguo rode his bicycle back to the compound and notified Zhang Gangzhu and several group leaders. Soon, more than a dozen people were assembled.

The team members rushed into the market with sticks, and the young people who were originally planning to cause trouble immediately fell silent.

You should know that the police officers at the local station might not take action because of their positions.

These guys didn't care about anything else; they just swung their sticks around and started beating people up.

It hurt really badly.

(End of this chapter)