The train driver in the courtyard

Wang Zhenshan, the captain of the police station, was able to come over at this moment.

Seeing that the young people were already intimidated, they turned around and saw Li Aiguo, so they came over, took out a cigarette, and handed it to him.

"Patriotism, thank you for your help."

"Don't mention it, Captain Wang. You must have been very busy these past few days." Li Aiguo turned to look at He Yushui and Wang Ruxin in the crowd. As soon as they saw Li Aiguo, they turned around and ran away.

When Wang Zhenshan saw Xu Damao standing next to him, he handed Xu Damao a stick as well.

Xu Damao quickly took it, and Wang Zhenshan then said, "That's right. Dividing the dishes is troublesome, especially since these potatoes have been at sea for several months. Some of them are really out of line."

Speaking of this, Li Aiguo recalled something: "If the potatoes are covered up, it's fine, but those sprouted potatoes can no longer be eaten."

"Don't worry, the district has already given instructions in advance. Now when distributing potatoes, the vendors will pick out any sprouted potatoes."

Following Wang Zhenshan's finger, Li Aiguo indeed saw the salesperson casually toss the sprouted potatoes aside, presumably to be disposed of as garbage later.

"Do you need any help?" Wang Zhenshan gestured with his chin toward the long queue.

Li Aiguo shook his head and refused, saying that everyone was queuing up and there was no need to make an exception.

After waiting for nearly half an hour, it was finally the turn of the residents in the courtyard. Li Aiguo was behind Xu Damao in line.

"It's Aiguo, isn't it?" The vegetable vendor greeted him and scooped up a large basket of potatoes. Li Aiguo noticed that they were all large and without any blemishes.

Li Aiguo carried the sack and put it on his bicycle.

Just then, a voice came from behind.

"What are you doing?"

Li Aiguo turned his head and saw the vegetable vendor pack a bag of potatoes for the old man, and the old man then went to pick up the small potatoes on the ground.

"These potatoes fell out of the basket just now; they belong to my family," the old man said matter-of-factly.

Potatoes are scattered everywhere on the ground, and the salesperson can't tell them apart. He asked the old man to pick up a few small potatoes and urged, "Hurry up and carry them away."

"Don't rush." ​​The third uncle reached out to pick up the pile of sprouted potatoes.

The sales clerk quickly stopped him: "Hey! You can't eat sprouted potatoes!"

"Don't worry, I won't eat it! It's a waste to throw it on the ground, so I'll take care of it for you."

"No way! The rule is to throw it away! Hurry up and move on, there's a long line behind you!"

"I threw it away for you."

There are thousands of households in this neighborhood, but there's only one vegetable stall.
If this causes delays, it will be dark soon.

The people behind were getting impatient seeing the old man dawdling ahead.

"Uncle, hurry up."

"Yes, the district said that these sprouted potatoes have to be thrown away. What are you doing?"

"I'll take them home and plant them in the ground, and I'll be able to eat fresh potatoes next year."

The old man caught sight of the sales clerk turning to attend to other customers, and his heart raced: "What a waste! They'd eat it even with the sprouts cut off! A dozen or so big potatoes could feed us for two meals!"
Taking advantage of the chaos, he grabbed some sprouted potatoes, stuffed them into a sack, hoisted the sack onto his shoulder, and left.

Their energy is no less than that of young people.

"Hey, you old man, how can you do this!" The sales clerk saw this and tried to stop them, but the people in line behind them had already caught up.

All I could do was shout again at the old man's retreating back, "Hey! Old man! I told you not to eat this! It's going to kill you!"

The third uncle waved his hand, grabbed the sack, and went outside. He yelled at Yan Jiecheng, "Jiecheng! What are you standing there for? Come on over here! I've picked up a dozen big potatoes for free!"

"Dad, are you really planning to grow potatoes?"

"Are you stupid? Is it potato planting season now?"

"Then what are you doing?"

The old man was exasperated: "You silly boy! Who said anything about planting? Just peel off the sprouts and you can cook it! Don't you understand how to save money on vegetables? Ouch! My back! Come and lend me a hand!"

Yan Jiecheng felt somewhat embarrassed, which is why he hid outside the crowd.

Seeing that the third uncle couldn't hold on any longer, he had no choice but to bite the bullet, step forward, hoist the sack onto his shoulder, and take it home.

The residents took the potatoes home and, to prevent them from sprouting, put them in the cellar as advised by the neighborhood office.

Li Aiguo carried the sacks into the vegetable cellar, and then he heard a sound coming from inside.

“Patriotism, this is your home.” Liu Haizhong, who was already inside, pointed to a spot and said.

Since becoming the work group leader, Liu Haizhong has also become quite influential in the compound. This time, he took the initiative to take over the management of the cellar.

He secretly thought to himself: This shows that I am very good at managing things, and I will definitely get extra points when I am selected as an advanced worker at the end of the year.

Li Aiguo threw the sack on the shelf, and Liu Haizhong stepped forward and handed him a few newspapers.

"Wrap it in newspaper and it will last for six months."

Li Aiguo turned his head and saw that the potatoes in other households were also wrapped in newspaper.

After placing it, Liu Haizhong wrote Li Aiguo's name on the newspaper.

"Remember how many you need; tell me if you miss any."

This method of using bangs isn't actually to prevent thieves, since potatoes all look pretty much the same, and who can tell whose is whose?

It's to prevent residents from not being able to distinguish their own potatoes.

"Okay." Li Aiguo nodded, then left the cellar, mindful of the sealed doors at the subway construction site.

When I arrived at the Apple Orchard construction site by bicycle, a GAZ truck was already parked at the subway entrance.

"Take it easy, be careful not to bump it, and watch out for the sealing strip on top."

Chief Engineer Liu is directing the workers to remove the sealed door.

This thing weighs several tons; seven or eight railway soldiers simply couldn't lift it.

Li Aiguo saw Liu Guangqi carrying his tools to work and called out to him, "Guangqi! Call the work team over, get some people here!"

"Okay!" Liu Guangqi happily agreed and quickly rushed into the tunnel.

The team leader arrived with dozens of young men, and they managed to remove the sealed door. By the time it was moved into the tunnel, these men were so exhausted that they couldn't even lift their arms.

"Brothers, you've worked hard! At noon, each of you will have a bottle of wine and a big bowl of meat!" Li Aiguo was not stingy and promised a large sum of money right then and there.

The team leader and the young men got excited.

"Hey! Consultant Li, next time you need to do this kind of heavy lifting, call us again!"

After these people left, the railway soldiers began to busy themselves with the installation work, with Chief Engineer Liu providing guidance from the side.

There are techniques involved in installing this kind of sealed door. Li Aiguo had the detailed steps written down so that the construction site could install the door themselves after Chief Engineer Liu left.

It took a full two hours to install the door. After cleaning up the tools, Li Aiguo stepped forward and pushed the door; it was indeed quite sturdy.

"Shouldn't we give this a try?" Liu Guozhang asked, and he rushed over with several leaders after hearing the news.

Practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to sealed doors. They should not be used lightly, because once they are used, it concerns the lives of thousands of people, so we must not be careless.

"I think we should test the water pressure with real force."

Li Aiguo knew that this kind of experiment was too costly; the water inside needed to be cleaned up, and the areas soaked in water needed to be repaired, but he still agreed.

The railway soldiers found a water pipe, connected it to the water pump that was drawing groundwater, drilled a hole in the top, and dropped the pipe in.

The door was sealed tightly, providing excellent sound insulation. People outside couldn't hear anything coming from inside, but they could feel the water level rising little by little.

"According to the calculations, the water level inside is now fifty centimeters high. No water is seeping out from the outside, so it seems to be up to standard." Liu Guozhang nodded in satisfaction and was about to call a halt to the experiment.

"Wait a little longer, I want to see how much water pressure this door can actually withstand."

Seeing that Chief Engineer Liu insisted, Liu Guozhang did not refuse, and the experiment continued.

"Eighty centimeters."

"One hundred and twenty centimeters."

Two hundred centimeters.

As the surveyor shouted each time, everyone's mouths dropped open in astonishment.

It's important to know that water has pressure, and the fact that it can withstand a meter of water without leaking is beyond their imagination.

They've managed to get it two meters deep.

"Should we stop?" Liu Guozhang was excited but also a little worried. If the sealed door couldn't withstand the water pressure and broke, the losses would be huge.

"Wait a little longer!" Chief Engineer Liu became even more agitated, waving his hand at Liu Guozhang: "I want to know what the actual pressure-bearing limit of this door is."

Upon hearing this, Liu Guozhang realized that Chief Engineer Liu's purpose was not to see if the door was suitable for the subway, but to use it on the blackfish.

As the leader in charge of subway construction, Liu Guozhang could have easily stopped the experiment for the sake of the subway. After hesitating for a moment, he waved to the railway soldiers who were about to turn off the water pump.

If everyone only focuses on their own work, nothing will get done in the end.

"Now I just hope that what Li Aiguo came up with is actually useful."

At this point, the experiment was still ongoing.

"Three meters."

Five meters.

Eight meters.

"Twelve meters"

"That's equivalent to a two-story-high column of water pressing down on a door!"

As the water deepened, Chief Engineer Liu became increasingly agitated.

As soon as the surveyor shouted "Fifteen meters," Chief Engineer Liu abruptly waved his hand: "That's enough, stop!"

The water pump has stopped.

The tunnel was so quiet you could drop a pin drop.

Everyone was listening intently.

The sealed door made no sound.

Chief Engineer Liu mustered his courage, stepped forward, picked up a hammer, and pounded heavily on the sealed door several times.

The muffled sounds coming from inside were enough to prove that the area around the entrance was completely flooded.

"Success!" Seeing that the sealed door remained unmoved, Chief Engineer Liu threw down the hammer, walked over, and tightly grasped Li Aiguo's hand: "Comrade Aiguo, I'd like to borrow your design!"

Li Aiguo smiled: "Use it as you like."

"Come on, Lao Liu, take a look at this design."

Inside the subway command center office, Li Aiguo handed over a design drawing that he had prepared beforehand.

"Old Liu, take another look at this door. It's stronger and can withstand pressure for at least two hours."

"This is also... a subway airtight door?"

Chief Engineer Liu took the blueprints and immediately recognized that this type of door could only be used on submarines.

"Yes. The subway sealing door, developed through labor experience." Li Aiguo nodded emphatically.

Chief Engineer Liu looked up at Li Aiguo, realized something, and laughed knowingly: "That's right! Knowledge comes from hard work! This design... we really need to learn it well!"

The two exchanged a knowing smile.

Li Aiguo then explained in detail the benefits of this design and the precautions, which made Chief Engineer Liu's eyes light up.

The pressure resistance and sealing performance of this type of sealed door have reached the level of the world's most advanced blackfish, making it perfect for installation on the new blackfish.

"Patriotism! If this succeeds, I'll treat you to a big drink!"

"I'm waiting for your wine!"

Chief Engineer Liu was in a hurry to return to the base to submit the plan for the sealed door, and left by train that afternoon.

"I wish I could go to the base someday and see the new type of blackfish for myself," Li Aiguo thought to himself.

He also knew he couldn't bring this up himself; it would give a bad impression. Think about it, what would a train driver like you be thinking if he were interested in manufacturing black carp?

Sometimes you can't blame those comrades for being sensitive; the enemy is everywhere, and you might suffer losses if you're not careful.

As he left the office, Liu Guangqi brought over a bottle of beer: "Brother Aiguo, this was just distributed, everyone got one."

Li Aiguo didn't refuse. He cracked open the bottle, squatted down in the sunset, and downed the entire bottle of beer in one go.

The cool beer slid down my stomach, and every pore on my body instantly relaxed.

A sweet burp.

Cool!
As evening fell, Li Aiguo rode his bicycle away from the bustling and tense subway construction site, and the lively atmosphere of the alleyway greeted him.

The subway door issue has now been resolved.

If all four stations are completed by the end of the year, the subway will open six months ahead of schedule.

The subway construction is progressing smoothly, and it's time to focus all our efforts on off-road vehicles.

Two days ago, Chen Xueru was a guest at Feng Nan's house and heard that Li Yunlong was going back to be awarded a medal because he had made great contributions and captured a big city.

Consider this SUV a gift for him.

Back at the market, the queue had become orderly.

That's how it is. People know that causing trouble won't bring them any benefits and will only get them punished. Even troublemakers have to behave themselves.

A troublemaker is someone who likes to cause trouble, not someone who is stupid.

Moreover, these vegetable vendors are also responsible for selling vegetables on a daily basis. If you offend them, they might give you rotten vegetable leaves when you buy vegetables, and you'll just have to accept it.

"Jia Dongxu, come and help me, I can't lift it by myself."

I saw Qin Huairu carrying a sack and pulling a stick, struggling to walk towards the courtyard.

Jia Dongxu, standing beside her, pursed his lips and said, "Huai Ru, you come from the countryside and often do farm work, so this is your job."

Qin Huairu had no choice but to persevere.

An older woman noticed and came over to help Qin Huairu lift the bag.

Qin Huairu felt a pang of grievance as she watched Li Aiguo ride his bicycle past her.

When Li Aiguo learned that potatoes were being distributed, he took them home without Chen Xueru having to lift a finger.

And Jia Dongxu? He stood by and did nothing.

People are more mad than people.

Sighing with regret.

With potatoes in hand, every household tried different ways of cooking them over the next few days.

Braised potatoes, potato pancakes, fried potatoes... When Li Aiguo saw Chen Xueru start making potato noodles, he knew he couldn't continue like this.

"Wife, shall we have steamed buns tomorrow?"

"I had completely forgotten, you didn't mention it. I learned how to make steamed buns with potatoes from Aunt Liu." Chen Xueru's eyes widened with excitement.

Li Aiguo: "."

Well, in this era of scarcity, being able to eat potatoes is already a delicacy, what more could you ask for?

In the evening, as usual, Li Aiguo brought a stool and sat under the eaves, continuing to study the blueprints of the off-road vehicle while helping He Yushui with her homework.

"Rain Water, you're about to take the high school entrance exam. What are your thoughts?"

"I want to take the high school entrance exam." He Yushui nodded emphatically.

"Where is that Wang family brat?"

"He's planning to apply to a vocational school and become a policeman like his dad." He Yushui seemed to realize something, looked up at Li Aiguo and said, "Brother Aiguo, don't worry, I won't let it interfere with my studies."

Li Aiguo nodded and picked up the blueprints.

"Aiguo, what are you still doing here? Hurry up, something's happened in the front yard!" Xu Damao rushed over in a panic.

"What's wrong?" Li Aiguo quickly stood up.

"The third uncle is sick. He's complaining of a stomachache and rolling around on the ground."

Upon hearing this, Li Aiguo put away the blueprints and quickly followed Xu Damao to the front yard.

At this moment, Liu Haizhong, Yi Zhonghai, and other residents also arrived.

Even from a distance, a groan could be heard coming from inside the Yan family's house.

"Ouch, old woman, it hurts so much!"

"You should go to the hospital right away."

"That will cost money, so I'll hold on a little longer."

When the three women saw the residents come in, they said in a panic, "You all need to persuade Old Yan. He's in so much pain, why isn't he going to the hospital?"

At this moment, the third uncle's face was ashen, his lips were ashen, and his hunched body was almost like a shrimp. He was also slurping his words in pain from time to time.

"Don't rush, let's figure out what's going on first?" Yi Zhonghai stroked his chin and stepped forward.

Liu Haizhong leaned closer and said, "Old Yan, I think you should go to the hospital."

"It's alright, I'm fine, look... Ouch!" The old man tried to stand up, but as soon as he straightened his back, he bent over again in pain.

“Look at him, he’s already like this, why aren’t you going?” Yan Jiecheng and Yan Jiefang urged from the side.

Yan Jiedi pulled on her third uncle's arm and said, "Dad, you should go to the hospital."

"No, no, don't try to persuade me."

Seeing that the third uncle was adamant, the third aunt could only turn her attention to Li Aiguo.

"You should persuade him to be patriotic."

Li Aiguo walked to the table and saw a few potatoes left on the plate. He asked, "Auntie, did you have potatoes for dinner?"

"Yes, what does it matter?"

Li Aiguo picked up his chopsticks, took a piece of potato, looked at the potato teeth on it, and said, "This is a big problem. Now it's not just Uncle San who needs to go to the hospital, but your whole family too."

"Patriotism? What did you say?" Before the old woman could finish speaking, her face suddenly turned ashen, and she clutched her stomach, squatting down on the ground: "...Ouch! My stomach...it's cramping up here too..."

Then came Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi.

They all squatted on the ground, clutching their stomachs and groaning loudly.

This scene shocked all the residents.

Liu Haizhong looked at Li Aiguo nervously and asked, "What, what's going on?"

“They ate sprouted potatoes, which are poisonous,” Li Aiguo said, pointing to the potatoes.

"You old Yan, aren't we not allowed to eat these kinds of potatoes on the street?" Liu Haizhong was a little angry at that moment.

The old man stammered, "I think these potatoes are quite good, it would be a waste to throw them away. I'm just upholding the spirit of thrift and frugality. Oh dear."

Xu Damao said sarcastically, "Now look what happened, one potato brought down the whole family."

The residents were all secretly laughing. This is a perfect example of trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead.

"Stop arguing! They've been poisoned by sprouted potatoes! It's deadly! Everyone lend a hand and get them to the hospital right away!" Li Aiguo interrupted them.

When the old man heard that this thing was deadly, he no longer cared about saving money.

The residents might laugh at him, but when something actually happened, they really helped, immediately trying to get the people to the hospital.

However, at this moment, the three uncles, three aunts, Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, Yan Jiekuang, and Yan Jiedi were already too tired to walk any further.

"Brother Da Mao, hurry up and go to the next compound to borrow a flatbed cart, or two if you need to. Zhang Gangzhu, you go too."

Upon receiving Li Aiguo's words, Xu Damao and Zhang Gangzhu hurriedly ran out of the house and returned with two flatbed carts.

The three uncles, three aunts, and Yan Jiedi sat on a flatbed cart.

Yan Jiecheng, Yan Jiefang, and Yan Jiedi sat on another flatbed truck.

Li Aiguo and Zhang Gangzhu rode their bicycles, with several residents from the compound pushing them from behind, heading towards the hospital.

When they encountered residents from the neighboring compound on the way, they were all astonished and stared wide-eyed.

"Hey, Uncle San, where is your family going? On a picnic?"

"This family is so neat and tidy."

The old man was so ashamed that he couldn't even lift his head.

The most common treatment for food poisoning is gastric lavage.

When he was taken to the hospital, the doctor found a tube, took a water pipe, and inserted it into the old man's mouth.

The soap solution was poured in, and the old man squatted on the ground and vomited for a while before he finally recovered.

The other members of the Third Uncle's family also did their usual fuss.

Because they were taken to the hospital in time, they were all fine. The doctor prescribed some medicine for them and then sent them out.

"Sprouted potatoes contain solanine! Mild cases cause vomiting and diarrhea, severe cases cause respiratory paralysis! Did you listen to the street propaganda for nothing?"

"Medical resources are strained right now. If you keep courting death, you can just pour some laundry detergent down your throats."

No wonder the doctor was so angry.

Now there are propaganda campaigns everywhere in the neighborhood, and even three-year-olds know that they can't eat sprouted potatoes, but the old man is so stubborn.

"Yes, yes, yes... I won't do it again next time..."

The third uncle was very depressed.

Because I couldn't bear to part with those few potatoes, I ended up causing such a huge problem. It wasn't worth it at all.

Thinking about it, that's exactly how Uncle San is. He seems shrewd and calculating, but in the end, he's the one who suffers.

Take grocery shopping for example. People who like to be picky often annoy the sales staff, and as a result, the vegetables they buy are always misshapen and broken.

Back in the courtyard, Xu Damao saw the dejected Third Uncle in the yard and joked, "Hey, 'Sprouted Potato' is back? Feeling better? Don't skimp on this, or you'll die!"

The third uncle blushed with embarrassment and slipped back into the house without saying a word.

The Third Uncle's family was brought down by sprouted potatoes, earning them the nickname "Sprouted Potatoes," which also became a typical example in the neighborhood, and would be brought up at the annual street office meeting.

Of course, these are all things for later.

On Monday, Li Aiguo pushed open the door to his studio while burping from eating potatoes.

The engine has been running continuously for a week.

After a careful inspection, Li Aiguo said, "It's almost done. There are no issues with stability. Next up is the road test. Let's stop and do some maintenance. Who's going to do this?"

“Me.” Yu Shu raised his hand; he loved taking care of engines the most.

"It's just you."

Yu Shu got busy, Director Zhang was almost done preparing, and Li Aiguo led a group of technicians to start assembling the off-road vehicle.

The chassis was suspended in the air by a crane.

Tires, fuel tank, and everything else were installed. In those days, there were no torque wrenches, so Li Aiguo made one himself, which was particularly convenient and easy to use.

Once the torque value is set, the wrench will make a clear clicking sound when the screw is tightened to the correct position, reminding the user.

“We used to strip the screws all the time, but with this thing we don’t have to worry about that anymore.” Director Zhang perked up as soon as he saw the torque assistant.

"Once the off-road vehicles are assembled, I'll build you a batch."

Li Aiguo carried a wrench to the rear of the car and screwed the exhaust pipe onto it.

All the parts were designed in-house, and the workshop was fully equipped with various tools, so the assembly work went very smoothly.

On the morning of the third day, with Yu Shu's cooperation, the engine was installed.

The workers and technicians were thrilled as they watched the off-road vehicle gradually take shape. This was the first car they had designed and manufactured independently!
(End of this chapter)