The train driver in the courtyard

"Achoo. Who's calling my name again?"

Inside the car manufacturing workshop of the studio.

Li Aiguo rubbed his nose, his eyes fixed on Chen Zunan, who was putting the final assembly work into place.

Chen Zunan picked up a flag and looked at Li Aiguo: "Comrade Aiguo, you install it."

When the flag was mentioned, Chen Zunan couldn't help but admire the quick thinking of the young people. Originally, for the sake of image, they did not plan to install any car logo on the front of the car.

It's just bare, and something feels off.

At this point, Li Aiguo suggested that a flag could be installed as a marker.

In this way, the overall prestige of the ride-hailing service is enhanced, and it also serves to demonstrate the driver's identity.

The proposal was immediately approved by Commissioner Chen and others.

Li Aiguo accepted the flag without hesitation and carefully installed it at the very front of the vehicle.

The fans nearby whirred, and the flags fluttered in the breeze.

"The vehicle is assembled!"

Before Li Aiguo had finished speaking, enthusiastic applause broke out in the room.

Commissioner Chen and a group of leaders nodded repeatedly at the official car; it was the safest and most imposing vehicle they had ever seen.

In particular, Li Aiguo added a device called an airbag during the subsequent manufacturing process.

The airbags are hand-sewn and installed inside the vehicle; there are eight in total.

When a vehicle is involved in a collision, the airbags will deploy instantly to protect the safety of the passengers.

Experts were initially skeptical that this thing was just a layer of cloth and wondered if it would be useful.

The experiment was very successful.

Commissioner Chen, who volunteered to be a test subject, drove his car into a wall at a speed of over 60 kilometers per hour. Thanks to the airbags, he was unharmed, though he was a little dizzy.

After the special car was manufactured, it was covered with tarpaulin and transported to the Qianmen Locomotive Depot under the strict protection of people in gray Zhongshan suits.

As for the destination, that was beyond Li Aiguo's ability to find out.

Even the entire car manufacturing process could not be revealed to the public or written into the archives before it was declassified.

There were no flowers, no grand prizes, and no celebration party; the work of building the ride-hailing service seemed to have ended quietly.

Chen Zunan and the experts felt no dissatisfaction whatsoever, because the flag would forever fly in their hearts.

When Section Chief Xing learned that the work of building the special-purpose vehicle had ended, he didn't dare to make a big fuss about it.

They went to great lengths to deliver four or five hundred catties of watermelon, and under the guise of helping the experts replenish their bodies, they gave each person five catties of donkey meat.

As for where the donkey meat came from, it was naturally because a train passing through Baoding accidentally hit more than a dozen donkeys.

The basic construction work at the Second Automobile Works site is basically complete, and the old method of simultaneous construction and production has been adopted.

After having lunch with a group of experts, Chen Zunan waved goodbye, carrying watermelon and donkey meat with him.

Li Aiguo was also given two days off.

Some of the watermelons were distributed to the members of the 131 crew, and the rest were taken to the weather station.

"This must be the watermelon of victory!" The farmer realized as soon as he saw the watermelon.

"Teacher, the car just delivered it, and we don't know the result yet."

"You're worried? Don't worry, even though we weren't involved, we know how Old Chen's side does things. There won't be any problems."

The farmer took a slice of watermelon from Li Aiguo and began to eat it leisurely.

With top-notch safety vehicles, their work here will be much easier.

"I just received news that weather stations in various locations are almost complete, and the higher-ups are urging you to develop a weather forecasting system."

The farmer didn't eat much. After eating two slices of watermelon, he wiped his mouth and handed a document to Li Aiguo.

"Considering that weather forecasting is a new thing and involves the whole country, Junwei coordinated with the meteorological bureau and handed over the initial operation work to us."

Upon hearing this news, Li Aiguo was somewhat stunned, but he quickly understood the reason.

These days, meteorological work is subject to multiple layers of overlapping management due to its unique nature, with both the military and local authorities having jurisdiction. As a result, efficiency is bound to be reduced considerably.

The above took this issue into consideration, and also considered that the farmer's weather stations had personnel in various places, who were very loyal and reliable.

They also participated in the early construction work, so they simply handed over the establishment of the weather forecasting network to the weather station.

Once the weather forecasting network is running smoothly, it will be handed over to local authorities.

"So, I'm now officially in a legitimate position?" Li Aiguo exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, you're now the chief director of the weather forecasting network project." The farmer was also very happy.

Weather stations in various locations need a large number of meteorologists, and recruitment is required from outside the region.

Many of the elderly staff at the weather station are unable to adapt to normal life due to their long-term exposure to the special environment.

The weather station had previously assigned them to factories and schools, but the results were not good. Many of them developed emotional problems, or what we would call "battlefield syndrome" in modern terms.

Now it's perfect to set up weather stations in remote areas.

There's no need to contact outsiders there, which helps to relieve stress.

The weather station also makes it convenient to take care of them and provide for their old age and funeral.

“I’ll transfer Lao Mao over here to assist you. Also, Junwei and the local comrades will be arriving soon. You’ll be mainly in charge of the Red Star Computing Institute.”

"Don't worry, I will definitely get the weather forecast system working as soon as possible."

During the time Li Aiguo was building cars, he was also busy studying the technology provided by the system from time to time, and has now developed a complete forecasting plan.

"Alright, you haven't been home for a while, go back and get some rest. You'll be able to work better when you're well-rested."

"is teacher!"

After chatting with the farmer for a while, Li Aiguo left the office but did not leave the weather station immediately. Instead, he went to the confidential room, picked up the phone, and called Yang Jizong in Gangcheng.

The last time we spoke was before we started building the ride-hailing service. I wonder how things are progressing in the port city lately.

"Great job, Patriot Brother! You've managed to get the Great Off-Road vehicle up and running all this time!" Yang Jizong's excited voice came from the other end of the phone.

“The first batch of large off-road vehicles will probably take several more months to be produced, so you need to prepare in advance.” Li Aiguo understood Yang Jizong’s thoughts. “That’s for sure. You don’t know yet, but the footage of the large off-road vehicles driving around in India has been filmed, and it’s caused quite a stir in Hong Kong. Several councilors have come to me and the bookstore to ask me to buy the large off-road vehicles.”

After Yang Jizong finished speaking, he heard no response from the other end of the phone, and then asked in surprise, "Could it be that you deliberately released those videotapes?"

He slapped his forehead: "That's right, what reporter is so bold as to go to the front lines to film? There's no better advertisement than this. Marketing genius, patriotic brother."

"It's not that mysterious, we just happened to run into each other." Li Aiguo smiled.

There was another thing Yang Jizong didn't guess: the real reason the videotape was leaked was actually to warn the Russians and the American family not to cause trouble; the marketing of the Great Lexus was just a side effect.

Yang Jizong was unaware of all this, but at this moment he was already full of admiration and kept praising him: "Now everyone in Hong Kong says that I am a business genius, but I think that you are the real business genius, Brother Aiguo."

"Alright, when did you learn to flatter?" Li Aiguo interrupted him, asking, "How's the situation at Red Star Entertainment?"

"Things are going as you predicted. Red Star Entertainment has now acquired the television station and officially made a name for itself in Hong Kong."

Yang Jizong explained the situation in detail and said with some concern, "Xin Yi'an has always wanted to take over this lucrative business and make a fortune by making pornographic films. Now that we've snatched it from them, they probably won't let it go easily."

"If they dare to show their faces, we'll just beat them up." Li Aiguo didn't take Xin Yi'an seriously.

A bunch of defeated soldiers were beaten badly here back then, but after fleeing to the port city, they suddenly became big shots. It's ridiculous.

"However, we can't let our guard down. You still need to keep an eye on Red Star Entertainment."

"Don't worry," Yang Jizong readily agreed.

Everything is progressing smoothly in the port city.

The Second Automobile Works is racing against time to manufacture the first batch of large off-road vehicles, and the weather forecasting system is about to begin production.

Li Aiguo also got a rare two days off. After returning home, he spent the whole morning cuddling with Miss Chen in bed, and didn't get up until noon the next day.

With no tap water and the indoor toilet unusable, Li Aiguo decided to use the outhouse outside the compound.

"Aiguo, you're back from your business trip?" Aunt Er was watering the vegetables with rice water when she saw Li Aiguo and quickly greeted him.

Li Aiguo was away from home recently, so someone went to inquire about Yan Jiecheng.

Fearing a leak, Yan Jiecheng simply lied and said that Li Aiguo was away on another business trip.

"Yes. Watering the vegetables, Auntie." Li Aiguo noticed that the vegetable leaves were curled and yellowed due to lack of water, and the soil was also cracked.

"Come, come, wait here, I'll pick you a bunch. This amaranth is perfect for making cold noodles."

"no need."

"Hey, if it doesn't rain soon, all these vegetables will be ruined. We might as well have picked them earlier."

Before Li Aiguo could react, Aunt Er picked a large bunch of amaranth and handed it to him.

"Then I'll take your place." Li Aiguo didn't stand on ceremony and accepted it without hesitation.

The two were chatting when a series of heavy footsteps came from outside.

Qin Huairu came in from outside, carrying a large sack and panting.

Her face was covered in dust, her hair was messy, and she looked rather disheveled.

"Hey, wife, you're finally back! Let me see what you brought back!" Jia Dongxu came out of the house upon hearing the noise.

Upon opening the bag and seeing that it was full of sweet potatoes, Jia Dongxu pouted and said, "It's all sweet potatoes. Why isn't there any refined white flour?"

Qin Huairu almost fainted from anger.

Life in the commune was tough; she had to beg and plead to get these sweet potatoes, and they were still looked down upon.

"Eating too much of this stuff makes me feel acidic and gives me heartburn. When will this ever end?" Jia Dongxu continued to complain from the side.

Aunt Erda couldn't stand it anymore. It was already too much for a grown man to make his wife go back to her parents' home to borrow grain, but now that the grain had been borrowed, he was still not satisfied.

"Dongxu, life in the countryside is tough. It's already quite an achievement that Huairu was able to borrow so many sweet potatoes."

"I just don't like eating sweet potatoes," Jia Dongxu said, scratching his head.

Second Aunt: "."

She took a deep breath and said, "Sweet potatoes can be cut into dried sweet potato slices, dried in the sun, and mixed into cornmeal porridge. The taste is actually quite good."

"That's a good idea." Jia Dongxu knew that he was lucky to have sweet potatoes to eat, and now that he had a way out, he happily carried the sack into the house.

"This man..." Aunt Er sighed helplessly when she saw his appearance.

Qin Huairu also saw Li Aiguo, and immediately looked away.

Now that Li Aiguo is a leader, he gets to eat white flour steamed buns every day.

She had to swallow her pride and go home to borrow sweet potatoes.

Qin Huairu felt she regretted it.

Happy days are always too short.

After spending two days cuddling with Miss Chen, Li Aiguo appeared at the Red Star Computing Institute.

"Advisor Li, is there another assignment?" Peng Yunyou, deputy director of the Institute of Computing Technology, entered the office, looking somewhat excited.

When the Red Star Computing Institute completed the railway network last time, she, as a logistics staff member, was commended by her superiors and promoted one level, earning an extra twelve yuan and fifty cents per month.

"Could you please come to the meeting, Comrade Xia and Professor Gillotti?"

After the railway network was completed, the Red Star Computing Institute retained the structure of two research groups in consideration of the contributions of the Russian researchers.

At the same time, Professor Gillotti also used his old connections to bring in many computer experts who were not successful with the Russians, including more than thirty foreign experts.

Some of these Russian experts even changed their nationality, joined the organization, and became one of their own; Professor Gillotti was one of them.

Professor Gillotti was extremely excited after receiving Peng Yunyou's call.

He dedicated his life to computer research, firmly believing that one day computers would become the most important tool for humankind.

Under these difficult conditions, the Minsk Institute was established, but it ultimately ended in a disastrous failure.

After arriving at the Red Star Computing Institute, he worked with Li Aiguo to develop the Red Star Computer and came into contact with real computer architecture. Only then did he realize that this was the place he had always dreamed of.

"Honey, Aiguo is back and has called us to a meeting, so I won't be home for lunch." Professor Gillotti's wife currently works in logistics at the Red Star Computing Institute, and he has to go home for lunch every day.

Seeing Professor Gillotti's appearance, the assistant next to him shook his head with a smile. Apart from looking like a Russian, the old man was completely a member of the University of Tokyo.

(End of this chapter)