"Ah! Is Miss Chen thinking about me again?"
“I thought I could go back now, but I have to wait another week”
After returning to the station, Li Aiguo was preparing to attend the seminar of the fifth major, rubbing his nose while arranging his speech.
According to the delegation's itinerary, after obtaining the right to formulate technical standards, the delegation will return to the country.
Technology transfer, equipment sales, technical personnel dispatch and other matters involving foreign affairs are handled by specialized comrades dispatched by the Ministry of Railways and the Railway Research Institute and have nothing to do with Li Aiguo.
However, after the meeting, the OSJD sent an invitation to the East University delegation. Observers such as France Bahn and Deutsche Bahn were particularly interested in automatic railway signals and hoped that Li Aiguo, the developer, would come to discuss the issue of automatic railway signals.
France Bahn and Deutsche Bahn are the big brothers within the UIL. Communicating with them is conducive to the promotion of automatic railway signals, and Li Aiguo agreed without hesitation.
So I need to stay in Sofia for a while longer.
"Dear patriotic comrade, have you left your house?"
Bad Beijing dialect sounded outside.
Hearing the voice, Li Aiguo knew it was Comrade Becker from Iraq without opening the door.
Since Becker purchased locomotives and automatic railway signals, his relationship with the Tokyo University delegation has become closer and closer.
Li Aiguo also thought that Becker was a man who stood up to pee because of his righteous speech at the conference, so he often chatted with him.
Becker was a language genius. In just a few days, he actually learned a half-baked Beijing dialect from Li Aiguo.
Li Aiguo put down the manuscript and opened the door. As expected, it was Becker standing outside the door and asked: "Old Bei, why are you free to come here today."
Becker handed a bag of dates to Li Aiguo: "I want to say goodbye to you. The technical staff sent by your Dongda University to Iraq have arrived in Baghdad. I have to go back to greet them."
"Take care!"
Li Aiguo stretched out his hand and shook Becker's hand.
"Comrade, take care!"
Becker tightened his collar, turned around and left, stepping into the cold wind.
Back in the house, Li Aiguo pinched a date from the bag and tasted it slowly.
Iraq has an extreme climate. The jujubes growing there are so sweet with a pot of fire on their heads and a pot of water on their feet.
Date palms are high in sugar and energy. Just a few of them can fill a meal. They are definitely a good thing in these days.
In his previous life, Li Aiguo also heard the rumor that dates spread hepatitis. That was pure nonsense.
Hepatitis is a disease caused by the spread of the hepatitis virus. How can the hepatitis virus survive on date palms?
Moreover, during the process of introducing dates, Li Aiguo also specifically learned that the dates imported from Iraq had been sterilized at high temperatures, and there was no possibility of so-called viruses.
"Lao Bei is a good comrade, and I won't eat your dates in vain. After Commander Saddam takes office in a few years, I will find a way to protect you."
Li Aiguo pondered for a moment and returned to work.
In the following days, Li Aiguo had a very pleasant exchange with French Bahn and Deutsche Bahn. They were also particularly interested in Dongda's automatic railway signals and said that they would organize relevant experts to conduct discussions after returning to China.
Li Aiguo is not worried about the results of the other party's research.
Automatic railway signals can become mainstream in later generations. In this era, it is a dimensionality reduction attack. It is just that it will take some time to replace the existing standards.
All Li Aiguo had to do was wait.
Minister Teng looked very happy after learning about Li Aiguo's results.
If automatic railway signals can be "infiltrated" into the UIC, a large amount of economic and regulatory benefits will be gained.
Although the Beijing Railway Research Institute is unable to trade directly with DB and SNCF and other UIL members due to camp issues, it is easy to circumvent such restrictions.
Now Hex Technology has grown day by day.
One sheep is driven, two sheep are herded.
It would not be too much to let Yang Jizong take on the important task of selling railway equipment.
"I think the idea of the patriotic comrades is very feasible. Hex Technology has now made a name for itself internationally.
Contact with Iron Alliance members can be accomplished through HexTech. ”
In his residence, Minister Teng set the tone for the deal with the Iron Alliance.
"Minister, if there is nothing else, you should go to bed early."
It was already past eight o'clock in the evening. Seeing that it was getting late, Liu Guozhang was about to get up and take Li Aiguo away.
"Old Liu, Patriot, wait a minute, there is something here that I want to ask for your opinion on." Seeing the two of them stand up, Minister Teng hesitated and stopped them.
He asked Chen Dong to turn on the "switch" of the radio.
Liu Guozhang saw Chen Dong busy there. Although he didn't know what the radio was, he knew that Minister Teng must have something important, so he quickly returned to his seat.
Li Aiguo also set his sights on Minister Teng.
Seeing Chen Dong nod, Minister Teng knew that the anti-eavesdropping device was already running, so he said slowly: "Two days ago, many iron representatives from the bunker came to my side. They heard that we produced the world's largest Advanced steam locomotive
They are also trading locomotives with Iraq. They are currently living a very hard life and need ten patriotic steam trains. I hope we can help them. ”
Liu Guozhang suddenly became excited, "Business? This is a good thing. Now the manufacturing technology of patriotic steam locomotives has matured. If the manpower of Datong Locomotive Factory is not enough, we still have Dalian Factory, Sifang Factory and Changxindian The output of the motorcycle factory can fully meet the demand.”
Minister Teng looked troubled and did not speak. Li Aiguo saw something and smiled: "Minister, there are a lot of iron in the bunker. I'm afraid they don't want to buy locomotives, but they want us to give them to them."
"That's what the bunker has a lot of iron for." Minister Teng nodded: "Their representatives live a hard life and their families are poor. As brothers, we should help their families more."
Liu Guozhang's expression suddenly changed: "One of our locomotives can be exchanged for hundreds of thousands of foreign exchange, and they have the nerve to give it up with nothing."
Minister Teng waved to Liu Guozhang: "Comrade Guozhang, many of the railways in the bunker have a special relationship with us. In addition, these matters are not just matters for our railways and should be considered comprehensively."
Hearing this, Liu Guozhang, who had been filled with indignation just now, became a little discouraged.
Many iron-clad matters related to the bunker are already matters for the upper echelons, and Li Aiguo and Liu Guozhang are far from high enough.
Minister Teng said: "We have relatively few friends now. If we want to gain support from others, we should be more generous."
Li Aiguo interjected: "Minister, I'm afraid you don't agree with this view, otherwise you wouldn't talk to us about this matter."
Minister Teng looked at Li Aiguo in surprise: "You are quite perceptive. The views just now were put forward by some department comrades.
I have seen with my own eyes how much hard work our railway comrades have put in to build locomotives, and how many comrades have tightened their belts to live a comfortable life in order to support the railway.
I cannot emotionally accept the idea of giving away my belongings to others. ”
Minister Teng paused for a moment and sighed: "Under the current situation, the views of some departments have prevailed."
After Liu Guozhang knew that it was the view of some departments, he remained silent.
The wind and waves are too big, and if you are involved in this kind of thing, you can easily cause trouble.
Liu Guozhang also winked at Li Aiguo, hoping that Li Aiguo would be more cautious.
If it was to help other little brothers, Li Aiguo would not object. After all, the views of some department comrades also made sense.
However, Li Aiguo was very aware of the iron character of the bunker.
Giving them a locomotive will not earn you any gratitude. Instead, they will ask for more locomotives and ask you to help them build railways.
If you don't agree to their request.
They will yell and curse.
These guys are real white-eyed wolves, similar in temperament to Jia Zhang.
Naturally, Li Aiguo couldn't just sit idly by.
He thought for a moment and said: "Minister, I once heard an old man named Lu say that friends bought with money are not real friends and cannot be trusted."
"There is some truth in the saying that friends bought with money are not real friends."
Minister Teng thought for a moment, stood up and said, "I wasted your time."
After leaving the minister's room, Liu Guozhang took Li Aiguo's arm. When he walked to a secluded place, he frowned and said, "Aiguo, this kind of thing is not something we can interfere with. Why can't you listen to the teacher's opinion?"
Li Aiguo said: "Teacher, I don't want to see the fruits of our labor being wasted."
"You kid, why are you so stubborn?" Liu Guozhang understood Li Aiguo's temper, shook his head and said nothing more.
Of course, Li Aiguo always puts his own safety first when doing things.
After returning to his residence, Li Aiguo just wrote a telegram and asked Chen Dong to send it to the farmer comrades at the Beijing Weather Station.
In the following days, Li Aiguo focused his energy on the finishing work, and seemed not to know the many small tricks of the bunker at all.
Minister Teng also knew that it was particularly dangerous for ordinary people to be involved in such things, so he did not consult Li Aiguo and Liu Guozhang for their opinions.
There were a lot of iron in the bunker. I thought the East Assembly would be very happy to give them the locomotive.
Seeing the delay in reply from Dongda University, they became a little anxious. They sent representatives again to meet with the delegation from Dongda University, but Minister Teng refused.
Just because the views in the capital were inconsistent, the Dongda delegation did not explicitly reject the requests of many iron representatives in the bunker.
Li Aiguo knew that this kind of thing could not be decided in a day or two, so he was not in a hurry, but focused on his work.
Time passed day by day.
On the eighth day of the Lunar New Year, Li Aiguo completed all his work in Sofia, completed preliminary discussions with French Railways and Deutsche Bahn, and agreed that the two parties would continue to contact each other through Hex Technology in the port city.
Li Aiguo followed Liu Guozhang and Deputy Chief Engineer Wang on the train back to the capital.
Before leaving, Li Aiguo learned through Chen Dong that Minister Teng had returned to the capital, and many of the bunker railways were about to send people to the capital.
"These people are really determined not to give up until they take advantage." In the private room, Liu Guozhang was furious after learning the news.
"Teacher, don't you express your opinions?" Li Aiguo asked with a smile.
"Damn it, you brat is trying to bully your master and destroy your ancestors!" After Liu Guozhang realized his gaffe, he lost his temper like a child.
Vice Engineer Wang looked at the two of them, smiled and shook his head.
After traveling all the way, it was already the end of February when Li Aiguo took an international train back to Beijing again.
During the past ten days, Li Aiguo has been staying in the private room. Even though the environment of the first-class private room is far better than that of ordinary soft sleepers, he still feels depressed.
While the international train stopped at Erenhot to replace the locomotive and bogie, Li Aiguo got off the train and followed Liu Guozhang and Deputy Engineer Wang squatting beside the warehouse to watch the excitement.
Replacing the locomotive and the bogie is a huge project. All kinds of machinery and equipment come together to replace the entire train on the new frame, which is particularly spectacular.
"Lao Maozi feels that he is a big brother. Even the railway tracks are 85 mm wider than ours and other countries, which has caused a lot of trouble."
This was the first time for Deputy Engineer Wang to see the replacement process. Seeing the fitters, machine tool workers, and welders busy in the garage, he couldn't help but mutter a few words under his breath.
When it came to the issue of rectification, Liu Guozhang did not answer the question and changed the topic: "Old Wang, we have got so many orders this time. After you go back, you must control the quality. Lao Maozi was frustrated this time and kept watching. Follow us, don’t be careless.”
"Don't worry, our Datong factory understands the importance of this batch of orders. I assure you that all employees of our Datong factory will successfully complete the task even if they work hard."
At this moment, a voice came from afar.
"Patriot, have you returned to China?"
Li Aiguo, who was squatting nearby and listening to the two bosses' work arrangements, raised his head and saw Zhang Dache walking over with comrades from the driver team.
They all carried canvas bags and metal lunch boxes, obviously preparing to change shifts.
When international trains enter the country, the driver team, flight attendants, and police team will all be replaced by our people.
"Uncle Zhang, are you at work?" Li Aiguo stood up and introduced the identities of Liu Guozhang and Deputy Chief Engineer Wang to Zhang Dache.
After Zhang Dache heard that Liu Guozhang was the director of the Railway Research Institute, he looked at Li Aiguo with a smile and said: "Li Dache, okay, your level is getting higher and higher now."
"There is no distinction between high and low in work. We just complete the tasks assigned to us by our superiors."
Li Aiguo looked at the young stoker who had walked to the locomotive, and suddenly asked: "Uncle Zhang, I have always wanted to learn from you, but I just didn't have the chance. How about I sit with you in the locomotive on the way back?" ”
Zhang Dache was obviously shocked by Li Aiguo's request.
You must know that if you follow a person of Liu Guozhang's level, you will at least be traveling in a private room.
"There are no private rooms in the locomotive. You have to think carefully about being patriotic."
"Let me tell you this, I haven't driven a train for a month or two, and my hands are a little itchy."
Zhang Dache can understand Li Aiguo's feelings.
Driving a train can be addictive.
It is a big car like them that drives trains all year round. They drive trains on the railway tracks for 360 days, 365 days a year.
If I really can't drive for a period of time, I will really feel depressed.
"Okay, it just so happens that you are also a big driver now, I have to communicate with you." Zhang DaChe agreed immediately.
Li Aiguo and Liu Guozhang asked for leave.
Although Liu Guozhang felt that Li Aiguo was "asking for trouble", he also knew that he liked driving trains, so he agreed.
The train changed the locomotive and bogie and set off again. Li Aiguo stayed in the locomotive and chatted with Zhang Dachai, co-driver Lao Zhou, and stoker Xiao Ma.
Lao Zhou is Zhang Dache's full-time co-driver, and the two have worked together for most of their lives.
Xiao Ma, a stoker, is a second-generation iron man who has just taken over his father's shift as a stoker.
Xiaoma, a second-generation train worker, can become a stoker on an international train as soon as he takes over the job. He can get an extra six yuan and fifty cents per month as a subsidy, and he also has two brushes.
Although his skill is not as good as that of the stoker Lao Zheng in 131, he is very strong and can shovel hundreds of shovels of coal in a row without panting or sweating.
The most important thing is that Xiao Ma is not a muscular man yet, and his body looks a little thin. The stoker's work clothes are obviously one size too big for him.
This was the first time Li Aiguo saw such a strange person, and he couldn't help but admire him.
"This child is like a gift from God." Zhang Dache, who has always been strict, was full of praise for Xiao Ma.
"Master Zhang, my father said that nothing in the world is as big as strength. As long as you have strength, you can do anything." Xiao Ma is also very proud of his strength.
"Strength is one thing, technique is also important." Master Zhou retracted his head and wanted to make a few remarks.
Just as he retracted his head, there was a bang outside.
The sound was not loud, but Zhang Dacheng was startled and immediately put down the train. The wheels of the train rubbed against the rails, sparks erupted, and it slowly stopped.
"Xiao Ma, Lao Zhou, did you go to see what happened?"
Zhang Dache was an experienced master. After realizing that the train was not damaged, he sent someone down to check the situation.
"Bring a gun, this place is in the middle of nowhere, don't let anything happen."
Li Aiguo was also idle. He pulled out a pistol from his waist and followed Master Zhou and Xiao Ma off the train.
The train stopped at a distance of four to five hundred miles from Erenhot, in the middle of the desert.
Looking around, there is a lifeless and desolate scene all around. There was dry, cracked earth beneath his feet, with some rough sand and gravel scattered here and there.
After getting off the car and coming to the front of the locomotive, the three of them were stunned.
There were no signs of impact or blood stains on the front of the locomotive.
"You weren't hit under the train, were you?" Master Zhou knelt down and looked under the car, but found nothing.
There was obviously a crashing sound, but the train didn't hit anything, which seemed particularly weird.
If this situation were left to future generations, at least ten episodes of "Access to Science" could be made.
There is only the howling wind, carrying sand and dust, raging in this dead desert, making a heart-stopping whistling sound.
If it were placed in a TV series, Nie Xiaoqian and grandma would probably appear later.
As a true materialist warrior, Li Aiguo didn't believe in these gods and ghosts. He held a pistol and walked along the train with Lao Zhou and Xiao Ma to check the situation.
"Master Zhou, Li Dache, come quickly, look what I found."
As soon as Li Aiguo walked to the carriage at the back, he heard the pony's shout from the other side.
He quickly ran around the locomotive and saw Pony pointing at the connection between the locomotive's tender car and a carriage and yelling.
Looking closer, Li Aiguo burst into laughter. It turned out that a wild camel was caught between the tender and a carriage.
This place is located in the desert, and wild camels often cross the railway tracks.
This unlucky guy probably happened to be standing next to the train, trying to compete with the steel locomotive, but ended up losing his life.
The red and white stuff was knocked out of the wild camel's head, and it was definitely hopeless.
Xiao Ma reported the incident of hitting the wild camel to Zhang Dache. When he came back, he said excitedly: "Li Dache, Master Zhou, Zhang Dache asked us to deal with the wild camel according to the established procedures."
Established Procedures All railway people know what the so-called procedures are.
If you hit a fellow villager's livestock, you will definitely need to pay compensation.
If you bump into a wild camel now, it's like picking it up for nothing.
There is no need to even write an accident report.
Well, we, Li Aiguo, are really lucky. We took a ride and were able to eat wild camel meat.
Master Zhou was also excited to eat wild camel meat. At that time, he stretched out his hand to pull the wild camel out of the crack.
But the wild camel was caught in it and the clamp was extremely tight. He tried twice but couldn't pull it off.
Xiao Ma also went up to help, but the result was the same.
"How about we just cut the body into pieces on the spot?" Xiao Ma squatted on the ground and stared at the wild camel for a moment, and then came up with an idea.
"That's called cutting off the meat, not cutting up the pony. Don't say such weird things in the future. If someone hears it, they will think we are doing something bad."
Li Aiguo reminded Xiao Ma of two things.
Now the camel is caught in the gap, which not only affects driving, but also makes it impossible to eat camel meat. Cutting the meat is the only way.
Xiao Ma ran back to the locomotive, and when he came back again, he had a large guillotine in his hand.
Yes, it is indeed a large guillotine removed from the guillotine. The front of the guillotine is equipped with a hole for passing the strip, and the black handle has a red tassel on the back.
There were dense scratches on the big guillotine, the scratches were deep and shallow, and it looked like it was old.
In this day and age, according to regulations, only train drivers could carry guns. Co-drivers and stokers were unable to carry guns, so they would try to bring some self-defense weapons.
Like Liu Qingquan's weapon is an axe. Wear it on your waist on weekdays.
The weapon of the stoker Lao Zheng is a sharp-edged steel drill that can be tied into his trouser leg.
It's rare to see someone like Xiao Ma holding such a big guillotine in such a flamboyant way.
"This thing should be quite heavy." Even though Li Aiguo had seen a lot, this was the first time he saw someone using a guillotine as a close combat self-defense weapon.
"More than sixty kilograms, my father left it to me for self-defense. My family's guillotine is very powerful. My grandfather once used it to chop off the heads of several little devils. My grandfather said that the blood of little devils is similar to that of dogs, especially To ward off evil spirits, this guillotine has become an heirloom of my family.”
Seeing Li Aiguo staring at his machete, Xiao Ma explained with some embarrassment.
"It does ward off evil spirits. Anyone who sees such a big guillotine must stay away." Li Aiguo couldn't help but take two steps back when he saw Xiao Ma raising the guillotine.
Xiao Ma entered the joint with a guillotine and began to break down the wild camel.
It went smoothly at first. The big guillotine was extremely sharp, and the camel's legs and head were quickly separated.
Until Xiao Ma cut open the belly of the wild camel with a guillotine.
Just listen to a loud "Bang!", like thunder on the ground.
The wild camel's belly suddenly exploded without warning, like a detonated bomb.
In an instant, all kinds of disgusting things splashed around like a fountain.
Various thin liquids were mixed with various broken residues. Some were thick and yellowish-brown like paste, hanging sticky around. There were also white things, possibly fat, that also exploded together. Come out and explode all over the pony.
Xiao Ma's whole body was instantly enveloped by this sudden impact.
He felt that his stomach was turning crazily, and he almost rolled his eyes and fainted
Fortunately, Li Aiguo was far away and was not affected.
However, he still couldn't figure out why the wild camel's belly exploded.
[Students who know can type their answers on the public screen]
Although Xiao Ma was "attacked" by the explosion, he was still driving and could not escape.
He resisted the stench and followed Li Aiguo and Master Zhou to bring the camel meat back to the locomotive.
Zhang Dache saw the pony's appearance and said in surprise: "Pony, have you just been born from the horse's belly?"
Pony: "."
Li Aiguo and Master Zhou almost couldn't help laughing.
(End of chapter)