Chapter 7: Relying Solely on One's Own Efforts

After seeing Zhou Tiehu off, Li Aiguo scanned the room.

It was originally a side room in a courtyard house, partitioned into three sections. The middle served as the main hall and kitchen, while the east and west sides each had a heated brick bed (kang). The kangs were covered with mats, and underneath them were the kang flues.

The flues were about the length of a brick and five or six bricks high.

Each kang required an ash pit at the head of the bed and at the junction where the flue met the chimney. When the soot built up, it was easy to pry up the kang boards and clear it out.

It was now the turn of spring and summer, so the kangs had long been out of use, and the wood ash in the pits hadn't been cleaned out.

Li Aiguo took out the 150 yuan, rolled it into a ball, wrapped it in an old newspaper, stuffed it into the flue, and covered it tightly with wood ash.

Only when there wasn't a trace of it visible from the outside did he cover the flue opening, brush the ash off his hands, and breathe a slight sigh of relief.

This money was his future marriage fund, so it naturally had to be hidden well.

Sunlight filtered through the tattered newspaper on the window, casting a line of light that formed bright spots on the dark, grimy wall.

Li Aiguo lay on the bed, hands behind his head, staring at the spots, lost in thought.

The top three in the exam results would be able to start driving trains directly.

The information provided by Zhou Tiehu was crucial.

The Railway Institute had two or three hundred graduates every year, and at least a hundred or more could pass the train operator exam.

In this era, most of the locomotives in the country were old pre-liberation models or steam locomotives aided by the "Big Brother" (Soviet Union).

There were also a small number of Jiefang-type freight steam locomotives manufactured by the Sifang Factory, modeled after the Mikado-1 steam locomotive.

The total railway operating mileage was only 26,700 kilometers, and there were fewer than a thousand passenger and freight trains combined.

Most novices who passed the driver's license exam had to work as stokers for several years before they could sit in the driver's cabin.

Steam trains relied entirely on burning coal.

To convert water into steam for power, someone had to constantly add coal to keep the train running fast.

Being a stoker was a tiring and bitter job.

A single shovel of coal weighed forty or fifty jin, and the cotton coats were stained pitch-black by coal smoke and cinders; grease and soot made the clothes lose their original color.

After a shift, one’s back would ache, and except for their teeth, their whole body would be covered in black grime...

It wasn't just tiring and bitter; the wages and benefits of a stoker were far inferior to those of a train driver.

Getting a driver's license and being able to drive a train was the dream of every graduate of the Railway Technical Institute.

It was just that with two or three hundred people taking the exam across the entire bureau every year, becoming one of the top three was no simple matter.

It seemed he would have to rely entirely on his own efforts.

Li Aiguo wasn't someone who liked to rely on external forces; he decided to achieve final victory through hard study.

He took out his textbook to read for a while, rubbed his brow, pondered for a moment, and then focused his gaze on the system panel.

Steam Engine Operation: 21.

Cooking: 15.

Skill Points: 0.

***

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

After Li Aiguo left, Jia Zhang squinted her eyes and cursed Qin Huairu.

"If it weren't for you, would our family have had to pay fifty yuan?"

"You caused this trouble, so you have to pay the money."

Qin Huairu wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, looking pitiful: "Mother, I'm just a country girl, where would I get money?"

"I don't care. If you don't bring the money back, I'll have Dongxu divorce you!"

Jia Zhang looked smug: "Once divorced, our Dongxu can find someone with a formal job."

Thinking of this, Jia Zhang was filled with anger. She turned and glared fiercely at Jia Dongxu: "I told you to listen to your mother back then, but you wouldn't. Now look, you married a country girl, and Banggen can't even get a grain ration book. Pretty? Can pretty fill your stomach?"

Jia Dongxu didn't dare to talk back to Jia Zhang; he secretly gave Qin Huairu a look and changed the subject.

"Mother, today is Banggen's 'Zhuazhou' (first birthday divination) ceremony, everyone is still waiting."

Qin Huairu wiped her tears and forced a smile: "That's right, Mother, today is your eldest grandson's big day, we shouldn't be angry."

Strangely enough, despite all the commotion in the room, Banggen, sitting on the heated kang, didn't cry or fuss at all.

Everyone suddenly remembered Banggen and turned to look at him.

At this look.

Whoa, it was incredible.

At some point, Banggen had gathered all the little trinkets on the kang into his arms and was stuffing them into his underpants one by one.

A seal, a red armband, a pen, coins... his underpants were stuffed full.

The account book was too big, and Banggen was too small.

He couldn't grab it, so he wailed in frustration and used his little hands to tear the account book into pieces.

The crowd had never seen such a bold child and were stunned for a moment.

"My eldest grandson is destined to do great things in the future!"

Jia Zhang laughed twice, picked up Banggen, held him high, and spun him around in the air.

"Exactly, just look at whose seed he is!" Jia Dongxu was so excited he couldn't close his mouth, leaning in to praise him loudly.

*Splosh...*

A stream of pale yellow liquid shot out from the faucet.

*Gulp.*

*Ugh~*

Jia Dongxu was almost choked, but he endured the discomfort and swallowed it.

He gave a thumbs up: "My son, you're amazing!"

The room was suddenly filled with laughter.

The Zhuazhou ceremony was supposed to be followed by a feast.

By noon, the residents didn't see the Jia family lighting a fire to cook, but they didn't find it strange; they just walked home with their hands behind their backs.

On the way, everyone kept marveling at Banggen's miraculous performance.

They unanimously agreed that Banggen would definitely become a talent in the future.

"Jia Zhang is truly blessed!"

Just as they were praising him, the wailing of Liu Guangtian came from afar.

There was no need to ask; the Liu family was currently performing their usual drama of "kind father and filial son."

Everyone was already used to this and had no interest in watching the show.

Xu Damao hummed a little tune as he returned home.

As soon as he entered, he was pulled into the inner room by Xu Jixiang.

"Damao, what do you think about today's events?"

"What do I think? I think with my eyes, of course!"

"..."

If the Xu family didn't have only this one son and rely on him to carry on the family line, Xu Jixiang would have slapped him already.

Xu Jixiang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly: "In the future, stop provoking Li Aiguo. I finally understand today—that kid never intended to send those people to jail; he just wanted to extort money. Plus, that kid might be able to get into the railway system in the future, so we'll inevitably need his help."

Xu Damao disagreed; when it came to underhanded tricks, he was much better than Li Aiguo.

But thinking of how Li Aiguo had beaten Shazhu until he had no power to fight back and was begging for mercy on his knees, he felt a bit of envy.

He wondered where that kid had studied under a master; he had to find a chance to ask for advice.

"Another thing, you need to behave yourself lately. Your mother has already spoken to Lou Tan-shi."

"Although Lou Xiaoe isn't the eldest daughter, she is deeply favored by Lou Zhenhua."

"If you can marry her, you will definitely be able to advance in the future."

Xu Jixiang paused and continued to instruct.

"Lou Zhenhua agreed?" Xu Damao's eyes lit up.

He had seen Lou Xiaoe. Although she wasn't as striking as Qin Huairu, she was delicate and pretty, with a plump figure—the perfect bed partner.

And that air of coming from a wealthy family was far beyond what those country girls could compare to.

"It's almost a done deal. Lou Zhenhua likes our family's three generations of poor peasant background."

Xu Jixiang nodded: "Once your business with Lou Xiaoe is settled, Dad will apply for early retirement and let you take over. During this time, you must master the film projection equipment."

Xu Damao was currently a film projectionist at the rolling mill.

But he was a temporary worker, only earning fifteen yuan a month.

Hearing this, he nodded repeatedly.

Meanwhile, Yan Bugui returned home.

The Third Aunt stood up, holding Yan Jiedi, handed him a jar of cold tea, and asked with concern: "Jiecheng's father, what happened in the middle courtyard?"

"Yi Zhonghai tried to hunt a goose but got pecked in the eye by it, that's all."

Yan Bugui took a big gulp, let out a satisfied burp, and said smugly

"It's very simple. Those families saw that the Li family had fallen on hard times and that Li Aiguo was a shy person, so they harbored evil intentions and wanted to plot against the Li family's house."

"They just used the excuse of standing up for Jia Dongxu to try and take Li Aiguo's life."

"There's a famine these days, and many refugees have come from outside the city; how many people are carried away from the streets every month? Li Aiguo is all alone, no parents, no relatives, no work unit. Even if he died in his room, Yi Zhonghai would have a way to cover it up."

"Old Yi even came to me at the time, asking our Jiecheng to join in."

"He promised that the Li family's cotton coats, thermos, and other miscellaneous items would be divided among us."

"I knew Old Yi's intentions."

"He just wanted to use these small favors to shut my mouth as the Third Master."

Speaking of this, Yan Bugui became excited

"I didn't expect that kid Li Aiguo to play everyone. He pretended to be seriously injured, lay at home for a few days, contacted people in the railway system, and even had our Jiefang call Director Wang from the neighborhood office in advance."

"He counterattacked. You weren't there at the time, but his little mouth was sharp!"

"He left Yi Zhonghai speechless, not only earning two hundred yuan but also sending Shazhu to the police station."

"That kid is truly brave and resourceful."

"From now on, people in this courtyard definitely won't dare to provoke Li Aiguo easily."

"It's a good thing you didn't agree to Yi Zhonghai at the time, otherwise our family would have had to pay fifty yuan too." The Third Aunt was as happy as if she had picked up fifty yuan.

Yan Jiedi in her arms also giggled excitedly, reaching out her chubby little hands to touch the Third Aunt's chin.

Yan Bugui adjusted his glasses, looking smug: "I'm a veteran teacher after all, a man of culture; how could I do such unconscionable things?"

He paused and looked at the Third Aunt: "You still have to take care of Jiedi, otherwise, I would have wanted you to go wash the bedding for Li Aiguo. Back when you gave birth to Jiecheng, our family was in a famine, and it was all thanks to the ten jin of bean dregs that Brother Li gave us."

"Oh, what's that? It's just washing clothes. I won't be tired. Our Jiedi is well-behaved; if I put her to the side, she can play by herself for a long time." The Third Aunt agreed immediately.

When she gave birth to Jiecheng, it was during the famine, and she had to hold her big belly and run to the outskirts to pick wild vegetables with Yan Bugui.

Before she could even pick a basket, the pain in her stomach became unbearable.

Yan Bugui panicked and found an ox cart.

The Third Aunt gave birth to Yan Jiecheng on that ox cart.

The scar on the back of Yan Jiecheng's head was caused by being hit by the ox's tail.

It was just covered by his hair, so outsiders couldn't see it.

Compared to giving birth on an ox cart, this little bit of work was nothing.

As the two were chatting, Yan Jiefang came in, skipping and jumping.

"Jiefang, where is the one mao Li Aiguo gave you today? Hand it over immediately." Yan Bugui stood up and blocked him.

Yan Jiefang: "..."