Chapter 30: Resolution

Assistant Liu had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time.

Pointing at the blueprints, he said slowly, "Engineer Dong, Comrade Aiguo, have you thought about this?

Sand has stickiness. Even if it is placed on top of a train, it is difficult to guarantee that the sand will flow down smoothly when the valve is opened.

If an emergency occurs and the sand suddenly solidifies...

Wouldn't we be left completely helpless?"

Engineer Dong's expression turned solemn. "Your reasoning makes sense."

He looked up at Li Aiguo. "Comrade Aiguo, what do you think?"

"What do I think? I see it with my eyes, of course."

Li Aiguo gave a chuckle and said, "The reason sand is sticky is that it contains moisture inside. The gravitational pull of the water molecules binds them together.

If we roast the sand once to remove the internal moisture, its stickiness will be greatly reduced.

Combined with a proper delivery setup, the sand inside the sandbag will definitely flow down smoothly."

Roasting sand sounded somewhat ridiculous, but it was a standard practice in later generations.

In the locomotive depots of the future, there were even positions specifically for "sand roasters."

As soon as these words were spoken, Assistant Liu's eyes widened abruptly. "Roasting sand? That's too preposterous! Comrade Li Aiguo, don't talk nonsense. This concerns the safety of thousands of trains. You are about to commit a major error!"

Engineer Dong frowned and pondered for a moment before interrupting him.

"Enough! Xiao Liu, when you encounter a problem, you shouldn't be thinking about how to question someone else's proposal, but how to solve the problem.

This kind of impetuous attitude is unacceptable!

Comrade Aiguo's method seems simple, even primitive.

But sometimes, primitive methods can solve major problems."

As he spoke, he picked up a pen and performed the calculations on a piece of scrap paper. Looking at the final result, he nodded.

"Following Comrade Aiguo's method, as long as it undergoes roasting, the sand in the sandbag will absolutely flow down smoothly."

Assistant Liu's face turned pale, and he forced out an awkward smile. "I was... reckless."

Engineer Dong looked at Assistant Liu indifferently and shook his head slightly, choosing not to criticize him further.

People with such a restless mind were truly unsuitable for research; he should find an opportunity to transfer him back to the Sifang Plant.

At this moment, Assistant Liu was still unaware of his fate, which had already been decided by his "outstanding performance."

To make up for his mistake, he busily served tea and water to Li Aiguo.

Afterward, Li Aiguo drew the second half of the blueprints, even making certain optimizations based on the characteristics of the "August 1st" steam locomotive.

By this time, it was already dinnertime.

Just as Li Aiguo was preparing to take his leave, staff from the general workshop brought over aluminum lunch boxes.

Opening the box, there was fragrant white rice and fried soybeans as a side dish.

Under the dim light, the soybeans emitted an oily luster, and Li Aiguo's Adam's apple bobbed after being hungry all afternoon.

Engineer Dong put down his pen and looked at Li Aiguo with great interest.

"So, are you interested in working at our Sifang Plant? I guarantee you can eat fried soybeans every day."

Li Aiguo shook his head. "No, thank you. My father was a train driver. His dying wish was for me to take over his job and pull more trains for the country."

If he entered the Sifang Plant, given his abilities, he could become at least a Level 9 Engineer, and the benefits seemed much better than driving a train.

However, in the near future, a great storm would blow through the capital.

Being a worker was the most secure path.

Of course, a more important reason was that Li Aiguo simply loved driving big locomotives.

Seeing that Li Aiguo was unmoved, Engineer Dong stopped persuading him and lowered his head to resume studying the blueprints.

An engineer's benefits were only slightly higher than a train driver's; in terms of social status and reputation, they were far inferior.

It was perfectly reasonable that Li Aiguo was unwilling to "job hop."

The "sandbag" was merely a clever concept with a structure that wasn't complex; Engineer Dong mastered the blueprints in just two hours.

He put down the drawings, his eyes flashing with light, and impatiently picked up the crank telephone, giving it a vigorous shake.

"Please connect me to Deputy Director Wang."

A moment later, Deputy Director Wang's weary voice came through the phone.

"Old Dong, I hope you have good news."

"Director Wang, we've struck gold this time!"

Half an hour later, Deputy Director Wang arrived at the office accompanied by a group of leaders.

As soon as he pushed open the door, Deputy Director Wang laughed loudly. "Old Dong, you'd better not have lied to me. For your sake, I even halted the depot's management meeting."

Li Aiguo looked up.

Sure enough, the people following him were leaders from various sections.

Among them was Xing Liuzhu, the section chief of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

Xing Liuzhu had once represented the depot to visit Li Aiguo's father at the Li family home.

Seeing Li Aiguo there, Xing Liuzhu was slightly stunned.

In the afternoon, Xing Liuzhu had heard Cao Wenzhi mention that a candidate from the Qianmen Locomotive Depot had scored perfect marks on both parts of the exam and had been invited away by Engineer Dong.

Originally, he thought Engineer Dong was simply showing appreciation for talent.

Now it seemed there was more to it.

To be able to make Director Wang interrupt a meeting and rush over overnight, this kid must have come up with something extraordinary.

In the afternoon, Cao Wenzhi had also reported the matter of Liu Chunhua making things difficult for Li Aiguo.

Considering that Liu Chunhua had a close relationship with Deputy Section Chief Liu, Xing Liuzhu had originally planned to have a talk with Liu Chunhua and then comfort Li Aiguo, letting the matter slide to maintain unity within the leadership.

Now, he felt he should reconsider how to handle Liu Chunhua.

As for how to decide, it would depend on what Li Aiguo had produced.

Seeing Xing Liuzhu staring at him, Li Aiguo gave him a casual nod.

Xing Liuzhu was amused.

This kid wasn't intimidated; he was quite interesting.

One had to know that in the locomotive depot, the section chief was the highest authority.

Furthermore, Xing Liuzhu had a stern and strict personality.

Many staff members and train drivers acted like mice seeing a cat when they encountered him.

Only an experienced veteran like Cao Wenzhi dared to joke with him to his face.

While the two were exchanging "meaningful glances," Engineer Dong had already pulled Deputy Director Wang to the desk.

"Old Wang, look, this is the complete blueprint for the sandbag."

Deputy Director Wang looked at the dense drawings and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Old Dong, I come from a political work background. I only have a superficial understanding of blueprints and don't understand the technicalities. Just tell me, is this thing actually useful?"

"Useful, absolutely useful!"

Engineer Dong straightened his back and said confidently, "I have already calculated it. As long as the sandbag is filled with sand before every trip, when an emergency occurs and the valve is opened, the sand will scatter onto the tracks, creating enough friction. It can absolutely prevent most derailment accidents."

"That is exactly what I want!"

Deputy Director Wang suddenly became energized, his gray hair practically standing on end.

"From the beginning of this year until now, our general depot has had over thirty derailment accidents, causing more than twenty casualties and the loss of tens of thousands of tons of supplies. We must install sandbags on every train as soon as possible."

With a grand wave of his hand, he commanded, "Engineer Dong, you are the technical representative of the Sifang Plant. I hereby order you to immediately transmit these blueprints back to the Sifang Plant so that the comrades there can produce the sandbag equipment according to the drawings."

"Yes!"

"Section Chief Zhang, immediately coordinate a shipment of materials to be sent to the Sifang Plant."

"Yes!"

"Director Liu, immediately establish sand-roasting departments in every workshop."

"Yes!"

The railway workers of this era were filled with a sense of urgency and mission.

As the orders were issued one after another, even though it was already late at night, the entire workshop became as busy as a massive, churning machine.

(End of Chapter)