Chapter 21: Liu Haizhong's Calculations

The inquiry by the Armed Forces Section officer was incredibly thorough. From Li Aiguo’s birth, through his schooling, to the affairs in the courtyard house, including matters of the heart—nothing was left untouched, every detail covered. They even inquired about his ancestors going back three generations.

Li Aiguo only knew that his great-grandfather was a poor man from Northeast China, his grandfather was a poor man from the Beijing suburbs, and his father was a train driver. None of the three generations had any wealth or influence. At his poorest, his great-grandfather couldn’t even afford trousers. It was only by taking in a refugee girl that the Li family line was not extinguished.

When Li Aiguo recounted how his great-grandfather was oppressed by landlords, the officers nodded in approval. Officer Liu spoke, “I saw in the archives that you applied to join the organization several times during your schooling, which shows your high ideological consciousness.”

Though an ordinary remark, coupled with the pen tip tapping on the draft paper and the officer’s eyes fixed on his own notes, the atmosphere suddenly shifted.

Li Aiguo straightened his chest, his face full of righteousness: “I come from three generations of poor people. I have always listened to the organization and followed its path. My heart remains forever red.” Those words served as a closing statement.

After the security officers recorded everything, they asked no further questions. Li Aiguo had thought that the review would require his signature like a transcript, but to his surprise, the officers packed the draft paper into a file bag and sealed it with wax.

“Comrade Li Aiguo, I wish you success in your upcoming exam. May you, like your father, become an honorable train driver. Also, the content of this review is top secret; you are strictly forbidden from mentioning it to anyone.”

“Don’t worry, I have enough awareness of that,” Li Aiguo replied.

After exchanging a few words with Officer Liu, Li Aiguo left the room and realized that Zhou Tiehu had already left. An officer nearby explained, “A train derailed near Yongdingmen. That’s a passenger route with seven or eight trains passing daily; the line cannot be interrupted. Comrade Zhou Tiehu took the locomotive to assist.”

In railroad terms, “derailment” is called “losing the track.” Trains in this era were rudimentary in design, with inadequate safety measures, so derailments happened frequently. No wonder, despite studying driving, their school also taught repair and rescue techniques.

Thinking this, Li Aiguo smiled and greeted the comrades from the Armed Forces Section before leaving the locomotive depot courtyard. Time was pressing; only a week remained before the exam.

Instead of returning to the courtyard house, Li Aiguo headed straight to the Women’s Cultural and Sports Store. The distance was seven or eight li, and even with his exceptional physical strength, his legs were somewhat tired. It was clear he needed to get a bicycle soon.

Pushing the door open and stepping inside, Li Aiguo discarded all other thoughts and rushed to the bookshelf. These books were skill points!

+1
+1
+1
...

Time felt like a man in his thirties in bed—shorter and faster with each passing moment.

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed. Early one morning, Li Aiguo awoke and gazed at the system text beneath his eyelids, his heart swelling with excitement.

Steam Engine Driving Skill: 100
Cooking: 15
...
Skill Points: 15

In his previous life, as a “grind king,” he had labored tirelessly through the week, surpassing the task. Not only had he maxed out his steam engine driving skill, but he had also earned an extra 15 points. Truly terrifying.

Li Aiguo grew more and more impressed with his own stamina and thanked the Ticklish Mouse for the assistance.

But where to allocate these 15 points?

Scrolling through the system panel, he quickly spotted a subject: Russian—45 points.

Forty-five points... This was the fruit of diligent study with a tall Russian girl in his previous life. Li Aiguo slightly regretted not getting to know more Russian girls. After all, in this era, Russian was the primary foreign language taught in vocational schools, high schools, and universities.

On locomotive components and control devices, many labels were in Russian. Without some knowledge of the language, it was impossible to qualify as a train driver.

Adding these 15 skill points to Russian would bring his proficiency up to standard.

With that in mind, Li Aiguo no longer hesitated or wavered. He allocated all his skill points to Russian.

Instantly, he felt a familiar dizziness. The unfamiliar knowledge transformed into specks of blue light, flooding his mind and becoming clear and comprehensible.

When he opened his eyes again, he found his Russian level comparable to that of a professional Russian teacher, not just barely qualified.

Frowning in thought for a moment, Li Aiguo suddenly realized: the perfect score of 100 in any subject represented the highest technical level in that field.

A score of 100 in Russian meant the language proficiency of Soviet literary giants like Gorky or Dostoevsky.

Indeed, having a system was this formidable!

After a simple breakfast, Li Aiguo changed into his father’s old work clothes, put on his safety shoes, donned his oil-stained cap, and glanced at himself in the mirror.

He nodded with satisfaction. Not bad—the young man looked quite handsome.

Without a watch, it was probably around 7:30. Li Aiguo slung his canvas bag over his shoulder and stepped out.

Just as he reached the crescent-shaped gate, he bumped face-to-face with Xu Damao.

Xu Damao was startled and quickly hid the basket of eggs he was carrying behind his back. Seeing it was Li Aiguo, he exhaled deeply, clutching his chest. “It’s you, Aiguo! You scared me—I thought someone was stealing eggs!”

Only then did Li Aiguo notice the basket was filled with at least twenty eggs. Xu Damao must have just returned from the pigeon market.

“Brother Damao, why buy so many eggs?”

“Ah, my fiancée is from a wealthy family, and she needs to eat eggs every day. I got these to bring to her.”

This time, Xu Damao didn’t hide anything because he had already been introduced to Lou Xiao’e. Although Xiao’e was reluctant, Tanya was very enthusiastic toward him. With a little more effort, he could marry her.

Naturally, there was no need to conceal this from anyone.

“Congratulations, Brother Damao. I’m busy; I have to go take the exam. See you later.”

“Exam? The train driver test, right?”

“Enough said. Civilized you, me, and everyone.”

“...Ahem, when you pass and become a driver, if you go on a long trip, you gotta take me along.”

Xu Damao’s mental calculations could be heard even from the front street.

His words caught the attention of a passing neighbor. Liu Haizhong, with a prominent belly, came over.

“Yeah, Aiguo, back when Old Li was around, he often took our Guangqi to study in Baoding. You can’t lose such a fine family tradition.”

Before his injury, Li’s father sometimes gave these neighbors free train rides—but that was because he used employee tickets. Though employee tickets didn’t cost money, they could be sold for cash.

Liu Haizhong knew all this but showed no gratitude. After Li’s father was injured, he never even showed his face. Later, in pursuit of a share of the Li family inheritance, he colluded with Yi Zhonghai.

Li Aiguo knew Liu Haizhong’s true nature and would not let him leech off the family any longer.

“Second Uncle, if you want to ride the train, buy your own ticket!” Li Aiguo said coldly.

The other residents in the courtyard burst into laughter upon hearing this. They didn’t travel far or take trains, so they couldn’t benefit from the Li family. Seeing Liu Haizhong get put in his place, they enjoyed the spectacle.

Liu Haizhong’s lips trembled with anger. After Li Aiguo left, he spat fiercely.

“You’re so unlucky and pathetic, dreaming of being a train driver? Take a good look at yourself.”

Xu Damao sneered, “Second Uncle, why didn’t you say that to Li Aiguo’s face just now?”

Liu Haizhong shrank his neck and fell silent, afraid Li Aiguo would hit him.

Recently, when Shazhu got beaten, he was right there. Shazhu claimed to be the unbeatable fighter in the courtyard, but he was no match for Li Aiguo in a single round.

How could Liu Haizhong be any better?

...