Chapter 24: The Examination

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The locomotive engineer examination was divided into two parts. The written examination took place in the main conference room of the general depot.

Upon receiving the test paper, Li Aiguo first scanned the questions. The format included fill-in-the-blanks, multiple-choice, single-choice, summaries, essay questions, and a few Russian translation exercises at the end. Seeing that the questions were all within his capabilities, Li Aiguo felt confident and began answering without haste.

Li Aiguo was highly experienced in taking exams. In his previous life, he was a genuine college graduate. From elementary school through university, he had endured countless tests. He knew that the most important thing in an exam was neat handwriting. Teachers grading the papers often lacked patience; if they couldn’t read something, they would simply mark it wrong. Furthermore, the paper had to be tidy to make the reader feel pleasant.

As for the "exam cheat codes"—like picking the shortest answer for three long and one short, the longest for three short and one long, choosing B for two long and two short, A for same lengths, D for mixed lengths, or simply copying for the rest—a master driver like Li Aiguo had no need for them.

The exam went smoothly for Li Aiguo; his only frustration was the fountain pen. Having grown accustomed to ballpoint pens in his previous life, he found the switch back to a fountain pen awkward. Moreover, the test paper was printed with oil-based ink on thin paper, and at the beginning, his fountain pen nib occasionally tore through the page. Once he adapted, however, his writing flowed fluently.

*Scratch, scratch, scratch...* He quickly finished the preceding questions, leaving only the final essay question.

The essay question was similar to the creative problem-solving questions of the future. It presented a currently unsolved problem without a standard answer, allowing candidates to propose solutions based on their own understanding. Li Aiguo hesitated slightly when he saw it—not because it was difficult, but because it was too simple, practically common sense.

[When a train travels on rainy days, especially on uphill sections, the tracks become slippery, and the wheels often spin and lose traction, sometimes even causing the train to derail. How can this situation be prevented?]

That was it? Wasn't this common knowledge in the future? Li Aiguo checked the point value, confirming there was no printing error. After a moment of thought, he realized why. Trains in this era were still quite rudimentary and bore the heavy burden of transporting supplies. When designing them, engineers focused primarily on maximizing load capacity, without much research into these safety-related issues. Besides, the safety equipment on trains of the future wasn't conceived by designers sitting in offices, but was gradually improved through practical experience—it was not an overnight process.

For instance, to prevent wheel slippage, trains were eventually manufactured with sandboxes installed next to the boiler chimney...

After a moment of contemplation, Li Aiguo wrote earnestly: "I suggest installing a device on the train that can sprinkle sand at any time. When the train is climbing a slope, sand can be released onto the tracks to increase the adhesion generated by the wheels pressing against the rails, which helps prevent the wheels from slipping and spinning. The specific design is as follows..."

Li Aiguo picked up his fountain pen and, based on the "sandboxes" from his previous life, drew a diagram. Due to the limited space on the test paper, he only drew a portion of the design.

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After double-checking for errors, Li Aiguo glanced at the wall clock beside the proctor. There were fifteen minutes left until the end of the exam. Thinking about the practical exam in the afternoon, he realized that handing in his paper now would give him a chance to ask the chief engineer, Cao Wenzhi, for practical advice. Li Aiguo flipped his paper over, stood up, and left the examination hall.

Once outside, he noticed quite a few other candidates had also handed in their papers, all gathered around their respective section leaders discussing the exam.

"Erfeng, how was the difficulty of the test?"

"Don't worry, sister. Aside from the final big question, I'm confident I got every other question right."

"That last question was basically an extra-credit problem. Even those engineers can't solve it, so it's normal not to be able to do it. Don't take it to heart."

Liu Erfeng and Liu Chunhua were talking animatedly about the exam. When they saw Li Aiguo emerge, they subconsciously shut their mouths. He hadn't said it in front of outsiders, but more than half of the questions on the paper were within the key points Liu Chunhua had someone mark for him. Moreover, he had pre-designed an answer for the final question. He was certain he would win this written exam.

Every examinee, whether a top student or a failure, had one priority after leaving the exam hall: the restroom. By now, quite a few candidates were already standing at the trough, either joyfully or dejectedly discussing the test questions.

Li Aiguo unzipped his trousers.

The restroom fell into an instant, dead, and profound silence. The other candidates couldn't urinate anymore; every pair of eyes was fixed directly on Li Aiguo.

"Tsk, tsk, what did this guy grow up eating?"
"Is he part donkey?"
"This is just bullying, that's what this is!"

*Sigh*, he was showing off again.

Li Aiguo shook, zipped up, and, under a crowd of astonished gazes, puffed out his chest and walked slowly out of the restroom. When he reached Zhang Dahua, she put down her cornmeal bun and tilted her head: "Li Aiguo, how did you do?"

Li Aiguo looked at Zhang Dahua's now-flatter canvas bag and couldn't help but swallow hard. She didn't gnaw on a cornmeal bun during the exam, did she? Seeing that Li Aiguo didn't respond, Zhang Dahua raised her voice and asked again.

"Oh." Li Aiguo snapped out of his daze and smiled. "Let's put it this way: I think I can get at least a hundred."

"Hmph, not humble at all!" Liu Chunhua, standing with Liu Erfeng, curled her lips.

Just then, a bureau leader happened to pass by. Liu Chunhua's expression shifted instantly; she swayed her hips as she walked over. Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she smiled, her demeanor becoming more alluring and charming, her eyes filled with flirtatiousness.

"Director Wang, I'm Little Liu from the Education Office of the Qianmen Locomotive Depot.

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"I am very interested in the speech you gave at the general bureau meeting last time. I felt your words were visionary and accurately grasped the high-level policy guidelines. After listening to you, I felt enlightened, and my ideological awareness has improved significantly. If we could promote this study in our locomotive depot, it would certainly greatly improve the morale of all our staff. Do you have time? There are two key difficulties I would like to ask your advice on."

The masters and candidates nearby all pursed their lips, their faces showing disdain. Cao Wenzhi rubbed his temples in frustration. This woman was embarrassing herself all the way to the General Depot; he really didn't know what Old Liu saw in her!

Li Aiguo felt goosebumps all over. He turned to Zhang Dahua: "Dahua, we still have the practical exam this afternoon. Why don't we go ask Cao Wenzhi for some practical experience?"

"Sure." Zhang Dahua gave a simple-minded laugh, then suddenly whispered: "Two cornmeal buns."

"What?"

"Don't think I don't know what kind of scheme you're cooking up. Cao Wenzhi is my father's apprentice. If you come with me to ask him, he won't dare to hold back his secrets." Zhang Dahua’s dark eyes darted around.

He had been careless; this woman wasn't as simple as she looked.

"Fine, it's just two buns. As long as I can get Master Cao to reveal his best tricks, I'll pay it."

Seeing she had earned two more cornmeal buns, Zhang Dahua beamed with joy, grabbed Li Aiguo's arm, and headed toward Cao Wenzhi.

"Master Cao, hurry and tell us all your hidden expertise!"

Cao Wenzhi: "..."

...

General Depot Education Division.

The tables were covered with test papers, and seven or eight staff members sat at the tables grading them. Deputy Section Chief Wang Xiangrui paced back and forth holding his enamel mug, stopping from time to time to urge the staff to grade carefully.

"What you are holding in your hands are not just test papers; they are the futures of those young people."

The staff all nodded in agreement. Just then, the Director of the Education Division walked in with several bureau leaders.

"Old Wang, how is it going?" the Director asked with a smile.

"The difficulty of this year's exam is about the same as in previous years, except for the last big question. We followed the suggestion of Engineer Dong from the Fourth Factory and set an open-ended question, trying to let the students solve the difficulties encountered during train operations."

Wang Xiangrui spoke his mind in front of Deputy Bureau Chief Wang: "In my opinion, Engineer Dong is just messing around. If the engineers themselves can't figure these things out, how can these students?"

"Look, the candidates' ideas are all over the place."

He picked up a paper and shook it with a rustling sound: "This candidate named Zhang Dahua, when faced with the train slipping on the tracks, actually thought of using ten oxen with reins to pull the train from the front. I think we should just turn our depot into a cattle farm."

...

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