Chapter 54: Special Education

"Mm..."

Zhang Yazhi's eyes flickered, and two red clouds rose onto her fair and tender little face.

Seeing that something was amiss with Zhang Yazhi's expression, the train conductor Bai asked curiously, "Aiguo, did you and Yazhi know each other before?"

"No, we just bumped into each other on the road today. A chance meeting."

Seeing that Li Aiguo did not expose her awkward moment, Zhang Yazhi breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, bit her lip, and gave him a grateful look.

Cao Wenzhi continued to introduce, "These are the security personnel of our train crew."

Seeing the bulky items strapped around their waists, Li Aiguo felt a sudden surge of respect and nodded in greeting.

The security personnel all nodded in response.

"This is your assistant engineer, old Liu, Liu Qingquan."

Cao Wenzhi pointed to a middle-aged man and introduced him, "Master Liu is a veteran driver. Although he is an assistant engineer, his driving experience is very rich. You must learn a lot from old Liu in the future."

Li Aiguo reached out enthusiastically: "Uncle Liu, I've heard my dad mention you. He said you were the best shot among train drivers, and the best train driver among sharpshooters."

Liu Qingquan came from a family of hunters.

Before liberation, he had spent a solid decade or so as a hunter in the Tongbaibi mountainous region of Henan.

Liu Qingquan had an honest and simple disposition. He smiled kindly, reached out, and gave a firm handshake: "I've heard about old Li. He's a real hero. Like father, like son; since you're his boy, you're bound to be top-notch."

"Aiguo has great academic scores, but his practical operational experience is still lacking. Old Liu, you need to help guide him more," Cao Wenzhi said with a smile.

"You can rest easy. You know what kind of person I, old Liu, am," Liu Qingquan said, patting his chest in assurance.

By this time, he could also tell that Cao Wenzhi held very high expectations for this young man.

Cao Wenzhi had taken on several apprentices in the past, but never with such fanfare.

Especially the personnel from the train crew and the security squad—they were not under Cao Wenzhi's jurisdiction, yet he had specifically invited them over.

All of this was to build momentum for this kid.

Next, Cao Wenzhi introduced the remaining member of the locomotive team—the stoker, old Zheng.

Old Zheng was in his forties, his skin flushed red from the furnace fire. He wore an oiled cloth cap, his fingernails were stained with coal dust, and he wasn't very fond of talking.

Hearing Cao Wenzhi call his name, he only stood up slightly, puffing away incessantly at his long-stemmed clay tobacco pipe.

"Old Zheng is just of this temperament, but don't underestimate him. He's the best fireman in our locomotive depot," Cao Wenzhi explained with a smile.

Seeing that it was getting late, Conductor Bai Yuejie clapped her hands to draw everyone's attention.

"Alright, tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, our 131 Train Crew will officially change shifts and board Train 131 from Beijing to Tianjin to execute our passenger transport mission."

"It's getting late. Everyone should head back early to rest, build up your stamina, and strive for a triumphant opening success."

"Now, please sing a song together to welcome the new comrade,"

"Ready, start!"

Accompanied by Bai Yuejie's waving hand, loud singing rang out in the lounge.

The sun in the west is about to set♪
Weishan Lake is quiet and still♪
Playing my beloved native pipa♪
Singing that touching ballad♪
Climbing aboard the speeding train♪
Like riding a galloping steed♪
Stations and railway lines♪
Are our great battlefields to slay the enemy♪
....

This was the interlude from this year's most popular movie, *Railway Guerrillas*, titled *Playing My Beloved Native Pipa*.

Although Li Aiguo had not seen the movie, he had heard others sing it and knew both the lyrics and the melody.

He was stunned for a moment, but then quickly reacted and joined in with a loud voice.

The singing echoed in the air, filling his chest with surging emotions.

....

"As train drivers, we often encounter emergencies. According to regulations, both the lead and assistant drivers must be armed."

"Did you learn how to shoot in school?"

Li Aiguo straightened his back: "I did. I was the top marksman in my class."

Cao Wenzhi nodded: "That's good. Your master will take you to draw your firearm."

The members of the train crew went back to prepare for tomorrow's run, and Li Aiguo followed his master, Cao Wenzhi, to the locomotive depot's armed department.

Cao Wenzhi pushed the door open and shouted inside, "Old Niu, get out here quickly and find my apprentice a reliable piece."

Department Head Niu, dressed in an old dark green uniform, walked out.

Department Head Niu walked up to Li Aiguo, looked him up and down, and nodded heavily: "Alright, I can see this kid has the spirit and vigor of us old railway corps soldiers."

"Old Cao, you've struck gold this time."

"You don't need to tell me that!" Cao Wenzhi pointed to Section Chief Niu and introduced him, "Aiguo, this Department Head Niu is no ordinary man. Back in the day, he went to Korea, made major contributions during the emergency repair of railways, and before returning to civilian life, his rank was second lieutenant."

"A hero shouldn't dwell on past glories."

Thinking back to those turbulent years, a trace of regret surfaced on Department Head Niu's face.

This left Li Aiguo with a bit of confusion.

Unlike other domestic branches of the military, the Railway Corps adopted a Soviet-style military rank system, where a second lieutenant was equivalent to a platoon leader.

Department Head Niu was only around thirty years old and was already a second lieutenant, which made him truly young and promising.

Yet....

Why didn't he stay in the railway forces, and instead transferred to a civilian post?

Cao Wenzhi seemed to know the inside story. Seeing that Department Head Niu was unwilling to bring up the past, he laughed heartily and said, "Stop dwelling on that useless stuff. Hurry up and help my apprentice finish his paperwork. The locomotives are being overhauled today, and I still have to go keep an eye on the maintenance workshop."

Department Head Niu shook off his thoughts and waved a hand at Cao Wenzhi: "Old Cao, go ahead and get busy with whatever you need to do. With our relationship, am I going to shortchange your apprentice?"

"You wouldn't have the guts even if you were given two sets of courage. If you dare to pull any tricks, I'll eat all the Korean kimchi in your house."

Cao Wenzhi turned back and instructed Li Aiguo, "When choosing your gun later, try to pick a bigger one. Since we drive big trains, people will laugh at us if we carry a little pocket pistol."

Li Aiguo nodded: "Master, I see it the same way. A real man should carry something big!"

"You bunch of train drivers have no sense of propriety! Get lost." Department Head Niu patted the desk.

After Cao Wenzhi left, Department Head Niu pulled a gun-holding permit from the drawer, filled in Li Aiguo's name, and stamped it with a red seal.

"This is your firearm permit. Although it doesn't have much everyday use, you still must keep it safe."

"Rest assured." Li Aiguo tucked the permit back into his pocket.

"Your school has already conducted confidentiality and anti-espionage education, but according to procedures, the locomotive personnel of our depot must undergo a study session every month."

"You must talk about it every day and keep it in mind at all times."

"Now, go with Staff Officer Wang to the study room for half an hour." Cao Wenzhi brought over a staff officer.

In this era, imperialists never abandoned their ambition to destroy us and were always watching for opportunities to carry out sabotage in the dark.

The railway was the lifeline of transportation and naturally became a primary target of the enemy's "special attention."

At the Railway Secondary Technical School, a dedicated course on confidentiality and anti-espionage education was established.

Knowing the importance of this education, Li Aiguo turned solemn and followed behind Staff Officer Wang into the study room next door.

Calling it a study room, it was actually just an empty little parlor.

There were seven or eight long wooden benches inside, which showed that it had previously been used for group study sessions.

Today was a special, individual session arranged for Li Aiguo.

In the center stood a simple projector, a grayish screen hung on the wall, and more than a dozen of the latest internal reference materials were placed on the table.

The film projected by the machine was a so-called internal educational video, while the internal reference materials detailed recently occurred cases.

Under the dim light, Staff Officer Wang held a fray-edged, handwritten lecture manuscript, walked up to the screen, looked straight at Li Aiguo, and spoke with an impassioned voice:

"Raise vigilance, defend the motherland."

Li Aiguo stood up, his expression solemn and stern: "Drown the enemy agents in the vast ocean of people's war!"

After the short slogan, Staff Officer Wang began to explain the detailed content of confidentiality and anti-espionage.

This included subjects such as how to identify suspicious persons, common methods used by enemy agents, what equipment enemy agents possessed, and how to deal with them.

After the explanation, he also quizzed Li Aiguo on the spot.

Li Aiguo naturally answered every question fluently.

"Comrade Li Aiguo, your score for this education session is ninety-eight points." Staff Officer Wang wrote down the score and signed his name on a document.

Then he handed it to Li Aiguo: "Among the items most frequently carried by the enemy, you missed one—a signal flare."

A signal flare is used to summon accomplices... Li Aiguo smiled wryly.

Those good-for-nothing losers still refuse to give up even at this point, dreaming in vain—it's simply laughable.

If the score for confidentiality and anti-espionage education fell below sixty points, one had to stop working and undergo specialized retraining until passing.

Li Aiguo's ninety-eight points could be considered an impressively high score.