The second artilleryman's house consists of two mud houses.
Broken wheat straw can be seen on the wall. The wall is relatively smooth and the house is square. However, the windows are too small and covered with rags, so the light in the house is a bit dark.
Li Aiguo suddenly entered the room without paying attention and accidentally bumped into the corner of the table.
"Slow down."
Erpao Niang brought a kerosene lamp, struck a match and lit it.
Only then did Li Aiguo clearly see that there was a fire pit against the wall. Two small heads protruded from the fire pit, and two pairs of big black eyes were looking this way!
Second Pao Niang pointed at the two little heads and introduced: "These are the children of the Pao family. It's cold now. If they are allowed to run all over the ground, they will probably freeze."
"Da Ya, Er Ya, a guest is here, come down quickly and say hello."
The two girls climbed down from the kang. They were wearing black coats with rags and patches, and their trousers were also patched. They were standing on the ground with bare feet.
The ground was very cold, and two pairs of black feet lifted up from time to time. This movement reminded Li Aiguo of a chicken in the heavy snow in the cold winter.
The two of them seemed to feel cold and wanted to return to the kang, but they didn't dare. They could only stare at Li Aiguo with a pair of big black eyes.
Li Aiguo took out a handful of White Rabbit toffee from his pocket and handed it over.
The two girls were a little greedy for the toffee in front of them, but they were so frightened that they hid behind Erpao Niang and hugged Erpao Niang's legs.
Erpao Niang said apologetically: "Driver Li, these toffees are very valuable, please put them away quickly."
"Child, when you come home for the first time, you have to give me a welcome gift."
Li Aiguo stood up and put toffee into the hands of the two girls.
He patted their heads and said, "Get on the kang quickly, don't freeze."
After getting permission from Erpao Niang, the two little girls giggled and got into bed.
They held the candies in their hands and poked their little heads out of the quilt, like two little swallows, looking at the uncle curiously.
This man is really a good person.
Erpao Niang explained embarrassedly: "They have shoes, but yesterday they went to the river to pick chrysanthemums, and their shoes were soaked."
Li Aiguo was not surprised.
In this day and age, the situation of the Zhang family is already relatively good, at least even the children have clothes and pants.
In those remote villages, it is not uncommon for the whole family to share one pair of trousers and huddle under the quilt. Whoever goes out wears trousers.
The village should not be far from the farm. As soon as the Second Pao Niang poured the tea, Zhang Er Pao came back with the Second Pao Dad.
The second gun father's name is Zhang Shun. Because he has traveled to Northeast China before and knows a few words, he is considered a capable person in the village. He now serves as the production team leader.
The young man following him is named Zhang Dapao. From his name, you can tell that he is Zhang Erpao's eldest brother.
Zhang Dapao saw the bicycle in the yard and asked Zhang Erpao in a low voice.
"Brother, didn't you say that Driver Li was the driver? Why don't you drive back?"
"I'm a train driver." Zhang Erpao now looks down on this elder brother.
Li Aiguo heard the voice and came out, stretched out his hand towards Zhang Shun and shook it.
"Uncle, I'm Da Kui's friend. I'm here to see you today."
As he spoke, he winked at Zhang Erpao.
Zhang Erpao picked up the gift from his bicycle.
"You kid, hey, why do you bring so many gifts? Hey, you bring so many."
When Zhang Shun saw those gifts, his face suddenly turned red, and he reached out and took Zhang Erpao's arm.
"Why are you so ignorant? People have helped you so much in the capital, and you still have the nerve to let others buy so many things!"
"Uncle, you are an elder, and to be honest, I came to visit you today because I want to discuss something with you."
Li Aiguo stopped Zhang Shun, took out a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Shun.
"Uncle, smoke."
"No, no, I can only smoke dry tobacco."
"Let's do this."
Li Aiguo put his hands together and helped Zhang Shun light a cigarette.
"Dad, how can we let the guests stand in the yard? Let's go inside and chat." Zhang Erpao said while holding the gift.
"Yes, yes, come in, come in. Driver Li, don't think the conditions are bad."
Zhang Shun took Li Aiguo's arm and led him into the house.
"Uncle, judging from what you said, who hasn't come out of the countryside? Our hometown was hit by a war, and we really couldn't survive, so my grandfather ran to the capital." Li Aiguo said with a smile.
"Yes, although life is poor now, it is much better than before liberation. At that time, the wheat was not yet ripe, and those idiots would bring people to grab food."
Seeing Zhang Shun talking about things before liberation, Li Aiguo took the opportunity to ask: "I heard from the Second Artillery Group that you used to be a worker in Northeast China?"
Zhang Shun smoked a cigarette, raised his head and said, "Driver Li, you want to ask about the chimney, right?"
Obviously, on the way back, Zhang Erpao had told Zhang Shun Li Aiguo's intention.
"To be honest, uncle, I want to use that thing to make a cannon. I don't know if it is suitable for use."
“It definitely works!”
When he mentioned the chimney, Zhang Shun's old face, which had been tortured by life and had lost all color, began to shine again.
After taking a sip of hot tea, he said loudly: "The chimney itself is a gun barrel!"
Although I am just an old farmer now, I worked as a worker in the Anshan Steel Factory in Northeast China for a while when I was three or more years old.
At that time, the little devil set up a hot-rolled seamless steel pipe unit at the Anshan Steel Factory, specially used to produce gun tubes. I heard that it would be installed on large warships.
Several workers and I didn't know about this at first. We were just curious that there was no seam in the steel pipe. Later we found out that this thing was made of a cannon barrel. "
Who can the little devil use as a cannon to hit? They are definitely going to hit us!
Although I am poor, I cannot just watch the gadgets I produce used against my family.
Isn’t that a beast?”
Every time people slaughter dogs when they are righteous, they are mostly scholars when they are unfaithful. Li Aiguo nodded: "Then what?"
"Later I contacted a few brothers, bought sulfur from a Chinese medicine shop, secretly brought it into the factory, and added it to the steelmaking machine while it was running."
At this time, only the butt of the cigarette was left in his hand, and he wanted to smoke a few more times. Li Aiguo stood up and took out the cigarette again and spread it around.
"The main component of sulfur is sulfur. During the steelmaking process, it is easy to form low-melting iron sulfide, which will reduce the plasticity and toughness of the steel, thus affecting the quality of the steel."
"It's you, the driver comrades, who know better. Back then, we invited the little devil expert to have a big drink before we figured it out. By the way, that little devil has a funny name, it's called."
Zhang Shun took the cigarette, puffed the cigarette butt twice, lit the cigarette again, and took a deep drag.
Along with a cloud of smoke, a name was spit out: "My name is Nishimura Mujiji. Tell me, how can this person be Mujiji? Mitai or not. In addition, their surnames are also very strange, like Matsushita, Takeshita, and Tian Bian, Tanaka. It’s all about the location.”
Zhang Erpao raised his hand and said, "Dad, I know. I heard Brother Da Kui say that the people there are aggressive, men often die in battles, and the population is declining rapidly.
In order to prevent the country from perishing like this, it was ordered that all fertile women in the country must carry bedding when they go out.
No matter which man you meet, as long as the man is willing, you must have sex with him.
In order to facilitate errands, women simply go out carrying pillows and sheets.
Many people are born without knowing whose seed it is.
Those women simply named them after the place where they had sex. "
Zhang Shun and Zhang Dapao were stunned by these words.
The cigarette in Zhang Dapao's hand almost fell to the ground: "You are really a beast. No wonder you can do things that are worse than a beast."
Li Aiguo saw that several people were getting further and further away from each other, so he brought the topic back.
"Uncle, what happened next, did you succeed?"
"Of course it worked! All the steel in that furnace was turned into rubbish. It weighed several tons and could be used to build dozens of cannons!"
Zhang Shun continued: "Later, the Japanese also discovered something was wrong and began to investigate the entire factory.
Seeing that something was wrong, the brothers and I took advantage of the darkness to knock out the two Japanese guards guarding the gate, and ran out alone carrying a steel pipe. "
"Uncle, you are awesome!" Li Aiguo gave a thumbs up.
You must know that working as a worker in a Japanese factory in those days was much better than returning to your hometown to be a farmer.
Being able to risk his life and give up generous wages for the sake of national justice, this old comrade deserves respect.
The origin of the steel pipe is understood.
But Li Aiguo still has a problem.
"Uncle, is the steel factory in Anshan still there?"
"Long gone."
Zhang Shun frowned and said: "After I returned home, I often contacted my old friends. They told me in letters that after the little devils were defeated, the steel factory was taken over by Lao Maozi.
Those old men dismantled the equipment in the steel plant and transported it away.
It is said that it was sent to Shawuklan to build the First Ural Steel Pipe Plant.
I have a worker who is a senior master and was also sent to that steel pipe factory.
Pity his eighty-year-old mother, she almost went blind from crying. "
Good guy, it turns out that there are things from our house in that corner of Wukelan!
It seems that in the 1990s, we have to find a way to bring him back, or else he will have to take advantage of the oligarchs in future generations.
There is nothing we can do, Li Aiguo is such a stingy person.
It was almost noon.
There was a sound of trivial footsteps outside, and a thick-set female commune member wearing a yellow earthen jacket walked into the courtyard carrying a hoe.
The tall body blocked the sunlight from the doorway.
Zhang Shun introduced: "This is the cannon's wife, Zhao Guihua."
Zhao Guihua was a little reserved when facing the guests in the city. She wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say. She opened her mouth several times, but in the end she didn't make any sound.
"Country woman, I haven't seen anyone before. Don't be surprised by Driver Li." Zhang Dapao explained, turning to Zhao Guihua and said: "You killed the chicken. There are also dried mushrooms that my mother brought back from Dongxiang in the east room. Let's make a dish." Chicken stewed with mushrooms.”
Li Aiguo quickly stood up and stopped him, saying, "Brother Big Pao, please don't. If you are so polite, I won't be able to come next time."
Zhang Shun stood up and took Li Aiguo's arm: "My second son is in the capital and I have troubled you a lot. A chicken is nothing, you see."
Li Aiguo said with a smile: "Uncle, you still don't regard me as one of your own. I heard that the water pimples here are quite delicious. Let's just eat this for lunch."
"This, this is too simple."
Seeing Li Aiguo's firm attitude, Zhang Erpao supported him: "Dad, just listen to Brother Aiguo. He is a train driver and has never eaten anything good."
"Harm, what do you know, kid?" Zhang Shun wanted to teach Zhang Erpao a few words, but finally nodded.
Two women, Zhao Guihua and Erpao Niang, went into the kitchen to work.
Zhang Shunze took Li Aiguo to the yard, pointed at the chimney and said, "Driver Li, you can move this thing away after lunch."
"Then your house doesn't have a chimney?"
"A living person can still choke to death with urine. I'll find another mason and just paste one."
Li Aiguo took out a soft ruler and measured the chimney. Don't tell me, it was just right, but the exact size had to be measured after cooking.
At this moment, the chimney is smoky and sparks are coming out, burning your hands!
The so-called water pimples are actually a dish made from pickled green mangosteen. Because they are taken directly from the salt water tank without being dried and salted, it is called "water pimples".
It’s simple to make, delicious, and paired with steaming hot polenta paste, it’s simply out of this world.
After lunch, Zhang Dapao took his wife to the fields to earn work points. Zhang Shun took the hoe and threw away the chimney and lowered it to the ground.
"Driver Li, please see if this thing works."
Li Aiguo picked up the cloth ruler and simply measured it. The length was about two meters and the inner diameter was 40 mm.
There are not many uses for gun barrels of the size of 40 mm. The Little Devil should have been used to make anti-aircraft artillery.
That thing is not used here, most of it is used on battleships.
"Dang Dang Dang" Zhang Shun knocked on it with a hoe, and said proudly: "Driver Li, don't look at this stuff now, all of which are forged by steel tungsten steel. It took me half a year to carry it back from the Northeast."
Since determining the original purpose of the chimney, Li Aiguo no longer worries about its quality.
You must know that prevention and control artillery, or bang bang bang guns, fire shells very frequently, and ordinary steel cannot withstand such high temperatures and impact.
This thing is used as a demonstration cannon tube. It is absolutely not a problem to fire a few shots at will.
Li Aiguo stood up and said: "Uncle, to be honest with you, this steel pipe of yours is a good thing, and it is worth a lot of money even now. Let's do this, I will leave you fifty yuan, and you can put it in How about giving me all the steel pipes?"
Hearing the price of fifty yuan, Zhang Erpao couldn't help swallowing, and the sound of breaking enamel bowls was heard in the house.
Zhang Shun was stunned for a moment, but his face showed a bit of anger caused by being insulted.
"Driver Li, you are Da Kui's brother, and Da Kui is my nephew. If you need this thing, just move it away. It's not money, don't you think of me?"
A deep voice came from inside the house: "Old man, that's fifty yuan."
"When men speak, mothers-in-law don't interrupt." Zhang Shun drove the Second Artillery Mother back into the house, raised the steel pipe with both hands, and was about to load it on the bicycle.
"Uncle, my brother has settled the score. If you do this, I will have to leave empty-handed today."
Feeling the warmth from the big hand holding his arm, the wrinkles on Zhang Shun's forehead that had been engraved with a lifetime of suffering trembled slightly, a trace of tears flashed in his cloudy eyes, the corners of his mouth twitched twice, and finally he let out a helpless voice. the sound of.
"Well, then I'll give you ten yuan. If you sell this thing for scrap metal, it's worth one yuan. When Cannon got married, I took someone to see it."
"Okay, ten yuan." Li Aiguo took out the money and handed it over.
After taking the money, Zhang Shun called the Second Artillery Lady to install the gun tube on the bicycle.
The gun barrel was two meters long and weighed more than 100 kilograms. Zhang Erpao found hemp rope, cut it with a machete, and tied it to the handlebars in the front and the seat in the back.
Two more strips were tied in the middle to prevent the gun barrel from bumping down halfway.
Fortunately, Li Aiguo's bicycle was specially made with four wheels, doubling its load-bearing capacity.
If it had been any other bike, this would probably have tipped over.
Li Aiguo flattened the steel pipe. Seeing that the steel pipe was motionless, he chatted with Zhang Shun for a few more words and prepared to return to the capital.
"Brother Patriot, it's rare for me to come back. I want to stay at home for two more days. My brother is building a house over there. I want to help." Zhang Erpao said.
Li Aiguo said: "That's good, but the roads in your village are complicated, so I have to trouble you to send me out."
"Okay." Zhang Erpao agreed without thinking.
Under the watch of Zhang Shun and Erpao Niang, Li Aiguo rode his bicycle and followed Zhang Erpao out of the village.
Meeting the little girl again on the road, Zhang Erpao said proudly: "Erya, I'm not leaving today. I'll come back to play with you later."
The girl's face turned red with embarrassment, and she pursed her lips and smiled: "Second Pao, you must not let Da Zhuang see you."
"Why?"
"Dazhuang and I are engaged and will get married at the end of the year." The girl puffed out her chest and said, "Dazhuang said that I will beat you once I see you."
Zhang Erpao's face suddenly turned ugly. He took a deep breath and smiled at the girl: "Well, congratulations. When you get married, remember to call me to eat noodles."
Turning his head, Zhang Erpao walked quickly towards the outside of the village. His steps seemed staggering, but his speed was very fast.
Li Aiguo had to get on his bicycle to catch up.
After the village was cleared, two lines of hot tears fell down Zhang Erpao's cheeks.
He wiped his nose and said, "Brother Patriot, did I eat onions for lunch today? Why are they so spicy to my eyes?"
"Well, I ate a lot!"
Li Aiguo stopped, looked at the painful Zhang Erpao, and remembered a song. There was a girl in the village named Xiaofang. Her whip was black and long.
"No, it's okay." Zhang Erpao wiped his tears and puffed up his chest and said, "I am a man who wants to do big things with Brother Da Kui. When I get old, I will join the army and I can't get married so early. "
"Um"
Li Aiguo couldn't comment, took out 40 yuan from his pocket and handed it to Zhang Erpao.
"Brother Patriot, what are you doing!" Zhang Erpao was startled and took a step back.
"Take it, you can go back and give it to your father later. Your brother is using the money to build a house." Li Aiguo said with a serious face.
"Brother Patriot, if I accept the money, my father will beat me to death."
"If you don't answer, return to the capital and I'll ask Dakui to take care of you."
"."
After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Erpao wiped his nose, stretched out his hand to carefully take the money, and whispered: "Brother Patriot, you and Brother Da Kui are both good people."
"Harmful, they are all brothers, why are you talking about this?"
Li Aiguo turned around and rode on his bicycle, his majestic back gradually disappearing under the faint sunset.
Zhang Erpao looked away and put the money in his pocket. When he met the girl again, he didn't even glance at her.
In the future, he will join the army and become a brave warrior. How can he be distracted by his children's personal affairs?
The steel pipe, which weighs more than 100 kilograms and is two meters long, is considered overloaded and over-limited for a bicycle.
There were a lot of pedestrians on the road, and Li Aiguo had to be careful along the way to avoid sweeping a large area while beating around the bush.
It took a full hour to get back to the courtyard.
Standing at the door, he shouted inside: "Jie Cheng."
"coming!"
Someone inside responded, and Yan Jiecheng, who was generating electricity artificially at the door of Yan's house, ran out.
He looked at the steel pipes on the bicycle, scratched his head and said, "Brother Patriot, why did you steal someone else's chimney back?"
"I bought it. It will be of great use. Please help me."
"well."
Yan Jiecheng carried the steel pipe at the back, and Li Aiguo carried the steel pipe in the front. Together, they finally lifted the bicycle over the threshold.
At this time, Yan Bugui's voice came from the house: "Jie Cheng, I asked you to generate electricity. Why did you run away? Your mother still has to cook. What will happen if there is too much salt later?"
Yan Jiecheng had no choice but to return to work.
When Li Aiguo returned home pushing the steel pipe, Chen Xueru had just returned and was preparing to cook.
Seeing the steel pipe, her pretty little face was full of confusion: "Brother Patriot, what is this?"
"You'll find out later, come and help."
With the help of Chen Xueru, the steel pipe was unloaded on the ground.
Li Aiguo took a breath, lit a cigarette, asked Chen Xueru to fetch water from the courtyard, picked up a shoe brush and started cleaning the steel pipes.
Chen Xueru went back to the house to cook. Today, Xu Huizhen sent a large piece of mutton to express her gratitude to Li Aiguo for his help.
The weather is getting cold, so Miss Chen is going to make mutton soup for the rough man to replenish his health.
Soon an alluring fragrance came from the house.
Li Aiguo lit a cigarette and worked with a shoe brush for a while.
After all, the steel pipe is of good quality. If you remove the stains on the steel pipe, the black body will soon appear.
This scene attracted the attention of many people.
In ordinary eyes, this steel pipe may just be a black pipe, and it would be a nuisance when placed on the road.
But those old workers can see some clues from its color, pull marks, cracks, hair lines and other characteristics.
No, Liu Haizhong passed by the door of Li Ai's house after get off work. His eyes fell on the steel pipe and he couldn't move it away anymore.
"Hey, Patriot, this pipe is a seamless special steel pipe, right?!"
"Master Liu, you have very good taste."
Ever since he whipped Jia Zhang, Li Aiguo felt that Liu Haizhong's attitude towards the Li family was different from before.
Now when Liu Haizhong saw Li Aiguo and Chen Xueru, they greeted each other with smiles on their faces. Yesterday, the second aunt brought half a catty of vegetables.
Li Aiguo asked Chen Xueru to accept it.
Well, if you want to win the final victory, you must unite everyone who can be united.
"Of course, I am a level six blacksmith master. No one knows steel better than me, not even Yi Zhonghai is as good as me."
Liu Haizhong has also figured it out recently.
Follow Yi Zhonghai and eat three meals a day.
Li Aiguo is now the chief driver and has a good relationship with Deputy Factory Director Li.
If he can help with a word, Liu Haizhong might be able to become a leader in the future.
As for what happened at the beginning, Liu Guangfu was just a half-grown child, just a wanderer. Li Aiguo's injury actually had little to do with his family.
He was simply kidnapped by Yi Zhonghai and Jia Zhang. (End of chapter)
