Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

The team members he led have been training hard for three years and were familiar with large vehicles when they served in the army. Although they have not yet obtained a driver's license, they have already been able to drive long distances. How could they be afraid of a novice?

"Okay, then let's go all in. It's a deal!" The two big hands clasped together tightly.

Li Xiaodong watched from the sidelines and shook his head. Isn't this a common routine in later novels? The awe-inspiring and awe-inspiring aura is really boring.

"Oh, captain, I drank too much last night and my stomach hurts a little now. Shall we take the test tomorrow?" Li Xiaodong bent over and hummed.

Niu Meng was immersed in the tense atmosphere of the driving test, and hurried forward to hold his arm: "Master, are you okay?"

"How can your apprentice be so ignorant? Help me sit down." Li Xiaodong glared at her.

Niu Yong was puzzled for a moment. He was fine just now, why did he suddenly have a stomachache?

Could it be that this guy...

Niu Yong had an idea, walked to Li Xiaodong and whispered: "If you win, I'll give you half a pack of cigarettes."

"Cigarettes are not important. I just don't like that Lao Zhang." Li Xiaodong slowly stood up, rubbed his stomach, and gave Captain Lao Zhang a smug smile, "Okay, I suddenly feel that my stomach doesn't hurt anymore."

It feels good to pretend to be cool and then get slapped in the face. It feels good all the time if you keep pretending to be cool.

As a person who has traveled through time, it is necessary to pretend to be cool!

Captain Lao Zhang crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head to the side. This guy is really a little rascal.

But it suits him just fine.

He turned to the team members and said, "Xiao Meng, you have been in the team for three years, right? How has the master treated you?"

"Master treats me like his own son. Don't worry, I will definitely win glory for you this time!" Xiao Meng said firmly.

Lao Zhang nodded with satisfaction and glanced at Lao Niu provocatively.

Lao Niu just chuckled and rolled his eyes in response.

The little quarrel between the two of them made Li Xiaodong's teeth ache. It was too cliché.

At this time, two staff members in white coats announced the start of the exam.

The first stage is a theoretical test, which includes not only the usual traffic rules, but also politics, mathematics and basic mechanical knowledge. The full score is 100, and 70 is the passing score.

As an engineer, Li Xiaodong found the theoretical exam a piece of cake. He finished the paper in less than 20 minutes and got full marks.

Niu Yong and Niu Meng were so excited that they almost danced to "Red Sun" at the entrance of the examination room.

Old Zhang frowned because his child Meng only got 95 points.

But he was not panicked, because the next part was what Xiao Meng was good at.

Subject 2 is a pole test.

In the cold winter, students need to start the vehicle before taking the pole test.

Today’s trucks don’t have electronic ignitions and rely on a manual crank.

It's okay in the summer, but in the winter, the oil and water pipes in the car are prone to freezing (actually caused by impurities and water in the gasoline), and starting the vehicle is not easy.

You need to chop wood first, and then use fire to heat the fuel tank under the car.

As an apprentice, Xiao Meng has been doing this job for three years and is naturally more skilled than the novice.

"The pole test begins. The time limit is thirty minutes. Start counting!" As the examiner gave the order, Li Xiaodong rushed out with an axe in his hand like a tiger descending from the mountain.

He secretly sighed in his heart that today's driving test is extremely strict, and even things like chopping wood for heating have to be done by hand. This is in stark contrast to many people in later generations who got their driver's license but did not dare to drive on the road.

Li Xiaodong had never chopped wood before, but thanks to the ten thousand times experience system, he accumulated the experience of chopping ten thousand times with just one axe.

Old Zhang witnessed this scene and saw in disbelief that the novice had a bad start. His first axe strike hit the center of the small tree, and the direction of the axe blade was also wrong, so he only scraped off a layer of bark.

He couldn't help laughing and said, "Lao Niu, where did you find this young man? He can't even use an axe."

However, the next second, he widened his eyes and saw that Li Xiaodong was like a different person, swinging the axe continuously. With a flash of cold light, the small tree instantly turned into a pile of firewood.

Xiao Meng was still cutting trees hard.

"Hey, Lao Zhang, who is the young master?" Li Xiaodong heard it clearly from a distance. Is this guy going to take his inferiority to the extreme?

...

Pile firewood under the car, pour in the pre-prepared gasoline, and light a match.

With a "boom", the reddish flame jumped, swayed in the wind, and lightly touched the bottom of the black fuel tank.

At this moment, the exciting part comes.

The big trucks of that era used gasoline, which was very likely to cause violent combustion.

If you are not careful, it may cause an explosion, which is as dangerous as lighting a firecracker.

Li Xiaodong looked up at the examiners. Each of them was holding a metal bucket filled with sand. Their fingers were tightly gripping the handles and trembling slightly, indicating that if an explosion occurred, they would immediately rush forward and pour the sand into the fuel tank.

People of this era are truly honest. Can't they just be perfunctory like people in later generations?

Li Xiaodong was well prepared. He skillfully adjusted the firewood so that the bottom of the fuel tank was heated evenly.

After a while, a clicking sound was heard in the fuel tank, indicating that the temperature was rising.

He calmly stood up, kicked away the fire, opened the door, took out the crank weighing more than ten pounds from under the seat, and inserted it into the small hole at the front of the truck until it bottomed out.

After confirming that the front end of the crank was embedded in the engine groove, he shook the crank hard.

Cranking the starter is a tricky task for every truck driver, which is both laborious and requires skill.

Sometimes, if you are not careful, the starter lever will be reversed.

If the black iron crank hits someone by mistake, it could cause bruises at best and endanger life at worst.

However, this did not pose any problem for Li Xiaodong, who achieved success through his own efforts.

Within five minutes, he heard the low roar of an engine.

Niu Meng in the distance cheered with joy: "Master is awesome, keep it up!"

Niu Yong remained calm, showing the demeanor of a seasoned driver: "Well, my apprentice is pretty good."

Old Zhang stared at them with a gloomy face and asked, "Isn't he your sister's coach? How did he become your apprentice? What is your relationship?"

Niu Yong: “…”

Time was running out, and Li Xiaodong had no time to care about the farce outside the venue. He walked straight to the examiner and reported: "Candidate 0124 requests to get on the car for the test!"

"Get in the car!" The examiner opened a small notebook and began to record whether the truck crossed the line.

The first subject test in Beijing is roughly the same as that in later generations, and includes three items: reversing into a garage, parallel parking and fixed-spot parking.

I heard that the test in remote mountainous areas requires driving a truck on steel pipes. Apparently, for Li Xiaodong, such an assessment was not difficult at all and he easily got full marks.

To his surprise, even Xiao Meng, who had been very nervous before, managed to get full marks.

After completing Subject 1, all candidates must wait until all the tests are completed before going to the road test venue together.

Li Xiaodong had no choice but to return to the edge of the venue again and endure the vulgar atmosphere.

In fact, it was quite interesting to see Lao Zhang and Niu Yong, two adults in their late 50s, bickering like children.

About two hours later, more than fifty candidates completed Subject 1, and in the end only eight successfully passed.

"Candidates who have passed Subject 1, please get on board!"

The examiner drove a GIL 150 and stopped in front of the gate.

The candidates scrambled to climb into the carriage.

"Okay, stop rubbing, it's my turn!" Li Xiaodong stood up from his seat and prepared to go.

Niu Meng retracted his little hand, raised his arm, and shouted seriously: "Master, come on!"

Niu Yong waved his hand and shouted, "Give me a Daqianmen!"

Lao Zhang was also anxious at this moment, and warned Xiao Meng loudly: "Meng boy, if you don't perform well and can't beat this newbie, you will always be sitting in the truck when I go out in the future!"

Really, is it really so vulgar to get a driver's license? Fortunately, Niu Yong and his companions were unable to enter the road test site, so Li Xiaodong breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing Xiao Meng squatting in the carriage, he took the initiative to extend his hand: "My name is Li Xiaodong, from the steel rolling mill."

Xiao Meng was a simple child who was not alienated by the competition and responded enthusiastically: "I am Meng Chuanjia, from the machinery factory."

Machinery factory? Li Xiaodong wondered if there was a doctor named Ding Qiunan there. But since it was their first meeting, he didn't want to appear too abrupt.

"Are you on He Nan's team?"

"Oh, how do you know? My family is originally from Dengfeng. After retiring from the army, we moved to the capital and became workers."

"...You look about the same age as me, why did you retire so early?"

"I'm 35 years old and have three children. My mother says I look younger."

"..."

Li Xiaodong was speechless.

The other person was obviously about the same age as him and already had three children, while he was still blank.

It seems that Yu Li must be married as soon as possible and the issue of family planning must be put on the agenda.

With a crisp brake sound, the truck stopped at the foot of the mountain. Li Xiaodong followed the other candidates out of the car. The examiner pointed to the winding mountain road and said, "This time the road test route is from here to the top of the mountain."

Because the test was conducted in order, Li Xiaodong was ranked fifth. He sat on the roadside with Xiao Meng and several other candidates to bask in the sun. The first candidate to get on the bus was a pretty boy, and his calves were obviously trembling when he got on the bus. In this era, driving is a test of courage, and timid people may not be able to do it.

Sure enough, in less than ten minutes, the truck returned. The young man got out of the truck and squatted on the roadside crying. No one comforted him. Letting such a person with poor psychological endurance drive is disrespectful to others and public property.

Xiao Meng was the second to go on stage. When he got on the bus, he turned around and made a well-known gesture to Li Xiaodong. Damn it, this vulgar behavior started again?

Li Xiaodong naturally couldn't stand it and responded with the same gesture. Twenty minutes later, the truck returned again, and Lao Meng jumped out of the car excitedly: "Dad, Mom, I got my driver's license!"

He ran to Li Xiaodong, bowed deeply, and spoke excitedly in dialect: "Comrade Li Xiaodong, thanks to you, I get nervous when I take exams. I have failed the exams for two years. After competing with you this time, I have full confidence in my heart. A 20-year-old boy can come to take the driver's license test, so what should I be afraid of as a driver with many years of experience!"

Li Xiaodong's mouth twitched. Thinking of Niu Yong and Lao Zhang's poor performance, he suddenly understood his role - the villain. But even the villain can have a comeback, and everything depends on strength. He was determined to get that half pack of cigarettes.

The next two candidates finished quickly, and soon it was Li Xiaodong's turn. He inserted the crank into the hole in front of the car, and after shaking it vigorously, the engine roared. He got in the car, held the steering wheel, and looked straight ahead.

"Comrade examiner, candidate 0124 is ready and requests to depart!"

"...Do you need me to clear the road?"

…I was still a little nervous and let something slip.

"Comrade Chief Examiner, candidate 0124 is ready, please start!"

"Get started!"

I pressed the clutch lightly, stepped on the gas slowly, released the handbrake, and the truck rushed out of the foot of the mountain like a beast.

Trucks of this era were very different from later ones. They were equipped with two clutches and no synchronizers. Both clutches needed to be operated by both feet at the same time when changing gears. The braking system was not sensitive enough, and the handbrake had to be used to assist in emergency braking.

For experienced drivers, these are no problem at all.

When the driving test was halfway through, the examiner suddenly shouted, "Stop! Stop immediately!"

Li Xiaodong remained unmoved.

...

----------------

Seeing that Li Xiaodong ignored the examination instructions, the examiner became furious.

He slapped the dashboard hard. "Stop the car immediately, or I'll fail the test!"

Li Xiaodong remained calm, he just slightly slowed down the accelerator to reduce the speed of the car.

The truck didn't stop until it crossed the bridge and drove some distance.

The examiner asked sternly, "0124, why don't you stop?"

"Report to the examiner, vehicles are prohibited from parking within 30 meters of the bridge!"

"Very good, the traffic rules practice part is passed! Start the truck and return to the test location." The examiner checked the box on the notebook to confirm.

Li Xiaodong jumped out of the car, stuck out his butt and shook it hard, stepped on the brakes, stepped on the accelerator and released the handbrake, and the truck started slowly.

--Is it really so rigorous to take a driver's license test?

At the same time, his vigilance also increased, as the driving test in this era was indeed strict.

Sure enough, not long after, the examiner asked another question: "The vehicle is now tilting to the left, and there is a rattling sound coming from the rear."

"Reporting to the examiner, the left tire may have burst."

"Eliminate the danger immediately!"

Li Xiaodong stepped on the brakes hard, opened the car door and jumped out.

He first placed stones in front of the right tire, then removed the steel cable at the rear of the cargo bed, removed the spare tire, and finally started working with a jack on the side of the road.

"Hey hey hey" lift the cargo bed, replace the "burst" tire, and put on a new tire. This series of actions is extremely smooth.

A task that would have required two or three maintenance workers to complete in later generations was easily accomplished by him alone.