Siheyuan: Starting from a Truck Driver

"Xiao Lin, if you lead Xiao Dong astray, I will expel you from my sect." Old Liu was so angry that he laughed and scolded, then turned to Li Xiaodong and said, "You can go with him. Although this kid has many problems, he has rich experience in long-distance driving. It's always good to learn more."

Love long-distance driving? That's a real talent.

Seeing Li Xiaodong's puzzled look, Dan Xiaolin's sallow face showed pride. "I have no choice. There are many children in my family, and my wife is unemployed. The livelihood of the whole family depends on me alone. How can I not take advantage of my free time to travel long distances to earn some extra money?"

"You should be a fifth-level driver, right? Forty-nine dollars a month is not enough?"

"There are just a lot of children." Shan Xiaolin was vague about this.

As it was their first meeting, Li Xiaodong was reluctant to ask too many questions regarding other people's privacy, so he took Shan Xiaolin towards the truck.

Shan Xiaolin lived up to the title of veteran driver and quickly gave Li Xiaodong some constructive suggestions.

In particular, it is recommended to add a spare water tank under the car, which can not only prevent the embarrassment of water shortage in the water tank while driving, but also use the water in the spare water tank for cooking.

Li Xiaodong called a maintenance worker, and everyone got busy using the welding and cutting machines.

......

The other end.

In the fleet office, Lao Bai, with a cigarette in his mouth, was thinking about how to plead for Li Xiaodong.

However, this guy went too far. Niu Meng's surname is Niu, so you should treat him like a cow. The way the little girl shook the steering wheel was seen by many drivers.

How can Lao Niu save his face?

Captain Niu Yong reviewed the speech he had carefully written in the afternoon and nodded with satisfaction.

He planned to take this opportunity to teach Li Xiaodong a lesson and let him know that I am not an old ox that can be driven by others, but the Bull Demon King!

He rubbed his sore wrist, stood up to stretch his muscles, and happened to see Niu Meng passing by the door happily.

Seeing her happy expression, Niu Yong felt inexplicably unhappy.

"Niu Meng, come here for a moment, I have something to ask you."

"what's up?"

"Write down your afternoon work process in detail."

"Write it down?" Niu Meng was surprised, but did not think deeply about it.

To prevent drivers from being lazy, the fleet requires them to occasionally report daily affairs to the fleet to maintain work discipline.

"My master and I drove to load the materials..."

"Be more specific and focus on describing your work content." Niu Yong frowned.

"Well... I helped the master fetch water, rocked the vehicle, lit his cigarette, and sang "The East is Red" for him..."

Sing "The East is Red"? Niu Yong's face became increasingly gloomy.

Is this an apprentice or a laborer?

Could it be that Li Xiaodong is a landlord?

Even Lao Bai couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.

This is too much, Wei Zi really went too far.

It's over. Lao Niu will definitely have a complete falling out with him.

Niu Meng was immersed in the excitement of being able to drive today, and did not notice the change in their emotions. He continued to write: "The car broke down. The master said that the long drive shaft fell off. I helped the master pass the tools and knocked on it. Finally, the car was fixed..."

She wanted to continue writing, but she heard a surprised voice: "Wait, the long drive shaft fell off, and Li Xiaodong fixed it himself?"

"Well, maybe a few minutes." Niu Meng raised his eyes and nodded seriously.

A few minutes...Niu Yong couldn't help but swallow.

"How did he fix it?"

"The master is under the car, how would I know?" Niu Meng glared at him. She felt that her brother seemed to underestimate the master's ability.

After saying that, Niu Meng wanted to continue but was interrupted.

"Stop writing. Go and call Li Xiaodong over now."

"Don't write anymore?"

"No more writing! Go quickly!" Niu Yong seemed a little impatient.

Almost every month, the fleet experiences one or two accidents of long drive shafts falling off, which can delay work for several days at the least, or lead to safety accidents at the worst.

If Li Xiaodong had really mastered the method to solve the problem of long drive shaft falling off, then this criticism meeting might not have been held.

With this thought in mind, Niu Yong put the emotional speech into his pocket.

Lao Bai laughed at the side and said, "Captain, about Niu Meng's matter..."

Niu Yong glared at him sternly: "My sister is respecting teachers and promoting the fine traditions of our Chinese nation!"

Lao Bai helplessly spread his hands to show his understanding.

Yes, you are right.

Li Xiaodong was watching the repairman welding the water tank when he was pulled away by Niu Meng. Before leaving, he did not forget to ask Shan Xiaozhu to help look after it.

"Don't worry, leave this to me."

After the two left the parking lot, Niu Meng whispered, "Master, you'd better stay away from that...'bamboo pole' in the future."

"Bamboo pole?" Li Xiaodong pondered for a moment and realized that she was referring to Shan Xiaolin.

This nickname is quite appropriate.

Seeing that Li Xiaodong just smiled innocently without making any comment, Niu Meng gritted his teeth and continued, "'Bamboo Pole' is not a good person."

"Not a good person? Is there any evidence?" Li Xiaodong was surprised.

"I heard that he likes to play dangerous tricks when driving, such as getting through a half-open door." Niu Meng's face flushed and he looked a little embarrassed.

A half-open door? That still happens these days? Disgusting.

Looking at Niu Meng's appearance, it didn't seem like she was making a groundless accusation, which made Li Xiaodong believe it even more.

The claim that he has too many children may just be an excuse, as it is probably because he has too many friends.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't be that kind of person. If I have the chance, I will correct his behavior in person."

......

"So, the moment you realized the long drive shaft was about to fall off, you braked suddenly and fixed it back on?"

In the office, Niu Yong frowned after listening to Li Xiaodong's narration.

Several repairmen and experienced drivers nearby sighed deeply.

They thought they had found a solution to the problem of long drive shafts.

It turned out that the driver only avoided an accident by relying on his intuition, and this method is not universal.

For them, trucks make so much noise on the road that it is pure luck to hear the sound underneath the truck.

At this moment, Li Xiaodong lit a cigarette and fell into deep thought.

The long drive shaft is prone to falling off, which is a design flaw of the GIL 150.

When the first batch of old-model GIL 150s were launched on the market, they were immediately criticized by many parties.

The main reason is that engineers ignored the setting of the intermediate support structure when designing the long drive shaft.

In this way, it is impossible to compensate for installation errors and displacement during driving, and it is only a matter of time before the long drive shaft falls off.

Recognizing this problem, the Likhachev Automobile Plant developed a central support structure in collaboration with Volvo.

Most domestic trucks are still the old GIL 150...

If a central support structure could be built and a long drive shaft could be modified, similar accidents could undoubtedly be prevented from happening again.

The design drawings are not a problem.

As an engineer, Li Xiaodong had conducted in-depth research on the subsequent GIL 150 model, so he could easily provide a design solution.

The key problem is that the steel mill does not have the ability to produce central support structures.

The only solution is to seek help from FAW, a domestic auto manufacturing giant.

Of course, this must be communicated through official channels.

Li Xiaodong told Niu Yong his idea, and Niu Yong immediately opened his eyes wide.

"Can you, can you design that kind of support?"

"The key is not the design. Drawings alone are useless and we cannot produce." Li Xiaodong explained.

Niu Yong stared at Li Xiaodong for a long time, and only after confirming that he was serious did he believe him a little. Remembering that he had taught the car designer Li Zheng a lesson a few days ago, his trust in Li Xiaodong suddenly increased.

"Don't worry, as long as you can design it, I can convince FAW to produce it for us. You know, this is not just about a dozen trucks in our fleet, but hundreds or even thousands. FAW will not refuse." Niu Yong stood up and patted his shoulder vigorously.

"Well, don't drive for the next two days and concentrate on completing the design."

Li Xiaodong naturally didn't want to miss such an opportunity, so he nodded heavily. "Don't worry, I will do my best."

His determined expression made Niu Yong sigh that this young man was indeed good. However, Li Xiaodong's next words caught Niu Yong off guard.

"Captain, this is a project. Can you help me apply for some funds? You know, I just started working and don't have much savings. Besides, I'm getting married soon. We're not that shabby, but we have to have at least enough money, otherwise the team won't be able to save face, right?"

"..."

Although he felt that Li Xiaodong was a bit shameless, Niu Yong had to admit that what he said made sense. Thinking of Niu Meng's consumption in the past few days, he nodded: "Don't worry, as long as you take out the design drawings, I will immediately apply for funds for you from the factory."

Li Xiaodong laughed. The effect of pretending to be poor was unexpectedly good.

Although he lost face, he received substantial help.

As the sun sets, Li Xiaodong, after a busy day, rides his bicycle away from the convoy.

On his first day at work, he decided to reward himself.

After a few days of consumption, the inventory in the space warehouse has been exhausted.

He took this opportunity to go to the vegetable market to stock up on daily necessities.

Since the space warehouse has refrigeration function, he bought meat and vegetables without hesitation.

A full basket of things cost ten yuan, which made Li Xiaodong feel distressed.

It seems that a savings of more than one thousand yuan cannot withstand squandering, and I have to be more frugal in the future.

Although the house already has basic facilities, you still have to buy some new items when you get married, which is a considerable expense.

Should I go to the dove market again?

When Li Xiaodong was planning his money-making plan, he noticed a graceful figure standing at the gate of the courtyard, looking at him with a smile in her almond-shaped eyes.

"Yu Li, why did you come here suddenly?" Li Xiaodong steadied the bicycle with his feet touching the ground.

"I heard that you got your driver's license today, so I wanted to come and celebrate with you." Yu Li's cheeks were slightly red, and her eyes were dodging, not daring to look directly at him. Her shy look was very endearing.

Yu Haitang?

Li Xiaodong remembered Yu Haitang's strange look in the cafeteria and immediately understood her intention.

It turned out that my sister-in-law went home to inform him of the news.

But this is exactly what Li Xiaodong wants, competition always drives progress.

Hey, maybe it can go further!

Today, Yu Li wore a black cotton-padded jacket with a slightly open collar, revealing the white shirt underneath. Due to her well-proportioned figure, the cotton-padded jacket did not make her look bloated, but instead added a bit of youthful vitality.

Such an outfit is bound to attract attention. In fact, Yu Li's beauty alone can attract attention even if she is wrapped in a sack.

The key point is, it was a white shirt!

One of the advantages of white clothing is its magnifying effect.

Yu Li had a tall and straight figure with clear features. Just a glance at her from a distance made one feel their breathing quicken.

The same object appears larger when it is white than when it is black. This is the "light leakage effect" in physics.

"Let's go home." Li Xiaodong suppressed his inner excitement and noticed that there was no one around, so he took Yu Li's hand.

Yu Li's cheeks flushed and she lowered her head to glance at Li Xiaodong. Although she was nervous, she did not break free. The two of them held hands and returned to the courtyard.

When Li Xiaodong brought Yu Li home for the first time, he naturally had to inform her in advance of the situations she might encounter, so as to prevent this innocent girl from being harassed by those people without reason.

"Yu Li, you know something about this place, but I need to explain the complexity of the Siheyuan. The Siheyuan consists of three small courtyards in the front, middle and back, and a back house. There are three housekeepers, more than 20 households, and hundreds of people.

You are more familiar with the housekeeper Yan Bugui in the front yard than I am, so I won’t say much about him.

The Jia family lives in the central courtyard. You have both seen Jia Zhang and Qin Huairu. They are like leeches, good at crying about poverty and borrowing money from neighbors, but never paying it back.

Next door to the Jia family is the He family. He Daqing ran away from home in his early years, leaving behind the siblings He Yuzhu and He Yushui. I often played with them when I was a child, but that silly Zhu seemed to be interested in Qin Huairu.

Opposite the Jia family lives Yi Zhonghai, an eighth-level fitter at a steel rolling mill. He has no wife or children and appears to be a decent man.

As for the backyard where we were, it was even more chaotic than the middle yard. There was a deaf old lady who was said to be enjoying the minimum living allowance and received five yuan a month.

Next door lives our second uncle Liu Haizhong, he is very proud and likes to teach children a lesson, but we don’t have to worry.