The phoenix tree in the corner of the residential compound had turned golden.
It was the same tree that had watched the little girls grow up, and now it watched them again as young women, hand in hand, running into its shade with cheers and laughter. Its leaves rustled in the wind as though applauding their return and celebrating their growth.
Beneath the phoenix tree came a girl’s gentle voice. “This is good news. Why are you crying?”
Wanwan tugged at the soft cotton cuff on the inside of her sleeve and carefully lifted it to wipe her eyes.
“Exactly! That’s Engineer Lu!!” A Shui exclaimed, so excited she could hardly stand still.
“I’m not crying. These are tears of joy. I’m just excited.” Lin Qiaozhi hurriedly wiped her face with her sleeve, loudly denying it with a faint blush. “I’m just too excited!”
“Hahaha…”
They casually grabbed a couple of red bricks from by the wall, stacked them into makeshift stools, and sat together in a circle beneath the phoenix tree.
Even now, Lin Qiaozhi still felt so happy it seemed unreal. “It feels like I’m dreaming.”
No, not even her dreams had ever been this wonderful.
She had never dreamed of anything like this. She didn’t know whether she simply never had, or because back then she had been in high school, and all her dreams had taken place there.
“That’s Engineer Lu we’re talking about…” A Shui rested her chin in both hands and swallowed. “Do you all remember that braised pork we got to eat during the three years of famine?”
“I remember! It was unbelievably delicious.”
“How could I forget?”
Just mentioning it made everyone excited. Even Ning Zhenzhu, who had never really lacked food, couldn’t help reminiscing with emotion. “I’ll never forget it for as long as I live. It was the best braised pork I’ve ever eaten.”
No one could possibly remember it wrong, because during those three years of famine, it was the only meal of real meat all the children in the factory had ever eaten.
Engineer Lu had brought it back.
The children born in the Hongqi Factory residential compound had never farmed the land, so they didn’t really understand what a famine year meant. They only knew there wasn’t enough to eat, and that they were hungry every single day.
It wasn’t enough to starve them to death, but they were always hungry. At the time, the factory had responded to the nation’s call by using the “double-steaming method” to cook rice. One jin of rice could become five jin of cooked rice. Eating it felt no different from not eating at all. Before long, they would be hungry again.
Their empty stomachs burned with hunger until they felt panicked. After living like that for so long, their eyes turned green whenever they saw food. The children would eat anything they could find and even lick their bowls clean.
In those hardest of times, Engineer Lu earned back a bowl of braised pork and a live pig with nothing more than a single pass of a file.
A live pig!
They had heard it was from a place very far away. To persuade Engineer Lu to come, they had gone to enormous lengths to find a live pig as payment.
The braised pork was eaten on the spot. The live pig was brought back, and Engineer Lu said, “Cook it for the factory’s children.”
On the day they slaughtered the pig and cooked the meat, every child in the factory celebrated as though it were New Year’s. They ran wildly all over the factory grounds, clutching bowls and chopsticks as they cheered all the way, “We’re eating meat! We’re eating meat!!”
By then, Lin Qiaozhi and the others were already old enough to understand what was happening.
Quite a few of the younger children, too little to know better, finished their greasy, fragrant braised pork and immediately burst into tears as they ran to Engineer Lu’s house, crying at the top of their lungs that they wanted to become children of Engineer Lu’s family.
“How could I forget?” Lin Qiaozhi secretly shared one of her little secrets with them. “Sometimes, when practice gets so exhausting, I cheer myself up by imagining I’m Engineer Lu. I go to another factory, take one look, give it a single stroke with the file, and whoosh, the machine’s fixed!”
It really was like that!
That factory that had offered the live pig had been unable to find the fault no matter what they tried. Production had been shut down for nearly half a month, and things had become desperately urgent. Yet rumor had it that when Engineer Lu walked in, took one look, made a single pass with his file, and it was fixed. The entire factory there couldn’t believe it had been that simple.
Just imagining it, imagining herself as “Engineer Lin,” imagining a future like that, made Lin Qiaozhi feel her breath grow hot and filled her with boundless energy.
“Sometimes I get bored too. Then I’d give it one stroke with the file and picture a bowl of braised pork. Another stroke, another bowl of braised pork. Haha… Just thinking about it makes me so happy.” She started laughing herself as she spoke, feeling a little silly.
After hearing Lin Qiaozhi’s little secret, the girls burst into laughter. One after another, they called out, “Engineer Lin!” “Engineer Lin~” “Engi~neer Lin!” without stopping.
Lin Qiaozhi’s face flushed red as she hurriedly reached out to swat at them. “Stop calling me that! Stop it! It’ll be so embarrassing if someone hears.”
I shouldn’t have told them!
One thing after another, one memory after another, had accompanied the children of the residential compound as they grew up. The rice, flour, cooking oil, cloth, preserved meats, and holiday benefits the factory distributed every year; the favorable treatment the city approved for their factory; the truckloads of life-saving grain Engineer Lu had fought to secure from the provincial authorities during the famine; the confidence with which Hongqi Factory’s children carried themselves wherever they went…
Every bit of it was connected to Engineer Lu.
Engineer Lu held a special place in the hearts of this generation of children from the residential compound.
“I’m so jealous!!” A Shui couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“You can do it too! Didn’t you say you wanted to become a train engineer like Tian Guiying, then drive a locomotive all the way to Beijing’s Tiananmen Square to see Chairman Mao?” Lin Qiaozhi encouraged A Shui in return.
Then, once again, she subtly brought up the importance of studying hard.
A Shui covered her ears and wailed, “Heavens, Qiaozhi, you’re worse than our teacher now! You already lectured us about this on the riverbank!”
The moment the topic came up, Ning Zhenzhu immediately sympathized. She nodded repeatedly and complained pitifully, “Seriously. The way she keeps urging people to improve themselves, it’d be such a waste if she didn’t become a teacher. Right, Wanwan?”
Wanwan nodded like a pecking chick. “Mm!”
Lin Qiaozhi burst into laughter. “If I really became a teacher, all the parents would come after me. Every student’s home would be in complete chaos.”
Joking aside, the opportunity Lin Qiaozhi had been given to learn from Engineer Lu up close had greatly inspired all of them.
Maybe they should work just a little harder.
If they worked just a little harder, perhaps the next time an opportunity came along, they too could seize one of life’s unexpected gifts, just as Qiaozhi had.
…
Lin Qiaozhi returned home.
As she walked down the long corridor toward her apartment, neighbors poked their heads out one after another to warmly greet and congratulate her.
“Qiaozhi’s back!”
“I heard Engineer Lu is going to take you under his wing!”
“You’ve really brought honor to our building.”
“I always knew you were clever ever since you were little…”
Lin Qiaozhi still wasn’t quite used to it.
After walking through the corridor and reaching the doorway, she saw her mother sitting beside the bed folding a pile of clothes. A washbasin sat on the floor nearby with a rag soaking inside it, and every cabinet and table in the main room had been wiped spotless.
“Mother, you’re already taking out the winter clothes this early?” Lin Qiaozhi washed her hands in the red Double Happiness enamel basin beside the washstand by the doorway.
“I’m taking them out to air them first. Autumn in Jiangcheng is short. One day it might suddenly turn cold, and before you know it we’ll have to put on our padded jackets.” Jiang Hongmei folded clothes as she spoke, then smiled. “Your father will definitely be thrilled when he hears your news. He’ll surely have me go to the cafeteria and buy a few extra dishes again.”
“I’ll get your father a small jug of liquor later. We should celebrate tonight.”
Lin Qiaozhi sat down on the edge of the bed and casually picked up a piece of clothing to fold. “Then, Mother, are you happy for me too?”
“Of course I am. What kind of question is that?” Jiang Hongmei brushed her hand away. “All right, all right. You never liked doing chores like this anyway. Go read a book or sort through your tools. I’ve got everything here covered.”
Instead of feeling happy, Lin Qiaozhi looked at Jiang Hongmei and asked, “You’re happy too, so why don’t you buy yourself something as well? You like rice cakes. When you go buy the liquor later, pick some up too.”
“No need. Why waste grain coupons on rice cakes? We’ll be getting meat dishes from the cafeteria later anyway. I’ll just eat a little along with everyone else.” She shook out a garment, spread it flat, and folded it neatly as she answered casually.
Seeing the expression on Jiang Hongmei’s face, Lin Qiaozhi knew she genuinely meant every word.
A faint trace of bitterness suddenly mixed into her joy.
She was about to leap beyond where she had always been, yet her mother remained exactly where she was.
When she was little, she hadn’t understood why it was so difficult for girls to fight for even the smallest things, or why mothers, despite being women themselves, instinctively told girls to do the chores more often.
Was it because girls were supposedly born “kind-hearted and sensible”?
Of course not.
Even now, she didn’t completely understand.
But so often, she felt as though this family were tied up in a dead knot that simply couldn’t be untangled, trapping her mother tightly inside.
Even though new ideas had spread into society, even though Father Lin knew women should be respected, and Jiang Hongmei knew that having a job gave a woman confidence, nothing truly changed.
Jiang Hongmei still washed clothes and cooked every day. She still served meals into bowls and placed them before her husband. She scrubbed his clothes clean so he could dress neatly. Whenever anything happened, she always thought of Father Lin’s feelings and opinions first. Even when she felt wronged, she never dared argue.
Watching this day after day, it was only natural that children would grow up saying, “Isn’t washing dishes supposed to be girls’ work?”
It seemed as though no one was actually at fault.
Her mother was still the hardworking, capable good woman praised by everyone for miles around back in her hometown. What made a good woman? One who took excellent care of her husband and kept the household spotless and well managed.
Being able to marry into the city and pull her feet out of the yellow earth was considered the greatest reward for Jiang Hongmei’s diligence and capability. All the relatives and friends back in the village envied her for her “good fortune.”
Lin Qiaozhi suddenly asked, “Mother, how are your literacy classes going?”
She would be brave one more time.
She would try again, and embrace the little girl who had once been trapped in an impossible knot, full of hurt and confusion.
She didn’t know whether she would succeed.
But no matter the outcome, she wouldn’t regret it.
As long as she was walking the right path, even if it meant disappointment and getting hurt, she hoped she would never let fear hold her back.
Jiang Hongmei froze for a moment, not understanding how the conversation had suddenly gone from “Let’s buy your father a jug of wine so he can celebrate” to “How’s the literacy class going?”
“It’s… it’s going okay.”
Lin Qiaozhi picked up a book and handed it to Jiang Hongmei. “Read it to me.”
Jiang Hongmei looked at the book that had been stuffed into her hands. “Listen to you. You’re the daughter, yet now you’re trying to manage your own mother.”
“Don’t you still want a job?”
“The literacy class is almost over, and I still haven’t heard a thing. Don’t tell me you’ve been fooled?” Meeting Lin Qiaozhi’s stern gaze, her tone immediately softened. “Alright, alright, let me have a look…”
She lowered her head and flipped through the book, turning page after page. After searching for a while, she finally found one with fewer, simpler characters and began reading.
Her finger pointed at each character as she read them one by one.
She stumbled through the words. “Qiaozhi, take a look for Mother. Is this character pronounced gong?”
Lin Qiaozhi glanced at it. It was song (松).
Her brows knitted together. “Mother, haven’t you always wanted a job? Why aren’t you taking your studies more seriously?”
Jiang Hongmei felt guilty for a moment, but then she thought, She’s not the literacy teacher. She’s my own daughter, the one I gave birth to.
Her confidence immediately returned. “You’ve really gotten bold, haven’t you? Now you’re throwing your weight around with your own mother? There are so many things to do around this house. Washing clothes, cooking, sweeping the floor, wiping the table, washing dishes, scrubbing shoes, tending the coal stove, hanging laundry, folding clothes, sewing and mending…”
As she spoke, tears began to well up.
“Other families have children to help out, but I don’t have anyone. Before this, I was worrying over your brother’s job. I asked you to help him out and teach him, but you refused no matter what I said. Now you’re busy, and he’s repeating his studies. There’s not a single person at home to lend a hand. Where am I supposed to find the time to memorize all this…”
“Enough.”
Lin Qiaozhi cut her off. If she let her continue, she’d start recounting all the hardships of the first half of her life and lamenting how miserable her fate was.
“I’ll say this one more time. I will never teach Lin Jiadong fitter work.” If Lin Jiadong learned the trade, he’d cling to her for the rest of his life, like a leech in a rice paddy latching onto bare skin, impossible to pry off.
She looked straight into Jiang Hongmei’s eyes, her voice calm and steady.
“Mother, I’ll be graduating soon. I’ll be able to work.”
For some reason, panic suddenly welled up in Jiang Hongmei’s heart.
Lin Qiaozhi took a deep breath. “You know I’ve always been cold-hearted. You’ve said it yourself, that your daughter’s heart is made of iron.” She paused. “You need a job. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to stand tall for the rest of your life.”
Whenever she was bullied, all she could do was wipe away her tears and say her life was miserable.
“N-no, that’s not…” Jiang Hongmei awkwardly tried to explain. What did she mean by her heart being made of iron? Those had just been angry words. How could she still be holding a grudge over them?
But she had truly been frightened.
Perhaps even her subconscious was warning her.
She sat somewhat helplessly at the desk in the inner room, wiping her hands against her sides, unsure where to put them.
She had no idea how many times she had wiped this desk clean over the years, yet this was the first time in her life she had sat here to study.
After thinking for a moment, Lin Qiaozhi handed her one of Director Meng’s propaganda quotation collections.
She had compiled it herself over the years, carefully pasting quotations into a notebook one by one until it had become a thick volume.
She spoke frankly. “When the leaders come for the inspection, they won’t ask you any difficult professional questions. Besides literacy, they’ll probably be looking more at your spirit and ideological outlook.” After a brief pause, she added, “And it’ll be soon.”
Jiang Hongmei’s heart trembled. “Soon?”
Lin Qiaozhi didn’t waste another word. She opened the quotation book and pointed to the first entry.
“Women hold up half the sky and can remake mountains and rivers.”
“The working class is the greatest class in human history.”
“Women are not childbearing machines. Women are not housemaids!”
…
The voices of a young woman and a middle-aged woman intertwined.
Again and again, they echoed throughout the room.
Lin Qiaozhi made an agreement with her. Every day at home, she would tutor her one-on-one for half an hour. She instructed, “While you’re home during the day, copy every new quotation at least ten times.”
By evening, the atmosphere at home really was joyful.
Several good dishes were laid out on the table, a rare sight. Father Lin drank a little wine, his face and neck flushed red with delight as he proudly declared, “You have no idea how jealous Old Zhao and the others were today!”
He slapped the table excitedly. “Who was that? That was Engineer Lu! Ha! He took a liking to my daughter. Just imagine what that’ll mean in the future!”
Jiang Hongmei urged him to drink less. “Haven’t you just started learning to drive trucks on the road? What if Zhou Chang happens to have a delivery run tomorrow and takes you along, letting you drive part of the way? Don’t let drinking hold you back and leave you regretting it.”
Strangely enough, Hongqi Factory was exceptionally strict about alcohol. Anyone who reported for work smelling of liquor would receive a demerit and become ineligible for the Outstanding Worker award. There wasn’t another factory in all of Jiangcheng that took drinking this seriously.
“Alright, alright. Today’s a happy day. No point turning good news into bad.”
Father Lin then went back to talking about learning to drive heavy trucks, unable to hide his excitement.
Even Lin Jiadong, who had been coming home with a sour face every day lately, no longer dared make any sarcastic remarks. He simply kept his head down and ate in silence.
Lin Qiaozhi paid him no attention, helping herself to piece after piece of meat without the slightest hesitation.
Deep-fried lotus root balls!
Potatoes braised with pork belly slices!
When the cafeteria chef saw Jiang Hongmei, he had clearly heard about what had happened that day. He gave them generous portions, scooping from the bottom where all the rich, oily gravy had collected. It tasted unbelievably delicious.
In the past, her family could only enjoy meat dishes this good and this fragrant during the New Year.
After going so long without enough oil or fat in their diet, eating the same few local seasonal vegetables day after day, suddenly tasting rich fried and braised dishes felt so delicious it was as if her tongue might melt away from the flavor.
Lin Qiaozhi felt there simply weren’t words to describe that sense of satisfaction. With every breath she took, waves of blissful fullness seemed to wash over her.
She patted her stomach and savored the feeling for a while.
The autumn breeze drifted by as she lay on a bamboo lounge chair, quietly watching the clothes on the washing line sway back and forth.
After dinnertime had passed, every household began clearing away their bowls and chopsticks, and the children all ran outside to play and work off their meals.
Lin Qiaozhi redid her hair and washed her face.
Then, full of energy, she headed out to borrow books.
She was going to the Railway Bureau with Engineer Lu!
Even though she knew she was only tagging along and probably wouldn’t be of much help, she still wanted to prepare as thoroughly as she could.
She borrowed two books on railway technology from A Shui and Teacher Qin.
When Lin Qiaozhi returned home, she lit the lamp and buried herself in reading.
There was only one desk in the house. Lin Jiadong was sitting beside it and grumbled unhappily, “Did you move my side of the desk?”
“Mother sat there to study for a while.”
Lin Qiaozhi didn’t even look up.
She stayed up until midnight, skimming through both books from beginning to end and gaining a basic understanding of the railway system.
Their industrial foundation was still far too weak.
Although Qingdao in Shandong had already begun producing China’s domestically built Liberation-class “August First” steam locomotive, production capacity still couldn’t keep up. Many railway depots across the country were still using locomotives captured years earlier.
The country’s several thousand locomotives came from nine different countries, encompassing as many as two hundred different models. Some people in the West even jokingly referred to New China as the “Museum of International Locomotives.”
Lin Qiaozhi felt a heaviness settle in her heart, as though it had been rubbed with grit. She couldn’t quite describe what she was feeling.
Before falling asleep, she couldn’t help recalling what one of her teachers had once said: “A nation without a steel industry will never have a backbone!”
With locomotives on her mind, she soon drifted into sleep.
In her dream, Lin Qiaozhi opened her eyes. It was a completely new dream. Nearby, someone was arguing.
“I want to break off the engagement! Just because you’re a permanent employee at the Railway Bureau doesn’t mean I have to marry you…”
She blinked in surprise.
At least it wasn’t another blind date. She let out a sigh of relief, then took a few extra looks at the girl in the dream. She had very fair skin and bright eyes with white teeth.
Following the noisy crowd, she made her way toward the railway.
She saw steam locomotives chugging along the tracks, belching black smoke with rhythmic clanking sounds.
She also saw the depot workers coming and going, laboring diligently.
She watched the dream for two nights in a row.
At last, the day to set out arrived!
Lin Qiaozhi got up early that morning.
Even Jiang Hongmei generously stuffed a few grain coupons into her hand. “Go to the cafeteria and have a bowl of hot dry noodles. They’ll keep you full. You’re going out with Engineer Lu today, so be proactive and make a good impression, understand?”
“I know!”
She also reminded Jiang Hongmei, “Remember to copy the quotations at home too. Study hard, and don’t spend all your time worrying about Jiandong. You can’t study in his place.”
She had kindly advised Lin Jiandong to start looking for a job as early as possible, but there was nothing she could do if he refused to listen. He even thought she had ulterior motives and couldn’t bear to see him do well.
Lin Qiaozhi had washed her hair the day before.
In the morning, all she had to do was comb it, put on the work uniform she had pressed with a basin of hot water in an enamel mug, and she looked clean and neat from head to toe!
She looked especially bright and spirited!
After breakfast, they didn’t need to go to school and headed straight to the factory entrance to wait.
“Good morning, Lin Qiaozhi!”
Someone suddenly came over to greet her.
Turning her head, she smiled. “Xu Guanping.”
He was the most technically skilled student in the third year. They had run into each other many times in the workshop classroom.
Xu Guanping tugged at his clothes, straightened his collar, took several deep breaths, then stood beside her. “Are you nervous?”
Lin Qiaozhi hadn’t been nervous at first, but watching him made her feel nervous too. She kept it off her face and answered as calmly as she could, “Not really.”
“Figures. You’re brave, so of course you’re not nervous.” Xu Guanping muttered, sounding a little envious.
One after another, teachers and senior engineers arrived and stood waiting with them at the entrance.
Engineer Qiao even came over with a smile and asked, “Have you all had breakfast?”
“We have! Thank you for your concern, Engineer Qiao.” Lin Qiaozhi flashed him a bright smile, then casually struck up a conversation with him to ask about Engineer Lu’s trip to the Railway Bureau that day.
Engineer Qiao, who had only asked out of courtesy: “…”
No wonder Old Wang came back from every inspection lately and gulped down an entire large enamel mug of tea each time. Just look at her enthusiasm.
At eight o’clock sharp, Engineer Lu appeared at the entrance to the workshop.
“Engineer Lu.”
“Engineer Lu!”
…
Lu Feng nodded to them with a smile. “Let’s go in. Once we’ve inspected the workshop, we’ll head out.”
With that, he took the lead into the workshop.
The smile vanished from his face in an instant. His sharp eyes became imposing and authoritative, with the senior engineers following behind him in a formation resembling a flying-wedge formation.
Lin Qiaozhi and the other two students were like the little tail at the end of that formation.
They followed closely behind, but the veteran fitters they passed hardly paid any attention to that little tail. Instead, they all straightened up and focused on Engineer Lu.
Lin Qiaozhi had keen hearing.
Before they even got close, she could already hear people quietly warning one another from a distance.
“Engineer Lu!”
“Hurry, Engineer Lu’s here.”
“Quick, quick. Clean up your workbench. Put the scrap materials to one side…”
Lin Qiaozhi couldn’t help thinking that if she, Xu Guanping, and the others had the presence of a kitten that had accidentally wandered into the workshop, then Engineer Lu’s presence was like a fierce tiger patrolling its territory in the mountains.
The moment he entered the workshop, the entire atmosphere among the workers changed. Even the machines seemed to behave themselves a little better.
Lin Qiaozhi also noticed that more and more people had joined the flying-wedge formation.
Engineer Qiao glanced back and quietly reminded them, “Pay attention and learn. Engineer Lu only needs one glance to spot every problem with each mold being made. Just by listening to the sound of a machine running, he can tell its speed, its condition, and whether anything’s wrong.”
Lin Qiaozhi: !!!
You could do that?
She observed carefully and listened intently, but she couldn’t hear any difference at all. All she could do was listen as Engineer Lu explained the details of one mold’s production, why another lathe needed to be taken out of service for repairs, and what kinds of sounds indicated different conditions.
After they finished inspecting the workshop.
Engineer Qiao turned back to look at them.
Smiling, he asked, “Well?”
Lin Qiaozhi gave him a thumbs-up in admiration, though she sounded a little dejected. “He’s amazing. I couldn’t tell anything at all. It was only after Engineer Lu explained it that I could hear a little of the difference.”
Engineer Qiao smiled. “If you could compare with Engineer Lu, that would really be something. Think about how many years he’s been at this. His hands have touched tens of thousands of high-precision molds, and he’s listened to the sounds of who knows how many machine tools.”
He also asked Xu Guanping and the others how they felt.
Compared with Wang Baiqiang, Qiao Yuan had a much gentler personality.
Finally, he gave them a few more instructions. “When you’re out with Engineer Lu, watch more, listen more, and talk less. If there’s anything that needs doing, Engineer Lu will call for you. Stay sharp.”
Then he went back to work. It wasn’t until Lin Qiaozhi got into the car that she realized only the three of them were accompanying Engineer Lu today!!
Engineer Lu sat in the front passenger seat.
The three students sat in the back.
It was Lin Qiaozhi’s first time riding in a car in this lifetime. Feeling the engine humming beneath her and watching the familiar scenery outside the window slide backward was fascinating!
She even secretly reached out and carefully touched the seat beneath her and its leather upholstery. It was surprisingly comfortable to sit on.
The driver spoke warmly and enthusiastically. “Don’t let it bother you that we borrowed this car from the municipal government. I guarantee I drive nice and steady.”
Lin Qiaozhi had already been surprised that a car had come to pick them up. She never imagined it had even been specially borrowed from the municipal government!
Once he was away from the workshop, Engineer Lu became much more approachable. He was getting on in years, with a few strands of gray at his temples. Turning around, he smiled and asked, “So? Feeling a lot more motivated to study now?”
That joke immediately eased the tense atmosphere.
“Don’t be nervous. We’re just going to look at a broken steam locomotive at the Railway Bureau. Don’t listen to your Teacher Wang. I don’t bite.”
Lin Qiaozhi burst into laughter and boldly defended Wang Baiqiang. “Engineer Wang never said you did!”
“Ah, that’s more like it. You’re a brave girl.” Engineer Lu smiled.
At his age, he naturally liked energetic young people.
If Wang Baiqiang could see the master who had always worn such a stern face around them smiling so kindly at the younger generation, who knew what he would think.
Xu Guanping quickly suppressed his excitement and said, “Engineer Lu, I’m brave too, and my technical skills are good! Let me assist you during the training later.”
Lin Qiaozhi shot him a glare. He had claimed to be nervous, yet he was so quick to seize the chance to make a good impression!
She also asked curiously, “Engineer Lu, how did that steam locomotive break down? The Railway Bureau should have maintenance fitters too. What difficulties did they run into during the repairs?”
The Hongqi Factory also had a repair department. Whenever a tractor broke down, it was always repaired by their own maintenance fitters.
The driver smiled wryly. “There are plenty of difficulties. Otherwise, why would we keep asking Hongqi Factory for help? A lot of these old locomotives were captured years ago. Once they break down, some can be repaired, while others simply can’t. Without the technology or replacement parts, if we really can’t fix one, all we can do is strip off the usable parts and install them on locomotives that are still in service.”
He deliberately made their situation sound pitiful. After playing up their hardship, he smiled and added a flattering remark. “The truth is, this locomotive carries far too much of our operating workload. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have troubled you personally, Engineer Lu.”
When they arrived at the Railway Bureau.
One of the bureau’s deputy directors was already waiting at the entrance with a large group of people.
The moment he saw Engineer Lu step out of the car, he hurried over warmly to shake his hand. “Engineer Lu, we’ve troubled you once again.”
Then he smiled and asked, looking toward Lin Qiaozhi and the others, “And these young people are?”
Lu Feng introduced them. “They’re young trainees our factory is cultivating. They’ll all become the future backbone of Hongqi Factory, so I brought them along to broaden their horizons.”
Deputy Director Wang smiled and praised them. “Just as expected of Hongqi Factory’s young people. Look how spirited they are. Engineer Lu certainly knows how to train people.”
He quickly turned his attention back to Engineer Lu.
Engineer Lu wasn’t one for exchanging endless pleasantries or putting on airs. After a few polite words, he said he wanted to see the locomotive.
Deputy Director Wang enthusiastically led the way and arranged for a maintenance fitter to explain the situation.
“Engineer Lu, here’s what happened. The locomotive that broke down this time is our No. 584. I’m sure you’ve heard about it. A few years ago, during the construction and upgrading of the Longhai Railway, a newly built section had an extremely steep grade. Many freight trains tried several times but couldn’t make it up. It was our Jiangcheng No. 584 that hauled a load three hundred tons over its rated capacity and charged all the way to the top in one go.”
From that day on, Steam Locomotive No. 584 became famous. The Party members and young workers at its locomotive depot received commendations and took on responsibility for that important transport route.
“Everything had been fine, and we’d always taken meticulous care of it. But this time, for some reason, when it should have climbed the steep grade in one run, it suddenly lost power halfway up. The entire locomotive slid backward several hundred meters before finally coming to a stop.”
Emergency repairs were carried out on the railway.
It was then towed back by another locomotive for further repairs.
But no matter what they tried, they couldn’t fix it or identify the problem.
Engineer Lu’s expression also turned serious. “Let me have a look first.”
He began his inspection while the three of them assisted from the side, handing him tools.
They carefully examined every detail of the dismantled locomotive, and from time to time Engineer Lu would call them over to look at a particular part.
“Look at this component. The mold was probably not manufactured with sufficient precision. It assembles without any obvious problems, but it can’t fit perfectly flush against the adjacent workpiece, so after prolonged use it wears down much more severely.”
“Take a look at this transmission assembly. It’s even more efficient than the one used in our factory’s tractors.”
…
Deputy Director Wang stood nearby with his people, craning his neck to peer inside. He refused to leave. Just looking at his lips, they were practically blistering from anxiety.
Lin Qiaozhi could only understand about twenty to thirty percent of what she was seeing.
That was thanks to the general courses like Mechanical Principles she’d taken at school.
But actually repairing it was far beyond her. Even veteran fitters who had spent years in the trade hadn’t been able to identify the problem.
Her gaze drifted to the locomotive’s wheels, and her thoughts scattered back to the dream.
It seemed a little different from what she had seen.
“Lin Qiaozhi?”
Xu Guanping called to her quietly. “What are you thinking about?”
“I’m wondering if it was raining the day the train broke down,” Lin Qiaozhi said as she passed the wrench in her hand farther inside.
A middle-aged man in a railway worker’s uniform, his face smeared with soot and grime, turned to glance at her.
He stepped back two paces and said something to another equally grimy man behind him.
Lin Qiaozhi continued pondering.
Standing on tiptoe, she watched Engineer Lu’s troubleshooting process step by step.
Deputy Director Wang approached her with another man, smiling warmly. In a voice low enough not to disturb Engineer Lu, he asked, “Young comrade, may I ask your name?”
Somewhat surprised, Lin Qiaozhi answered honestly, “My name is Lin Qiaozhi. You can just call me Xiao Lin.”
Seeing her youthful face, Deputy Director Wang guessed she couldn’t be more than eighteen, probably only fifteen or sixteen. Inwardly, he sighed. Why was it always Hongqi Factory that managed to cultivate talented people?
Outwardly, however, he remained composed and smiled as he explained why he’d come. “You’re too modest. Engineer Lu said you youngsters are the future pillars of Hongqi Factory. Calling you Engineer Lin wouldn’t be inappropriate. It’s like this: one of our workers just mentioned that he heard you say it was raining the day the breakdown happened.”
Lin Qiaozhi paused in surprise before nodding. “I was only guessing that it might have been raining that day. You’re too kind. I’m still just a student.”
She naturally understood that it wasn’t her place to put on airs. Deputy Director Wang was only being so courteous out of respect for Engineer Lu.
Deputy Director Wang gave the man beside him a look, and the young fellow stepped forward, flashing a simple smile that revealed a row of white teeth.
Lin Qiaozhi: “…”
Her eyes widened in surprise.
“You’ve probably never heard it before, young comrade. We railway folks have a saying: from afar we look like beggars, up close we look like coal pickers, and on closer inspection we’re from the locomotive depot.” The young man joked with a grin before pointing to where he’d been standing earlier. “I was standing right over there just now when I heard what you said. The day our locomotive broke down, it really was drizzling. May I ask how you knew?”
Lin Qiaozhi hesitated for a moment before replying, “I didn’t see a sanding device on this locomotive.”
Even though it had only been a dream, she thought it made perfect sense.
Just then, Engineer Lu bent over and climbed out of the steam locomotive’s cab. Fresh streaks of gray-black grime covered his body, layers of coal dust left behind by the coal-burning steam engine.
He handed his tools to someone nearby and said, “I’ve roughly identified the source of the problem. Let’s try replacing it with a spring-type flexible coupling and see if that works.”
Deputy Director Wang immediately turned around and had someone write it down at once, then instructed them to try repairing it according to that plan.
Engineer Lu swept his gaze across the scene. Years of frontline experience told him something had probably happened, so he asked, “What’s going on?”
Deputy Director Wang briefly explained what had just happened.
In fact, by the time their steam locomotive had passed that stretch of railway that day, the rain had already stopped. If the worker from the locomotive depot hadn’t happened to overhear the conversation, even he wouldn’t have known about it.
So beneath Deputy Director Wang’s astonishment was also a trace of admiration for Lin Qiaozhi.
Engineer Lu wiped his hands with a hot towel. After thinking for a while, he looked at Lin Qiaozhi. “Tell me. What made you think of it?”
Lin Qiaozhi had also begun to piece it together. She adjusted her explanation slightly and said thoughtfully, “I noticed the rails had been polished extremely smooth from long-term wear, and I thought about how a slope the locomotive had previously been able to climb suddenly became impossible this time. I figured it might have been caused by wheel slip. There wasn’t enough friction between the wheels and the rails, so there wasn’t enough braking force either.”
Then she added, “So I thought you could try manually spreading sand on the rails, or use some kind of device to do it, or something similar, to increase the friction between the wheels and the rails.”
Deputy Director Wang had originally come from a technical background himself. He turned the idea over in his mind.
The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
Engineer Lu thoughtfully removed the jacket issued by the Railway Bureau and said, “The Railway Bureau can first test it on a decommissioned locomotive. It should be especially useful when climbing grades, on wet rails, and during emergency braking.”
“Excellent!” Deputy Director Wang’s smile became even more enthusiastic. This could benefit not only railway operations but also count as a political achievement. “If it really works, I’ll make sure Engineer Lin gets the credit.”
Engineer Lu let out an amused “Heh,” looking rather pleased with himself, then smiled at Lin Qiaozhi. “Not bad. One trip out here, and you’ve already become Engineer Lin?”
Suppressing the pounding of her heart by clenching her palms, Lin Qiaozhi smiled shyly. “Deputy Director Wang is giving me far too much credit.”
During the rest of the training session, Xu Guanping took over all of the demonstration work with his superior technical skills, while Lin Qiaozhi sat taking notes in a daze.
She felt as though she’d discovered something extraordinary.
During the training for the Railway Bureau’s maintenance fitters, the steam locomotive repaired according to Engineer Lu’s suggestion finally started running again.
When the news spread, everyone erupted into cheers.
The Railway Bureau’s leaders were overjoyed, warmly insisting everyone stay for a meal and even arranging a large group photograph.
Engineer Lu was pushed into the very center. Even the Railway Bureau’s leaders stood only as supporting figures beside him. Everyone enthusiastically praised him, and the photographer aimed the lighting equipment squarely at him in the center.
Lin Qiaozhi was so envious that she could hardly take her eyes off him.
Feeling her heart pound in her chest, she flashed a radiant smile as the photographer shouted, “Three, two, one, smile!”
The photograph froze forever the blazing fighting spirit and ambition of fifteen-year-old Lin Qiaozhi.
After returning to Hongqi Factory, Lin Qiaozhi immediately took out pen and paper, intending to write down more of the things she had once seen in her dream.
For example, the sixty-ton heavy-duty mining dump truck.
But as she held the pen over the blank sheet, she found herself completely unable to recall what she had once seen.
Cold sweat beaded across Lin Qiaozhi’s forehead.
Something was wrong. She had clearly spent a long time in that machinery factory. There was no way she should remember nothing.
She forced herself to recall it.
She remembered how the girl in the dream had gone on a blind date at the state-owned restaurant, exactly what meat dishes she’d ordered, and how she’d handled leaving her announcer job. Everything about the girl in the dream remained crystal clear.
But those mannequin-like people seemed to have truly been nothing more than the dream’s blurry background scenery, existing only to decorate those vivid stories. Once the dream ended, they faded away with it, impossible to remember no matter how hard she tried.
She bit her lip.
She carefully thought through everything she had learned in the dream.
Her eyes suddenly widened. She thought she understood now. She had to truly understand something herself. Either she had to fully comprehend it and retain it in her mind, or hammer and carve it into instinct through repeated practice.
She could still remember the sanding device after waking because she had understood the principle behind it.
But when she’d gone to see that enormous sixty-ton heavy-duty dump truck, she had understood almost nothing. She had been like a tiny ant wandering into the vast world of heavy industry.
She had focused solely on practicing her hammering techniques.
So she couldn’t remember any of the details, only a hazy impression that it had been an enormous machine that had filled her with pride.
Lin Qiaozhi’s heart became even more anxious.
Not only was the threat of death steadily pressing closer with the passage of time, but having a treasure trove before her without knowing how to access it left her even more desperate.
She knew far too little, while the world of the steel industry was unimaginably vast.
Holding onto that determination, Lin Qiaozhi buried herself in her studies.
She studied all the way until the end of the semester.
The final examinations consisted of two parts: a written exam and a practical exam.
The graduating class, because job assignments were involved, took their examinations earlier.
The schedules were staggered.
Lin Qiaozhi applied to take both the first-year and third-year written examinations. At the same time, she also requested that during her class’s practical examination, she be assessed on disassembling and reassembling a lathe as well.
There was no turning back. Lin Qiaozhi had only one thought in her mind: she had to pass everything on the first attempt.