Chapter 28: Perfect Score

The first step to starting a steam locomotive: shoveling coal.

The stoker received a signal from Li Aiguo. He grabbed the shovel, turned 180 degrees, bent his waist, and scooped up a full load of coal with a sharp clatter. Turning back, he pressed the furnace door switch with his left foot.

The moment the furnace opened, he gripped the handle with his left hand in front and his right in back. With a forward thrust and a flick of his wrists, he scattered the coal into the furnace in a perfect, uniform fan shape, like petals falling from the sky.

"Whoosh!" A tongue of flame surged out.

The stoker gently lifted his foot, and the furnace door slammed shut instantly. Such a graceful and effortless display of technique could not have been mastered in less than a decade.

Before Li Aiguo could even finish his internal praise, he noticed the light in the cab had dimmed significantly. The clear gauges suddenly appeared hazy, and as he sniffed the air, he caught a whiff of pungent coal smoke. Looking back, he saw that as the stoker continuously shoveled coal, thick, billowing smoke poured from the furnace. The cab was soon filled with swirling smog, much like the alchemical furnace of the Great Sage Laozi.

Li Aiguo looked out the left window, but everything was a blur; he couldn't see a thing. Yet, the middle-aged engineer seemed long accustomed to this, puffing away on a cigarette amidst the thick smoke. The two examiners also wore expressions suggesting that this was perfectly normal.

Very well. The working conditions for a train engineer were indeed this harsh. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Li Aiguo stood up and blew the whistle. After settling himself, he gripped the ring-shaped handle to his upper left, and the bottom of the train emitted a rhythmic, chugging exhaust sound. Instantly, thick white smoke rose on both sides of the train. Under the shroud of curling mist, the massive locomotive looked like a mount from a fantasy world—only it couldn't fly.

As the train picked up speed, the smoke in the cab dissipated quite a bit, and his vision began to clear. Li Aiguo took a deep breath, pushed the handle forward, released the small brake, and pulled the throttle...

Feeling the pressure against his back from the steel-framed seat, Li Aiguo’s focus became razor-sharp, and he stood up from time to time to survey the tracks ahead. Especially when passing through rural crossings, he would stand up well in advance.

Seeing Li Aiguo’s demeanor, the middle-aged engineer nodded in satisfaction. "You kid, you certainly value your life."

"No choice, sir. I haven't yet seen our country grow strong and prosperous, nor have I seen imperialism fall. Naturally, I have to keep my hide intact," Li Aiguo replied jokingly, all the while skillfully manipulating the controls.

"..." The middle-aged engineer fell silent for a moment before turning to the two examiners behind him. "Little Wang, is being a smart-aleck a point-deduction item?"

"Master Zhang, that isn't on the list. Please bear with him," the young examiner replied, his lips twitching as he suppressed a laugh.

The middle-aged engineer shook his head with a bitter smile. This young man, Li Aiguo, hadn't made a single mistake since stepping onto the train. His demonstrated driving level was even higher than his own—and he was a veteran engineer who had served on the Korean battlefield. Every operation was so decisive, so perfectly timed.

However... there had never been a perfect score in the practical exam. But there was no need to rush; when it came time to stop and disembark, he would surely find an opportunity to deduct a few points.

Li Aiguo, however, was not as relaxed as he appeared. Although he possessed superior driving skills in his mind thanks to the system, translating those mental blueprints into physical actions was no simple task. It was the classic case of the brain saying, "I've got it!" while the hands replied, "No, you don't." Tall buildings rise from the ground; to become a true train engineer, he still needed to progress through actual practice.

The journey of over ten kilometers passed in the blink of an eye. After rounding a bend through the switch tracks, the train sped toward the departure point. Hearing the approaching roar, all the examinees on site looked up in unison.

The middle-aged engineer straightened up and, along with the two examiners, fixed his gaze on Li Aiguo. Now came the most critical step: the stop. Along the entire route, they hadn't found a single reason to deduct points. Now, they could only pin their hopes on the most difficult phase.

Li Aiguo smiled faintly, stood up to scan the distance ahead, and instantly calculated the braking distance in his mind. His hands, already poised and ready, gripped the two brake handles firmly. A harsh screeching sound of wheels grinding against rails rose from beneath the train, and its speed began to drop. Slower, and slower...

Everyone’s eyes were locked on the first set of wheels. The blackened steel inched toward the white lime line. Inch by inch...

Stop.

"Wow!" The crowd erupted like boiling water. The front wheels of the train had stopped perfectly on the white lime line.

"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible!" Liu Erfeng rubbed his eyes.

Liu Chunhua furrowed her brows. "That kid is truly lucky."

The happiest of them all was Zhang Dahua. She sprinted to the front of the locomotive and shouted at Li Aiguo, "You have to treat us to a meal for this!"

Li Aiguo: ...

Inside the locomotive, the two examiners looked at each other in dismay. Was the first perfect score in the history of the main depot’s practical exam about to happen?

The middle-aged engineer gave a strange smile and signaled to them with a wink, indicating they shouldn't be so hasty. Tightening his collar, he stood up and pulled a cigarette from his pocket, offering it to Li Aiguo.

"Here, little comrade, you did well. Have one."

Li Aiguo was righteous and firm, waving his hand in refusal. "I'm sorry, I am a train engineer. According to the driver's code, one cannot smoke while operating a train."

"..." The middle-aged engineer paused. "You didn't say that just a moment ago."

"Just now, I hadn't passed the exam yet. I wasn't an official train engineer, so I didn't need to hold myself to those standards," Li Aiguo replied with unshakeable justification.

Fine, the kid was a slippery one—he had just avoided another point-deduction. No matter, there were still opportunities. The middle-aged engineer took a deep breath, calmed himself, and spoke with a kindly tone, "Little comrade, congratulations on passing the practical exam. You may disembark now."

"Thank you!"

The moment Li Aiguo pulled open the door, the middle-aged engineer and the two examiners stared at him intensely. They were ready to pull out their pens and deduct ten points the moment he jumped off.

But Li Aiguo didn't jump. Instead, he grabbed the two handles on the cab doorway and swung down like a monkey. As he landed, he stood facing the locomotive.

The middle-aged engineer: ...
The two examiners: ...

Li Aiguo smiled at them. "Sorry, my father taught me that a train engineer should never face away from the locomotive when getting off. Do you think this is acceptable?"

"It is acceptable..."

The middle-aged engineer suddenly burst into hearty laughter. "I never expected the first perfect score in our depot to be born under my hand, Zhang Shan."

"Zhang Shan, oh Zhang Shan, you were too attached to the outcome. As long as the skill is there, what does a perfect score matter!"

Zhang Shan... Li Aiguo tasted the name, his heart skipping a beat as he looked up at the middle-aged engineer.

"Are you the 'Big Engineer Zhang' who was sent to the Korean battlefield by our main depot back then?"

Li Aiguo had heard his father mention it. When the war broke out, to quickly transport supplies, the main depot had selected a large number of excellent engineers to go to Korea. Li Aiguo’s father had bitten his finger to sign the application in blood, but because Li Aiguo was still young and needed care, the request was rejected by superiors. Twenty engineers were selected in total, and only five returned. Of those, Zhang Shan was the only one who came back physically unscathed. Moreover, he had returned with military medals. Ever since, Zhang Shan had become a legendary figure in the depot.

Zhang Shan fell silent for a moment after hearing this, looked at Li Aiguo, and said, "What 'Big Engineer Zhang'? The real Big Engineer Zhang died on the battlefield with his old comrades. My name is Zhang Shan, and I am just an ordinary train engineer."

His weather-beaten face, illuminated by the golden sunset, appeared exceptionally solemn and desolate.