Chapter 29: Double Perfect Scores

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“Now I announce that Comrade Li Aiguo has scored a perfect hundred in the practical examination.”

“This is also the first perfect score in our entire division.”

“Let us all congratulate Comrade Li Aiguo!”

“Comrade Li Aiguo’s spirit of striving for perfection is something every one of us should learn from.”

As the chief examiner finished speaking, the entire venue erupted.

Cao Wenzhi charged forward, hoisted Li Aiguo into the air, and shouted in delight, “Good lad! You’ve brought honor to our locomotive depot! Once you’re assigned to a train, I’ll personally train you.”

Liu Chunhua curled her lips. “Old Cao, you’re celebrating a little too soon. The written examination results haven’t been released yet. Who will actually be able to take the controls as a driver is still uncertain.”

The leaders and candidates from the other sections stared at her in astonishment.

Their section had produced the top scorer in the practical examination, yet instead of beating drums and setting off firecrackers, the team leader was making sarcastic remarks.

There was something wrong with this woman!

Cao Wenzhi’s face darkened at once.

If there had not been so many people watching, he would have confronted Liu Chunhua on the spot.

He reached out and patted Li Aiguo on the arm. “Don’t pay any attention to her. Once we get back to the locomotive depot, I’ll report this to the depot chief.”

“Master Cao, we’re not the sort of people who fail to see the bigger picture.” Li Aiguo chuckled.

Since the examination was still in progress, Li Aiguo had no choice but to remain at the venue and watch the other candidates take their tests.

The remaining candidates performed only moderately. Of the lot, just two candidates from the Harbin section scored above eighty.

While Li Aiguo was making idle conversation with Zhang Dahua, a voice came from the distance.

“Which one of you is Comrade Li Aiguo?”

“Over here!”

Li Aiguo raised his right hand high.

The newcomer was Wang Xiangrui, deputy director of the Education Office.

To avoid disturbing Li Aiguo during the practical examination, he had waited nearby for quite some time.

Only after hearing that Li Aiguo had received a perfect score did he hurry over.

Li Aiguo did not know Wang Xiangrui.

Liu Chunhua, however, was the director of the locomotive depot’s Education Office and was very familiar with this superior of hers.

With a broad smile, she hurried forward. “Director Wang, was there some problem with Li Aiguo’s written examination paper…? I understand now. He must have cheated and been caught by you, isn’t that right?”

Wang Xiangrui stared at her in bewilderment. “What are you talking about? Comrade Li Aiguo received a perfect score on the written examination. Engineer Dong even praised his solution to the final major problem.”

“Engineer Dong would like to discuss the solution with Comrade Li Aiguo, so he specifically sent me to invite him.”

“What?”

Liu Chunhua felt as though lightning had struck directly before her eyes. Her head began to throb, and her body swayed.

Fortunately, Liu Erfeng reacted quickly and stepped forward to support her, preventing her from falling.

Her face was deathly pale, her eyes vacant and bewildered.

Li Aiguo was merely a technical-school graduate, yet he was going to discuss a problem with an engineer?

How could that possibly be?

She wanted to find out exactly what had happened, but Wang Xiangrui paid her no attention. He walked over to Li Aiguo and explained the matter to him.

It seemed the sandbags had attracted the attention of the higher-ups…

Li Aiguo nodded. “I’ll go with you now.”

After the two men left, silence descended over the venue.

The news Director Wang had brought was simply too shocking.

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A perfect score in both subjects, and his design drawing had even caught Engineer Dong’s attention.

How many brains did this man have?

Zhang Shan pulled out a cigarette, struck a match, lit it, and inhaled deeply.

Watching Li Aiguo’s retreating figure, he narrowed his eyes slightly. “It seems our locomotive depot has gained quite an extraordinary young fellow.”

Cao Wenzhi had also come to his senses by now. He turned toward Liu Chunhua and gave a cold laugh.

“Director Liu, I warned you long ago not to go too far. Li Aiguo’s father offended you during the classification of social backgrounds, but he was merely being honest with the organization.

“Your grandfather owned twenty mu of fertile land in Mawan, outside the capital. During the busy farming season, he even hired laborers. By the official standards, he should have been classified as a middle peasant.

“Yet you insisted on deceiving the organization and pretending to be a poor peasant.

“Even if Li Aiguo’s father had not spoken up, other comrades would have raised objections. But you were narrow-minded and held a grudge against him.

“Then you took your anger out on a child.

“Was that appropriate?

“Well, are you satisfied now? Li Aiguo has scored a perfect hundred in both subjects. He’ll certainly be named an outstanding worker. And Engineer Dong has summoned him as well.

“His future is limitless.

“You’ve practically made yourself a formidable enemy.”

Faced with Cao Wenzhi’s reproach, Liu Chunhua merely smiled dismissively. “Old Cao, what formidable enemy? I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I’m only a team leader. Why would I quarrel with a candidate?

“Besides, I’m a leader. Even if Li Aiguo passes the examination, he’ll still be nothing more than a driver.

“If he has even the slightest sense, he’ll pretend nothing ever happened.”

Liu Erfeng, standing beside her, nodded in agreement. “Exactly. My sister was only following the regulations. Li Aiguo ought to understand that.”

Some people could not be persuaded even with the kindest words.

Seeing that the two of them had no intention of repenting, Cao Wenzhi shook his head with a bitter smile and stopped paying them any attention.

Though Liu Chunhua’s tongue was sharp, she felt uneasy inside.

Before the examination had even ended, she mounted her bicycle and returned to the Front Gate Locomotive Depot.

After changing into clean clothes and carefully dressing herself up, she pushed open the deputy depot chief’s office door.

“Oh, Deputy Chief Liu, I’ve been bullied~” Liu Chunhua said with a pout, her eyes seductive and her face glowing with coquettish charm.

…

Li Aiguo followed Wang Xiangrui, deputy director of the Education Office.

When they arrived at Engineer Dong’s office, they found that Engineer Dong had already been waiting for quite some time.

“Engineer Dong, this is Comrade Li Aiguo.”

“You two talk. I still have work to do, so I’ll be leaving first.”

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After making the introduction, Wang Xiangrui noticed that Engineer Dong was staring fixedly at Li Aiguo, as though he had completely forgotten that anyone else was there. He gave an awkward laugh, closed the door, and quietly departed.

Only after the door had shut did Engineer Dong finally withdraw his gaze. Smiling, he said, “A true hero emerges in youth. Come, have a seat.”

He pushed aside the documents piled on the chair and cleared a space.

After inviting Li Aiguo to sit down, he poured him a cup of hot tea in an enamel mug and added a pinch of broken tea leaves.

The room was soon filled with a faint fragrance of tea.

Li Aiguo took a small sip and smiled. “Engineer Dong, may I ask why you invited me here?”

Rustle.

Before he had even finished speaking, Engineer Dong spread the examination paper across the desk. His eyes gleamed.

“This paper is yours, isn’t it?”

Seeing the familiar handwriting, Li Aiguo nodded.

“And the idea of installing sandbags on top of a train was yours as well?”

Li Aiguo nodded again.

“What about the lower half of the drawing? Don’t you know that an incomplete technical drawing is an insult to the field of engineering?” Engineer Dong’s mouth twitched.

“There wasn’t enough room left on the examination paper…” Li Aiguo replied calmly.

“But there was still the back!” Engineer Dong pinched the bridge of his nose. “You could have drawn it there…”

“…”

Li Aiguo was silent for a moment before raising his head. “You invited me here just to discuss whether the drawing was complete?”

“Ah, no, not exactly.”

Engineer Dong took out a design drawing and spread it before Li Aiguo.

“I believe that installing sandbags on top of a train is entirely feasible. The results obtained through calculation have also confirmed my theory.”

“Once the sandbags are installed on the roof, the train will no longer be at risk of slipping off the rails when it rains or when it encounters a steep incline.”

“However, your drawing contained only the first half, so I took the liberty of completing the second half according to my own ideas.”

“Take a look and see whether I’ve overlooked anything.”

Li Aiguo raised his eyebrows as he studied the design.

To have completed the drawing in less than half a day, this engineer was clearly no ordinary man.

However…

He leaned forward and pointed at the diagram. “The angle of this sand-delivery pipe is a little too shallow. Sand isn’t water. It won’t slide down smoothly.”

An assistant engineer standing nearby muttered under his breath, “Li Aiguo, since you’ve brought that up, I happen to have a question I’d like to ask you about.”

Li Aiguo paused briefly, then looked up at the young man in the white shirt. His eyes narrowed slightly.

The man in the white shirt had spent most of the afternoon in the office, helping Engineer Dong complete the drawing.

If he had a question, why had he not asked Engineer Dong directly? Why wait until Li Aiguo arrived?

Was he planning to use him as a stepping stone?

The young man looked broad-browed and honest, but apparently there were plenty of twists and turns in his mind.

“Liu, what are you doing? Can’t you see that Comrade Aiguo and I are discussing a problem?” Engineer Dong had not expected his assistant to speak up so suddenly. He was about to ask him to sit down when Li Aiguo waved his hand.

“If Comrade Liu has a question, he can ask it openly. We can study it together.”

…

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