A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

While Jiang Xia and the other man were inspecting the place, Zheng Aiguo took a basket of steamed buns from the kitchen of the small station.

He took a few and gave them to his co-driver, while the rest he took to the front of the sealed carriage.

He picked up the small iron hammer he carried with him and began to rhythmically tap the iron plate at the bottom of the carriage.

The carriage door was opened from the inside, and Zheng Aiguo handed in the cornbread, whispering, "After this station, it has to be sealed. Remember, absolutely no stoves are allowed inside!"

During a break, the stoker, Old Zhao, passed in a kettle and a wooden bucket.

"Thanks for your hard work!"

"I guarantee the mission will be accomplished!" Inside the carriage, a pair of hands covered in blue veins reached out and shook hands with Zheng Aiguo.

Then the carriage door was slammed shut. Zheng Aiguo took a chain, wrapped it around his wrist, and put a padlock on it. Two men in dark blue uniforms came out of the station. One of them was holding a red-hot crucible and poured the hot water directly onto the padlock.

Then, some cold water was poured in, and while the lead weight was still soft, another person pressed it down with a numbered flat-headed iron skewer.

Once everything was done, a red road sign was handed to the co-driver.

Only then did the group have time to chat.

One of the men in a dark uniform offered a cigarette to each of the three drivers: "Hey, Lao Zheng. Take care of that little brat with the ahoge later."

"Hey, what's so special about this kid?"

"I don't know, it was ordered by someone online. But it seems that the tractors you transported later were all designed by him."

"Huh, I didn't realize that!"

"Oh, right, if you're bored on the way, tell him more about your experiences up north—that's what they said too."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Aiguo's hand trembled, and a few sparks from the lit cigarette drifted far away in the wind.

"What's there to talk about? I'm just a train driver."

The man in the dark uniform paused for a moment, then said, "Tell us about it. We can't let people forget!"

Zheng Aiguo exhaled a puff of smoke and stepped heavily onto the train: "It's time to depart!"

"By the way, the first-grade coal is gone. What's being loaded onto the truck is second-grade coal. Be careful when you're going uphill later!"

A screwdriver flew out of the driver's seat: "Is this your main purpose, you bastard?!"

"Old Zhao, use the second-grade coal for now, and switch back to the original first-grade coal when we're going uphill. Call those two lads back, we're setting off!"

As he spoke, he fired three long blasts of the steam whistle.

Hearing the train whistle, Li Tiejun pulled Jiang Xia and ran towards the locomotive.

"Hey? Why are you running? There are still a few left to watch!"

"Three long whistles signal the evacuation of protective personnel; the train is about to leave! If we don't hurry, we'll be left behind. The train won't wait!"

Jiang Xia followed behind Tie Jun, running with uneven steps, the stones paved beside the railway painfully digging into the soles of his feet.

After finally reaching the concrete ground of the platform, Tie Jun assumed a horse stance and clasped his hands together.

Taking advantage of the momentum, Jiang Xia stepped onto it, and then Tie Jun threw him forcefully, sending Jiang Xia rolling onto the platform.

Then Tie Jun braced himself with both hands and effortlessly climbed onto the two-meter-high platform.

Grabbing the weakling Jiangxia, hoisting him onto his shoulder, he sprinted towards the steam locomotive, leaping over the railing in two steps and returning to the driver's cab.

Jiang Xia felt like there were mosquito coils spinning in his eyes, but thankfully, he didn't vomit. Perhaps it was because the food had been good lately, allowing him to withstand the onslaught on Tie Jun's shoulders.

The driver's commands for starting the vehicle were repeated again.

However, the stoker, Lao Zhao, seemed a bit busy. He used to be able to rest for a while after shoveling a shovel of coal, but now he appeared much more hurried.

He kept shoveling with an iron shovel, and large beads of sweat kept streaming down his forehead.

He had long since taken off his coat, and the short-sleeved work clothes he was wearing underneath were completely soaked. He looked like he had been pulled out of the water.

Zheng Aiguo frowned and looked at the pressure gauge: "Old Zhao, you can't do it alone! Ask Old Liu to help you!"

"I can do it! I've crossed that river before, and even Big Nose couldn't kill me. This little problem is no challenge for me!"

With that, he fixed the furnace door in place, mustered all his strength, and began shoveling it in with all his might.

Liu Hongqi picked up a shovel and squeezed out a space.

"Do you think you're only 40? You're practically a grandson by now! People have to accept getting old!"

With both of them working together, the pressure gauge reading rose. But they couldn't stop; there was an uphill section ahead, and insufficient pressure wouldn't do.

Before long, Liu Hongqi was also soaked.

Zheng Aiguo frowned and got up to replace Liu Hongqi.

Unexpectedly, Li Tiejun stepped forward: "Master Zheng, let me give it a try!"

As he spoke, he bent his arm, and the muscles under his sleeve seemed about to burst out of his clothes.

“You…” Zheng Aiguo looked at his old partner and nodded slightly.

Li Tiejun was overjoyed and helped the nearly exhausted Lao Zhao sit down.

He grabbed a shovel and plunged it fiercely into the coal pile.

If Old Zhao's shovel left afterimages earlier, Li Tiejun's swing was so fast that he couldn't even see a shadow—whoosh!

Liu Hongqi, one of the group members, quickly stepped back, fearing that it would affect Tie Jun's performance.

This momentum startled Zheng Aiguo, who repeatedly tried to stop him: "Young man, slow down, slow down! Don't let the furnace smolder!"

Old Zhao took a sip of water and calmed down: "Hey, this young man, he can't even keep up with three donkeys. If you came to our locomotive depot as a stoker, you'd definitely be number one!"

"Come on, take a step forward, don't be afraid of the fire, throw the coal in!"

Li Tiejun started sweating after a while, not from exhaustion, but from being roasted by the big furnace in front of him!

"Hey, you know what? I love trains the most. If I hadn't graduated from vocational school and been assigned to a steel rolling mill, I would definitely be a train driver!"

The three of them laughed, but there was something they didn't say: "If you don't go to a vocational school specializing in railways, you won't even be able to touch a single sleeper on the rails, let alone become a driver!"

However, this incident did get them talking.

"Hey, aren't you from a steel rolling mill? How come a steel rolling mill can produce tractors?"

"We have so many products now! Not only tractors, but also pressure cookers! Oh, and that hand pump well that was featured in the newspaper the other day, that was also something Jiang Xia and we worked on!"

Li Tiejun pointed at his good brother, his face beaming with excitement, but even so, his hands never stopped working.

After passing the uphill section, Zheng Aiguo played the flute.

At the same time, it was indicated that the Iron Army should slow down the rate of coal addition.

"Hey, this fire is almost as hot as our machine's furnace, it's so hot!"

Zhao Weiguo laughed heartily: "The furnace fire is red-hot, scorching my chest; it's drafty and heavily polluted; I'm sweating buckets, and the sweat just won't stop..."

"My back is cold and my clothes are wet!"

The three train crew laughed and shouted their last words.

Liu Hongqi pointed at Zheng Aiguo: "We're a little better off, but this driver has been roasted there the whole time, and his face is all tanned!"

That's right, the driver's seat is right in front of the furnace on the left, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they're connected.

Whenever the furnace door is opened, the scorching air assaults the driver standing nearby.

The window next to him was kept open for ventilation.

Zheng Aiguo glanced at the instrument in front of him and found it to be relatively stable. He then turned around, and Li Tiejun took a look.

Sure enough, one half of his face was black with a hint of white, while the other half was red with a hint of black.

The man's dark, ashen face curved into a smile as he patted Jiang Xia on the shoulder: "Kid, are you hungry?"

Jiang Xia stared absently at the screws on the front door of the furnace, lost in thought.

"Master Zheng, wasn't there a machine in front of this furnace lid before?"

"Hey kid, tell me, what other machines are there? Won't machines take up all the space for delivering coal?"