A nation's industrial development begins with junior engineers.

Zheng Aiguo looked in the direction Jiang Xia was pointing and immediately became interested.

"Come on, tell me, what should this be?"

Jiang Xia pointed to a metal plate behind the cab: "There should be a pipe running through here. There should also be an air-blowing coal distribution device behind the furnace cover!"

"This pipe should lead straight to the coal bin at the back. This machine should be an automatic coal feeder!"

"Hey! All right! You used to work in the driver's quarters?"

Zheng Aiguo glanced at Jiang Xia suspiciously.

Jiang Xia waved his hand, "This is the 131 model that Big Brother sold to us at a low price, right? I saw an introduction to it in the library of Wudaokou Vocational School before, and it mentioned that this 131 model has a screw feeder."

"I just don't know why this car isn't here. Did they dismantle it over there?"

The three men in the cab exchanged glances. The stoker, Old Zhao, clicked his tongue and said, "Hey, he really is an educated guy."

"This thing was only used when we went to the battlefield. We dismantled it ourselves when we came back."

"There's nothing we can do. That air-blowing coal-separating device is useless; it's a complete waste of steam. The coal we send in often gets stuck at the coal inlet and can't be spread onto the furnace bed at all. It's such a huge waste!"

Jiang Xia immediately understood. It wasn't that the coal separator was malfunctioning; it was that the automatic coal feeder was simply not adapted to the local conditions.

The Russians use only high-quality coal, unlike us, who mix first-grade and second-grade coal.

There's nothing we can do; the Russians have so many open-pit coal mines, and the quality is incredibly high, so they can build whatever they want.

We have limited resources and mining capabilities, so we naturally have to use them sparingly.

Shoveling coal one shovel at a time may seem outdated, but it actually makes the most of every piece of coal and is more in line with current realities.

After figuring this out, Jiang Xia gave up the idea of ​​building a new automatic coal feeder.

It seems that every seemingly outdated method may have a corresponding reasonable explanation.

However, that thing absolutely must be made, and it's the top priority!

Old commander, you must do your best!

Your economic acumen has always been unique; you should hurry up and thoroughly swindle those Russians.

Hey, we don't necessarily have to go the alliance route. How about we go back and flirt with that guy in the notebook?

That broken stone, I don't think I've given it to him yet?

We need to get rice cookers and electric frying pans from Shimen.

Seeing Jiang Xia standing there in a daze, Li Tiejun whispered to the three drivers, "Shh~ My brother here probably has some new ideas again, please bear with us, drivers!"

Liu Hongqi said "Oh!" and then added, "I understand! I've got it!"

Zheng Aiguo grinned: "Well, you've turned a grown man into a monk. 'Enlightenment' is nothing compared to stewed chicken. Just talking about it makes me hungry."

……

7000 meters above Jiangxia's head, the old commander suddenly sneezed.

He waved to stop the secretary who wanted to check on the situation, then turned to a middle-aged man and said, "Have all the recipes been translated?"

"Yes, but some of the spice names are really hard to translate. There are no corresponding terms on the other side."

"Ha, that's perfect! If you don't have anything, just bring something to trade with us!"

"Sir, are we really going to do this? I have a feeling..."

"Hey, what's there to be afraid of? You can live on shame! When Old Liu goes to argue with them, I'll treat them to braised pork. One tough, one soft, isn't that great!"

"Oh right, you said that if I make something myself, the price shouldn't be too high..."

The middle-aged man nearly kowtowed; it seems you were actually planning to charge a fee!

Ever since seeing those pots and pans, the old commander suddenly developed a love for cooking, and even stopped playing bridge, which he used to enjoy.

The fuses in the lake had burned out twice.

Everything was put into that air fryer and baked.

Once, he even caught a string of grasshoppers and tricked the instructor into thinking they were Sichuan-style crispy pork...

But what's so surprising about that?

A man from Sichuan who can't cook is not a good man.

The old leader simply had his genetic lock activated.

……

The hungry trio in the driver's cab are ready to eat.

Liu Hongqi climbed over the railing of the driver's cab and pulled out three liver-shaped lunch boxes from the "steamer" at the bottom of the cab.

Old Zhao also grabbed the railing and pulled out a can of food from a partition under the coal cart.

After heating it on the floor in front of the stove for a while, I opened the lunchbox, took out the cornbread, and poured the contents of the can into it.

"Here you go! Eat! This canned food is one of our best treasures. I thought I'd share it with you two since I like you both!"

Liu Hongqi took the driver's seat, temporarily replacing Zheng Aiguo who was having dinner.

The can of food was opened and poured into the lunchbox, emitting a strange smell.

Upon closer inspection, the brown sauce was found to contain a bunch of soybeans, with a few finger-sized chunks mixed in.

Jiang Xia was stunned when he saw "US ARMY" on the silver can.

"Have you been to the battlefield?"

"Haha, I don't count. Although I crossed the river, I spent most of my time dealing with coal piles. But the two-faced guy in front of you has really been through it."

"Hey, Lao Zheng, you seem to have a medal of honor, right? You're a hero!"

Zheng Aiguo nodded and broke open his cornbread, dipped it in some broth, and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling, "What kind of hero is he? Those who didn't come back are the real heroes!"

"Master Zheng, tell us about it. I've heard them talking about the soldiers all the time, but I know you guys must be having a tough time too!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Aiguo slammed the cornbread he was holding back into the lunchbox, paused, and said:

"Of course it's easy! We're sitting in the vehicle, but the soldiers are running on foot. We're with a stove, so we're neither cold nor hungry, but the soldiers don't have a stove to warm themselves..."

"Eat up, eat up. I won't wait for you if you're slow!" he said, stuffing a big lump of cornbread into his mouth.

Perhaps he choked, Zheng Aiguo turned around to get water, his dark face unconsciously wiping on his sleeve.

Old Zhao smiled, gestured to Jiang Xia, and pointed to the roof of the car and a section of the floor. He then gestured with his hand, indicating a circle about the size of a bowl.

Jiang Xia then noticed that there were more than a dozen brownish-yellow patches throughout the driver's cab. There was even one on the wall of the carriage behind him.

The train continued its journey, entering a tunnel where the light suddenly dimmed. A plume of smoke billowed back into the driver's cab.

The intermittently opened furnace door occasionally let out a dazzling red light, like a candle flame flickering in the darkness.

"At night, this light is the most dangerous!"

Zheng Aiguo's words broke the silence in the driver's cab.

"Back then, the big-nosed guy was keeping a close watch on us, so we would park our cars in tunnels like this during the day and only drive them out at night."

"It went smoothly at first. Using this method, we managed to quickly transport a lot of goods."

"But those big-nosed shrewd ones, seeing that they can't spot our train during the day, they specifically set out at night."

"Just keep shooting where there's firelight. That's how Lao Tian, ​​Xiao Wang, Brother Qu... they broke in..."

The train emerged from the tunnel, and the driver's cab was once again illuminated.

Jiang Xia listened intently, and picked up the cornbread, intending to take a bite.

Upon closer inspection, good heavens, the entire cornbread was covered in black coal ash.

Just snap a quick photo, roll it in the juice from the can, it might not be clean, but it won't make you sick!

Seeing Jiang Xia eat the dark cornbread, Zheng Aiguo's dark face creased into a smile.

"So how did you solve it?"

Zheng Aiguo narrowed his eyes: "If it were you, what would you do?"

Jiang Xia swallowed the cornbread and began to think seriously.

"First, seal up the cab to prevent the flames from getting out. That's easy; just weld on some steel plates. The chimney is a bit more complicated. If we have enough time, we can install a smoke collector filled with water and activated charcoal..."

"Yes, that's it! The water cools the gas coming out of the chimney, and the activated carbon absorbs the coal ash, so the black smoke turns into white smoke. In cold conditions, the white smoke blends into the snow, making it very difficult to spot from the air!"

"Aren't you right?" Jiang Xia looked up, her eyes sparkling.