[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji":3,"chapter-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-56":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Siheyuan: Food, Love, and Family in 1960s Beijing",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2314106,4526,"Chapter 56: Chapter Fifty-Seven: Chief Liu","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-56",56,"\u003Cp>Wang Yimin continued Zhang Changshun’s words: “Old Zhang, Comrade Li Guzhang enlisted early—he’s a true military cadre who earned his rank through blood and sweat, transferred to our factory only after being wounded on the battlefield. Everyone in our Security Department holds him in high regard. Old Zhang, you’d better take extra care of Comrade Li Guzhang from now on!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Changshun smiled and said: “No problem! If Master Wang says it, there’s nothing to debate! Comrade Li Guzhang, we’ll help each other from now on.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Please take good care of us.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After confirming the train would depart immediately, Wang Yimin led Li Xuewu out of the car number office and met Han Zhan, who had just come out of the restroom, then headed toward the caboose.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yimin and Li Xuewu arrived at the caboose just as the caboose chief was taking out each piece of equipment for inspection, ensuring not a single required item was missing. After sorting and categorizing them, he packed them back into his satchel.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Green Gourd Immortal Sword\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yimin and the other two entered without disturbing the chief, instead placing their satchels and lunch boxes down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu opened his satchel, pulled out the pistol he had stored in his space, removed the magazine, racked the slide, reloaded the bullets, chambered a round, then locked the safety and tucked it into his waist holster.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Type 56 semi-automatic rifle was treated the same—chambered, safety on, muzzle pointed downward, slung across his chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Only after organizing his own gear did the chief introduce himself to the three.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The chief’s surname was Liu, named Liu Guoyou, a railway worker outside their system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The four exchanged polite pleasantries and briefly outlined the situation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu followed Chief Liu to the dispatch station’s operation room to wait.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The station attendant’s prediction was accurate—just over ten minutes later, Li Xuewu heard the rumbling roar of a train approaching.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through the operation room window, he saw the 168th passenger train’s People-type main locomotive coupled with a JianShe-type steam locomotive, pulling a long string of cars out of the loading and unloading yard along the dedicated track.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu estimated the freight train had over forty cars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chief Liu noticed Li Xuewu’s curiosity and explained: “This is clearly an extra-long train. The length limit on this Beijing line is 42, meaning 31 or 32 cars. Over forty cars is definitely over-length.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu nodded. He’d never encountered this before—understanding it wouldn’t help him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Among these forty-plus cars, one was a passenger car; the rest were enclosed boxcars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The enclosed cars must contain the parts destined for Chuncheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was Li Xuewu’s first time escorting a freight train—he didn’t understand the procedures. Han Zhan and Wang Yimin kept reminding him as they walked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the train halted on the arrival-departure track, several men stepped down from the front cars, satchels on their backs, walking toward them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A middle-aged man in factory work clothes entered the operation room, asked the station attendant a few questions, then turned to Li Xuewu: “I’m Yu Hanyang, head of the dispatch office. Are you the escort team for this shipment?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu replied: “Yes, I’m the team leader, Li Xuewu.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Head of Dispatch Yu Hanyang glanced at Li Xuewu and said: “Please show your work credentials.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu knew this was mandatory—he pulled his own work ID, along with Han Zhan’s and Wang Yimin’s, from his backpack and handed them over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Hanyang carefully examined each ID, compared the photos to the three men, confirmed everything matched, then handed them to the attendant for registration before returning them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yu Hanyang began the standard handover briefing with Chief Liu, then gave instructions to Li Xuewu and the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You all know the discipline and regulations for escorting freight trains. We complete handovers before the train leaves the station to avoid problems—any issues after departure will be held against your crew and security team.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, Li Xuewu and the others grew solemn and replied firmly: “Understood!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Head of Dispatch Yu Hanyang took out the freight bill and train composition list from his briefcase and handed them to the station attendant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The attendant tore off one copy of the three-part train composition list and gave it to the field attendant, who would verify the actual cars against the list. The remaining two copies, along with the freight bill, were given to Liu Guoyou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Each freight car had one freight bill—these forty-one bills were sealed in a special small envelope, labeled with the car numbers, destination stations, and cargo names.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After verifying the car numbers on the bills against the train composition list, Liu Guoyou led the three from Security, along with two from Sales and the field attendant, to seal each car door with lead seals. It took over an hour to seal forty cars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By then, the caboose had been coupled to the rear of the train.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In truth, escorting freight trains was quite easy—aside from being restricted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No need to inspect loading or securing, no need to check seals—just confirm the car numbers. Food and drink were provided free along the route by the railway, so many were eager to escort freight trains.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This train would make almost no stops; the passenger car and caboose, positioned front and rear, would monitor the entire train—so the lead seals would never be broken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The passenger car carried sales department officials responsible for this shipment; the caboose held escort personnel like Li Xuewu and the chief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Security officers preferred escorting freight trains not only because meals were free, but also because they could bring back local specialties from other places—most on business trips carried odd, novel items.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The caboose and passenger car had ample space, so carrying personal items was common—but no one dared make it obvious; small, quiet items were ignored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After inspecting the train, Li Xuewu and the others boarded the caboose, which had two bunks and a telephone already installed. The three would join the chief in the caboose to perform guard duty.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The telephone connected the locomotive, the passenger car, and the caboose—its purpose was to report and communicate any issues promptly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After all inspections and preparations were complete, the train departed toward the northeast.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As the train passed the assistant attendant’s post, Liu Guoyou signaled outside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yimin told Li Xuewu: “The chief is exchanging safety signals with the assistant attendant—confirming the train is clear to depart.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the train cleared the switch area, the two returned to the caboose from the observation platform, recorded the departure time from the Steel Rolling Plant Freight Station in the escort log, then Wang Yimin told Li Xuewu to sit in the forward-facing seat to act as escort, while he took the opposite seat by the observation window to guide him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Liu Guoyou sat on the other side.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After traveling over ten kilometers, the train passed through a switch into the section, and its speed increased.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Han Zhan went to lie down on the bunk to sleep, ready to relieve Li Xuewu later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yimin noticed Li Xuewu sitting upright at the observation window, eyes fixed straight ahead without moving, and stood up to walk over: “Xuewu, you’d better sit sideways. Check outside periodically—sitting straight like this, if some kid throws a stone and shatters the front window, shards could fly right into your face. Sitting sideways makes you less likely to get hit.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xuewu was deeply moved and smiled in thanks: “Thank you, Master Wang—I understand. I appreciate the warning!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1256,"2026-06-20T13:46:54.288Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","525cd3829b961bcb066a3fb2639f28cc6ff2add478b62358e580f524ea5d5dfe","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-57","the-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-chapter-55",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-siheyuan-food-love-and-family-in-1960s-beiji-cover.jpg"]