Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 814 813 "The 182 Factory was built by us Northeasterners."

While drinking, everyone chatted and Fang Minghua learned that the three of them were all from Northeast China. Two of them came from Harbin Aircraft Industry Group and Shenyang Aircraft Corporation to support the Third Front Construction in the 182s, and the younger deputy general manager was assigned to Factory after graduating from Harbin Institute of Technology in the s.

"Coincidentally, my hometown is also in the Northeast. My father was transferred from Shenyang to Xijing in the 1960s." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"Oh my god, what's going on? What should we do?" Mr. Wang said something in authentic Northeastern dialect, which made everyone laugh.

"Drink, drink, you fellow Northeasterners, have a drink quickly." Director Zhang cheered from the side.

"Chairman Zheng should have one more drink with Chairman Fang. They are both from Liaoning Province, fellow villagers!" Mr. Wang said with a smile as he picked up the glass.

After the three of them clinked their glasses, Mr. Wang said with emotion: "The 182 Factory was built by us Northeasterners."

"That's not right, Mr. Wang." The thin and silent vice president said in a southern accent in his Mandarin: "Don't forget, we are still in Shanghai!"

"Yes, Mr. Liu is right!" Mr. Wang said with a smile, "When Factory 182 was built, most of the technicians and workers came from Northeast China, and a small number of college students came from Shanghai. Mr. Liu was one of them."

Mr. Liu is not very good at drinking, and his face is already red. He said: "My home is in Shanghai, and I had never left Shanghai before I graduated from university. The year I graduated, the country called on people to go to the west, to where the country needed them most, so I signed up."

"Mr. Liu is an excellent student, graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University. More importantly, when he came, he brought a female classmate with him. She is very beautiful and is known as the flower of the factory." Mr. Wang said with a smile.

"You, Lao Wang, keep harping on this. Be careful or your sister-in-law might scold you when you get home." Mr. Liu scolded with a smile and explained to Fang Minghua.

"We are childhood sweethearts. We went to the same elementary and middle schools. When she took the college entrance examination, she went to Fudan University. When she heard that I was going here, she signed up to come here too."

Fang Minghua was truly impressed after hearing this.

These students from prestigious universities have stayed in this mountain village for thirty years.

What I admire even more is their steadfast love.

"Ke Bing, where are you from?" Fang Minghua asked Ke Song, who was sitting below and looking a little restrained.

"I'm a local and my home is in Chenggu." Ke Bing replied quickly.

Director Zhang told Fang Minghua that after the resumption of the college entrance examination, college and technical school students from all over the country were assigned to the various factories of the 012 base, but there were gradually more local people, mainly because there were more and more aviation factories in these areas.

After the meal, the three bosses all had their own work to do. Director Zhang was going back to the base, and Ke Bing was going to take the factory's commuter bus back down the mountain to work.

President Wang said to Fang Minghua, "Chairman Fang, Chairman Sun will be with you these days. He was one of the first to come here. When Factory 182 was built, he was the leader of the youth commando team and was known as the living dictionary of Factory 182. If you have anything you want to know, you can always ask him!"

"Thank you."

Finally, Mr. Wang specially assigned a Santana for the two of them to facilitate their travel.

Accompanied by Sun Yuanchao, Fang Minghua sat in a car and wandered around the factory.

The factory area is very large and is built along the hillside without any walls around it. What surprised Fang Minghua was that the red brick family buildings and the gray factory buildings were mixed together.

When Fang Minghua asked about this, Sun Yuanchao smiled and said, "It's due to geographical restrictions. You see, there's basically not much flat land here."

He told Fang Minghua that the factory's family quarters were divided into three areas based on relative concentration, namely Area One, Area Two, and Area Three.

"The employees gave them names based on their geographical features," Sun Yuanchao said. "Area 1 is built on a mountain ridge, where the factory you visited is located. There is mountain wind blowing all year round, so the employees call it 'Yingfenglou'."

"The second area is built in a ditch. It is hot and stuffy in the summer, so it is called "Xiangyanggou". The third area is built on a slope and is also the westernmost part of the factory. It is the most remote and farthest family area on the mountain. Everyone calls it Frog Pond because there are more frogs there." "Let's go to Frog Pond now. My home is there."

The car drove for more than ten minutes, went over a beam, and the two got out of the car. Fang Minghua saw several neat rows of red brick buildings on the slope not far away.

"You see, now all roads are cement, but back then they were all dirt roads. To get to the bustling market from here, you have to cross two hills. Taking the main road is long and time-consuming, while taking the small road is steep and too tiring."

"The sandy road was full of potholes and dust on sunny days. It was even harder to walk when it rained. The yellow mud soaked by rain was sticky. When you stepped in, your feet would often come out and your rain boots would remain in the mud. At that time, I lived on the first floor of Building 9. During the summer rainy season, muddy water from the hillside often blocked the entrance of the building. I didn't expect that the first thing we had to do in the morning was to "drain water". Except for going to work and going to the single canteen to get food, we hardly left the frog pond for the whole month."

"At that time, each of us had three treasures - a flashlight, a raincoat and high-heeled rain boots. It was not until the 80s that the workers of various units dug drainage ditches, built slope protection and poured concrete cement roads on their own, and finally we had this road under our feet."

“Back then, the Tianhan area was relatively backward, and the factory workers had a popular saying.

Wearing a black cloth wrapped around the head and a long robe

Old woman's cotton-padded jacket with red edges

Wearing straw sandals in the cold winter

Keep warm around the fire pot

"Thousands of people came here from the northeast, planning and putting the project into production at the same time. The houses and roads were not built yet, so everyone worked together to move stones and build roads. When red bricks arrived, they moved them and carried them to the construction site. Female comrades also worked together."

"Are there lesbians too?" Fang Minghua asked.

"Of course, women hold up half the sky. Don't look down on them. A bricklayer can carry 10 bricks at a time, which is nearly kilograms! That's when I met my wife."

The two men walked forward while talking, and Fang Minghua suddenly found a stone tablet standing by the roadside with the words "Memorial Tablet for the Battle to Control Skids and Protect the Factory" written on it.

Seeing Fang Minghua paying attention to the stone tablet, Sun Yuanchao explained: "This was the summer of 74. I don't know what happened that year. The sky was pierced and it rained all day long. A landslide affected the safety of the factory building not far away."

"Later, more than 6000 al-Qaeda members came here to repair the landslide. Our slogan was 'Seize the sunny days, fight the rainy days, and make contributions to the landslide and factory protection.' After seven months of hard work, the landslide area was brought under control and the factory was saved."

"Chairman Sun, are you attending?"

"Of course. I was the head of the infrastructure department at the factory at the time. I stayed on the construction site all day. In the end, the factory was saved, but we also paid a price. Six people died, one of whom was my friend. We came here together from Shenfei."

"Well, they are buried in those mountains."

Looking in the direction of Sun Yuanchao's finger, Fang Minghua saw nothing but a field of lush pine trees.

"It's really not easy for you." Fang Minghua admired sincerely.

"Haha, which of the three lines is easier to build? The 011 in Guizhou Province, the 013 in Hunan Province, and the 061 and 062 are all in the mountains! Some of the mountains are even bigger than the ones here."

Sun Yuanchao said: "In fact, our aviation factory is relatively good. Look at the factories of the Ministry of Nuclear Industry. They are all in caves and are much more difficult than ours."

I followed Sun Yuanchao around the mountains for three days and visited every corner of the factory. There were not only schools and hospitals, but also cinemas, clubs, and bathhouses. It was like a small society.

After interviewing some employees and their families and learning a lot about the factory's construction history, Fang Minghua decided to go down the mountain to find Ke Song.

(End of this chapter)