A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

When the airport control tower sounded its third security alert, Zhai Hongjun was staring at the radar monitoring screen.

Dense flocks of birds flew in from the north side of the runway, which is the thirty-acre sunflower field that Bakhti Nur contracted.

In the footage, several pigeons swiftly fly past the side of a 737 passenger plane that has just pulled up its landing gear, so close it's chilling.

"We can't delay any longer."

Zhai Hongjun grabbed the blue "Airport Airspace Safety Management Regulations" and headed straight for the field with two security officers.

Baheti Nur was bending over tending to the sunflowers when he saw them arrive, and his face immediately darkened.

"Uncle Bahiti Nur, let's talk again."

"Your sunflowers attract too many birds, making it very dangerous for airplanes to take off and land."

The control tower has issued three warnings since last week…

What are we going to talk about?

Bakhti Nur straightened up. "This land is mine. Do I need your approval to plant anything?"

Airplanes are afraid of birds, so make them fly around them!

These 30 mu of sunflower seeds are my wife's life-saving money!

She has a growth on her lung, and she's waiting to pay for surgery at the hospital!

He became increasingly agitated as he spoke, slamming his hoe on the ground: "I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong! Okay?"

Several farmers working in the nearby fields also gathered around:

"Exactly, Bakhti Nur is desperately needing money to save his life!"

"You airports control everything, from the sky to the earth, but what about our farming?"

"If you don't let us plant, we'll report you to the management committee for abusing your power!"

One naive young man even picked up a clod of dirt and weighed it in his hand.

Two young safety officers tried to argue with him, but Zhai Hongjun stopped them.

He looked into Bakhti Nur's bloodshot eyes, which contained not only anger, but also bottomless anxiety and despair.

Forcing it won't work; the crowd's emotions have already risen.

"Okay, let's not talk about it today."

Zhai Hongjun closed the safety manual. "Uncle, which hospital is your wife in? I know a few doctors who might be able to help."

Bakhti Nur was taken aback, clearly not expecting this, and turned his face away, saying stiffly, "No need!"

The first meeting ended unhappily.

On the next two occasions, Zhai Hongjun was not even allowed to enter the house; he was either turned away or "sent off" by several farmers.

Zhai Hongjun did not try to force his way in again.

He asked Zhou Yi, a cadre working at Shihezi Hospital who was part of a medical aid team to Xinjiang, to find out the medical records of Bahiti Nur's wife and the phone number of her attending physician.

After privately consulting with experts to understand the necessity and cost of the surgery, he went to Baheti Nur's house again over the weekend with a box of milk and several boxes of commonly used medicines for the symptoms.

This time he didn't mention sunflowers, but simply put down the medicine: "I asked the doctor, and this medicine can relieve coughs. You can let your aunt try it. As for the surgery... we'll figure something out together."

Bahiti Nur looked at the medicine, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything unpleasant.

Seeing that the other party's attitude had softened, Zhai Hongjun immediately seized the opportunity.

He organized five core farming households, including Bakhti Nur, and invited them to visit and learn from the airport security control center.

In the command center, he didn't explain much and directly asked the duty officer to pull up a video.

Surveillance footage from a neighboring city's airport three years ago shows a plane landing when a dark shadow suddenly crashes into the left engine, instantly causing a burst of flames and black smoke. The plane shakes violently and barely manages to stop at the end of the runway.

This was followed by chaotic scenes of passengers fleeing in panic, with the shrill cries of children.

Then came the accident photos: twisted and deformed engine blades, and shocking craters on the fuselage.

Finally, there was a long list of repair costs, ending with the figure: 7.83 million.

The hall was completely silent.

Several elderly farmers stared at the screen. They had farmed all their lives and knew that a hoe would chip when it hit a rock, but they never imagined that a bird colliding with an airplane could cause such a commotion and be worth so much money.

Zhai Hongjun then spoke, his voice low and somber: "Uncle, fellow villagers, it's not that I, Zhai Hongjun, am being unreasonable. But this iron bird carries the weight of over a hundred lives and a hundred families. If something really happens, no one can bear the responsibility."

Bahiti Nur stared at the repair bill, his hands trembling slightly. More than seven million... Even if he sold all thirty acres of sunflowers, he wouldn't be able to scrape together a fraction of that.

After returning from the airport, Zhai Hongjun's office light stayed on all night.

He contacted the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau through Zhou Mingyu and invited soil experts to conduct on-site surveys in the fields.

Experts quickly offered a solution: this land is suitable for planting alfalfa and ryegrass, which are cold-resistant, high-yielding, and, most importantly, do not attract birds.

"Alfalfa is a high-quality forage, and surrounding farms are vying for it."

Zhai Hongjun handed the calculation sheet to the farmer, saying, "I've done a rough calculation. If managed well, the net income per mu can be 500 yuan higher than growing sunflowers, and it also saves water and fertilizer."

One herdsman was skeptical: "That's easy to say, seeds for free? What if you can't sell them?"

"I've secured the seed subsidy for you; it's 800 yuan per mu."

Zhai Hongjun took out an official document, "I've also brought the acquisition agreement. The Xingwang Livestock Cooperative in the town guarantees to purchase the livestock at the market price."

If the market price drops, they'll buy at the guaranteed minimum; if it rises, they'll buy at the market price. If you can't sell them, I, Zhai Hongjun, will help you find a market!

To completely dispel any concerns, the next day he personally drove with Bakhti Nur and several representatives to inspect a large-scale pasture base in a neighboring county.

Looking at the lush alfalfa in other people's fields and listening to the farmers calculate their real profits, Bakhti Nur squatted at the edge of the field and smoked half a pack of cigarettes.

"Let's go back."

He stood up and dusted himself off.

The morning after he returned, Bahiti Nur went to the fields with a hoe.

This time, however, the hoe was swung at his own golden sunflowers.

Crack! Crack! The flowerpot fell to the ground.

More and more farmers gathered to watch. Baheti Nur straightened up, wiped his sweat, and said to everyone:

"Stop watching."

Mr. Zhai has paved the way for us, ensuring both safety and profitability. What else is there to complain about?

If we keep making a scene, it just means we're the ones who can't think straight!

He took the lead, and the other households followed suit.

Thirty acres of sunflowers were cleaned up completely within three days.

Immediately afterwards, the seeds of cold-resistant pasture grass were sown in the soil.

The matter should have ended there, but no one expected that Bakhti Nur would do something even more unexpected.

"Mr. Zhai, we're not planting anything that attracts birds anymore, but wild birds don't understand that, and they still fly this way."

We old buddies were thinking, since the work in the fields is a bit easier now, how about we take turns patrolling this area for you, chasing away the birds?

Zhai Hongjun was taken aback, a surge of warmth welling up inside him: "Uncle, this...this is too much trouble for you!"

"What's the trouble?"

Bahiti Nur's eyes widened. "Now that this place is peaceful, we feel at ease!"

And so, the airport bird protection volunteer team was established.

Bakhti Nur served as the team leader, leading six farmers in shifts to patrol between the farmland and the track every day without fail.

They used bird-repelling whistles and reflective tapes provided by Zhai Hongjun, and also learned how to interpret bird activity monitoring charts.

These marginalized individuals, who were originally the biggest headache for security departments, have transformed into the frontline civilian defense line for airport security.