When a person leaves the land where he was born and grew up, he realizes that no matter where he goes or how far he goes, he has never really left.
In the mid-1960s, the villagers were all worried about having enough food to eat. Yang Fansheng’s father graduated from the “third class” and was catching up with the “third line” construction wave of the motherland. A state-owned aluminum factory opened in The foundation stone was laid and construction started in a corner of the Gobi Desert not far from his home, and he was immediately recruited into the factory to become a worker eating commercial grain. In the admiration of the villagers, they put on four pockets of labor cloth, rode on the "Forever", and shuttled through the factory with dignity.
It is glorious to be a national worker like my father, who will have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life. Not only the car drivers in the factory respect him, but even the educated intellectuals say "Master Yang" shouted.
In the early 1990s, when Yang Fansheng graduated from junior high school, he was actually enrolling in the factory's technical school. His father tried his best to get him to apply, and this old third-line man also gave him the glorious history of the factory. He said: "After the reform and opening up, all walks of life in our country have developed rapidly, and they are vying for aluminum ingots. In 1982, the central government established the policy of 'prioritizing the development of aluminum', and the second phase of the factory was launched, doubling the efficiency. The days in the factory are like a social fire in the first month of the year. It’s so prosperous that no one can get in despite the overwhelming crowds. How great is it that your kid will be admitted to the technical school and become a full-time employee as soon as he graduates? ”
1992 After graduating from a technical school, his son inherited his father's business and became a car mechanic. Yang Fansheng's dream came true.
Tall and thin, with bright eyes, thin and long arms, and big rough hands. "This guy is a good candidate for repairing cars at first glance." The squad leader of the vehicle repair team said this when he met Yang Fansheng for the first time.
As soon as we walked out of the technical school and went to work, we sneaked out of the class to look for classmates and partners. That afternoon, the squad leader went to the workshop for a meeting, and the master was busy in the machine room. Zhao Xia took the opportunity to pull my sleeve and said: "Why don't we go to the auto repair workshop to see Yang Fansheng, and then coax the master to say that you have a stomachache, and I will accompany you." "Hospital." "Good idea. Let's go." We got on the bicycle and drove away with the master's secret smile.
In May, the Gobi wind blew softly and warmly through the factory area. Sophora flowers bloomed on both sides of the asphalt road, and sparrows squatted and whispered to each other on high-voltage lines, pipelines, and factory walls. The world outside is so happy, and the gray labor cloth cannot conceal our great excitement.
"Look, the car repair shop is here!" Zhao Xia shouted. Looking up, there is a row of forklifts on the left, a row of tank trucks on the right, a row of buses in front, a row of vans in the back... They are parked neatly in the workshop courtyard like soldiers, ready to go.
The two of us put our bicycles down outside the workshop yard, slithered left and right through the gaps between the vehicles, and wormed our way into the open auto repair shop like fish. I saw a tank truck being raised high, and Yang Fansheng was lying on his back under the truck using a wrench to unscrew the screws with a lot of black oil on his hands and face.
The master stood in front of the car with his hands on his hips and stared at his work, scolding him endlessly:
"I can't repair cars because I'm afraid of oil stains, so I got under the car." I'm getting impatient after a while, and as soon as I take my lead, you'll take my back."
"You, my father, are good at repairing cars. We are the master here. You must learn your true skills from me. "Long face."
"Don't underestimate our car repair business. If the unloading truck is broken and the material cannot be unloaded, the electrolytic cell cannot smelt aluminum; if the forklift is broken, the aluminum water cannot be sent to the casting. It can't be cast into aluminum ingots. What kind of products can the factory produce that can't be compared with our car repairs? There was no hope at all. Yang Fansheng winked at us and signaled not to wait for him. We nodded knowingly and ran away.
After three years of apprenticeship, our group is now out. In the three years since I started working in 1992, the efficiency of the factory has been rising steadily, and the factory has become more and more strict. It keeps a close eye on our group of young workers, and they have all signed a master-apprentice agreement, which guarantees teaching, learning, and Baohui. The masters taught us all kinds of unique skills, hoping that we would be able to stand alone overnight. Everyone, let alone wandering around during working hours, even when you have free time after get off work, you will obediently gather around the master to ask for advice. It's rare for everyone to see each other.
"It's a mule or a horse, let's take them out for a walk. Let's take out these young people who are new apprentices and compete." The old union chairman waved at the microphone and preached loudly at the mobilization meeting. On the eve of Labor Day this year, workers who were preparing to participate in the annual technical competition in the factory were gearing up, and we were also practicing under the instructions of our masters over and over again.
The sun at the end of April was already powerful, making the huge stadium very hot. The competition items of various types of work are ready: car mechanics maintain vehicle chassis level two, fitters align machine pump couplings, welders V-groove single-sided welding and double-sided forming, lathes process coupling bolts, electricians install inverters and fluids bit control. More than a hundred skilled workers, including car mechanics, fitters, welders, lathes, and electricians, dressed in neat work clothes, gathered at the stadium with clenched fists and tight feet, waiting for the start of the game.
As soon as the referee's whistle blew, the racers walked steadily towards the field...
Yang Fansheng walked calmly to the designated competition vehicle, glanced at the vehicle resolutely, rolled up his sleeves, and stretched out his right leg He leaned sideways and got under the car. He lay on his back under the car, using pipe wrenches, wrenches, and screwdrivers in turn, focusing on the chassis, twisting, wrenching, prying... his hands vividly performed his skills like magic. At this moment, the racers of all types of work were racing against time and completing their respective entries in a calm and orderly manner, and the spectators cheered loudly from time to time.
Thick arms covered in engine oil, oil-stained work clothes, a face blackened by the Gobi mountain wind, and strong shoulders--after three years of experience under the car, the shy and introverted person in the past has become obsessed with girls whenever he sees them. The tall, blushing boy grew into a burly man. At this time, Zhao Xia's fair and pretty face was flushed, and her eyes were reluctant to move away from Yang Fansheng.
The midday sun illuminated the stadium in a brilliant way. After three hours of competition, Yang Fansheng won the first place in the vehicle chassis secondary maintenance operation competition with his superb skills. On the podium, the passionate "March of the Volunteers" dispelled the tension and fatigue of the "technical elite" of various types of work who had been competing all morning. They all held their chests high and stood up straight. Yang Fansheng looked solemnly at the waving national flag over the electrolysis plant in front of him, and he was working hard to build more cars and add strength to electrolysis production.
Admiration, attachment, and desire, during the three hours of competition in the arena, Zhao Xia's blazing eyes followed Yang Fansheng's tall and strong figure like a spotlight...
Soon, the two young hearts blended together.
After mastering his skills and marrying the girl of his choice, Yang Fansheng no longer had any worries and devoted himself to repairing cars.
“To repair a car, you must first understand the car and fully understand its parts, structure, and driving principles. Just like a doctor must first understand the functions of various organs of the human body before he can diagnose the patient’s disease. "When a co-worker asked him for his experience in repairing a car, he had his own idea: get the car through and take the right medicine, and there is always a way to fix it.
In the ten years from the early 1990s to the beginning of the 21st century, my country took advantage of the market economy and made great strides towards becoming a world power in the aluminum industry. Its electrolytic aluminum production capacity increased rapidly from 1.09 million tons in 1992 to With 3.4246 million tons in 2001, the global ranking jumped from sixth place in 1991 to first place in 2001. Our factory also successfully ranked among the top 100 Chinese enterprises in 1993, and its reputation instantly rose to fame in the Chinese aluminum industry.
At that time, the factory’s efficiency was like a thermometer inserted into boiling water, rising all the way. There was almost exaggerated joy everywhere. Everyone rushed to tell each other about the unprecedented happy event of twice a year’s salary increase, which made it even more generous at the end of the year. The year-end bonus makes everyone smile.
Electrolytic aluminum production capacity has expanded year after year, vehicle utilization rates have set new records time and time again, and failures have emerged one after another. Every year during the peak production period, broken down loading trucks and forklifts are sent to the auto repair shop one after another. Electrolytic production cannot be delayed, and broken down vehicles must be repaired as they go, not overnight. This is a battle, and we must show the vigor of a soldier facing the battle. Yang Fansheng rushes to the workshop before dawn every day, passes through a long line of broken-down vehicles, rushes into the repair room with three steps at a time, and gets under the car to start his busy day. Sometimes the work was too urgent, so for lunch I simply asked the apprentice to go to the canteen to buy a few steamed buns, and he would make do with just two sips of mineral water under the car.
As dusk approached, only the "dragon tail" remained in the long line of broken-down cars. At this time, Yang Fansheng could breathe a sigh of relief, get out of the car, drink a cup of tea and smoke a cigarette to calm down for a while, then get in and take the car. Several "Dragon Tail" vehicles were repaired one by one, and the day was finally completed. It was often evening at this time, the workshop yard was empty, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone on Yang Fansheng. He moved his muscles and bones, making the joints all over his body rattle, washed his hands, and went home in the night.
It takes ten years to be busy.
Yang Fansheng can’t remember how many cars he has repaired and how many satisfied smiling faces he has sent away. Only the calluses on his hands record his more than 3,000 sweat-soaked days.
The wheel of industrial history has entered the 21st century. After three large-scale expansions, the factory has become a large aluminum industry base with a production capacity of over 500,000 tons. The factory area has row upon row of new and old factory buildings, large chimneys of varying heights, intricate pipe networks, family buildings with living areas connected into one piece, bustling commercial plazas, theaters, libraries, schools, post offices, swimming pools... An old third-tier factory is an A small society, a small society that incorporates the blood and love of every third-tier person.
In his spare time, Yang Fansheng went to the vegetable market. At this time, I saw a bunch of cars jammed on the roadside of the vegetable market. The drivers parked their cars and came over. Master Yang gave him cigarettes as he did to his father, and asked him about some problems with the car. At such times, Yang Fansheng will feel very useful and feel that this life is worth living and it is not in vain.
At this time, Yang Fansheng led his apprentices just like the master did in those days. He stood in front of the car with his hands on his hips and stared at the apprentices working under the car. He loudly reprimanded and talked about how the production in the factory was inseparable from the car mechanics. ...
The children of our group are gradually growing up, and some far-sighted workers are doing everything possible to send their children to big cities for further studies, so that they can get out of the old factories in the future, take off their labor cloths, and put on white clothes. shirt and live a decent life like a city dweller.
As soon as Yang Fansheng’s son was admitted to college, everyone asked: “Fansheng, what major will the child choose?”
“Auto repair.”
“ It's not enough for you to spend half your life under the car, and you have to let your son suffer the same way. Repairing cars has really become an ancestral craft of your old Yang family."
"The sense of accomplishment of repairing a car is not the same. No more than scientists have successfully conducted an experiment."
Yang Fansheng's words are unexpected and reasonable -
People like us come from working-class families and are ourselves. A worker who has spent his whole life working on machines, besides believing in technology, what other profound insights can he have?
The impact of the hurricane of the times was caught off guard. The electrolytic aluminum industry has developed rapidly from 1992 to 2012, with production capacity soaring from 1.09 million tons to 27 million tons, a 24-fold increase in twenty years. The elimination of backward production capacity has finally become a foregone conclusion, and the electrolytic aluminum industry has become a legend after thirty years of glory.
Subsequently, reorganization, diversion, job transfer... a wave of restructuring of state-owned enterprises came.
In 2015, Yang Fansheng was transferred to a newly developed coal mine after the reorganization of the old factory and a central enterprise because of his excellent car repair skills. Three years later, due to my country's overcapacity of coal production, the mining license for the mining area was suspended, and the coal mine was finally closed. The personnel in the mining area were disbanded and the old factory could not return. At this time, the forty-five-year-old Yang Fansheng, with gray hair, faced three choices: buy out his seniority, wait for work, or choose a position on his own. Eventually, he went to work as an operator in a power plant jointly owned by the old factory and other companies.
A top expert in automobile repair technology in the electrolytic aluminum industry and a twenty-year veteran, was forced to leave his beloved automobile repair workshop and work as an apprentice in a strange power plant due to the tide of the times. The hard way to start over.
“I’m not familiar with the people in other power plants. I stick to my job like a nail when I go to work. I’ve been working there for a year and I only know a few people in the team. I can’t be like my classmates and co-workers in our old factory anytime and anywhere. We mingle with each other. We have nothing to talk about, and I always feel like an outsider. It's hard to go to work, and I'm still alone when I get back to the dormitory after get off work." Yang Fansheng's eyes lost the confidence he once had, and there was only deep loneliness.
"Lost. When we came out of the old factory, we lost ourselves."
Over the years after leaving the factory, I have also been separated, and I have not been able to participate in their continuous lives. The process: I was absent from the celebration banquet when their children were admitted to college, I was not able to attend the funeral for their parents, I was not even able to send them their last journey...
My heart was filled with sadness.
"But we have to go back eventually." After a long silence, Yang Fansheng said without doubt.
We were all thinking about the factory, and Yang Fansheng invited me back whenever he was free.
"Fansheng, where are the seniors in our factory now, how are they doing?"
"Those seniors who came from Shanghai, Shenyang, and Tianjin to support the construction of the 'third front' "Not many people have lived past seventy, and most of them have died in recent years. Our factory cemetery used to have a few graves, but now the area closest to the factory is almost full," Yang Fansheng said.
"Why don't they go back to big cities to enjoy their life after retirement? They know that heavy industry pollutes a lot and is bad for their health."
"They have been here all their lives, how can they let go."
In the past two years, I have been immersed in grief for a long time when I heard the sad news that our group of workers died on the job without a chance to say goodbye.
"Why are they leaving in such a hurry?" I asked Yang Fansheng.
"They always stay up late and work overtime regardless, and refuse to listen to my advice to take it easy. When the factory organizes physical examinations for employees, they refuse to go because they are too busy."
"Why don't you think about your own body at all when the work is not done yet?"
"Working alive or dead, who can care so much when you are so busy? Do your job well, I just hope that the benefits will come back soon."
"Besides, it doesn't matter whether we live long or short, we will all be buried in the factory cemetery anyway, and we will all be together."
p>
…
Not long ago, another worker passed away at the age of 48. In front of the mourning hall, I couldn't stop crying as I thought about every detail of my coworker's life. Yang Fansheng and the other men acted like normal people, opening the bottles and drinking. From time to time, they poured a glass and sprinkled it in front of the mourning hall, saying: "Brothers, come on, cheers!"
"You guys are really good at it. Aren't you sad?" I asked, choking.
"Why are you sad? Let's send our brothers off in a prosperous manner. In a few years, we will pass by and we will all be together again. We will continue to cheer at that time."
Late Autumn , the sun was rising, and a procession of funeral vehicles followed the hearse slowly past the factory where the workers had struggled all their lives, heading towards the factory cemetery. The autumn wind blew, and the cemetery was quiet. The camel grass swaying in the wind restrained from making any sound.
The worker was buried. Accompanying him are the masters who taught him skills step by step, the entrepreneurs who inspired him to grow again and again, and the workers who walked with him.
On the way back, Yang Fansheng said: "Look at those cemeteries with two rows of graves in front and back, where two generations of father and son are buried.
"My heart trembled, and tears came again.
"Look at the film at the back! Yang Fansheng pointed to a plot to the east of the workers' cemetery and said, "When we retire in a few years, we will choose that cemetery when we return to the factory." "
I wiped away my tears and looked in the direction Yang Fansheng pointed. The cemetery was located at the foot of the factory. I walked over and stood in the cemetery and listened carefully. I could hear the faint sound of machines. roar.