More than 30 years ago, I just joined the work, as simple as a blank sheet of paper, and went to a social university with full enthusiasm and simple ideals.
On the first morning of work, I took a simple itinerary and a letter of introduction and took the shuttle bus to Gaojiayan Health Center. It took me about 2 hours to get to the fork in the road in Gaojiayan Town, where Lao Yi of the unit was waiting with a scooter early. I asked Lao Yi, is there an ambulance at work? Lao Yi smiled and replied that there was only one scooter.
The health center is less than 500 meters from the fork. There are two small two-story houses, one with brick-concrete structure and the other with civil structure. The staff dormitory is upstairs and the office area is downstairs. I was arranged upstairs in a tulou, in a small house of about 10 square meters, with a bed, a table and a stool, which is my new home.
Tulou, except the exterior wall is mud and stone, the interior is wooden floor and wooden stairs. Even the walls between the rooms inside are separated by boards. The taupe appearance has gone through many years. If someone goes upstairs, the floor will creak. Sometimes when I come back from duty at night, even if I tread carefully, it will affect others' rest, but after a long time, everyone will get used to it. I remember that once I wore shoes with plastic soles that were popular at that time, and slid down the stairs directly from the upstairs more than three meters high to the underground, which attracted the onlookers of patients downstairs.
At that time, it was particularly cold in winter, especially at night. The wind blew all over my ears and came in through the closed window at any time (at that time, the window was not glass, but plastic film). The earth building seems to shake in the wind, which makes people worry that it will be blown away if it is not careful. But when I woke up, the tulou was still safe and sound.
There is a public swimming pool on the east side of the first floor. When washing dishes, you will always see several mollusks quietly attached to the wet pool. Small snakes sometimes patronize and occasionally get scared and scream involuntarily. The fellow villagers comforted us that this is a domestic snake, and even if it is bitten, it will be fine.
The unit canteen is relatively simple, and there are not many kinds of dishes. Most old workers only buy rice in the canteen and then go home to cook two side dishes. There was no liquefied gas at that time, let alone natural gas. Firewood was used at first, and then kerosene stoves or coal smelled very strong. Sometimes my colleagues cook delicious food and always forget to invite me, a new bachelor, to try it. Although the unit was surrounded by farmers and planted a lot of vegetables, it was not fashionable to sell vegetables at that time. Occasionally, my fellow villagers give me some side dishes, because I am embarrassed to take them again because I don't charge money. Later, it was found that each of the old workers had a vegetable garden of several square meters, which was very convenient for them to plant and collect. A year later, a colleague transferred to the city and gave me his garden as a favor. Although the land is only a few square meters, it has greatly enriched my dining table. Sometimes I will learn to cook some side dishes to entertain my colleagues who live together day and night. Although eating and drinking can't be compared with now, everyone is very happy.
National Highway 3 18 is in front of the unit, and the pavement is paved with sand and gravel. Due to the large number of trucks, stones bouncing off the wheels sometimes hurt people. I remember once, a big truck was running, and a wheel behind it actually ran away. The car didn't stop, and the wheel didn't stop. Instead, he flew all the way along the expressway, knocking over a cycling companion who was not in a hurry to avoid it on a ridge more than one meter high, causing many skin abrasions and blood all over his face. Maybe it is shock, maybe it is pain. When the fellow villagers were sent to the health center, they were still shivering and could not speak for more than an hour.
About 400 meters before the unit, there is a small river called Danshui, which is crystal clear at ordinary times and growls in summer. There are many small fish growing in it, which is delicious on our table. During the break, our colleagues and I rode bicycles along the stream for more than ten kilometers, looking for traces of fish. Although it may not always be rewarding, the process is unforgettable. There is a big fish with only one main thorn growing in Danshui River, which is delicious. Even now, people often use it to invite guests from afar. The other is the giant salamander, named for its sound similar to the crying of a doll. It is precious and rare. Experts say that this is a sign of a good local environment, but it is not easy to eat wild giant salamander now because it has become a national protected fish. The Danshui River in summer is a good place for us to enjoy the cool. Washing in a cool river will wash away the fatigue of the day.
In those days, there was no entertainment after work, just playing cards, playing chess and occasionally watching a movie. The place where movies are shown in the town is open-air, but there is a fence more than two meters high around it. You should bring your own chair to the movies. I remember one afternoon my colleague told me that there was a good movie in the evening and everyone was very happy. Colleagues Lao Li and Lao Deng told me that the three of us played cards today, and whoever lost would treat us. They may not have thought that I was full in the first game, and Lao Li and Lao Deng smiled at each other and stopped playing. I was supposed to take them to the movies, but meeting them became a big joke.
Danshui River, with a developed water system, is more than 50 kilometers in Gaojiayan, with a water level drop of nearly 200 meters. In 1960s and 1970s, villagers in Tujia mountain villages gave full play to their collective wisdom and strength, and successively built three small hydropower stations, namely Weijiazhou, Baiguoping and Qingyan. At that time, our unit used the electricity generated there, and it is still releasing light and heat. According to the former teacher of No.5 Middle School, Sun Yulin, who once taught us physics, participated in the site selection, design and construction of Qingyan Power Station.
After working in Gaojiayan for more than three years, under the guidance of my teacher, I quickly adapted to the work there and fully realized the difference between hospitals and health centers. Health centers not only see doctors, but also know everything and do everything. At that time, everyone called themselves "tiger balm". Now there is a nice name, called general practitioner. At that time, the traffic was inconvenient, so visiting or going to the countryside mainly depended on one pair of feet (known as 1 1 car) or bicycles. For more than three years, I have almost traveled all over the mountains and rivers of Gaojiayan, and have forged a deep friendship with the villagers. To this day, many villagers can still call my name.
Gaojiayan Town is small, but it is a place with stories and footprints left by martyrs. According to research, the jurisdiction has been set up since the early Han Dynasty. She is the hometown of the poet Peng Qiutan; During the Agrarian Revolution, the first rural party branch in western Hubei was born here, and the peasant self-defense regiment, the backbone of the Sixth Army of the Chinese Workers and Peasants Red Army, was established here. More than 120 heroes and sages emerged. During the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period, Changyang was the main battlefield for the decisive battle in western Hubei. Among them, the most famous, cruel and fierce tug-of-war was launched six times in Gaojiayan, and the remaining trenches, bunkers and shell casings can still be seen. The villagers of Gaojiayan did not forget the trust of the martyrs and built it into the back garden of Yichang with hard-working hands. High-speed, railway transit, dotted with bonsai along the way, pleasing to the eye, pleasing to the eye, nourishing endless, reappearing the poetry of Tujia nationality.
Thirty-six years passed quickly. This spring, I came to Gaojiayan Health Center again. Things have changed. The former tulou left no trace. In front of us are two five-story modern office buildings, and the number of medical staff has increased from more than 30 in those years to more than 50 now. Local villagers are no longer worried about minor illnesses and disasters. Dr. Chen, who once took me, is now over 70 years old and still in good health. He told me that over the past 30 years, there have been more than 200 medical staff in hospitals, some of whom have retired, some have entered big cities, some have changed from doctors to big doctor, and the constant is the Danshui River, which is still flowing quietly, and the water is still so clear and deep.