( 1)
Along the only asphalt road from Gudao town to Gudong oil region, it bumped eastward for nearly 30 miles, and a willow tree with a thick bowl mouth came into view. Willow is not tall, about three or four meters, with a small crown and dry branches at the top. In the lower part of the top, some less dense willow leaves grow on the sparse branches. Willow leaves are not very green, and there is no such bright oil light. If you look closely, there is some yellow. Willow branches grow in the sky, without dancing figures and lingering charm flowing with the wind, they can't arouse the slightest warmth, lingering and romance. I don't understand why such an ordinary willow tree, which can no longer be ordinary, is so concerned and favored by people. If it was in my hometown, such an ugly willow tree would have been pulled up long ago. Even if it is not unplugged, a square cement pool with a height of more than half a meter will never be built, so that it can enjoy the same treatment as flowers, and a stone tablet with the words "A tree in the lonely east" will be erected on one side of the pool. This is what I felt when I first saw this willow tree in the summer of 1987. At that time, I just graduated from Jinan Jiaotong University and came to work. I am used to seeing the graceful weeping willows by Daming Lake. How can I put such an ordinary willow tree in my eyes? When my colleague in the same car got off and took a photo with Liu Shu, I quickly hid aside. I even look down on these old people who have never seen the world.
After getting on the bus, the van continued to drive eastward. The instructor in his fifties may have read my mind. He told me that from now on, you should pay close attention to both sides of the expressway. No, it's still within your reach, so there will be more space. Count how many trees you can see. I said, okay, I'll count. From that moment on, my eyes kept staring out of the window, for fear of accidentally missing some trees. But the van has been driving eastward for about a quarter of an hour, and I don't see any trees. Therefore, I can't help secretly worrying from my heart. It is out of the question. How can there be no trees? However, even when I got to the seaside, there was no second tree in my sight. On the vast wasteland, apart from the lush reeds, there are patches of apocynum venetum with purple flowers, or some messy Vitex negundo, and then those pumping units as dense as trees, nodding tirelessly in the midday sun.
After getting off the bus, the instructor gave me a look and didn't ask me what I meant. Because, from my surprised expression, he has got the answer.
(2)
Although it is midsummer, the wind at the seaside is still chilly at night. That night, there was no moon in the sky, and the stars were brighter on the beach far from the town.
My instructor and I sat side by side on the seawall facing the sea, looking at the muddy Yellow Sea in the distance, and I felt a sense of desolation in my heart. The instructor took the lead in breaking the silence, saying that the sea in front of us is Bohai Bay and the Yellow River Estuary is on our right. The water flowing from the Yellow River to the sea dyed the nearby waters muddy yellow. During the day, you will see the strange sight that the green sea water and the muddy Yellow River water are not mixed with each other. Behind us is an endless sea. For thousands of years, the sediment carried by the Yellow River has pushed the sea back step by step, and finally one day the sea has become land. It's just that this land is extremely salinized, and nothing grows except some alkali-tolerant plants such as reeds and red wattles.
Around 1965, two farmers in Kenli County came to this vast wasteland. The purpose of their settlement here is to reclaim land, grow crops and change the hunger of a family. In order to survive, they must find fresh water. When they spent a lot of time and energy, they dug up sweet water on a high mountain. Overjoyed, they set up a shack beside the water source and began their reclamation career. One day, they planted nine willows hopefully near the hut, but only one actually sprouted. These two farmers take good care of this tree. In the spring breeze and autumn rain, willow leaves turn green and yellow. In tenderness, the willow grows taller and thicker, and finally grows into a lush tree. In the hot summer, the willow tree holds up a coolness for two hardworking people; In the sky of Amb Lee, willow trees covered a chill for two simple and honest people. When the two men brought round and golden soybeans back to the village, the farmers who had been starving for a long time did not hesitate to rush to this vast wasteland, get married and have children, as if they had found the blessing of saving lives. Since then, this tree has become a flag flying on the wasteland and the only road sign for many pioneers to find the wasteland. For a time, around a tree, there were houses full of pioneers, chirping laughter and the sound of children playing.
As the instructor said, he lit a cigarette. After smoking a few cigarettes, he said, God may intentionally play jokes on mankind, but any place rich in oil is either Gobi desert or deep-sea wasteland. Although this endless wasteland is saline-alkali land, there is a lot of oil underground.
1April, 986, during the Gudong Petroleum Conference, the headquarters was located near a tree. It is conceivable that the desolate vilen suddenly flooded into more than 40 thousand oil workers and migrant workers, and the scene was spectacular; It is conceivable that the once silent wasteland, with the roar of drilling rigs, numerous derricks, water-like traffic and people flowing like shuttles, is so brilliant.
Later, in order to protect the tree, people took many protective measures, not only fertilizing and watering it regularly, but also setting up cement pools around it. Unfortunately, despite this, the tree didn't live long. Another spring came as scheduled, and all the weeds and wild vegetables in the wasteland sprouted one after another, but this tree didn't wake up.
At this point, the instructor patted me on the shoulder and went on to say that the tree we saw yesterday was another tree planted in its original position. The original tree is dead, but as a "tree", the place name and the story about it have been deeply imprinted in people's minds.
(3)
That night, I stayed in the oil workers' frontline hotel for a long time, and I couldn't help but see the willow trees in front of me. I think that the Yellow River estuary may be blown by the wind for a year, may be broken by branches, may be eroded by the torrential rain and lightning raging in the wasteland, may be bent down by the overwhelming snow, but as long as the spring breeze is together, a tree will stretch out in people's field of vision. I even think that those swans who come to the Yellow River estuary for the winter every year must have rested their feet on the willows in droves; Magpies that give people good news must nest on it with joy; Yanzi, who settled in the farmer's hut, must have led her children to sing happily on it ... I think the tree is a little poetic, a little warm and romantic, and there is an infinite awe-inspiring pride; In this way, its image suddenly became tall and instantly became a weather-beaten but still indomitable image.
The next afternoon, when we finished the annual inspection of motor vehicles and drivers and returned to Gudao Town, I couldn't help staring at the lonely tree in the wasteland that flashed by the window. I know, since then, I have added a legendary place name and some touching stories to my mind.
This tree is very lucky. Because it has been carefully cared for by farmers, it has life and vitality; This tree is also an honor. Because it witnessed the heroic enthusiasm of oil workers, witnessed the scene that oil people overcame many difficulties to develop oil fields from generation to generation, and witnessed the touching stories of groups of young people bidding farewell to bustling cities and taking root in wasteland.
Today, this tree still stands on the vast wasteland; Today, in Dongying City or Shengli Oilfield, I'm afraid there are not many people who don't know a tree, but there are very few people who use a tree as a place name all over the country. ...