Lu Tianming: My long-cherished wish

My long-cherished wish

In the past few years, at the end of the year and the beginning of the year, I always think of the days I spent in the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge Island Tunnel Project Headquarters that year. I stayed back and forth for more than a year. Finally, I also attended a small celebration they organized for the successful conclusion of the project. In that scene, tears and songs flew together, it can be said that all the people present- a group of engineers who should be considered top engineers in China or even in today's world, were instantly moved. It was they who created another miracle in the history of world engineering. At a depth of 40 meters, they built a record-breaking 6.7-kilometer deep buried immersed tunnel. This tunnel connects a 55-kilometer-long cross-sea bridge. The tunnel is connected with 33 reinforced concrete immersed tubes. Each section of immersed pipe weighs 80,000 tons. At that time, there was almost no marine engineering company in the world that had built such a long and large deep buried tunnel. No company believes that China can build such a submarine tunnel with its own technical solutions, its own engineers and workers. After the tunnel was completed, an old expert in Hong Kong's engineering community wanted to take a look and asked whether to bring rain gear. Because the deep-sea tunnels built in the world for more than 100 years, no matter how long or small, there are almost no leaks. Our comrades told him that you did not have to bring any rain gear with you when you came to us. But he still came in rain boots. After looking at the 6.7-kilometer-long tunnel, he was surprised not to find a single trace of water leakage. Our tunnel is not only watertight now, but also promises to be leak-free for 120 years. Moreover, the group of engineering and technical personnel involved in the construction, from the chief commander and chief engineer to the ordinary technical personnel, were all trained by China itself. Later, comrades from the headquarters of the Island Tunnel Engineering were invited to visit a Dutch company that is well-known in the world marine engineering community. To their surprise, all the personnel of the company's headquarters lined up to greet them and raised a five-star red flag in front of the company's headquarters gate. You know, in the company's 100-year history, there have only been two times when the flag of the visiting colleagues has been raised, which expresses their high respect for our engineers and technicians.

Year after year, year after year...

This year and the beginning of the year remind me of the end of that year. On that day, I wore a dog fur hat commonly known as "three tiles", pedaled a pair of very old fur shoes, wrapped in an equally old military leather coat, followed several comrades from a film studio, and rode in an old Soviet-style Gaz 69 car to collect materials for the creation of a film script with the theme of Zhiqing. We met a young woman with short hair and an old military uniform that had been washed white. She was slender and tall, and looked very quiet. After repeated questioning, she told us that the vast majority of the intellectuals in the reclamation area were from Shanghai, and she was from Beijing. Her parents were both officers in the army, and she came to the reclamation area with her parents who were transferred from work. Ten years later, she now teaches at Farm Children's School High School. Maybe it was a slight inflammation in the throat, or maybe it was a habit she had developed over the years, and she had to cough lightly every time she said two words. Later we learned that she was still single. We asked her, since she was single, why didn't she try to transfer back to Beijing? She lowered her head and thought about it, but did not speak. The next day, just after dawn, she offered to take us to see her students. We wondered, what students to see so early? She took us to a dirt bag full of dry willows and poplar trees. The earthen bale faces a large cotton field. Although the sky is just a little white, there are already many farmers in the cotton fields who have not had time to pick up the cotton in late autumn. These cottons are covered with frost and snow. These farmers' headscarves and eyebrows are also covered with a thick layer of white frost. And on this dirt bag, under every stout dry willow and poplar tree, there are several students reciting the text aloud. The temperature is as low as more than ten degrees below zero, and every time the children open their mouths, the hot air spewing out of their mouths immediately turns into white mist. We asked her, why do you want students to come here on such a cold morning to review their homework? She said it wasn't I who asked them to come, it was they themselves who wanted to come. Their parents are all working in this cotton field at the moment, and they are watching their hard-working parents spur them on. After dawn, she took us to see the words carved by the students on the trees - "Let Daddy straighten up", "Everything starts now", "Push it away!" The gates of the world! ”...... When we stepped down from the dirt bag, none of us in the group spoke. Later, I asked her, "You taught them the phrase 'push open the door of the world,' right?" She said, "My parents taught me." "Do you think your students will be able to push the door of the world open in the future?" I asked. She replied, "I asked my parents that too. They say that whether each of you can push the door of the world in the future is affected by many other factors. But as long as you have this desire and idea, as long as you work hard, there must be hope. To this day, I can't forget the way she said this, very calmly, but very firmly. When we left the next day, we didn't tell her so as not to affect her teaching. But when our car started, she walked out of the classroom and stood silently in the late sun, watching us, still wearing the old whitewashed military uniform.

Yes, we all get rid of poverty and become well-off; we create golden mountains and silver mountains in the green waters and green mountains; we explore the mysteries of the moon and the deep sea with full determination; we declare war on smog and welcome back the blue sky and white clouds... This year, our party ushered in its centennial anniversary. We will still have young boys and girls going to distant frontiers and remote areas, leading younger boys and girls, in the trees behind them, in their hearts, with resolute action, carved with lofty ideals.

Year after year, year after year... As I tore down that page on the calendar, I asked myself, why can't I always forget the group of engineers and the Beijing girl? Some of them have retired, and some are moving to other places. The Beijing girl had become a middle-aged woman, and her sideburns might have gray hair repeatedly. But as far as I can see, the sea is still surging and the frontier is constantly renewed. It is these people, such people, who stand on the earth, pay silently, and work hard. Why did they come? Nothing more than a long-cherished wish. For this reason, I am thinking, in the new year, what should I do for these people, such people? And what can be done for them? Record their "long-cherished wishes", or their little efforts and achievements, or the ups and downs of their lives or some shortcomings in their hearts? Or something else. If so, let's start with this: Don't forget them. Always remember these ordinary but firm presence to help China push open the door to the world Chinese!

This may be my "long-cherished wish" that I can't give up for a long time.

Author: Lu Tianming

People's Daily (February 17, 2021, Edition 08)

Source: People's Daily