Traveling back to 1977

Chapter 99 Recalling the Glorious Years of the Past

Back home, Chen Fan had barely put his things down when he rushed to work at the brigade headquarters.

As soon as he entered the Intermediate People's Court, Captain Zhang stopped him, saying, "Wait a moment, let's broadcast two announcements first."

"notify?"

Chen Fan curiously took it and looked at it. "Oh, they're going to breach the dike and dredge the ditches."

Two days ago, when Huang Laosi's family was raising the roof beam, Captain Yang mentioned this matter. It seems that the commune has issued a notice today.

Captain Zhang nodded. "We won't do anything big this year. We'll just do a simple job. We'll contract the work to the teams. All we need to do is repair the river embankment in our assigned section and dredge the ditches within our team."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Remind people to take precautions, not to go into the water barefoot, and absolutely not to drink untreated water."

This is for preventing schistosomiasis.

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly and said with a smile, "It's all written in your notice, don't worry, I guarantee it won't be missed."

Captain Zhang laughed heartily and waved his hand, "Go ahead."

Chen Fan strode upstairs, turned on the public address system, tapped the microphone, and the loudspeaker outside immediately emitted a muffled sound.

Two seconds later, Chen Fan began reading the announcement into the microphone, "Attention all commune members, attention all commune members, an announcement is now being broadcast. Following a notification from the higher-level commune..."

After reading the notice twice, Captain Zhang listened in the yard. Once he confirmed that it was correct, he turned around and went into the office to discuss the procedures for these two tasks with the others.

There wasn't much to discuss; everyone was familiar with the process. After Chen Fan finished reading the notice, the entire Lujiawan production brigade was mobilized.

Inspecting baskets and carrying poles, repairing shovels and wheelbarrows, ...

When it was four o'clock, Chen Fan turned on the radio to broadcast the county broadcast. He watched for two minutes but didn't find anything wrong. He didn't even bother to read his book anymore and went straight to the Intermediate People's Court to see how the brigade headquarters was handling command.

As soon as he arrived at the office door, he saw Secretary Yang, Captain Zhang, Captain Xiao, and Captain Ye, four old smokers, puffing away and chatting about going to the market on Sunday.

Chen Fan was immediately taken aback. What happened to the important task of dike construction?

Captain Ye, who was facing the door, saw him, raised his head and asked, "Xiao Chen, is something the matter?"

Chen Fan chuckled. "It's nothing, I just wanted to hear how the leaders planned the dike-breaking work."

This wasn't a secret, and as the team's announcer, he was definitely one of the first to know the news, so he spoke frankly.

Secretary Yang couldn't help but chuckle, puffing out smoke as he said, "It's not like we're breaching a dike, what's the point of making arrangements?"

Captain Zhang beckoned, "Come in and sit down."

Chen Fan didn't stand on ceremony and went straight in and sat down.

He's realized now that if you do your job well, you can argue with these guys all you want, but if you don't, don't blame them for beating you up with a carrying pole. They're very clear about their likes and dislikes!
Fortunately, Comrade Xiao Chen has a good work attitude and excellent work quality. Now the whole commune knows that the broadcaster in Lujiawan is even better than the commune's broadcaster. Not only is his Mandarin standard, but he can also repair the broadcasting equipment. Secretary Yang and Captain Zhang don't care if people curse them behind their backs for being lucky. As long as they have something to show for themselves, that's all that matters.

As a result, their attitude towards Chen Fan was naturally different.

Besides, I'm just idling around anyway, so it's not bad to brag to the young people.

After Chen Fan sat down, Captain Zhang said with a smile, "This kind of small project can be completed in two or three days. Basically, there is no need for much preparation. We don't even need the water conservancy institute to come and demarcate the river sections. We just fill in some places according to last year's standards, and then we calculate the work points and give subsidies."

The real preparations required are for large-scale projects, some of which issue notices a year in advance. Everyone in the surrounding area needs to contribute labor, and depending on the availability of manpower, people from other places, even other provinces, may need to be mobilized. Those are truly extraordinary.

Chen Fan's eyes widened immediately. "They're going to mobilize people from other provinces too?"

That's probably a national-level project!
Captain Zhang chuckled and continued, "Of course. Take this dike-breaking project, for example. Dike-breaking is the smallest project. The really big projects aren't called dike-breaking, they're called 'river-going work.' What does that mean?"
This means it's not just about reinforcing the dikes; it also includes dredging and widening waterways, and building reservoirs—it's no exaggeration to say it was a massive undertaking involving thousands of troops!

While Captain Zhang was smoking, Secretary Yang joined in, saying with great enthusiasm, "Do you know about the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Area?"

Chen Fan rolled his eyes slightly and shook his head gently, "I don't know."

He had never heard of that before.

Secretary Yang curled his lip and said, "You don't even know this? Let me tell you, the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project is the first large-scale water conservancy project in New China. It is located in Gong'an County, Hubei Province, and it is much earlier than the famous Ming Tombs Reservoir and Hongqi Canal."

As early as the winter of 1950, Mr. Li personally approved and oversaw the entire water conservancy project. Comrade Nian was in charge of its management. Preparations took a year and a half, construction began in the early summer of 1952, and it was completed in one year. This project not only changed the frequent flooding situation in the Jingjiang area but also improved the water conservancy and navigation safety of the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. "We now experience far fewer floods than before, thanks to this water conservancy project that regulates water levels."

Chen Fan was full of surprise; he really didn't know that.

Secretary Yang crossed his legs smugly, took a puff of his cigarette, and was about to speak.

Then Captain Zhang interrupted, "It's this Jingjiang Flood Diversion Area. Back when it was being built, apart from Lao Xiao who was still fighting in the north, the rest of us went to work on the river. Wow, it was a sea of ​​people, red flags waving, drums and firecrackers going off everywhere..."

Chen Fan blinked. "Did you mix up your lines, sir?"
Seeing that he seemed unconvinced, Captain Zhang immediately put on a stern face. "If you think I'm bragging, it's not an exaggeration at all. At that time, there were a total of 30 people involved in the construction, including 10 troops and 20 laborers. Apart from a few teams of women who worked as cooks, the rest were all strong laborers aged 18 to 45."

With 30 people, relying solely on carrying and pushing by hand, we completed the first phase of the main project in just 75 days.

At that time, 30 people ate, drank, and relieved themselves on the river embankment. They lived in thatched huts, ate communal meals, and started working as soon as they woke up and went to sleep when it got dark. While working, red flags were planted on the high ground, and loudspeakers broadcast announcements. White rice and fat pigs were delivered to the construction site every day, so they could eat as much as they wanted.

Behind every 30 workers, there are another 30. Steel from Northeast China, machinery from Shanghai, timber from Guangxi, and stones from Yichang are all being delivered to the construction site without a single day's delay. Everyone is working with boundless enthusiasm—that's what you call a massive project.

Captain Zhang and Yang Shu reminisced about their glorious past, and Chen Fan listened with great longing.

Unfortunately, he couldn't imagine that scene. He only remembered that when the two sacred mountains were being built, hundreds of heavy machines were working at the same time, a small mountain was leveled overnight, and two large hospitals were built in one or two days.

Perhaps their efficiencies and methods differ, but the shared spirit can be clearly felt.

(End of this chapter)