Return to 2001 to pursue dreams

After wandering around the dilapidated supply market, I only found one merchant who wholesaled water pipes. The boss had a strong accent. Chen Xiu translated, making Gao Hongda look like a foreign merchant.

After all, those who have worked in construction companies for several years can still tell the material and model of the water pipes. When the boss heard that, he asked for more than [-] meters of ductile iron pipes and more than a dozen ball valves at one time. He was worried. It was difficult to sell water pipes in drought-stricken areas, let alone such a huge demand. How could his small shop supply them? When he learned that it was a caring company that provided tap water for the people in the town, he immediately said that he could supply it. Urgent shipment from the manufacturer, however, requires an advance payment.

Isn't it just a question of money? Gao Hongda said proudly that if you go and transfer goods, the money will be available at any time.

The boss clicked on the calculator. The total price was 60 yuan, not including the shipping fee. The boss swore that he only earned a thousand yuan in hard work and would not cheat any kind person. Boss Gao knew in his heart that the price was really not high. Without saying a word, he took the boss to the only postal bank in the county to handle the transfer procedures. After the advance payment of [-] yuan arrived, the store quickly contacted him excitedly. My own supplier requires overnight delivery, which must be fast. I ran into some trouble when handling cash withdrawals. The one-time withdrawal of [-] yuan gave the bank staff a headache. This small bank had not had so much cash flow in three days, so they could only call the bank leaders. They promised to withdraw money from the city head office tomorrow. Adjustment, come back tomorrow.

Hey, it can be seen from this that this place is really poor, and there is no money in the banks.

It was already evening when we returned to town. Chen Xiu's father worked vigorously and resolutely. He invited several technicians from the county water company. He formulated a pipeline laying plan that afternoon and used talcum powder to install the pipes on the scheduled pipeline laying routes and tube wells. Signs were sprinkled everywhere.

That night, several leaders of the town government entertained them warmly in the canteen. The so-called canteen was just two small bungalows with several small tables placed inside. These small tables were put together to form a large dining table. They used public funds to I bought a sheep, and my dinner consisted of a roasted whole lamb and a few plates of cold dishes. The town leader made it himself, and drank local wolfberry wine. The dry, highly alcoholic liquor was simply unpalatable to the three young men. After one bite, the whole esophagus is burning, making people grin.

Secretary Chen explained with a smile: "The taste of wine is different across the country, but there is one thing in common. The type of wine people drink in different places is related to the local character. Southerners have a softer character, so the alcohol content they drink is not too high. , Northerners have a bold personality and mostly drink alcohol to a high degree.”

Gao Hongda carefully tasted the strong wine made from wolfberry. He didn't know what others thought. He felt that he liked the taste better. He suspected that he might be weak and needed a lot of nourishment from wolfberry, but recently, he He didn't contribute much. The dream trio stopped playing with him a long time ago. Why did they suddenly become weak?

Suddenly he had a bold idea, so he proposed it in front of the town leaders: "Your local area is rich in wolfberry. We can make a fuss about this and sell this kind of wolfberry wine to the whole country. Wouldn't it also help everyone?" Escape poverty?”

A cadre smiled awkwardly and explained: "We have had this idea for a long time. You have also seen our situation. Everyone has a problem with water. Where is the extra water for brewing? Brewing requires food. This apprentice cannot grow up at all. No matter how much food is provided, the people are currently just solving the problem of eating..."

Lao Bi put forward a solution that made everyone's eyes brighter: "Our hometown in Northeast China is the main production area of ​​grain, and the quality of our sorghum wine is quite good. Together with your wolfberry, if the resources from both sides can be integrated, it might not be a good idea!" "

How could Baldy Li give up this opportunity to show off his hometown? He shouted in his characteristic high voice: "Our Henan wine is also very good..."

Chen Xiu said jokingly: "Brother, please stop it. There are more fake wines there, including black cotton and fake rice."

Baldy Li continued to argue, but Lao Bi kicked him again. The guy's face turned red but he did not dare to say any more.

The people in the town government were not overjoyed. They thought these students were just fanciful, but when they thought that they could spend as little as 100 million to help this town, they must have some ability.

So someone asked tentatively: "Do you have a way?"

Everyone's eyes were focused on Gao Hongda, who answered without hesitation: "It depends on human effort! There are always more solutions than difficulties! Solve the current water problem first, and when we go back, we will find experts to determine the formula of the medicinal wine, and then try to solve the sales problem ." In fact, he already had an idea in mind. He asked Professor Liu Fuzi, who had ancestral brewing skills, to help determine the formula. Production would not be a problem. As for sales, the way he came up with was to copy the gameplay of a certain tycoon who sold medicinal wine in his previous life. Crazy. Advertise and deceive all mankind.

Two girls lived in Chen Xiu's house, and three boys spent one night fighting in the only hotel here. They slept very poorly because they had a slight altitude sickness and their heads felt as big as pig heads. Ever since they arrived in Ningxia, their ears had been buzzing like they were submerged in water until they drank a little alcohol tonight. Drinking gave me some relief.

The next day they were awakened by the noise outside the window. When they opened the thin curtains and looked outside, they were instantly shocked: outside the window, there were many men, women, old and young carrying shovels, hammers and other tools, walking, riding bicycles, and some sitting. He drove the donkey cart and happily headed out of the town. It's like digging for gold.

Chen Xiu called and said that all residents in the town had been called to gather in the open space on the east side of the town.

The three young men quickly got dressed and washed up. The hotel provided only a small bucket of water. If they were at school, this water would only be enough for one person to wash their faces. They had no choice but to overcome it. The three of them simply brushed their teeth. , wet the towel, and took turns to wipe it on the face, which was regarded as washed.

When I arrived at the assembly site, I was really shocked. The open space was filled with human heads, surrounded by colorful flags. Everyone was carrying trenching tools. Those who knew it understood that they were preparing to work collectively, but those who didn’t knew You will definitely think that there is an invasion from a foreign enemy, and everyone is preparing to go to war.

Such a big battle is really rare.

Secretary Chen is now high up with one hand on his waist and a microphone in his hand. The loudspeaker above his head reminds him of his rich voice. Due to the accent gap, the three young men probably heard that his daughter’s school is going to help our town build tap water. Guan, I hope everyone can contribute and provide food if there is food. According to the task section, each village will be assigned to the group, blah blah...

After a simple mobilization, the people, led by their respective captains, happily rushed to the mission area and began digging trenches according to the technician's requirements.

This reminded Gao Hongda of the annual river harvesting in his hometown. At that time, ordinary people were simple-minded and would actively participate in voluntary labor. Producing food without labor force was, after all, related to their own livelihood.

The people here are also so enthusiastic and positive. Thinking that tap water will be provided to the village soon, and they will no longer be troubled by water shortages like people in the city, everyone is naturally very motivated.

Gao Hongda and others were fortunate enough to see a team of tens of thousands of people working together. They were very excited and proud, and even felt like tears filled their eyes. The fatigue of the past few days of running around and working was swept away. Baldy Li said excitedly: "The people are really active. We Henan people have done more voluntary labor to fight drought and floods than this person!"

This time, no one kicked him.

Several long teams stretched out for several miles along the white lines laid out by the technicians. As far as the eye could see, they were all working with their heads down, planing, shoveling, and digging. The soil here has not been touched all year round. However, although it has been completely thawed, it is still very hard and it is not easy to work, but no one complains. You can even see gray-haired old people and underage children. Even students in primary and secondary schools are talking to teachers. Participate under the leadership of. All the cadres in the town were dispatched to direct the labor, and the police from the police station also took turns to help.

Every once in a while, a big pot will be set up, and several parents will steam buns and stew together. More than a dozen donkey carts carrying water shuttled back and forth, delivering water to everyone.

No one was lazy, and in one morning, a ten-kilometer deep trench was dug. This efficiency is really amazing.

At noon, three large trucks arrived from the city, pulling loads of cast iron pipes. The driver took the order and asked the person in charge to sign for it, urging them to unload the goods quickly, and they had to go back to continue pulling.

The accompanying salesman said that this batch of goods was urgently produced by the only steel factory in the city last night, and it was still radiating heat. On the way, the traffic police found out that the truck was overloaded. When they heard that the pipes were donated by a caring enterprise, they immediately let the truck go.

Gao Hongda took the manufacturer's salesman to the county to complete the transfer procedures. The salesman conveyed the meaning of the manufacturer's leadership and learned that caring people purchased these tubes for donation and must be given a discount of [-] yuan. Not to mention, it’s really interesting.

There was no crane to unload the goods at the site. A group of strong villagers rushed forward to unload the goods manually. A pipe with a diameter of 20 centimeters weighed several hundred kilograms. Three or five people lifted it directly and placed it carefully on the ground for fear of being damaged. Broken. A thin pipe weighing six meters weighs less than [-] kilograms. Basically, one person can carry one pipe without lifting it at all.

A team of mule-drawn carriages and a few tractor-trailers lined up to load the trucks and pull the pipes to the work area.

The technicians were busy instructing everyone to put the pipes into the trench paved with sand and connect them section by section. In order to facilitate the installation of water pipes, the villagers made the underground trenches very smooth.

During lunch time, everyone lined up in an orderly manner to get their meal. They sat on the ground and started eating without caring about the dirt on their hands. They clapped their hands casually, grabbed the pancakes and ate the pickles.

Seeing how hard everyone was working, Gao Hongda paid for it out of his own pocket and asked Mayor Chen to send someone to buy a hundred sheep to improve everyone's food at night. Such heavy physical labor would not be possible without meat. One hundred sheep sounds like a lot, but there were nearly tens of thousands of people on site. Evenly divided, everyone could only drink some broth.

With more people and greater strength, it took most of a day to dig out a [-]-kilometer trench, and there were still many sections to climb over some large slopes. After passing through some places where there were some ditches that could not be bypassed, the people worked tirelessly to fill up the ditches. The amount of work was completed with all the help of manpower, and the amount of work was not small. Gao Hongda calculated that even in future generations, it would be impossible to dig out a trench of thirty kilometers in one day with thirty excavators. Even if it is thirty kilometers, it would probably take a day to walk down.

After dinner, most people dragged their exhausted bodies home. Hundreds of young and strong men were left behind to help lay water pipes.

Three days! It only took three days! Thirty kilometers of water pipes were laid entirely by manpower. After the trenches were buried with soil, nearby villagers took the initiative to help compact them. Even the old man who was walking tremblingly stepped up and stepped on the uneven areas when he saw them.

Every village has running water. Although there are only two faucets in one village and the water supply is only three hours a day, it is enough to make everyone excited. Every village sounds gongs, drums and firecrackers, and a waist drum team is sent to the town to express gratitude.

Facing a waist drum troupe of hundreds of people, Secretary Chen pushed five young people to the front of the crowd so that they could enjoy the special honor they deserved.

At this moment, the two girls couldn't help crying. At this moment, Baldy Li chose to shut up. At this moment, Gao Hongda became the savior of the local people. At this moment, he found the lost happiness.

That night, the whole town caroused, and Gao Hongda lay drunk on the yellow land. He felt that every penny spent here was meaningful. Compared with buying luxury houses and cars, spending a lot of money in nightclubs, etc., this feeling was too fulfilling and satisfying.

Money lying in a bank card is just a number. Spending it on meaningful things is what money should do.