Reborn in 1977

Chapter 99: Remembering the Glorious Past

Back home, Chen Fan put down his things and hurried to the brigade office to start work.

As soon as he entered the courtyard, he was stopped by Team Leader Zhang, "Wait a moment, broadcast two announcements first."

"Announcements?"

Chen Fan curiously took them and looked at them, "Oh, we're going to reinforce the dikes, and also clear the ditches."

Team Leader Yang had mentioned this the day before yesterday when Huang Laosi's house was being built, so it seemed that the commune had issued the notice today.

Team Leader Zhang nodded, "We won't make a big deal of it this year, just a simple fix. Contract it out to the teams, as long as they complete the repair of the dike section under their responsibility and clear the ditches within their team."

After a pause, he added, "Be sure to remind everyone to be prepared for protection, not to go barefoot in the water, and especially not to drink raw water."

This was to prevent schistosomiasis.

Chen Fan nodded repeatedly and smiled, "It's all written on your notice, don't worry, I guarantee nothing will be missed."

Team Leader Zhang laughed and waved his hand, "Go ahead."

Chen Fan quickly went upstairs, turned on the broadcasting machine, and patted the microphone. The loudspeaker outside immediately made a muffled sound.

After two seconds, Chen Fan began to read the notice into the microphone, "Attention, comrades! Attention, comrades! Now broadcasting a notice. According to the notice from the commune, ..."

After reading the notice twice, Team Leader Zhang listened in the courtyard and, after confirming that it was correct, turned and entered the office to discuss the regulations for these two tasks with the other leaders.

In fact, there was nothing to discuss. They were all experienced. After Chen Fan finished reading the notice, the entire Lujiawan Production Brigade was mobilized.

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

When four o'clock arrived, Chen Fan turned on the radio to broadcast the county radio station. After guarding it for two minutes and finding nothing wrong, he stopped reading his book and sneaked to the central courtyard to see how the brigade was directing things.

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

Chen Fan was immediately shocked. Wasn't reinforcing the dikes supposed to be important work?

Team Leader Ye, who was facing the door, saw him and raised his head to ask, "Little Chen, is there something wrong?"

Chen Fan smiled, "Nothing, I just wanted to hear how the leaders are arranging the dike reinforcement work."

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

Secretary Yang couldn't help but chuckle, puffing smoke as he said, "It's not like we're reinforcing a major dike, what's there to arrange?"

Team Leader Zhang beckoned, "Come in and sit down."

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

He now understood that as long as you did your job well, you could even slam the table with these people, but if you didn't do your job well, don't blame them for beating you with a carrying pole.

Clear likes and dislikes!

Fortunately, Comrade Xiao Chen had a good work attitude and excellent work quality. Now the entire commune knew that the broadcaster of Lujiawan was even better than the broadcaster of the commune. Not only was his Mandarin standard, but he could also repair broadcasting machines. Secretary Yang and Team Leader Zhang didn't care if people cursed them behind their backs for having good luck, as long as they had face.

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

Besides, they were idle anyway, so it was good to chat with young people.

After Chen Fan sat down, Team Leader Zhang smiled and said, "This kind of small project that can be completed in two or three days basically doesn't require much preparation. We don't even need people from the Water Conservancy Bureau to come and divide the river sections. Just follow last year's standards, fill in some places, and then calculate work points and give subsidies."

"What really requires a lot of preparation is a large project, and some large projects are notified a year in advance. Everyone around the entire project has to contribute labor, and even people from other places, including other provinces, have to be mobilized to participate. That's extraordinary."

Chen Fan's eyes widened, "Mobilize people from other provinces too?"

Wasn't that a national-level project?!

Team Leader Zhang chuckled and continued, "That's right. Take this dike reinforcement as an example. Dike reinforcement is the smallest project. Real large projects are not called dike reinforcement, but 'going to the river work'. What does that mean?

"It means that it's not just about reinforcing the dikes, but also includes digging river channels, clearing and widening waterways, and building reservoirs. It's not an exaggeration at all. It's really a mass battle!"

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

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

He had really never heard of this.

Secretary Yang curled his lips, "You don't even know this. I'm telling you, the Jingjiang Flood Diversion Project was the first large-scale water conservancy project in New China. It's in Gong'an County, Hubei Province, much earlier than the famous Thirteen Tombs Reservoir and the Red Flag Canal.

"As early as the winter of 1950, Mr. Li personally approved and oversaw this water conservancy project. Comrade Nian was responsible for presiding over it. The preparation time took a year and a half. Construction started in the early summer of 1952 and was completed in one year. It not only changed the frequent flooding situation in the Jingjiang area, but also improved the water conservancy and waterway safety of the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. We have much less flooding here now than before because of this water conservancy project to regulate the water level."

Chen Fan was full of surprise. He really didn't know this.

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

Then Team Leader Zhang snatched the topic back, "It was this Jingjiang Flood Diversion Area. When we were building it back then, except for Lao Xiao, who was still fighting in the north, a few of us went to the river work. That guy, it was really a sea of people, red flags waving, gongs and drums beating, firecrackers going off..."

Chen Fan blinked. Old man, are you mixing up your words?

Team Leader Zhang saw that he didn't seem to believe him, and immediately put on a stern face, "You little brat, don't think I'm bragging. It's not an exaggeration at all. At that time, a total of 300,000 troops participated in the construction, including 100,000 soldiers and 200,000 laborers. Except for a few teams of women who were cooks, the rest were all strong laborers between the ages of 18 and 45.

"We 300,000 people relied on carrying and pushing by hand, and it only took 75 days to complete the first phase of the main project.

"At that time, 300,000 people ate, drank, and slept on the dike. They lived in grass shacks and ate from a big pot. They woke up and started working, and went to sleep when it got dark. When working, red flags were planted on the high ground, and broadcasts were played on loudspeakers. White rice and fat pork were delivered to the construction site every day, and they could eat as much as they wanted.

"Behind the 300,000 people, there were also 300,000 people. Steel from the Northeast, machines from Shanghai, wood from Guangxi, and stones from Yichang were all sent to the construction site, without delay for a single day. Everyone was full of energy. This is what you call a big project."

Team Leader Zhang and Secretary Yang recalled the glorious years of the past, and Chen Fan listened with fascination.

Unfortunately, he couldn't imagine that scene. He only remembered when building the two 'God Mountains', hundreds of heavy machines started working at the same time, and a small mountain was leveled overnight, and two large hospitals were built one after another within ten days.

Perhaps the efficiency and methods of the two were different, but the spirit of the same lineage could be clearly felt.