Chapter 26 chapter Five

"When, when, when—" After receiving the signal from the lower mouth of the well, the manager at the upper mouth of the well sounded two short and one long signals.This signal told the winch house that the cage contained people, not wagons, or stones.The winch house also returned two shorts and one long.The day worker opened his eyes wide and looked at the cage full of people again, and repeated the signal again.The steel wire ropes hanging the cage began to vibrate, and then, with a "bang", the tank rail fell on the spring steel along the edge of the well, and the cage fell into the well shaft more than 200 meters deep.

The first time he rode the tank, his heart reached the mouth of his throat, the cage dropped sharply, but his internal organs were rising nervously.In his ears, the cold wind whistled, as if a huge invisible hand was rubbing his face.In a blink of an eye, he entered the drenching water layer, and the drenching water rushed like a torrential rain, and the cold mercury splashed through his thin clothes.He felt an unprecedented sense of terror, and squeezed his body into the depths of the cage, causing the workers inside to curse. After an unknown amount of time, the cage gradually stopped.After the cage stopped, he and his fellow workers opened the iron curtain and got out.His two feet firmly stepped on the ground, and his heart returned to its original place.

The street was brightly lit, like a majestic underground palace. At the beginning, he was overwhelmed by the momentum.Walking down the alley for less than 200 meters, he suddenly heard the sound of mules and horses.He was even more surprised: there are still animals here?He stood in front of Dao Xin and looked around.At this time, a tall brown-red horse rushed towards us dragging a cart full of coal. A worker hurriedly pulled him up, and almost pulled him into the ditch beside the road.As the carriage passed by, he broke out in a cold sweat. After walking for about four or five miles along the main street, they began to climb a long and steep slope, which was more than a thousand meters long, and their coats were soaked through.However, before he was allowed to dry off his sweat and catch his breath, everyone talked and laughed again and got into a low coal hole.The coal cave is no more than one meter high, with water on its head and mud under its feet. There is a wooden shed at a distance of one meter from the cave. Due to the humid air for many years, the beams and pillars of the shed are covered with black and yellow mildew. This coal hole added a bit of gloom.It was very hot inside, so he took off his shirt when he entered the cave, and turned on the miner's lamp to the maximum brightness.He did not dare to slack off at all, his eyes were fixed on the back of a worker in front of him, and he insisted on keeping a distance of two or three steps from him.He imitated them, bowing his waist and bending his knees, and sometimes he crawled on the ground with his hands and feet like a mouse.From time to time the roof cracked his back and hurt his head—the wicker cap on his head softened the force of the impact, but couldn't completely counteract it.The hole was so long, it seemed to have no head, and when he reached the hole, he was exhausted.

At that time, the labor contract cabinet had not been abolished, and the production was still managed by the cabinet head and foreman.Foreman Li San assigned him to pull the coal hauler, and he dragged the coal dug out of his hands to the entrance of the alley in this black hole.With muddy water on his head, muddy weathered shale under his feet, drag baskets weighing hundreds of kilograms, and a road of several hundred meters, he started his difficult career as a miner. The long and dark coal cave has no sunshine, no vitality, no four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter. It is always so sultry, so silent, so dirty, and if you touch it anywhere, it will fall black ash for a long time, just like A long, flat chimney lying on the ground after burning for ten years.He began to throw his strength, his sweat, and his enthusiasm into this chimney.The chimney was like a ravenous beast, devouring everything he offered, but treating him like ice.It threatens him with roofs and gangs, makes things difficult for him with mud and water, and tortures him with darkness and coldness.

He became more silent, crawling up this dark chimney forty or fifty times a day, listening to his own heartbeat, listening to his own breathing, and losing his temper with himself.He hopes that he will be better, and then be better, and create a miracle for the Communist Party. The miracle finally appeared. He created the highest record in the whole mine of dragging coal under harsh conditions at that time.Liu Fang, the military representative, took a few pullers from large cabinets to watch him perform. That day, he made an exception and changed into a half-new jacket, put on a new wicker hat, and prepared two new baskets.He pulled a total of eighty-two baskets of coal back and forth in one shift, and he forced the two new baskets to fall apart.

Walking out of the coal cave, his feet were weak, and he fell down with a "thump", and he struggled for a long time without getting up.Liu Fang, the military representative, ran over to help him and grabbed his hand. Only then did he realize that his palms and knees were bloody, and two bloody deep grooves were formed on his shoulders. Liu Fang was shocked. He tore off his shirt and bandaged his bleeding knee, choked up and said, "Good job! I...my comrade, good job! Let's endure it... let's endure it, let's endure it again Now! In the future, this will be your pride, your glory! The working class of our new China took the first step under such difficult conditions! From now on, you will become mine managers and mine engineers, When new workers give their first lesson, tell us about your day."

After finishing speaking, Liu Fang carried him on his shoulder without any explanation. He was ashamed.I am a living person, how can I let others carry it?He struggled to get down, but his knees were weak and stiff, and he couldn't even stand up.He blushed, feeling that he didn't look like a man, and that he had lost face for the Communist Party. Later, he entered the palm area and set a record for the highest personal yield.A year later, the labor contract system was abolished and the labor organization was rebuilt. In order to set a model for the working class to be the masters of the country, Liu Fang made him the head of the second coal mining district.

A whole new world opened up before him.