Chapter 36 Chapter fifteen

Liu Fang is also old, and the ruthless years have carved a series of crisscross wrinkles on his square face, especially on his forehead, the wrinkles are more conspicuous, deep and wide, like several irregular plows ditch.White hair has quietly climbed up the top of his head, encroaching on his temples.He was already a little fat, his arms and legs were thicker, and his belly was slightly protruding from the rich fat. Wei Heizi was dark and thin, his face was slack and slack, his flat head was obviously high and the other low, and his back was slightly hunched.He felt that standing in front of the tall and plump Liu Fang, he looked very small, like a thin old horse standing in front of a grown elephant.He was a little restrained.

"Sit down, sit down, old man!" Liu Fang patted him on the shoulder affectionately, pushed him down on the soft sofa, poured him a cup of strong West Lake Longjing tea, and opened a can of iron for him. Boxes of Chunghwa cigarettes. "Old Wei, during the meeting, stay at my house. Let's go together when the meeting is over, and come back when the meeting is over. Let's have a good chat. I also reserved a bottle of Moutai just for you!" He was a little uneasy: "Is this convenient?" "Convenience! The three big houses are just the two of us old men. Your old sister-in-law is on a business trip to Beijing, and the children are staying at school. We can figure out what to eat by ourselves! I have been idle for a few years during the Cultural Revolution and learned a few sets of cooking. You see Look at my handiwork!"

"Well!" He became more natural, and vaguely saw the old appearance from Liu Fang's deformed face. He took out a Chinese cigarette, lit it and started smoking. "Old Wei, I didn't expect you to create a miracle for us after more than 20 years. Wow, I, Liu Fang, have good eyesight!" He chuckled, his eyes narrowed into two thin fleshy arcs, and there was a gleam of joy in the gaps between the fleshy arcs.Liu Fang didn't forget him, and he didn't lose face for Liu Fang either, which is something to be happy about! "But, but... I always feel that I haven't done anything in the past 20 or 30 years, and I haven't done anything famous. Thinking about it, I feel a little ashamed, and I feel sorry for your training!" He said softly and sincerely.

"Hahaha……" Liu Fang smiled heartily, the laughter was as young and bold as it was many years ago. "Are you still thinking about being a mine manager? My comrade, I have been thinking about this for many years. At that time, we were all too naive! Now, it has been twenty years...well, more than twenty years ? Oh, twenty-eight years, after twenty-eight years, I want to add one more point: being the master is a big concept, not every worker has to be a mine manager, an engineer. A mine leader , can only be a small part of our workers..." "Yes! Yes!" He murmured, "I have understood this truth a long time ago." After sipping his tea and pondering for a while, he said again: "I have thought about it, and I have thought about it many times. Fate, destined to stay on the ground for the rest of my life.”

"Oh?" Liu Fang asked with interest, "Then, what is my fate?" "You are the life of water. When the sun of the Communist Party shines, you will rise from the earth and become a cloud. Hehe!" Liu Fang laughed again: "But this cloud will turn into rain and fall on the land again! During the Cultural Revolution, I was unlucky. When I was swimming in Heigelonggou, you didn't give me back What a duck egg! My comrade, your metaphor is inappropriate, but it is quite interesting. It can make people understand a truth: even if our cadres rise to the invisible clouds, their roots are still on the earth, forming The hearts of those people of the earth!"

On this day, they talked very speculatively.Wei Heizi raised many questions that he couldn't figure out one by one, and asked the party cadre he respected the most in his life for advice.He talked to him about Li Jie's warning and the workers' complaints. Liu Fang frowned, smoking non-stop, listening, thinking, pacing back and forth in the room.After he finished speaking, he waved his hand and said: "It has been ten years, and our history has gone backwards in the most revolutionary noise, twenty years! The factories stopped smoking, the coal mines stopped producing coal, and our history The most industrious workers are idle, idle, idle, and this idleness becomes a terrible inertia, sliding forward endlessly, and at this time, you stand out, just like in 1949 You used a miracle to prove a kind of spirit. Should this be denied? The debate between you and Comrade Li Jie this time must not be equated with the debate about mechanization. Two different things! As far as the present is concerned, it is good for everyone to bring an extra handful of coal from the mine! A lot of waste is waiting to be done, how many factories are waiting and looking forward to coal, my comrade!"

"The mood of the workers is not surprising. After getting used to it, they will scream a few times. But don't worry, they are the best workers in the world. If their heads are cut off, they won't make a fuss." The opposition of the Communist Party." His eyes brightened, as if a light had been turned on in his heart.He is down-to-earth, courageous, and confident. He wants to take Liu Fang's words back and tell Li Jie to listen to him, so as to dispel his worries. However, when he left the provincial capital, he still felt a little empty in his heart.I have asked everything that should be asked, why? ...