Chapter 17 The Little Five Tigers on the site of the Ming Tombs

On the fiery construction site of the Ming Tombs Reservoir, among the tens of thousands of energetic heroes, there is a group of five teenagers who look like little tigers. They are small, energetic, and high-spirited. Wearing clothes to and fro, walking like flying!These five romping little tigers cannot but attract the attention and admiration of the people around them.They are the youngest group among the thousands of collectives on the construction site. They are only sixteen or seventeen years old. They are the "fifth group" in the second squadron of the sixth migrant workers' brigade.

These five children are members of the Satellite Club in Changping District. They all live in Changping Town, facing each other from door to door.From December last year to January 15th this year, in response to the call for water conservancy and drought relief, they also participated in the construction of the Youth Reservoir of our agency.When the news of the construction of the Ming Tombs Reservoir came, they rushed to tell each other with smiles on their faces, regardless of the concerns and dissuasion of the parents and the team leader, they insisted on jumping and following the team. What they are most happy and proud of is that they are the first batch of migrant workers to participate in the construction of the Ming Tombs.In their own words: "At that time, there was not even a single pole on the construction site!" Indeed, at that time, apart from the yellow and bald mountains on all sides, there was endless grass and gravel on the construction site; The wind welcomes the throng of people coming and going.Because they lived close to their homes, they went home from work and ate dry food at the construction site in the middle.Going back and forth for dozens of miles every day, getting up early to face the severe winter wind, like a cold knife, piercing straight into the collar and cuffs, piercing!The frozen yellow sand that was blown up hit the face, sharp and sharp.The dry food that was bundled around his waist was frozen into lumps, and he had to break it open with an iron pick before he could swallow it.Walking, working and sweating, the snowflakes on the little padded jacket melted, and the skin was cold and wet next to the skin, as if covered with iron armor... But the rain, snow, wind and sand did not trap these five romping around The little tigers, they were mixed among the 100,000 construction troops, looking left and right, with a wave of excitement in their minds, wishing to build a tall dam like the Great Wall on this barren beach and barren ridge!

As soon as they arrived at the construction site, they first dug the ground, planted utility poles, and cleaned the dam foundation...the ice water under the ground and sand froze their feet in the mud.But they pulled out their feet, laughed and picked up the sand and ran forward again.Whether they are picking sand or stones, they are always full of two sharp baskets, which weigh at least one hundred and twenty catties. It's their turn to push the cart!Speaking of push carts, many heroes and heroes on the construction site have had difficult experiences. Migrant workers who are not familiar with push cart technology need to go through many days of hard training before they can walk smoothly without overturning the cart.These five children are not much taller than the handcart, and the arms of the pushcart have to be taller than the adults.But they worked hard, and they found the trick in a day or two, "You don't need to learn to push a small car, you just use your buttocks to shake it!"—holding the handlebars with both hands, and focusing on the front, when the car tilted, the body twisted back and forth ,shake.For these, these children are much more flexible than adults!A week later, they rushed to the dam again, pushing a cart full of pointed sand and soil. Over a distance of 2,000 meters, they made fourteen trips in one group!

This is about dexterity, and they are not weak when it comes to strength. Didn't we say that they can pick up about 120 catties of soil?This even mentions the process of their establishment of the "Five Groups".In the Sixth Brigade of Migrant Workers, there were five old men. On March 22, they formed the "Five Elders Group". , and challenged others.The five children looked at each other with hot eyes and itchy hands. The five little heads touched each other and muttered for a while. On March 24th, the "Five Group" was also established. The first measure was to deal with the "Five "Old group" challenge, the competition picks soil.The five old and the five young are full of energy!The elderly are not in a hurry, and the children are running and jumping, making the people on both sides look stupid and laughing!As a result, according to the "five minors", although they did not win, they overfulfilled the one hundred and twenty-three earthwork tasks of the day, and they added: "In fact, they completed the two hundred and twenty-three earthwork tasks." !"

For them, everything about running towards a socialist society is interesting, happy and bright.In their minds, there are the latest and most beautiful words, the latest and most beautiful pictures, although they speak very little.Sometimes when they are pressed hard, they will look at each other and smile shyly, lower their heads, and look sideways at the distance, as if avoiding other people's questions, and from their smiling eyes, we can see the depth of their souls. With the socialist happy and beautiful world opened up by their hands! The difference between them and the five elders is this: the five elders are people who have rolled over from the old society's many disasters. When they mention the old things, they get upset, but when they bring up the comparison between the old and the new, they talk non-stop. Field of joy.These children have parents, and both parents are members of the agricultural society.They were all young during the liberation period, and they have long forgotten the shadow before liberation, and they don't want to think about it anymore.Originally, the bright light in front of them has dazzled their eyes, and the countless agricultural and industrial production plans in their ears are like endless green spring grass, vigorously growing everywhere.Therefore, the violent wind and heavy rain on the construction site, flying sand and rocks, are like passing clouds to them, and they can't squeeze into the eyes full of happiness.In the days of construction, how many times have there been strong winds of seven or eight degrees on the construction site, and there have been pouring rains, telephone poles have been blown down, wires have been blown off, and the vast expanse of whiteness is invisible on the opposite side People, the rain and the wind made people unable to stand, it was cold, dark, muddy...the handcarts and carts stopped.In the heavy wind and rain, they still turned their heads half sideways, half closed their eyes, holding poles and soil baskets, and refused to leave the construction site a step!Their slogan is: "Light rain, hard work, heavy rain, hard work!" This construction site belongs to them, and they will never give up their fighting position.

Although they didn't speak much, from the vivid and distinct sentences drawn out of these five small mouths, it can be seen that, twenty-four hours a day and night, except for their little heads resting on the pillow and dreaming deeply , They are all lively and active like little tigers! Ask them if they feel tired after walking dozens of miles home after work every day?Do you think the road is long?They all shook their heads with a smile and said, "Why are you tired? After tens of miles of walking, you will be home!" What a "playing around"!Can't we imagine that when there are three shifts on the construction site, whether it is the morning sun, the sunset, the stars and the moon, or the wind and rain, this large team of people will start from home like a long snake, or Going home from the construction site, on the long mountain road, there were five lively and joyful children running and chasing, cheering and singing. Did it also inspire others?

They returned home from the construction site and did two hours of voluntary labor in the vegetable garden of their company.On the construction site, there are two hours of study.What they like most is singing, and they can be with anyone. They learn songs with the Dongfeng women's group of the brigade. When other team members are ramming, they also help sing and shout : "Hey hey!" Ask them what they want to be when they grow up?That's right!They all said with one voice firmly: "Be a member of the agricultural cooperative!" The future of the agricultural cooperatives is really bright. The agricultural cooperatives all over the country are shooting out thousands of satellites of high yield like fireworks.

The small city and the big garden-like countryside in the future will be more than just "upstairs and downstairs, lights and telephones". These five children each have their own latest and most beautiful drawings in their hearts.They grew up in the countryside and know that water conservancy is the life of crops. They also know that the more intense the labor, the faster the appearance of the countryside will change. But what they said is this: "Once our own youth reservoir is completed, we will We rushed here and became the first batch of migrant workers. After the construction here is completed, we will rush to Huairou and Miyun, we are addicted to building reservoirs!"

July 30, 1958, Beijing.