In the winter of 1980, Beijing Shuangliushu Hutong. The air was dry and cold, Huo Zhongshu rode his bicycle back to his yard, his hands were red from the cold. A Hongqi car with an Inner Mongolia license plate was parked in the alley, almost blocking the road.Huo Zhongshu was very surprised. Four-wheeled cars were rarely seen in this alley. Could it be that some leaders came to the alley to handle errands? Huo Zhongshu, who was only 13 years old, received the admission letter from Peking University.He went back to school and packed his luggage. In two months, he will report to Peking University.

It may be because he rarely had contact with his peers all the way, Huo Zhongshu was a bit introverted and quiet, but at the moment he was still very excited. He could become a talent as quickly as possible and fulfill his long-cherished wish of serving the motherland, which is the dream of many people. From the front basket of the car, he took out a complete set of materials prepared by the class teacher for him, which contained his future, what major he was suitable for, his professional prospects and future plans, etc., all of which were very detailed information.It can be seen how much the teacher cares about this outstanding student.

Of course, he has already determined his ideal. He wants to become an architect who contributes all his efforts to the motherland and design a house comparable to that designed by Jacobsen. He went back to the house and wanted to show his parents the notice that still smelled like ink, but he saw that the room was full of people. These people are dark-skinned, and they are not from Beijing at first glance, and his father is smoking on the sofa, with an uncertain expression on his face. All eyes were on Huo Zhongshu, which made him a little stunned, and his intuition told him that it was a bit inappropriate to report the good news now.

He bowed and went into his room. He heard his father arguing with the men.Sure enough, those people were not from Beijing, and they all had accents from the Northwest.Although he couldn't quite hear what they were saying, he felt that the content of the argument related to him. "This kid is not suitable, you listen to me, he is not suitable to work in a closed environment." "We have investigated. Your child is introverted and silent, and has a strong ability to withstand pressure. Such a job is very suitable for him. And his academic performance also proves that he should be an engineering talent in the future."

"But he's only 13." "He will first receive the most professional training in China. In fact, the project may not take that long. It may be completed in 30 years. At that time, he was not yet 50 years old. As long as you promise, we will be responsible for the shortfall of your unit. I can fill it in for you." "No, I can't trade my child's future for myself." "Then you will be exposed in a month. At that time, not only will your son have no money to go to college, but he will not even be able to pass the political examination." Huo Zhongshu watched the report silently and listened carefully to the conversations.He was not surprised by the content of the other party's threat. In fact, he knew about his father's shortfall of public funds.Also knew that he might face this day, but he kept pretending it didn't matter.

There was silence outside, and slowly, his father's cry came. "He's not the only one for us, and we're the only one for you. Why don't you let us talk to your kids." He didn't hear his father's voice to stop him, nor did he hear the answer of refusal. Huo Zhongshu heard footsteps coming towards his room, he turned and sat on the chair.The door was opened, and to his surprise, it was not those middle-aged men who looked like Inner Mongolians who walked in, but a beautiful fair-skinned woman, about twenty-four or five years old.After she came in, she sat on Huo Zhongshu's bed, looked at this simple but safe room, and asked, "Did you hear everything?"

Huo Zhongshu nodded.The woman leaned down and looked into his eyes: "You are a smart boy, you can make a decision for your father." "What do you want me to do?" Huo Zhongshu asked timidly. "You want to help us build the greatest building in China, or even the greatest building in the world." "Do you want me to design it?" "No, this building was designed 1900 years ago, and we need you to build it." Huo Zhongshu didn't understand what this meant. He only cared about his future now: "Why should I go? I haven't graduated from high school yet, and I haven't mastered the knowledge of designers yet."

The woman touched his head and said with a smile: "This job is not as easy as you imagined. It may take all of us to work hard for many, many years." "How many years?" "Well, for many, many years, maybe at my age, I won't be able to see the final completion of the project." The woman said, "But it's worth it, because this may be the greatest project in the world." She smiled and said softly Said, "Isn't this your ideal?" Huo Zhongshu looked into the woman's eyes, and he saw a kind of coldness beneath gentleness from inside. For the first time, he realized that rejection was no longer an option he could consider.

"You promise to save my father?" The woman nodded, and Huo Zhongshu handed the woman the document he was looking at to fill in the application form. Three days later, Huo Zhongshu got into the black red flag car and drove slowly on the highway outside Beijing.On that road, more Hongqi cars joined them, and in each car sat a child about his age. These cars drove to the Badain Jaran Desert in Inner Mongolia. For the next 30 years, these children never even appeared by name.