Chapter 7 Chapter 7 On board the hovercraft "Three Gorges"

At the passenger terminal in Chujiang City, Ren Sihong took three tickets to the gorge, and headed towards the Yangtze River embankment, waiting for Xu Zhenyu and Huang Jingzhi.Among the bustling passengers who came down from the embankment, Yang Fan's handsome duck-egg face and slender figure were revealed.She was wearing a light gray suit with a lotus-colored gauze lining the collar, and she walked towards Ren Sihong with light steps. Ren Sihong adjusted his glasses and asked with a smile, "Why, are you going to Xiakou too?" "No." Yang Fan smiled slightly, and tidied up his shoulder-hanging black hair casually, "I'm here to see you off."

"Send us?" Ren Sihong said the word "we" very emphatically, with a sly smile on his thin face, "I'm afraid they are here to send Zhenyu off!" "Why don't you believe it, it's here to send you off!" Although Yang Fan said so, a thin layer of blush had already appeared on his cheeks.She changed the subject, "Why is the smell of smoke here so strong, it seems to have a sulfur smell in it?" Ren Sihong took two breaths subconsciously and said, "No, the air in this area has never been very good." Just as he was talking, ticket checking began on the pier.Ren Sihong glanced in the direction of the embankment, and saw Xu Zhenyu coming steadily with Professor Huang Jingzhi, so he and Yang Fan went up to meet him.

"Professor Huang, you are here." Ren Sihong pointed to Yang Fan and said, "Let me introduce to you, this is Comrade Yang Fan, the attending physician of the Provincial People's Hospital, who belongs to Xu Zhenyu..." Xu Zhenyu gave him a hard look. "...Middle school classmate." Ren Sihong hastily changed his words. "Professor Huang, hello!" Yang Fan shook Huang Jingzhi's hand politely. Huang Jingzhi took a breath and wanted to say something, but he coughed and panted continuously.After a while, Qing Huang's face was flushed red.After a while, it gradually calmed down.

Xu Zhenyu said with concern: "Professor Huang, you are not in good health today, do you want to go another day?" Huang Jingzhi looked serious: "How can the work schedule be changed casually? This is an old problem of mine, it's nothing!" Yang Fan asked with concern: "Do you have allergic asthma?" "How do you know?" Huang Jingzhi was surprised. "Oh, just now I smelled a smell of soot containing sulfur, and now I see you coughing and wheezing again, so I speculate like this." "Your medical skills must be very good." "Professor Huang, you're really flattered." Yang Fan said humbly, "Our hospital has a prevention center that specializes in the treatment of various pollution diseases. You can go there for treatment when you have time."

Ren Sihong reminded everyone that it was time to board the boat. Yang Fan came over and shook hands with Huang Jingzhi and Ren Sihong, and then extended his hand to Xu Zhenyu.Xu Zhenyu held her hand and said goodbye politely.Yang Fan didn't let go of his hands, his beautiful almond eyes cast a burning gaze, looking directly at Xu Zhenyu.He felt hot on his face, and moved his eyes aside, not daring to look at her delicate eyebrows.She withdrew her hand, as if to Xu Zhenyu, or to everyone: "Goodbye, smooth sailing!" At eleven o'clock in the morning, the brand-new streamlined hovercraft "Three Gorges" sailed on time.They waved goodbye to Yang Fan.Xu Zhenyu held on to the railing on the ship's side, staring at the pier in a daze.Yang Fan, swaying the lotus-colored gauze scarf, stands at the passenger terminal where many farewellers are standing, and the tree-lined pier embankment, slowly leaves the side of the ship, and is gradually thrown into the vast river behind the ship.

This section of the river bed is relatively straight and the river surface is very open.Although there are many ships passing by, the scenery along the coast is flat.After Huang Jingzhi and the three of them had lunch in the ship's dining room, they all went to their rooms to rest. Huang Jingzhi's room is at No. 4 on the third floor.This is a second-class cabin. There is a wooden plastic-covered bunk bed in the room, and the bed is covered with a thick foam mattress.Although there are bunk beds, there are no passengers on the upper level.Next door to Huang Jingzhi's room is the third-class cabin No. 5 where Ren Sihong and Xu Zhenyu lived.

After lunch, they went for a walk on the promenade. The "Three Gorges" sailed upstream on the surging Yangtze River, and the towns, villages, bushes and gentle hills on both sides of the river were thrown behind the ship one by one.The cool and pleasant autumn wind blows the green and blanket-like land on both sides of the strait, sending the fragrance of green grass and wild flowers to the "Three Gorges".Like other passengers on the deck, they were enjoying the beautiful scenery on both sides of the river, basking in the bright sunshine and facing the breeze. After dinner, the river bed became curved, and red beacon lights appeared from time to time on the left side of the sailing direction.Huang Jingzhi was watching the night view of the Yangtze River on the promenade deck, and a gust of evening wind was blowing, which was quite cool.He told Xu Zhenyu and Ren Sihong to rest early, and then went back to his room to read at night.

When the "Three Gorges" docked at Shashi Wharf, it was already midnight.At this time, Huang Jingzhi, Xu Zhenyu, Ren Sihong and other passengers were all asleep.It was quiet in the cabin, only the engine was still humming evenly.Not many people boarded the boat in Shashi, and only one person came to the bow on the third floor.This man was dark and rosy, with a broad face and large earlobes. He was about forty-four or five years old.Carrying a large backpack used by geologists on his back, he walked swiftly towards Room 5.At a glance, he is a person who often works in the field.He looked at the number plate on the door, and twisted the doorknob with his hand, but did not open it.He knocked on the door lightly a few times, but there was no movement.He knocked a few more times, and the lights in the room came on.After a while, the door opened.He said "I'm sorry" and walked into the room.He looked at the "1" on the number plate beside Ren Sihong's bed, casually removed his backpack and put it on the bed, touched Ren Sihong's quilt with his hand, and asked, "This comrade just got off the ship?"

Ren Sihong was baffled: "No, you..." "Has he disembarked a long time ago? But this bed is quite hot." Xu Zhenyu wanted to laugh, but held back.Ren Sihong laughed and said, "He didn't get off the boat at all, he just stood here!" "You borrowed my bed?" The man asked seriously and politely. "This is my bed." Ren Sihong said to him, "Look at your boat ticket, have you got the wrong room number?" "It's not wrong, I'm in bed number one in room five of the third class cabin." The man's tone was very affirmative.

"Take out the boat ticket and have a look!" Ren Sihong insisted. He took out the ticket from his pocket and handed it to Ren Sihong: "Look!" Ren Sihong took it over and took a closer look, then laughed again: "This is the ticket for that boat yesterday!" "No, isn't it written at 0:30 on the 21st?" That person didn't dare to be too confident, but he continued to explain: "Isn't 0:30 the same as 12:30 at night?" "That was 12:30 on the night of the 20th, that is, 0:30 on the 21st, and it is now," Ren Sihong looked at the electronic digital watch, "00:20 on the 22nd!"

"Oh!" The man suddenly realized, and said anxiously, "What if I missed the registration date!" Just as he was talking, Huang Jingzhi came in wearing a coat.Xu Zhenyu asked with concern: "Professor Huang, it's so late at night, why are you up?" "My feeling is light, just now I heard some movement from your side, I don't know what happened, come and have a look." Huang Jingzhi said. Ren Sihong recounted what happened just now.Huang Jingzhi said sympathetically: "It's impossible to miss the registration date, but you have to sleep for the night. It happens that the upper bunk on my side is still vacant, so this comrade can go to sleep in my place." The man said gratefully: "That's too much trouble for you." Then, he took out the big backpack from under the bed and walked over to Huang Jingzhi.Xu Zhenyu and Ren Sihong also followed, helping to organize the things on the upper bunk.The man put down his big backpack, stuffed it under the table, and asked Professor Huang enthusiastically, "Where do you teach?" "I used to teach, and now I work at the Chu Nanshan Observatory." "Professor Huang is the director of Nanshan Observatory and the vice president of the Chinese Astronomical Society." Xu Zhenyu added. "Oh, you are Professor Huang Jingzhi!" The man was beaming with joy as if he had discovered something. Huang Jingzhi asked politely, "What kind of work do you do?" "My name is Fang Yutian. I am a biology major. I specialize in biological evolution and human origin. In recent years, I have also been very interested in environmental pollution and ecological balance. I have been working at the Shanghai Institute of Biology." Fang Yutian cut off the conversation. Kai, his stomach full of words flowed like a torrential river: "This time, I just investigated the influence of the Gezhouba Dam and the Three Gorges Dam on the migration of fish in the Yangtze River in this area. Now take a boat to Zigui, and then take a car from there." Rush to Shennongjia to participate in a multidisciplinary and comprehensive biological investigation." "Your name is so familiar." Ren Sihong pondered for a long time, then suddenly said, "I remembered! You wrote an article on "On Industrialization and Ecological Balance", didn't you?" "I wrote it, it seems that you are also studying this issue!" Fang Yutian thought he had found another colleague and was very happy. "No, I'm an archaeologist." "Then why do you read that kind of paper?" "Browsing books and periodicals in various disciplines is my hobby." Everyone talked very speculatively.Later, Professor Huang reminded: "It's getting late now, let's go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow morning." They are still not happy to return to their respective beds. The next morning, Huang Jingzhi, Fang Yutian, Ren Sihong and Xu Zhenyu stood on the promenade deck at dawn, admiring the beautiful scenery of nature to their heart's content. The "Three Gorges" hovercraft was still heading westward. Not long after sunrise, a magnificent dam stood in front of the river. This was the Gezhouba Dam that had caused a sensation in the past.The hovercraft enters the reservoir on the dam through Sanjiang No. 2 ship lock, passes through Nanjin Pass, and then enters Xiling Gorge.At this moment, there are many mountains and mountains on both sides of the strait, and strange peaks stand tall.The shore is thin and rocky, and some dark red sandstone is exposed.The direction of its veins and the various angles of the water's surface show people the terrible power that nature has shown in those distant and unforgettable ages. The "Three Gorges" sailed in the middle of the Xilingxia River, and a circle of white waves formed by the airflow hitting the water surface drifted with the current and gradually spread away.In the place where the waves have not yet touched, the water surface is extraordinarily clear under the reflection of the morning light, like a river of pure glycerin.The surface of the river is tense, as if the surface tension of the water here is not bound by the laws of physics, and is greater than that in other places. Fang Yutian raised his eyes and saw that new trees had grown up on the mountains on both sides of the strait, and he felt infinitely moved.He couldn't help saying to Huang Jingzhi: "In the early 1980s, the hills in this area were almost bare. Only around the village, there were occasional trees and bamboo bushes. Thanks to the country's decision to plant trees voluntarily for all, the situation has improved slightly over the years." "Look," Huang Jingzhi pointed to a high place on a long strip of rocky beach, "the pebbles on it are all gray-white, piled up so neatly and neatly, as if they were arranged artificially. Perhaps, this is a The traces left by the great flood in the summer of 1981!" "People still remember the severe disasters caused by the flood in Sichuan and other places, and it aroused people's enthusiasm for afforestation from the negative side." Ren Sihong was also quite touched. Seeing that everyone was interested, Fang Yutian continued to say, "The current results are only preliminary, and they are still far from the original natural features. More than 1,400 years ago, a geographer from the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Li Dao Yuan, when he talked about the Three Gorges, he also said that the water here is clear, the trees are lush, the mountains are high, and the grass is lush. I remember that the last paragraph was written in autumn. There is a tall ape screaming loudly, which is strange, and the sound is heard in the empty valley, and the mourning will last for a long time. Therefore, the fishermen sang: "Badong Three Gorges Wu Gorge is long, the ape cry three times and tears stain his clothes!" "A little later, Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty more than 1,200 years ago, wrote in the popular Qijue: "Chaoci Baidi among the colorful clouds, "Thousands of miles of Jiangling will be returned in one day. "The apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, "The light boat has passed ten thousand mountains. "These poems show that more than a thousand years ago, the cry of 'ape' could still be heard in the Three Gorges. Of course, it may be the cry of a monkey. This call can be connected together, and it can also make the listener cry. , which shows that there are not a few of them. But, can you hear their calls now?" Xu Zhenyu looked at the young trees on the mountains, he really couldn't imagine what kind of "high apes shouting" in these young trees.he asks: "So, do you think that for thousands of years, as society continues to develop, the environment on which human beings live is deteriorating?" "I don't think this is a rule!" Fang Yutian said firmly: "In the past, nature created human beings; today human beings will eventually conquer nature. The same is true in environmental protection. As long as human beings can understand the seriousness of destroying the environment and ecological balance, and work together to protect the environment and ecological balance, this appearance will It can be changed.” Listening to Fang Yutian's words and looking at the magnificent rivers and mountains on both sides of the strait, Xu Zhenyu's heart was stirred up.He said excitedly: "Professor Huang, such a magnificent river and mountain, such a beautiful cause, can't help but remind me of the poem "the country is so beautiful, attracting countless heroes to bow down". It inspires me to explore and research for the motherland and the people. I think , I must get to the bottom of the ancient star map and win glory for our motherland." Professor Huang nodded approvingly: "As long as you are modest and prudent, step by step, and persevere, you will surely succeed." Fang Yutian asked in surprise, "What ancient star map?" Ren Sihong told him the matter from beginning to end. Fang Yutian shook his head after hearing this, and said in silence for a long time: "I didn't expect such a thing to happen!" An unfinished high dam, the Three Gorges Dam, appeared in the distance. Huang Jingzhi and Fang Yutian greeted each other, and then went back to the room with Xu Zhenyu and Ren Sihong to pack things.After a while, when they were standing on the deck with bags and waiting to dock, the huge Three Gorges Dam was already standing in front of them.They have to look up to see the crest of the dam.This 200-meter-high river-blocking dam is extremely majestic, showing the great strength of the people.After they saw the Three Gorges Dam, the Gezhouba Dam that was built in the past was just like a model.No wonder the Three Gorges Dam has shocked the world even though it has not yet been completed. The "Three Gorges" was docked at the temporary pier at the construction site, and Fang Yutian saw them off at the side of the ship.He shook Huang Jingzhi's hand and said, "When your research paper is published, I must read it!"