"Hu Guangnan, Hu Guangnan is not here?"

In the telecommunications business hall, a male staff member with a horn in his hand shouted his name loudly, and his voice became hoarse due to the long hours of loud talking.

"Hu Guangnan, call you!"

A young man who was sitting on a bench and was asleep was woken up by his companions, and when he heard his name called, he quickly jumped up with a smile on his face and ran to the calling staff.

"I am Hu Guangnan! Is it my turn? He rubbed his hands together and grinned with joy.

"Come on, you go to the phone room No. 5, and when the person in front of you finishes talking and hangs up the phone, you can pick it up and talk...... Alas, wait," he grabbed the anxious Hu Guangnan and admonished, "Remember, after the person in front of him hung up the phone, he had to pull the handle so that the operator knew that the call was over." The operator has to disconnect the previous line first, plug in the line you ask to answer, and you can only talk normally when you lift the phone, you know? ”

"Got it, got it! Isn't it phone room five? Hu Guangnan was impatient, and quickly ran to the phone, but he didn't know if he really understood.

The staff sighed and shook their heads.

"I'm still sleeping, I won't hear you later!"

He Yuanchao leaned back on the bench with his hands folded and dozed off, feeling that someone was shaking his body in a daze. He opened his eyes sleepily and found that it was Kong Lingchen, and Xue Zhen was still holding two pots of gruel on the side, the fragrance came to his nose, and his stomach suddenly growled.

"Aiding the DPRK, let you keep watch all night, hard work for you. Come, eat something first. Xue Zhen handed over the gruel and said softly.

"It's still my sister-in-law's heartache for me, unlike someone, who went back and slept with his wife Meimei, and when she came, she knew how to accuse people." He Yuanchao happily took the rice bowl and said sarcastically to Kong Lingchen. Holding the rice bowl to his mouth, he drank a few mouthfuls of gruel, felt that there was something in his stomach, picked up the steamed bun with chopsticks, and ate it in a big gulp.

As soon as the phone was secured, the caller grabbed his head.

He Yuanchao and Xue Zhen came after school yesterday, but the business hall was already crowded at that time. When they arrived, they went to the counter to apply for a call, registered their names, the phone number of the city they called, and the caller, and then started waiting.

waited until midnight, He Yuanchao was afraid that Xue Zhen would not be able to support her, so she asked her to go back to rest first, and volunteered to stay and guard.

"I'm not like someone who said I'd wait here, and then I knew I was asleep. I went to the counter just now and asked, and I said that there were 148 people in front of me. Kong Lingchen fought with him for many years, but he refused to suffer, and immediately ridiculed back.

"It's been too long." Xue Zhen didn't want them to quarrel, so she changed the subject.

"How can the manual transfer be fast. A telephone line is a channel, and only one phone can be used. That's not all, the point is that the transfer time is too long. Kong Lingchen was in the technical school, and he was more well-informed, so he explained to her.

Phone transfer is the most painful, and if the road is smooth, it won't take much time to do it manually. However, even on the trunk line, the capacity is limited. In particular, some lines with high occupancy often have busy lines, and either give up the call and try again after a while, or they can only wait for it.

What's even more terrifying is that this effect is not a single line, but an interaction. If a point is blocked, if the lines of other exchange stations to pass through the point are busy and waiting, the impact of the busy line will spread, and the lines of other exchange stations will also be suspended.

The 291st Brigade has a total of 16 lines, one of which is a direct line with the country, and two are reserved. There are only thirteen lines in the Longkang Branch, and each line is very valuable, and once it is occupied, the efficiency will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, the operator of the telecommunications bureau received a notice to set aside two lines as waiting lines, and if two lines are exceeded, he will skip the call number directly and transfer the following number first.

"It's still your technical school that has a good salary, and like the school teachers, you can directly use the reserved line." He Yuanchao said sourly.

School teachers and other people who come from China can contact the country through reserved lines instead of public lines, and a single call time is longer than that of public telephones, and they can talk for half an hour at a time. He Yuanchao is different for them, there are few lines and many callers, and each person's single call time is limited to five minutes (the transfer time is not counted, and the time is only timed when the phone is picked up).

So although Kong Lingchen hasn't contacted his family yet, he is not in a hurry at all, unlike He Yuanchao and Xue Zhen, who have to wait all night in order to make a phone call.

Kong Lingchen didn't fight with him this time, just smiled.

Thirteen lines, five minutes of talk time per person, it is said that more than 140 people in a queue only need 11 rounds and an hour. However, due to the long time it took to transfer halfway, when it was almost seven o'clock, there were still twenty-five or six people in front of them.

Kong Lingchen couldn't stay with him, he had to rush back to the technical school to attend classes, so he could only say sorry to Xue Zhen and leave in a hurry, and by the way, he also brought the dishes and chopsticks that the three of them had eaten back to the dormitory.

He Yuanchao made up his mind to the two of them, and he must get through the phone today, and he did not hesitate to skip class for a day.

They didn't know that the school had already received a notice from the brigade headquarters, and they would not be named for the time being. After all, how many years have they been outside, and the educated youths are already homesick and are about to get sick, and being unkind will only lead to a backlash. After this period of time, everyone's restless emotions have calmed down, and it is not too late to be strict.

"Wei Jie, Wei Jie is not ......" The voice of the calling staff was even more hoarse, and the person also looked haggard, holding a plastic horn and shouting his name loudly.

"Here, here!" A man hurried over.

Watching a person finish the call, the hearts of the two were even more intense, and finally, the last person in front of the queue also entered the phone room, He Yuanchao was even more excited and couldn't sit still, stood up and walked around the waiting area.

A staff member raised his wrist to look at the watch, clicked on the list again, walked to the No. 2 telephone room, and knocked on the door: "Comrade Gu Lin, there is still one minute left in the call!" If there is anything important to tell home, please say it quickly, don't miss it, the operator will automatically cut the line when the time comes. ”

He repeated the same words again and retreated.

It is also the duty of the staff to inform them in advance that they will forget the time when they talk to their relatives at home.

"Xue Zhen, is Xue Zhen here?" The staff who called the name was changed, and a young man came up, and his voice was much clearer and louder.

When He Yuanchao heard this, he hurriedly urged Xue Zhen to say: "Come over, by the way, take the little book!" ”

"Hmm!" Xue Zhen walked over with a very nervous expression, holding a small notebook in his hand, one, two, three, four, listing the words he had thought about to say to his family before.

He Yuanchao didn't prepare anything, he thought he was a heartless guy, and this time he came to call to accompany Xue Zhen, afraid that it would be inconvenient for her to be a girl. Later, when it will be his turn, just say a few words to his family, why bother thinking so much.

The staff asked Xue Zhen to confirm her name, the city and number she called, and asked her to wait outside the No. 6 phone room.

The door of the No. 6 telephone room opened, and a female intellectual, with a tear-stained face, came out of it, still sobbing and crying quietly.

Xue Zhen nervously squeezed out a smiling face, smiled at her, and then trotted into the phone room and closed the door.

He Yuanchao watched her enter the phone room, a smile appeared on his face, took out a cigarette and lit it, and took a comfortable puff.

"He Yuanchao, it's your turn!"

"It's coming!"

He threw away the cigarette he had just smoked twice, ran over with a smile on his face, found his information in the record book, signed it for confirmation, and then waited outside the No. 1 phone room under the instructions of the staff.

The time has come, but the door has not yet opened.

"Shao Dahai, Comrade Shao Dahai!" The staff came and knocked on the door.

"Wait a minute, that's it!" There was the sound of urns clattering from inside, with a distinctly nasal sound.

"You wait a minute, maybe he needs to tidy it up." The staff explained apologetically to He Yuanchao.

"It's okay, I understand!" He Yuanchao smiled easily.

The callers were like this, and although they were soundproofed by wooden boards, they could still hear the cries coming from inside. The people who came out also cried one by one, their eyes were swollen and tears flowed.

But he didn't think so.

Isn't it just a phone call, as for it, he has been used to being beaten by the old man at home since he was a child, and his mother is also nagging all day long, speaking of which, in the past few years outside, if there is no heavy physical work, it is the easiest day, and no one cares about him. If it weren't for accompanying Xue Zhen, he wouldn't like to hear their voices.

Click.

A young student slowly opened the door of the phone room, his face was still stained with tears, his lips were trembling vigorously, and he was still immersed in a strong emotional envelope, unable to extricate himself.

"Brother, don't cry, how many people are watching. Have you talked to your family? He Yuanchao patted him on the shoulder with concern and said with concern.

"Hmmm! It was my mom who answered the phone, and she said my dad ...... My dad is gone! Before leaving, he called me by my nickname until he finally left! The young man's tears poured down again, and he couldn't stop crying.

He Yuanchao's expression froze, and he pressed his shoulder, unable to say any words of comfort.

"You go in, we'll take care of it." The staff sighed, helped the man, and let He Yuanchao enter the phone room.

He Yuan nodded expressionlessly, entered the room, and slammed the door with his backhand.

I don't know if it was affected by the person just now, his mood suddenly became heavy at the moment, looking at the phone hanging on the wall, he suddenly didn't dare to answer it.

He leaned his back against the wooden door, pulled out his cigarette case, and found that his hand was shaking, and he didn't shake the cigarette out after pouring it twice.

He rudely tore through the cigarette case, grabbed one from the inside and stuffed it into his lips and held it, and put the other cigarettes in his pocket, regardless of whether they were neatly placed or not, whether the tobacco would be brought out and stain the pocket.

One, two, three, until the fourth, the match did not break.

He lit the cigarette and inhaled vigorously, and the smoke suddenly flooded into his lungs, choking him with a cough.

"Comrade, please hurry up, the people behind are waiting!" He hadn't answered the phone, and the staff outside had been alerted by an operator to come and look at his door.

"Got it!"

He replied in a rough voice, easily held back his cough, took another puff of the cigarette, threw it on the ground, extinguished it on his toes, and stepped forward to pick up the phone.

What are you afraid of!

I can't cry anyway, and I can't cry even if I die!

Before the phone reached his ear, he heard a familiar and old voice sound inside: "Second child, is it second child?" If you speak, mom is in a hurry! You dead boy, you haven't come back for many years, why haven't you even made a sound! ”

Tears unconsciously welled up from his eyes, sliding down his face with hot heat.

He Yuanchao wanted to calm down, and said hello to his mother in a relaxed tone, asking how the two elders were doing, whether the eldest was married, whether he was already an uncle, and whether the family situation was good. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he heard himself let out a heart-rending cry: "Mom! Mother! Mom, I miss you so much! I had a dream yesterday, I dreamed of our house, and the courtyard of the dormitory outside, I saw you at the door, but I couldn't walk through, no matter how I looked, I couldn't see your appearance clearly! Mom, Mom, I miss you, I miss Dad, I miss Big Brother, I can't sleep all night! ”

Then, I couldn't stop crying.