CHAPTER XXXV. 35

Qi Tianxiang turned around slowly, followed Li Zheng out of the main road, walked through the small road to another factory, and heard the sound of metal colliding between metals from the machinery factory in the distance. [Ran^Text^Library] []

"Production here seems to be booming." Qi Tianxiang soothed his tone and said as if he had nothing to say.

"Red fire, I'm afraid it's a false fire! You'll know when you get closer. Li Zheng pouted and sneered, "The joint venture took away the deadly equipment and key technologies of the Shuguang Factory, and the old factory without the main products concentrated its technical and financial capabilities, and made great efforts to develop the production of agricultural vehicles. But within two years, the Qinghe State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission began to toss again, this time to meet the needs of the situation, to engage in national retreat and democratic advancement, that is, to sell large accounts with brands and resources. In the early days, it was a big seller, who had the money to sell to, and some domestic industrial predators were beginning to stake their land frantically at the moment, and it seemed that whoever had the most was the king. After investigation and selection, a trading group company in Beijing was selected. At that time, some people questioned why it was Beijing's comprehensive trade group company, that is, the import and export company, rather than the province's enterprise merger, there are several large enterprise groups in the province that are willing to cooperate and merge, and the industrial similarity and relevance are more suitable for the development of enterprises after the merger, and the company itself has also contacted a more powerful agricultural vehicle manufacturer in the south, and the two sides have substantial contact, good cooperation intentions, if the cooperation intention can be reached, It can not only expand and strengthen the domestic market of agricultural vehicles and expand the brand, but also the cooperation of two major enterprises in the south and the north will form a significant positive significance for the domestic industrial layout. Moreover, it is still cooperation, not merger or sale, it is a strong alliance of industrial cooperation mode, but I don't know what the reason, Qinghe SASAC insisted on the enterprise to be merged by Beijing, it is said that it is pressure from above, and some people say that it is the high-level people who say hello, Qinghe City leaders can not stand it, and the situation of Shuguang factory is even worse after the second merger. Because the production of agricultural vehicles in Shuguang Factory has formed a scale, and the market share in the rural areas of Jiangbei has been rising, it has become a well-known brand, and people are looking at this brand effect and intangible assets. After the merger, the processing capacity of the main equipment of the Shuguang plant is concentrated in the agricultural vehicle company, after the complex flash and capital operation, as well as huge energy, the second year was successfully listed, to achieve the purpose of the stock market circle money, and then the people in the guise of layout adjustment, the equipment and technical workers of the agricultural vehicle factory as a whole moved to the west, and a company in the west to implement resource integration, this side of the equipment, that side of the capital and land, the establishment of a new agricultural vehicle production base, and also successfully listed, Circled more money. Use the equipment and technology of the Shuguang factory to go public, withdraw after making money, and then re-establish the equipment and technology, and then package a company to go public, and people play karate is the wind and water, these predators are more ruthless than foreign capitalists, and the operation is more barbaric and ruthless. In the early days, he only needed plant equipment and brand, nothing else, and even the factory in the later stage, as long as the equipment and funds, as well as the subject matter, it was good enough to make money in the stock market, and the company was gone, and the rest was still a bunch of messes and laid-off workers. Because the production after the merger is not very normal, the parent company frantically draws blood from the listed company, and in serious cases, not only sales funds, but even working capital are also withdrawn in large quantities, so that the enterprise has no production and procurement capacity at all, and the enterprise is just a normal production for more than a year, and it enters the cycle of shutdown, vacation, resumption of work, and then vacation, and the workers are in a state of semi-unemployment. ”

As he spoke, Li Zheng led Qi Tianxiang to the door of the workshop of the Black Tiger Agricultural Vehicle Company, only to see that the huge factory building was empty, only less than half of the plant still had equipment, and dozens of workers were busy working. From time to time, motor vehicles pass by, pulling things like carriages in and out. The roar of metal striking came from a nearby factory building, which may still be in production.

"Look at it, this is the Black Tiger Agricultural Vehicle Factory." Li Zheng sighed deeply, helplessly Qi Tianxiang said: "Here can be prosperous before, Shuguang factory is known for precision machining, these workshop machine tools are arranged in an orderly manner, not only large-scale casting processing, but also precision parts production, basically the power and steam turbine components are their own processing and production, the equipment is also quite advanced, not only domestic advanced machinery and equipment, but also imported digital lathes and processing machinery, otherwise it will not let the Japanese heavy machinery enterprises look at it, Some advanced equipment has gone jointly, others have cooperated in the west, and now it has become a production base for agricultural vehicles, which is still the result of protests, otherwise the situation will be even worse. ”

Qi Tianxiang's eyes had already shot out of anger, he didn't expect that it would be such a plundering scene, the glimmer of hope left in his heart before, a trace of beautiful things, was shattered by the scene in front of him in an instant, the strong impact of the metal, as if it was not hitting the metal, but hitting his heart, hitting the trace of kindness and imagination in his heart. Although the problem of the loss of state-owned assets in the restructuring of state-owned enterprises is not the focus of this time, it is also an issue mentioned by the leaders of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection in their talks, and it may not be a problem that needs to be dealt with in a centralized manner this time, but also because it involves the transfer of interests in the process of enterprise operation and restructuring, which will be the focus of rectification in the next stage. Because I didn't understand it until now, it was also because of sensitive time and sensitive reasons. But now it seems that it is not possible to wait to solve, a Shuguang Machinery Factory is like this, how many such enterprises are there in the province, how many such examples, and how many people have lost their nature in the entanglement of interests, and I can't help but feel a little creepy.

Thinking of this, Qi Tianxiang turned around and left, no matter if Li Zheng was still standing there, maybe angry, maybe eager, he wanted to continue to watch, to see clearly, although his heart was already angry.

Li Zheng watched Qi Tianxiang leave suddenly, and quickly turned around and chased after him. Qi Tianxiang looked at Li Zheng slightly apologetically, wanting to say something, but after thinking about it, he felt that there was nothing to say, so he forcibly suppressed the unhappiness in his heart and said lightly: "You go on." ”

"Shall we rest? It's been almost two hours since you walked, and you're pulling your brother to practice walking? Li Zheng's words made Qi Tianxiang suddenly think of a fitness sport that has been very popular recently, and he couldn't help but laugh. As Li Zheng spoke, he walked straight to the roadside pavilion not far away and sat down. Watching Qi Tianxiang slowly approach, he took out a cigarette and handed it over, took out a handkerchief and wiped a small stone bench, motioned for Qi Tianxiang to sit down, and said with emotion; "The business planning is really good!"

Qi Tianxiang looked at Li Zheng gratefully, he knew the intention of Li Zheng's move, it was false to rest, and it was true to calm the resentment in his heart. I couldn't help but grin, sat down on the stone bench, smoked slowly, and looked around at the scenery.

Indeed, as Li Zheng said, the planning of the enterprise is very far-sighted and humane, the plant is lined up in a straight line, a wide cement road separates the distance between the plant and the outside world, the cement road is dozens of meters wide between the fence is a green belt of tens of meters wide, planted with all kinds of trees and flower beds, and the trees planted in front of the plant set off each other, it is difficult to clearly distinguish the whole picture of the enterprise from outside the wall, it looks like a park from a distance, the green belt is built every short distance with a pavilion of different shapes, and there is a park and leisure meaning. Outside the wall is another world, around the factory in front of a variety of auxiliary facilities, schools, hospitals, cinemas, stadiums, around and around the factory are rows of family dormitories, forming two complete functional areas, the factory production area and the workers' living area, which is very convenient and convenient.

Now in the inaccessible factory area, in the deserted pavilion, two big men sit inside, no matter how you look at it, they feel weird and incongruous, maybe Li Zheng also feels such a weirdness, after a cigarette is finished, he said: "Let's go, let people look weird, let's walk a little more, and then go out from the east gate." ”

Qi Tianxiang nodded, slowly stood up, and continued to walk on the cement road with Li Zheng, and then listened to Li Zheng's narration.

"The methods of joint ventures and cooperation have not worked, and they have begun to ponder the way of private enterprises, and it seems that as long as the state-owned enterprises that do not involve national security and important strategic industries can be restructured and transformed. For a time, the busiest thing is the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission, and an approval document can decide the fate of an enterprise. When the two roads failed, I thought of the path of corporate governance, which seemed to be easier for insiders to control and use, and better managed, which resulted in greater chaos and a bigger hole. Li Zheng said, "Because no one can afford to buy the Shuguang Factory, the Qinghe State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission took the lead in establishing a relatively stable joint-stock system reform." The state occupies a large proportion, and the management of the enterprise holds a corresponding proportion, and manages and operates the enterprise on behalf of the state. The original intention was good, the state to perform the role of the investor, the enterprise management personnel as a legal person and shareholders to participate in the actual management and operation of the enterprise, transformed into a joint-stock cooperative enterprise, but in the process of operation, the state did not really perform the management function of the investor, as a result of hundreds of millions of enterprises after the evaluation of tens of millions of capital to hand over to the enterprise legal person, not to mention the plant equipment products these tangible assets, is the enterprise brand, technology, sales network and talent reserves, these intangible assets are slowly established by the enterprise for decades, It's not worth tens of millions! After the restructuring, the government had to help coordinate loans for enterprises with financial difficulties, and coordinate tax reductions and exemptions for business difficulties, because he had thousands of workers in his hands, and if he could not meet his conditions, he would take vacations and lay off employees, and this was what the government was most afraid of. This is still good, there is a heart to carry out business management, the initial enterprise is really serious about the transformation, accumulated a certain amount of funds for production, but market positioning and new product development how can it be so easy, dragging thousands of workers heavy burden, a few years will not work, the mortgage of asset mortgage, the sale of the sale, there is really no way to think, on the idea of the factory, in order to be the land occupied by the enterprise, because the enterprise was originally the first planning, the first construction, they have a huge land and living area, In addition, the old houses built for decades have also reached the time of large-scale renovation, and some people have thought of building houses in the factory area, gradually providing turnover houses for the old family area, and slowly completing the transformation of the old family area step by step. But although this move is effective, there is a hurdle that cannot be overcome, that is, the problem of turning industrial land into commercial land, and the problem of who leads the development, or Qinghe SASAC led the solution to this problem, I really don't know why the SASAC is so enthusiastic, anyway, the company set up a real estate development company, Qinghe City sent a working group, one-third of the company's land was planned, the original plant was demolished, and the equipment dismantled from the east was concentrated on the agricultural vehicle side, which was basically idle. And this kind of development is also for the government to benefit the people, that is, to provide turnover housing for the transformation of urban shantytowns, and to solve the housing difficulties of enterprise workers, but also to increase government tax revenue and official performance. It is not that the enterprise has touched the weakness of the government, nor is it that it has choked the lifeline and key point of the government, but that some people in the government department are supporting it, for the sake of huge interests. ”

"How many employees are still working in the company?" Qi Tianxiang was no longer able to regain his qi, and a sadness rose from his heart, gradually permeating every pore of his body, as if he was about to freeze. ”

"It is estimated that there is less than one-tenth, some of the laid-off workers have been diverted from the restructuring several times, some have retired early, and some have moved west with agricultural vehicles, and now there may be hundreds of people who can go to work normally and have work."

"Enterprises with tens of thousands of people, after one or two decades of development, there are only less than 1,000 people left, and enterprises with assets of more than one billion yuan have become like this, and some of our leaders are really capable." Qi Tianxiang gritted his teeth and said hatefully.

"There are fewer and fewer state-owned enterprises, more and more weak, and the role of security is even more useless, reemployment has become the lotus flower and political achievements in the mouth of the leader, and the employees of the enterprise can only be laid-off and re-employed, but there are so many employment opportunities in small cities, so doing small business has become a helpless choice. It is not easy to say that it is easier said to start all over again, without technology, no funds, no background and backers, and even without the support of physical strength and energy, how to start from scratch, and how to start from scratch? ”

Li Zheng said, stopped, pointed to the fenced construction site not far away, and said: "This is the newly built turnover housing community of Shuguang Factory, ten buildings have been built at one time, and it still has some courage." Li Zheng couldn't help but say with appreciation: "The enterprise is still sober, such turnover houses are seven-story brick and concrete buildings, although not imposing, but practical, after all, without the support of enterprise production, this piece will not have the foundation of living water and fish farming, and the construction of such houses is only to solve the problem of improving the living conditions of workers, which is also more right." ”

Qi Tianxiang nodded, and breathed a long sigh of relief, as if he had also exported the depression in his heart, "It's just that the demolition and reconstruction are still so sober, after all, there are many preferential policies in the shantytown renovation country, and there are more benefits in it." ”

"You see the real and long-term harm, such a transformation is certain real estate appreciation, it is said that Qinghe has someone eyeing here, just look at the development."

"We must no longer allow things that infringe on the interests of employees to occur, employees have made all the sacrifices they can do, how do you want them to dedicate, how to sacrifice, and give you their lives?" Qi Tianxiang stared, looked at Li Zheng, and said loudly: "Every time I hear the song "Start Again", I have a feeling of being raped, the government ignores its own responsibility, but lets many laid-off workers start all over again, isn't it blasphemy? If we talk about starting all over again, can the government abandon the short-sighted economic development model and start all over again? ”

"Sometimes I really admire the forbearance and generosity of our workers, our state-owned enterprises can be said to have the best workers, down-to-earth, hard-working, hard-working, in the face of laid-off and unemployed and unfair and difficult work in the face of the sadness of 'anger and indisputability, mourning its misfortune'." Li Zheng looked at Qi Tianxiang's eyes and said word by word: "Some time ago, a foreign-funded enterprise in the coastal area had more than a dozen workers jumping off the building one after another, and the outside world and social public opinion were in an uproar. Isn't every young life that commits suicide deeply troubled by this? There was no movement at all, allowing one fresh life after another to jump one after another. If the employees here are just early years of workers, working girls can also understand, from the countryside, the desire to change the status quo is higher than the urgency to change the treatment and rights, this factory is a relatively modern electronic technology factory, the employees are modern young people who graduated from school, it should be said that the knowledge and awareness of rights protection are not bad at all, so why is the collective silence? Is it apathy, or is it the collective unconscious? Li Zheng sighed, "There are many reasons for jumping off the building, and there are experts and scholars who have discussed at a deep level, how many such problems there are, and how many private and private enterprises have labor security in place, too low remuneration, and the fact that the legitimate rights and interests of employees are infringed, do the government regulatory departments know?" Do trade unions at all levels know? As a super-large foreign processing enterprise, there are many employees, scattered sources, long working hours, and high work pressure, all of which plague employees all the time, and as a single employee, it is very difficult to solve such a problem and assert their rights, and even an impossible task, so it is necessary for enterprise trade unions, industry trade unions, and district and municipal government trade unions to pay attention to and care, and finally intervene in the enterprise to solve these problems. It is a pity that from one jump to eleven jumps, we have never seen the figure of trade unions at all levels and all kinds, and have not heard their voices. What are they doing? It seems that if you don't say anything, you will live up to the trust of the people and your own responsibilities, and you will not be worthy of participating in the administration and discussion of politics as the people's representatives, but what about after the 'two sessions'? Where have all these deputies gone? Is there nothing to do on behalf of the committee members? The 'two sessions' are only regular meetings every year, and they are meetings to decide on major issues and policies every year, but after the 'two sessions,' the permanent organs of the people's congress and the CPPCC are still there, and the qualifications and functions of the deputies and members are still there. Are the problems in prices, housing, social security, education and health only exposed during the 'two sessions'? There is no absolute superiority or inferiority of the system or law, the key is the sense of responsibility and mission of the executor, the care and attention to the people, the moral cognition of the mission attached to oneself, and perhaps a sense of urgency to serve someone's job. If we compare the parliamentary system in the West, we can understand the advantages and disadvantages of our 'two sessions', after all, people are elected by the people, not by institutions or governments. Perhaps this is what we need to learn from and learn, otherwise no matter how many laws and systems are empty words posted on the wall, they still cannot cure the common disease of bureaucratic indifference, and as a vulnerable ordinary worker, they will continue to jump. ”

"It's a bit extreme! Despite such deficiencies, despite such and such imperfections, this is what our government and enterprises need to improve, otherwise everything will be fine, wage workers will work hard and complain, and the government will only collect taxes, so what do you want such a huge government agency to do, what do you want so many managers to do? Qi Tianxiang looked at Li Zheng's face and corrected it word by word, these words seemed to be said to himself, "It seems easy to complain and vent dissatisfaction, but just whining and venting dissatisfaction, less is public resentment, more is public anger, something is going to happen, and government officials have no right to complain, whether it is your department or not, the government's business should be everyone's business." ”

Li Zheng glanced at Qi Tianxiang and didn't speak, he knew that what he saw this morning made Qi Tianxiang very frightened, even shocked, a huge black hole in front of you, devouring your body, grabbing your wealth, you can clearly feel it, but you can't see or touch it, the helplessness and powerlessness brought by this kind of fear aggravate the terror, and oppress the nerves, so that people despair, collapse, and die. This is a very terrible feeling, when I first saw and heard it, my emotions were no less than Qi Tianxiang's performance, or even more radical, and I could also see that Qi Tianxiang's restrained cultivation was really a level higher than himself. Silently, he took Qi Tianxiang from the east gate and slowly walked out of the factory area and came to the area where the family area was concentrated.

"This is the East Gate, and the workers of the Shuguang Factory are used to calling it the East Gate." Li Zheng walked out of the factory door and said to Qi Tianxiang: "Now there is no one on duty, there used to be a special person to guard, Shuguang Factory has a total of ten factory doors around the factory, basically which door is convenient to enter and exit from which door, and the bicycle is parked outside the workshop door in the prosperous time." ”

"You see it." Qi Tianxiang grabbed Li Zheng angrily, although he had never seen such a scene, he absolutely believed that such a scene existed. The factory area where I grew up is not as big as this, but the traffic is constantly shuttling.

"Where are we going, going back to the county?" Li Zheng didn't care about Qi Tianxiang's snatching white, and asked with a smile: "Or do you want to go around again?" ”

Qi Tianxiang raised his wrist and looked at his watch, "It's almost noon, let's find a place nearby to feed our stomachs, and then go around in the afternoon, it's best to find someone to talk to." ”

"It's easy to feed the stomach, but it's difficult to find someone to talk to, Shuguang Factory has always been under the management of Qinghe City, although it is on the plain ground, but we really can't control people." Li Zheng said embarrassedly.

"It's not about asking for things to talk to, it's about taking care of it?" Qi Tianxiang stared at Li Zheng's eyes, hoping to see something from them, "Don't talk about this, let's solve my stomach first." As he spoke, he walked down the street in the family quarter.

It is not very accurate to say that it is a family area, because it is an open area, in addition to four-story buildings on both sides of the street, there are also signs and buildings such as hotels, clubs, kindergartens and other signs and buildings from time to time, often surrounded by a small courtyard, that is, a unit, although it looks very casual, but it is very convenient and ingenious. The buildings look from afar, one by one, row by row is very neat, but it can also be clearly seen from the shape and format of the building age, and the difference is very clear, there are three floors of red brick buildings, there are also four floors, five floors of exterior walls have been painted, and there are seven floors of buildings, which look very foreign. And from the size and thickness of the trees planted in the gap between the buildings, you can also tell the age of the building, walking between such a strange and familiar group of buildings, Qi Tianxiang felt a long-lost intimacy, as if he had returned to the city where he lived, the familiar environment.

"Look at these buildings, you know that the enterprise was prosperous and prosperous back then, there were clean and bright buildings to live in, and there were places not far away where you could go to work and earn wages, which was a decent and enviable thing!" Qi Tianxiang turned his face to Li Zheng and said: "In fact, the enterprise has really solved a lot of practical problems for the government and society, first of all, the factory area and the family area are connected, which solves the problem of transportation and travel for employees to and from work, and secondly, the company's own education and medical care are all services for the enterprise itself, and it can also solve the problem of cultivating the technical force of the enterprise and the delivery of fresh blood." In addition, the most important thing is to solve the two key problems of housing and employment for workers, which not only has a major impact on social stability, but also solves the government's worries. The existence of large enterprises not only drives the development and prosperity of the city, but also provides the city with a stable income consumer group. At the same time, the enterprise to run the society, can also better reflect and play the sense of social responsibility of the enterprise, whether voluntary or passive, enterprises should be in the early stage of the establishment, consider and plan the future of the workers' birth, old age, sickness and death and education, housing and other issues, such a rainy day and planning arrangements, indirectly embodies the party and the government's care for the workers, to a large extent reflects the cohesion of the enterprise convergence, but also gives the workers a stable production, living environment and belonging, to the greatest extent embodies the concept of fairness and harmony. On the other hand, private enterprises and foreign-funded enterprises, their purpose is to operate and earn profits, it seems that as long as they pay taxes according to the regulations, there is no social responsibility and obligation to bear, although they provide higher wages, but they no longer bear any obligations of employees, and there is no necessary security, you can use your ingenuity, but you can push the most important problems of pension and housing to the society and the government. The government should not only assume the role of nanny, but also assume all the responsibilities of bodyguards, security, insurance, and security, the government should build houses for urban residents to live in peace, schools should be built for the next generation of residents to be educated, hospitals should be built to provide security for residents, and more roads should be built for people to travel through the city to work, and all kinds of public facilities need government investment and management, even if government investment is not required, the government needs to coordinate and supervise and manage, because the government has the obligation to ensure social fairness and justice. It has the management function of ensuring prices and quality of services. Is there any dissatisfaction and contradictory scolding that is always directed at the government, and this kind of government management is not tiring? And all pushed to the market, how to meet the different needs and requirements of various strata, who will balance prices and supply, these are all sharp contradictions, and these rely on the smooth moral blood of private entrepreneurs or private business owners to solve? Do they have these consciences and morals. ”

"Good, good, good." Li Zheng shouted three good words in a row, applauded gently, and joked with a smile: "Who said that I was against the trend just now, such a trend of thought is not only against the trend, but also an obvious regression, and it is to discredit the current good situation." ”

"Don't swear to me like that." Qi Tianxiang glanced at Li Zheng, stretched out his hand to point around, and said vigorously: "You ask them, ask the people who used to work in this company in this courtyard, do they miss their past lives, and what do they miss most about their past work and life?" As he spoke, he lowered his hand and said firmly: "When the government and the media are focusing more and more on the living conditions of migrant workers, urban migrant workers, fresh graduates, and employees of private and private enterprises, they are increasingly marginalized and even in danger of being ignored." Most of the workers of these restructured enterprises were born between the sixties and seventies of the last century, and most of them are between the ages of 40 and 50, and they have not reached the retirement age, and they have passed the best age for recruitment or reemployment. It is these people who have just entered middle age, but they do not enjoy neither the state's subsistence allowance policy nor the protection measures for retirees, and they are increasingly coping with the heavy pressure of society and life, and are increasingly marginalized and forgotten by society. They do not have the glory of the struggle of the older generation of the working class, nor do they have the pride of the older generation of the working class as masters of their own affairs, and they do not have the freedom and freedom of the new generation of workers in the face of employment. Due to social changes, most of them were eliminated by the college entrance examination, so it was logical that they became the successors of their parents' factories and the masters of the country and enterprises. Marriage, childbirth, housing, and medical treatment are all arranged by enterprises, and in labor-intensive enterprises, technology or skills are all needed by the needs of the enterprise, and the needs of the enterprise are the needs, and they can comfortably enjoy the benefits and treatment of large and medium-sized state-owned enterprises. In the era of 'smashing the three irons', they were in the prime of life, and there was no danger of being eliminated and laid off, and they also lost the opportunity to transfer jobs and re-employment, but they did not escape the doom of enterprise restructuring. Relative to laid-off or re-employment, the transformation of enterprises has shattered their dream of a happy life, in a blink of an eye, the enterprise owner has become the object of employment or placement in the blink of an eye, the young and strong gave way to younger employees, the lack of education and skills makes them unable to stand on their own, most of them have become useless or unable to face the object of the enterprise, the salary increase and promotion have nothing to do with them, and the relatively rich work has nothing to do with them, they can only silently stick to it, and endure. With a salary slightly higher than the local minimum living standard, living in a house built by the original enterprise decades ago, bearing pressure from both family and society, looking at the more and more gorgeous cities, as well as higher and higher housing prices, prices and other living costs, they don't know what to do, and they don't know what awaits them, whether there is a future, what is it? This is the familiar stranger who lives around us, who craves to be noticed by society, to their lives, to their state of existence, to their unsustainable confusion. Because they are also a part of this country and society, the masters of this society, and our brothers and sisters. ”

"What a brother and sister!" Li Zheng was obviously also moved by Qi Tianxiang's words and emotions, and a divine pious light rose on his face, and he said vigorously: "Something should be done for them, even if it's just a little." ”

Qi Tianxiang's gaze was deeply condensed on Li Zheng's face, and it took a long time to move away