A churning heat wave swept across the sea of sand.

In front of the construction site of the desert highway, Zhao Yuemin stood side by side with Secretary Hu of the Kuler Municipal Party Committee. In front of the two of them, the sand dunes are undulating, like a sea of waves, and the 20-kilometer-long black asphalt road stretches into the distance like a streamer.

"Yuemin...... When the road is successfully built, it will provide direct access to several nearby cities. Secretary Hu pointed ahead with a little excitement.

"Secretary Hu, this is also a good thing for our Xikan Company and the local government to work together to revitalize the local area." Zhao Yuemin said with a smile.

"Not really. You have several thousand employees in the Tarim Oilfield, and if you can build a road and build a commercial street around your desert base, it will also increase the number of people who will be employed. ”

"However, Secretary Hu, there is no complete set of experience in China to build a grade highway on the mobile desert of the Sea of Death. Our Taklamakan Desert, known as the world's eight largest, is the farthest from the ocean, has the driest climate, the least vegetation, the most complex sand types, and the most mobile sand dunes. In our opinion, this is the first time that such a long-distance graded road has been built on such quicksand.

"We are also unprecedented, carry on the past and forge ahead into the future." Secretary Hu patted Zhao Yuemin on the shoulder and said, "In terms of road construction, I still admire your Western Exploration Company. It is not easy to research such a suitable solution in such a short period of time. ”

Building a road in the Taklamakan Desert is a technical problem to build the road surface on undulating tens of meters of quicksand, and to ensure that conventional trucks of 30 to 50 tons can speed through the desert.

How to choose the structural combination of roadbed and pavement, Zhao Yuemin convened experts, selected eight pavement schemes, repeatedly researched, and finally screened. The personnel of the Xijiang Transportation Research Institute provided a clue - a layer of woven cloth can be spread on the flat and compacted sandy gravel to improve the stability of the roadbed.

In addition, the partner road construction company also proposed that when building roads in the desert of Inner Mongolia and building roads in poplar forest areas, it had the experience of laying woven cloth on the soil roadbed and then pressing the gravel layer to avoid subsidence and cracking of the roadbed.

After many weeks of repeated discussions, the road construction plan has just been finalized.

Zhao Yuemin opened his mouth and yawned: "Secretary Hu, you haven't slept well in the past few days." ”

"Building roads for the people, what does it matter if we don't sleep well?" Secretary Hu responded, "Comrade Yuemin, this time, our Kulerer City and Xikan Company jointly build roads, and I have already done a long-term plan. He looked at the desert and said, "The construction of highways should drive trade in western Xinjiang." Our Kuler's enterprises should also go out through this highway, not only to develop border trade with Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, but also to promote domestic trade. ”

"Yuemin, can your friend's Huaxing trade be able to do domestic trade? Can we sell our agricultural and sideline products such as cantaloupe and fragrant pears in western Xinjiang to the whole country? ”

Zhao Yuemin was stunned, he understood that this was Secretary Hu repaying the favor and giving himself a chance. The fragrant pears and red dates produced by Kuller are absolutely a must. Compared with the melons and pears sold on the eastern and southern coasts, the quality does not know how many grades it surpasses.

It seems that Secretary Hu hopes that Hu Dong's Huaxing Company can be the exclusive agent of Kuler's specialties.

At the end of the 80s, it was definitely not a worry about the sales to be able to get the exclusive agent of the best quality melons and fruits in western China.

"How about it, Comrade Yuemin, are you willing to help us Kuller get out of the desert and face the whole country?" Secretary Hu said with a smile.

"I'm so willing......" Zhao Yuemin didn't know what to say, "Thank you for the support of the Kuler Municipal Government......"

"Well, our Xijiang Province, although poor, has unique water, soil, light and heat resources." Secretary Hu looked up at the sky and said, "The sunshine hours are long, the temperature difference between day and night is large, the frost-free period is long, and the total annual solar radiation is second only to Tibet, which is very beneficial to the growth of crops, and it is also one of the five major pastoral areas in the country." With this unique resource, coupled with this highway, it is like a tiger with wings. Secretary Hu said with his hands behind his back, "We must push wheat, corn, cotton, rape, sugar beet, cantaloupe, grapes, fragrant pears and other agricultural and sideline products to the whole country, and even out of Asia and to the world." ”

Secretary Hu's words made Zhao Yuemin understand the weight of PetroChina's western exploration company in the hearts of the local municipal government. I also took advantage of this "momentum" to take advantage of a lot of advantages.

Zhao Yuemin immediately called Hu Dong and asked him to come to Western Xinjiang quickly and get in touch with Secretary Hu. In the conference hall of the municipal government, Hu Dong patted his chest and said that if he got the exclusive agency, he could also ship Shenchuan's electronic products and imported products to Xijiang at preferential prices, not only to upgrade the equipment for the Kular city government and schools, but also to build a department store to provide electrical appliances sales services for local residents.

The temporary airfield and twin otter planes in the Tarim oil field have naturally become convenient for the implementation of this plan.

At sunset, Zhao Yuemin and Hu Dong sat on bamboo chairs in front of the desert base.

Sunset stains large expanses of sand red with blood.

"Dongzi, now your Huaxing Industry is already a veritable group multi-management company. Customs declaration, international freight, warehousing, foreign trade, domestic trade, ship transportation, ......" Zhao Yuemin said with his fingers, "plus this Kuler's fruit exclusive agent business......"

"Yuemin, I know it very well in my heart." Hu Dong took a sip of the juice in the cup and said, "Without you, in fact, there would be no me today." I'm still waiting for you to go to sea completely and come to me to take charge of the company......"

"I ...... I haven't thought about it yet......" Zhao Yuemin rubbed the glass in his hand and looked into the distance.

"Yuemin, actually, I'm a little confused now. What do you say you are now? Hu Dong turned his head and asked, "State cadres?" Or a private entrepreneur? ”

Zhao Yuemin smiled self-deprecatingly and put down the juice glass. He couldn't figure out who he was. Red Star Industry is a large collective enterprise, but as long as he is willing, he can take off this red hat at any time and turn it into a private enterprise. In '88, the national policy was relaxed to allow the issuance of private business licenses.

But at the same time, he also holds the position of director of the machine repair factory, and is also the deputy general manager of the western survey company. At the same time, he is also inextricably linked with Hu Dong's Huaxing Industry.

These complex backs and relationships are not something that can be easily cut off at one time.

"Dongzi, I will go to the sea sooner or later." Zhao Yuemin tapped his hand on the table, "In the state-owned system, I am always worried about doing things, and I shrink back. I'm still waiting for the right moment......"

"When?" Hu Dong asked.

"Let's wait for the completion of the Tarim Oilfield project, during this time, I am still a state-owned cadre."