In 1977, Shaohu Town, Jiangbei Province.

Winter snow is flying, the wind is blowing, and the cold climate is raging in this small town in the south of the Yangtze River.

The roar of huge machines resounded in the town. There are barbed wire fenced construction sites everywhere, and pile drivers and cranes work non-stop.

Large red slogans were posted around the construction site:

"Warmly welcome the Jiangbei Oilfield Headquarters to settle in Shaohu Town!"

"Respond to the call of the central government and actively invest in the construction of Jiangbei Oilfield!"

"Fighting the wind and sand, fighting the cold, hardships and hardships are not afraid of difficulties!"

There was already a long queue in the center of the town, and young people rolled up their sleeves and waited in line for the opportunity to recruit in the Jiangbei Oilfield.

Gao Zhiguo, director of the Office of the Oilfield Command, wearing a hard hat and navy blue overalls, looked at the long dragon of people, raised his horn and shouted slightly apologetically:

"All the little comrades who are keen to contribute to the petroleum industry, I am very sorry, Jiangbei Oilfield is basically full of current recruitment positions. There are only ...... left," Gao Zhiguo picked up the plan, looked at it carefully, and said with a hot breath, "There is only one porter left." If you are interested, you can sign up. But ......"

Gao Zhiguo looked at the crowd, and said in a changed tone: "There are some things that I have to explain to you first." This quota of porters is in the nature of temporary requisition, and it is not included in the establishment of oilfield units, and it only takes three months, and after the construction of the headquarters base is completed, the contract will be terminated by itself. The salary is 28 yuan per month, and because it is a temporary job, this salary is also half of the normal ......"

Before he finished speaking, the long queue dispersed with complaints.

"Temporary workers, temporary workers, who wants to go......"

"yes, it's twenty-eight dollars. The technical job is okay, and I would rather rest at home for the temporary job......"

In the blink of an eye, most of the crowd in line had dispersed. Gao Zhiguo shook his head helplessly, this scene was what he expected. At the beginning of this year, when oil and gas fields were discovered in Jiangbei Province, the Ministry of Petroleum Industry recruited workers from oil fields all over the country and went to the headquarters of the construction of oil fields in this water town in Jiangbei Province for a battle. Although the Jiangbei Oilfield needs about 5,000 workers as a new oilfield unit, nearly ninety percent of them are directly recruited from other brother units. He was a high-level ruler and was also transferred from the North China oil field. The opportunities left for local young people are really not enough.

"Who else ......," Gao Zhiguo symbolically shouted, preparing to close the stall and go home for dinner.

"I ...... Director Gao! ”

A clear shout came from the other side. Gao Zhiguo raised his head and looked at a young man with clear eyebrows standing in front of him, wearing a blue jacket that was commonly worn in that era, and carrying a bed cover and luggage in his hands, and a porcelain basin hanging on his body attracted Gao Zhiguo's attention.

The porcelain basin is engraved with the words "Yunnan Xishuangbanna People's Commune".

Gao Zhiguo raised his eyebrows and asked, "Young man, just came back from Yunnan?" ”

"Well, I just got back today."

"I also stayed there for a while in Yunnan, when I was talking to the Burmese government about an oil engineering project." Gao Zhiguo had memories on his face and said, "Young man, how does it feel to come back after so many years on the farm?" ”

The young man in the blue jacket took a deep breath and responded, "How does this feel...... It's like a line in the recently released "Twinkle Red Star"......"

"Oh...... Is that the red star shining, according to me to fight? ”

"No......" the young man smiled, "yes—I'm back again!" ”

Hearing this, Gao Zhiguo's tense face finally relaxed, burst out laughing, poked the desktop with a pen cap, and asked with a smile: "What's your name?" ”

"Zhao Yuemin."

"Okay, Comrade Zhao Yuemin, do you want to apply for this porter? Have you thought about it, this is a temporary type of work......" Gao Zhiguo stretched out his head to look behind Zhao Yuemin, and found that there was no one, so he cleared his throat and said: "Well, you don't have any competitors, just sign the employment contract after thinking about it, and report it tomorrow." ”

Zhao Yuemin stood up straight and replied loudly: "Director Gao, I want technical work, I want to be a driller!" ”

"What?" The pen cap in Gao Zhiguo's hand fell, with a ridiculous look on his face, he stood up, and said with a straight face: "Zhao Yuemin, are you joking with me?" I've just said it three times, and the recruitment for other types of jobs is full, and only this porter is left......"

Zhao Yuemin lowered his head and said earnestly: "Director Gao, I really want to join the drilling team." Ever since I was a kid, I've loved fiddling with all kinds of machinery, fixing alarm clocks, making radios, I can do it. I'll ...... repairing bikes too."

Gao Zhiguo straightened his face and said, "Will you repair tanks?" ”

"Maybe it's okay to learn it twice, Director Gao, you need tanks to dig oil?" Zhao Yuemin said with a smile.

"Play the piano!" Gao Zhiguo saw that Zhao Yuemin couldn't hear the good words, he had no intention of entanglement with this stunned boy, put away the folding tables and chairs, and walked directly to the Jiefang brand truck parked on the side, and raised his head to ask the driver: "Lao Zhang, hasn't the car been repaired yet?" ”

"Director Gao, this is not a small problem, I have just opened this liberation card, and I am not familiar with ......" The driver scratched his head and said with some embarrassment, "I'm waiting for the maintenance master to come over......"

The wind and snow were getting heavier and heavier, Gao Zhiguo couldn't help but stomp his feet, looked at his watch and said anxiously: "What time does the maintenance master come?" I'll have a meeting at headquarters in the evening. ”

As he spoke, Zhao Yuemin suddenly walked to the truck, propped up the hood, and looked inside.

Gao Zhiguo was stunned for a moment when he saw that his action of propping up the hood was extremely skillful.

Zhao Yuemin watched for a long time, picked up the wrench next to him and knocked it, and after a while, shouted: "Bring a basin of hot water!" ”

"What?" Gao Zhiguo hasn't reacted yet.

"Bring a basin of hot water, it's too cold, the engine cast aluminum water jacket and the water in the cooling tank in series are frozen, and I melt the ice." Zhao Yuemin said like a surgeon diagnosing his condition.

This kid is a little evil......

Gao Zhiguo speculated in his heart. He was a little skeptical of Zhao Yuemin's car repair skills, but when he saw him say these engine terms so accurately, he had to believe it.

"Director Gao, hot water, hot water!" Zhao Yuemin urged again.

"Come now, come right away." Gao Zhiguo hurriedly agreed. He and the driver each went to the house next door to ask for two basins of hot water and brought them to Zhao Yuemin.

Zhao Yuemin took the hot water basin, aimed at the frozen water tank, poured it, unscrewed the two water release valves of the water tank and the body, slowly released the water, was busy for a while, raised his head and shouted at the driver on the side: "Master, you try it, okay?" ”

As soon as the driver stepped on the accelerator, the engine roared again.

"Okay, okay, this little comrade, you really can." The driver is happy.

"Don't worry." Zhao Yuemin's face did not relax, he walked to the back of the truck, looked at it for a while and said: "Okay, there is no white smoke, which means that the cylinder head is not frozen and cracked, and you can drive away." He told the driver again: "Master, this Jiefang brand truck, especially pay attention to the winter car, before leaving the car, to fill the water tank with hot water, after the engine starts to the air tank of the pneumatic brake, only when the needle of the barometer reaches four kilograms per square centimeter, can the vehicle be slowly started." ”

The driver listened to Zhao Yuemin's words and nodded.

Gao Zhiguo took a breath, he just thought that Zhao Yuemin was casually boasting about his position as a driller, but he didn't expect the other party to really fix the car.

"Comrade Zhao Yuemin, that's good." Gao Zhiguo's tone of voice eased a lot, patted Zhao Yuemin on the shoulder, and handed him a cigarette, "Have you learned to repair cars before?" ”

"Director Gao, when I was in Yunnan to cut the queue, I was bored a lot of time, and I learned a few hands from a local master." Zhao Yuemin smiled and pushed the cigarette back again, "Smoking, no." ”

"Well, cigarettes aren't a good thing either." Gao Zhiguo also put the cigarette in his mouth back into the cigarette case, and he said with appreciation: "There is a hand." Our front-line drilling team is in need of talented people like you who are good at fiddling with machinery. That drilling rig is not something that everyone can use......"

Zhao Yuemin heard the voiceover, his spirits perked up, and he said happily: "Director Gao, have you agreed to admit me as a driller?" ”

"Hmm." Gao Zhiguo nodded, he looked at the plan, there was actually a place for the drilling team. Gao Zhiguo also has a relative in Shaohu Town, and he came back in three days and two days to ask him to introduce a job, which made him very annoyed, and originally wanted to allocate this quota to his relatives. However, he saw that Zhao Yuemin was so good, and thought that the drilling team was short of people who could control the drilling rig platform, so he decided to give priority to the admission of talents and give the quota to Zhao Yuemin.

"But, Yuemin, let me ask you......" Gao Zhiguo asked as he remembered something, "I happen to have a place left." If I didn't, wouldn't you be working in vain? ”

Zhao Yuemin smiled embarrassedly: "Director Gao, before applying for the job just now, I secretly glanced at the recruitment plan behind you, and it is clear at a glance what positions have quotas and what positions do not." As the old saying goes, knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent will not be defeated in a hundred battles. ”

"Good boy, it's time to use Sun Tzu's Art of War when you're looking for a job!" Gao Zhiguo laughed.