Li Qing is not in good health and has been recuperating for a long time. Quietly thinking and whimsical, I read a few literary magazines and started to write a novel. Who will be the model? He thought of the two brothers of the Shao family.

The elder brother's name is Shao Qingyuan, who went into exile with his classmates to the rear during the Anti-Japanese War, and studied civil engineering in Chongqing for two years, but dropped out of school because he had no financial resources. During the Pacific War, the U.S. military cooperated with China to build the Stilwell Highway, and he needed a translator, so he applied to become a translator. He studied civil engineering, and he was also a smart person, and when the Yunnan-Burma Highway was opened to traffic, he was mixed with the title of "technical positive". After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, the Kuomintang government "returned the capital". In Nanjing, an American he had followed to Nanjing to open a construction factory, and asked him to go as an engineer, but in fact he was a translator. Because the American is addicted to being an engineer, although he is the boss, he still has to do everything in engineering. At the same time, I don't feel at ease about Shao Qingyuan's technical level.

After the liberation, Shao Qingyuan was arranged to work in the technical department of a construction company with the title of engineer. This is not because of his technical understanding, but because of his political history.

Shao Qingyuan's younger brother is called Shao Mingyuan, who is more than ten years younger than his brother, has never been to the rear, and entered Peking University during the enemy and puppet period to study architecture. Japanese schools are divided into different subjects from the Anglo-American system, and there is no distinction between architecture and civil engineering. So he knows a little bit about art and civil engineering. The Kuomintang took over Beiping, and the city was full of houses to grab and occupy houses, but no one built houses. After he got his diploma, he carried a schoolbag and ate it in Xidan Shopping Mall. After liberation, he joined a construction company. He has a clean political history and a formal university diploma. As soon as he reported for duty, he was assigned to be the technical captain of the construction team, and he worked for several years, and by 1953 he was already a technical director of a construction site, and he did a very good job.

Originally, at the starting line, the younger brother was much more advantageous than the elder brother, but when something happened in 1953, the situation of the two brothers was reversed.

In 1953, several experts were invited from the Soviet Union to set up a model construction site in the suburbs of Beijing, that is, to use the advanced technology of the Soviet Union to demonstrate to the whole country.

At this time, my younger brother has several years of on-site construction experience, and he also has a lot of experience and understanding of the characteristics of China's construction industry. The calf, who was just born, carried a little burden of historical innocence and ideological progress, and made two lanes and two lanes, and the Soviet experts held up the cow. The details are not clear, but both sides slapped the table anyway. Shao Mingyuan said: "You are an engineer, and I am also an engineer. I respect you as the host. You, as a guest, cannot give orders for me to do so. We have arguments that can be resolved at a higher level. "What the experts say, don't show it. Most of the Soviet specialists were very cultivated in style and technology, and they were also very polite. However, it is not uncommon to say that a few people are technically two knives and a bit of chauvinism in their thinking. As a result, the leadership of the company decided to remove the younger brother and replace him with someone else to work with Soviet specialists. Meetings were held to solicit public opinions, asking who would like to go, and no one signed up. If you want everyone to nominate you, the technical department recommended Shao Qingyuan. Although Shao Qingyuan was modest, he did not refuse. Thus the two brothers switched places.

Li Qing came to the company during the completion ceremony of the model construction site. At this time, Shao Qingyuan had been elected as an activist in socialist construction and was promoted to deputy chief engineer. It is said that these two "works" were also due to the active advice of Soviet specialists. Therefore, some technicians have some criticism behind them. However, Li Qing visited the newly completed dormitory building and had two conversations with Shao Qingyuan, believing that these criticisms were unfair. The building is very well built, and it is said that it is the highest level among the first batch of staff dormitories after the completion of New China. The two-bedroom apartment has a large kitchen, toilet, and a four-square-meter storage room, which is spacious and comfortable. Shao Qingyuan is modest and does not promote himself. Except for the tone of criticism used as an elder brother when mentioning his younger brother, he never said that other people's things were not, and he was very political in his way of handling affairs, which was rare among technicians in the early days of liberation.

Li Qing once asked him: "You have made great achievements in the model construction site, what is the main experience?" ”

He said: "I don't have much experience, and whoever will be the director of the model construction site is also the result." The construction site will be rated as an advanced collective at the end, and the director will also select an advanced person. Because this is a pilot project of Sino-Soviet cooperation, it must succeed and will succeed. And it should be vigorously promoted. ”

Li Qing said: "Even if it is not necessarily, your predecessor will not be ......."

"You say my brother?" He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "All he learned was the capitalist architectural system, and he was young and vigorous, self-righteous, and his mouth was technical rationality and economic rationality, but he didn't talk about political rationality, and working with Soviet experts was a technical and economic problem?" This kind of person, a blind man rides a blind horse! ”

"And how did you deal with the relationship with the Soviet specialists?"

"Didn't the superiors have clear instructions?" Expert advice is the law's 'just obey the law'. The people below don't understand, do their job, and implement the experts' advice can't be ambiguous, that's it, what's so surprising? ”

He was very real. Li Qing has read his materials in detail. What about introducing new technologies, changing the structure of the construction site, improving productivity and speeding up the progress of the project? In the final analysis, it is to overcome all difficulties and resolutely and unswervingly implement the recommendations of experts.

Li Qing believes that it is completely reasonable to promote such a person to a leading position. As an advanced figure, he is worthy of his name.

However, the opinion of Shao Qingyuan among the engineers and technicians is not like this, and he is a little unconvinced. His younger brother, in particular, turned his head when he met him. Li Qing sees this as the nature of bourgeois intellectuals: "The literati are inferior to each other. Therefore, before he got close to Shao Mingyuan, he first had a bad impression of him. For a long time, he had no contact with Shao Mingyuan. Sometimes when I walked outside the door of the technical department, I saw through the glass door that Shao Mingyuan was always leaning over a large stack of drawings to measure and calculate, and it was rare to see him talking to people. He thinks it's a nerdy character.

During the anti-rightist struggle, some people posted big-character posters to Shao Mingyuan, saying that he was "anti-Soviet." The proof is that he disrespected Soviet specialists and resisted the new technologies of socialism. The meeting was criticized twice. But when dealing with him, the company's party committee was still lenient, neither put a hat on him nor gave him a salary cut, but in order to reform him, he was transferred to the maintenance team to work with him.

In fact, the Propaganda Section is responsible for everything and has no authority to deal with anything. In the winter of 1956, the residents who were assigned to live in the model dormitory buildings wrote letters of request as if they had agreed upon them. Some require a change of house to move, and some require the installation of a flue. The wording is euphemistic, with grievances between the lines; Those with a tough attitude said that they would refuse to pay the rent if they did not solve the problem. What the hell is going on? The party committee asked the propaganda section and the trade union to send people to jointly investigate. Li Qing and the trade union ** found a gap after work and rode to the model building. When the work was just handed over two years ago, Li Qing came to visit. But now I can't find that beautiful, spacious and comfortable dormitory building. The trade union has only been transferred for a short time, and I don't know what this model building looks like, look at the black eyebrows and black eyes, the window sill is full of pickle cans, orange peels, diapers on the balcony, piles of chopping wood, briquettes and said: "Which one here is enough to be a model?" In the middle of the patrol, a person came from behind on a bicycle, and when he saw Li Qing, he got out of the car and nodded and said, "Section Chief Li, what's the matter here?" ”

Li Qing saw that it was Shao Mingyuan, and asked: "We went to the model building, why can't we find it?" ”

"Isn't that what it is?" Shao Mingyuan pointed to the building on the left and said, "I live here, you go to my house to sit down first, and I will lead you to whoever you want to find." ”

Although Li Qing left a deep memory when he visited this building, he can't recognize it now. At that time, he looked at the building from the outside, much like a large passenger ship. Yellow hull, bright portholes. Now it's like a warship. Not a modern warship, but a Columbusian-era sail gunboat seen in the movie. An iron-green chimney sticks out of each window, smoking, like hundreds of guns pointed at pedestrians. The smoke had turned the hull of the ship that had been yellow to a gray-green color.

Locking the car in the door, Shao Mingyuan led them up to the fourth floor. At the corner of each staircase, there are stacks, cardboard boxes, bamboo baskets, flower pots, broken pots, and bundles of chopping wood. As soon as Shao Mingyuan knocked on the door, there was a cheer from inside the door. The door opened, revealing a woman in her thirties followed by four children who were younger than No. 1. The children seemed to be competing whose voices were sharp: "Uncle Shao is back!" ”

Shao Mingyuan patted his head on each other, said a few polite words to his sister-in-law, led the two of them into the room from the cracks, took out the key and opened the door of his house, and said, "Please come in, please come in." Li Qing wanted to take a closer look at the situation in the aisle, but there were many people and it was dark, so he didn't understand anything.

Shao Mingyuan's house was quite large, and Li Qing remembered that this was a large room with one large and one small room. But this big room, with a double bed, bookshelves, cupboards, tables, and a chest of five drawers, and a stove, there is not much room to turn around. At this time, the four children also followed the house. The big one was a boy, and the bottom three were all girls. The second girl hugged the fourth girl, and the third girl pulled her sister's shirt. After Shao Mingyuan asked the guests to sit down, the little girl reached out and took a plaster Venus statue on the bookshelf in her hand. The elder brother said, "Don't move!" Reaching out and snatching it back on the bookshelf, the little one cried with a sigh of wah. The second girl immediately freed her hand and punched her brother: "You slow down, it hurts the little sister's hand!" The elder brother felt that it was undignified to beat his sister in front of the living, so he slapped the second girl back. The second girl was pampered, and she stomped her feet and cried loudly. When the three girls saw their sisters and sisters crying, they also cried. Fortunately, at this time, the sister-in-law came, gave her brother a slap, beat the boy to tears, and threw the four out together, and said to Shao Mingyuan apologetically: "Living with us, it's really troublesome for you." There's no way, let's look forward to it, his father has already written an application to the company, asking for a change of house. If they can change to a bungalow, there is a yard for them to run, wouldn't the family be relaxed? ”

The sister-in-law left and closed the door casually, so that the sound of talking to each other could be heard in the room.

Li Qing said, "What about Madam? ”

Shao Mingyuan said: "I had a little trouble with me, and I went to live in the agency!" ”

The union ** said: "Hey, care about each other, what's the trouble?" ”

Shao Mingyuan said: "It's a long story. As soon as we lived in this house, we began to have contradictions, you see, the two of us, the superior took care of the intellectuals, and gave us a large room. On the other side, Master Liu, a family of six, lives in a small room, we don't want to go, don't we? They discussed with me that they would let their family use the kitchen, so that they could still have a bed in the kitchen, and the father would take his son to live. My sister-in-law took three girls to live in the house, shouldn't I not agree? ”

The union nodded and said, "It should be like this." ”

Shao Mingyuan said: "But in this way, we can only use the four-square-meter storage room for cooking." There were no windows in the house, and soot smoke could only be dispersed through the door. The door was facing mine, and my lover was just pregnant, and she vomited when she smelled it. Later, it had a miscarriage. She said I didn't take her to heart. I don't care about her, but I don't even care about the unborn child. It was so painful for her. She said it proves that my love for her has cooled! ”

Li Qing and the trade union ** sighed and expressed sympathy.

Shao Mingyuan smiled bitterly, and then said, the sound insulation of this house is not good, their husband and wife quarreled, and Master Liu on the other side heard it. Master Liu is a kind person, I heard that people in order to take care of themselves have a discord between husband and wife, very unbearable, and proposed that the kitchen should still be shared by the two families, give him a four-square-meter storage room, he built a bed to sleep by himself, and let the boy go to his mother. So the house was changed, and Shao Mingyuan's wife was also pleasant, but Master Liu suffered from heat stroke after three days of living and almost died.

Li Qing asked, "Why?" ”

Shao Mingyuan said: "It was summer. Naked, Master Liu is not good at opening the door. Sleeping with the door closed, isn't that room windowless? The temperature of 378 degrees has no ventilation facilities, how can you not suffer from heat stroke? I had no choice but to offer to change back! My wife has been moving to the office ever since. ”

The union ** said: "It's also strange, why don't the windows of the storage room be opened, and shouldn't the storage of things also be ventilated?" ”

Shao Mingyuan said: "In the original design drawing, this was a bathing room, a bathtub and a washbasin. This is designed for the level of living in Moscow; Beijing residents can't afford to live in such a high-level dormitory, so the heating and sanitation facilities are reduced, so it is called a storage room! ”

Li Qing said: "Our country is poor and has a large population, this is something that cannot be helped!" ”

Shao Mingyuan shook his head and said: "Tailor-made, make a poor plan for a poor day, and make a reasonable arrangement." It is necessary to proceed from the reality of our country. It's still these costs, or such a large area, and the conditions can be made better than this. ”

When Li Qing heard this, he had something to say, and hurriedly asked, "How can the arrangement be reasonable?" ”

Shao Mingyuan saw that Li Qing was interested, so he said half-jokingly-"Let me tell you, do you promise not to overturn the case and criticize it?" ”

The trade union ** said: "This is a technical issue, how can it be involved in politics?" ”

Shao Ming didn't seem to hear it, but still looked at Li Qing: "Huh? ”

Li Qing said: "Where is what we talked about today, I promise not to spread it." ”

Shao Mingyuan said with a smile: "This layer of window paper will be broken with a finger. Don't want this bathroom, add four square meters to Master Liu's living room, and put a partition in the middle, he will have two eight-meter living rooms, although it is crowded, the father and son live in one, and the sister-in-law takes three daughters to live in one, is it much stronger than now? When building the wall, build a flue on each side, make a hole in the wall of the house, and plug the chimney into the hole when the stove is made, so that you don't need to break the window glass and stick out, and the west and north rooms will not pour smoke? The exterior walls won't be blackened, right? ”

When the two of them heard this, they suddenly realized that the union ** said: "It's so easy to solve ......"

Shao Mingyuan said: "Before construction, as long as you change one line on the drawing, add two lines and it's over. Now that raw rice is cooked rice, there is no way to do it! ”

The trade union ** blurted out: "Why didn't you mention this opinion earlier?" ”

Shao Mingyuan was silent and looked at Li Qing silently.

Li Qingzao found out that he was reckless in asking, and hurriedly changed the conversation. After saying goodbye, the trade union ** and Li Qing pushed the car and walked for a while, and the trade union ** asked Li Qing: "It seems that Shao Mingyuan has some emotions, what is the inside story of this?" ”

Li Qing said: "Back then, he put forward this opinion, and he was removed from the position of director with experts. In the past, there was a special historical background at that time, so let's not talk about it. However, how can the problem of this resident be solved? ”

"Report the situation to the higher authorities and let the superiors decide how to deal with it."

Since this incident, Li Qing has some new views on the Shaw brothers, and he once revealed to his superiors without a trace, should he give Shao Ming a reaction? A comrade at the higher level said that Shao Mingyuan did not wear a hat or be punished, and there was no question of rehabilitation at all, and as for the decentralization of labor, this is the fundamental way to transform intellectuals, and now that it is about to set off an upsurge of decentralization, can Shao Mingyuan still be transferred back?

Sure enough, the climax of cadre decentralization has arrived. Shao Qingyuan was the first to sign up, and the application was written very earnestly. Say that he came from the old society, stained with bourgeois sludge and muddy water. When the party put him in a leading position, he was terrified, asked to be tempered in labor, and was determined to join the ranks of the party in the course of labor.

Shao Qingyuan is already a person with the title of advanced worker and the post of deputy chief engineer. In the propaganda work, it is necessary to grasp typical examples and expand its influence, and the newspaper came to cooperate with the Propaganda Section to publish Shao Qingyuan's lead in delegating and his own application in the "Construction Worker" newspaper. Shao Qingyuan became a pacesetter who took the lead in decentralization.

Li Qing no longer has a good impression of Shao Qingyuan as he did when they first met. He felt that Shao Qingyuan, as an engineer, if he could not see the hidden dangers brought by the Soviet drawings, it meant that he was technically not as competent as his younger brother, and if he saw the hidden dangers, he still just blindly insisted on implementing the experts' suggestions, so as to curry favor with the Soviet experts and leaders who did not understand technology, which was too selfish. So he was not enthusiastic about promoting Shao Qingyuan this time. However, Shao Qingyuan has already stood in a conspicuous position, he responded to the party's call, enthusiastically took the lead in decentralization, and did it correctly and in line with the party's requirements. What reason is there not to promote him?

Human fate is sometimes like a ball thrown on a slide, once it is thrown on the track, it has to roll forward, and no one can stop it, and the ball itself cannot be stopped. After Shao Qingyuan went down, he worked well, and the newspaper wanted to continue to report on the situation of the decentralized cadres in labor, and he published it again. Three months later, to organize a delegation of cadres to report and talk about their own transformation experience everywhere, Shao Qingyuan was naturally selected first. Soon after, *** came, and the organization proposed that the decentralized cadres should not only produce ideological results in labor, but also material results. At this time, there was a decentralized cadre who had been in middle school for several years, who dared to think and dare to work, and put forward several suggestions, such as using tofu as protein glue, using waste straw bags thrown away from the construction site to make paper tendons for plastering, and using human hair as rainproof paint. Although some people suspected that these ideas were a bit grotesque, at that time, there were shouts everywhere "chicken feathers go to the sky", "release satellites", and "I am the Dragon King, I am the Jade Emperor", and no one dared to push back this suggestion. The party committee convened engineering and technical personnel to solicit opinions. Some people shake their heads and say they don't understand chemistry, and some people are ambiguous. When he went to Shao Qingyuan, Shao Qingyuan said: "From a technical point of view, okay! Able to succeed. "The party committee originally believed that the creativity and enthusiasm of the masses could only be supported, not poured cold water, and with the judgment of technical personnel, this was based on science. It was immediately decided to concentrate the decentralized cadres to set up a chemical plant, with Shao Qingyuan as the factory director and engineer, and the cadre who made the suggestion as the technician. As soon as Shao Qingyuan took office, he announced that in accordance with the revolutionary spirit, he would not ask for a penny from his superiors and would start a factory from scratch. So everyone went to each construction site to pick up "waste products", large vats, cauldrons, stone grinders, and waste straw, and pulled them all to an open space in the suburbs one after another. It is easy for people in the construction industry to build houses, and there are "waste" bricks and tiles on the construction site. In less than a month, the factory and office were all built. After another week, the cadres beat gongs and drums to send a teapot of protein glue and a basin of paper tendons wrapped in red silk to the company's party committee. The trade unions and the propaganda section also beat gongs and drums, set off firecrackers, and hung up large banners reading "Celebrating the success of the trial production of new products at the chemical plant" to greet them with the good news.

Li Qing participated in voluntary labor when they built the factory. Shao Qingyuan took off his clothes, wearing only a vest and shorts, and carried the vat and the pot stove with everyone, the fine skin and white flesh were red and stained with mud. Li Qing was very moved by this hot atmosphere, and felt that it was indeed not easy for Shao Qingyuan, as an intellectual from the old society, to respond to the party's call and practice it. It is not too much to choose him as a model to promote and educate others. The opinion of him has changed a little better.

The chemical plant was built, and the first products were produced. The protein glue has been identified, and it does have the power to seize the wood, and the paper tendons are used on the gray wall, which is smooth and white, which saves the cost than buying a hemp knife. At this time, the city will hold an "exhibition of the fruits of the labor of decentralized cadres", and as soon as these two projects are submitted, they will be selected immediately. The Public Relations Section was instructed to prepare the exhibits. In addition to samples, a set of photos, drawings, and art arrangements are also required. The Public Relations Section does not have art talents, so it has to be temporarily transferred from various departments. People say that Shao Mingyuan studied architecture, and he can hold all paintings, sculptures, and models. It's better to transfer him. When Li Qing heard this, he personally went to the maintenance team to find Shao Mingyuan.

The maintenance team worked in a primary school, the main project was completed, and the workers were working on the ceiling. Li Qing asked, and people told him that Shao Mingyuan didn't participate in the work today, and calculated the task list in the principal's office that had just been repaired. Li Qing found the principal's office in the direction that people pointed out, and saw Shao Mingyuan and the maintenance team leader, who was the neighbor Master Liu, sitting on the ground with two bricks, and a few task lists in front of the picture, Shao Mingyuan was writing something in the notebook. As soon as Master Liu saw Li Qing coming in, he immediately got up and sat down. Li Qing said, "I'm sorry, I'll disturb you for a while. Shao Mingyuan heard what he said, so he raised his head, said hello, and lowered his head to write about him. Li Qing asked Master Liu, "How did you complete your task?" Master Liu said: "The average is more than 30 percent. Li Qing said: "It's not outstanding. Shao Mingyuan put away the notebook, stood up and said: "In other words, it is called stepping into 1959 four months in advance, do you think it sounds better?" The captain continued: "We haven't put satellites and doubled them several times, but our quality and quantity are guaranteed to stand up to inspection." This 30 percent is pulled out by Shao Gong one by one, and when we measure every process and every action, Shao Gong has to work 15 or 6 hours a day. I said, why don't you talk about the achievements of the decentralized cadres in publicizing them......"

Shao Mingyuan immediately interrupted and said, "Don't talk nonsense, talk about business." ”

Li Qing saw that the atmosphere here seemed to be colder than that of Shao Qingyuan, a chemical plant, but he was also more down-to-earth, and hurriedly said: "You come here with all the materials, and we will publicize it." ”

Master Liu said: "This is difficult, he is the only pen, the only slide rule, and the only planner we have here, and he refuses to write a word for himself." ”

Everyone laughed a few words, and Li Qing talked about his intention. When he spoke, Master Liu asked Shao Mingyuan's attitude with his eyes, and Shao Mingyuan shook his head slightly. So as soon as Li Qing finished speaking, Master Liu said: "No, I can't pull the bolt here when he leaves!" ”

Li Qing said: "Delegating cadres always has to leave, not to mention that he is temporarily transferred? ”

Master Liu said: "If it is officially raised, I will not stop it." Is ***, pumping out our chief of staff, didn't you deliberately make our team suffocate? ”

Shao Mingyuan said: "It's better to change to someone else, I can't do this." ”

Li Qing was not forced to do so, said a few words of gossip, persuaded him to think about it again, and then said goodbye and returned to the company. Shao Mingyuan sent him to the gate of the primary school, and snorted twice when he wanted to speak: "Section Chief Li, since the last time you came to my house to chat, I can see that you are a trustworthy person, and I want to take the risk to persuade you." ”

"You say."

"Now that I am leaning against the right and pulling out the white flag, I shouldn't have said anything more, because this matter involves my brother, and I have to say a word."

"Even if you say, 'I'm,' can't you believe me?"

"Publicity about chemical plants, let's stop ......"

"What? Do you think there's a fake here? The product was indeed made. The economic effect is also confirmed. I saw it with my own eyes! ”

"Didn't say it was fake, I mean...... You'll understand in two months, don't make it difficult to ride a tiger. ”

Li Qing wanted to ask carefully, but Shao Mingyuan refused to talk more. At this time, at the climax of the anti-rightist movement, Li Qing certainly would not stop the propaganda of the chemical plant for no reason. So all the preparations were completed at an accelerated pace. The comic strips and sample tables also made Shao Qingyuan take off his shirtless arms like making a movie, and dismantle the stone mill and cauldron that had been installed for re-installation in order to take continuous exhibition photos. When the exhibition was held in Zhongshan Park, they were given the most conspicuous position in a section, and two well-spoken and good-looking female comrades were selected from among the decentralized cadres to be commentators. After the opening, this part of the exhibition attracted the audience. Shao Qingyuan and the contents of the exhibition were once again published in the newspaper with a headline in large characters and a photo. In the middle of the exhibition, the leaders in charge of construction in the city were accompanied by the heads of several subordinate departments. After looking at this exhibition stand for a long time, he asked the company leader: "Has this Shao engineer joined the party?" ”

The company's leader said: "It has been reported, and it will be approved in the next few days." ”

The city leader turned to the person in charge of the design institute and said: "You will report to the city to ask for the vice president and chief engineer, why don't you look down?" If such a popular and professional intellectuals are not promoted and reused, how can there be so many old cadres and old experts? The old experts also came from their youth, huh? ”

The person in charge of the design institute said: "Of course we welcome Engineer Shao Qingyuan to come, but I am afraid that the company will not let go!" ”

The city leader said, "Don't be self-centered." ”

The exhibition was held for two months, Li Qing and the exhibition staff have been living in the park, and have not returned to the company. After the successful conclusion of the exhibition, Li Qing took people back to the company, but the organization told him that the cadres and commentators who participated in the exhibition did not have to go back to the chemical plant, and were assigned to work with each production team.

"Why?" Li Qing asked strangely.

"The chemical plant is closed." The company leader said.

Li Qing was taken aback, but he didn't expect to say it to Shao Mingyuan again, and it was about two months. It's easy to ask why. The raw material used to make protein glue is tofu, and every day more than a dozen decentralized cadres must be sent to the non-staple food store to line up before dawn, and when they buy tofu, they will complete the day's work. However, from the second half of this year, the market was not so sluggish, and the supply of tofu became less and less, and finally the supply was cut off, and even the soybeans could not be seen after that. The source of raw materials was cut off, and the source of protein glue had to be discontinued, and as for the waste straw bags for making paper tendons, it was a joke. Seeing that there are a lot of them thrown everywhere on the construction site, don't you know that once it is officially produced, it will take less than a month to pick it up, so I have to buy new straw bags, boil them with caustic soda and then grind them into mud. However, the new straw bags have to be transported to Tianjin and other places where rice is produced, and the cost of freight, plus straw bags and caustic soda, is far more expensive than buying ready-made hemp knives, and the production is much more laborious. Taking human hair to make paint is always in the experimental stage, fortunately it didn't work, it really succeeded, and sending a group of people everywhere to collect hair for long-term production is not cheap.

Li Qing asked: "When the factory is closed, what is Engineer Shao Qingyuan doing?" ”

"I went to be the vice president of the Design Institute."

Li Qing said: "This chemical plant does not seem to be successful, how can you still promote him?" ”

The leader said, "That's not right. The factory encountered difficulties and could not continue, which does not mean that there were no achievements at the beginning, this enthusiasm for leaping forward is still good, and it is still right to listen to the party's words, and politically it was the initiative and victory at that time. ”

Li Qing pondered for a while and said: "I think there should be more propaganda for some decentralized cadres who are down-to-earth and really combine with the workers below, such as Shao Mingyuan......

The leader said: "I also heard that the maintenance team has a good response to him, but the maintenance team is not upstream in the whole world." Is there any pandering to the conservative side of the workers? Now there are still people who can't figure out the relationship between one finger and ten fingers, grasp a little shortcoming, attack ***, attack three red flags, we can't relax our vigilance. To his brother, we are politically reassured, we can't say the same to him, we must be cautious in setting up an advanced model! ”

After Shao Qingyuan became the chief engineer of the design institute, there was no longer anything for people to talk about. But there were no more outstanding results. Of course, there is still talk. When they say that he is good, they think that this person is modest, cautious, and has a good democratic style. When any design is made, he never expresses his position first, always holds various discussion meetings, solicits instructions from leaders at all levels, and then synthesizes everyone's opinions to formulate a plan. The person who says that he can't do it thinks that this person has neither an idea nor a creative idea, uploads and distributes, and does things in circles. When this kind of vice president has professional knowledge, it doesn't matter much. However, the leadership has always attached importance to him, believing that it is not easy to choose a leader who is an expert, a party member, a strong sense of organization, and a good democratic style. Therefore, for many years, whenever there is an event on behalf of engineering and technical personnel, he is always selected. The party and government leaders of the design institute have changed several batches, but his technical leadership has never wavered.

Shao Mingyuan, it can't be said that it is smooth, and it cannot be said that it is not smooth. Whenever there is a technical problem to be consulted and solved, the discussion meeting is indispensable. On weekdays, he is still reviewing the drawings in the technical department, and he can't think of him when he selects advanced people, and he is never included in the branch training objects. But there was no movement on his head anymore.

The two brothers were like two runners in a race walk, the younger brother was the first and the elder brother was behind, and they didn't go far out, the elder brother overtook him, and the younger brother fell behind, and they pulled farther and farther away. Now halfway through the race, the distance has not yet narrowed, and it seems that there will be no dramatic changes to the finish line.

It was also during this period that Li Qing was transferred from the construction company. About a year or two later, Li Qing was passing by an alley in Nanchizi once when a black Volga car drove towards him. He hurried to the base of the wall, but the car stopped beside him. Shao Qingyuan leaned out half of his body and called him: "Section Chief Li, where are you going?" Li Qing said: "I just finished my work and went home." Shao Qingyuan immediately got out of the car, sent the car away, took Li Qing's hand and said, "It's been a long time, I live nearby, come to me for a cup of tea." ”

Shao Qingyuan lives in a small courtyard with a single family. There are not many houses, but they are out of the corridor and out of the building, and the tiles are all over the floor. There are two black locusts and a grape in the yard, which is clean and refreshing. The child goes to college and lives in the school, and only his lover is at home. The woman was in her early forties, and seemed to be no more than thirty-four or five, wearing a spun white shirt and wooden yellow van liding trousers, with a little fat powder, ten fingertips, and a little red mark on her nails. She let them into the living room. The living room is carpeted, and the sofa and floor lamp, although they are old, are valuable and carefully preserved. Li Qing's whole feeling for this house and this woman is more than ten years different from the world outside the courtyard, it seems that since October 1, 1949, the pendulum of this house has stopped, no matter how much changes have been outside, the inside of this house has not moved.

Li Qing asked tentatively, "Where do you work?" ”

"I'm a housewife!" Her attitude of speaking was sincere and cordial, which made Li Qing's impression better. "Lao Shao needs someone to take care of him, and there is no one else at home, so I haven't gone out to work."

"No job since liberation?"

Shao Qingyuan said: "She was originally a drama actor, but later her voice fell. When the troupe was changed to a state-run company, she was mobilized to change jobs, and she retired. Didn't the newspapers advertise that housework is also socialist labor? Forget it, save the country some money. ”

He smiled.

Li Qing asked: "This house belongs to the Housing Authority?" ”

The hostess said: "We bought it before liberation, and the state took it away when ***, and now it is returned." Repair and repair should be carried out by yourself, which is better than living in a public house! ”

Shao Qingyuan has been a leader for a few years, he is getting older, he is gaining weight, he is a little out of breath when he takes a few steps in the alley, after entering the house, his lover helped him take off his coat, change his slippers, and sit on the sofa without moving. As soon as he started his hand, his lover brought the tea to his hand, and as soon as he raised his cigarette, his lover lit the fire. Although he nodded politely, he did not hide his complacency. Li Qing asked a few words about the situation of the design institute, and Shao Qingyuan replied that it was all business, so he didn't have the heart to talk about it anymore, and said that there was something at home, so he said goodbye. When he went to the door, he asked: "Mingyuan still lives in the old place?" ”

Shao Qingyuan said: "Yes, after giving birth to a child, the house opposite is now also occupied by him, and the neighbor has moved away." ”

"Where's the work?"

"It's still the same, he was on better terms than me, but he didn't know self-love, and the blind man rode a blind horse......"

Li Qing walked to the street, and his breathing was a little easier. He felt that Shao Qingyuan's home gave him a strange impression. How strange, he couldn't tell; has been walking far away, and he has only a little clue, it turns out that Shao Qingyuan lives in two worlds at the same time, and lives in two eras at the same time.

When it comes to major events in the world, they must be divided for a long time, and they must be divided for a long time. After ten years of whirlwind chaos, Li Qing was transferred back to work in the construction system. As soon as we take over the work, we will carry out the implementation of the policy. According to the spirit of the policy, all comrades who have been innocently persecuted by "***" and left their original jobs are basically in place. If the original unit has been abolished, it should also be assigned to work at the same level and post as before. The design institute is still there, and it is natural for Shao Qingyuan to go back as vice president. As for Shao Mingyuan, Li Qing thought that the use of him in the past seventeen years was unreasonable, and he didn't let him give full play to his strength, and he wanted to take the opportunity to arrange a proper job for him.

This opinion was also adopted by the superiors, but at present, no suitable position for Shao Mingyuan was found, so it was decided to ask Shao Qingyuan to be reinstated first, and then arrange Shao Mingyuan's work.

Li Qing went to Shao Qingyuan with the mood of good news. Shao Qingyuan still lives in the same place, but he has changed his room. When he accepted the dictatorship in the dictatorship of the cadre school, his lover died. The house was occupied by one of Wang Hongwen's superiors, who threw all the remaining rags of his house in the wing room where the miscellaneous items were kept. Although Wang Hongwen has fallen, this superior is not a "***" element, but has retreated from the position of secretary of a certain factory to the position of consultant, and the house is still occupied. After Shao Qingyuan came back, he tidied up the room where the sundries were stored a little and stayed. When Li Qing entered the room, he suddenly found that his brother's room from more than twenty years ago was so small and cramped, only darker, and there were no neighbor's children to disturb him—the consultant still retained his style as a secretary, and the children were not allowed to deal with this suspicious landlord.

"Find your own place to sit." Shao Qingyuan beckoned with trembling hands and feet, "I'll make tea!" ”

His honeycomb stove was in the courtyard, so he had to take the teapot out and make it. When he went out to work, Li Qing sat down next to the table, and accidentally saw the manuscript paper on the table, and the title of the paper was written respectfully: "Several requirements for assigning me work."

Shao Qingyuan came in making tea, pointed to the table and said, "I'm writing something, and I'm going to take it to the bureau after I finish writing......"

Li Qing said: "If you write it, I will come for this." The city has agreed in principle, so please return to the hospital to preside over the work. ”

"I've heard this from the trail, so I'm writing the material. It is better for you to come and talk to me in person and convey my opinions, I cannot accept this appointment. ”

For Li Qing, this is not an accident, after *****, some old comrades have fallen into a bit of negative emotions and are unwilling to take on work anymore, and he has encountered it, so he used an effective method to talk about the responsibility to the party and the people.

Shao Qingyuan hurriedly shook his head, saying that Li Qing misunderstood what he meant, and he said that "*****" was something, the Central Committee would make a conclusion, and he didn't dare to say nonsense. But for himself, it brought him a benefit. That's when he was in the cowshed, and he pondered a question over and over again.

"It's nine deaths now! The party has saved me from this hell again, how can I repay the party's kindness? ”

Li Qing smiled: "Yes, how can you repay it?" ”

"In a word, be an honest person and be an honest party member."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Listen to me. Remember in 1955, when I was first elected as an advanced producer, you asked me, what was my main experience in the model construction site? ”

Li Qing said: "I remember. You say that cooperation with Soviet experts is a political issue, and the advice of experts is the law, just abide by the law. ”

"Yes, but I didn't tell you where I learned this experience!"

"That's right!"

"I can't say, because I learned this experience from working under the Americans. In the old society, looking for a job was not called looking for a job, it was called looking for a job! Work is not called work, it is called chaos, and whoever takes money is called to do things! Do things for others, if you don't do what others want, you can still do what you want? On the Stilwell Highway, there are a large number of formal civil engineering graduates, and they have a different set of opinions on each construction plan. I don't have a shallow education, so I can't give any brilliant opinions. Everyone looks down on me, and Americans look down on me. But when it came time to assign work, they always asked me first. An American engineer went to Nanjing to open a factory, and he asked me not to want others, why, because I was a person who was easy to use, and I just wanted to do things for him, and never insisted on personal opinions. ”

Li Qing didn't expect Shao Qingyuan to say it so explicitly, and he was a little embarrassed for him. smiled: "You are also overdescribing." ”

"Not at all, we're talking about substance. After liberation, I thought that everything would change course, but with my experience and my knowledge, I arranged for me to look at the drawings in the technical department, and I was content. But I didn't expect my brother to touch a nail, and as soon as I pondered the ins and outs of his touching a nail, I found that he was still working for someone. Therefore, everyone chose me to go to the model construction site, and I did not refuse, and I am more familiar with this set of methods than civil engineering and mechanical structure. What you did under the Americans, you did under the Soviets. As long as you don't explain this, you will probably not fail. Sure enough, I went, and it worked. And have had a nice trip ever since! ”

Li Qing asked: "So you also know that the consequences will not be good when you talk about the *** chemical plant?" ”

"You can't say that." Shao Qingyuan took a sip of tea, and then said, "At that time, the leaders called for ***, all over the country to produce 10,000 catties of grain, steel, reactive dyes, cattle and pig hybrids, and all kinds of absurd things were publicized in the newspapers. Using tofu as protein glue is technically feasible, and using straw bags as paper tendons does not violate scientific principles. Again, I don't forget that I'm doing things for people. In addition, I also support the Communist Party. I believe that the party must have its own reasons for doing this, and there must be political reasons for doing so. Although I don't understand the reason, I can consciously follow the trend. Later, the tide floated me to the top, and I couldn't go down even if I wanted to, and I didn't want to go down. Didn't my brother fall without any benefit to the revolution? But I'm doing my best. No matter how good I am, put me in that position, I will do my best to do things well. I wasn't qualified to be the vice president because I didn't have that much knowledge technically, so I tried to listen to others and collect other people's opinions as my final suggestion. Whatever my superiors want me to do, I will do it well. ”

Li Qing said: "According to what you say, you may not be completely wrong, why do you now do the opposite and resume your original job?" ”

Shao Qingyuan said: "I only said half of what I said above, and not forgetting anything is to do things for others and do what others want. It's just a means. There's also a purpose inside, which is to do the biggest thing for yourself. In the old society, it was to keep the job, in the new China, it was to keep the position, and later it was added to keep the political status and social status! You've been to me, and I'm very comfortable. I have a good relationship with my lover. She sang in the old society, she was used to it, I couldn't bear to let her be wronged, and my brother's story taught me a lesson. I'm not as good as him if I'm going to be beaten, he's young, he's got professional knowledge, and he can be a technician in the end. My major is two or five eyes, and I can handle it if I am asked to be the vice president, but it will be smashed if I am really asked to go to the construction site as a construction engineer. It's like a ticket friend singing, don't look at Yang Bo who can sing "Second Entrance to the Palace", if you ask him to really come to martial arts, he can't even get out of the curtain! ”

Li Qing said: "According to your logic, shouldn't you accept asking you to go back to be the dean now?" ”

Shao Qingyuan said: "You have forgotten the benefits of the '*****' I just said. As soon as the '*****' came, choked and swept the floor out, all the jobs of half my life were smashed, and there were no chopsticks left. Only then did I realize that if I don't do a good job in the party and the whole country, no matter how shrewd I am, I won't be able to keep my job. Doing things for someone else? For whom? Only for the country can it have its own. I have been a member of the party for more than ten years, and it was not until I entered the cowshed that I felt that I should really be a party member, do my duty as a party member, and do something for the country. At the cowshed, I made up my mind that if the party could still save me, the way I would repay me was to declare to the party that I was a fake engineer and an advanced worker. Please ask the party to transfer me to a post within my ability, whether it is a drawing or a foreman, and do something for the party. ”

Li Qing felt that he was very sincere, comforted him a few words, and promised to convey his request to his superiors, and at the same time instructed him: "The organization has decided, but you must obey." ”

Li Qing went back to report the situation, and the leader smiled. The main person in charge said: "This is the extremism of intellectuals! It's okay for him to say so, but the organization doesn't think so. With so many years of experience, we know him well! He understands technology, has organizational skills and leadership skills, and is a veteran cadre. ”

Another leader said: "Maybe you are still a little resentful, do the work, tell him that the organizational decision still has to be obeyed." Report first, and you can talk about it later if you have any opinions! ”

The order finally went down. Shao Qingyuan has always been strong in organization, and he went to the design institute to take office.

After taking office, Shao Qingyuan worked very seriously, and the feedback from top to bottom was quite good, but he typed a report every time he passed, applying to take a back seat as a consultant, and the latest report also put forward a list of people who could replace him, and the list included three people, one of whom was his younger brother Shao Mingyuan.

Someone passed this on to Shao Mingyuan, and Shao Mingyuan said: "I'm not an official, I haven't said anything good about my brother in my life, but now I want to say a word, I think it's appropriate for him to be the dean." ”

Li Qing went through the past events of the eldest brother of the Shaw family, and after thinking about it, he couldn't figure out what kind of person he was! Advanced figures? Not like; Backward characters? Nor like; What about the middle characters? It doesn't seem to be pertinent either. After thinking about it for two days, my head hurt, my mouth foamed, and I decided to give up my ambition to write a novel and recuperate in peace.