September 24, 1961, the 15th day of the eighth lunar month, the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On this day of family reunion, the founding meeting of Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm was held as scheduled, and all 385 forest farm employees gathered in the open space in front of the office building.
Crackling!
Crackling!
As a burst of firecrackers sounded, a cloud of gunpowder smoke rose over the forest farm. Family members of the employees and their children gathered together in twos and threes, standing at the door and chatting about home affairs.
A woman wearing a red coat greeted her lover who was coming with a smile.
"Hey, sister-in-law, are you going to the dam too?"
Yu Zhenglai's lover said in a humorous tone: "I don't want to come, but, I'm afraid that Lao Yu will divorce me."
While the two were talking, the founding meeting of the forest farm officially began.
On the rostrum, Li Kun, who had come from afar, sat in the center. Next to him were Yu Zhenglai and Li Zhong.
As for Qu He, he stood in front of the microphone and was responsible for presiding over the meeting.
"Comrades, today is a happy day. Our Saihanba Mechanical Forestry Farm was officially established today."
As he spoke, Qu He paused and looked sideways at Li Kun on the podium.
"In order to celebrate the official establishment of our forest farm, Comrade XX Li Kun from the Ministry of Forestry came to Saihanba to express warm congratulations on the establishment of the forest farm on behalf of the D Central Committee and the Ministry of Forestry."
"At the same time, I would like to extend my cordial greetings and high respect to all forest farm employees and their families."
Originally, there was a speech session for Li Kun today, but this proposal was ultimately rejected by Li Kun because he didn't like to talk in such scenes, and he was not a permanent staff member of the forest farm, so there was no need to overshadow the guest.
After saying this, Qu He paused again, and then the scene suddenly burst into warm applause.
Snap!
Snap!
Snap!
When the applause subsided a little, Qu He turned slightly to the side.
"Let me introduce to you the leaders of the forest farm. First of all, Comrade Yu Zhenglai, the former director of the Chengde Forestry Bureau, will serve as the secretary and director of the forest farm."
After saying this, Qu He took the lead in applauding, and there was another round of continuous applause from the audience.
At the same time, the employees of Yuanweichang Forest Farm in the audience took the lead in applauding.
Yu Zhenglai, they were very familiar with each other, some of them were even his former subordinates.
And those new employees who came to Saihanba couldn't help but feel a little curious when they heard the cheers from everyone.
'The prestige of this leader is so high.'
Afterwards, Qu He introduced Li Zhong's positions, and finally introduced himself.
After introducing all the leaders, Qu He's work was basically completed. Before stepping down, he took the initiative to hand over the right to speak to Yu Zhenglai.
"Now, I invite Comrade Yu Zhenglai to speak."
Snap!
Snap!
Snap!
Surrounded by the applause of everyone, Yu Zhenglai walked up to the microphone and looked at the huge crowd under the stage. He was filled with emotions.
These people are all treasures of the forest farm!
There are 385 employees. Except for the employees of the original Weichang Forest Farm, the rest are all outstanding talents transferred from all over the world by the Forestry Department.
A few years ago, no, even a year ago, he would not have dared to think that Saihanba would be what it is today.
After a few breaths, Yu Zhenglai took a deep breath and faced the crowd.
"Saihanba!"
"I'm coming from Zheng!"
"Back!"
Yu Zhenglai was born in the army and did not like those "fake words". His speeches were sincere and everything he said was from the bottom of his heart.
A few minutes later, Yu Zhenglai summarized his previous speech.
"Comrades, when everyone adds firewood, the flames are high. In order to complete the tasks entrusted to us by the Communist Party and the country, no matter how hard it is, no matter how difficult it is, we must be determined to build Saihanba into a big forest!"
Snap!
Snap!
Snap!
The audience burst into applause again!
After saying these last words, Yu Zhenglai replaced Qu He and made a guest appearance as the host.
"Now, I would like to invite Comrade Feng Cheng, the outstanding employee representative of the forest farm and the chief of the technical section of the forest farm, to come to the stage to speak!"
In fact, Li Jie originally did not want to go on stage to speak, but his thin arms could not twist his thighs. At the strong request of Yu Zhenglai and the other three people, he had to go on stage to speak.
Under the warm welcome of everyone, Li Jie stepped onto the podium.
Some of the employees in the audience knew him, and some did not. Under everyone's gazes of curiosity, admiration, or jealousy, Li Jie smiled calmly.
"Comrades, in fact, I am not as good as Director Yu described me."
"I have failed, been discouraged, and despaired. For three years, for three years, I didn't plant a single tree!"
"At that time, I even wanted to run away from here because I couldn't see any hope."
"Until I saw a sentence, Mr. Zhou Shuren once said that a true warrior dares to face the bleak life and the dripping blood!"
"This sentence made me realize, yes, compared to those ancestors, the difficulties we are facing now are nothing."
"Failure is not terrible!"
"The terrible thing is the fear of failure!"
"Escape will not solve the problem!"
“Only by facing difficulties squarely can we solve them!”
"With the help of all the members of the advance team, I overcame loneliness, overcame my inner cowardice, and overcame many, many shortcomings!"
"It is the collective that makes me what I am!"
"Without them, I wouldn't be able to get to this day, and today, we have a bigger collective!"
"I believe that as long as we work together, we will be able to create greater glory, complete the tasks entrusted to us by the Party and the country, and return green waters and green mountains to future generations!"
Li Jie's tone was plain during his speech, but he was able to arouse everyone's emotions, making people unable to help but get involved.
Everyone who heard his speech was filled with excitement, especially those in the advance team. Each of their eyes became moist unconsciously.
In the audience, after hearing Li Jie's speech, Qin Xuemei's eyes filled with joy.
Today, she has already understood her own heart.
She admitted that she already liked the man on stage, but love was love and work was work. She was not the kind of woman who would risk her own life for love.
Personal emotions are not as important as the tasks assigned to them by the country.
As early as a few months ago, she secretly made a decision. If the full-light seedling cultivation was not successful, she would not consider personal emotional issues.
She will not be brave enough to pursue love until she achieves initial success in afforestation.
At this moment, Meng Yue's teasing voice suddenly came to Tan Xuemei's ears.
"Hehe, Xuemei, your Feng Cheng's words are really good."
Tan Xuemei glared at her and said with shame and anger.
"What is my home? Don't talk nonsense!"
Ji Xiurong had sharp ears. When he heard Meng Yue's teasing, he immediately laughed and agreed.
"It's not your home. Who in the advance team doesn't know about it?"