Working day after day in the wilderness, what made Wang Haochuan happiest was a letter from his wife.
At that time, WeChat had become completely popular, and they had a more convenient way to contact each other, but they still stuck to the most traditional way, using letters to support each other's thoughts.
On the eve of the rocket launch, Wang Haochuan and a veteran surveyed the site every day. In the morning when the sun was pouring, the temperature was still minus 30 degrees. Even wearing winter clothes, they were still shivering from the cold.
A small connector weighs six kilograms. Usually the veteran would move it around by himself. This time Wang Haochuan insisted on helping him, and the weight on his shoulders was reduced a lot.
"It's quite heavy." Wang Haochuan said with a smile: "When I was in school, there were armed cross-country courses every semester. This thing is much heavier than what I had to carry when I was armed."
The veteran laughed heartily and said: "Ha! That's not true! When I first joined the army, I also participated in armed cross-country running. Most of the things I carried on my back at that time were soft, unlike this big guy, which was hard and heavy.
Deadly."
"Then it's amazing that you can lift it by yourself."
The veteran sighed with emotion: "You are amazing! Without you for research, no matter how hard we have, there will be nothing we can do!"
Wang Haochuan said modestly: "Our work complements each other, and neither of us can do it without us."
When he arrived at the place, the veteran installed it skillfully and checked the parts that had been installed before. He said that even if a small component was missing, he could find it out at once. And the place where he had installed it himself was
Absolutely nothing can go wrong.
Wang Haochuan said with admiration: "You are too serious, I should learn from you."
The veteran smiled and said: "Although I don't have as smart a mind as you, the rocket launch is of great importance, and I will never allow myself to be negligent."
Wang Haochuan took out his notebook and carefully looked at the recorded processes and data. What his team has been doing recently is to digitize these trivial details. If this job is done well, it will be much easier to train new people in the future.
The veteran said honestly: "Although I don't understand computers, with computers, our work is indeed much easier than before."
"Computers are still very useful. In the future, we can use simulation software to simulate launches, establish databases for management, and achieve digital management. These are all very useful."
The veteran sighed: "It's better to have knowledge! From now on, I have to let my children study hard and, like you, study for a doctorate in the future."
"It's hard to study for a doctorate..." Wang Haochuan touched his hair jokingly: "I have just turned thirty and my hair is almost falling out."
The two chatted for a while, and the veteran suddenly asked: "The moment the rocket takes off, it must be spectacular, right?"
"Have you never seen it?"
The veteran shook his head: "Every time a rocket is launched, I am here to guard it. I have never been to the scene to see a rocket launch."
"Actually, I haven't been to the scene to see it." Wang Haochuan said: "I have seen it from the screen. Moreover, every time we launch, we are tight on the string, for fear of making any mistakes in any link."
One old and one young, they had a lot of resonance and chatted all the way. The veteran called his family and kept asking his parents to take care of him. He reluctantly said goodbye to his parents. After hanging up the phone, he looked very melancholy.
Wang Haochuan has almost never experienced that kind of melancholy, and he has never experienced what it feels like to be "homesick".
Oh, no, now he is homesick, missing his and his wife's small home.
The small home was well taken care of by his wife, the plants he bought were all growing lushly, and even the puppy his wife adopted had become more handsome.
Wang Haochuan was in a particularly good mood when he thought that his wife was coming soon. He couldn't help but take out his mobile phone and looked at the screen saver. The photo was taken by him for his wife. She nodded slightly and smiled coquettishly.
He was sitting with a blooming lily pinned to his ear.
The next day, Wang Haochuan followed the veteran to the monitoring station. Along the way, they talked more. The veteran talked endlessly.
Wang Haochuan listened carefully to his past military service on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and took notes from time to time.
The veteran smiled and said: "Do I still need to organize my experiences into the database?"
"That's not true..." Wang Haochuan smiled and said, "I wanted to write you into it."
"Huh?" The veteran's eyes sparkled: "How can an ordinary person like me still be the protagonist?"
"Why not? What I write are stories about ordinary people. As long as the people are vivid, the stories will have warmth. Only words with warmth can impress readers."
"Oh, I really didn't expect that a doctor with a computer science degree could actually write?"
Wang Haochuan smiled shyly: "I have published two articles and received a total of four thousand yuan in royalties. To be honest, the purpose of my writing is to make some extra money."
"Your salary is not low either. Why, isn't it enough?"
"If my wife and I spend it alone, it will definitely be enough. However, I am making plans for the future. I don't know how to trade in stocks, and I know nothing about finance, so I don't know how to invest. I can only make money honestly. Just in case something happens in the future.
When I have a child and I'm not around, I have to hire a nanny to take care of me. Hiring a nanny is a huge expense, so I have to save it in advance so that I won't be in a hurry after the child is born."
The veteran said approvingly: "As expected of a doctor, he really has a plan for everything. My wife gave birth to a child at the time, and I just arrived at this base not long ago, and I was studying with the master. She gave birth to the child, raised the child, and I didn't help her at all.
Busy. Thinking about it this way, I really feel sorry for her."
"Use your best efforts as much as you are capable. If you have done your best for your little family, my sister-in-law will not blame you."
The veteran smiled bitterly and said: "I hope so. Your wife is really happy to marry you!"
Wang Haochuan became even more shy: "I don't dare to take it seriously. I just hope that after marrying me, she will not wrong herself. After all...she is very happy living in her own home."
The old soldier also talked about some past events between him and his lover and asked Wang Haochuan to write it in. He also specifically told Wang Haochuan to highlight his guilt for his lover. Wang Haochuan agreed one by one and made an appointment with him. When it is published, he will definitely give it to him.
look.
In four hours, the rocket will be launched. Wang Haochuan checked the time and estimated that Xie Ying had already got off the plane. He asked a colleague on vacation to pick her up and let her watch the rocket launch as a family member.
Wang Haochuan still had a ring in his pocket. He thought that when the rocket was successfully launched, he would give her an unforgettable proposal ceremony under the bright sunshine...z.
Two hours into preparations for the rocket launch, Wang Haochuan was about to leave the scene, but at this moment, a connector suddenly fell off.
Except for Wang Haochuan, all the people present were professional maintenance personnel. At the moment of failure, everyone put on gas masks and rushed into the scene without hesitation, completely ignoring the highly toxic fuel that permeated the surroundings.
Wang Haochuan was a little confused, but he also showed the quality of a professional. He did not panic, but took anti-virus measures and was on standby at the scene. This emergency repair was also a valuable experience that he could not miss.
The veteran who had a good chat with Wang Haochuan took the initiative to get out of the tank to clear the obstacle. Wang Haochuan reminded: "The concentration of nitrogen in there is too high, you will suffocate if you go in!"
The veteran said: "I am familiar with every component. Give me a few minutes and I will definitely eliminate the fault."
Five minutes later, the veteran still did not come up. Wang Haochuan and other comrades did not hesitate to lower the tank to save people.
Xie Ying knew nothing about this. She was immersed in the joy of meeting Wang Haochuan again. Sitting in the car, she kept taking pictures of the surrounding scenery with her mobile phone, but as she took pictures, she lost interest.
Because the scenery is almost the same desolate Gobi.
Xie Ying sighed heavily: "Won't you get bored working in a place like this?"
Wang Haochuan's colleague said: "How can it not be boring? We all went to university in the city and have seen a lot of colorful city life. How can I put it this way, working here, we can at least be distracted and concentrate on research.
.”
Xie Ying smiled and said: "You are really optimistic."
A colleague received a call, and his expression could no longer be optimistic. He said that there was a malfunction at the launch site, and he didn't know whether the launch would be successful today.
Colleagues comforted Xie Ying: "But don't be disappointed. Anyway, you will definitely be able to see the rocket launch during your visit to relatives. It will definitely be much more brilliant than the biggest fireworks you have ever seen."
"I'm not disappointed... I just want to know that Haochuan is safe, right?"
The colleague didn't know that Wang Haochuan had also gone to the scene. He said carelessly: "What danger could he be in? I'm afraid he is sitting in the control room."
Xie Ying looked at her phone. She still didn't reply to the message she sent to Wang Haochuan an hour ago. Could it be that in such a serious and cautious atmosphere, Wang Haochuan couldn't even look at his phone?
The colleague parked the car, and he received another call. This time, his expression became more solemn.
Xie Ying looked at him inadvertently, not catching a glimpse of his panicked and evasive eyes.
Her heart sank: "Haochuan...what happened?"
"..." My colleague hesitated: "I don't know the details. I only heard that Haochuan followed a sergeant major from the testing station to the scene..."
"Well, there was a malfunction just now. Where is Haochuan?"
"Well..." my colleague said hurriedly: "The fault has been eliminated and the rocket can be launched normally."
"But, what about Haochuan? Is he okay?"
As soon as Xie Ying finished speaking, a penetrating roar suddenly came from the distant ground, and then, a huge rocket rushed into the sky, and Xie Ying seemed to have seen a real giant dragon.
The shock that the scene gave her was enough to remember for a lifetime.
***
References for this chapter:
1. "Winning is the most important weight", People's Daily, 2014.12.28
2. "Where Will the Long March Rocket Fly?" People's Daily, 2010.12.27
3. "Legendary Monument Towering into the Sky", People's Daily, 2011.01.19
4. "Small Soldiers Can Make Big Differences", People's Daily, 2012.01.02