A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

"When I first came here, Uncle Abduja Token braved the sandstorm to bring me naan bread, and held my hand and said, 'I've come to help you in an emergency.'"

If I sign this agreement now, I'll be harming them. I, Yang Zhitong, have worked here for so many years; I can't ruin my reputation, and I can't let down this land and its people!

Mr. Zhao's face instantly darkened. Without another word, he pulled a withdrawal agreement from his briefcase and slammed it in front of Yang Zhitong: "Fine, you're tough! I'm giving you a final deadline: by noon tomorrow, either sign the environmental simplification agreement or get the land use approval sorted out. You choose one!"

He pointed his finger at Yang Zhitong's nose, his tone laced with undisguised threat: "If you can't even do that, I'll send the withdrawal agreement directly to the Eighth Division Management Committee. I'm not involved in this project anymore, and you can forget about any good achievements!"

After saying that, General Manager Zhao slammed the door and left with his lawyer. Before Yang Zhitong could catch his breath, his phone rang again, and the screen showed the number of the geological exploration team.

"Director Yang, something big has happened! We conducted another detailed exploration, and the underground quicksand layer around Qianquan Lake is much more active than we expected."

The underground water pipeline plan you mentioned before is extremely risky and could very well cause a landslide! The irrigation canal that collapsed last time was due to a sudden shift in the quicksand layer; we really can't take that risk again this time!

Yang Zhitong felt as if he had been hit by a heavy hammer, and he felt dizzy. That night, the lights in his office stayed on until dawn, and the cigarette butts in the ashtray piled up into a small mountain. Finally, they found a solution to reinforce the pipes.

The next day, Yang Zhitong, sporting dark circles under his eyes, thought that as long as the plan was sound enough, he would be able to persuade the other party.

But as soon as he entered, Zhang Pengfei pushed a thick stack of complaint letters in front of him, his face grim, and said, "Director Yang, take a look for yourself. Someone has reported you, saying that in order to advance the project, you deliberately circumvented regulations and intended to illegally occupy farmland."

Yang Zhitong picked up the letter of complaint and flipped through it page by page. The handwriting was crooked and messy, but the content was very detailed and convincing. He even fabricated a lie that he had privately promised the construction team high compensation for occupying farmland. He even made up the names and contact information of the so-called witnesses in a very convincing way. At first glance, it seemed to be true.

"Given the current situation, even if I wanted to help you submit the plan, I wouldn't be able to explain it to my superiors."

Zhang Pengfei sighed, his voice full of helplessness. "The whistleblower letter has already been forwarded to the disciplinary inspection team, and they're investigating it very seriously right now. If I submit a proposal now, wouldn't I be walking into the line of fire? I have elderly parents and young children to support; I don't want to suffer because of you."

Having said all that, Yang Zhitong knew that continuing to argue would be pointless.

Ultimately, Zhang Pengfei was still afraid of being implicated. He silently turned around and walked heavily out of the office.

Han Jidong is a mid-to-senior level manager at Dalian Airport Group. He has spent more years dealing with airports than with his family.

With a wealth of operational and management experience, he answered the call to come to Shihezi and take over the garden airport that was still under preparation, eager to apply what he had learned over the years to this land.

But to his utter surprise, on his very first day in office, before he could even warm up the door, his room was completely blocked by a cacophony of footsteps.

Twenty local security guards in uniform rushed in, led by a tall young man named Aikber Miti.

"Director Han, we're not doing this job!"

Han Jidong's heart skipped a beat. He hadn't even had a chance to intimidate the people here, but he'd already been taught a lesson. Although he was unwilling, his voice still carried a hint of humility: "What happened? Let's talk this out, don't be impulsive!"

"What are you saying?"

Aikber Miti raised his voice, and the security guards behind him echoed him, all pouring out their grievances.

"That check-in keypad is ten times harder to use than a cotton swab machine. The keys are so densely packed that you can't remember which one is which even after a long time."

"Exactly! The monthly salary we earn isn't even as much as what we make picking cotton in the fields. It's thankless work, and it's not worth it at all!"

After understanding the general situation, Han Jidong patiently tried to persuade him to stay, saying, "We can discuss the salary, and the training can be done gradually. Everyone here is experienced; you'll adapt in a few days. Once the airport opens, the compensation will definitely increase. It would be such a waste to resign now."

"talk?"

Aikber Miti's face was full of disdain. "The previous boss also said he'd raise wages, and what happened? We don't want to wait any longer. Picking cotton is tiring, but it pays more and we have more freedom. It's better than putting up with this!"

After saying that, he turned around and shouted to the people behind him, "Let's go, let's go, don't waste time here!"

"Wait. Let's talk this out. We can discuss this further."

No matter what he said, the group of people walked away without turning their heads, completely ignoring him.

Han Jidong stared at the empty security checkpoint, feeling a tightness in his chest.

The stack of instruction manuals in the corner is still unopened, and there isn't even anyone around to study these manuals with.

I submitted several reports to my superiors requesting a transfer of personnel, but each time I was told to wait and that there were limited slots available, and the approval document was nowhere to be seen.

Helpless, Han Jidong thought of recruiting some professionals from outside, but almost a month after posting the job information, he hadn't received a single reliable resume.

When people heard that this was a newly established civilian airport of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, with no experience, no resources, and located in a remote area, they turned around and left. No one was willing to come.

The entire airport preparation is now being carried out by him and a few key technical personnel.

These people were all self-taught; they used to either repair agricultural machinery or work in hydropower, and had absolutely nothing to do with civil airport operations. They didn't even have a proper dispatcher or security team leader, let alone an experienced ground crew team.

Sometimes when faced with technical problems, several people would sit around the equipment, staring at each other, searching for information, asking friends, and spending most of the day before finally figuring it out.

Han Jidong could only bury himself in his work and persevere. During the day, he led everyone in repairing equipment and picking up rubble from the track. At night, while everyone else was resting, he would stay up late in the office organizing operational procedures.

Just as he was worrying about a pile of messy flowcharts, the office door was pushed open, and Lao Xue, a key technical staff member, rushed in. "Director Han, I just received a notice that the Civil Aviation Administration of China is sending people again to conduct an investigation, specifically to verify the progress of the flight launch!"

"What? Another research trip?"

"Yes, I heard this is a special inspection, even stricter than last time. If we don't pass, there's no hope for the future, and the airport might really be unable to open!"

"Pass the word down: everyone work overtime, make up for every little bit lost. Even if there's only a sliver of hope, we can't give up!"

That's what he said, but Han Jidong had no confidence at all. How could he explain this to a professional research team with just these few people? How could he fill the seemingly endless manpower shortage? Looking at the pile of confusing process sheets on the table, he felt his head throb even more, but he didn't even have time to worry about it now; he could only grit his teeth and bear it.