Two years later, Daxinganling.

"Down the mountain -"

Following this loud chant, a larch tree as tall as the Parthenon's pillars fell down, and Ye Wenjie felt the ground shake. She picked up an ax and saw and began to remove branches from the huge tree.

.Every time at this time, she always felt that she was sorting out the body of a giant. She often even imagined that this giant was her father. On that miserable night two years ago, when she was sorting out the body of her father in the morgue,

The feeling reappeared at this moment. The blooming bark on the giant pine seemed to be the numerous scars on my father's body.

The six divisions and 41 regiments of the Inner Mongolia Production and Construction Corps, with more than 100,000 people, are distributed among this vast forest and grassland. When they first came to this strange world from the city, many educated youths of the Corps had romantic expectations.

: When the tank clusters of Soviet revisionist imperialism cross the Sino-Mongolian border, they will quickly arm themselves and use their own flesh and blood to form the first barrier of the Republic. In fact, this is indeed one of the strategic considerations when forming the Corps.

But the war they longed for was like the distant mountains on the horizon of the grassland, clearly visible but out of reach, so they had no choice but to cultivate land, herd cattle and cut trees. These young people who had burned their youth in the "Great Series" soon discovered that

, compared with this vast world, the largest city in the mainland is just a sheepfold; in this cold and endless grassland and forest, burning is meaningless. A burst of hot blood will cool faster than a pile of cow dung.

It is not as valuable as the latter. But burning is their destiny, and they are a burning generation. So, under their chain saws and electric saws, large tracts of forest seas turned into barren hills; under their tractors and Combine (

Under combine harvesters, vast tracts of grassland were plowed into grain fields and then turned into desert.

The felling that Ye Wenjie saw could only be described as crazy. The tall and straight Xing'an Mountain larch, the evergreen Scotch pine, the graceful white birch, the aspen, Siberian fir, black birch, oak, and mountain elm that towered into the sky.

, Fraxinus mandshurica, Sky Willow, Mongolian oak, they cut down whatever they saw. Hundreds of chainsaws were like a swarm of steel locusts. Wherever her company passed, there was only a tree stump left.

The finished larch was about to be towed away by a crawler tractor. At the other end of the trunk, Ye Wenjie gently touched the brand new saw section. She often did this subconsciously. She always felt that it was a huge wound that seemed to be able to heal.

She felt the severe pain of the big tree. She suddenly saw a hand gently stroking the sawed section of the tree stump not far away. The trembling of the soul conveyed by that hand resonated with her. Although that hand

It was very fair, but it could be seen that it belonged to a man. Ye Wenjie looked up and saw that the person stroking the tree stump was Bai Mulin, a thin young man wearing glasses. He was a reporter for the Corps' "Dasheng News" and had just arrived at the company for an interview the day before yesterday. Ye Wenjie

She had read the articles he wrote. The writing was very good, and there was a delicacy and sensitivity in it that was incompatible with this rough environment, which made her unforgettable.

"Ma Gang, come here." Bai Mulin shouted to a young man not far away. The man was as strong as the larch he had just cut down. When he came over, Reporter Bai asked: "Do you know how big this tree is?

How old are you?"

"Just count." Ma Gang said, pointing to the growth rings on the tree stump.

"I counted, it's over three hundred and thirty years old. How long did it take you to saw it down?"

"It will take less than ten minutes. Let me tell you, I am the fastest chain saw operator in the company. Whichever class I go to, the mobile red flag will follow me there." Ma Gang looked very excited, which made everyone noticed by Reporter Bai.

In this way, it is also an honor to be able to appear in the newsletter of "Dasheng Daily".

"More than three hundred years, more than ten generations, it was still in the Ming Dynasty when it sprouted. In these long years, it has experienced so many winds and rains and seen so many things. But you sawed it down in a few minutes, you really

Didn’t you feel anything?”

"What do you want me to feel?" Ma Gang was stunned for a moment, "Isn't it just a tree? The most indispensable thing here is trees. There are many old pines that are older than it."

"Go and do your business." Bai Mulin shook his head, sat on the tree stump and sighed softly.

Ma Gang also shook his head. He was disappointed that the reporter did not report his interest. "There are many problems with intellectuals." When he said this, he also glanced at Ye Wenjie, who was not far away. His words obviously included her.

The big tree was dragged away, and the stones and tree stumps on the ground scratched the bark, leaving its huge body with skin and flesh. Where it originally stood, a long groove was carved out of the thick layer of humus made of fallen leaves.

, water soon seeped out of the ditch, and the old fallen leaves turned the water dark red, like blood.

"Xiaoye, come here and have a rest." Bai Mulin pointed to the empty other side of the big tree stump and said to Ye Wenjie. Wenjie was really tired, so she put down her tools and came over to sit back-to-back with the reporter.

After being silent for a while, Bai Mulin suddenly said: "I can see how you feel. We are the only two who feel this way here."

Wenjie was still silent, and Bai Mulin expected that she would not answer. Ye Wenjie was usually taciturn and seldom communicated with others. Some newcomers even mistakenly thought she was mute.

Bai Mulin continued talking to himself: "I have been to this forest area a year ago when I set up the front station. I remember it was noon when we first arrived. The person who received us said that we wanted to eat fish. I looked around in the small bark house.

Look, just boil a pot of water, but there are no fish. After the water boils, the cook goes out with a rolling pin, ping-pongs a few sticks in the small river in front of the house, and catches a few big fish...

...What a fertile place, but look at that river now, it’s a muddy ditch with nothing. I really don’t know, is the current development policy of the entire Corps to focus on production or destruction?”

"Where did this idea come from?" Ye Wenjie asked softly, without revealing whether she agreed or opposed the idea, but Bai Mulin was very grateful that she could speak.

"I just read a book, and I was deeply touched... Can you read English?" Seeing Wenjie nodding, Bai Mulin took out a book with a blue cover from his bag, and when handing it to Wenjie, he

Consciously or unconsciously, I looked around and said, "This book was published in 1962 and has a great influence in the West."

Wenjie turned around and took the book and saw that the title was "SILENT SPRING" and the author was Rachel Carson. "Where did it come from?" she asked softly.

"This book attracted the attention of my superiors, and I was responsible for translating the forest-related parts for internal reference."

Wenjie opened the book and was quickly attracted. In the short prologue, the author described a silent village that was dying due to the poison of pesticides. Behind the plain language, there was a worried heart.

"I want to write a letter to the central government to reflect the irresponsible behavior of the Construction Corps." Bai Mulin said.

Ye Wenjie raised her head from the book. It took her a long time to understand what he meant. She didn't say anything and lowered her head to read again.

"If you want to see it, take it first, but it's best not to let others see it. You know this thing..." Bai Mulin said, looked around again, stood up and left.

Thirty-eight years later, in Ye Wenjie's last moments, she recalled the impact of "Silent Spring" on her life. Before that, the evil side of human beings had already carved incurable wounds on her young mind, but this time

This book made her think rationally about the evils of human beings for the first time. This was supposed to be a very ordinary book, and the subject was not broad. It only described the harm caused by the abuse of pesticides to the environment, but the author's perspective

It had a huge shock to Ye Wenjie: the human behavior described by Rachel Carson - the use of pesticides, in Wenjie's view was just a legitimate and normal, at least neutral behavior; and this book made

She saw that from the perspective of nature as a whole, this behavior was no different from the "Cultural Revolution", and the damage to our world was equally serious. So, how many other human behaviors are normal or even just in her opinion?

Is it evil?

Thinking about it further, an inference made her shudder and fall into the abyss of fear: perhaps, the relationship between human beings and evil is the relationship between the ocean and the icebergs floating on it. They are actually huge bodies of water composed of the same material. The reason why icebergs are called

It is strikingly recognized only because of its different shape, and it is actually only a very small part of the entire huge body of water... Human beings' true moral consciousness is impossible, just like it is impossible for them to pull out their own hair.

Leave the earth. To do this, we can only rely on forces other than humans.

This idea ultimately determined Ye Wenjie's life.

Four days later, Ye Wenjie went to return the book. Bai Mulin lived in the only reception room in the company. Wenjie opened the door and saw him lying on the bed tiredly, covered in mud, water and sawdust. When he saw Wenjie, he quickly got up.

"Did you work today?" Wen Jie asked.

"The lower company has been here for such a long time. We can't just walk around all the time. We have to participate in labor. It's a three-in-one combination. Oh, we worked at Radar Peak. The trees there are so dense, and the rotten leaves underground are knee-deep. I'm really afraid of getting miasma.

." Bai Mulin said.

"Radar Peak?!" Wenjie was surprised when she heard the name.

"Yes, the regiment's urgent task is to cut a warning tape around it."

Radar Peak is a mysterious place. The steep peak has no name at all. It got its name only because there is a huge parabolic antenna on its peak. In fact, anyone with a little common sense knows that it is not a radar antenna, although it is

The direction of the antenna changed every day, but it never rotated continuously. The antenna made a low buzzing sound in the wind, which could be heard far away. The people in the company only knew that it was a military base. According to locals, for three years

When the base was built before, huge manpower was used to build a high-voltage line to the peak and open a road to the peak. A large amount of materials were transported up the road. However, after the base was built, the road was demolished.

There is only a barely passable forest path left, and helicopters often take off and land on the peak.

That antenna doesn't always appear. When the wind is too strong, it will be brought down. When it is put up, many strange things will happen: the animals in the forest become restless, and the forest birds will be frightened by the large flocks.

, people will also experience many unknown symptoms such as dizziness and nausea. People near Radar Peak are also particularly prone to hair loss. According to locals, this only happened after the appearance of antennas.

There are many mysterious legends about Radar Peak: Once it snowed heavily, the antenna was erected, and the snow for several miles around immediately turned into rain! In the severe cold, the rain froze on the trees and turned into ice, and each tree had a big ice hanging hanging on it.

At night, the forest became a crystal palace, with the "click" sound of branches being crushed and the "boom" sound of ice hangings falling to the ground constantly ringing. Sometimes, when the antenna is erected, thunder and lightning will appear in the clear sky, and there can be thunder and lightning in the night sky.

I saw a strange halo... Radar Peak was heavily guarded. After the company of the Construction Corps was stationed, the first thing the company commander did was to tell everyone not to approach Radar Peak without permission, otherwise the sentry at the base could shoot without warning. Part 1

Last week, two hunting corps soldiers in the company chased a roe deer and unknowingly pursued it to the foot of Radar Peak. They immediately received rapid fire from the sentry box halfway up the mountain. Fortunately, Lin Zimi, the two of them ran back without injury.

One was so frightened that he peed his pants. The company held a meeting the next day, and everyone received a warning. Perhaps it was because of this that the base decided to cut a warning belt in the surrounding forest, and the manpower of the Corps could

Following their calls, it can be seen that their administrative level is very high.

Bai Mulin took the book and carefully put it under the pillow. At the same time, he took out a few pages of densely written manuscript paper and handed it to Wen Jie, "This is the draft of the letter. Can you take a look at it?"

"letter?"

"I told you to write to the central government."

The handwriting on the paper was very sloppy, and Ye Wenjie struggled to read it. The letter was rigorously argued and rich in content: from the Taihang Mountains, which were destroyed by vegetation, from a rich mountain in history to a barren ridge today, to the modern sediment content of the Yellow River.

The sharp increase in the number of people, led to the conclusion that the large-scale reclamation of wasteland by the Inner Mongolia Construction Corps would bring serious consequences. Only then did Wenjie notice that his writing style was really similar to "Silent Spring". It was plain, precise and poetic, which made the science

She felt very comfortable where she was born.

"It's very well written." She praised sincerely.

Bai Mulin nodded, "Then I'll send it." He took out a new manuscript paper to copy, but his hands were shaking so much that he couldn't write a word. This is the case for people who use a chain saw for the first time.

My hands are shaking so much that I might not even be able to hold my rice bowl, let alone write.

"Let me copy it for you." Ye Wenjie said, taking the pen handed over by Bai Mulin and started copying it.

"Your handwriting is really good." Bai Mulin looked at the first line copied on the manuscript paper and said. He poured a glass of water for Wenjie. His hands were still shaking badly and a lot of water spilled out. Wenjie quickly moved the letter away.

some.

"Are you studying physics?" Bai Mulin asked.

"Astrophysics is of no use now." Wenjie replied without looking up.

"That's just studying stars. How could it be useless? Universities have resumed classes now, but graduate students are no longer recruiting. How could a senior talent like you end up in a place like this? Alas..."

Wenjie didn't answer, just immersed herself in copying. She didn't want to tell Bai Mulin that she was lucky to be able to enter the Construction Corps. She didn't want to say anything about the reality, and she had nothing to say.
To be continued...