Silver years —— Zhang Lianyin, former deputy commander of Hebei military region, retired from afforestation chronicle 2 Zhang Lianyin, former deputy commander of Hebei military region, carries a small black hard leather book with him every day. In the small book, there is the 76 year old veteran's "poetry and distance". A few years ago, seeing the 40 "China's most beautiful poems" recommended by the media, he printed them in large size and pasted them on a small book. When walking alone in the nursery, reciting the poems is his happy time. When communicating with people and talking about speculation and interest, he will also take out a small book and read a few sentences. Although the tortoise lives, it is difficult to travel and return to the garden are Zhang Lianyin's favorite poems. convey ambition through poems. Talking about his "achievements" in planting trees, Zhang Lianyin was modest and low-key without heroic words. When he talked about the "encouragement" of these poems to himself, the reporter seemed to hear another expression. This is the way he talks with his old self, and it is also the unique temperament and brilliance of his spiritual world. "How far we can go on the sunset road depends on our physique and mentality." writer Yang Jiang once said. The afterglow reflected the mountain forest. After 18 years of retirement and reforestation, Zhang Lianyin's silver years are not only "poetry", but also "far away". "The martyr is in his twilight years, full of ambition" —— Excerpt from "tortoise may live a long life" On October 3, 2003, Zhangjiachang village, Zuoyun County, Datong, Shanxi Province. After the diversion of Shilihe, several camouflage tents were set up on the beach left by the village. Zhang Lianyin will build several tile roofed houses here and take root to plant trees. "The left cloud is near, and the weather is very cold.". At this time, the land was frozen and it was not suitable to build a new house. His relatives and friends in the same village advised him to wait until the spring of the next year. "It's too late to start planting trees in spring!" Zhang Lianyin was very urgent. In March of that year, he just retired from the post of deputy commander of Hebei military region and decided to go back to his hometown Zhangjiachang village to plant trees and green barren mountains. "I want to do something good for my hometown in a limited time and scope. I'm almost 60 years old. I'm not a young man in my twenties and thirties. One day early is one day." From the day of building the house, Zhang Lianyin riveted on the beach every day. 28 days later, as like as two peas were covered, the tile roofs were all the same as Zhang Lianyin's request. Zhang Lianyin is not on a whim. He is going to fight a "big battle" here. Zhangjiachang village has more than 11000 mu of barren mountains and wasteland, which is regarded by him as his new "battlefield". After the Spring Festival in 2004, he repeatedly went to the county, city and provincial forestry departments to consult experts, and invited the experts of the Provincial Forestry Survey and Design Institute to conduct on-site exploration for more than 20 days and work with relevant personnel to formulate the overall plan for the construction of Zhangjiachang ecological garden village, including mountain closure for afforestation, artificial afforestation, seedling breeding, village transformation and so on. After the Qingming Festival that year, the first battle of afforestation began in Beiliang, Zhangjiachang village - more than 200 mu of barren slope, 74 plants per mu, which will be planted in 7 days. The "operation plan" is refined to "days", with an average of 100 trees planted per person per day. Zhang Lianyin led more than 20 villagers to get up at 5 a.m. every day. They ate steamed bread and pickles on the mountain for lunch and dinner. They planted saplings during the day and watered them one by one with lights at night. More than 300 mu seedling base, 8 wells, 10000 m3 reservoir, 3500 m U-shaped anti-seepage canal, 3000 m water-saving irrigation pipeline, 3.5 km cement road... Battle after battle, each is a hard battle. Including three children, few people thought that Zhang Lianyin's "planting trees and enjoying feelings" of "picking chrysanthemums under the East fence" after retirement was actually a "green mountain without regret" of "not breaking the Loulan and not returning it". Zhang Lianyin said that "limited time" is 18 years. In the past 18 years, he suffered from lung cancer, underwent hernia surgery, and did not stop planting trees. The "limited scope" in Zhang Lianyin's mouth has expanded from afforestation in Zhangjiachang village to participating in the Beijing Tianjin sandstorm source control project. The greening achievements are spread in 8 townships of Zuoyun County: 400 mu in Ertaizi village, Santun Township, 830 mu in gualiyao village, xiaojingzhuang Township, 1200 mu in yu'anzhuang village, madotou Township Zhang Lianyin's "Limited good deeds" include dyeing more than 18000 mu of barren mountains in Zuoyun County with more than 2 million saplings, and Zhangjiachang village has become a "demonstration village of ecological gardens in Shanxi Province"; The qingfenglin education base established was determined as the Datong party history and national history education base and the "Zuoyun qingfenglin on-site teaching point" of Youyu Cadre College; More than 200 lectures were delivered for provincial, municipal and county Party and government organs, primary and secondary schools and state-owned enterprises, with an audience of more than 12000 people. From the age of 58 to 76, Zhang Lianyin's ambition in his twilight years has greened his hometown, protected the landscape, blocked the wind and sand, and benefited his parents and villagers. "The road is difficult, the road is difficult, and there are many different roads. Today's safe." —— From "the road is difficult" People familiar with Zhang Lianyin know that he walks fast and has an indomitable spirit. Zhang Lianyin's 18-year return to his hometown for afforestation is not a smooth road. "Let one mountain pass and one mountain stop". In the face of many difficulties, he is still an unstoppable attitude. The first time I tried to raise seedlings, almost "the whole army was destroyed". Seeing that 10000 seedlings planted by himself and his wife Wang Xiulan failed to survive, Zhang Lianyin said that although he did not cry, "he cried in his heart". The cost of raising seedlings is lower than that of buying seedlings. It is a "mountain top" that Zhang Lianyin must overcome with limited funds. He subscribed to eight forestry magazines and looked through them every day, selecting seedlings, digging seedlings, digging pits, encircling and watering them step by step. The expert who led the army finally became an expert in planting trees. "He didn't know anything at first, but now he's more proficient than us. He's almost like a forestry technician. There are sixteen or seven varieties of Mongolian Scotch Pine in the nursery. He knows what his temperament is and how to plant it. He's a man who wants to do his best!" said his cousin Zhang Lianmao. "A penny beats a hero." the investment in planting trees is large and the cycle is long. The 300000 yuan savings brought back by Zhang Lianyin and his wife soon ran out. He had to look for relatives and friends everywhere and ask three children for help. Zhang Lianyin's eldest daughter Zhang Xiaomei discussed with her husband to use the house as a mortgage loan of 200000 yuan. Her son Zhang Xiaobin took out 100000 yuan of savings, her youngest daughter Zhang Xiaohua took out transfer fees, and the three children raised money to support her father. "My father seldom opened his mouth to people all his life. We know he really encountered difficulties this time." Zhang Xiaomei recalled. In September 2013, there were difficulties in capital turnover again, workers' wages could not be paid, and the money on the construction site could not keep up. Someone advised Zhang Lianyin to plant trees for 10 years and accept them when they are good. "Plant! It's hard to plant!" Zhang Lianyin sold the seedlings to other nurseries at a price lower than half the market price. He first paid the workers and relied on several brothers' loans to solve the urgent problem. After turning over these "mountains" in technology and capital, what awaits Zhang Lianyin is a greater test. After being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2011, Zhang Lianyin wrote several "anti-cancer Diaries". "When people live, they will get sick. This is the natural law. Diseases always torture our bodies, but they also make us stronger. In the process of fighting with diseases, I feel that diseases are also weak, bullying and afraid, and I can't be defeated by them." In the face of cancer, Zhang Lianyin's attitude is "correct treatment and scientific treatment". In the Spring Festival of 2012, after the operation and chemotherapy, Zhang Lianyin rushed back to Zhangjiachang village. In 2014, Zhang Lianyin was diagnosed with bone metastasis of lung cancer. He chose conservative treatment. "Instead of letting me live in the hospital, let me go back to the village, stay with the saplings and watch them grow up day by day." Now, it has been 10 years since the diagnosis of cancer. Zhang Lianyin knows that he might have fallen down if he hadn't been "unable to stop". "So many villagers are looking at me. I can't lose the war, let alone be a deserter." All the way, all the way difficult, veterans are not old, thousands of rivers and mountains are only easy. "Open up wasteland and return to the garden" —— From "returning to the garden" Just in October, several autumn rains came down, and Zuo Yun was so cold that people stamped their feet. Wang Fengxiang, Zhang Lianyin's brother-in-law, wants to help him burn the earth Kang in his bedroom to keep the room warm. A few years ago, after he retired from the county, he often went to the base to help Zhang Lianyin. Wang Fengxiang poured the coal into the stove beside the earth Kang and didn't light it for a long time. His hands and feet were in a hurry. Zhang Lianyin took the coal dustpan and put it on the stove. He lit some twigs first, then pulled the broken coal into the stove, covered the cover plate, turned to turn on the exhaust fan and acted at one go. He said, "the earth Kang will be on fire in the afternoon, and there will be no need to burn it at night." Looking around the room of more than ten square meters, there are old tables, old wardrobe and a blue chair against the wall. The back of the chair is broken and a large sponge is exposed. Zhang Lianyin lived in this house when he went back to the village to plant trees 18 years ago. In the yard, there was a van with paint off. In 2015, in order to facilitate tree planting, Zhang Lianyin paid for this "special car". Some people say that Zhang Lianyin's "possessions" are too poor. Zhang Lianyin said, "there is a pot for eating and sleeping. There is a nest. It is much better than before. This car can also pull a tree and pull a shovel, and it is very practical." "He doesn't eat well, he doesn't wear well, that's what he is," said Hu Wanjin, a villager who grew up with Zhang Lianyin. "He never talks about ostentation." Zhang Lianyin, who "doesn't talk about ostentation", didn't organize a wedding banquet when his three children got married. After being diagnosed with lung cancer, Zhang Lianyin told his wife about the "afterlife": no monument, no gifts, no singing, everything is simple. Worried about his father's health, Zhang Xiaobin chose his own career from the army in 2015 and returned to Zhangjiachang village to plant trees with his father. For Zhang Xiaobin, his childhood father was a "tall figure". One of his deepest memories of childhood is "hunger". The bargaining grain that parents saved money to buy is always left to rural relatives who "pass by". The family eats coarse grain in exchange for food stamps. "Noodles made of corn flour and sorghum flour become mushy when boiled in a pot." He still remembered that his father often said to their brother and sister, "be a man who is not afraid of hardship, loss and injustice." Zhang Xiaobin and his two sisters didn't expect that his father would be willing to go back to his hometown to "endure hardship" when he retired. Now, with his father planting shade and experiencing the hardships, Zhang Xiaobin found that some things on his father have not changed. Returning from the fiery military camp to the "garden field" of his hometown, he guarded the "clumsiness" who was willing to bear hardships, losses and grievances, and the true colors of the veterans remained the same. (reporter Chai Huasi, li long, pan Di, special correspondent Zhou ren) (outlook new era)