C10 (1/2)

”I can't think of anything else. I get a splitting headache just thinking about it!” I pressed the button for the old man. ”Grandpa, are the people living in this building all retired workers from the steel mill?”

The old man nodded and said, ”Yes, I've been working here since I graduated in 50. I've been working here for the rest of my life.”

”Old grandpa, you've worked hard. You've dedicated your entire life to building your country.” I struck the iron while it was still hot and said, ”How can we youngsters have any longevity when we don't have anything to do? My dad found me an institution to do it, but I quit and started writing novels at home.”

The reason why I said I wrote novels was because I saw that the old man's rocking chair was filled with many works of Gu Long. This was a novel from many years ago, and I believe that he was also a storyteller.

”Writing a novel?” The old man was obviously in a good mood as he said, ”It's good to write novels, to be able to become famous!”

I pretended to smile shyly and scratched my head, saying, ”I don't have it. It's just that it started and I don't have any inspiration. I want to write a supernatural novel.” When I was walking around and saw this factory, I suddenly thought that after so many years of building such a large factory, something evil must have happened, right? ”

The old man put down the newspaper in his hands and turned to look in the direction of the factory. His eyes were filled with memories as he said, ”If you want to talk about evil, then you, old nose …”

The old man told me a lot of stories, like how a steel bar suddenly dropped while working and made a man into a mutton skewer. There was also an office building where a mother and child had jumped from a building and committed suicide.

In the end, he saw the two girls when he worked overtime. In the end, he had no choice but to find a Taoist and do some law chores. There were a lot of stories, but none of them were what I needed. I asked, ”Old grandpa, you're talking about the dead. Are there any dead people?”

The old man thought for a long time, then suddenly slapped his thigh. He seemed a bit agitated, ”There really is an extraordinary thing.”

I poured a glass of water for the old man, and he slowly said …

Remember that that was in 1984, the spring wind of reform and opening up all over the country, everywhere building, building bridges. As a steel worker, that would have exhausted us. Due to the construction needs of the south, our factory has almost no stock, so we have to work overtime every day.

I remember that it was November 30, 1984, and that it was the night of the first and second teams. The group leader of Group One is me, and the group leader of Group Two is our current Chairman, Liu Yuling.

At that time, we were in charge of smelting while the other two were in charge of heat treatment. Our production process was very smooth. It should have been around 1: 30 in the second half of the night, and all the work should have been done.

One of us has packed up and is getting ready to leave work, but the second group needs to get the gas out of the high-pressure furnace, so they're a little later than us.

At that time, many of the older workers were noisy and hurried to get off work, but Liu Yuling had only been team leader for a few days. Finally, she ordered the captain in charge of the high-pressure furnace to open the valve. Who would have thought … ”

The old man abruptly stopped here. I hastily asked, ”What's wrong?”

”Sigh!” The old man sighed, took a sip of his tea, and continued, ”Sin, the captain just opened the valve, and the high pressure furnace cracked open. The high temperature water vapor at the top of the furnace instantly submerged the captain.”

My heart shuddered. ”He died?”

”It's good that he's dead!” I saw a clear look of fear in the old man's eyes, and he said, ”The captain let out a heart-wrenching howl. The hot gas instantly cooled down upon contact with the air, so the gas dissipated in a few seconds.

We saw that the captain was covered in blisters. He wobbled a few times and took a step back. The soles of his shoes had been scalded and the skin of his feet was sticking to the ground.

He scratched his face as he walked. Later, I heard the doctor said that the body was instantly covered by high temperature, as the muscles of the body contracted, so the feeling at that time should have been a pain that was difficult to itch.

The skin on his face was ripped off and it fell to the ground with a crackling sound. His wife ran over while crying, wanting to support his man. Who would have thought that the moment her hand touched his arm, the skin on that squad leader's entire arm would be torn off by her. ”

After the old man said this, he stopped talking. It seemed that this memory was bad for him. I comforted him, ”Old grandpa, so many years have passed. Forget it!” Right, how did this matter be resolved? And what's the name of that squad leader? ”

”Sigh!” The old man sighed, and said: ”The young captain and his wife's names are very easy to remember. The man is Zhang Liang, and the woman is Lee Shan. How nice is the name of this couple? Who would have thought that they would encounter such a thing? ”