Editor's note
The Central Office for the Construction of Spiritual Civilization organized and carried out the online activity of "I recommend me to evaluate the good people around me", mobilized the majority of netizens and urban and rural grassroots cadres and masses to recommend the good people and good deeds around them, and regularly recommended and evaluated the "China Good People List". The column of "The Story of the "Good Chinese Guys" in the New Era" of China Civilization Network will tell you the story of the "Good Guys of China" in the evening. Let us learn the most valuable spiritual qualities of "good Chinese people", carry forward the core values of socialism, strive to be good citizens of society, good employees of units, and good members of families, and dedicate our light and heat to the realization of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
At the granite storage point of the Tiefo Grain and Oil Management Station in Tongjiang County, Bazhong City, Sichuan Province, Pu Lirong, a thin grain and oil custodian, is carrying a wooden ladder more than 3 meters long to the No. 3-1 warehouse. She skillfully climbed the wooden ladder, opened the locks and doors on the upper floor of the warehouse, and then walked back to the warehouse to carry another wooden ladder more than 5 meters long, fixed the wooden ladder in the first two grooves of the warehouse, climbed up again, entered the warehouse, and started the day's work.
Pu Lirong. Photo courtesy of Sichuan Provincial Civilization Office
One person's perseverance: "I can't find a reason to give up halfway"
26 years ago, Pu Lirong, who had just graduated from Tongjiang Grain School, took over the baton from her father and became a grain custodian in the Tiefo area of Tongjiang County. With the passage of time, the work of the grain station is no longer "fragrant and sweet", hundreds of grain depot workers, in 2010, only more than 30 people remained. In 2013, Pu Lirong was the only one left in the granite reservoir. Every time there is new grain in or out of the warehouse, the warehouse is full of people, after the excitement, the huge grain depot returns to quiet, only a small woman is busy between the six warehouses all day long. Pu Lirong circles around the granary all year round, and her former classmates and colleagues have changed careers, and most of them have much higher incomes than her. During the New Year's holidays, some colleagues returned to their hometowns, and it was incomprehensible to see her work and life status.
But for the value of the work of grain and grain depot keepers, Pu Lirong has her own understanding. When she was a child, her family was poor, and Pu Lirong went to the field to help with farm work at the age of seven or eight, and experienced the hardships of crops since she was a child. After graduating from the grain school, she walked into the warehouse for the first time, and saw the golden rice reaching the top of the warehouse, and the thick aroma of rice came to her nose, Pu Lirong realized that in this life, the relationship between her and grain is like a weighing rod and a weighing stone, which can no longer be separated.
Pu Lirong is wiping down the beams above the granary to keep the inside of the silo clean and tidy. Photo by Higashi Shirakawa
When Pu Lirong was working at the Happy Horse Grain Management Center, her husband had not yet found a job, and the family only lived on her monthly salary of 400 yuan. In her spare time, she survived the most difficult period by making briquettes and growing shiitake mushrooms to earn some living expenses. "I've survived the most difficult days, what reason do I have to give up halfway?" Pu Lirong said. She has always practiced the noble mission of "accumulating grain, accumulating good grain, accumulating grain, and keeping and managing the granary of the world" under the condition of poor storage facilities and meager wages.
On weekdays, Pu Lirong always carries a wooden ladder more than 5 meters long to climb up to the warehouse. Photo by Chen Qiuji
The story in the barn: not a single grain of grain is harmed
Change into work clothes, climb the 5-meter-high ladder, bend down and drill into the huge granary, wipe the roof beams, remove impurities, clean cobwebs, and sweep the walls...... This is a standard process for Prirong to work every day.
In Pu Lirong's eyes, food is like a baby that can't speak, but they will show the slightest discomfort. This requires the custodian to practice the ability of "looking, smelling, asking, and cutting" like the doctor, grabbing a handful of grain, looking at the color, pressing the fingers, smelling the nose, and tasting the mouth, judging whether there are abnormal conditions such as fever, dampness, and insect pests, and then prescribing the right medicine - opening the windows frequently, ventilating frequently, digging ditches and ponds, loosening the grain surface, and cooling and dehumidifying in time.
Pu Lirong is sifting through stored grain. Photo by Higashi Shirakawa
The rainy season every year is the biggest test for the warehouse. Despite the fact that all leaks had been dealt with during routine maintenance, Pu Lirong was still reassured, and on many rainy nights, she reflexively got up, carrying a film, sacks, basins, and wooden ladders to inspect the doors, windows, roofs, and walls of the warehouse one by one. Late one night in July 2016, when she inspected the last warehouse, she found several traces of leakage, and when she pressed the grain surface with plastic film, she immediately cleaned it up as soon as there was stagnant water, and it rained all night, and she was on the scene until dawn.
On August 24 of the same year, Pu Lirong found that there were traces of rainwater soaking on the left back wall of No. 1-1 warehouse during the inspection, and after uncovering the film, she saw that part of the rice was soaked, and she was so anxious that she opened the grain one by one, and even dug it with her hands to the bottom of the grain pile nearly 4 meters deep, and the soaked rice was filled with 68 bags. Ignoring the pain of the skin of her hands, she carried the food and stepped on a wooden ladder more than 5 meters high. After turning over the wooden ladder, Pu Lirong grabbed the pocket on her shoulder with one hand and the ladder frame with the other, and carefully retreated step by step. Each trip took 4-5 minutes, and she was busy for more than 5 hours. After the grain was dried, she carried it back to the warehouse one by one. Due to overwork, Pu Lirong did not eat well and sleep well for several days, and her weight plummeted.
Pu Lirong patrols the warehouse at night. Photo courtesy of Sichuan Provincial Civilization Office
Relying on a pair of hands: comparable to the level of modern granary management
"There is no ash in the hand, no dust in the mouth, the grain surface is as flat as a mirror, and the grain road is as straight as a ruler", which is the management standard of the modern grain depot. In recent years, Pu Lirong has also visited some modern grain depots in the province. Because of the installation of an air-conditioning system, the standard temperature in the grain depot is maintained all year round, which makes her envious.
As an old depot with a history of more than 50 years, the granary has no modern equipment except for a few fans. Relying on Pu Lirong's not very powerful but dexterous hands, the refined standards of the granite warehouse are no different from the modern warehouse, so that the counterparts in the province are all amazed after visiting the warehouse. In a warehouse opposite the warehouse, Pu Lirong's "eighteen weapons" are stored: bamboo rakes of various specifications, scrapers with polished palm thickness, and three wooden ladders of different lengths.
Pu Lirong (right) tells her son about the difficulty of growing grain. Photo by Yan Jing
Engaged in grain storage for 26 years, Pu Lirong has overcome various difficulties and challenges, explored one after another grain protection measures, and guarded 66 million catties of grain. The grain she handles is high-quality and good-quality grain, no insects, no mildew, no rats, no accidents, and the accounts are consistent.
In the third quarter of 2023, Pu Lirong was selected into the "China Good Person List"
Source: China Civilization Network