Fifty years ago, there was a three-line construction; the three-line construction gave us an identity label – three-line children.

Fifty years of time seems very long, and we three-line children, now over fifty years old, even with white hair and gray hair.

Fifty years of time seems short, before the three-line children can stop and think, the three-line has become history.

Twenty-five years before, only those who had experienced it knew

Often people say that the three-line has been fifty years ago, why bother to search for it?

Those who hadn't experienced it wouldn't understand why our fathers were secretive and hidden in the mountains, the desert, the wilderness, using their youth to build the seemingly superfluous three-line factories.

Those who hadn't experienced it wouldn't understand why we three-line children were so persistent, fifty years of time hadn't dimmed the memory of the three-line.

Those who hadn't experienced it wouldn't understand why I was so familiar with those gray Soviet-style factories and dilapidated brick walls.

Why do we, as witnesses, still remember and search, trying to retrieve the memories of the three-line?

Because that was our fathers' youth and mission,

Because that was our childhood in the mountains,

Because that was our second hometown,

Because that is a memory that cannot be erased from our lives.

Fifty years ago, fathers' youth and mission

Fifty years ago, our fathers were in their youth, they were not in the era of heroes who were yet to be born, but they had a dream of crossing the border,When the 'prepare to fight' horn sounded, under the influence of the call for 'good people, good horses, three-line construction,' they took on the mission of three-line construction, which the times gave them.

In the northwest bordering the desert, between the northeast white mountains and black waters, in the southwest of the Ba mountains and Shu waters, in the southeast of ten ten thousand big mountains, eight hundred miles of majestic Taihang Mountains…. everywhere there were their young shadows.

Without a place to live, they built dry, earth nests, earthen houses; without water they dug wells, repaired reservoirs and built water towers… they used their hardworking hands and youthful sweat to forge their own history.

Fifty years have passed, looking back fifty years ago, our fathers once rushed to the three-line construction in the deep mountains with boundless enthusiasm, and finally many three-line factories were abandoned on that hot soil.

I often wonder what the younger generation will think of our fathers – those who were once three-line people?

Our fathers are already over ninety years old and have passed away, no matter how to evaluate, it is no longer important. It is what our fathers have completed – the historical mission given by the Republic.

Fifty years ago, the childhood of three-line children

Fifty years ago fathers' crossing the border gave us a label that we can't forget for the rest of our lives: three-line children.

Our childhood has this label, which determines our perspective that is different from that of our peers, and it determines that we have a topic that we will talk about for a lifetime: fifty years ago, our childhood in the mountains.

Many say: three-line children are sacrificed by the three-line people;

Some say: three-line children are pitiful and unworthy to be proud of;

Some ask me: what was the childhood of three-line children like? Is it happy and worth remembering?

I've been pondering this for a long time,

Honestly, the lives of three-line children were not prosperous.

Fifty years ago, a handful of persimmons and a piece of fruit candy could keep us going for a whole day. Even an older sister recalled: they didn't eat eggs, and her childhood spent picking eggshells to eat.

Compared to that, the lives of three-line children were happy,

Fifty years ago, we had city household registration, lived in villages and countryside, and could see rivers outside. Even an older brother recalled: he rode a frog, proudly showing off in his family courtyard for a whole day.

That's our childhood in the fifty years ago, although it's hard and poor, but we didn't have any worries or cares, and we seemed to be very happy and joyful,

Fifty years ago, the three-line factory was our second hometown

Fifty years ago, home was the story in our fathers' mouths, the childhood hometown of three-line children was a legend thousands of miles away. Therefore, the establishment of the three-line factory became the hometown in their hearts.

I've read several of Wang Xiaoshu's films and articles, and a sentence deeply touched me and caused me a surge of pain. He said: he once envied people who had ancestral tombs.

Who says that?

The hometown for us is the '' in the three-line 'three-line'

Fifty years ago, the three-line factory was mysterious, dark factories, high walls, and key is that there were armed guards at the entrance. Three-line people and three-line children lived a life different from the local people, like living in two different worlds. To the locals, they seemed like people living in another world.

Fifty years ago, the three-line factory was lonely, only one road led out of the mountains, and the outside world was like the song 'why does the sun always set to the side of the mountain?' 'Are there gods living in the mountains?'

A three-line lady once told me: many people looked at us with prejudice, when they were in school, they knew a classmate from a local place, and stubbornly thought that we were pampered children from the city. They didn't know that when we returned to the city, the city children looked at us as rural children.

This is reality, the embarrassment under the mysterious halo. We lived in a small circle, the locals didn't think we were locals, and the city people didn't think we were city people.

The three-line people are people who are '' in the three-line 'three-line'

Fifty years ago, the three-line factory was mysterious, it's like a dusty book, boring and heavy,

I've written a piece about the three-line factory's memories, and a child commented: how many years ago are you talking about? Is it worth talking about?

I actually know that the story of the three-line, the memories of the three-line, are approximately only we three-line children still looking for,

Modern life makes it difficult for young people to understand the three-line, that's like a moldy book, dull and heavy,

A few days ago I wrote a piece about the three-line factory memories, a child commented: how many years ago are you talking about? Is it worth talking about?

I actually know that the story of the three-line, the memories of the three-line, are approximately only we three-line children still looking for,

Finally, I want to say one thing: preserve our three-line memories. It's not for remembrance, but to never forget.

!

“”“”

“”