After 7 years of work and participation in 4 national key projects, he grew from an intern to a project chief engineer. Whether studying at Shaanxi Railway Institute or working on the Fuzhou-Xiamen Railway, Changjiu Intercity, Fuji Expressway, and Ningxi Railway double-track expansion projects, he has demonstrated a serious, steadfast, hardworking, and inquisitive character. He is Yu Lifeng, currently the chief engineer of the fourth division of the Ningxi Railway double-track expansion project of China Railway No.4 Engineering Group Co., Ltd. Fifth Company.

　　First Entry into the Workplace: Persisting in Confusion

　　In October 2006, Yu Lifeng went from school to the front line of the Fuzhou-Xiamen high-speed railway construction of the Fifth Company for a pre-job internship. Their dormitory was inside the mixing station, with machinery roaring at night and dust covering the bedding; the shower room was converted from an abandoned toilet, and they had to queue. October in Xiamen was still scorching hot; his arms and neck were tanned dark and peeling, and within a week he had lost weight. The road conditions on the construction site were poor; every day he had to carry a 25-kilogram surveying instrument and hike up and down the mountain for 8 kilometers. The skin on his lower back was worn raw and bleeding, and it hurt unbearably whenever he sweated. Lunch was makeshift at the site, mostly dry rations brought in the morning and water begged from local villagers. Every time he returned from fieldwork, he still had to do office work at night, and the clothes he had changed out of in the dormitory were still unwashed... This went on day after day.

　　Yu Lifeng persisted for a month. His father called to ask about his work. At that moment, tears welled up in his eyes, and hesitation and confusion filled his mind. He was extremely disappointed and even thought of giving up. Learning of his unstable emotions, his parents asked him: "This was your decision. Are you not going to persist after such a short time?" His teachers from his alma mater asked him: "You studied this major for three years. Are you willing to give up so easily?" His colleagues at the company asked him: "This is the nature of the work. Everyone is doing it. Why can't you?"

　　Yu Lifeng fell into deep thought. I persisted, but did I do it well? He told himself: if the dust is too heavy, roll up the bedding during the day; if the food is not to his taste, he can swallow rice with chili oil; if his lower back is worn raw, wrap a towel around it to ease the pain; if he is physically and mentally exhausted, he can dilute it with achievements at work. In this way, he gradually adapted to the harsh living conditions and high-intensity work at the construction site, slowly got into the role, and began to like the job.

　　Tasting Hardship: Forging Ahead in Struggle

　　In July 2007, Yu Lifeng passed the company assessment and formally signed a contract. Although he still worked at the project department where he had interned, his position was adjusted to the engineering department, where he was responsible for quality control of structures such as bridges and culverts along the entire line and assisted the engineering department manager in completing office document management. He carefully reviewed drawings, copied specifications, calculated quantities, and filled out documents. Every day he worked overtime with colleagues returning from fieldwork until late at night, slowly pondering the "four hearts" working method entrusted by leaders—love, patience, carefulness, and sincerity.

　　In January 2008, he was transferred to the Changjiu Intercity Railway project, mainly responsible for technical control of the 1.8-kilometer-long Boyang River Grand Bridge. More than 400 bored piles, in-water piers, variable cross-section high pier columns, a large-span cast-in-place cantilever continuous beam of more than 200 meters, as well as on-site construction organization technology and safety design—all of these were brand-new work for him. Wearing two pairs of socks inside high-top rain boots, a military coat over a raincoat, and a cotton hat under a safety helmet, with a pack of instant noodles, a cup of boiled water, and a tool bag, Yu Lifeng and two colleagues from the technical team spent that winter this way. For every reinforcement cage hoisting and every pile foundation concrete pouring, they stayed at the work face; for every owner inspection, he was named to introduce the on-site construction progress and the process conditions of each procedure. In April of that year, before his probation period ended, Yu Lifeng was exceptionally promoted to technical supervisor. At the same time, unprecedented pressure followed. He increasingly felt that the 36-meter-long, 500-ton box girder of the Boyang River Grand Bridge was not so much to be erected on the piers as on his own shoulders. Although he went to the site at midnight with a flashlight for surveying and setting out, problems and conflicts still emerged in on-site construction quality control and technical work coordination. Faced with reprimands and penalties, he had no time to dwell on the daily hardships; all his thoughts converged on one point: where exactly was the problem? Yu Lifeng consulted the on-site construction team leader and the workers, improved the technical disclosure method, adjusted the process inspection sequence, and quickly put the work on the right track. Through this incident, Yu Lifeng deeply felt that engineering technical work allows no carelessness, and every data point must be accurate.

　　Endless Striving: Value Shines on the Front Line

　　In June 2011, Yu Lifeng was transferred to the company's business department to prepare bid construction organization plans. When he learned that the Fuji Expressway project he had participated in compiling for the first time had won the bid, he also received a company transfer order: to serve as chief engineer of the Fuji Expressway B7 project. Almost everyone, while congratulating him, added: "You are the youngest project chief engineer in the company!" He merely smiled at this. When the company leaders held a pre-appointment talk with him, he frankly expressed his concern: "A highway project is a blank sheet of paper for me." The company leader calmly asked in return: "Shouldn't the blueprint be planned by yourself?"

　　Yu Lifeng rushed to the new project. While surveying the site, he rationally laid out the separated up-and-down tunnels, the double-track high-pier bridge, and the prefabrication and installation sites for three types of girders; at the same time, he organized and built a technical team of 36 young people from the project engineering department, laboratory, and safety and quality department, and promoted new technologies such as GPS-RTK surveying and intelligent tensioning of steel strands for girders and slabs. Thus, in the first 20 days of entering the site, he organized all technical personnel to use lunch and evening time every day to complete new technology training, drawing verification, and study of acceptance standards and specifications, and formulated technical management measures with clear rewards and penalties. After the project officially started, all technicians were in place and could each handle their own work independently. The whole team was vigorous and cooperated to tackle difficulties, and the project advanced in an orderly manner. As of August 2012, the Fuji project had achieved the completion of erecting all left and right span girders and slabs of the first bridge on the entire line, the full breakthrough of both left and right lines of the longest tunnel on the entire line, and 80% of subgrade acceptance in the managed section. It had won four commendations from the owner's evaluations and multiple honorary titles from the company and the bureau, and completed the owner's main project milestone schedule ahead of time. On New Year's Day 2013, the Fuji Expressway, a major corridor connecting the West Coast Economic Zone, was completed and opened to traffic.

　　At this moment, Yu Lifeng had already been transferred to the fourth division of the Ningxi Railway double-track expansion project in the Xinyang management section of Henan. As always, he formed a technical team, fully mobilized collective wisdom and work enthusiasm, and led the preparation of the project's overall construction organization design, the Xinyang North Station reconstruction construction plan, the cast-in-place steel structure beam construction plan, the cast-in-place trough girder construction plan, the special construction plan for erecting highway-over-railway girders and slabs and demolishing existing bridges, etc., and strengthened coordination among all parties to ensure implementation of the plans. "The project is currently in a critical stage, and neither safety nor quality can be neglected," said Yu Lifeng.