Left Chongqing at 16, went to Yunnan to support border construction with the dream of building the motherland
　　Kong Jidong was born in 1948 at Lianglukou, Yuzhong District, Chongqing, and is now 67 years old. After retiring from the position of company chairman, his trips back to Chongqing have become more frequent.
　　"I return at least once or twice a year," Kong Jidong said. He still remembers his first trip back to Chongqing to visit relatives in 1968, taking a hard-seat train with a ticket price of 7 yuan, and the journey took 28 hours. Now, an air route has long been opened between the two places, and it takes only one and a half hours by plane, bringing him closer to home.
　　This year marks Kong Jidong's 50th year in Yunnan. In 1964, at the age of 15, he had just graduated from junior high school. When he heard from the school's Youth League branch about supporting border construction, he set his heart on going to Yunnan.
　　"My mother and two older sisters were very reluctant to let me go and kept crying, but my father was very supportive," Kong Jidong recalled. At the mobilization meeting, a person in charge from Yunnan Construction Engineering Group reminded them to be mentally prepared: "The place you are going to is quite tough, but this is to contribute to the construction of the motherland."
　　Hearing that he could contribute to the motherland's construction, Kong Jidong became even more determined. After filling out two application forms, he also wrote a poem: "Filled out two forms, my heart is truly at ease; soon I'll go to Yunnan, to win glory for the country."
　　With the dream of winning glory for the country, in 1965, Kong Jidong and more than 2,500 companions carried their luggage and rushed from Chongqing to Kunming.
　　"That year, there was no railway from Chongqing to Kunming, so we had to take a big truck," Kong Jidong said. At that time, the journey from Chongqing to Kunming took seven days and eight nights. On the truck, everyone used their bedrolls as cushions. Along the way, the group of young people talked and laughed, very happy.
　　Wholeheartedly wanting to "make revolution", spent a lifetime in construction in Kunming
　　"Fifty years in Kunming have passed in a flash," Kong Jidong sighed. Since then, his life has been tied to Kunming's construction.
　　When he first arrived in Kunming, Kong Jidong was assigned to Kunyang Phosphate Fertilizer Plant as an unskilled laborer, doing physical work such as digging and pushing carts. The factory issued quilts, mosquito nets, large porcelain bowls, and more than 20 yuan as travel allowance.
　　"More than 20 yuan was a huge sum; at that time, a serving of fish-flavored shredded pork cost only 20 cents, enough for two people," Kong Jidong recalled. After receiving the first money in his life, he bought a pack of chocolates, ate only one piece himself, sent the rest home, and also sent 5 yuan to his family.
　　Although the work was physical, Kong Jidong had no complaints and did not complain of fatigue. "Supporting border construction means contributing effort; at that time, the only goal in my heart was to 'make revolution'."
　　A month after arriving in Kunming, life took a turn. Because of his outstanding work, Kong Jidong was praised by the factory. This made him very happy, feeling that he had been recognized by the organization.
　　Originally a three-month work-study program, thanks to his outstanding performance, after a month and a half, Kong Jidong was transferred back to the company headquarters in Kunming to study stone and concrete testing. Later, he was assigned to the Second Laboratory of Kunming Iron and Steel Plant and became a skilled worker, thus starting his involvement with construction, which lasted 50 years.
　　Seized two important opportunities, started a business after retirement and became chairman
　　Kong Jidong said he is a very lucky person; two opportunities that were like "pies falling from the sky" were both seized by him.
　　In 1997, the State Science and Technology Commission issued a document requiring local research institutes to be restructured from public institutions into enterprises, and the research institute where Kong Jidong worked was among them.
　　"In April 1997, we began preparing to establish Yunnan Expo Construction Supervision Co., Ltd. This was the first opportunity," Kong Jidong said. At that time, he served as chief engineer, but because there were no engineers, they had to borrow people from other units, borrowing more than 70 at most.
　　After the company was established, one of the most important projects was the construction of the Expo's thousand-person banquet hall. Kong Jidong led the team from start to finish; in just half a year, they built a 10,000-square-meter banquet hall.
　　"Designing and constructing simultaneously, I didn't go home for a single day for three months, eating and living entirely on the construction site," Kong Jidong said. It was not until the evening of April 30, 1999, after the state banquet ended, that the stone in his heart finally dropped.
　　In 2000, Kong Jidong welcomed the second opportunity in his life. Yunnan Expo Construction Supervision Co., Ltd. was restructured into a private enterprise according to policy. As the founder, he chose to retire from the original unit and took over the new company, becoming its chairman.
　　"When the restructuring just happened, the company had no assets, only seven or eight employees, and few businesses," Kong Jidong said. Training newcomers, borrowing technicians for projects, Kong Jidong led the team through many hardships and made the company bigger and bigger. Now, the company has more than 500 people, with more than 20 branches in Sichuan, Anhui, Hainan, Hunan, Guizhou and other provinces and cities, and annual contract value reaching more than 80 million yuan.
　　Speaking of the company's achievements, Kong Jidong seemed a bit proud. Now, after retirement, he still has not rested, but is dedicated to researching the national supervision system.
　　Donated 1 million yuan to alma mater to establish education reward fund
　　Chongqing is Kong Jidong's hometown, and his home in Kunming has become a foothold for fellow Chongqing natives. "More than 2,000 fellow natives from Chongqing were assigned to various construction sites in Yunnan, and there were few chances to meet each other. However, whenever they come to Kunming, they all come to find me," Kong Jidong said. Everyone is of similar age, eating together and chatting about family matters, very happy.
　　Kong Jidong's memories of Chongqing stop before the age of 16; the life of those ten-plus years is deeply imprinted in his mind.
　　"My family had five people: father, mother, and two older sisters, relying on my father's monthly salary of more than 50 yuan to support the family; life was very tight," Kong Jidong recalled. When he was young, he had no money to go skating, so he helped others clean in exchange for free skating opportunities.
　　In his childhood memories, walking to Nanwenquan also left a deep impression on Kong Jidong. He said that at that time, from the city center to Nanwenquan, there was no money for transportation, so they had to walk. He was in the fifth or sixth grade of primary school, and his family gave him 3 cents and 2 liang of grain coupons. "We set off before dawn, walked nearly 5 hours to reach Nanwenquan, and returned home after dark, having a great time."
　　As a child, Kong Jidong moved several times with adults, from Lianglukou to Guanyinyan, then to Nanjimen, Zhongxing Road, and finally to Gongyuan Road. Because he lived in Yuzhong District, most of Kong Jidong's memories of Chongqing are related to Jiefangbei: "At that time, Jiefangbei was the tallest building, and the surrounding area still had stone-paved roads. We made scooters from waste materials and bearings, and slid all the way from Xinhua Road to Jiefangbei."
　　"When I returned to Chongqing in 2014, the area near my home had changed beyond recognition," Kong Jidong said. Although the changes were great, he still clearly remembers People's Park: "I learned to swim in the swimming pool in Yuzhong District People's Park." When he returned home last year, he found that Jiefangbei had become the shortest building in the area, making him exclaim repeatedly: "Chongqing has been developing at high speed in recent years, and the changes are indeed fast."
　　On the 17th of this month, Kong Jidong returned to Chongqing to celebrate the birthday of his alma mater, Fudan Middle School. "When I was studying, this place was called Kaixuan Road Middle School, and my father Kong Chuanyi was a teacher at the school at that time. Now the school has completely changed, but there are still memories belonging to our generation here," Kong Jidong said.
　　Attending the 80th anniversary celebration of his alma mater, Kong Jidong donated 1 million yuan to establish an education reward fund. Kong Jidong believes that in the past he was "pursuing dreams in a foreign land," but now he is "pursuing dreams in his hometown," contributing his own strength to his alma mater and giving back to his hometown. This is the common wish of him and his former classmates; he just fulfilled this dream on behalf of everyone.