“At that time, I really didn't think too much, just wanted to catch up with the schedule, but I didn't expect everyone to follow me and start working.” Speaking of those difficult days in the middle of this summer, Liu Tingjian, deputy general manager and party branch secretary of the Yuqian Company of the Sichuan Provincial Geological Survey Institute, said with deep feeling, “It is the spirit of ‘bearing hardships, unity and cooperation, and sacrificing personal interests for the collective’ that brought everyone together.”
    Scorching heat, labor team left midway
    The detailed survey project of the Chongqing Hechuan to Sichuan Anyue Expressway (Chongqing section) is the longest route survey project undertaken by Yuqian Company since its establishment, with a total length of 56 kilometers and involving 381 boreholes. This is a cooperation project with China Railway First Survey and Design Institute that the company obtained after several setbacks. Therefore, all employees of the institute have high hopes for this cooperation, hoping that Yuqian Company can win the other party's recognition through the smooth implementation of the project, thereby establishing a long-term cooperative relationship.
    According to the actual workload, this project should be equipped with a team of at least 12 people. However, summer is the busy season for production, and the company's departments are very short-staffed. In the end, only 8 people were selected to form the project team, and Liu Tingjian, deputy general manager and party branch secretary of the company, personally led the team.
    After the preliminary preparations were completed, the project team began field work on July 10. At this time, it was the hot summer in Chongqing, the “furnace city,” and a crisis occurred at an unexpected moment——
    Unable to withstand the high temperature and heat, a group of exhausted laborers were defeated. By the end of July, only 3 drilling rigs remained on the project site. Company leaders tried to communicate with the client to obtain a high-temperature leave to relieve the fatigue of the labor team and then regroup to catch up with the progress. However, the client clearly stated that leave was possible, but the schedule could not be delayed.
    “We must find another labor team to take over, otherwise we cannot complete on time. Not to mention failing to deliver, we can forget about future cooperation.” The project department had to find another way.
    Despite multiple efforts, the project department's predicament was not alleviated. The continuous high temperature and heat scared away labor teams that wanted to participate. Seeing a money-making opportunity with no one to take it, drilling in Hechuan became a “hot potato.”
    Wang Darun, a 75-year-old former company leader, was extremely anxious. He personally rushed to the Hechuan front line and used his connections to help contact labor teams. “At most, I recorded the phone numbers of 17 drilling rig owners in Chongqing in my notebook. I contacted them by phone and asked others to help find workers,” he said with emotion.
    In the end, the project department mobilized all parties' connections and gradually found a group of drilling rigs and workers, maintaining 11 drilling rigs on the front line.
    To catch up with the schedule, technicians worked part-time as drillers
    In order to make up for the schedule affected by the labor team's disconnection, Liu Tingjian resolutely led the project team to the line to drill with auger drills. Technicians such as Fu Haixin, Yan Longchao, and Song Chenggui did the work of workers, and even the driver Qin Haiyang joined in drilling.
    Now when talking about these scenes, Liu Tingjian still kept explaining: “Some people might say I was putting on a show. At that time, I really didn't think too much, just wanted to catch up with the schedule, but I didn't expect everyone to follow me and start working.”
    Recalling that difficult time, Fu Haixin said with red eyes and pride: “When I felt like I was about to collapse, I still managed to get the work done under the sun.”
    Technicians joined in drilling
    In order to complete the field work on time by August 25, Liu Tingjian required the project team to complete the workload according to the daily task breakdown. The project department had a map——a hand-drawn detailed survey route map, and a table——a project task time breakdown table. This map and table constantly reminded the project department: time is pressing!
    All personnel of the project department devoted all their time and energy to the project. Working overtime was common, but no one complained, no one said they were tired, and no one asked for leave.
    During the 45 days of field work, the TV in the project team was never turned on. When working, no one cared about how much they did. No matter how difficult things were, they found ways to solve them themselves. When the project was short-staffed, they took on two or even three roles. Shen Changjun was both the project manager and the driver. Qin Haiyang was both the driver and the “logistics minister,” and also a driller.
    Overcoming difficulties, no one complained
    When talking about the project team leader Liu Tingjian's unsympathetic management and requirements higher than those of the client, the project team members had no complaints. Everyone understood his good intentions. Without teamwork, responsibility, and discipline, the project could not be completed on time.
    Liu Tingjian did not treat himself as a leader. He ate and lived with the project department, traveled more than 120 kilometers back and forth on this survey line, recorded the geological boundaries of each point in detail, hand-drew the detailed survey route map with the project team, and taught the newcomers in the project department hand by hand. He encouraged team members to ask and learn more, and personally explained problems they did not understand. He stayed on the project for more than 60 days and promised to take his daughter to visit the Forbidden City in Beijing during the summer vacation, but ultimately failed to fulfill it.
    Shen Changjun was the project manager of this project team. His wife was pregnant and needed his care, but the company was already short-staffed, and there were even fewer people who could serve as project managers. After communicating with him, company leaders found that he did not shirk the task. After accepting the task and joining the project team, he did not back down. When there were not enough vehicles on the project, he drove his own car, took two interns, and rushed to the front line.
    Zhang Zhen was a newly hired college student. He endured the pain of gastroptosis, held his chest, and persisted in working……
    Moving stories happened every day in the project team. The 8-person project team completed the workload of more than a dozen people on schedule. Everyone fulfilled their duties, no one complained, and no one cared about personal gains and losses. Their deeds moved everyone in the company and the Geological Survey Institute.
    In the end, the project team completed the field survey of the 56-kilometer route on time, with 381 boreholes and 8,300 meters of drilling, winning a beautiful preliminary battle for the overall progress of the project. The project team's spirit of enduring hardships and being able to fight was also recognized by everyone.