One day in mid-July, colorful flags fluttered outside the Fourth Assembly Workshop of the Light Vehicle Company's main factory, while gongs and drums thundered. A row of sky-blue new light trucks slowly rolled off the production line.
Big red flowers were tied to the fronts of their cabs, just like the red flowers used by bride and groom in ancient wedding ceremonies. The sight alone felt festive.
And when several reporters at the scene raised their cameras, the hundreds of workers almost began applauding exactly on cue. Their applause was neat and enthusiastic, perfectly matching the freshly painted slogans on the wall: "Prosperity, Strength," and so on.
Everyone at the scene seemed excited. Only Li Ye, standing at the edge of the crowd, stared silently at the huge banner hanging at the workshop entrance.
"Warmly Celebrating the Successful Rollout of the Thousandth New Light Truck"
Li Ye did not quite understand. A year and a half had passed since the celebration for the successful 1041 trial production, yet they had only produced a thousand vehicles in total—an average of just a few dozen per month. What was there to celebrate?
Yet celebrate they did, and with great fanfare at that. People from The Department had even been invited to attend the ceremony, and they were seriously reporting their outstanding achievements upward.
"Director Li, why aren't you going to the front?"
As Li Ye was lost in thought, he suddenly heard someone speaking beside him.
He turned and found Huang Mengjia, a university graduate who had just been assigned there that year.
Perhaps the shortage of young and middle-aged staff in ministries and government offices had eased, so university graduates from 1988 were no longer as "super precious" as they had been in previous years.
This year, Li Ye had not