Editor's Note:

In ancient Greek mythology, Sisyphus was punished to push a huge stone to the top of a mountain, only to watch it roll down again and again. He had to repeat this day after day, year after year. But Camus once said: " The struggle itself toward the summit is enough to fill a human heart. ”

On the transport and assembly lines of Jingwei Manufacturing Plant, Gao Zekai and Tang Yuzhen —— two employees with over ten years of service " Stone Pushers ” have polished the repetitive days into shining gears over ten years, silently embedded in the annual rings of Jingwei. Today, let's learn about the ten-year journey of these two frontline workers.

Some turn the years into poetry,

some grind the days into roads.

Eleven years behind the steering wheel,

the scale is the numbers on the odometer,

and also the scenery retreating in the rearview mirror.

01 

 

Gao Zekai's story is mostly folded in the creases of the driver's seat.

 

2013 In the year he first sat in the company's black sedan, Jingwei didn't even have a decent road. More than four hundred people crowded into a temporarily built wooden house, and his task was to shuttle Jingwei members along the roads of ten years ago.

In ten years, Jingwei's output value has multiplied several times, yet he still holds the steering wheel, though the cars called from Kunshan have been replaced several times and are now business vehicles with massage chairs, and the company's cement roads have turned into asphalt.

He remembers clearly:

2015 In the year when the company was in a growth phase and the output value first hit fifty million, at that time, joy filled the entire Jingwei, and everyone worked hard without feeling tired;

2017 in the year when the monthly output value reached 7000 hundreds of thousands, 8000 millions, he felt the company surprised him again and again.

Starting work at eight but finishing at uncertain times, he was never late in ten years.

" When I first joined Jingwei, even my biological clock was messed up. In my previous company, it was nine to five, but at Jingwei, it was common to get home at two or three in the morning. At the most extreme, I would lie down for a nap for an hour, and when I woke up, it was already time to go to work. ”

What impressed me most was 2020 the year when the pandemic was at its worst, which was also when the company had the most orders. " At that time, besides driving, I had to spray disinfectant in the dormitory twice a day, morning and evening. The hallways were filled with the smell of 84 disinfectant, making people’s eyes water.

" Whenever an employee in the dormitory caught a cold or fever, we all got nervous and sent them to the hospital overnight. Strangely, during that period, I felt secure, at least everyone was in the same boat. ”

The fingerprints on the steering wheel have been wiped faint by alcohol, but the numbers on the odometer keep ticking.

Photo at Hefei Jingwei Security Office in 2014

02

 

Drivers are the most insensitive yet most sensitive to time.

Once familiar with the road, driving becomes as simple as eating; but when you look up, you find wrinkles at the corners of your eyes in the rearview mirror.

" When I was young, I loved running, especially after dinner, running more than ten laps around the school playground nearby was no problem. That feeling was really great! Later, working here, I got used to the schedule and gave up running as a hobby. ”

Many people admire him for sticking to the frontline for over ten years. He laughs and says, what perseverance, is nothing but repeating a day more than 3,600 times. 。

But if he really reaches retirement age, he might just stare blankly at the steering wheel. Those trees receding in the rearview mirror, the people dozing in the back seat, the music playing at noon—all have long been welded to his fingerprints. 。

He says, actually, what he fears most these years is not fatigue, but " habit. ”。  

He has gotten used to the sweat smell of employees he drives, the moon at one in the morning, even the sighs of leaders in the back seat.

The only thing he hasn't gotten used to is the face in the rearview mirror that looks more and more like his father. Almost fifty years old, occasionally drinking a little, he sometimes dazedly thinks he is stopped at some intersection in his twenties.  

Master Gao in the photo on Jingwei's seventh anniversary

03

Many people in the company affectionately call him Master Gao, but no one knows he is also a family man. 。

" On rest days, he either cooks at his parents-in-law's house or at his own home. Occasionally, if he can get an early shift, he goes home to see his parents, chat with them, talk, and spend time with family. ”

At this point, he casually picked up fresh flowers he picked near the company's grapevine today, orange, clean and bright, like his eyes, full of warmth.

Recent photo of Master Gao's life

PART TWO

Ten years on the assembly line,

The scale is the hum of the machines,

And also the calluses worn smooth on fingertips.

Some chase the stars, some weave the warp and weft.

She sewed her days into the stitches of the assembly line,

Silently becoming part of the factory's annual rings.  

01

Tang Yuzhen's story begins from 2015 Year to tell.

That was the first time she stood in front of the workshop packing station; back then, the factory didn't even have air conditioning, and sweat soaked her work clothes like a second skin.

She witnessed the development of Jingwei's productivity, More and more machines, air-conditioned workshops in summer, and she transformed from an ordinary operator to a multi-skilled worker, mastering various molding positions. Colleagues came and went, but her shadow remained fixed in the same spot.  

" Sister Tang ” Was like a screw, twisting wherever there was a shortage of people, never taking a break for ten years.  

" When I first joined the factory, I didn't even know how to trim the edges. ” Tang Yuzhen said " Today the machine, tomorrow the assembly line, I was worried at first that I couldn't do the tasks I hadn't done before. Later I realized, working is like doing housework, just bend down, and as you do it, you get skilled. ”

Over ten years, fingerprints were worn away by files, but the products on the assembly line kept flowing.  

The assembly line keeps turning, who can stop?

She was deeply impressed: at the end of last year’s rush, she worked overtime for more than twenty consecutive days, the factory was as bright as daylight at dawn; new employees complained about overtime, she silently took the tools, and trimming edges became as natural as breathing.

Every day after work, she would fall asleep immediately, dreaming only of parts " Click clack ” sounds. Exhausted to the extreme yet feeling grounded, waking up the next morning full of energy.  

Photo of Tang Yuzhen at work

02

Colleagues were like migratory birds, some came in spring, some left in winter. Tang Yuzhen lost count of how many faces she had seen off.

She had a close sister who had accompanied her for two years; they ate and worked together. Amid the hum of machines, there was some laughter, like a soda bottle suddenly opened in a dull workshop.

During breaks, she loved watching family comedies and listening to songs, from the square or short videos. The quarrels between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the comedies worked better than sleeping pills. She joked that her drama-watching pace was about to catch up with the assembly line.

03

    

New products to make, new leaders to recognize, and always mixing up new colleagues' names.

What hasn't changed is that every birthday she receives a gift from the company; now she still has several company-given pillows and cups at home.

When talking about her feelings toward the company over the past ten years, she looked into the distance, paused, and said three words:

" Familiar, warm, like home. ”

Before she finished speaking, tears welled up in her eyes. Evening dusk streamed through the window into the workshop, blurring the metallic sheen of the assembly line.

Ten years of seasons, some yearn for distant winds, some take root in the soil of the assembly line. If asked why Tang Yuzhen still perseveres?  

The answer may lie in that unchanged habit —— The fixed daily working hours give her a sense of stability; occasionally looking back feels like touching the rings of time.

PART THREE

Conclusion

Sisyphus knows the stone will roll down the hill, yet he still pushes it up every day. This is not because he believes the stone will one day stay put, but because he experiences his own existence in the process.

And what about us? We know life is absurd, we know we might fall again tomorrow, but we still charge forward, still move on. We won't stop because the world is broken; instead, we live more authentically within this brokenness. True existence is not about finding the final answer, but about every time we stand up, every time we push the stone uphill, every time we face the windmills, still choosing to sprint in that moment.