At 4:30 in the morning in the Wanbei Plain, the sky was still wrapped in ink that was so thick that it couldn't be melted away. In the yard of the maintenance station on the national highway G344, Wen Galen had already put on an orange reflective vest. The canvas vest was worn and shiny, and the words "Road Maintenance" embroidered on the left breast pocket were washed white, but in the dim light of the mobile phone flashlight, there was a real energy - this is his fifth year of working as a road maintenance worker, and he has grown from a 22-year-old boy to an "Old Wen" who can take charge of his own role at the station.
The Iveco maintenance truck in the yard has been warmed up, and the low roar of the engine disperses in the silent morning fog. Colleague Lao Zhou was squatting next to the car to check the warning pier. When he saw Wen Galen coming out, holding an unlit cigarette, he laughed and cursed: "You are so active today. You helped Uncle Li repair the tractor until midnight yesterday. Why don't you get more sleep?"
Wengailen rubbed the red bloodshot eyes, and bent down to pick up the tool box. The crisp sound of metal tools colliding was mixed with the moisture of morning dew: "Yesterday during the inspection, I saw a crack in the K128 section. It rained at night, and I was afraid of water seepage and subsidence." He opened the tool box, and the items inside were arranged more neatly than the drawers at home - The torx wrenches are arranged according to size, the screwdriver heads are fixed with magnetic strips, and even the rubber sheets used for tire repair are divided into thicknesses. At the bottom is a palm-sized notebook with "Road Condition Record" written on the cover, which contains the station number of each road section, the type of disease, and even feedback after each maintenance.
