It has been five years since I left Hotan, but those days in Hotan are still fresh in my memory, as if they were yesterday.

I have always wanted to write about those days, but I have been too lazy to write. When I woke up this morning, I suddenly heard the sad news that my leader in Hotan had passed away. I felt very uncomfortable and felt a sudden emotion about the impermanence of life.

All we have is today and this moment, tomorrow may be unknown. So if you want to do something, do it today, otherwise you may not have the opportunity in the future.

Enough chatting, let’s start reminiscing.

I went to Hotan in August 2013.

When I graduated from college that year, I was very confused about my future path and didn’t know how to plan.

After two or three graduation recruitment fairs, I couldn’t find a suitable employer; the pressure to stay in Beijing was very high, and I didn’t know if I could do it; I tried every industry I liked, but always failed. After a long time of being rejected, I became a little discouraged.

During my graduation internship, I worked in post-production at an online radio station. I edited programs, managed official WeChat accounts, uploaded programs, and managed private programs on the website. When I had time, I would go to the recording studio to try to record programs or myself. I can entertain myself for a while and meet some small stars from the 6th, 7th and 8th tiers, so I like this job very much. But because the company was newly established, my salary is only enough for my daily expenses.

In the blink of an eye, it was April, and the weather in Beijing was already so hot that people were sweating. Plus, I was worried about the future, and I was so anxious that I had blisters on my lips. After all, I knew at that time that if If I don't decide, I'm afraid I'll have to go back to my hometown after my graduation internship. That's the last thing I want.

Yuanyuan, the fellow who sleeps with me, said that she had long decided to go back to her hometown and then take the civil service exam to settle down.

At that time, I was like a headless fly. After several weeks, I frantically submitted my resume to the media industry, but because the major was not suitable for me and the school was uncompetitive in Beijing, I finally did not get any opportunity. So I had to grit my teeth and make a decision: return to my hometown.

Returning to my hometown means that the only way is to take the civil service examination.

In this way, I am doing my work with all my heart, waiting for graduation, and preparing to return to my hometown with Yuanyuan.

In early May, I learned a piece of news on the campus website: Registration for the Western Program for College Students was open.

That was the first time I learned about this plan, so I went to take a look out of curiosity.

The so-called Western Plan is a plan for the Youth League of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China to organize college graduates to go to Xinjiang, Tibet, Qinghai, Ningxia, Yunnan, Guizhou and other provinces and cities under construction to provide volunteer services. Most of them go to various government units, schools, hospitals to do volunteer services, etc.

I was excited when I learned that my hometown happened to be within the scope of the Western Plan.

Didn’t you hit the pillow while dozing off? I have to go back to my hometown anyway, so I can join this volunteer program to go back to my hometown. This may help me take the civil service exam in the future, and it may even be a time buffer.

So I contacted the staff in charge of the Western Plan of the Beijing *** Youth League and learned about the entire plan in detail. I also learned that I could freely choose which province to volunteer in. I thought about it and decided Sign up.

After this incident, I finally felt relieved. After all, things in the future were settled. I looked forward to the days ahead. My mood improved a lot, and the blisters on my mouth also disappeared quietly. Go down.

However, things may not always go as one wishes.

Each year the rules whereby volunteers were free to choose where to go changed that year. Beijing college graduates must choose one of the four provinces of Tibet, Xinjiang, Yunnan and Guizhou as their first choice, and can freely choose their second choice.

I immediately found the liaison person in charge of the Western Volunteer Program and asked about this situation. I got the answer that the number of volunteers who go to these provinces every year is relatively small, so this change was made.

Seeing my hesitation, the liaison officer advised me to sign up first and adjust later. I wanted to go back to my hometown anyway, so I had to think of a way. I might not actually go to those places, and If you really don’t want to go, you can apply to withdraw at that time.

I hesitated for three nights and finally decided to sign up. Anyway, volunteer service can give you extra points in the civil service examination. Even if you can't go back to your hometown as you wish, it's not a bad thing.

The altitude of Tibet is too high. My hometown is in the northwest, so my first choice was to study in Xinjiang.

In late May, the counselor called me to ask about my trip to Xinjiang, and I gave a positive reply.

During the physical examination at the end of May, I learned that there were many graduates participating in the Western Plan across Beijing, and thousands of them were undergoing physical examinations at the physical examination center. That day I met a fellow villager and learned that the service unit she went to was a township government in her hometown. So I asked why and learned that she had found the directional indicators through the volunteer liaison officer in her hometown. I could only lament that I didn’t have much. Think of something.

In June, my classmates left school one after another, and I was informed that I would be waiting for the next arrangement at school. The school gathered all the graduates who participated in the Western Plan in the No. 2 dormitory building to wait for the news. There were more than a dozen people in total, five of whom were going to Xinjiang, two to Yunnan, and some to Guizhou, Gansu and other places.

In addition to me, there were four other girls going to Xinjiang: Chunmei, Xiaojing, Xiaohei, and Brother Hui.

Throughout June, we often went to the *** Youth League Volunteer Service Center for meetings, participated in the farewell party for the Western Plan graduates organized by the school, and gathered with the Western Plan volunteers from the school next door to share with each other. Understand the Western Plan, make various preparations, etc.

At that time, I met Xiao Jia from the school next door. He was also going to Xinjiang, and he sent messages saying that we would help each other more when the time came. I replied and said yes, and also sent messages asking him many questions, but he Ask me not to send too many messages, saying that he charges 50 cents to send text messages and 20 cents to receive text messages, so he is going to be broke.

At that time, I just thought he was interesting, but I didn’t expect that we would actually help each other a lot later. That’s something to say later.

We received the schedule at the end of June. Volunteers going to Xinjiang will report to Xinjiang Normal University in mid-July. After receiving a two-week training there, they will report to their respective service units to volunteer. Serve.

At that time, I already knew that my service unit was Hotan City Forestry Bureau.

Xiaojing and Brother Hui had to go home and report again no matter what. The three of me, Chunmei, and Xiaohei decided not to go home and go directly to Urumqi.

After buying the train tickets, the three of us arrived at Beijing West Railway Station early in the morning pushing ten suitcases and bags, large and small. Because there were too many things, we asked Little Red Riding Hood to help us board the train in advance and started our journey. Two days and one night trip.

The night before I left, I was bitten by four or five mosquitoes and wrapped around my legs. It was so itchy that I jumped up and down and couldn’t sit still. I sprayed the anti-itch toilet water all the way but it didn’t have much effect, so I couldn’t help it all the way. My only impression was that it was itchy, and even the food never tasted good.

Chunmei and Xiaohei took great care of me along the way, and now that I think about it, I am still very grateful.

The train left Beijing at ten o'clock in the morning and walked for a day and a night. The itching all over my body finally felt better. My legs were swollen from the long journey. I walked up and down the aisles and stared at the scenery outside the train in a daze.

At around 11 o'clock in the morning, as the train entered Xinjiang, my cell phone rang. It was a call from a number in Hami. I picked up and it was the liaison officer of the local Communist Youth League in charge of the western plan. He said that they would be waiting at Hami Station and asked us to get off the train and meet them when we arrived at the station.

I informed Chunmei and Xiaohei about this.

It was already past twelve o'clock when we arrived at Hami Station. After the three of us got off the bus, we looked around and saw an eye-catching banner hanging on the platform: Warmly welcome the Western Program volunteers to beautiful Xinjiang!

The three of us walked over and saw a lot of Xinjiang delicacies prepared on the platform, including verdant grapes, sweet and delicious cantaloupe, large watermelons with sweet and thirst-quenching taste, and golden naan as big as a disc, exuding the aroma of Xinjiang. Cumin-scented lamb kebabs and other foods, as well as ice-cold bottled water.

The liaison staff and staff were very enthusiastic. One brought us grapes, another handed us water, and some even gave us wet wipes to wipe our sweat, which made us look embarrassed.

During the chat, we learned that there were seven volunteers on our train, scattered in different carriages, and we were asked to wait.

Sure enough, after a while, the volunteers also wearing white volunteer hats found here. After taking a group photo, the liaison officer and staff thrust all the fruits, food and water into our hands and insisted that we take them away to eat on the way. Although we refused, we finally took him away. It was the first time that I felt the enthusiasm and goodwill from Xinjiang, which was as warm and direct as this land.