12 EPLight the Dark
In the 1990s, when the oil industry boomed rapidly, some soared to success by riding the trend, while others fell into obscurity. The fates, joys, and sorrows of small figures in the roaring great era reflect each of us. Driven by reforms to generate more revenue and pursue high-speed business expansion, factional struggles within the oil system grew increasingly fierce, with undercurrents surging in the family courtyard of this small town. The temptation of power and money amplified the hidden desires deep in ordinary people's hearts. The wrong paths a generation took would eventually require corresponding prices to be paid. In 1997, in Wugang, a small city in southwest China, Chen Shan's family lived in the single dormitory allocated by the local southwest oil work unit. His father, Chen Fu, was the top leader of the oil pipeline construction project; his mother, Zhang Wenying, was a core designer at the petroleum design institute; and his elder sister, Chen Ying, worked in the archives department of the supply station. The whole family lived in harmony, and Chen Shan was expected to follow in his parents' footsteps and join the oil system. However, a sudden pipeline gas explosion changed everyone's fate. Chen Fu died in the accident, and Zhang Wenying became a victim of the internal struggles within the oil system. Unable to bear the huge blow, Chen Shan left home alone and worked in the emergency repair team to make ends meet. In 2001, the southwest oil system rode the express train of economic development, and every household enjoyed a middle-class life. Chen Shan became the head of the construction team, known as "Brother Shan," but he remained trapped in the past, like a walking dead. Later, he encountered another unexpected explosion case involving Geng, the former dean of the design institute who had lost the factional struggle years ago.
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