The Duku Highway, hailed as “China’s most beautiful highway,” traverses diverse landscapes including deserts, snow-capped mountains, canyons, grasslands, and wetlands. Built by the military over ten years starting in 1974, the highway’s treacherous terrain resulted in the loss of a soldier for every three kilometers, ultimately claiming the lives of 168 soldiers.
Chen Jungui was a soldier who participated in the construction of the section of the Duku Highway that traverses the Tianshan Mountains. On April 6, 1980, his unit was trapped by a blizzard. Chen Jungui, along with his squad leader Zheng Linshu, deputy squad leader Luo Qiang, and fellow soldier Chen Weixing, were ordered to seek help. In temperatures of minus twenty to thirty degrees Celsius, they trekked for three days and two nights on snow-covered mountains at an altitude of over 3,000 meters. Everyone was pushed to their limits, and only one steamed bun remained of their supplies.
Squad Leader Zheng Linshu made a crucial decision. He took out the frozen, rock-hard steamed bun and said, “Deputy squad leader Luo Qiang and I are Party members, and Chen Weixing is a veteran. This bun is for Chen Jungui!” Chen Jungui first refused, finally, ordered by the squad leader, he ate the bun with tears in his eyes. At the time, the oldest of the four was the squad leader, 26 years old, while Chen Jungui at 21 was the youngest, and he had only been in the squad for 38 days.
Not long after they continued their journey, Squad Leader Zheng Linshu collapsed. Before dying, he expressed two wishes: first, to be buried in the nearby mountains so he could forever watch over his unit and fellow soliders; second, that since he had failed to properly care for his parents during his lifetime, he hoped Chen Jungui would visit his parents on his behalf. Soon afterwards, Deputy Squad Leader Luo Qiang also fell and remained forever in the Tianshan Mountains. Chen Weixing and Chen Jungui were eventually rescued by herders, but both suffered severe frostbite.
After receiving four years of medical treatment, Chen Jungui was discharged and returned to his hometown in Liaoning, where he found a stable job. However, every time he thought of the squad leader, he was tormented. He always felt that he had survived only because he ate that steamed bun, and he had yet to fulfill the squad leader’s final request. He had known the squad leader for only 38 days and knew nothing about him except that he was from Hubei province.
In 1985, moved by a movie about the Tianshan Highway, Chen Jungui made a decision: to return to the Tianshan Mountains where the squad leader was buried, to stay with him and the soldiers who had sacrificed their lives to build the highway. He quit his job and took his wife and newborn son back to the Tianshan Mountains, over 3,000 kilometers away. They settled on a hillside closest to the squad leader’s grave, cultivating wasteland and struggling to survive.
Besides tending his squad leader’s grave, Chen Jungui never stopped searching for his squad leader’s parents. However, due to poor communication facilities and their difficult living conditions, despite numerous inquiries, he found nothing. It wasn’t until 2005 that Chen Jungui finally found them, but by then, they had already passed away. Chen Jungui traveled two days to visit their grave, fulfilling his squad leader’s last wish.
To this day, Chen Jungui has been keeping company with his squad leader for more than 40 years, and he will continue to do so for the rest of his life.
#33 一个馒头，一生的守护
独库公路在中国被誉为“最美的公路”，沿途经过戈壁、雪山、峡谷、草原、湿地等多种地貌。公路是1974年起由军队历经十年建成。危险的地理环境导致每三公里就有一名战士牺牲，总共有168名战士付出了生命。
陈俊贵是随部队参与修建独库公路横亘天山一段的一名战士。1980年4月6日，部队被暴风雪围困，陈俊贵和班长郑林书、副班长罗强、战友陈卫星奉命外出求援。在零下二三十度的严寒中，他们在海拔3000多米的雪山上爬行了三天两夜，所有人都到了极限，而携带的馒头只剩下最后一个。
生死关头，班长郑林书做出了决定。他拿出那个被冻得硬邦邦的馒头，说，“我和副班长罗强是党员，陈卫星是老兵，这个馒头给陈俊贵吃！” 陈俊贵先是拒接，最后在班长的命令下含着泪吃下这个馒头。当时四个人里面最年长的是班长，26岁，陈俊贵最年轻，只有21岁，而且调到班里才38天。
四个人继续前行了没多远，班长郑林书就倒下了。临终前，他说了两个心愿：一是希望死后就葬在附近的山上，永远看护着部队和战友；二是生前没有好好孝敬父母，希望陈俊贵能到老家替他看望一下父母。 后来副班长也倒在了雪地里，永远地留在了天山。陈卫星和陈俊贵后来被牧民救起但都被严重冻伤。
陈俊贵接受了四年的治疗后复员回到辽宁老家，有了稳定的工作。但每当想起班长，他都备受煎熬。他总觉得，是自己吃掉了那个馒头才活了下来，而班长的临终嘱托还没有兑现。他和班长仅仅相处了38天，只知道班长是湖北人，其他一概不知。
1985年，受到一部关于天山公路的电影的触动，陈俊贵做出一个决定：重新回到埋葬班长的天山脚下，陪伴班长和修筑天山公路牺牲的战友们。他辞掉工作，带着妻子和刚刚出生的儿子重返3000多公里外的天山。他们住到离班长最近的一个山坡上，开垦荒地，艰难度日。
除了为班长守墓，陈俊贵从也来没有停止过对班长父母的找寻，可通信设施的落后，加之家庭生活条件不好，虽多方打听，一直未果。直到2005年才打听到，但那时班长的父母已经去世，陈俊贵经过两天的行程到老人的墓前看望，完成了班长的遗愿。
到今天，陈俊贵已经守护班长40多年，他会终生守护下去。