Text by Ye Huihui Edited by Huo Yao

The tough days

At the end of 2013,I went to Comoros,an African island country,for the first time.I was 24 years old,serving as client manager during my first month working for Huawei.

Leaving the airport,I got in a car and saw the shabby buildings and old streets through the window—I felt a little uneasy.

I was assigned by my boss to follow up on a submarine cable system project which had just restarted on the island.

My colleagues reminded me that the living conditions there were quite tough.Only one or two hours of electricity were supplied every day,and they were still using the outdated ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) internet service which was spotty.Hence,staying there meant we were basically cut off from the outside world.

艰难岁月不堪提

2013年年底，我第一次来到非洲岛国科摩罗时，我24 岁，进华为不到一个月，做客户经理。

从机场出来，透过车窗玻璃，我看到道路两边都是破败的建筑和街道，隐隐感觉不妙。

领导对我说，华为在科摩罗耕耘多年的海底光缆项目最近重新启动了，派我去跟进。

同事给我打预防针，说这边条件很艰苦，每天只有一两个小时有电，通信信号很差，还是ADSL（非对称数字用户线路）网络拨号上网，来这边基本就是“失联”。宿舍年久失修，设施破旧，没有水也没有电。我拿出手机给国内父母报平安，刚叫了一声“妈”，电话就断了。当时天已黑，我只能借着手机屏幕的光摸到床前，准备歇息，熟料，一屁股把床坐塌了。床垮塌的声响惊动了我的同事和本地司机，大家七手八脚帮我重新拼了床。

我的科摩罗生涯就是这样开始的。

每天晚上供电1 小时，这对我来说非常宝贵，我抓紧烧水做饭。由于天热，睡觉前，我会从水窖打一桶水拎到卫生间，用瓢舀水浇着洗澡。这个时间段，我还要把手机、手电筒都充好电，然后，要么躺在床上思考，要么伏案写点东西。

深夜，吹着印度洋的风，看着窗外深邃而闪烁的星空，听着手机里播放的古典音乐，我觉得内心格外平静。记得有天晚上停电的时候，一位本地员工拿出吉他弹了起来，我会点口琴，跟他合奏起来，其他几个本地的兄弟把手机的照明灯打开，跟着旋律左右摇摆，跟着我们们的音乐唱起来，这个场景一直珍藏在我心里。……