《Entering the 1970s》
In 1973, the world faced its first oil crisis, and many major oil-importing countries experienced economic downturns.
The following year, Taiwan's Premier Chiang Ching-kuo promoted the nation's "Ten Major Construction Projects," using public infrastructure as a driving force to stimulate other downstream industries. At the peak of the projects, Taiwan had a workforce of 100,000 engineers, comparable to the 100,000 youth and soldiers during the war. This milestone helped create Taiwan's economic miracle and propelled the island into the ranks of the "Four Asian Tigers."
At this time, Ashan left his job at the city government and joined a renowned domestic engineering company, becoming one of the 100,000 workers involved in the construction efforts.
Ashan's first project was the construction of the expressway, where he worked for many years on the Linkou section. It felt like returning to the military engineer unit, living on the construction site. The overall conditions were much better than before, with at least the issue of bathing no longer a problem. However, the work still involved enduring the elements—sun, rain, and dust—though the food was no longer as unpleasant as it had been in the past.
Fortunately, Linkou was not far from Taipei, so Ashan was able to return home frequently. However, he could see his parents growing older, and with the added responsibility of taking care of his granddaughter, it was clear they were struggling. Yet, his father always encouraged him and agreed with his mother’s view: serving the country didn’t have to mean being a soldier; what the country needed most was development, and contributing to the engineering workforce was just as important as military service. “Do your best, son,” his father said.
《邁入一九七０年》
民國六十二年 (1973 年)，世界碰到了第一次石油危機，各主要石油輸入國都遭受到經濟衰退的危機。
次年，台灣當時的行政院長蔣經國先生推動了國內十大建設，以公共建設為火車頭，帶動其他下游的民間工業。僅在工程一項，於最高峰時國內有十萬名的工程大軍，真可比美抗戰時的十萬青年十萬軍。這是創造台灣經濟奇蹟的一個里程碑，也把台灣推進了「亞洲四小龍」的行列。
阿三在此時離開了市政府的工作，加入國內知名的工程公司，成了十萬工程大軍中的一員。
首先阿三參加了高速公路的建造工程，在林口段工作了好多年。這時又像回到了工兵連，住在工地裏面。工作的整體環境當然比當年好了很多，至少洗澡不是個問題。不過施工時日曬雨淋，塵土飛揚總是避免不了，但也不會再吃到帶了消化「砂」的伙食了。
還好林口離台北不算遠，回家的機會也不少。只是感到父母日益老邁，又帶著外孫女，實在辛苦。不過老爸一直都鼓勵阿三，也同意了阿三媽的看法，報效國家不一定要幹軍人，現在國家最需要的是建設，投入工程大軍跟從軍沒有兩樣。好好幹吧！兒子。
