Go back to the past to plant trees

Feng Cheng rode his horse leisurely towards the dam, taking more than four hours to return to the camp. His hindquarters were almost chafed raw by the time he got back to the dam.

No wonder no one comes up here. This is still the closest place. The other side of Saihanba is much farther from the county town, some even more than 200 kilometers away. Coming back from there is really no different from going to Beijing.

Before Feng Cheng even reached the camp, the dog smelled him and ran out of the camp, circling around him.

"Are you hungry? I'll cook something for you right away."

After tying the horse's reins, Feng Cheng patted the dog's forehead.

"By the way, your name is Xiao Liu, so I'll call you Xiao Liu from now on!" Feng Cheng patted his head and said happily.

Xiao Liu didn't know if he understood or not, but he excitedly circled around Feng Cheng.

Upon arriving in the kitchen, Feng Cheng boiled water, washed the pot, and cooked three large potatoes for Xiao Liu.

Xiao Liu followed him around, so he basically ate whatever Xiao Liu ate. There was no such thing as eating leftovers, because leftovers simply don't exist these days.

Watching the dog devour the potatoes, Feng Cheng suddenly became curious and looked behind it.

"It's a female dog! But these days everyone's struggling, so I don't dare bring you a male dog."

"Let's wait a few years, until life gets better. Then I'll take you to find a good dog, breed it, and have a litter of puppies."

"However, in the drama you left after the heavy snow, so we don't know whether you died of old age or starvation."

Feng Cheng stroked the dog's fur and felt that it was still quite young, probably only two or three years old. Dogs can live up to 20 years old, while even the shortest-lived ones can live for about ten years.

Judging by his age, he didn't seem to have died of old age, so he must have starved to death. That makes sense, back then the advance team members were all starving, so how could they have anything to feed the dogs? Xiao Liu was probably starving for several days, and then he ran outside to hide in the heavy snow for a whole day. It's normal for him to have exhausted his life force.

"But don't worry, with me here, you definitely won't leave in the heavy snow. If you do leave, it will be because you've grown old and died naturally."

After patting the dog's head, Feng Cheng went into the dugout where the dog was sleeping.

The place was cluttered with a jumble of things: books, blankets, shoes, clothes, and some everyday items and food.

When the original owner first arrived, he paid attention to personal hygiene, but as time went by, he gradually became lazy and started throwing things around carelessly. Since he lived alone, no one paid attention to his hygiene.

Feng Cheng couldn't stand it anymore and started tidying up.

If nothing unexpected happens, he will be staying here for several years. Even after the forest farm is established, he will still be staying here for a period of time. If the seedling base next door expands, Feng Cheng will have to stay here for even longer.

After spending half an hour tidying up, Feng Cheng thoroughly cleaned the room.

Some of the clothes, pants, and shoes were already worn and patina-covered, so Feng Cheng just tossed them aside and planned to go get some water to wash them later.

Looking inside the dugout, there was nothing but a kang (heated brick bed), a small wooden stool, and a small box containing clothes that Feng Cheng had brought from Beijing.

The dugout wasn't big, since Feng Cheng lived there alone. Considering he needed to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed) in winter, he chose a small one. After all, a large dugout meant a large kang, and a large kang required more firewood, which would be a considerable expense over the whole winter.

Although the forestry bureau will help solve the problem of firewood for heating the kang (a traditional heated bed), it is difficult to explain why too much firewood is used.

Feng Cheng looked around the room and felt that he needed to order some furniture. At the very least, he needed a desk so that it would be more convenient for him to read in the future.

Yes, it needs to be able to be placed on the kang (heated brick bed). After all, it's too cold in winter, and you have to stay on the kang all day. Making one that can be placed on the kang would be perfect for reading on the kang.

After scanning the house, Feng Cheng spotted the Hanyang rifle he had casually placed aside, and his eyes lit up immediately.

"Xiao Liu, let's go hunting."

Picking up his rifle, Feng Cheng called out to Xiao Liu, who, upon hearing Feng Cheng's call, excitedly ran over and circled around him.

The Bashang area is not entirely desert. There are some suitable afforestation areas on some shady slopes. In these afforestation areas, there are some animals such as pheasants, sand goats, goats, and foxes. Although not many, they can be seen occasionally.

The original owner used to shoot these animals with a slingshot, but the harvest was very small. Basically, he could only catch one animal after going out ten or so times.

Because you can't always find prey when you go out, and you can't always hit it even if you do find it.

Feng Cheng rode his horse, leading Xiao Liu to a thicket of thorns not far from the camp, and began searching for wild game.

Unfortunately, I wasn't lucky today; I searched for a long time but didn't find any animals.

Feng Cheng didn't dare let Xiao Liu in either, because there might be snakes or scorpions inside, which Feng Cheng had seen before.

After watching for about ten minutes, Feng Cheng lost patience, picked up his gun, loaded it, and fired a shot at the sandy ground not far away.

Startle the snake by disturbing the grass. Pheasants, sand scorpions, and the like will panic when they hear a noise, and in their panic, they will run around in a panic.

Sure enough, after Feng Cheng fired his gun, two pheasants fluttered out of the brambles, and Feng Cheng immediately loaded his gun and took aim.

Snapped.

Missed.

clap clap.

After loading and aiming repeatedly, I finally hit one after three shots.

"Xiao Liu, go and retrieve it."

Xiao Liu immediately ran out upon hearing the call and returned with a pheasant in no time.

Feng Cheng took the pheasant from Xiao Liu's mouth, weighed it in his hand, and estimated it to be about a pound.

"Better than nothing!"

Touching the gun in his hand, Feng Cheng was quite satisfied. With this thing, shooting things to eat would be a simple matter in the future.

It's a pity there aren't many animals here. I guess I won't be able to find them after two more visits, since it takes time for wild animals to reproduce.

But what does this have to do with me? We can only talk about protecting animals when we're full. I'm starving to death, what animals can I protect? I can't even protect people.

The original owner had practiced marksmanship with the security department when he was in school; otherwise, if he had to start from scratch, it would have taken forever to reach the point where he could shoot pheasants.

Even so, Feng Cheng felt that his ability to hit the pheasant was mostly due to luck.

Having made a gain, Feng Cheng was unwilling to stay there any longer. He rode his horse back to the camp with Xiao Liu in tow.

After resting for a while, Feng Cheng carried buckets to the water source to fetch water.

Feng Cheng estimated that one bucket of water wouldn't be enough to wash clothes, cook, and take a bath; he might need two or three buckets.

It seems we need to build a water-carrying vehicle. That way, one trip can carry enough water for two or three days. Anyway, we have horses, so we don't need to worry about it being too heavy to pull.

Furthermore, a lot of water is needed for seedling cultivation. If he had to carry it by himself, he wouldn't be able to do any work. Besides, Feng Cheng didn't want to make himself so tired.

I need to remember this; I'll take care of it when I go down in a couple of days.