Go back to the past to plant trees

After ten days of hard work, plus a good meal and wine, the relationship between the people in the camp improved rapidly. Huang Qiang and Wei Fugui's sense of alienation from Feng Cheng and the others because of Zhang Fulin's incident also gradually disappeared.

For the rest of the time, Feng Cheng ran back and forth between the nursery and the afforestation area, providing technical guidance to the group and teaching them how to prevent unexpected problems.

Zhao Jinquan spent most of his time on carpentry, and others would help out when they had free time. With everyone working together, the tables and chairs needed for the kitchen and canteen were almost ready in just a few days.

Zhao Tianshan applied for all the timber from the Forestry Bureau. Qu He praised Zhao Jinquan after learning about this, saying that he was capable and could save the bureau money.

“Feng Cheng, when I went down to the dam yesterday, Director Qu told me that the college students recruited by Director Yu have already arrived in Chengde and will be going up to the dam in a few days.”

"Captain, how many people are there?" Zhao Jinquan asked immediately after hearing this.

"Eight, four men and four women."

"Eight? That's so many, are they all college students?"

"Probably. Director Yu personally went to recruit them. I heard he traveled all over the country. He wouldn't recruit junior high school students, would he?"

"That's true."

"Has a specific date been set for when we'll be coming up?" Feng Cheng asked.

Zhao Tianshan shook his head: "It's not confirmed yet. They said it would be in a few days, but it's hard to say. Who knows if something unexpected might happen?"

That's how it is these days. Communication is very inconvenient, and it's difficult to get accurate information. Just like this time when college students went to the dam, the county could at least know in advance because they could call ahead to let them know. But there's no way to do that on the dam. Zhao Tianshan is busy these days and frequently goes to the county town, but that's only once every two weeks. Unless a supply truck comes up and notifies them, it's very difficult to find out what's going on down there.

"Oh, right, Director Qu also told us to prepare in advance, to put on a welcoming ceremony or something, to welcome the college students to the dam."

Remembering Qu He's instructions, Zhao Tianshan spoke again.

"We need to hold a welcoming ceremony?" Zhao Jinquan was speechless. "Is it really necessary to be so grand? Even when other leaders come to inspect, there aren't this many things to do."

Zhao Tianshan said, "They are intellectuals, so we need to make them feel respected. What if they feel we don't value them and they run away? This is a college student that Director Yu went to many places to recruit with great difficulty."

Zhao Jinquan continued, "So how should we welcome them? A Yangko dance? What kind of tricks can a few roughnecks like us come up with?"

“Brother Feng, you can play the violin, why don’t you play a few notes for them as a welcome?” Zhao Jinquan said, looking at Feng Cheng beside him.

"Alright, stop talking nonsense," Zhao Tianshan interrupted Zhao Jinquan, saying, "Director Qu has already made arrangements. All we need to do is get some banners, write a few words on them, and then we can get together, clap our hands, and show our respect."

“This is still a bit difficult,” Feng Cheng shook his head and said, “We have no idea when they will arrive at the dam. They said it will be in the next few days, but we don’t know the exact date. Also, when will they arrive? In the morning? At noon? In the evening? We can’t just sit in the camp and wait for them to come up without doing anything! Should we still work? Just to show respect, are we going to waste everyone’s time here for several days?”

"Then what do you think we should do?"

"Let's just do things normally. Lao Wei stays in the camp, and Lao Zhao, you stay in the camp too. If they come up, Lao Wei can cook for them, and you can entertain them. As for us, just do what we're supposed to do. If we run into them, we'll greet them. If we don't, then so be it."

After a pause, Feng Cheng continued, "As for the issue of respect, if these college students feel disrespected and want to leave just because we didn't welcome them, then I think we should let them go. Even if they stay now, they won't stay here for long. Life in the dam area is so tough that even the locals find it hard, let alone these pampered college students. If they don't have the determination to settle down in Saihanba, even if we keep them here temporarily, they will eventually leave."

"That's true, but I think we should still take care of things a little more. You don't need to worry about this, I'll handle it. It won't affect the work at the nursery and the afforestation area."

Although Zhao Tianshan agreed with Feng Cheng's statement, this was a task assigned by Qu He, and college students were indeed important, so Zhao Tianshan decided to treat it with caution.

Of course, no matter how careful they are, it's still the same. Just like Zhao Jinquan said earlier, what kind of tricks can these few rough men come up with? They're just being polite and paying more attention to the details.

"Jin Quan, let's thoroughly clean those dugouts these next few days and see if there's anything else that needs decorating. I saw you made a lot of little things for Feng Cheng out of wood, like pen holders, pen holders, and book boxes. Try to make a couple more sets when you have some free time, and we can give them to these college students as a small token of our appreciation."

After pondering for a while, Zhao Tianshan finally came up with a small solution.

"Captain, making these things is no problem, it's not difficult, but these eight people, I can't possibly finish them in just a few days!"

"It's alright, let's get started. Let's make one or two sample sets first, and then I'll explain it to them. Anyway, they're in Bashang, and we can gradually complete the rest for them later. It shouldn't be a problem if it's a few days late."

"By the way, if you can, make four sets first, give them to the girls first, and give the boys later," Zhao Tianshan instructed.

“Captain, there’s something wrong with your thinking,” Zhao Jinquan said, looking at him with a hint of unease. “Are you thinking about getting married and have your eyes on these female college students?”

"But Captain, you are quite a good match for them. You are a retired military officer, you have a position and a high salary, so you are a good match for these college students."

"Okay, okay, don't talk nonsense," Zhao Tianshan interrupted Zhao Jinquan, "the person hasn't even come up yet, I don't even know what she looks like, how could I have taken a liking to her?"

"This is a strategy of mine. Think about it, it's easier to work with men and women working together. Some of these men might be chasing after the women. If I make the women happy and they stay, then the men will stay too, right?"

“What if the men don’t stay? What if these men don’t like these women? They might just want to go back to the city,” Zhao Jinquan countered.

"Then you'll have a chance, right? College student, if you can get it back, the whole Saihanba will give you a thumbs up."

Zhao Tianshan said jokingly to Zhao Jinquan.

"Me? Forget it, I wouldn't dare to even think about it," Zhao Jinquan shook his head decisively, ignoring Zhao Tianshan's teasing.

Although his answer was firm, Zhao Jinquan's heart was still stirred. He was already 21 years old. In other places, he would have been married long ago, and his children would probably be in school.

Zhao Jinquan was in Bashang, where conditions were harsh, so no girls were willing to come up there. In addition, he had been staying at the camp and was unwilling to marry the ugly girls in Bashang, which caused him to be delayed until now.

Now when Zhao Jinquan goes back home, his parents will talk to him about this matter. However, considering Zhao Jinquan's status as a worker, marrying a woman from the countryside would be difficult due to the issue of food rations. Therefore, his parents are in a dilemma, which has led to Zhao Jinquan being unable to find a suitable partner.

A young, strong man in his twenties, do you think he wouldn't want women? Zhao Jinquan did want them, but here at the camp, with just the two men and a dog, he was completely free from outside temptations, which calmed him down. If he had to work in the county town for two months, he definitely wouldn't be able to stand it and would want to get married and have a warm bed.

Now Zhao Tianshan has stirred his heart. It's not that he's interested in college students, but he's interested in women. He wants to get married and have a wife.