Go back to the past to plant trees

"Feng Cheng, your calligraphy is really good, even better than that of the schoolteacher in our village."

When college students came to the dam, Qu He asked them to write a welcome banner. There were only a few people on the dam, and Feng Cheng was the most educated among them, so the task naturally fell to him.

"It's just that the handwriting is neat and barely legible. Compared to those teachers who have written all their lives, it's far inferior. Their handwriting is good enough to be sold."

"Come on, I like your style. The ones they write are like scribbles, you can't even figure out what the characters are after a long time. They say they have some kind of charm or something, they just know how to fool us roughnecks," Zhao Tianshan said with a sneer.

Feng Cheng smiled and said, "Only those who understand this can appreciate it; to those who don't, it just looks like scribbles."

In his previous life, Feng Cheng didn't understand either. In this life, the original owner knew a little, so he understood as well. But he felt that Zhao Tianshan was right. Neat handwriting was enough. Handwriting was for people to read, and the primary purpose was for people to understand it. As for other things, one had to be well-fed before one was qualified to understand those things.

"Let's put these banners in the cellar to let the ink dry for a while, and then we'll take them out and hang them up tomorrow."

"Row."

As Zhao Tianshan spoke, he carefully put away the banners.

"Feng Cheng, how are we going to manage these college students after they come to the dam? I have absolutely no idea how to do it. As the team leader, can I control them? Will they listen to me?"

After packing his things, Zhao Tianshan returned to Feng Cheng's side and said to him with some concern.

Feng Cheng said, "How can we manage them? Just do it the same way as now. Assign them work. If you don't understand the technical issues, then don't worry about them. I'll communicate with them. You can take care of their living conditions. Just make sure they live well. Just do it the same way as now. There's no difference. College students are people too. They also have two shoulders and one head. There's no need to worry too much."

"That's true, but I'm still not confident. Why don't you take the captain's position?"

"What are you thinking? I don't have that much time to deal with these things. I'm already overwhelmed with these things, and you want me to deal with these trivial matters? Do you want to work me to death?" Feng Cheng shook his head without even thinking.

"Then you think of a way to arrange their work after they get to the dam. We can't just leave them idle!"

"If you're not busy, then so be it. Take some time to adjust. You've moved to a new place, so you need to get familiar with it and adapt to the new environment!"

"That's true, but I'm afraid they'll be idle and then see how harsh the conditions are here, and they'll want to quit. But I need to find something for them to do, so they won't have so much time to think about other things. If they wait long enough, they'll get used to it here, and then they won't leave."

"Moreover, as long as we find them jobs, it gives us the opportunity to get to know each other. Look at this tree planting. When Lao Wei and Huang Qiang first came here, they didn't get along well with us. But after planting these trees, you see, we all became closer. I think this tree planting is like fighting a war. After a war, everyone becomes people with revolutionary friendship. When the relationship is closer, they may not be so resistant to this place, and there is hope that they will stay here."

“Those who are meant to leave will leave sooner or later; they won’t stay just because you try to persuade them to,” Feng Cheng said meaningfully.

Among the first batch of college students to arrive at the dam, Yan Xiangli was the first to leave. Wu Yansheng would have left too if it weren't for the blizzard blocking the mountain and the food shortage in the dam area.

It's not just this batch of college students; after the establishment of the mechanical forest farm next year, many students and staff transferred from all over the country will also be unable to endure the hardships of Saihanba and will choose to leave. This is not something that leaders like Yu Zheng can do to retain them.

“But we have to try,” Zhao Tianshan continued, as if he hadn’t heard Feng Cheng’s words. “Feng Cheng, really, you really have to think of a way for me.”

"If you can come up with a good idea, I'll treat you to drinks. I'll buy some good wine next time I go down to the dam to treat you."

Zhao Tianshan looked at Feng Cheng and said with a resolute expression.

"I don't need your drink, but since you asked me, I'll give you an idea!"

"You said."

Feng Cheng said, "Old Zhao, what do you think we need to learn first when we live in Bashang?"

"What can you do? Cook? Plant trees?" Zhao Tianshan guessed two things but was too lazy to keep guessing, so he just asked, "Feng Cheng, stop keeping me in suspense. You know I'm not smart, just tell me directly."

Feng Cheng smiled and said slowly, "The first thing you need to learn to live in Bashang is to ride a horse."

"horse riding?"

"Yes, think about it. This place is sparsely populated. There's only one bad road that trucks can pass through. If you want to go somewhere else, how else can you go besides walking? Isn't the only option to ride a horse?"

"So the first thing to learn to live in Bashang is to ride a horse. These college students may not be able to stand the loneliness when they first come to Bashang. They may have to go down to the dam every now and then. When there are no cars, they will definitely have to ride down on horseback. So when they come up, you can teach them to ride a horse first. This will take several days. You can use these days to get to know them well and also take up their time."

“Learning to ride a horse is a good idea,” Zhao Tianshan thought about it and agreed that Feng Cheng’s words made a lot of sense. In Saihanba, it’s okay for places that are close by, but if you go to places that are further away, you really can’t do it without a horse. The main reason is that there are wolves that often appear here. If you don’t ride a horse, you can easily be attacked by wolves. If you ride a horse, you don’t have to worry about such things. At the very least, you can run away.

"So what happens after you learn to ride a horse? Riding a horse is easy to learn, it only takes three to five days at most. What do you do after you learn it?"

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "I don't need to worry about what happens next. These college students will take care of it themselves."

"They'll arrange it themselves? You mean they'll find things to do on their own?" Zhao Tianshan asked doubtfully.

"Correct."

"What kind of work can they find to do?"

Feng Cheng didn't answer his question, but said mysteriously, "You'll find out when the time comes. If they don't make any arrangements, I'll think of a way for you."

"You said it yourself, don't try to fool me."

"Rest assured, a gentleman's word is as good as his bond."

Although Feng Cheng was somewhat mysterious, Zhao Tianshan decided to trust him. After spending time together, he had come to understand Feng Cheng better and knew that he disliked people who liked to boast.

Furthermore, Feng Cheng also said that if college students couldn't find work, he would help them find a solution. With this guarantee, Zhao Tianshan didn't want to worry about anything else. With Feng Cheng backing him up, he felt very reassured.