Go back to the past to plant trees

Having received the news from Yu Zheng that the personnel would be arriving at the dam the day after tomorrow, Feng Cheng considered his work for the day complete.

Looking at the time, it was only noon. Feng Cheng calculated that if he returned to Bashang at this time, he should be able to reach the camp before sunset.

After having a meal at the canteen, Feng Cheng packed his things and then rode his horse up the dam.

When Feng Cheng first started riding horses, he was very excited, but after riding up and down the dam a few times, he lost interest. This thing is good for walking around and showing off, but riding it for a long time is simply torture.

Feng Cheng's groin was chafed and a bit raw yesterday, and it hasn't healed yet, so he was very slow on his way up the dam. He didn't get back to the campsite until the sun was about to set.

After tying the horse up, Feng Cheng patted Xiao Liu's head as it galloped over, then looked at the food he had prepared for him yesterday.

There was still half a sweet potato in the dog bowl. Feng Cheng patted his head and said, "You can't be picky about food! I don't even have the right to be picky."

I went to the kitchen and cooked something to eat, and I also prepared a portion for Xiao Liu. I don't know if it's because it tastes better when it's hot, but Xiao Liu ate a lot this time. He ate not only what Feng Cheng cooked tonight, but also the leftovers from yesterday.

After eating, Feng Cheng took a shower and then began to look through information about seedling cultivation.

The original owner hadn't studied this subject much before, so now that it was time to cultivate seedlings, Feng Cheng could only cram at the last minute.

Fortunately, the knowledge on seedling cultivation was comprehensive, and the Forestry Bureau had recorded some problems encountered in seedling cultivation over the years, along with solutions, so Feng Cheng didn't find it too difficult to learn.

The next day, Feng Cheng picked up a shovel and headed to the nursery he had chosen.

There are several suitable places for raising seedlings, but the most suitable place is also the farthest from the camp, about five or six kilometers away. It would take more than ten minutes to ride a horse, and at least half an hour to walk.

The pH levels of the other locations were all similar, so Feng Cheng chose one that wasn't far from the camp, just a four- or five-minute walk away. The soil there wasn't the best, but it was the most suitable for Feng Cheng to cultivate seedlings.

Arriving at the chosen nursery with a shovel, Feng Cheng began to plan the size of the nursery.

Because she didn't have a ruler, Feng Cheng didn't know if she had cultivated an acre of land. She just roughly measured the length and width and then planned the approximate size and length of each seedbed.

The land is unclaimed anyway, so Feng Cheng can do whatever he wants with it. If he doesn't have enough, he can make more; if he has too much, he can leave it idle. These are all minor matters.

After a busy morning, Feng Cheng was so tired that his back ached. He went home for lunch and then came back to work in the afternoon.

Although he really didn't want to do this hard work, Feng Cheng knew he couldn't escape it, so even if he was unwilling, he couldn't run away like a child and could only grit his teeth and do it.

"Xiao Liu, this job is inhuman! In this sweltering heat, I've drunk almost half a bucket of water!"

Returning home in the evening, Feng Cheng, exhausted, sat on the sand outside the camp, stroking Xiao Liu's head, and said with great emotion.

Feng Cheng had always heard that farm work was inhuman, but he didn't really understand it then. Today, he truly felt it. This was just the preliminary work. The subsequent tasks of turning the soil, fertilizing, raising seedlings, thinning seedlings, weeding, and watering made Feng Cheng's scalp tingle just thinking about it.

This is only one acre. How do those who manage to cultivate seven or eight acres, or even more than ten acres, manage to do it?

Feng Cheng dared not think about it, because just thinking about it made his scalp tingle.

After resting outside the camp for a while, Feng Cheng felt increasingly hungry and had no choice but to get up and go to the kitchen to cook.

Boil water, add rice to cook porridge, then wash two sweet potatoes and potatoes and throw them in to cook together.

Simmer over low heat until the porridge is cooked, then the potatoes and sweet potatoes will also be cooked.

This is how the original owner cooked when she was lazy. It perfectly matches that quote online: simple, hygienic, and healthy, but not tasty at all.

Feng Cheng doesn't really like cooking because it's troublesome, but it's not that he can't cook at all. He has cooked before, but that was when he had ingredients and seasonings. Right now, with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and some millet and oat flour, it's all staple food with no vegetables. No matter how good Feng Cheng's cooking skills are, it's useless. He can only throw everything into a pot, cook it as he sees fit, and eat it.

After spending half an hour cooking the food, Feng Cheng poured a bowl for Xiao Liu and then drank the rest himself.

Watching Xiao Liu eat heartily, Feng Cheng felt that Yu Zhenglai was indeed very good to him. In an era when people couldn't even get enough to eat, he still had enough supplies to feed a dog.

Although the food supply was limited to just one person and one dog, it was still quite enviable in that era of scarcity.

In other words, Feng Cheng stayed on the dam and didn't go down to the dam. Otherwise, if people knew that he also kept a dog, they would criticize him to death.

A few days ago, Yu Zheng asked him to take his dog down to the dam. Feng Cheng said he was afraid someone would steal it. This is a very normal thing to say in this day and age. Even if Xiao Liu is thin, he still has more than ten pounds of meat. For those who haven't seen meat for several years, how can they not be tempted?

This isn't the future. In this era, apart from livestock like horses and mules, other animals had no protection. If your dog got caught, even if you caught the person and reported it to the police, they would only compensate you a few cents at most. The police wouldn't side with you because, in their eyes, it's just a dog; they can eat it if they want.

Yeah, it's no different from eating a chicken.

After eating, Feng Cheng took a bath outside with a water ladle. He was all alone on the dam. Feng Cheng didn't pay any attention to anything. Apart from mosquitoes, no one paid any attention to him.

After taking a shower and feeling refreshed, Feng Cheng led Xiao Liu into the dugout.

Xiao Liu has a fixed routine for pooping and peeing. The original owner even made a potty for him, and he would always pee there. Although this would make the room smell, there was no other way. If Xiao Liu were put outside, accidents could easily happen. Don't think that just because Xiao Liu is an animal, he's safe outside. If he encounters a wolf, one or two Xiao Lius might be able to handle it, but if there are more, Xiao Lius will end up being eaten.

The purpose of Xiao Liu is to accompany you and serve as a warning; it is not meant for fighting or hunting.

However, smelling the stench in the dugout, Feng Cheng felt he should make a doghouse for Xiao Liu. Although Xiao Liu had saved his life and was as close to him as a brother, things couldn't go on like this forever; the smell was truly awful.

Moreover, he also needed to get a toilet. Although the show said that it was safer to use the toilet in the room during winter, Feng Cheng felt that it was fine to have a toilet in the room. He wasn't going to install a flush toilet; he was just going to put a toilet in a partitioned area. How could that possibly isolate the smell? It wouldn't be like the whole room is now.