Go back to the past to plant trees

"Did Feng Cheng really say that the survival rate of those saplings was low?"

Two days later, Zhao Tianshan went to the county town and talked to Qu He about planting trees.

Zhao Tianshan said, "Yes, Feng Cheng said that the survival rate of the batch planted by Wu Yansheng would not be ideal, but the survival rate of our previous batch was around 90%."

Qu He nodded. "I was prepared that Wu Yansheng's batch of saplings wouldn't survive. We've tried for so many years and still couldn't get them to grow. How come he was able to make them grow right away?"

Qu He had a very low opinion of Wu Yansheng. He was arrogant, conceited, and disrespectful. Qu He knew that he came from a high-ranking cadre family, but the more he did that, the more dissatisfied Qu He became with him. He thought, "He comes from a high-ranking cadre family, and his parents are both from revolutionary backgrounds. Didn't he learn the virtues of his revolutionary predecessors?"

Qu He had no choice but to give Wu Yansheng five thousand saplings. Many leaders were paying attention to this group of college students. The Party Secretary of the prefecture and the Party Secretary of the county had asked about their situation. How could Qu He refuse Wu Yansheng's request to plant trees at this time? No matter how dissatisfied he was, he couldn't show it at this moment.

Despite the efforts, Qu He had no hope for this tree planting project, because the bureau had tried for so many years and even consulted experts, but they just couldn't get the trees to survive. This already indicated that conventional tree planting methods were useless in Saihanba.

But people always have a sense of wishful thinking, and Qu He also wondered what if Wu Yansheng actually managed to grow the tree?

After all, he is a college student. He himself said that he knows about planting trees in high-altitude areas. Although Qu He did not believe him, what if what he said was true?

But now that the truth has come out, those illusions have been completely shattered.

Although this conclusion was drawn by Feng Cheng, Qu He was still willing to believe in Feng Cheng. After all, Feng Cheng had achieved results, and both the deceased Engineer Chen and the Engineer Li who came two months ago recognized Feng Cheng's abilities. With these two people's endorsement, Qu He was more willing to believe in Feng Cheng's technical abilities.

"Director, when should we have an expert from the region come and inspect it? The college students are so happy right now, they think they've successfully planted the tree. If it's delayed and the tree suddenly dies, they might start to suspect that Feng Cheng did it."

Zhao Tianshan expressed his concerns: given the relationship between Wu Yansheng and Feng Cheng, if the saplings were to suddenly die on a large scale, Wu Yansheng might actually blame Feng Cheng. The reason would be that Feng Cheng was jealous and didn't want them to grow trees on the dam, so he destroyed their saplings to cover up his own failure.

Qu He said, "Let's do it in a couple of days. I'm going to the region in a couple of days, and I'll talk to Director Yu in person then."

"Then you'd better hurry, Director. I still need to go out and survey the terrain. If you're too late, I might not be at the camp."

"Okay, I'll do it as soon as possible."

Qu He nodded, then praised, "Old Zhao, you have a strong initiative. Even though the bureau didn't assign any tasks, you thought of taking the initiative to survey the terrain to prepare for the large-scale afforestation next year."

"Hey, this wasn't my idea, it was Feng Cheng's. I just wanted to do something, I didn't want to just sit idly on the dam, but I didn't know exactly what to do, so I asked Feng Cheng, and he gave me the idea."

Hearing that it was Feng Cheng who came up with the idea, Qu He wasn't too surprised, after all, Feng Cheng was such a capable person in his eyes.

"It seems that pairing you with Feng Cheng was the right decision. Feng Cheng is capable and insightful, and you have strong execution skills. The two of you together are the best partners!"

Zhao Tianshan chuckled, also feeling that he and Feng Cheng were a good match.

Zhao Tianshan chatted with Qu He for a while before leaving the office. His trip wasn't just to report to Qu He; he also brought a lot of things with him, including mailing and collecting letters for everyone, helping with salary collection, and buying things.

Several college students were receiving their first paychecks and had a lot of things to buy. Zhao Tianshan specially brought a horse-drawn carriage down the street, otherwise they wouldn't have been able to carry everything.

"Zhao Tianshan, Captain Zhao..."

After Zhao Tianshan finished receiving his wages, he was about to go to the supply and marketing cooperative when he heard someone calling him from behind. He turned around and saw it was Old Liu.

Zhao Tianshan knew Old Liu because Old Liu had asked him to take things up to Feng Cheng twice, and Zhao Tianshan also knew about his relationship with Feng Cheng.

"Uncle Liu, is there anything else you need to bring up this time?"

Old Liu said, "Yes, I just heard someone say they saw you come downstairs, so I came to check. Remember to come and see me when you go back."

Zhao Tianshan laughed and said, "Uncle Liu, you're being too good to Feng Cheng. Your two kids must be complaining!"

"They dare..."

Old Liu's face hardened, and he said, "Feng Cheng's father is my savior. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't be here, let alone them. If they dare to have any objections, I'll beat them to death."

"Uncle Liu, don't get so angry. I was just saying it casually," Zhao Tianshan said, realizing he had misspoke when he saw how much Old Liu was reacting.

"Remember to come to the cafeteria when you go back, I've prepared my food!"

Old Liu was about to leave after speaking when he suddenly remembered something, took a few steps forward, stood in front of Zhao Tianshan, and whispered,

"Captain Zhao, didn't your camp send four female college students up there? Um, did Feng Cheng take a fancy to any of them?"

"Uncle Liu, I don't know if Feng Cheng has taken a liking to anyone. He doesn't tell me about it. Besides, all the girls in Shangba either have suitors or boyfriends. Even if Feng Cheng has his eye on someone, it won't matter!"

Zhao Tianshan knew what Old Liu meant; he was simply concerned about Feng Cheng's personal life. He had also asked Zhao Tianshan to help persuade Feng Cheng, but Zhao Tianshan was alone and older than Feng Cheng, so he didn't have the confidence to urge Feng Cheng.

"Hey, Feng Cheng is something else. He's such a grown man, yet he doesn't seem to care about his own important matters. If I go down here, how am I supposed to tell Captain Feng about this?"

Old Liu sighed helplessly. He had found several potential partners for Feng Cheng, and the women were interested, but Feng Cheng wouldn't reciprocate. This had caused him to be complained about several times. He originally thought it was because Feng Cheng was highly educated and looked down on the girls in the county. He thought that since this college student had come to the dam, he would be a college student like him and would have something to talk about. Who would have thought that this college student already had a girlfriend?

Zhao Tianshan said, "Uncle Liu, don't be too anxious. The Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm will be established next year, and girls will definitely come to the dam. Feng Cheng may not have a chance now, but that doesn't mean he won't have a chance next year. With his qualifications, he's a college student, a cadre, has a good temper, and is handsome. He's not afraid of not finding a wife. As long as he wants to, he will definitely find one."

Old Liu sighed, "I know everything you're saying, but what I'm afraid of is that he doesn't want to look for it!"

Old Liu didn't talk to Zhao Tianshan about it much, and shook his head before leaving.