Go back to the past to plant trees

"Feng Cheng, we're going to the county town tomorrow, do you want to come?"

At noon, after finishing his work at the camp, Zhao Tianshan came over to help at the nursery and casually asked Feng Cheng about it.

Feng Cheng asked, "You guys? Who are you with?"

Zhao Tianshan said, "Those college students all need to go down. They've been on the dam for two months and haven't gone down yet. Since we don't have anything else to do right now, let them go down for a few days, go to the county town, and have some fun."

After thinking for a moment, Feng Cheng said, "You guys go ahead, I won't go. So many people are going down to the dam, and the camp needs someone to watch over it. I'll just stay at the camp."

"Okay, is there anything you need? I'll bring it back for you."

"No need, I'll be going down there in a few days anyway, I'll just go and buy it myself then."

Feng Cheng now basically maintains a routine of going down to the dam once a month. One reason is to visit Uncle Liu, since he is getting old, and the other is to buy things, such as daily necessities, and then go to the scrap metal recycling station to see if there is anything he can find.

Last month, Feng Cheng got more than a dozen copper coins there. Although they were all from the Qing Dynasty, they were in very good condition and would be quite nice to use as ornaments or something.

Although he said he didn't want to spend money collecting antiques, it's like people in later generations saying they browse Taobao without buying anything or watch live streams without shopping. Just listen to it and don't take it too seriously. Feng Cheng was the same. At first, he insisted on it, but later when he had time, he wanted to go and take a look. If he came across something, he would feel a little itchy to buy it, since these things would likely be valuable in later generations.

However, as much as he was tempted, he would only browse through scrap yards; he had no interest in spending money to buy antiques.

"Okay, then you can go down and buy it later."

"By the way, with so many of you going down there, where are you planning to stay? In a hotel? Or in the bureau's dormitories? Hotels cost money, and the dormitories have nothing there."

"I'll talk to them about it later. I guess they'll stay in a hotel anyway. They can't just bring a blanket with them! After all, they'll only be staying for two days at most."

"Okay, I'll just give you a heads-up so you can be prepared."

"By the way, did you know that Wu Yansheng is leaving? He said he's going back to Beijing."

"Are you leaving? Heading back to Beijing?"

Feng Cheng looked at Zhao Tianshan with a surprised expression, "Really?"

Zhao Tianshan said, "When you came over this morning, he found Qin Xuemei and said he wanted to leave here and go back to Beijing. He wanted Qin Xuemei to go with him, but Qin Xuemei didn't agree. I also heard what the girls were saying."

"Leaving now?"

Feng Cheng was somewhat surprised by how quickly Wu Yansheng left. He thought Wu Yansheng would stay in Saihanba until next year, but it had only been two months and he was already leaving.

However, considering his current situation, it's understandable that he's leaving. After all, this isn't a drama. In the drama, he and Qin Xuemei had already established a relationship and were preparing to propose. Now, Qin Xuemei has directly rejected him, and the university students don't have a good impression of him either. He's now an outsider to the group.

In this situation, it's perfectly normal to want to leave; after all, it would be difficult for anyone to stay in such an environment.

"Let him go, it doesn't matter. Saihanba doesn't need another one like him."

Zhao Tianshan said with some regret, "Director Yu also asked me to take good care of these students, saying that he would try his best to keep them all here. Who would have thought that one of them would leave after only two months?"

Feng Cheng comforted her, saying, "When it's going to rain, it's going to rain; when a mother wants to remarry, she can't keep someone who wants to leave. There's no need to feel too sorry."

Zhao Tianshan said, "I don't mind Wu Yansheng leaving, but I'm afraid he'll take Shen Mengxi with him. When I came here just now, I saw Shen Mengyin going to find Wu Yansheng. If one of them leaves, I won't be able to explain it. If two leave, I won't be able to be the team leader anymore."

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's fine if Wu Yansheng wants to leave on his own, but it's impossible for him to take Shen Mengyin or anyone else with him. These students were all recruited by Director Yu himself, and the Ministry of Forestry also put in a lot of effort to coordinate with major universities. The Saihanba Forest Farm was established at a time when there was a shortage of manpower. If Wu Yansheng wants to take people away, has he asked Director Yu for his opinion or the opinion of the Chengde Prefectural Committee?"

"If he really does that, he might not be able to leave, let alone bring anyone with him. The Saihanba Forest Farm is directly managed by the ministry. Does Wu Yansheng still want his future?"

"You mean Wu Yansheng can't take Shen Mengyin away?"

Feng Cheng said, "Let alone Shen Mengyin, he can't be taken away by anyone. Director Yu won't agree, and neither will the prefectural committee."

“If he really tries to take people away, you can go directly to the prefectural committee to report him. Then you can stop him. You think you can just refuse to do the job assigned by the state? Are you even Chinese? Are you even a Party member?”

"Isn't this a bit too extreme?" Zhao Tianshan felt that this was going too far.

“What’s wrong with it?” Feng Cheng retorted. “What kind of place is Saihanba? You know how difficult it is to recruit a college graduate in such a harsh environment. If it weren’t for the government’s allocation, do you believe that very few people would be willing to work here?”

“Since we’re here, we can’t let anyone take us away so easily. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can’t let anyone leave. If Shen Mengyin is crying and begging to leave, even if she doesn’t want to work, then that’s fine. But someone like Wu Yansheng is no good. It’s one thing for him to leave on his own, but he also wants to take someone with him. What does he think this place is, a department store, where he can come and go as he pleases?”

“Captain, I think Brother Feng is right,” Zhao Jinquan agreed with Feng Cheng. “If Wu Yansheng is going to take Shen Mengyin away this time, and Yan Xiangli is going to leave, shouldn’t he also take Ji Xiurong with him?”

"Yan Xiangli is leaving too?" Zhao Tianshan was surprised.

"I was just saying, just using an analogy."

"Oh, that scared me. I thought Yan Xiangli was leaving too."

Zhao Tianshan felt like a nanny, having to take care of these college students' daily lives and also consider their mental state. Everything was fine before, but with Wu Yansheng leaving, it was the first time. Zhao Tianshan was afraid that others would follow suit. If a few really left, he would have no way to explain it.

"Don't worry, Lao Zhao. When you go back later, you can have an open and honest talk with Wu Yansheng and tell him what I've said. He'll think it over himself."

Feng Cheng wasn't worried at all that Wu Yansheng would take Shen Mengyin away. Putting aside Shen Mengyin's family situation, given the current job market in the city, Wu Yansheng might not even be able to find a job for himself, let alone arrange one for Shen Mengyin.

Changing jobs is difficult, both now and in the future. Moving between departments is fine, but moving between departments, even with family connections, still requires a lot of effort.