Go back to the past to plant trees

"Master, will Secretary Yu be back tomorrow?"

That day, when the truck was delivering supplies to the dam, Feng Cheng went over and asked the driver a question.

"How would I know?" the driver said. "Secretary Yu didn't tell me which day he would go to the dam."

"Has our forestry farm's seedling planter returned yet?" Feng Cheng continued to ask.

The driver shook his head. "No, I didn't see any seedling transplanters from the bureau when I came up. I guess it'll be a few more days!"

Feng Cheng nodded, thinking that Secretary Yu should still be in the provincial capital and probably wouldn't be able to make it back to attend the university students' welcome party.

When Yu Zhenglai went to pick up the seedling planter, Feng Cheng realized that he might not be able to make it back. In those days, train capacity was tight, and accidents on the tracks were common. Train delays and schedule changes were frequent. Even if the train was on time and delivered the seedling planter on schedule, it would be difficult for Yu Zhenglai to make it back. After all, it was a trip to the provincial capital to pick up the machine, which would take two days round trip, not to mention the handover and other matters involved.

However, even though he knew, Feng Cheng still had to come and ask, since the process was completely different whether Yu Zheng participated or not.

After saying goodbye to his master, Feng Cheng turned and went back to his office.

Shen Mengyin, Qin Xuemei, and a few others were sitting in the office. There was a fireplace here, which was much warmer than outside. When Yu Zhenglai was at the forest farm, they didn't dare to come here much. After all, Yu Zhenglai was a leader, and they weren't very familiar with him.

After Feng Cheng went inside, he casually closed the door and asked Li Xiurong, "Ji Xiurong, what's the temperature today?"

Ji Xiurong replied, "When I came here, I checked the temperature and it was 12 degrees Celsius. Now it's noon, so it should be around 14 or 15 degrees Celsius."

Feng Cheng nodded. There was no sun today, so the temperature was a little lower. A few days ago, it was around 20 degrees Celsius at noon.

Feng Cheng just tested the soil's hardness, and it's still not quite right. He estimates it will take another half a month before they can start planting trees.

"Secretary Yu probably won't be back tomorrow. Without a leader, the welcome party doesn't need to be so formal. Let's keep it light."

"Let's keep it light; everyone's here to have fun."

Shen Mengyin said, "It might sound a bit harsh, but I think we'd have a better time if Secretary Yu didn't come."

"Of course! With the leaders watching, no one dares to laugh too loudly. Besides, when the leaders arrive, there will definitely be a speech session, which is the most annoying thing."

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "Don't say that. Secretary Yu is a very good person. As long as you don't go too far, he basically won't interfere. Besides, Secretary Yu doesn't like long speeches. Have you ever seen him talk a lot in front of you?"

"That's true. Secretary Yu always finishes his speeches in just a few sentences."

It's not just later generations who like to complain about their leaders; employees of all eras like to complain about their leaders. It's just that leaders in this era generally have higher moral character, so most employees still defend their leaders.

The weather is still cold. Strictly speaking, we are still in the hibernation period. Although the weather has turned cold, there is really not much work to be done.

Feng Cheng sat on the table reading the newspaper. It was quiet inside and outside the room. The college students had all quieted down. After the initial novelty wore off and they had explored the area around the forest farm, they were now mostly staying in the dugouts, except for a few who couldn't sit still and were still running around.

“Hongying…”

While Feng Cheng and the others were sitting idly in the office, Liang Hongying carefully opened the door, and Qin Xuemei looked over when she heard the sound.

"Sister Xuemei..."

Liang Hongying greeted them.

"busy?"

“Yes,” Liang Hongying nodded, “We’re knitting in the room, but there are some patterns I don’t know how to do. I heard you say you know how to knit some patterns, so I thought I’d ask you to come over and teach me.”

"Um, Sister Xuemei, are you free?"

“Of course I’m free,” Qin Xuemei said, getting up because she was bored sitting there. “I’ll come over and teach you. Judging from your appearance, you’re probably doing this for your Yang Yu.”

Liang Hongying chuckled, no longer blushing.

Ji Xiurong said, "I'll go take a look too."

Shen Mengyin: "I'll go too."

It wasn't just Qin Xuemei who was bored; several girls were also quite bored. Da Kui and the others had already gone to play cards and chess with the boys, leaving only the few of them standing there in a daze.

"Meng Yue, are you going or not?"

Seeing that Meng Yue didn't speak, Shen Mengyin asked a question.

"You guys go ahead, I'll sit here for a bit and then I'll come over."

"Is there any good place to sit here? Come with us."

"You go first, I'll be right back."

"Row."

Shen Mengyin didn't say much. Anyway, it was nearby, and it would only take Meng Yue a few minutes to get there.

Qin Xuemei and the other two got up and followed Liang Hongying to her dormitory.

Only Feng Cheng and Meng Yue remained in the office. Feng Cheng slowly flipped through the newspaper.

"Feng Cheng..."

After a while, Meng Yue suddenly called out to Feng Cheng.

"Ah...you called me..."

Feng Cheng paused for a moment, then looked at Meng Yue, who was not far away.

"Ah."

Meng Yue nodded and said, "They're not here right now, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

"Well, you said."

Meng Yue looked intently at Feng Cheng and asked, "What do you think of Xue Mei?"

Meng Yue's expression was very serious, and Feng Cheng could roughly guess the meaning behind her question from her expression.

"That's great!"

Hearing Feng Cheng's ambiguous answer, Meng Yue pursed her lips and suddenly didn't know what to say next. She really wanted to say that Xue Mei liked him a lot, and if he liked Xue Mei too, then he shouldn't keep dragging it on.

Meng Yue, however, felt a pang of bitterness. She had originally wanted to find an opportunity to clarify the relationship between the two. If Feng Cheng was truly interested, then they shouldn't delay. But she was also afraid that Feng Cheng wasn't interested. If she directly broke the ice, how would Xue Mei face Feng Cheng in the future?

Meng Yue was silent for a while before whispering, "Several boys have been asking about Xue Mei these past few days. I helped cover for her, but this won't last long. More people will come later, and there will always be a few who won't give up."

"If you... have any ideas, don't drag it out. It's not good for either of you."

Meng Yue knew about Qin Xuemei's family situation. As her best friend, she sincerely hoped that Qin Xuemei could find a partner who would truly treat her well. After all, Qin Xuemei no longer had any family to rely on, and it would be too cruel for her if her partner was not good.

Wu Yansheng is deeply in love with Qin Xuemei and tolerates her in every way, which is why Meng Yue wanted to bring them together. However, Qin Xuemei doesn't reciprocate his feelings. Now, Qin Xuemei has taken a liking to Feng Cheng. Meng Yue admits that Feng Cheng is also quite good and better than Wu Yansheng, but Feng Cheng's ambiguous attitude makes her uneasy. Feng Cheng has had someone else in his heart, and she is afraid that Qin Xuemei cannot replace that person.

After saying this, Meng Yue got up to leave. As she opened the door, Feng Cheng's voice came from inside.

"I spent three years in Bashang just to plant trees that would survive. Now I don't have much energy to devote to anything else, at least..."

Feng Cheng paused for a moment, then slowly said, "I can only feel at ease and consider other things after the spring afforestation is completed and the trees have survived."

Meng Yue glanced back at Feng Cheng, nodded, and then left.

Although she didn't get the answer she wanted, Feng Cheng did make his stance clear, which reassured her a lot. It would only be a few months anyway, and that would be soon.