Go back to the past to plant trees

Around 4 PM, Yu Zhenglai, Qu He, Zhao Jinquan, and Na Da Kui returned covered in mud.

"Secretary Yu, your lower body is completely soaked. Go back and change your clothes first!"

Feng Cheng saw Yu Zheng standing in front of the fireplace, shivering in his pants, clearly suffering from the cold.

"No need, it'll dry quickly after a quick toasting."

Yu Zheng replied with a sentence, and then asked, "Is Engineer Li up here?"

"I came up here at noon, bringing my sister-in-law and child with me. I noticed that my sister-in-law and child weren't quite used to the climate here."

Yu Zheng shook his head. "Sigh, I told him not to bring the child up so soon. It's so cold now. We should wait until after May Day when the temperature warms up before bringing him up, but he won't listen."

“I’ll go down to the dam in a couple of days and bring my wife and kids with me, so that Mr. Li’s wife can have some company.”

Feng Cheng shook his head helplessly. He had just mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect Yu Zheng to think of this so soon.

Yu Zhenglai dried his pants in the fire. Although they weren't completely dry, his feet weren't so cold anymore. He moved a stool over and sat down in front of the fireplace.

"Do you still have any good stuff at your camp? Engineer Li is coming up, I should treat him to a nice meal to welcome him."

Feng Cheng replied, "There's nothing good left. We've been hiding all winter, and we've almost used up all the good stuff. There's just a little over a pound of spicy meat left, which Uncle Liu brought over."

"A little over a pound of spicy pork is enough. Stir-fry some cabbage, add the spicy pork, and some pickled vegetables or something. That's enough."

"Tell Zhao Jinquan later not to go back so soon, but to stay and cook some dishes for me."

Yu Zheng had tasted Zhao Jinquan's dishes and knew that he was a good cook. When entertaining guests, one must have a skilled cook in charge of the cooking.

"Okay, I'll talk to him about it later."

It was a good thing for Zhao Jinquan to catch Yu Zhenglai's eye. The Saihanba Forest Farm had just been established and was short of people everywhere. Zhao Jinquan was a worker, and in other times, it would have been very difficult for him to become a cadre. But now, there were many opportunities.

Feng Cheng was thinking of bringing it up with Yu Zheng sometime to promote Zhao Jinquan. Putting aside the position, at least his cadre status would be resolved, so that when he got a position later, he would have a chance to take over.

Having spent two years together, the two, though not related by blood, have developed a bond almost like that of family. Given the chance, Feng Cheng would be willing to give him a push.

Yu Zhenglai was still warming himself by the fire when Feng Cheng went out to find Zhao Jinquan and asked him to go back to the camp and bring back the piece of spicy meat, and also to see what good things the camp had and bring some back as well. Feng Cheng rarely went into the kitchen these days, so he didn't know what was in the camp kitchen.

That evening, Yu Zhenglai, Qu He, Ma Yitai from the Third Township Forest Farm, Yang Xiangdong, the director of the Qiancengban Forest Farm, Feng Cheng, and Li Zhong sat together in the farm's canteen.

The canteen at the farm headquarters wasn't very spacious; it was a simple kitchen with a thatched roof, but it could still fit two tables.

Feng Cheng found some bricks, built a small circle around it, and threw firewood inside to make the kitchen a little less cold.

"Li Zhong, welcome. With a forestry expert like you here, the trees in our Saihanba Forest Farm will surely grow quickly."

After the dishes were served, Yu Zheng picked up the wine bowl on the table.

"I can't plant trees by myself; we all need to work together."

Li Zhong raised his wine bowl, looking slightly embarrassed, and said, "I don't drink much, and my alcohol tolerance isn't very high. Please forgive me."

Qu He smiled and said, "Just a moderate amount is fine. We won't drink too much, we still have to work tomorrow."

“Actually, there’s not much to do,” Ma Yiqian said, taking a sip of his drink. “With the temperature in Bashang, we can’t plant trees before May Day. Even if we wanted to work, we wouldn’t have anything to do.”

"The frost-free period on the dam is too short," Li Zhong sighed, thinking about the climate of Saihanba.

"Therefore, we need to prepare in advance and plant the seedlings as soon as the afforestation begins to ensure the trees bear fruit and avoid delays."

"Secretary Yu, how many people are you planning to give me for this Third Township Forest Farm?"

Ma Yitai has been wandering around the forest farm these past few days. He has talked to almost all the college students, and a few of them have expressed interest in going there. He is just waiting for Yu Zheng to come and make the final decision.

Yu Zhenglai said, "More than 20, but how many more depends on how many people we can recruit."

The forest area of ​​the Third Township Forest Farm is near the main farm. Although the distant forest area is more than 20 kilometers away from the main farm, the Third Township Forest Farm will definitely start from the main farm and plant trees further away when it is the first time to plant trees. Therefore, some departments do not need to be established so quickly. They can be managed by the main farm first. When it is time to plant trees further away in the future, the location of the branch farm headquarters can be selected, and then manpower can be arranged.

This is also why Secretary Ma Yitai and the farm director are in charge of everything, because for now, he is capable enough on his own.

The same arrangement was made for Qiancengban Forest Farm. However, because the forest area of ​​Qiancengban Forest Farm is more suitable for mechanized afforestation, there will be more staff in the early stage. After all, Saihanba is designated for mechanized afforestation, so we must focus on mechanized afforestation first. This way, when the leaders from above come, they can see the results immediately.

"How many college students are you going to give me?" Ma Yitai continued to ask.

"You can have a maximum of four this batch."

Only four?

"Isn't there another batch coming soon? They'll be here soon, and I'll arrange it for you and give you priority. Is that okay?"

“No,” Ma Yitai shook his head violently. “24 college students, five to be distributed among the forest farms, I don’t want more, I want five.”

“Old Ma, you can’t calculate it like that,” Qu He immediately chimed in. “Besides the five of you in the branch venues, the main venue also needs people, so it’s calculated as six people. Therefore, giving you four is very reasonable.”

“You don’t need to do any work at the main plant, so why do you need so many people? Are they all just sitting in offices? These students have just graduated from school and should go to the front line to work first. This way, they can better get into the swing of things and integrate into their work. If you let them sit in offices at the main plant, that’s a waste of talent.”

"Alright, alright, alright," Yu Zhenglai waved his hand to stop Ma Yitai, "Don't make a big deal out of this. I know everything you know."

“Of these twenty-four people, eight are girls. I won’t let these girls go out. They’ll all be assigned to Qiancengban Forest Farm and the main farm to be responsible for mechanized afforestation and seedling cultivation. Your area is currently using manual afforestation, so the girls aren’t suitable for going there. If I were to send them there, they might run away in a couple of days.”

Upon hearing this, Ma Yitai stopped shouting.

Qu He said softly, "The batch of students from Chengde Agricultural College will arrive in a couple of days. We'll arrange a few more for you then."

"You said it yourself, and I remember it."

Qu He nodded, "Don't worry, you'll get plenty of people."