Go back to the past to plant trees

"I heard another batch of students is arriving tomorrow?"

"Yes, tomorrow from the School of Mechanical Engineering will come; there are 30 of them this time."

"The students from Chengde Agricultural College came a couple of days ago, and the students from the Mechanical Engineering College are coming tomorrow. With so many people, can the farm's dormitories accommodate them all?"

In the evening, on the way back to the camp, everyone chatted about the forest farm.

“How could there be enough room?” Sui Zhichao said loudly. “There are only about ten dugouts in total. Li Gong’s family took one, and Secretary Yu also took one. Originally, Director Qu also wanted to bring his family up, but he didn’t because there were no dugouts available. This doesn’t even include the employees who were transferred from the forest farm. We will be recruiting more people later, and we will need to arrange accommodation for these people as well. There are nearly two hundred people in total, which is definitely not enough.”

Zheng Erqiang asked, "Then what should we do?"

Qin Xuemei, who was standing nearby, said, "I heard from Secretary Yu and the others that they seem to be arranging for a group of people to stay at our camp. We have three empty dugouts here, which can accommodate about thirty or forty people if we squeeze in."

When Qin Xuemei and her group arrived last year, four more dugouts had been added to the camp. The two that were previously occupied had also been renovated. Originally, there were two boys and two girls in one dugout. Later, the girls moved in, and two of the boys left. In the cold winter, to save timber, Da Kui and Sui Zhichao also moved in with Wei Fugui and Huang Qiang. Now, there are three empty dugouts in the camp.

Da Kui exclaimed in surprise, "Thirty or forty people, so many people need to stay here?"

Qin Xuemei said, “There’s nothing we can do. The farm headquarters has no place to stay. Secretary Yu and the others discussed arranging for people to stay in the office building. They said they would light the fireplace at night so it wouldn’t be too cold. But after discussing it, everyone felt that it was not safe. The fireplace’s ventilation is not very good. During the day, when it’s lit, we have to open the door frequently for ventilation. If we sleep too soundly at night and don’t pay attention to ventilation, it’s easy for an accident to happen.”

"When will these people be arranged to come to our camp?"

"I guess the mechanical engineering students will all be coming over tomorrow! But Secretary Yu didn't tell us to clean out the dugouts, so I don't know what the leaders are planning."

Sui Zhichao sighed, "Last year I thought that building ten or so underground dwellings would be enough, but who would have thought that so many people would come and fill them up in no time."

Shen Mengyin said, "Didn't they say that the forest farm has several branch farms? These employees should be reassigned, right? Once they're reassigned, the underground housing at the farm headquarters should be enough!"

Shen Mengyin didn't want so many people to move into the camp. Last time, the twenty or so college students who came for half a day were already quite noisy. Now, with thirty-four people coming and staying there long-term, it would be incredibly noisy.

"Feng Cheng, weren't you in the office? What were the boss's arrangements?"

Da Kui turned his head and asked Feng Cheng, who was standing next to him.

Feng Cheng replied, "It's not confirmed yet. The main reason is that the farm headquarters can still accommodate us. Also, it's quite far from here to the farm headquarters, and it's troublesome to travel back and forth. In addition, the construction team will be coming up in a couple of days, and they might build dormitories first. So Secretary Yu and Director Qu think we should arrange for us to stay at the farm headquarters first, and if there's really no room left, we'll consider arranging for us to stay at the camp."

"That's it!"

"By the way, Feng Cheng, when these two groups of students come up, shouldn't we hold another welcome party?"

“We have to do it,” Feng Cheng nodded and said, “Once the first batch is done, the rest will definitely have to be done too. It’ll be done in the next few days, just like the show we performed last time. Because in a few days it will be May, and the forest farm will start spring afforestation soon, so we have to get these things done as soon as possible.”

"Ah, finally we're going to get busy. After resting for more than half a year, my body is almost rusty."

Sui Zhichao sighed, then asked, "Have you made any work arrangements?"

Meng Yue said, "Xue Mei and I should be at the nursery."

Ji Xiurong: "I'm definitely at the weather station."

Sui Zhichao said, "Jin Quan went to the Third Township Forest Farm, Feng Cheng and the brigade leader must be at the main farm, and Lao Wei is in the canteen, so it's just me, Shen Mengyin, Huang Qiang and Zheng Erqiang left."

Zhao Jinquan: "I spoke with Secretary Ma and asked Erqiang to come with me. Secretary Ma spoke with Secretary Yu, and Secretary Yu agreed."

Feng Cheng said, "Da Sui, you and Shen Mengyin should be helping out at the Third Township Forest Farm. The saplings haven't grown yet, so you'll be helping with planting trees for now. Once the saplings have grown, you'll definitely be in charge of pest and disease control."

"That leaves only Da Kui and Er Qiang."

Da Kui said nonchalantly, "It doesn't matter where I go, it doesn't matter to me."

Huang Qiang said, "I want to go to Dahuanqi Forest Farm. It's located down the dam, which is closer to home, and it would be more convenient for me to go home."

Huang Qiang knew that Feng Cheng and Zhao Tianshan had influence with Yu Zhenglai, so he expressed his thoughts and asked if Feng Cheng could help him make arrangements.

"Now we're all going to be separated, and to be honest, I'm really going to miss it."

"We just don't work together, but we still live in the camp."

"But it'll only be for a short time. Once the dormitory building at the farm headquarters is completed, we'll definitely have to move there too. This dugout can't compare to a brick house!"

At this point, everyone couldn't help but feel melancholy. They had been together for over a year and had developed feelings for each other. The thought of separating was truly hard to bear.

Ji Xiurong said casually, "We all work in the same forest farm, so what's there to worry about? Do you think we're like college graduates who scatter all over the country? As long as we're still in the forest farm, meeting up is easy. If you want to call us, just kill a chicken or duck and stew a pot of soup, and we'll be there right away."

"That's true!"

...

The next day, two large Jiefang trucks brought 30 students from the School of Mechanical Engineering to the dam. With nothing else to do, a bunch of people went over to watch. Qu He and Yu Zheng came and went to say a few words to welcome the students. Qin Xuemei had already pushed away the task of receiving the students, and now the task of receiving the students was handed over to Sui Zhichao. He didn't do this task alone; he also brought Liu Yan, Liang Hongying, and Yang Yu to do it together.

Speaking of this, we have to mention Liu Yan, a girl full of passion. Perhaps it was Da Kui's big knife performance at the welcome party that captivated her. From then on, she often came to see Da Kui. Her personality is the same as Ji Xiurong's, daring to love and hate.

However, since everyone was still unfamiliar with each other, Liu Yan did not express her own attitude, but everyone could see that she had some feelings for Na Da Kui. As for whether the two could be together, that would depend on how they got along.

Everyone was surprised and happy about this, especially Ji Xiurong, because once the two of them were together, Da Kui would definitely stop bothering her.