Go back to the past to plant trees

Zhao Jinquan scrubbed the pot and boiled water with practiced ease.

Feng Cheng glanced at it and then left. Although food was scarce in those days, he really couldn't bring himself to stay and watch over a small bag of grain.

If Zhao Jinquan wanted to steal it, Feng Cheng wouldn't care. There was only so much of it anyway, and even if he took it all, there wouldn't be much left.

Considering that he had brought him back from so far away, Feng Cheng didn't mind if he took some food, just a few potatoes and sweet potatoes. He could afford to lose them; once the new supplies arrived in a few days, Feng Cheng would feed the leftovers to his dogs anyway.

The dugout where Feng Cheng was sleeping was too dark, so he didn't want to go back and sat on the sand outside.

After lying down and sleeping for a while last night, Feng Cheng's head felt much better. At least it didn't hurt as much as yesterday. Although he still felt a little uncomfortable occasionally, it was much better than yesterday.

Feng Cheng estimated that he should recover in another two days.

Just as Feng Cheng was waiting for Zhao Jinquan's meal, Yu Zhenglai, Old Liu, and Chen Guangji rode their horses at breakneck speed toward the dugout.

"Feng Cheng..."

"Feng Cheng..."

Three horses galloped over and came to Feng Cheng's side. Yu Zhenglai reined in his horse, dismounted, and walked directly to Feng Cheng's side.

"You left without a word, you scared me to death."

"Director..."

Just as Feng Cheng was about to speak, Yu Zheng noticed the scabs on his face and quickly reached out to touch his head.

"What happened? Who did this?"

Yu Zheng asked angrily.

Feng Cheng tilted his head to avoid Yu Zhenglai's hand and said, "I don't know who he is, but I heard someone call him Zheng Laosan."

“Yesterday I sat down at the tree where my dad is buried, and then I saw some people there who wanted to cut down the tree. I refused to let them cut it down, and they beat me up. They even tried to kill me. If someone hadn’t stopped them, I probably would be dead by now.”

"I lay there all night last night. If it weren't for the dog protecting me, I probably would have been eaten by wolves."

Feng Cheng spoke calmly, but Yu Zhenglai grew angrier the more he listened.

He thought Feng Cheng had gotten into a fight with someone. Such things were common in this era. Unless the injury was particularly serious, people generally wouldn't bother to intervene because they couldn't handle it anyway.

But who would have thought that Feng Cheng was beaten unilaterally and almost killed.

The thought of the old captain's son almost dying here filled Yu Zhenglai with lingering fear. If the old captain's only son had died, how would he face him?

Some of the local leaders had a good relationship with the old team leader, and the old woman had been involved in the revolution in the region for a long time and had many acquaintances. If they knew that the old team leader and the old woman's only son had died here, how could she face them?

“Zheng Laosan, I don’t care who it is. You beat up a state cadre and even tried to murder him. If I, Yu Zhenglai, don’t take care of you, I won’t have to wear this uniform anymore.”

Yu Zhenglai unbuttoned the top button of his shirt, put his hands on his hips, and said with a serious expression.

Regardless of his relationship with Feng Cheng, even if Feng Cheng were just an ordinary employee, Yu Zheng would still have to back him up.

That's how government agencies are these days. Leaders are extremely protective of their own. Not to mention permanent employees, even temporary workers aren't people outsiders can bully.

Feng Cheng felt a warmth in his heart when he heard Yu Zheng's imposing words.

In my past life, when I was working, the bosses didn't care about anything. If something went wrong, the employees had to take the blame themselves, and the bosses didn't take any responsibility at all.

Suddenly encountering a leader like Yu Zheng who takes responsibility and is willing to stand up for you made Feng Cheng feel very comfortable.

"Who are you."

Hearing the noise outside, Zhao Jinquan came out of the dugout and ran into Yu Zhenglai. He was so startled by Yu Zhenglai's loud shout that he didn't know what to say.

Feng Cheng glanced back and quickly explained, "Director, this is Zhao Jinquan from the Shaquan Brigade. He's the one who brought me back. If it weren't for him, I'd still be lying under this tree."

"He brought you back?"

Upon hearing Feng Cheng's words, Yu Zhenglai's expression softened.

"Good leadership."

Zhao Jinquan said cautiously, "When Yu Zheng glanced at me just now, the murderous intent in his eyes almost made me kneel down."

Although Zhao Jinquan did not know Yu Zhenglai's identity, he knew that Yu Zhenglai must be a high-ranking official, which could be seen from his aura.

"By the way, he's from the same brigade as that Zheng Laosan, so he knows about Zheng Laosan's situation," Feng Cheng added.

"He's from the same brigade as Zheng Laosan, which saves us a lot of trouble."

"You lead the way later, and I'll have someone go with you to the brigade to bring Zheng Laosan back to my forestry bureau. I want to see which blind fool has the guts to mess with my forestry bureau's employees. He's got a death wish!"

"Okay, okay, I'll definitely lead the way."

Zhao Jinquan was very glad that he hadn't gotten involved in this matter and had even done a good deed by bringing the person back. Otherwise, his old man, the brigade leader, would definitely have been implicated in Zheng Laosan's affair.

"Feng Cheng, you need to go to the hospital to get your injury checked. Come down to the dam with me later."

"Row."

Feng Cheng nodded, not wanting to be reckless. Although he knew he wouldn't be seriously injured, it was his head that was hurt, so it would be good to go to the hospital for a check-up, at least get an injection and some anti-inflammatory medicine, so he could recover faster.

"Um, Director Feng, I've finished cooking. Would you like to eat something first?"

Seeing that the atmosphere had eased, Zhao Jinquan quickly spoke to Feng Cheng,

He hadn't eaten anything for most of the day and was very hungry.

"Director, Uncle Liu, Engineer Chen, would you like to have something to eat together?"

Engineer Chen laughed and said, "Come on, the little bit you cooked might not even be enough for you. You can eat it yourself."

Old Liu also said, "You eat, we ate before coming up."

Yu Zhenglai waved and said, "Go eat, and after you finish eating, come down to the dam with me to go to the hospital."

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

As Feng Cheng spoke, he and Zhao Jinquan entered the dugout.

If Yu Zheng and the others hadn't been outside, Feng Cheng would definitely have taken the food outside. It was too dark in the dugout, but since there were people outside, Feng Cheng had no choice but to eat there.

"Hey, Director Feng, who's that outside? Is he a leader from your forestry bureau?"

Zhao Jinquan chewed on a potato and asked Feng Cheng with some curiosity.

"He is the director of the Forestry Bureau."

"Director?"

"Is he a high-ranking official?" Zhao Jinquan asked, somewhat puzzled.

"About the same as your commune secretary, maybe even a bit higher."

Feng Cheng didn't know the specific administrative level of the Forestry Bureau, so he could only give a vague reference.

"That's not very high."

Zhao Jinquan was not very old and didn't have much of a concept of official positions.

Judging from the imposing manner Yu Zheng had just arrived, he had assumed he was at least a county magistrate or a deputy county magistrate.

Feng Cheng didn't care what he thought. He ate a potato in a few bites and finished the two potatoes in no time. Then he drank some water and went out.

Seeing that Feng Cheng had finished eating, Zhao Jinquan sped up his pace and soon followed him out.

"Hey you, take our security team members to the village to arrest Zheng Laosan, and bring back the others with him too."

"You guys, bring them back and lock them up. I'll interrogate them when I get back."

After Yu Zheng came out to see Zhao Jinquan and Feng Cheng, he immediately gave instructions to the three people behind him.

It was only then that Feng Cheng noticed that there were a few more people outside.

It seems she came with Yu Zheng to find him.

Upon seeing this, Feng Cheng felt somewhat embarrassed, realizing he had once again caused trouble for others.