Go back to the past to plant trees

After staying at home for two days, Zhao Jinquan was kicked out by his father, who told him to come back and work as soon as possible, since he was being paid.

Zhao Jinquan hasn't been playing much at home these past few days. He just wakes up a little later and then spends his evenings drinking with some of his brothers and childhood friends.

They're all in their twenties, the main breadwinners of their families. It's impossible for them not to work; at most, they'll let you finish work a little earlier.

So Zhao Jinquan couldn't find anyone to play with during the day, and they could only get together to play around 7 or 8 pm. They couldn't stay up too late because they had to get up to go to work the next day.

Zhao Jinquan was also helpless. He originally wanted to have some fun with his brothers and childhood friends, but who would have thought that they would have to work when he was on rest.

But Zhao Jinquan couldn't very well ask them to take time off to be with him. They were all in their twenties, the age to get married. If they didn't work hard to earn money at this point, how would they find a wife?

Although the work points in the team are worthless, you can still earn a little bit. The more you earn each day, the more money you make. If you save some, get some support from your parents, and borrow some more, wouldn't that be enough to get married?

The situation of his childhood friends further strengthened Zhao Jinquan's determination to become a formal employee of the Forestry Bureau. Earning money in the team was really too difficult; it wasn't something that could be achieved simply through hard work and diligence.

Zhao Jinquan's childhood friends were all envious of him, saying that he had started making a lot of money. Zhao Jinquan didn't want to tell them too much, for fear that they would feel resentful. He could only talk about the bad aspects of the job, such as how tiring it was, how he had to water the plants and cook every day, and how boring it was on the dam, with no one to talk to and just sitting there in a daze all day.

This somewhat eased the resentment among his childhood friends, but the experience still left Zhao Jinquan feeling uneasy.

But he knew that this was a common phenomenon in rural areas. If you were doing poorly, they would pity you, but if you were doing well, they would be jealous of you.

This has nothing to do with whether the relationship is good or bad; it's purely human nature. His father tried to comfort him, saying that if another person from their group went to the county town and became a worker, wouldn't he feel envious and jealous? He would, just like everyone else.

Zhao Jinquan could only console himself that he shouldn't complain about getting a good deal.

After resting at home for two days, Zhao Jinquan brought back a lot of things when he returned: two chickens, about ten eggs, a big bag of pickled vegetables, corn grits, and the spices that Feng Cheng had asked him to bring, such as dried tangerine peel and cinnamon.

"Don't bring so much stuff next time you go back. There are only two of us here, and we can't eat that much. There are always vegetables to pick from the garden, and it would be a waste if we didn't eat them."

When Feng Cheng saw that Zhao Jinquan had brought so many things, he felt a little embarrassed. These days, everyone is struggling financially, especially in rural areas. Zhao Jinquan's family had prepared so many things for him, which must have taken a lot of thought and money.

Zhao Jinquan said nonchalantly, "They're all grown at home, so it didn't cost much. Besides, this is the countryside, so things aren't expensive, unlike in the county town."

"Let's not talk about the dishes, but how much are these two chickens? That's on me."

"The chickens were raised at home, so we didn't spend any money on them..."

“Nonsense,” Feng Cheng interrupted him. “What do you mean by ‘no money spent, no time spent raising them, no labor required for cutting grass and feeding them’? Besides, how many chickens can you raise? You just brought over two a while ago, and now you’ve brought over two more. Do you raise chickens your whole family?”

"Alright, you have to take this money. If you don't, then don't take anything from here next time."

"Alright then," Zhao Jinquan said, seeing Feng Cheng's resolute tone, and stopped insisting.

Feng Cheng: "Yeah, I have a high salary, two chickens are nothing to me."

After Feng Cheng finished speaking, he and Zhao Jinquan took the items into the dugout.

Looking at the piles of grain, Feng Cheng felt very secure. This storage was enough for two people to last for half a month, and that didn't even include the supplies that were sent up. After two months, when the pumpkins, winter melons, radishes, sweet potatoes, and other crops in the fields were harvested, the camp's grain reserves would probably be enough for the two of them to eat for half a year.

At that time, not only will there be no need to worry about food shortages, but Feng Cheng will also have to find a way to consume the food without wasting it.

But that's a matter for the future; Feng Cheng doesn't have that kind of worry right now.

With Zhao Jinquan back, Feng Cheng could finally have a good meal again. He hadn't touched the two chickens; he'd let them rest for now. Feng Cheng asked Zhao Jinquan to take out one of the two pieces of cured meat that Uncle Liu had brought yesterday, and they would have cured meat stewed with potatoes today.

"Brother Feng, if the weather gets a bit better one day and we don't have to water the nursery, let's go out and look around and see if we can catch a few pheasants or foxes. There's so little food here on the dam, it's not very appealing!"

While cooking, Zhao Jinquan suggested the idea to Feng Cheng again. He had had this idea for a long time and had mentioned it to Feng Cheng several times, but Feng Cheng had rejected it each time, citing that the nursery was too busy and needed people to be there.

Feng Cheng also explained to him that their main task in Bashang was to take care of the nursery. The nursery was the most important thing. The bureau paid them wages and supplies so that they could come here to plant trees, not to play around.

Zhao Jinquan understands, but his work at the nursery is not as heavy as before. Sometimes when the weather is a little cloudy, they only need to water the plants once, and sometimes they don't even need to water them all day.

This is also why Zhao Jinquan brought up the matter again. He felt that there wasn't as much work at the nursery, so he could start thinking about his own stomach. Who could stand eating potatoes, sweet potatoes, and cornbread every day? Even if they could be roasted now, the ingredients hadn't changed, and it still wouldn't taste good if you ate too much of it.

"Okay, let's go for a walk when it's cloudy and the nursery doesn't need watering."

Feng Cheng was also thinking about going hunting. He had asked Yu Zheng for that Hanyang rifle, but he only used it to fire a machine gun on the first day and then it had just been sitting there ever since.

After not handling a gun for a while, Feng Cheng was getting a little itchy.

The main reason is that there's not much to do at the nursery anymore. The seedlings have grown quite tall now and can withstand certain high temperatures. Watering them every other day or two is fine and won't cause a large-scale death of the seedlings.

After Zhao Jinquan stewed the meat, Feng Cheng asked him to fry some peanuts. Uncle Liu had brought them; there was a small bag of peanuts, and Feng Cheng shelled about a third of them.

With meat and vegetables, it's perfect for having a few drinks with Zhao Jinquan tonight. And what's a drink without peanuts?

"We can actually grow some peanuts and soybeans here; these two are perfect for drinking with alcohol."

After frying the peanuts, Zhao Jinquan put them on the table and said to Feng Cheng.

Feng Cheng shook his head, "No, we don't need to. We already have enough work to do. If we expand the vegetable garden further, we won't be able to handle it."

That's what he said, but Feng Cheng still thought that he should find a way to get some soybeans someday. In his previous life, when he was drinking with his friends in Guangzhou, his favorite snack was stir-fried soybeans with dried small fish. This dish was perfect with both alcohol and rice.

Feng Cheng's mouth watered just thinking about it. He used to always feel like he had no appetite and couldn't eat, but now that his appetite is better, there aren't as many good things to eat.