Go back to the past to plant trees

As September arrived, the vegetable garden at the camp began to be harvested one after another. During this period, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan harvested two to three hundred catties of pumpkin, more than one hundred catties of winter melon, and about two hundred catties of potatoes.

In addition, we can also harvest several hundred kilograms of carrots, radishes, mustard greens, and cabbage. However, these are not yet in harvest season. They will be harvested in mid-October when the temperature drops and we prepare for winter.

Back then, vegetables needed to be pickled and dried in the sun. Once the temperature dropped, the vegetables had to be brought back inside to preserve them for a longer period.

In September, the temperature began to drop, with daytime temperatures gradually falling to around 20 degrees Celsius and nighttime temperatures falling to the range of four or five degrees Celsius.

This temperature was Feng Cheng's estimate, because the water outside hadn't frozen after he woke up during the day, so Feng Cheng guessed that the temperature hadn't dropped below zero yet.

Now we don't need to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed) at night; we can manage by adding an extra quilt. But that won't work in October. By then, the temperature will have dropped below zero, and we won't be able to sleep without heating the kang. Plus, it's easy to catch a cold.

Now that time has passed, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan are preparing for the winter. The nursery doesn't need much watering anymore, so Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan go out to cut down trees and store firewood for the winter.

There are few trees on the dam, only some shrubs, so if Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan want to store timber, they have to go down to the lower reaches of the dam, because trees only grow near the county town.

Not only timber, but also hay and branches were gathered up whenever possible. During the long winter months, firewood was even more important than food. If food ran out, you could just eat less and go hungry for a couple of meals and get through it. But if you ran out of firewood, it could be fatal. Temperatures of tens of degrees below zero would be unbearable in less than two days, let alone survive the entire winter.

Not only firewood, but Feng Cheng also asked Zhao Jinquan to go back to the village and buy ten chicks. The previous six chicks had grown up and were almost ready to eat. Apart from keeping two to lay eggs, Feng Cheng would eat the remaining four this winter. After eating four, new ones would need to be brought in, otherwise it would be difficult to eat meat later.

In October, on National Day, the first snow fell in the dam area. Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan quickly harvested the vegetables that could be harvested from the garden, leaving only the more cold-resistant ones for later harvest. After harvesting the vegetables, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan carried out overwintering treatment on the nursery and then spent several days cultivating a new one-acre nursery.

The new nursery is in preparation for next year. Feng Cheng has already told Yu Zhenglai that he wants to expand the nursery area next year. Yu Zhenglai has already prepared the seeds, pesticides, and fertilizers for Feng Cheng, and they will be delivered to Feng Cheng together with the next supply.

After finishing all that, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan made maltose again. This time they made a lot, a total of 200 jin of sweet potatoes, and used up all the remaining wheat to make nearly 30 jin of maltose.

After making the maltose, Feng Cheng began making candied winter melon and candied pumpkin.

Both of these candies are actually quite simple to make. You just steam the pumpkin and winter melon, then coat them with sweet potato syrup and let them dry. When Feng Cheng was a child, there weren't many things he could eat, and he especially liked these two candies. But he stopped liking them when he grew up because they were too sweet.

However, there's not much to be picky about these days. Being able to make one or two snacks is already pretty good, so even though Feng Cheng doesn't really like eating them, he still plans to make some.

Well, they're mainly for giving away as gifts. Feng Cheng plans to give some to Uncle Liu, Yu Zhenglai, Qu He, and Engineer Chen, and also some to Zhao Jinquan's family.

After all that, most of it has been given away. Feng Cheng will probably only keep a few pounds for himself.

After several days, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan produced more than 20 kilograms of pumpkin candy and more than 20 kilograms of winter melon candy. However, because they used sweet potato maltose, the appearance was not very good, but it was very sweet.

After everything was settled, Feng Cheng prepared to set off for Beijing.

At this time, it hasn't started snowing heavily on the dam yet, so it's still possible to go out. But if it's a little later, around November, it becomes quite difficult to go up or down the dam because the snow there is very thick, a vast expanse of white, with no landmarks, so you simply can't find your way.

"Jin Quan, you can stay at the camp for the next few days. There's not much work here. You can go back if you want, but don't stay too long. Xiao Liu can't stay on the dam by himself for too long."

Zhao Jinquan said, "I can take Xiao Liu back to my home!"

Feng Cheng shook his head, "It's better not to. It's safer for Xiao Liu to stay in Bashang. If he goes to your house, he might get trapped."

"No, I'll let him stay at my house. No one will come to my house to catch the dog."

Feng Cheng shook his head again, "I don't want to take such a risk. Xiao Liu saved my life, and I don't want anything to happen to it. It's safer for it to stay on the dam."

"Alright," Zhao Jinquan said, seeing that Feng Cheng disagreed, and stopped talking.

"My trip back won't take too long. It'll be a week if things go smoothly, and ten days or so if things go slowly. I'll be back soon."

Feng Cheng had previously planned to take Zhao Jinquan to Beijing to broaden his horizons, but traveling was not easy in those days. Letters of introduction and money were relatively simple, but obtaining national grain coupons was more difficult, especially during these challenging times. It would be easier for Feng Cheng to go home, since he had been there for two years and a trip back to Beijing would be reasonable, and the bureau would be willing to grant him some national grain coupons. However, it was different for Zhao Jinquan. He had no chance of obtaining national grain coupons because he was a temporary worker, not a permanent employee of the Forestry Bureau, and he was going out for leisure.

After saying goodbye to Zhao Jinquan, Feng Cheng rode his horse down the dam.

This horse will have to stay in the dam area after this trip, and it will have to prepare for the winter. There is no grass or fodder in the dam area, and the nearly half-year winter is not enough to keep the horse alive.

After leaving the dam, Feng Cheng handed the horse over to the stable manager at the bureau, telling him that he would return to pick it up next spring.

The stable manager had him sign his name and then let him leave.

Feng Cheng carried several large bags of things and went to the cafeteria first.

"Uncle Liu, I brought you something."

When Feng Cheng arrived at the cafeteria, he saw Uncle Liu busy inside and shouted loudly.

"Hey, Feng Cheng, you've come down from the dam. When did you come down?"

Upon seeing that it was Feng Cheng, Old Liu's eyes immediately lit up. He gave a few instructions to the person next to him and then came out.

"I just came down and was about to go back to Beijing. I made some things in Bashang and brought some back for you."

Feng Cheng handed over a bag of pumpkin candy.

"Bring me something? Maltose again? You taught me how to make it, I can make it myself, you don't need to bring it for me."

That's what he said, but Old Liu still took the bag that Feng Cheng handed him.

Feng Cheng explained, "These are pumpkin candies I made. Don't you have a few kids at home? Take some back for them to try. They're a local snack from the south. It's something new for them."

"A snack from the South? You can make this too?"

Upon hearing this, Old Liu immediately opened the bag in his hand, rummaged inside, took out a small piece of pumpkin candy, and put it directly into his mouth.

"Mmm, it's very sweet, not bad."

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "There's also a candied winter melon inside, which is even sweeter. I don't really like it, but you can try it out."

"It's okay, my family's kids can eat garbage, and the sweeter it is, the better they like it."

"Who are these few bags for?" Old Liu asked curiously when he saw the bags in Feng Cheng's hand.

"Oh, this is for Director Yu, Section Chief Qu, and Engineer Chen."

"Give them to them?"

Upon hearing this, Old Liu frowned immediately. After a long while, he finally said:

"Feng Cheng, I think you shouldn't give them this."

"You won't give it to me? Why?" Feng Cheng asked, somewhat puzzled.

“The conditions on the dam are tough, everyone knows that. If you suddenly bring something out and give it to the leader, what will people think? And it’s sweets, something that everyone likes. If people start whispering, there might be some gossip, and things might not be so comfortable afterward.”

"this…"

When Feng Cheng heard what Old Liu said, his expression instantly froze. He really hadn't thought of that. He just wanted to give the leader some gifts to improve their relationship, and he hadn't thought much about it.

But what Uncle Liu said was also right. The people in the bureau didn't understand the situation in Bashang. They only knew that it was hard work in Bashang, but they didn't know exactly how hard it was. If he suddenly gave the bureau chief and the others gifts at this time, especially sweet snacks, what would others think?

It wasn't hard work on the dam, or rather, Feng Cheng didn't put much effort into seedling cultivation on the dam; he was too busy with other things.

It might not matter if others think this way, but what if Yu Zheng and his ilk think this way?

Feng Cheng suddenly felt that he had been too rash in doing this.

Gift-giving is an art. Whether to give a gift, whether to give a gift, when to give a gift, and what to give all require skill. At this moment, Feng Cheng suddenly had a deeper understanding of this. Feng Cheng was somewhat glad that he had come to see Uncle Liu first. If he had gone directly to Yu Zheng, things would have been a bit different.

"What about this thing of mine?"

Old Liu said, "Keep it for yourself. Take it back with you next time you go back. If you want to give something to the bureau chief and the others, you can look for something else when you go back to Beijing and buy them some other things."

Feng Cheng gave a wry smile. How could he dare to deliver it again? If he delivered it to the wrong person again, wouldn't that just be asking for trouble?

Forget it. I'm only suited to hard work; it's better to do less specialized business.

"Uncle Liu, take a couple more bags back with you. I can't eat too much here."

Feng Cheng then handed two more bags of pumpkin candy to Old Liu.

“Okay, fine, give it to me. But when you come back from Beijing, you have to look for me. Your auntie invited you over for a meal. If you don’t come, your auntie will have to come to the dam to look for you.”

"Okay, I'll come to your house for dinner as soon as I get back from Beijing."