Go back to the past to plant trees

After returning from Old Qin's house, Feng Cheng went home to get the pile of things he had packed, and then took a bus to the Forestry Ministry's guesthouse.

After checking into his room at the guesthouse, Feng Cheng went to the ministry to report for duty, picked up the necessary documents, and told the staff member who was receiving him that the leaders wanted to see him about the situation in Saihanba, asking him to report to their superiors that he had arrived.

As for whether the leader would see him, Feng Cheng didn't know, but he didn't care. If he did see him, he would let him know; if not, he would just go back when the time came.

After taking the documents back to the guesthouse, it was already past 5 p.m. Feng Cheng went out for a meal and then returned to his room. He did not run into the leader from yesterday.

The next day, Feng Cheng went out early in the morning. He first went to Xinhua Bookstore and spent several hours there, buying more than a dozen books, all of which were related to forestry. In those days, professional books were printed in small quantities, and the price was naturally high. These dozen books cost Feng Cheng nearly 50 yuan.

After buying the books, Feng Cheng left the Xinhua Bookstore. Looking at the ancient streets, he thought about going to Panjiayuan and Liulichang to see if he could find any treasures. However, considering his limited ability to preserve antiques, he hesitated and gave up the idea.

If you can't even preserve a stamp properly, then you can't even talk about other more valuable things.

Speaking of stamps, Feng Cheng thought of the dozens he had saved. He should buy something to preserve them, otherwise they would spoil.

But when I think about the environment in Bashang...

Forget it, I won't buy a ball. I won't collect them next time. I'll wait for the monkey stamps to be released, spend a thousand or so yuan to buy dozens of sheets and keep them. Those are guaranteed to make a profit, which is much better than searching for a needle in a haystack like this. I might end up collecting a whole bunch and spending a lot of effort, only to find that they're not as valuable as a single monkey stamp. That would be a real pain.

Having absolutely no knowledge of antiques, Feng Cheng chose to give up stamp collecting altogether. He didn't understand it, and it all depended on luck, so he was genuinely uninterested.

The main concern is preservation for decades, and even Feng Cheng wasn't confident he could preserve the stamps intact for that long.

After buying the items, Feng Cheng returned to the guesthouse.

"Feng Cheng, where did you go? I asked the staff at the guesthouse this morning, and they said you checked in yesterday. I even knocked on your door, but there was no response."

As soon as Feng Cheng returned to the guesthouse, he ran into the middle-aged leader who had come with him.

Feng Cheng lifted the book in his hand: "I went to Xinhua Bookstore to buy books, and I just got back."

The middle-aged man was somewhat surprised, "So hardworking, you went out to buy books as soon as you arrived."

"The early bird catches the worm, but I have no one to teach me, so I can only buy more books and learn on my own."

"Boss, I'll take this upstairs first; it's tiring to carry."

"Okay, I'm going out too. Don't wander around at night, I still need to talk to you."

Feng Cheng smiled wryly, "Okay, I won't wander around. I'll wait for you, sir."

Feng Cheng didn't know which of his words had caught the leader's attention. There were some things that no one knew in this era, but in Feng Cheng's previous life, as long as there was internet access, almost everyone knew them.

In the afternoon, Feng Cheng went out again. This time, he went to a nearby department store to buy a set of hair-cutting supplies, including earwax removers, nose hair trimmers, and shaving tools. These things are not usually used at home, so no coupons are needed; money is all that's required.

Feng Cheng also bought a few components to assemble a crystal radio. He knew how to make one; he had been taught in school when he was a child. The principle was simple, and it didn't require electricity. Although the signal was not good, it should be usable in the Bashang area and could help Zhao Jinquan pass the time during the winter.

Feng Cheng wanted to buy a transistor radio, but those things were too expensive, and you needed ration coupons, which Feng Cheng didn't have, so he couldn't buy one.

Feng Cheng originally wanted to buy a flashlight, but even in Beijing, you need a ticket for it, which is quite frustrating.

Feng Cheng thought for a moment and decided to make one himself. It was just two batteries and a light bulb. He could just get a piece of wood and have Zhao Jinquan make a sleeve out of it, then connect the wires and it would work.

Having this makes things much more convenient in Bashang; it allows you to see farther out when you go out.

If I can make flashlights, can I make transistor radios?

Feng Cheng planned to go to Xinhua Bookstore tomorrow to get a book and see if he could assemble one himself after settling things with the house.

He couldn't believe that he couldn't even make a simple transistor radio, since people in later generations could even build a car engine by hand.

Hibernation is so boring; having a transistor radio can help relieve boredom and pass the time.

With that in mind, Feng Cheng bought a few more dry cell batteries.

After returning from his shopping trip, it was already 5 PM. Feng Cheng put his things away, went to eat, and then lay on the bed to read.

Feng Cheng estimated that he was only here to retrieve the documents. He didn't think the leaders of the Ministry of Forestry would possibly come to him. He knew that someone without even a position would be remembered by the leaders.

Moreover, even if the ministry had the idea of ​​establishing the Saihanba Mechanical Forest Farm at that time, it would have been difficult. The finances did not allow it, and the environment did not allow it. So even if they wanted to understand the situation in Saihanba, it was not in a hurry.

At six o'clock, the middle-aged man knocked on Feng Cheng's door.

"Feng Cheng, have you eaten yet? Want to come downstairs and grab something to eat?"

Feng Cheng said, "Boss, I've already eaten, please go ahead and eat!"

"Okay, I'll go eat by myself then. I thought you hadn't eaten yet, so I came over to call you to eat with me."

"No, I was afraid it would be too late and I wouldn't have anything to eat. I had nothing else to do anyway, so I ate first."

The middle-aged man left, and Feng Cheng closed the door.

Half an hour later, the middle-aged man knocked on Feng Cheng's door again, bringing back a bottle of wine and a bag of peanuts.

"We're all free tonight anyway, let's have a drink and chat."

"Boss, this..."

"There's nothing to do, so it doesn't matter. It's just a bottle of wine, we'll finish it and that's it. Half a jin per person, you can't possibly not even finish half a jin, can you?"

Feng Cheng smiled wryly, "That's not a problem. I'm just worried that if something comes up tomorrow, I might smell of alcohol and it won't look good."

"No, where would the smell of alcohol come from in half a jin of liquor?"

The middle-aged man gestured for Feng Cheng to sit at the table, then picked up a glass from the table and poured half a glass for each of them.

"It's getting cold, let's have a couple of drinks to warm ourselves up."

Feng Cheng could only take the cup and clink it against his.

The middle-aged man laughed and said, "I always travel alone on business trips, and I get very bored every time. But I happened to run into you this time, so I'm not so bored anymore. We can have a couple of drinks and cheer each other up."

Feng Cheng said, "I'm fine. I'm used to being alone and can handle loneliness."

"By the way, last time in the car you told me about a type of wood that can mature in 5 years, what kind of tree is it?"

After taking a couple of sips of wine, the middle-aged man immediately revealed his intentions.

Feng Cheng smiled bitterly to himself. He knew that if a high-ranking leader was being so attentive to him, he must have some ulterior motive. He must have let something slip before.

Feng Cheng said, "I only heard it from others. I don't know what kind of trees they are. As you know, I used to be a forestry major, but I'm not involved in planting, so I don't know the specific tree species."

Eucalyptus, also known as fast-growing eucalyptus, is the most widely planted tree in Guangxi. It grows quickly and has straight branches, making it a good source of timber. However, this tree has a bad reputation, as people say it is poisonous and can damage local ecological water sources.

Feng Cheng had never encountered this in his previous life. He only knew that his family planted a lot of eucalyptus trees. However, when he went out to play, he also saw the nearby mountains. Many people said that grass does not grow under eucalyptus trees, but Feng Cheng looked in many places and found that this was not the case. Not only did grass grow, but it also grew very lushly, as tall as a person.

While in the car, Feng Cheng mentioned a type of tree that grows quickly and is very profitable; it takes five years to grow a pine tree in more than ten years.

Who would have thought that this person would remember just one sentence?

The middle-aged man frowned upon hearing this. "You don't mean you don't want to tell me, do you?"

Feng Cheng smiled wryly and said, "How could that be? I really don't know. It's not a secret, so why would I need to hide it? But I heard that this tree grows in the south. You can ask the ministry; maybe they have information on it."

The middle-aged man nodded. "Then I'll go back to the ministry to look up some information. If there really is such a tree, I'll have to move it here."

Feng Cheng smiled, but in his heart he didn't think so. Eucalyptus trees are not suitable for planting in the north at all. Putting aside the problem of drinking water, eucalyptus trees cannot survive the winter in the north. They will freeze to death if planted. Otherwise, why was it only planted in Guangxi in his previous life? Do you think other places don't want to plant them? Protecting the environment is the government's business. Ordinary people don't care about these things. If they can't plant them in their own area, then they can contract them in other places.

After this incident, Feng Cheng became extremely cautious, afraid of saying the wrong thing and attracting this person's attention.