Go back to the past to plant trees

Despite their worries, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan continued skiing the next day, but this time they chose a different spot with fewer rocks, thicker snow, and softer, more relaxed conditions.

After playing for a few days, the two of them had mastered the skills of skiing. However, Feng Cheng kept remembering the fall he had experienced before and kept reminding Zhao Jinquan not to have too much fun, otherwise it would be troublesome if he got injured.

Feng Cheng felt that he should be able to do some more difficult and dazzling moves, but he was worried about getting injured, so he kept restraining himself, going up, slowly sliding down, then going up again, and then coming down again.

"Brother Feng, do you think it would be okay if we skated back to my house like this?"

Feng Cheng shook his head: "This won't work. You don't know what the situation is on this road. Some places have potholes that look flat, but there may be seven or eight meters of snow inside. If a person falls in, they won't be able to get out."

“We are familiar with the terrain around here, so I dare to play here. If we were to go somewhere else, I wouldn’t dare to go skiing, or I might accidentally die.”

This wasn't Feng Cheng exaggerating. He had been considering the dangers of skiing these past few days. He had even thought about whether it was possible to ski down the dam. Going down from the dam to the county town was a downhill journey, and skiing down should theoretically be no problem. However, Feng Cheng also thought about the rocks and large pits that were everywhere on the dam, and felt that it was still very dangerous.

Perhaps once the mechanized forest farm is established and there is a dedicated road from Bashang to the county town, skiing down should be no problem; you just need to slide down the construction road.

"Can not be done!"

Zhao Jinquan looked disappointed. He had thought that the skis would allow him to go home and visit his family in this snowy weather, but now it seemed that the opportunity was gone.

Feng Cheng was very happy to learn how to ski, but it's fine to do it occasionally, but it gets a bit boring after a while. So after about ten days, Feng Cheng rarely went skiing anymore. Zhao Jinquan, on the other hand, was very enthusiastic, which made Feng Cheng have to go out with her and keep an eye on her.

However, because Feng Cheng frequently gave him instructions, he lost interest after playing for a while. Feng Cheng forbade him from doing many dangerous or strenuous actions, and only allowed him to slide down in a downward-sliding posture.

After their initial enthusiasm for skiing faded, the two returned to their studies. Zhao Jinquan had barely grasped the basics of radio, although he still didn't understand many parts, at least he understood some of the fundamental principles.

Given his current condition, assembling the parts shouldn't be a problem; the only issue is that he doesn't quite understand the underlying principles, so he doesn't yet know how to handle some complex anomalies.

But that's alright. He's already learned from scratch. From one to ten, he'll just have to figure it out on his own. He'll learn by assembling a few more machines and repairing them a few more times.

The days passed by in boredom. Although counting down the days was a little sad, time always moves forward. In the blink of an eye, another month had passed, and the New Year of 1961 had arrived.

"Jin Quan, let's get something good today, have a couple of drinks. The new year is almost here, let's celebrate."

"Isn't there still more than a month until the New Year? How come it's already over?" Zhao Jinquan asked, somewhat puzzled.

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "The one that's still a little over a month away is called the Spring Festival. What we're doing now is the Gregorian calendar. You know there's a Gregorian calendar and a lunar calendar. What we're celebrating now is the Gregorian New Year, and the lunar New Year will be celebrated a month from now."

"Do we have to distinguish between the Gregorian calendar year and the lunar calendar year for Chinese New Year? We only celebrate one year."

"Right now, people don't know, but once they do, it will naturally pass."

Feng Cheng didn't know when New Year's Day became popular. He only knew that the holiday had been celebrated since he was old enough to understand. It might be because the country gave it a holiday, or it might be because businesses were doing marketing. In any case, although New Year's Day wasn't very important, most people still celebrated it because it was a holiday and they had time to have some fun.

But in this day and age, people don't have that concept anymore. Because celebrating holidays requires preparing things and spending money. When people are struggling to even have enough to eat, it's difficult to get them to accept a new holiday. Western holidays like Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Valentine's Day are only celebrated when people are financially well-off and have some spare money. Otherwise, who has the time to pay attention to what holidays foreigners celebrate?

Zhao Jinquan didn't quite understand why they had to celebrate this holiday, but since Feng Cheng said they should, he wouldn't object.

"How about we make dumplings tonight? It's been so long since we've had dumplings."

Feng Cheng was also tempted. "How much flour do we have left? We're going to make dumplings for the Spring Festival. If we eat it now and then it's all gone, then we're doomed."

In the North, it's customary to eat dumplings during the Spring Festival, without exception. Feng Cheng naturally followed the local custom and prepared some flour in advance for use during the Spring Festival.

"We still have a lot of flour, enough for the Spring Festival. If not, we'll make less today and not wrap that many."

"Okay, then make a small portion, and then make a cabbage stew with glass noodles, make it a more substantial meal."

"okay."

"Would you like to have a few drinks tonight?" Zhao Jinquan asked.

Feng Cheng nodded, "Yes, we definitely have to drink. With such a sumptuous meal, how can we not have a couple of drinks?"

During the two months of hibernation, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan had finished the whole vat of liquor at their uncle's house. They had drunk four or five jin before, and in the past two months, they had drunk more than two jin each time, totaling about twenty jin of liquor. So far, the two of them have finished it all.

All that's left is the bottle Uncle Liu gave us when he came up, and the four bottles we brought when we ate at his house.

Five catties of liquor isn't a lot, but it's strong in alcohol content. If two people drink it, one bottle per meal, they can finish it in four or five meals.

But when Feng Cheng thought about how there were still three or four months until spring, he regretted not preparing more and why he had drunk so much. Now, he had to be careful with his drinks.

"It seems we need to prepare more next year, at least thirty catties of bulk liquor. As for bottled liquor, it's too expensive, so it doesn't matter whether we have it or not."

It's not that Feng Cheng has developed an alcohol addiction. In the past two months, the two of them have only drunk once every week or so. At this frequency, it's hard to get addicted. The main reason is that it's too boring here. If they don't drink, they don't know what to do. Drinking a little helps them sleep, allowing them to sleep longer and making time pass faster.

Because they had a lot of free time, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan started preparing to make dumplings around 3 p.m.

The two spent over an hour preparing the dish and brought it to the kang (heated brick bed). Feng Cheng picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and shook his head, saying:

"It's getting a bit cold."

The weather is so cold now that even the short distance of a dozen meters from the kitchen to the cellar has made the food a bit cold.

"At times like this, a stove would be helpful; you could eat hot pot and put whatever you want in."

"Hot pot, what is that?"

"Something for rich people in the city." In those days, hot pot was indeed something only rich people in the city could afford. It required a special hot pot stove and charcoal to cook it, which was something that ordinary people couldn't afford.

Moreover, making hot pot isn't necessarily a good idea, because you need to put things in to cook, like meat and vegetables. The camp didn't have either of those, just radishes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sauerkraut, and pickled vegetables. Just imagining throwing those things into a hot pot makes it look unappetizing. So Feng Cheng only mentioned it casually. If they really wanted to eat hot pot, they'd have to wait until the greenhouses in the north were set up.