Go back to the past to plant trees

Winter in Bashang is even more boring and unbearable than summer. Feng Cheng is okay and can barely endure it, but Zhao Jinquan can't. As time goes by, he gets tired of skiing, tired of playing games, and can't concentrate on reading. He becomes bored with life.

In the end, Feng Cheng drew some small things for him and asked him to make them with woodworking skills. These were small boxes and cabinets, which gave him something to pass the time.

Feng Cheng was also quite bored. After reading too many books, he couldn't concentrate on them anymore. Sometimes he would sit on the bed in a daze, and sometimes he would write down his thoughts. Because he was afraid Zhao Jinquan would see them, he wrote them in English. Not only that, he also added some coded processing, because many of the contents involved things about the future and he couldn't let anyone see them.

Feng Cheng originally didn't want to write these things. He felt that as long as he wrote them down, someone would eventually see them, and on that day, his secret would be revealed.

But he was also afraid that he might forget some things later, such as some money-making opportunities, or the timing of some risks. A bad pen is worse than a good memory. Memory is very unreliable. In his previous life, after Feng Cheng turned thirty, his memory and reaction time declined to some extent. Although it was not serious, he could vaguely feel the decline in his physical condition.

As people get older, their bodies naturally begin to decline. Although Feng Cheng's memory is still very good now, he never knows when he might suddenly forget something. So it's necessary to take notes. He doesn't need to remember anything in too much detail; just a few words will do to help him recall the memory.

...

When he had free time, Feng Cheng would ask Zhao Jinquan to trim his pubic hair and shave his beard. When he went to Beijing, Feng Cheng bought a set of hairdressing tools. After winter came, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan would cut each other's hair and shave each other.

They shave every three to five days on average, get a haircut once a month, and their haircuts are still a bit lacking, but their shaving skills are improving rapidly. In the beginning, they often made cuts while shaving, but now that doesn't happen anymore. They can clean their faces in just a few swipes. Feng Cheng now asks Zhao Jinquan to trim his pubic area from time to time.

The same goes for haircuts. Feng Cheng modified some hairstyles from his previous life, combining them with current popular styles. It wasn't as flamboyant as in his previous life, but it also didn't have the heavy sense of nostalgia that some haircuts from barbershops had. Zhao Jinquan quite liked the hairstyles designed by Feng Cheng, but due to his skill level, Feng Cheng's cuts were quite ugly.

But this thing isn't difficult. At first, the cuts might not be good and look bad, but after practicing a few times, the skill will improve. In his previous life, Feng Cheng saw many parents buy tools and cut their children's hair at home because barbershops were too expensive. After a few practices, their skills were quite good. So Feng Cheng felt that after practicing this winter, his and Zhao Jinquan's hairdressing skills would definitely improve significantly. They might not be so good at cutting young people's hair, but they could easily do the hair of the elderly and children.

...

Time passed slowly, and soon, New Year's Eve arrived.

Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan made dumplings and drank a little wine, but not too much, because they had to stay up all night to welcome the New Year.

There was no Spring Festival Gala, no firecrackers, and apart from the howling cold wind outside and the occasional wolf howl, the area was very quiet and didn't look like it was New Year's at all.

Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan played Land Battle Chess for a while. In the middle of the night, Feng Cheng couldn't stay awake any longer and went straight to bed.

In his previous life, when Feng Cheng transmigrated, he had long since stopped following these rules. He stopped watching the Spring Festival Gala, stopped playing with fireworks, and avoided many of the customs associated with holidays. His main goal was to be simple, convenient, and relaxed.

It wasn't just Feng Cheng; many people around him did the same, even some people born in the 70s and 80s chose to simplify the customs and procedures in order to avoid the hassle.

Therefore, Feng Cheng was not really enthusiastic about staying up all night on New Year's Eve. He would say he would try to stay up a little longer if he could, but when he really couldn't stay up any longer, he would just lie down and go to sleep.

Zhao Jinquan stood there, not only him, but he also dragged Xiao Liu along, rubbing Xiao Liu every now and then, just to keep Xiao Liu from falling asleep and to keep it company.

Feng Cheng fell asleep and knew nothing about what happened afterward. He didn't open his eyes until noon the next day, the first day of the Lunar New Year.

Zhao Jinquan was still asleep. Feng Cheng got up, cleaned up yesterday's leftovers, and then took them back to the cellar.

Feng Cheng's entry woke Zhao Jinquan. "The food's ready!"

"Okay, get up and eat! Eat before you go back to sleep."

"What time did you go to bed?"

"I went to sleep around 6 o'clock!"

"That's quite tiring, I can't handle it. I used to go to bed after midnight at home, I rarely stayed up all night."

Zhao Jinquan asked, "Don't people in the city stay up all night?"

"No, it depends on the person. Some people don't care about this and don't bother with it, while others do care and stay up all night."

"Oh, city people are just different. Even their New Year's Eve vigil is different from ours."

Feng Cheng explained with a smile: "People from all over the country come to Beijing, and local customs vary, so it's normal for things to be different."

"What are the customs like in other places? Do they also eat dumplings during the Lunar New Year? Do they also put up Spring Festival couplets?"

"They're pretty much the same, but in some parts of the south, people don't eat dumplings for the New Year. They wrap zongzi (sticky rice dumplings), put up Spring Festival couplets, and stay up all night on New Year's Eve."

Zhao Jinquan's eyes widened immediately, as if he had heard some earth-shattering secret: "Wrap zongzi for the New Year? What do we wrap for the Dragon Boat Festival? Dumplings?"

"They also wrap zongzi. I've said it before, customs are different. You'll get used to it once you see it more often. This is just in China. Customs abroad are even more different. People don't celebrate the Spring Festival there."

Zhao Jinquan shook his head, still feeling somewhat unable to understand.

After eating, Zhao Jinquan lay down to sleep again, but this time he didn't sleep for long, getting up after two hours.

The Spring Festival in Bashang is even more boring than in my previous life. Although the festive atmosphere was weak in my previous life, at least there were still many people, there were still online activities, and you could still win prizes in games. Unlike now, the two of us are lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), with no snacks, no fruit, and even the food is rather meager.

Fortunately, it's already mid-February, and according to the schedule, the snow will start to melt in late March or April. At that time, Zhao Jinquan can go home, and Feng Cheng can also go down to the dam.

A month and a half passed very quickly.

Before long, the weather began to warm up and the snow began to melt. Feng Cheng took out the seeds he had stored away and began to germinate and sow them.

Two days after the snow melted, Zheng Erqiang came over. He didn't have anything important to do, just wanted to check on the two of them, see if there was anything unusual, and see if they needed any help.

After Zheng Erqiang arrived, Feng Cheng, along with him and Zhao Jinquan, turned over the land of the new nursery. Then Feng Cheng told Zhao Jinquan to go home. After spending most of the winter in Bashang, he should go home and let everyone know he was safe.

The saplings in the old nursery survived the winter successfully, and most of them are still alive. This made Feng Cheng very happy. Thinking that he could plant the first batch of saplings in the fall and see the first batch of trees that survived in the dam area next year, Feng Cheng looked forward to the arrival of autumn even more.