Go back to the past to plant trees

"Brother Feng, what do you think about us checking out that black market down in the dam area?"

That evening, Zhao Jinquan suddenly started talking to Feng Cheng about the black market.

"black market?"

Upon hearing Zhao Jinquan's words, Feng Cheng suddenly remembered that before the winter of last year, Zhao Jinshui had told him about a black market in the dam area. At that time, Feng Cheng had thought about going there when he had time to see if he could exchange some receipts or something, but after the spring, he was busy and forgot about it.

"Why did you suddenly decide to go to the black market? Is there anything you want to buy?"

Zhao Jinquan shook his head, "No, I just wanted to take a look. When I went home last time, I heard people from the team talk about this place. Many people have been there. Everyone takes some extra things to the black market to sell and exchange for other things. I heard the prices are much higher than outside."

"A lot of people went?"

Upon hearing this, Feng Cheng frowned deeply, a bad feeling creeping into his heart.

"Yes, a lot of people have been there. I've been to Jinshui a few times. I heard that there are a lot of things inside, and it's very lively. It's just a pity that it's open at night, and you have to leave when it's time to go. The time is too short."

“I think you’d better not go to this place,” Feng Cheng said, and he understood where his unease came from when he heard Zhao Jinquan’s words.

The black market, to put it bluntly, is a place that can't be brought into the light. If there are few people, it's easier to control, but if there are many, it becomes very difficult to keep it a secret. Even Zhao Jinquan, who has been in the camp for many years, knows about this place. So you can imagine how many other people know about it. If everyone knows, how can the government not know? If the government knows, what consequences will this place face?

If Feng Cheng had any interest before, he now had absolutely no interest left, because the place had become very dangerous. It was the 60s, and a bunch of demobilized soldiers were returning to their villages. In rural areas these days, you had no idea if there were any people who could speak directly to the emperor. Don't doubt it, there were many such people, and their beliefs were very strong.

It's possible that news about this black market has already reached the county committee, or even the regional government, and they might already be preparing to make arrests.

Therefore, Feng Cheng will not go to this place at this time, and he will also not let Zhao Jinquan go to this place.

"The government knows? That's impossible!" Zhao Jinquan was also somewhat surprised when he heard Feng Cheng's words.

“I don’t know if the government is aware of this, but I do know that the more people there are on the black market, the more dangerous it is. It doesn’t matter to others; they can just be arrested. But it’s different for us. I’m an employee of the Forestry Bureau, and you are an employee of the Forestry Bureau. If we go to the black market and get arrested, then we’ll be in trouble.”

“Especially you, if you get arrested, it’s all pointless. You’ll definitely lose your job, and the bureau won’t agree to keep you.”

Zhao Jinquan opened his mouth, then shook his head violently: "Then I won't go."

"Brother Feng, do you think I should go back to the team and talk to them, and tell them not to go to the black market anymore?"

Feng Cheng thought for a moment and said, "Give a few words of advice to those you know well, and for the others, you can decide for yourself. After all, this is just my guess, and nobody knows what the government is thinking. Maybe the government doesn't know yet?"

"No matter what, I still have to remind them, since they're from the same village."

Zhao Jinquan's father was the captain of the Shaquan Brigade, so he couldn't afford to take this matter lightly. If a few people from the brigade were arrested, his father would definitely be reprimanded by the commune leaders. Moreover, these days, you had to pay to get into the police station. With the people in the brigade, where would they get the money? In the end, they would have to borrow from acquaintances or from the brigade.

Zhao Jinquan remembered this, but Feng Cheng didn't care too much. It had nothing to do with him. As long as he didn't go to the black market, this matter wouldn't concern him.

Two days later, Zhao Jinquan went home and told a few close friends about the matter, as well as his father about Feng Cheng's analysis.

After listening to Feng Cheng, Zhao Peide also felt that what he said made sense.

"Dad, should we report this to the commune leaders?"

"Report?" Zhao Peide shook his head with a wry smile. "How do we report? Should we ask the higher-ups to send people down and wipe out this black market?"

Zhao Peide already knew about the black market, and probably not only he knew, but also the commune leaders. But why didn't anyone take action? It's because everyone had suffered too much in the past two years. Now that there's a place where they can sell some things, make more money, and exchange for more goods, who would have the heart to destroy such a place?

So Zhao Peide could only pretend he didn't see it, and the commune leaders probably shared the same attitude. But now his son was right; the county leaders probably already knew about the market, and if he didn't report it to them, he might face punishment later.

But what if the county leaders don't know about this? If I rashly report it, and the county sends people to destroy the place, I'll be drowned in the spittle of the villagers.

Zhao Peide also felt a bit of a headache.

"Don't worry about this for now. I'll discuss it with the Party Secretary and see if we can come up with a solution."

"alright."

This was his father's job, and Zhao Jinquan didn't believe he was any smarter or more reliable than his father.

Zhao Jinquan told a few close friends about it, told them not to go to the black market, and then returned to the camp.

As for whether these friends would go or not, Zhao Jinquan couldn't care less. He had spent more than a year with Feng Cheng at the camp and talked to Feng Cheng about many things. He remembered some of the things Feng Cheng said: Everyone has their own personality and habits. You may think that doing something is not good, but that is your opinion, not others'. In other people's hearts, doing it this way is the best. So don't make decisions for others or take charge of other people's decisions.

As a person, you only need to be responsible for yourself. As for others, you can give advice and dissuade them, but never impose your ideas on others or make them follow your ideas. Doing so will only be thankless and exhausting. Whether the result is good or bad, if it is bad, people will complain about you. If it is good, people may think it is only natural, or they may even think that things would be better if things were done according to their own ideas.

Zhao Jinquan now greatly admires Feng Cheng, so he imitates Feng Cheng's attitude towards life and work, and he also remembers many of Feng Cheng's unintentional words.

This is how Zhao Jinquan handled the black market issue: he told a few friends about the dangers of it, but he didn't force them to stay away from the black market.

The words have been spoken; whether or not they are listened to is no longer Zhao Jinquan's concern.