Go back to the past to plant trees

After chatting for a while, Yu Zhenglai took Feng Cheng to the Forestry Bureau's warehouse and picked out a Hanyang rifle for him.

The forestry bureau's warehouse had hundreds of guns, but many were homemade, unwanted by the military. Yu Zheng spent quite a while picking out a Hanyang rifle for Feng Cheng that was in decent condition.

Although this gun isn't great, at least the rifling is still there, it's been well maintained, and you can still find bullets after firing it.

After receiving the gun, Yu Zhenglai also gave Feng Cheng several boxes of ammunition, about a hundred rounds.

"I know you'll play around with the gun once you get it, but you should be careful not to overdo it. This gun is no longer in production, and bullets are not easy to find."

Feng Cheng said nonchalantly, "It's alright. So many of these guns have been produced, there must be bullets. As long as you have money, you're not afraid of not being able to buy bullets."

Even ten or twenty years from now, people will still be using this gun for hunting, so how could there be a shortage of bullets? It's just that large quantities are hard to come by, but finding a hundred or so bullets is still quite easy.

Yu Zheng didn't care about him when he came to see him, and he was too lazy to say anything to him.

After receiving his gun and signing his name, Feng Cheng mounted his horse and rode off to the dam.

In the Forestry Bureau office, Qu He and Chen Guangji were standing by the window watching Feng Cheng's departing figure.

"Is this seedling cultivation method in the Bashang area reliable?"

Qu He still didn't believe Feng Cheng's suggestion would be useful.

Chen Guangji said, "Whether it works or not, we'll know once we try. We've been trying to plant trees on the dam for five or six years now, and it's the same no matter who goes there. The conventional methods are definitely not working, so we can only try a different approach."

Qu He said, "I'm afraid he's not up to the task. He's only just learned how to plant trees, and now we're asking him to cultivate seedlings. Does he even know how to cultivate seedlings? What if he ends up making a mess of things and wasting the bureau's funds?"

Engineer Chen sighed, "There's no one else suitable besides him. Nobody in the bureau wants to go to Bashang. I had to promise again that it would only be for half a month before the nursery reluctantly agreed to send two people. If it's so difficult for them to stay there permanently, it's going to be very difficult to persuade them!"

"Moreover, our employees are capable of doing the work, but they only know how to do the bare minimum and don't know how to use their brains. If you send them to the dam, they're fine as long as they don't encounter any problems, but if they do, they're completely lost and end up coming back to me. Feng Cheng is different. He knows how to learn. Although his skill level isn't high yet, he's always learning and working hard. He's also willing to think about problems when he encounters them. In this respect, he's much better than the other employees in the bureau."

"Engineer Chen is right."

Just as Qu He and Engineer Chen were chatting, Yu Zheng returned.

“Feng Cheng is a college student, the first college student in our forestry bureau. We should use him and make good use of him. So we shouldn’t be afraid of him failing. As long as he is willing to persevere and as long as he makes progress, what does it matter if he fails a few times?”

“Old Qu, you were a soldier too, you should know that veterans all started as recruits. Squad leaders, platoon leaders, and company commanders were all recruits. The same applies to planting trees. Feng Cheng is a recruit now. Although his performance is not satisfactory to us, as long as he is willing to work hard and persevere, I believe he will become a veteran sooner or later.”

"Furthermore, we have no other choice. He is the first and only college graduate in our bureau. If we don't let him take the job, then we will have no one else to use."

"Chen is getting old, and the bureau urgently needs to train its own technicians. I don't know if Feng Cheng can take over the position, but we can only hope that he can."

Qu He was not convinced. "But Feng Cheng is a forestry major. He doesn't know anything about planting trees. If he starts learning to plant trees now, how long will it take for them to survive? I think it's better to have the higher-ups send a college graduate majoring in tree planting instead of relying on him."

“That’s one way,” Yu Zhenglai nodded, but then asked in return, “But can you guarantee that the college students won’t leave after they come? Or that any college students would be willing to come here and endure the sandstorms?”

“Feng Cheng was willing to come, willing to go to the dam, even though he went there out of spite, he persevered! He persevered for a year, and judging from his appearance, he plans to continue. Isn’t that enough? Feng Cheng’s ancestral home is here, he can persevere, he has his reasons for persevering, but what about others? Do you think those chosen ones would be willing to come to a place like ours? Even if they chose this place on a whim, how long can they persevere? A month, two months, or half a year?”

Yu Zhenglai looked helpless as he said, “We only have this one hope now, and we can only try to get him to do our best. He is the only one who is willing to plant trees in Saihanba.”

Upon hearing this, Chen Guangji also spoke up, "Actually, you don't need to be so pessimistic. Feng Cheng is talented. I've been on the dam for five or six years, and after observing for several years, I finally had some vague ideas that we should cultivate seedlings on the dam. But Feng Cheng only went up there for a year, and he went up there without knowing anything. In just one year, he felt that we should cultivate seedlings on the dam."

"On this point, I think we should have high hopes for him. He is still very smart. Besides, planting trees is essentially about learning knowledge. The fact that he was able to get into university proves that he is smart. As long as a smart person is willing to learn, there is no need to worry that he will not be able to learn."

“University only teaches for four years. Let’s be more flexible and make it five or six years. As long as Feng Cheng is willing to learn, what’s wrong with waiting a few more years? Saihanba has been abandoned for so many years, what’s wrong with waiting a few more years?”

Qu He remained silent for a while, then could only shake his head helplessly, "Alright, you've convinced me, let him give it a try!"

When Chen Guangji proposed seedling cultivation in the Bashang area at the meeting, he didn't mention that it was Feng Cheng's idea. However, after the proposal was approved, Chen Guangji discussed the situation with Qu He.

After all, Qu He was the head of the political work section of the Forestry Bureau, as well as the deputy director, making him the second-in-command of the bureau. This matter could not be kept from him.

Qu He was also somewhat displeased after hearing this. He blamed Chen Guangji for not telling him about it beforehand. Chen Guangji explained that he was afraid that Qu He would disagree if he knew.

Everyone knew that Qu He had a problem with Feng Cheng. Chen Guangji didn't blame Qu He either, because Feng Cheng's attitude when he first arrived was indeed very annoying. He caused trouble for the bureau and kept talking back to the leaders. Not to mention Qu He, even Chen Guangji was very unhappy with Feng Cheng at that time.

It was only later, when Chen Guangji saw that he stayed in Bashang, persevered, and was indeed working hard to learn about tree planting, that Chen Guangji's opinion of him began to change.

Therefore, Engineer Chen felt it was normal for Qu He to have opinions about Feng Cheng, but Chen Guangji was unsure whether Qu He would obstruct the proposal for seedling cultivation on the dam because of this, so he did not tell him in advance.

Now that everyone has discussed and approved it, Qu He can only swallow his opinions, since it has already gone through a democratic vote. That's why Engineer Chen told him the inside story.

Seeing Qu He's performance just now, Chen Guangji was glad that he hadn't told him beforehand. Although Chen Guangji was confident that he could persuade Qu He, he was worried that this would delay the seedling cultivation time. Now was the time to race against time, and there was no room for delay.

He was old and in poor health. He longed to see Saihanba restored to its former glory of thousands of miles of pine forests and wild animals roaming freely within his lifetime, even if it was a pipe dream. He still clung to that sliver of hope.