Go back to the past to plant trees

"Dad, Mom, I'm home."

Zhao Jinquan led Feng Cheng into the courtyard. As soon as they entered, Zhao Jinquan shouted loudly, and soon four people came out of the house.

Feng Cheng glanced at them. He recognized Zhao Jinsheng. The young woman next to him was his wife, Zhao Jinquan's sister-in-law. The other two older women were probably Zhao Jinquan's parents.

"Hello, uncle and aunt."

Upon seeing the person come out, Feng Cheng immediately greeted them politely.

"Good good."

When Zhao Peide saw Feng Cheng, he was momentarily speechless.

"Let's go inside first, it's cold outside," Zhao Jinsheng said, feeling quite at ease since he had spent time with Feng Cheng before.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Peide immediately nodded, "Yes, yes, come in and have some tea first. You must be tired after walking such a long way."

"It's troublesome."

Feng Cheng nodded and followed Zhao Jinquan into the room.

The kang (heated brick bed) in the room was already heated, and Feng Cheng was invited to sit on it. Next to him, a little child was staring at him with wide eyes.

"Baorong, do you miss me?"

As soon as Zhao Jinquan got onto the kang (a heated brick bed), he reached out to hug the child.

"Ya ya ya ya".

Seeing Zhao Jinquan's outstretched hand, the child suddenly waved his hands wildly at Zhao Jinquan, but Zhao Jinquan didn't care whether he agreed or not, and directly picked him up and rubbed his face against him.

"Wow...wow..."

Zhao Jinquan's series of actions made the child cry.

"Alright, put him down and let him play by himself. He made the child cry as soon as he came back."

Seeing his expression, Zhao Peide couldn't help but curse.

“This guy,” Zhao Jinquan put him down and muttered unhappily, “he doesn’t kiss me anymore. He used to want me to hug him when we got home.”

Zhao Jinsheng said, "You haven't been back for so long. He hasn't seen you much, so he's definitely not as close to you as he used to be. You'll get used to each other in a few days."

"Come on, Leader Feng, have some tea."

At this moment, Aunt Zhao brought over a bowl of tea and placed it in front of Feng Cheng.

"Thank you uncle."

Feng Cheng said politely, picked up the bowl and started drinking. He was also a little thirsty after walking for several hours.

Only Zhao Peide and a few other men remained on the kang (heated brick bed); Zhao's mother and sister-in-law had already gone to the kitchen to busy themselves.

“Leader Feng, I’ve been telling Xiao Si to bring you back for a while now, but he keeps saying he’s busy and doesn’t have time. I don’t know what to say to him.”

Feng Cheng laughed and said, "The camp is indeed quite busy. One of us has to stay there and keep an eye on things. We really can't leave."

“It’s good to be busy, it’s good to be busy, we also want to be busy, but you know the situation in Bashang. We can only work for half the year, and for the other half of the year we can only stay at home and can’t go anywhere. We can’t even earn any money.”

Zhao Peide sighed, then added, "To be honest, I have to thank Leader Feng. If it weren't for you, my little Xiao Si wouldn't be able to work with you. There's no future or prospects for her in the team."

Upon hearing this, Feng Cheng was at a loss for words. Rural issues were difficult to resolve even in later generations. Farming was not a way to make money or get rich; it only provided enough for basic needs. If this was the case in later generations, it would be even more so in this era of limited fertilizers, scarce improved seeds, and agricultural taxes.

Feng Cheng does have some ways to make money, but they are not suitable for Shaquan Brigade. This place lacks everything, and making money here is extremely difficult. Moreover, Feng Cheng can only offer suggestions, and people may not even listen to him.

"Jin Quan is hardworking, and our leaders have seen his work. I'm just a worker, and the decision to hire people can only be made by the leaders in our bureau."

Feng Cheng smiled and replied that he wanted to clarify the matter, as he still remembered the questions asked by the people at the village entrance earlier.

He didn't think that all rural people were honest and simple. He had been to the countryside before, and there were plenty of shameless people there. Feng Cheng didn't want to take on too much work for himself.

Feng Cheng had never met Zhao Peide and didn't know what kind of person he was. He had only heard about him a few times from Zhao Jinquan and had a general impression of him. He knew that Zhao Peide was a somewhat cunning farmer. This preconceived notion made Feng Cheng feel that he had to be careful in dealing with him, otherwise he wouldn't even know if he was being tricked.

"Yes, yes, yes, the leader approves, that's good."

"By the way, Leader Feng, I heard from Xiao Si that you've planted trees on the dam again. How are they? Have they survived?" Zhao Peide continued to ask.

"Uncle, please stop calling me 'Leader Feng,' I'm not really a leader. Just call me Little Feng!"

Feng Cheng corrected Zhao Peide's form of address, and then continued, "The trees have been planted, but whether they will survive is hard to say. We'll only know next spring, but I think there's a high probability they will survive."

"If only they could survive, the wind and sand here in Bashang are too strong. Many things can't survive because of the strong winds and sand. The seedlings are all blown to death. If we could grow trees, they could block the wind and sand."

“When there were more trees on the dam, although there was sandstorm, it wasn’t as bad as it is now. Things could still grow on the dam because the trees provided shelter. Now that there are no trees, the crops aren’t growing well. Actually, the land on the dam is still very good. In some places, the land is no worse than that in Northeast China. It’s just that the sandstorm is too strong. Layer upon layer of sand covers the good soil.”

Zhao Peide recalled what Saihanba used to look like, his face filled with emotion.

Several men chatted on the kang (a heated brick bed), talking about village affairs and asking about Feng Cheng's situation at the camp. However, Zhao Peide did most of the talking, mostly about the past situation in Saihanba. Feng Cheng was quite interested in hearing about this, and occasionally he would ask about the past, such as the trees in Saihanba. Although the bureau had information and data on this, it was never as clear and thorough as what Zhao Peide, a local, had to say.

They chatted for almost an hour until the food was ready and served.

"Xiao Feng, I heard from Xiao Si that you can hold your liquor. How about a couple of drinks today?"

After the food was served, Zhao Peide took out two bottles of Erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor).

"I can drink a little, but not too much."

Over the past year, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan had drunk quite a bit, but each time they only drank to their hearts' content. Feng Cheng didn't want to drink too much and make himself feel too unwell.

However, having drunk alcohol frequently, Feng Cheng's alcohol tolerance is now quite good. He can easily drink eight or nine ounces, and even a pound, though he'll feel unwell the next day.

"As long as you can drink, let's have a couple of drinks together today."

Zhao Peide poured half a bowl for Feng Cheng, and then poured half a bowl for each of his two sons.

The Zhao family prepared a rather lavish meal today: a large plate of chicken, half a plate of pork, a plate of scrambled eggs with chives, and a large plate of stir-fried cabbage with glass noodles. These were not small dishes from the south; the bowls were only slightly smaller than a vegetable washing basin, and the portions were quite generous.

The cost of this meal, just the ingredients alone, would have been around seven or eight yuan. And that's after prices started to drop; last year, the price would have been even higher.

This is also why Feng Cheng doesn't really want to eat at Zhao Jinquan's house—it's too expensive.