Go back to the past to plant trees

After having dinner at Uncle Liu's house, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan returned to their dormitory and made do for the night. The next day, Feng Cheng went to the cafeteria for a meal and then took Zhao Jinquan to the office to find Qu He.

"Director Qu."

“Feng Cheng, I ran into Old Liu this morning. He told me you went down to the dam, so I thought you would come looking for me.”

When Qu He saw Feng Cheng, he didn't show much surprise and gestured for him to sit opposite him.

"Is he here to handle his official promotion?" Qu He asked, glancing at Zhao Jinquan.

Seeing Qu He's expression, Zhao Jinquan immediately smiled and nodded.

"Yes, besides that, I also want to ask when the people arranged will be able to come to the dam. My work on the dam is about to start, and without enough people, we simply can't get anything done!"

"As for manpower, it might take another two days; we haven't even started recruiting yet."

Feng Cheng said, "Isn't there a demobilized soldier? Why don't you get him to the dam first? He doesn't need to be recruited, right? Having one more person will help me get the work done faster."

"No problem, I'll arrange it for you in a bit and try to get you promoted as soon as possible."

Qu He didn't hesitate and gave Feng Cheng a positive answer directly.

Feng Cheng nodded and continued, "Director Qu, I have another matter to discuss. Last autumn, Jin Quan and I planted 750 trees in the dam area. Before coming down, I checked and found that about 695 of them had sprouted leaves. It seems like they have survived, but I'm not sure. So I'd like to ask an expert to go up and take a look to confirm it."

"He's alive? Are you sure?"

Upon hearing this, Qu He's eyes widened instantly, and she stared intently at Feng Cheng, asking the question.

Feng Cheng shook his head: "I'm not sure. When I first planted trees in Bashang, the leaf release rate was also very high, but in the end, not many trees survived. I'm not too sure about this time either."

"Experts, experts..."

Qu He kept muttering these two words. Since Engineer Chen passed away, a new production section chief had been appointed in the bureau. To be honest, his technical skills were far inferior to Engineer Chen's. Qu He was not comfortable letting him confirm the matter. Moreover, it was such a big deal, and Qu He could not just listen to him alone.

"How about this, I'll contact Director Yu and ask him to arrange for a technician from the region to come over. It should take at most two days. I'll go up with him to confirm then."

If no suitable candidate can be found in the bureau, then we can only look in the region. Fortunately, Yu Zhenglai has become the director of the regional bureau, so it is quite easy to ask him to make an arrangement.

"Okay, but we need to do it as soon as possible. I still have six or seven thousand saplings waiting to be transplanted at my nursery. If they are sure they will survive, then the saplings at the nursery need to be transplanted this spring."

"Okay, I'll arrange it in a bit. It won't take up your time."

Qu He also wanted to know immediately whether the trees on the dam had survived. This was the result of several years of hard work by the Forestry Bureau. If it was confirmed that they could survive, then he would have given an explanation to both his superiors and subordinates. Moreover, this was during his tenure, and it was his achievement. You should know that the situation in Saihanba is now being paid attention to by the Ministry, not to mention the region and province. After all, it was a royal hunting ground decades ago.

"Take Zhao Jinquan to the personnel department to get his official employment status sorted out. I've already told them about this before. You just need to take him there to complete the formalities."

"Row."

Having finished discussing the matter, Feng Cheng didn't stay there any longer and headed towards the personnel department with Zhao Jinquan.

After Feng Cheng left, Qu He sat on the stool and pondered for a while. Then he picked up the phone on the table and dialed the number of the regional forestry bureau.

In those days, everything was done manually, so the connection time was quite long, but Qu He was used to it and waited quietly.

"Old Yu."

"Old Qu, what's up?"

Yu Zhenglai's slightly puzzled voice came from the other end of the phone.

"That's right," Qu He repeated to Yu Zheng what Feng Cheng had just told him.

“You know Lao Zhou’s skill level. I’d rather trust Feng Cheng than let him go up and confirm. So I’d like you to arrange for a technician from the region to come and check if the tree has really survived.”

Yu Zhenglai, who was on the other end of the phone, was surprised and pleased to hear this. Although it was not yet confirmed, since Feng Cheng had reported to them, he had a certain degree of confidence. Yu Zhenglai believed that the tree was most likely alive.

"I'll take some people down there these next two days, no, tomorrow, and try to get up to the dam the day after tomorrow."

"Don't be so hasty!"

"This is just a side note. There's something else I need to tell you in person. I was originally planning to wait until you came to the region for a meeting in a while before telling you, but now's the perfect time to tell you then."

"Okay, then we'll talk when you get here."

Qu He didn't ask what it was about. Since Yu Zheng didn't say anything immediately, it meant that the matter couldn't be explained clearly over the phone, or that it would take a long time to discuss.

Qu He was about to hang up the phone when he suddenly remembered something. "By the way, bring the people you arranged for Feng Cheng along this time. Feng Cheng said he's too busy with things there and needs more people."

"Sure, I'll bring the person over with me."

After hanging up the phone, Qu He was no longer in the mood to deal with the matter. This matter was simply too important to him. The Forestry Bureau had invested so much in Saihanba and spent six or seven years on it. Now, it was finally paying off. How could Qu He not be happy and excited?

Thinking of this, Qu He thought of Feng Cheng's matter again. This college student has been working on the dam for three years. He has worked hard and earned credit. If the tree planting is successful this time, he will also have earned credit. With credit, there should be a reward.

Thinking of the technical section chief position that Engineer Chen had secured for Feng Cheng, Qu He had a plan in mind. Of course, he couldn't immediately promote Feng Cheng to section chief, but he could arrange for him to become deputy section chief. After confirming that the trees would survive, he could first promote him to deputy section chief, and then to section chief next year. In any case, Feng Cheng was of age and had been working for several years. He was also a cadre from Beijing who had come to support the border regions, so he had enough experience. If it was confirmed that the trees would survive in the dam area, then the achievement would be there, and promoting him would be a matter of course.

Of course, a large part of the reason for this is because of Yu Zheng. With such a superior paying attention, it's fine if Feng Cheng doesn't achieve anything. But if he does achieve something, his share of the credit will definitely not be buried.

While this era may seem pure, that's only relative. Rules that have been passed down for thousands of years are not so easily swept away, so achieving results doesn't guarantee a promotion.