Go back to the past to plant trees

"Alright, you've finished this job. From now on, you're a worker and you'll be earning 32 yuan a month."

After taking Zhao Jinquan to the personnel department to complete the formalities, Feng Cheng jokingly said something to him.

"Brother Feng, thank you. If it weren't for you, I definitely wouldn't have gotten this job," Zhao Jinquan said sincerely, bowing to Feng Cheng.

Feng Cheng said, "Don't thank me. The bureau chief and the others have seen how well you've done things. I can put in a good word for you, but it won't do any good. Who doesn't want to be a worker these days? There are still a lot of people waiting in the county. If you think that saying a few nice words will make you a worker, then you're dreaming."

"Anyway, I still have to thank you, Brother Feng," Zhao Jinquan said again.

Feng Cheng waved his hand and said nothing more.

"Brother Feng, let me treat you to a meal!" Zhao Jinquan suddenly suggested.

"Do you have meal tickets?" Feng Cheng asked.

“Yes,” Zhao Jinquan chuckled. “When I came out, I asked my dad for a few pounds, enough for us to eat.”

"Then let's go out for a nice meal," Feng Cheng said without any hesitation. Now that he was a worker, treating him to a meal or two was nothing.

"After we finish eating, let's go get a scrub and a facial. We've been cooped up in Bashang for half a year, so we need to take a good look at ourselves."

Feeling greasy all over, Feng Cheng thought of the bathhouse in the county town, where he could have the bath master scrub him thoroughly, making his bones feel lighter.

"Sure, I haven't had a scrubbing session in ages."

Although we're going out for a meal, we've already had breakfast, so we'll have to wait until noon to eat.

Feng Cheng took Zhao Jinquan to the supply and marketing cooperative. Feng Cheng wanted to buy some daily necessities. After more than half a year of winter, the daily necessities in Bashang were basically used up, and they needed to buy some more to take back.

Oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tooth powder, soap, toothbrushes, kerosene, batteries, ink, paper—a whole host of things to buy. It wasn't just Feng Cheng; Zhao Jinquan also needed to buy a lot of things, some for himself and some for his family. He had also received his winter salary for the past six months, so he was quite well-off.

Fortunately, Feng Cheng had a lot of receipts, but even so, this trip had used up most of them.

Looks like I'll have to find some time to go find those ticket scalpers.

The ticket scalpers in the county town aren't as rampant as before; many have disappeared. Feng Cheng guessed they'd gone into hiding. If they stayed in the county town, Feng Cheng could find them, but they only come down once a month. Unless he was lucky, it would be really hard to find them.

After Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan took their things back to the dormitory, it was already noon. The two went out to find a restaurant, ordered some meat dishes and a bowl of noodles, and enjoyed a delicious meal.

"This price is a bit expensive," Zhao Jinquan said after leaving the restaurant, feeling that he had been ripped off. "With this money and food coupons, we could have made two meals ourselves."

"Let's eat out. Don't be so picky. Besides, the chef's skills are pretty good too. He's much better than what we make ourselves."

"She definitely did a much better job than me."

After eating, the two went to the bathhouse, spent 50 cents to take a bath, had their backs scrubbed, and then went to the barbershop to get a facial.

After more than a year of practice, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan's hairdressing skills have improved by leaps and bounds. They dare not say that they are better than these master hairdressers, but they are no worse than those who have just started. Of course, this is for cutting the heads of two people. If you want to change the head shape, then it won't work. The masters have cut many heads. They know very well what kind of haircut is needed for each head shape and can cut it very well.

When it comes to grooming, Feng Cheng and Zhao Jinquan are not very good at it. Mainly, neither of them has the hands to serve others, so they just give a quick shave and don't bother with things like shaving or cleaning ears.

So this trip was just to have the stylist take care of me, shave my face, clean my ears, trim my nose hairs, and so on.

"That was nice. City people really know how to enjoy life," Zhao Jinquan said, touching his smooth face as he left the barbershop, clearly very satisfied.

"It's comfortable, but it costs money. If you have to come twice a month, you won't want to."

"One cent per session is too expensive, and it's just a facial," Zhao Jinquan also felt that the price was a bit high. Each person in the team only earns four or five cents a day after a hard day's work.

After packing up, the two returned to their dormitory at the Forestry Bureau. Zhao Jinquan went back to rest, while Feng Cheng went to the archives to see if there were any new books or periodicals. If he could borrow them, he would borrow a couple to take back and read.

After leaving the archives, Feng Cheng ran into Qu He again.

"Feng Cheng, perfect timing, I have something to tell you."

"Director Qu, what's the matter?"

Qu He said, "It's like this, I told Director Yu about your tree planting. He's very interested in it and will bring people over tomorrow. They'll go up to the dam to check it the day after tomorrow. Don't go back tomorrow; come up with us the day after tomorrow."

"Also, the permanent employee assigned to you will come along tomorrow and go to the dam with you. As for the other personnel, the recruitment may not be so quick. Does Zhao Jinquan's team have any suitable people? If so, find one to come and help out first. I'll recruit the rest and send them to you later."

"Director, is this appropriate?"

Qu He said, "There's no such thing as suitable or unsuitable. It's just a temporary job. If you have someone you like, arrange for them to come over. If not, just wait two more days."

Feng Cheng thought of the few people who had visited the camp before, hesitated for a moment, and finally agreed.

Although the mechanical forest farm will recruit employees in the surrounding area after its establishment, it is hard to say whether you will be hired. For example, if the forest farm wants to recruit 20 people, there are so many villages in Saihanba, and your village may only be allocated two or three positions. Can you say that you will definitely be one of those three positions?

Every village has impoverished households and those with connections; opportunities are never equal, and you can't simply stand there and expect to get one.

Feng Cheng thought it would be good to get one in now, at least someone who comes in now will definitely be promoted to a permanent position later. After all, they are from the advance team. As long as he can get along well with those college students, they can put in a good word for him, and things will be simple.

Feng Cheng agreed, but he hadn't decided who to give the spot to yet. After all, he wasn't familiar with Zhao Jinquan's friends, but he definitely didn't want Zhao Jinshui to come. After all, Zhao Jinshui's opportunistic nature was too much, and Feng Cheng didn't want to keep rejecting him all the time.

That leaves Zhao Jinsheng and Zheng Erqiang. Feng Cheng doesn't favor either of them; either one is fine. However, considering his relationship with Zhao Jinquan, Feng Cheng leans slightly towards Zhao Jinsheng.