Year: I planted trees in Saihanba

"Bang bang bang!"

Summer knocked on the door of the dugout where Lao Wei and the others lived.

"Captain, the door's unlocked, come in!"

When Lao Wei heard the knocking, he assumed it was Zhao Tianshan coming to inspect their quarters.

He quickly called out towards the door.

Hearing Lao Wei's shout, Xia Tian pushed open the door and entered.

"Leader Xia!"

Old Wei saw that it wasn't Zhao Tianshan who pushed open the door, but Xia Tian.

He quickly offered his greetings.

Upon seeing this, Dayong and Xiaohuang quickly greeted them as well.

They knew that Xia Tian was the most powerful official in this dam area.

Even Zhao Tianshan, the brigade leader, had to listen to Xia Tian.

"Don't be nervous, everyone. I just came here to take a look around and chat with you all!"

Summer smiled gently.

Seeing that Xia Tian was not pretentious, Lao Wei and the other two gradually relaxed!

"Old Wei, right?"

Is it okay for me to call you that?

Xia Tian first walked up to Lao Wei and asked with a smile.

"No problem, no problem, Leader Xia!"

Wei Fugui smiled somewhat obsequiously.

"Alright, stop calling me 'leader' all the time."

"Just call me Engineer Xia, like everyone else!"

"Xia Gong felt much better than any leader or anything like that!"

Summer spoke to the people in the dugout.

"Are you settling in well here in Bashang?"

"Leader... Engineer Xia, to be honest, this place is much better than my hometown!"

Upon hearing Xia Tian's question, Wei Fugui'er was the first to speak up and answer.

"At least we won't go hungry here!"

"..."

Xia Tian listened to Wei Fugui's words and fell silent for a moment.

The entire country is suffering from an unprecedented drought.

In most areas, there was a severe crop failure.

To date, many people across the country have starved to death.

Summer is powerless to do anything about it.

Drought is something that cannot be changed by human effort.

Man-made disasters can be mitigated by human intervention, but natural disasters are beyond human control.

"Now that we're here, let's do a good job!"

Xia Tian offered a word of comfort to Lao Wei.

Who else is in your family?

Although Xia Tian felt that Lao Wei was fine, he still asked a few more questions out of caution.

"I also have an elderly mother and three younger siblings at home!"

"My eldest brother is starting junior high school this year!"

When Wei Fugui heard Xia Tian's question, he answered truthfully.

"Things were a little easier for the family in the last two years!"

"My dad sent me to learn to be a chef."

"Who would have thought that things would turn out like this!"

"My father went into the mountains last year for the sake of the family, and he never came back!"

Old Wei spoke frankly and calmly about his family's affairs.

"My mother is getting old and her health isn't good!"

"My family went bankrupt all at once, so I had no choice but to come out and make a living."

Listening to Lao Wei's story in the summer, I was deeply moved and couldn't calm down for a long time.

Old Wei's story is a microcosm of many Chinese people today.

There are plenty of pitiful people like Lao Wei all over the country now.

Xia Tian patted Lao Wei on the shoulder, offering him a silent comfort.

"Old Wei, look ahead, everything will be alright!"

"Thank you, Engineer Xia!"

Old Wei was very grateful.

"By the way, Lao Wei, go to the storage room later and get two pieces of meat!"

"I'll prepare two meat dishes tonight to improve your meals, consider it a welcome feast!"

Xia Tian said something to Lao Wei.

"Okay, Mr. Xia!"

Old Wei responded.

"Alright, you go ahead with your work, I'll talk to those two!"

Xia Tian said something to Lao Wei, then looked at Da Yong and Xiao Huang, who were standing awkwardly to the side.

"Dayong and Xiaohuang, right?"

"Yes, Engineer Xia!"

Dayong and Xiaohuang looked at Xia Tian.

"Don't be nervous, I'm just chatting casually to get a general understanding of your situation!"

"I heard from Director Qu that you two are brothers, is that right?"

"Yes, Engineer Xia."

"He's my second uncle's son, my cousin!"

Dayong, being the older brother, answered Xia Tian's question.

"Oh, it's your cousin! I thought you two were brothers!"

"Although we're not blood brothers, we're practically like blood brothers!"

Da Yong smiled憨厚ly.

"Are you settling in well here?"

"Habit, habit, Mr. Xia!"

"You'll get used to it, you'll get used to it!"

"Who else is at home?"

"There's no one left at home, just the two of us brothers!"

"My second uncle died young, before the Japanese devils had even been driven out!"

"After my second uncle passed away, my second aunt remarried!"

"My brother was left all alone, so my father took him in to take care of him."

"I heard that my mother died during childbirth because of complications!"

“Over the years, my father raised the two of us by himself. Unfortunately, he passed away from lung disease a couple of years ago!”

Dayong and Xiaohuang's experiences were even worse than Lao Wei's.

After hearing this, Xia Tian didn't know what to say.

I wanted to offer some comfort, but I didn't know where to begin.

In the end, it all turned into a silent sigh.

"Once you're here, work hard!"

Summer encouraged the two young men and then turned and left their dugout.

Old Wei listened to their entire story and offered some words of comfort.

Summer had just stepped out when she bumped into Zhang Fulin, who was returning from burying gold.

"Zhang Fulin, right?"

"Yes... to... the leader!"

Zhang Fulin looked at Xia Tian with great nervousness.

Summer felt very dangerous to Zhang Fulin.

Especially summer, those eyes hidden behind her glasses, seemingly able to see through everything yet as calm as still water.

This made Zhang Fulin quite uneasy.

"Old Zhang, is it okay for me to call you that?"

"No...no problem, boss!"

Zhang Fulin kept his head down, he really didn't dare to meet Xia Tian's eyes.

"Ok!"

Summer nodded.

Who else is in your family?

Xia Tian looked at Zhang Fulin, who looked nervous, and didn't say anything.

"There's no one at home anymore, just... just me!"

"Oh, that's how it is!"

"By the way, Lao Zhang, is your stutter natural?"

Summer suddenly changed the subject again.

"No...no, boss!"

"I...I didn't...I wasn't born this way!"

"Okay, I got it. You can go ahead with your work!"

Xia Tian nodded, made way for Zhang Fulin to go in.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Fulin felt as if he had been granted a pardon and hurriedly went into the dugout.

Summer stood there for a while, pondered, and then walked away.

Soon, it was night.

Everyone gathered around the dining table in the small kitchen, where two bowls of meat dishes and two bowls of vegetable dishes were laid out.

There was also a basket of steamed buns made from a mixture of flour and water.

"Alright, everyone's here, let me just say a few words."

Summer is the highest official position in Bashang.

He also put on a show of leadership.

"Due to limited resources, we are unable to host a grand welcome banquet for everyone."

"Let's toast everyone with water instead of wine!"

Summer raised her special large tea mug in front of her.

Seeing this, the others also raised their large teacups.

"Welcome everyone to Weichang Bashang! Let's cheer!"

……