Chapter 312 - 248: I Won’t Keep You Company Anymore Ha!

Fang Huai was planting trees for the first time.

Although he was poor, he was the kind of poor person who grew up in the city; he really had never done anything like planting before.

He had occasionally seen the municipal workers planting trees, so when he went downstairs, he thought there would be a lot of things to move.

It turned out to be just a bunch of small, twiggy things, transported in a van and packed into a big cardboard box that wasn’t very heavy.

So he asked the second question that would earn him ridicule:

"Captain Ye, these are branches from a tree, right? They’re so small, can we really plant them and have them survive?"

Many people laughed.

Fang Hongliang walked over, patted him, and said:

"These are not just branches, they are seedlings cultivated from seeds, complete trees!

There are many types of trees, and all of ours are small trees that won’t grow very tall, but they tend to survive quite well.

The kind of big trees you’re talking about, those are transplanted. With the kind of funds our squadron has, how could we afford that? The transportation costs alone would be frighteningly high."

Fang Huai shook his head and said, "Squad Leader, I just feel that these are too thin, how long will it take for them to grow big?"

Chen Gong stepped up, picked up a seedling, and said, "Actually, it’s not too bad. In five or six years, they can become big trees. Like this peach tree, in two or three years, it can bear fruit.

It’s actually quite similar to the time it takes our troops to train someone.

I think it’s quite meaningful. In the future, when new recruits join our squadron, we could have a tree-planting ceremony, and by the time the trees grow, the new recruits will have matured as well. It’s a great metaphor.

However, we need to choose the trees that are easiest to keep alive, otherwise, if they keep dying as we plant them, it could cast a gloom over us."

Everyone burst into laughter.

Fang Huai also laughed, "Are there extra seedlings? I’ll plant one for Brother Hei as well; since he’s already gone, if the tree dies, we’ll just plant another."

Ye Jiahong, however, said, "There’s no need! I’ve already chosen a good one for Little Black; I’ll plant it for him in a bit!"

...

The spirited tree-planting action began.

When choosing locations, a few of the experienced planters didn’t say a word; they just silently observed the sun and wandered around.

Fang Huai quickly chose a central position and called out Little White from the tower.

Little White hopped over, thinking he was going to be fed, drool already dripping.

But Fang Huai pointed to a gap in the flower bed and said, "Little White, I’ll pad a path for you with mud later. Whenever you need to poop, you come up here, poop next to my tree—don’t waste good manure on someone else’s field, got it?"

Everyone around started to curse.

"Fang Huai, no wonder your family has money! You don’t even let poop go to waste!"

"After he becomes a cadre, won’t he be able to skim off the top, then stretch the sky even higher?"

Fang Huai smiled crookedly, too lazy to bother with them.

The soil wasn’t very compact, so he dug a large hole by himself using firefighting gloves.

Out of boredom, he put Little White into it.

The size fit quite well.

Somewhat satisfied, he mused, "Mmm...if you pass away, I’ll just bury you next to my tree."

Little White frantically jumped off the flower bed and walked away, cursing under his breath.

"Pshaw, we from the firefighting unit have our name among the police dogs; we are not afraid of death."

Fang Huai muttered under his breath, then gleefully straightened the roots of the seedling, sprinkled some loose soil, and carefully followed Squad Leader Fang’s instructions to plant the chosen plum seedling.

Hmm, a world full of peach and plum trees.

The Second Squadron will be a place to cultivate talent in the future.

When the bars on his shoulders turn into stars, the tree should also have grown tall.

When it grows and bears fruit, he himself will come and pick plums to eat.

When he stood up, Fang Huai felt like he had left behind something else to look forward to.

Military life can be very mundane, and when Fang Huai looked at this flower bed yesterday morning, he thought of Xu Sanduo and felt he should find something meaningful to do for himself.

However, it shouldn’t be as dull as Xu Sanduo building roads. He had the ability to add some flair, to motivate others, to involve everyone so that these "meaningful things" would become more interesting.

Let’s plant trees then, planting one for each person.

Everyone was quite enthusiastic. On the morning of May Day, despite the preciousness of rest time, no one treated it just as a task to hastily plant their tree and then rest.

They were careful in their actions, checking from side to side, and also looking at the sun, to ensure their little seedlings got enough sunlight.

Maybe it was the uncertainty in their hearts about whether they could stay here in the future, or whether they could continue to be promoted to the next rank of non-commissioned officers; they all wanted to leave a trace of themselves.

In their hearts, they all loved this squadron deeply.

Ye Jiahong was very proactive, cheerfully carrying fertilizer and spreading it into the soil for everyone.

When Han Yong came along with a bucket to water the plants uniformly, Fang Huai’s mobile phone vibrated.

It was a call from his dad.

Fang Huai walked to the side and answered the phone.

The old man was straightforward, getting to the point, "I’ve transferred the money to you! Your mom and I are already on our way!"

Fang Huai was stunned. "Why are you coming so early? I don’t have time to pick you up today! Nor do I have time to have dinner with you! We’ve already reached our limit on leave for today, I can’t take leave until tomorrow."

"Take leave for what? Just stay in the troops and do your job well! I heard from your uncle that you’ve become a squad leader, which is great! I was only a deputy squad leader myself, you’ve surpassed your dad! When you have time, read some books and try to get into a Military Academy!

Miss Yang’s ticket for tomorrow has already been booked, just tell her to pick up her ticket at the airport using her ID. We’ll pick her up; you don’t need to worry about anything else!"

Fang Huai was dumbstruck.

I... don’t need to worry?

From the sound of it, I’m not even part of this itinerary at all?

You arrange to meet Brother Yang, and you two will take her out for fun without me.

What a clever plan.

Ha.

Just wait.

Fang Huai hung up the phone with a snap.

"Hey, I have something to say!" Fang Huai shouted out loud.

The young farmers who were bending over planting trees all looked up, especially Ye Jiahong, who somehow managed to get a straw hat and wore it as if it was part of the job.

Fang Huai chuckled, "I’ve got money now! Whatever you want to eat, just name it, and I’ll throw a banquet for the whole squadron for four days!"

There was silence all around for a few seconds, and then a wild cheer erupted.

"Boss Fang is so generous, marry one hundred wives!"

Ye Jiahong yelled even louder, "Damn, I knew it! I saw a rainbow cloud rising today, turns out it was our Director Fang making his appearance!"

"I want lobster!"

"I want abalone!"

Fang Huai couldn’t help but snort at these farmers’ wishes.

In my past life, during the few years I spent in Guangzhou, these things weren’t exactly everyday food, but I was sick of them anyway.

"Alright, alright, everything’s fine! As long as Squad Leader Chang is willing to cook, I’ll buy it! If he can’t cook it, we’ll buy ready-made ones! Have all the old squad leaders call their wives over for dinner too!"

Fang Huai agreed readily and then chuckled:

"However, Captain Ye, my girlfriend is coming. Can she join us for meals in the team these few days, is that okay?"

"Absolutely! She just happens to be on vacation, so why not let her stay and have some fun for a few days!" Ye Jiahong immediately raised his hand and flashed an "OK" sign.

Only then did Fang Huai reveal a look of satisfaction.

Ha, old man, don’t blame me for being ruthless, you were the one who made the first move.

...

The next day, noon.

At the squadron entrance.

Yang Shaoqing wore a delicate black dress, revealing most of her alabaster arms, and on her feet were matching leather shoes. Paired with her well-proportioned, long and fair legs, she glowed as she walked down the street.

She adjusted the hair that fell over her shoulders and put down the pink suitcase she was pulling from her hand. Taking out her mobile phone from her small purse, she sweetly cooed to Fang Kaiyang and Zhang Mei behind her:

"Uncle Fang, Aunt Zhang, I’ll give him a call."

Fang Kaiyang once again urged, "Shaoqing, why doesn’t uncle and auntie take you to the hotel first, drop off your stuff, and come back later?"

While dialing the phone, Yang Shaoqing turned around and smiled sweetly:

"It’s fine, uncle and auntie, I brought him some food, it will get cold soon."

The old couple were inwardly impressed.

Zhang Mei was particularly touched, almost to tears.

"This girl is so considerate, our Fang Huai is really... lucky, so lucky."

Soon, Fang Huai appeared at the squadron entrance with an indescribably proud face.

"I’m here," Fang Huai said warmly.

Yang Shaoqing’s eyes curved into a smile, and she said softly, "The little lady is here to inspect the post."

Fang Huai took her luggage without hesitation.

Then, looking at his parents whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, he showed filial respect:

"Dad, Mom, it’s enough for her to enter the squadron. There are too many family members, and it’s not good. You go ahead and have fun! Jiaxiu Tower, Qingyan Ancient Town, Nanjiang Grand Canyon, Hongfeng Lake, just go and enjoy yourselves! Yang Shaoqing and I won’t be joining you!"

Fang Kaiyang was stunned for two seconds, then his face turned to shock and rage.

"What did you say?!"

"Nothing, nothing! Let me put away her bag first!" Fang Huai cheerfully pulled Yang Shaoqing by the hand, intending to go inside.

No such thing as a perfect situation in this world.

Just at that second, the alarm bell blared.

"Woo..."