Chapter 1420
Zhao Tianshan's Spring
Chapter 1420 Zhao Tianshan's Spring
The next morning, Aunt Yu happened to see Zhao Tianshan pass by, so she immediately called out:
"Zhao Tianshan, stop right there!"
"Auntie, is something the matter?"
"Come here, come here quickly!" When Zhao Tianshan came over, Aunt Yu looked closely at the enthusiastic Zhao Tianshan and decided not to be rude, so she decided to find out the situation first.
"I heard you're quite capable. Come in and help me with the work. Once this vat of sauerkraut is ready, I'll give you a few heads for the New Year!"
"Okay!" Zhao Tianshan said, preparing to help Aunt Yu prepare the cabbage. At this moment, Aunt Yu cautiously asked:
"Zhao Tianshan, you know Zhang Manling, right?"
"I know!" Zhao Tianshan's lips curled up unconsciously upon hearing this.
“Then let me ask you!” Aunt Yu then asked solemnly:
"What's wrong with the name Zhang Manling? Is she ugly, or is she a bad singer?"
Aunt Yu bombarded him with questions, and Zhao Tianshan finally realized what was going on, so he smiled and said:
"Auntie, she complained about me to your face!"
"The six women who went to the dam were exemplary figures in the newspapers; the people of Chengde are all learning from them!" Aunt Yu asked earnestly.
Why did you bully Zhang Manling? Did she offend you? Why did you talk about a girl like that?
Zhao Tianshan felt a little embarrassed after being scolded by Aunt Yu, and after thinking about it, he decided to tell the truth.
So he looked around to make sure no one was watching before smiling and whispering, "Auntie, I've taken a liking to Zhang Manling!"
"What?" Aunt Yu's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at Zhao Tianshan.
"I, Zhao Tianshan, have taken a liking to Zhang Manling!" Seeing the incredulous look in Aunt Yu's eyes, Zhao Tianshan said proudly.
"Auntie, there are so many male employees in the factory, the competition is fierce. In order to make a deep impression on her, I gave her a few objective comments!"
"Hahaha~, oh my~!" Aunt Yu laughed so hard she bent over.
"You, you mustn't laugh at your aunt!" Zhao Tianshan looked around before quickly saying, "Auntie, I'm serious, I'm not joking with you!"
After confirming that Zhao Tianshan wasn't joking, Aunt Yu quickly composed herself and then said with shining eyes:
"This is hilarious! Who pursues girls like this? You young people are so funny!"
"Come here!" Aunt Yu pulled Zhao Tianshan aside, then asked in a low voice with shining eyes, "You really like him!"
Before Zhao Tianshan could answer, Aunt Yu looked at him with bright eyes and said:
"Do you need me to be your matchmaker? Let me tell you, I'm famous as a matchmaker. Last year alone, I helped six couples get married in Chengde!"
"No need, thank you for your kindness, Auntie!" Zhao Tianshan said proudly.
"I'm a soldier, and what I'm best at is blowing the bugle and charging forward myself!"
"I plan to launch a full-scale attack on her immediately when the field is less busy in the winter!" Zhao Tianshan said, waving his hand as if he were going into battle.
"Hahaha~!" Seeing Zhao Tianshan's fighting spirit, as if he were about to die on the battlefield, Aunt Yu laughed so hard she bent over again.
Unfortunately, just as Zhao Tianshan was waving his hand, he saw Zhang Manling come out of the house.
The two then looked into each other's eyes, and Zhang Manling was somewhat at a loss when she saw Zhao Tianshan's appearance.
Zhao Tianshan gave an awkward laugh, his feet practically digging out a three-bedroom apartment.
So he quickly placed the cabbage in Aunt Yu's hands and said, "Auntie, I have to go now! Be sure to keep it a secret!"
After Zhao Tianshan's awkward figure disappeared from sight, Zhang Manling called out to Aunt Yu:
"Auntie, what are you two laughing about? Did you back me up?"
"I can hold on, I can hold on!" Aunt Yu couldn't hide her smile as she walked into the house.
"Then will he never dare to bully me again?" Zhang Manling asked seriously.
"Who knows!" Aunt Yu said with a smile, looking at Zhang Manling's bewildered expression. "See you in winter!"
"What does 'see you in winter' mean?" Zhang Manling was puzzled.
"Keep it a secret!"
"Keep it a secret?"
"Zhao Tianshan told me to keep it a secret!" Aunt Yu didn't want to ruin Zhao Tianshan's plan, so she said with a smile:
"He's a war hero, and he told me to keep it a secret, so I really have to keep it a secret!"
Zhang Manling felt somewhat at a loss, completely unaware of what had happened, only hearing Aunt Yu's cheerful laughter.
"Judging from this situation, Zhang Manling feels it should be a good thing, right?"
·······
Meanwhile, after working through the night, Li Tieniu finally produced several prototypes of planting shovels.
Zhao Tianshan arrived at Li Tieniu's place, and Lin Hao, Feng Cheng, Sui Zhichao, Na Da Kui and others also arrived one after another.
"Old Li, how's it going?" Zhao Tianshan asked quickly when he saw Li Tieniu quenching the seedling shovel.
"I've made three!" Putting down the half-finished planting shovel in his hand, Li Tieniu took out the finished planting shovel from the side and said, "Here, try this one!"
"Here, give me one!" Upon seeing this, Sui Zhichao immediately took one, and Lin Hao and Zhao Tianshan also each took one, ready to try it out.
"This is a good job!" Lin Hao picked it up and looked at it, then kicked the ground with his foot, and a gap more than 30 centimeters deep immediately appeared in front of everyone.
"You did a great job!" Zhao Tianshan tried it himself and praised him highly.
"Great!" Sui Zhichao tried it and praised it highly, "Look at this, it really works!"
Da Kui also praised, "This one person can do the work of two!"
"Wow, that's impressive!" Sui Zhichao exclaimed with a laugh. "This blacksmith is really something!"
"Hey, wait a minute!" Feng Cheng immediately objected when he heard Sui Zhichao call Li Tieniu "brother".
"Sui Zhichao, are you trying to make money off my ancestors?!" Feng Cheng said, pointing at Sui Zhichao.
"What do you mean?" Sui Zhichao asked, looking completely bewildered.
Feng Cheng immediately said, "He's my maternal uncle. You call him 'elder brother,' aren't you trying to take advantage of me?"
"So that's why he really is your relative!" Zhao Tianshan exclaimed in disbelief, but quickly recovered and called out to Li Tieniu with a smile:
"Uncle!"
"Uncle~!"
"Uncle!"
Then everyone started calling him "Uncle," and Li Tieniu said somewhat embarrassedly:
"No, no, no, please don't call me that! You are all senior leaders and technicians, please don't call me that!"
However, the more he forbade them to call him that, the happier they became: "Uncle!"
Lin Hao then said with a smile, "Alright, let's take it to the hillside and test how well this planting shovel works!"
"Yes, yes, let's go try it out. I almost forgot about the important matter!" Zhao Tianshan agreed.
The group then walked toward the slope where they had planted trees that day, and each of them received a planting shovel and began to experiment.
The planting shovel proved to be exceptionally useful. It only required digging a shallow hole and then inserting the shovel into a flat slit to easily plant a sapling. Because it eliminated the need for digging deep holes, this method significantly reduced labor intensity and sped up planting, quickly becoming very popular.
Even Yu Zhenglai, who came to inspect the area, praised this amazing weapon and asked how he came up with it.
The group then explained that they had seen it in a magazine and recounted to Yu Zheng the story of inviting Li Tieniu to create the project.
Lin Hao then directly added:
"This uncle is Feng Cheng's maternal uncle, so everyone affectionately calls him Uncle!"
Lin Hao's words seemed to touch a memory for Yu Zheng, who suddenly thought of someone and asked everyone to take him to see this uncle.
The group then returned to Li Tieniu's place, where he was forging a new planting shovel.
Yu Zhenglai got closer and closer, carefully examining Li Tieniu, whose appearance gradually overlapped with that of the boy in his memory.
"Tie Niu!" Yu Zhenglai shouted, his eyes red.
"Hey~!" Li Tieniu, who was making a planting shovel, replied subconsciously.
"It really is you, Li Tieniu!" Yu Zhenglai confirmed again.
However, Li Tieniu didn't recognize Yu Zhenglai, and casually said, "It's me, what's wrong?"
Yu Zheng patted Li Tieniu's broad shoulder and said excitedly, "I haven't seen you for so many years, you've grown into a real man!"
"Who are you?" Li Tieniu was a little confused.
"I'm Yu Zhenglai!" Yu Zhenglai quickly explained, "I've known you since you were a teenager!"
"You delivered intelligence to Captain Feng, who is also your brother-in-law. You're Sister Li's brother, right?"
Through Yu Zhenglai's narration, Li Tieniu gradually recalled the arduous years before liberation and also gradually remembered Yu Zhenglai.
"Yes, yes, Captain Yu!" Li Tieniu said with a sudden realization.
"I remember now, after my brother-in-law sacrificed his life, you, Yu Zheng, took over his position!"
"It's me!" Yu Zhenglai said excitedly, "Tie Niu, welcome to our Saihanba Forest Farm!"
"No, I'm not yet!" Li Tieniu said embarrassedly.
“My nephew Feng Cheng told me to work hard here first, and once I’ve done a good job, he’ll go and plead with the leaders on my behalf!”
Li Tieniu then quickly waved his hand and said with a simple and honest expression:
“Look, I’ve made so many of these planting shovels, and he still hasn’t mentioned it!”
"Uncle!" Feng Cheng quickly introduced him, seeing that his uncle didn't know Yu Zhenglai's position.
"This is our forest farm's Party Secretary and Director, the highest-ranking leader!"
"Oh, hello leader!" Li Tieniu quickly shook Yu Zhenglai's hand.
"Tie Niu!" Yu Zhenglai smiled, then turned to the crowd and said:
"Comrades, he's an old acquaintance of mine, and also Feng Cheng's uncle. Do you think it would be considered using connections if I recruited him into our forest farm?"
"Of course not!" Lin Hao said with a smile.
"These few planting shovels have greatly improved productivity. In the future, we will carry out large-scale afforestation, and the forest farm needs talents like Uncle Lao very much!"
"Thank you, thank you!" Seeing Lin Hao speak up for him, Li Tieniu quickly thanked Lin Hao.
Yu Zhenglai also said with a smile, "The head of the technical department has the final say!"
"I agree too!" Qin Xuemei said at this moment:
"Although I'm not a leader, I'm a comrade. Our nursery also needs some ironware. I'll draw up the designs, and you can make them for me!"
"No need for diagrams, I can't understand them!" Li Tieniu quickly said.
"Just do whatever you say!"
"it is good!"
"I still have work to do!" Shen Mengyin chimed in, joining in the fun.
"The trees that Section Chief Lin and his team planted need to be sprayed with pesticides next spring to prevent pests and diseases. The blacksmithing I need is very delicate. Can you do it?"
"It can't be more delicate than an embroidery needle, can it?" Li Tieniu said with a confident smile upon hearing this.
"Back in the day, I even gave that old woman from the Zhang family a needle for embroidery!"
"Great!"
"Tie Niu!" Yu Zheng paused here, then continued:
"No, Comrade Tie Niu, you should go to the farm headquarters tomorrow to report to Director Qu!"
"Thank you, leader!" Li Tieniu cried with gratitude. He was a farmer who had been able to join the forest farm and become an employee, transforming himself from a farmer into a worker.
Afterwards, everyone returned to the headquarters. Feng Cheng prepared to go back to his dormitory, but Lin Hao, who was following behind, stopped in his tracks.
Because he saw a girl secretly following Feng Cheng, and with Lin Hao's discerning eye, he could tell at a glance that the girl liked Feng Cheng.
So Lin Hao followed behind, ready to watch the drama unfold. Just then, another girl followed, none other than Zhang Manling.
After Feng Cheng returned to his dormitory, the girl who had been following him leaned against the wall in disappointment, preparing to leave dejectedly, while Zhang Manling scrutinized her from behind.
"Oh my god, you scared me to death!" the girl said irritably when she saw Zhang Manling.
"Sun Huifen, looking at Feng Cheng again!" Zhang Manling said with a smile, "What's the use of just looking? He doesn't even know!"
"Manling, you're the most talkative of the six of us!" Sun Huifen complimented shyly.
"You were the lead singer when the forest farm was built, everyone knows you, why don't you go and put in a good word for me?"
"What did you say?"
“I just told Feng Cheng, I…!” Sun Huifen paused here, then seemed a little embarrassed to continue.
"You want me to be a matchmaker?" Zhang Manling said with a grin. "Do I look like a matchmaker to you?"
"Ugh!" Sun Huifen pleaded, grabbing Zhang Manling's hand. "We're best friends! If you don't help me, who will?"
Zhang Manling thought for a moment and said, "Alright, I'll help you out!"
The two then returned to their dormitory. Lin Hao overheard their conversation and thought to himself that it would be nice if this girl could be with Feng Cheng.
Sun Huifen is fairly pretty, but she's not Lin Hao's type. She's a good match for Feng Cheng, though.
After all, Feng Cheng is only average-looking, and they didn't end up together in the original drama, while Lin Hao stole the female lead, Qin Xuemei.
So Lin Hao decided to make amends to Feng Cheng and simply helped them get together.
When it was lunchtime, Zhang Manling indeed brought her lunchbox and came to Feng Cheng's side.
"Comrade Feng Cheng, I have something I'd like to discuss with you!"
"What's wrong?" Feng Cheng asked instinctively.
"It's like this..." He told Feng Cheng about Sun Huifen's situation.
Zhang Manling then generously expressed her desire to play matchmaker for them, and finally asked:
"Comrade Sun Huifen seems to have a good impression of you. Why don't you two meet?"
Feng Cheng originally intended to refuse, but just as he was about to refuse outright, an idea suddenly came to mind.
Tang Qi has been dead for four years. Shouldn't he move on from this relationship by now?