There are requirements for the tending of young forests, and the pass rate must be above 95%.
After the work is completed on each plot of land, forestry technicians will come to inspect it.
If it doesn't meet the standards, not only will it need to be reworked, but you'll also have to pay a deduction.
Sheng Xiping was the leader of the educated youth team and was in charge of managing this group of people. So he not only had to remove the saplings, but also had to keep an eye on these people while they worked.
The locals at Qianchuan Forest Farm are better off, since they participated in afforestation campaigns every year when they were in school and can do most of the work.
Especially those educated youth who were sent to work in the countryside a few years ago, they are very skilled at these tasks.
However, the group of people from Songjianghe were no good. They had never done manual labor before, and even though they had been working on this land for several days, they still couldn't get the hang of it.
Especially the female educated youth, after only a short time, one complained of hand pain and another of back pain.
"How are you? Are you tired? Does your hand hurt?"
"If your hand hurts, slow down. I'll move this ridge over and come back for you."
Sheng Xiping was standing next to Zhou Qinglan, and as he passed by her, he asked her softly.
Zhou Qinglan raised her hand and wiped the sweat from her temples and neck with the back of her hand, then shook her head.
“It’s okay, I can manage. We came to the forest farm to train, how can we give up because of this little bit of hardship?”
"Okay, then be careful and watch your step."
This sapling is only three years old and not very tall. It is tended every year and there are not many weeds or shrubs.
So if you can't hide from snakes or other animals, there's generally no danger.
With so many people around, the noise level was quite high; even if there were wild animals nearby, they would have been scared away long ago.
Sheng Xiping reminded Zhou Qinglan simply to make her watch her step, as one foot is higher than the other, and she might accidentally twist her ankle.
Whether it was the heat or something else, Zhou Qinglan felt her face was burning hot.
She was too embarrassed to talk to Sheng Xiping any longer, so she just nodded and hummed in agreement.
Seeing this, Sheng Xiping didn't say anything more and wielded his hoe to quickly cut off the weeds on the ridges and mounds.
This land was originally planted with saplings on large raised beds. The beds were very long and wide, and it would take almost an afternoon to complete just one bed.
Sheng Xiping worked quickly, finishing his row of weeds before turning back to greet Zhou Qinglan.
The other guys who have partners basically do the same thing.
Those girls who don't have boyfriends, well, they're out of options, they can only grit their teeth and finish the work themselves.
Summer days are long, so we worked until after 5 p.m., then everyone packed up their tools and headed outside.
They had to walk four or five miles along the shadow of the path that had been cleared by logging before they could reach the small railway track of the second branch line to wait for the train.
There are special shuttle buses for workers at the site, usually a diesel locomotive pulling several carriages.
If there are many people working up the mountain, sometimes a few truck beds or something will be attached.
The small hill where Sheng Xiping and his team were working was logged a few years ago, after which the hill was closed off for reforestation following large-scale clear-cutting.
So apart from the previous afforestation and young forest tending, there aren't many people here on weekdays.
Especially on both sides of the road, there are undisturbed or already grown secondary forests with dense trees and shrubs.
Such places are likely to harbor small animals or birds.
A group of young men and women, in the prime of their youth and full of energy, were still in high spirits despite having worked all day.
The young men sang as they walked.
The singing was terrible; it had no pitch or melody whatsoever. Luckily, there were no wolves around, or it would have attracted them.
Some people, being impulsive, would pick up a stone and throw it into the nearby bushes.
Coincidentally, someone startled a few pheasants at that moment.
Pheasants and rabbits are among the most common birds and animals in the Changbai Mountain forest area.
Pheasants mostly live on the edges of forests, in bushes or overgrown areas, and occasionally venture into sparse mixed forests to forage.
Pheasants mostly breed in the spring and usually nest in shrubs or low mixed forests.
The nest was built very simply; it was just a hollow, lined with some dry grass, twigs, or leaves.
During spring and summer, pheasants usually forage in the early morning and evening, return to their burrows after sunrise, and come out again at dusk.
These pheasants must be a family. They came out to forage at dusk and were disturbed by people.
Several pheasants fluttered up from the bushes, immediately attracting everyone's attention.
"Pheasant! There's a pheasant!" several people shouted.
Their shouts made the pheasants fly even faster, but even faster than the pheasants were Sheng Xiping's slingshot.
As he walked out, Sheng Xiping had a slingshot in his hand.
This slingshot is well-made and has excellent elasticity. The projectiles are steel balls obtained from the small repair shop.
Sheng Xiping has played with slingshots since he was a child. In his hands, this slingshot can be said to hit any target with perfect accuracy.
Even his master said that his slingshot skills were absolutely amazing.
Sheng Xiping couldn't bring a hunting rifle when he came up the mountain to work, but he knew there were many wild animals in the forest, so he brought a slingshot.
I was thinking that if I came across anything, I'd just beat it up and bring it home to improve my life.
As soon as he came out, Sheng Xiping fastened the marbles, ready at any moment.
Startled pheasants usually have a habitual action.
They will first fly vertically upwards from the bushes or grass, and then fly horizontally to a distance.
When a pheasant changes from vertical to horizontal flight, it will make a turning motion in the air.
At this point, its speed will slow down a bit as it needs to coordinate its body balance, resulting in a very brief pause.
This is the best time to shoot pheasants; experienced hunters will seize this fleeting opportunity.
Although I stopped hunting in my previous life and my skills may have become rusty, the muscle memory in my body is still there.
With years of experience, hunting a pheasant is a piece of cake.
Hunters need to estimate the altitude and distance at which pheasants fly and allow for lead time.
An old hunter passed down a rhyme: "Strike the mouth horizontally, strike the legs horizontally, strike the wings diagonally."
Sheng Xiping aimed at the pheasant's beak and fired the bullet. The steel ball hit the pheasant's head, and the pheasant, which was about to take flight, flapped its wings and fell into the grass.
The other pheasants had already flown far away, and it was too late for Sheng Xiping to load the marbles and fire them.
He wasn't greedy; he ran straight towards where the pheasant had landed and picked up a dying male pheasant from the grass.
"Brother Xiping, you're amazing! We hadn't even realized what was happening, and you'd already shot down the pheasant."
"Oh my, it's a male pheasant! It looks quite big, enough for a meal."
Only then did everyone realize what was happening, and they swarmed around Sheng Xiping, saying with envy.
"This is a pheasant, it's so beautiful."
Having grown up in the city and never seen a pheasant before, Zhou Qinglan curiously came closer, her eyes sparkling as she looked at the pheasant in Sheng Xiping's hand.
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