The Entire Mountain Is My Hunting Ground

Chapter 235: Chapter 205: Logging Camp Assignments

The next day, Zhao Jun ran into Ma Liang on his way to work. The two of them walked to the Forest Farm, chatting and laughing together.

As soon as they entered the acceptance team’s office, they saw Xu Baoshan standing at his desk, arranging ledgers and manila folders.

Seeing Zhao Jun and Ma Liang come in, Xu Baoshan put down what he was holding, pointed at Ma Liang, and said, "Hurry up. Head up the mountain to Logging Camp 54."

"What’s wrong, Master?" Ma Liang asked.

"Hah, don’t even get me started," Xu Baoshan sighed. "Last night, Elder Ghost Wang and his group were out drinking. They must have eaten something bad, because every last one of them has a nasty case of the runs. None of them can come in today."

"Oh my god." Hearing this, Ma Liang’s face fell. "What are we going to do? All these Forest Farms have a ton of timber piled up from before the New Year."

"Tell me about it," Xu Baoshan said. "You grab your things and get up there. I can’t take it easy today either; I have to go cover for Zhao Er in a bit."

At this, Xu Baoshan looked over at Zhao Jun and said with a smile, "Now that you’ve joined our acceptance team, I, as the team leader, was planning on getting some meat and having Master Zhao cook it up to welcome you properly. But what do you know, we’re slammed with work right from the start. Let’s just wait a bit and eat when things aren’t so busy."

"Sounds good. Thank you in advance, Team Leader," Zhao Jun quickly replied. "Let’s focus on work first. The meal isn’t urgent; we can do it any time."

At the same time, a strange feeling stirred in Zhao Jun. ’In my past life, I worked on the acceptance team for ten years. Throughout that decade, no matter how many times I asked for time off, Xu Baoshan always approved it and even found someone to cover for me.’

’But Xu Baoshan never showed any particular warmth toward me.’

’But now, with the connection to Xu Changlin and Mrs. Xu, Xu Baoshan’s attitude toward me is completely different. He’s even willing to use me to curry favor with Zhou Jianjun.’

’I have to remember, in my past life, even after Zhou Jianjun was promoted to third-in-command of the Forest Farm ten years down the line, Xu Baoshan’s attitude toward me never changed. He always kept me at a respectful distance.’

Zhao Jun had a moment of clarity. ’This must be the Northeasterner social code. If you have powerful connections, I can’t afford to offend you. So, I’ll put you on a pedestal and just make sure not to cross you.’

’But don’t you dare think you’ll get any real benefits out of me.’

After hearing Zhao Jun’s reply, Xu Baoshan nodded and instructed, "Zhao Jun, keep learning diligently from your Brother Ma today. Master the skills quickly so you can come and help me out."

The moment Xu Baoshan finished speaking, before Zhao Jun could even say a word, Ma Liang chimed in from the side, "Master, Zhao Jun doesn’t need to learn anymore."

"Hm?" Xu Baoshan frowned. He thought something unpleasant had happened between Ma Liang and Zhao Jun, and that Ma Liang was refusing to train him any longer.

Unaware of his master’s thoughts, Ma Liang just said, "Master, Zhao Jun is a genius! He only trained with me for one day, and he’s already mastered everything I know."

"You’re full of shit!" Xu Baoshan immediately cursed upon hearing Ma Liang. Timber scaling wasn’t as simple as just grabbing a ruler to measure; it involved many complex nuances and definitely wasn’t something a person could master in a single day.

But then Xu Baoshan had a thought. ’My apprentice is skilled, but he’s never trained anyone before. He’s probably just a bad teacher.’

’In that case, I can’t let Zhao Jun find out. Otherwise, he’ll think I’m not taking his training seriously.’

With this in mind, Xu Baoshan’s expression shifted. He chided Ma Liang with a laugh, "This is no time for jokes!" Then, pointing toward the door, he said to Zhao Jun, "Zhao Jun, go grab your gear. You’re coming with me today. I’ll teach you myself."

"Alright, Team Leader, I’ll go get them now." Zhao Jun didn’t bother explaining, simply turning and heading out.

"Master," Ma Liang began, still clueless about what Xu Baoshan was thinking. He wanted to praise Zhao Jun some more, but one sharp glare from his master stopped him from saying another word.

About twenty minutes later, Xu Baoshan finished organizing his files and left the Forest Farm with Zhao Jun, heading straight for No. 47 Logging Camp.

According to its technical definition in forestry, a Logging Camp is a site where timber is gathered, stacked, and transferred during the collection and transportation process.

In those years, the Northeast was supporting construction in the Southern Region, and the Yong’an Forest Area alone shipped tens of thousands of tons of timber daily to the various southern provinces.

The Yong’an Forest Farm certainly couldn’t store that much timber.

Therefore, Logging Camps were built corresponding to each Forest Class. Before 1980, these camps were all owned by the Forest Farm.

But after 1980, the Forest Farm contracted these Logging Camps out to private individuals. These Leaders, as the contractors were called, would then hire their own men for logging and transportation.

However, the mountain forests were state-owned, so the timber felled at each Logging Camp still had to be turned over to the Forest Farm.

In return, the Forest Farm would pay each Leader a "piece-rate wage" based on the tallies recorded by the acceptance inspectors.

In this way, the Forest Farm shifted from hiring individual workers to hiring Leaders, solving its problem of bloated staffing and lightening its operational burden.

As a result, however, the position of an acceptance inspector became incredibly influential.

It wasn’t so bad at the Forest Farm itself, but the moment they set foot in any of the Logging Camps, these inspectors’ word was law.

When scaling timber, for instance, there were always borderline measurements that an inspector could approve or deny completely at their own discretion.

And whether or not they chose to be generous depended entirely on their relationship with the Leader.

And that was just the small stuff. If someone really managed to piss off an inspector, the man could turn vicious and dock them on any measurement he pleased, legitimate or not.

So, even though inspectors weren’t government officials, they wielded considerable power. Any given inspector from the acceptance team was someone who could swagger through the Forest Area like they owned the place.

So today, the personal arrival of Xu Baoshan, the head of the acceptance team himself, absolutely terrified Jiang Leader of No. 47 Logging Camp.