A young official on the verge of promotion must choose between the pretty number on paper and the barren hillside where an old forest keeper plants trees day after day.
The Night Before the Meeting
深夜，乡政府的办公室还亮着灯，李文把那份报告改了又改。
Late at night, the lights were still on in the township government office, where Li Wen revised the reforestation report over and over.
县里下来的是三千亩，可实际栽活的，连一半都不到。
The target handed down from the county was three thousand mu, but the trees that had actually taken root didn't even add up to half of that.
Director Wang
数字嘛，往上凑一凑就行了，明天哪有人真上山去数。
It's just a number—round it up a bit and you're done. Who's actually going to climb the mountain and count them at tomorrow's inspection?
Li Wen
主任，这要是被查出来，可不是闹着玩的。
Director, if this gets found out, it's no joke.
Director Wang
你这次表现好，的名额就稳了，较这个真。
Do well this time and that promotion slot is yours for sure—there's no point splitting hairs over this.
The Barren Hill
天没亮，李文一个人爬上了那片荒山，想亲眼看看到底种了多少。
Before dawn, Li Wen climbed that barren mountain alone, wanting to see with his own eyes just how many trees had really been planted.
半山腰，一个看林的老人正弯着腰，给一棵小。
Halfway up the slope, an old forest keeper was bent over, banking soil around a small sapling.
Old Zhou
这地方土薄，十棵能活三棵就谢天谢地喽。
The soil here is thin—if three out of ten survive, you can thank your lucky stars.
Li Wen
周伯，您一个人，种这么慢，图什么呢？
Uncle Zhou, you're all on your own, planting so slowly—what are you doing it for?
Old Zhou
我图啥？我就图二十年后，这山是绿的，不是报告上绿的。
What am I after? I just want this mountain to be green twenty years from now—green for real, not green on some report.
At the Inspection Table
上午的会上，县领导翻着那份漂亮的报告，频频点头。
At the morning inspection meeting, the county leader leafed through the polished report, nodding again and again.
County Leader
三千亩全部栽活，这个成绩，全县都该好好学一学。
All three thousand mu took root—now that's a record the whole county ought to learn from.
所有人都看着李文，等他顺着话头把这事。
Everyone turned to Li Wen, waiting for him to play along and smooth the whole thing over.
Li Wen
领导，这个数字……是假的。实际栽活的，只有一千二百亩。
Director, this number… is fake. What actually took root is only one thousand two hundred mu.
会议室里一下子静得能听见窗外的风声，王主任的脸刷地白了。
The meeting room fell so silent you could hear the wind outside the window, and the blood drained from Director Wang's face in an instant.
Three Out of Ten Survive
的名单上，最终没有李文的名字。
In the end, Li Wen's name was not on the promotion list.
但县里重新批了一笔款子，专门用来改良那片荒山的土壤。
But the county approved a fresh sum of money, set aside specifically to improve the soil of that barren mountain.
Old Zhou
听说你那个官，没当成？
I hear that post of yours fell through?
Li Wen
没当成。可这回种下去的，十棵兴许能活七八棵了。
It fell through. But the ones we plant this time—maybe seven or eight out of ten will live now.
老周咧嘴笑了，把一把塞进他怀里，两个人一前一后，往山上走去。
Old Zhou broke into a grin, shoved a bundle of saplings into his arms, and the two of them, one ahead of the other, headed up the mountain.