Wonderland

Chapter 4 Mining Tasks
Just judging from the current mining volume, the hope of digging up [-] kilograms of hematite in a month is very slim.

Unless he is lucky enough to dig a piece of mysterious iron ore, as long as there is a piece of mysterious iron ore the size of a bean, he can spend a month smoothly, but since Bailiantang has such a low requirement for the quantity of mysterious iron ore, it must be It is very rare. It is estimated that if you want to dig a piece of mysterious iron ore, it is not necessarily more reliable than digging [-] kilograms of hematite.

"It seems that we have to figure out a way to dig like this." Xiao Lin murmured to himself. He looked at the mine through the dim light of the kerosene lamp. The mine was full of red soil, and his bamboo basket The piece of hematite in it was also dug out of this red soil, so there is no doubt that hematite exists only in this red soil.

Xiao Lin stared at the soil of the mine. In his mind, he remembered what his father once said to him. If you want to hit a fat deer, you must find some places with fertile water and grass, and only a place with fertile water and grass. , the number of deer is not only large, but also must be fat and large.

In Xiao Lin's view, there is no doubt that this mine is a hematite vein, but the distribution and density of hematite in this vein must also be different.He had been digging for four hours before he found a piece of hematite, indicating that the direction he was digging was not a direction rich in hematite.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lin stood up again, picked up the iron pick, and dug another small hole on the wall of the mine, according to the previous appearance. After digging a few meters deep, the mine was enlarged, and then continued digging in the right direction. up.

The days of mining in the cave were hard, but the time passed quickly. Ten days passed quickly. Xiao Lin sweated profusely and put down the iron pick in his hand, shaking his numb arm. , he turned his head and glanced at the bamboo basket.

Seven or eight pieces of hematite lay quietly in the bamboo basket. The large piece was the size of a walnut, and most of it was the size of a thumb. Xiao Lin's face was full of helpless expressions.

In the past ten days, he kept changing directions, dug five or six small holes, and carefully studied the soil near the hematite he dug up, but there was no substantial discovery. .

This made him very distressed. The hematite in the bamboo basket is only five or six catties at most, which is far from fifty catties. At this rate, at most, less than twenty catties of ore will be produced in a month. What this means, Xiao Lin is very clear.

If he even plans to go on like this, he will go to collect food and water for ten days when it is about a month, and then choose a night to sneak away. Although the whole mining area is covered with the bright and dark cards of Bailiantang, but It's better to be found and killed than to be whipped to death.

With a helpless sigh, Xiao Lin walked out of the mine.

It has been ten days, and his food and water have been consumed, and he must go out to replenish it.

On the way back, the beginning was fine, but when approaching the second half of the way, Xiao Lin always felt as if there were a pair of eyes staring at him. , Xiao Lin's right hand has been clenched tightly, if someone really attacks him, even if he can't beat him, he will desperately make the other party pay a heavy price.

What comforted Xiao Lin was that no one jumped out and attacked him along the way. He exited the mine smoothly. The moment he exited the mine, he couldn't help but closed his eyes and lived in the mine for a long time. His eyes couldn't adjust to the bright light for a while.

After a while, he opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. It was about two or three o'clock in the afternoon. After taking a deep breath of the fresh air outside, Xiao Lin walked towards the cafeteria.

Although Bailiantang has strict requirements on the mining tasks of miners, it is not stingy when it comes to eating. As soon as I walked into the canteen, I saw a basket of steamed buns neatly placed, and on the other side, there were a few more. A large wooden barrel filled with vegetables.

Xiao Lin went to put a plate of green vegetables for himself, and took three steamed buns with white flour. He found a seat and sat down to eat. In the mine, he was always eating the buns, so he finally came out to have a meal. Xiao Lin Very sweet to eat.

In addition to Xiao Lin, there are seven or eight miners in the cafeteria. Like Xiao Lin, they came out to supply supplies, and they also took the opportunity to come out and have a good meal.

"Bajiao, how's your kid? Can you accomplish this month's task?" There were three people sitting not far from Xiao Lin. They clearly knew each other. One of them had long thin arms and thin legs, but it was a miner with a big head. , said to a very robust miner beside him.

"Don't mention it, this month has been suspended, and now there are ten kilograms of ore, and I don't know what's going on. I used to dig two or three kilograms of mine every day, but recently it's suddenly less. Get up, I'm going to eat a whip this month." The robust miner nibbled on the steamed bun, said a few words in a slurred way, then glared at the big-headed miner opposite.

"Big head, you heard that you are studying the distribution of mineral veins recently, is there any result?"

Hearing the words, the big head miner put on a bit of mystery on his face: "Hey, don't talk about it, I'm really a little bit worried." He stopped here, and then glanced around, the entire cafeteria except for There were only a few of them, and the nearest Xiao Lin was five tables away from them.

"I did some careful research recently and found that in the red soil with a relatively large number of stones, the probability of hematite appearing is much higher." The big head miner's voice was very low, but Xiao Lin, who had pricked up his ears a long time ago Still barely heard.

His eyebrows moved slightly, and there was no expression on his face, and he lowered his head and nibbled at the steamed buns.

"Oh? Is your statement reliable? Besides, how do you know which mine has more stones?" Another miner with a little bald forehead also came up with interest.

"Bald, you two have always been able to complete your monthly tasks. It's not my big head's advice. The most taboo thing about mining is a rib, and a mine hole is dug to death. You must know that if you dig in the wrong direction, it will definitely be a harvest. Poor little one." The big head had a smug expression on his face, and his voice couldn't help but rise a little higher.

"The robust miner's face showed a hint of joy: "Do you mean to keep changing the direction of mining, and specifically choose places with more stones to dig?If it's really like what you said, I only need to complete the task this month, and I don't want any more parts, I'll give them all to you. "

"Me too." The bald miner also agreed.

"Don't go back." The big-headed miner said with a solemn expression to the robust and bald miners.

"Of course." The two replied in unison.

"Okay, if I can become an outer disciple of Bailian Hall one day, I will definitely take care of you." The big-headed miner fiercely took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand, with a smug expression on his face, as if he had become Bailian. The outer disciples of the church are the same.

"Listening to Li Hu, from this month onwards, the amount of road money will increase, and it is likely to double." The robust miner said in a low voice with a dissatisfied expression on his face.

"Shh." The big-headed miner's expression changed, he glared at the robust miner, made a silent gesture, and then lowered his voice again and said a few words.

Although Xiao Lin raised his ears and concentrated all his energy, he still couldn't hear what the big-headed miner said. This made his eyes show a puzzled expression. He was a little confused. what is it?Why did the three of them look cautious when they said these two words, as if they were afraid of being heard by others.

Even though his stomach was full of doubts, Xiao Lin still felt that the meal was worth it. No matter what the big head miner said, he was ready to give it a try. For him now, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, he will catch.

Seeing that the three miners whispered a few words, they hurriedly took the food and water and left, Xiao Lin also stood up. He still took the food and water according to the standard of ten days at most, and then went straight to the mine.

On the way, he glanced at the neat thatched hut. He also wanted to go back to his residence and have a good night's sleep, but considering the amount of ores he had dug up, he couldn't sleep well.

He returned to the branch hole where he was mining again. The journey was very calm. The feeling of being stared at did not appear again. He carried the kerosene lamp and looked carefully in the entire mine. While digging a few times with the iron pick, after half an hour, the iron pick suddenly dinged, as if it had hit something hard.

Xiao Lin had a happy expression on his face, picked up the iron pick, and digged it towards the position just now.

After half an hour, Xiao Lin looked at a thumb-sized piece of hematite in his palm, with an expression of ecstasy on his face. It seemed that the method said by the big miner really worked, which made Xiao Lin feel hot.

After that, every time Xiao Lin dug to a depth of five or six meters, he would carefully check to see if there were stones mixed in the veins. As long as there were more stones, he would continue digging, and he would stop digging where there were few stones.

Moreover, in the process of mining, Xiao Lin was pleasantly surprised to discover a pattern. In this dark red soil, there was an associated crystal ore, which Xiao Lin also used in his back mountain when he was a child. I have seen it, but the crystal here is a little different, showing a translucent shape, and you can see a red halo in it when you put it in front of a kerosene lamp.

Xiao Lin found that as long as he dug this kind of crystal, he would definitely be able to dig a piece of hematite nearby. This made Xiao Lin very motivated. Except for the three-hour fixed time for sleeping and eating, he spent all his time on it. on mining.

Seventeen days passed in the blink of an eye. During this period, Xiao Lin only went out once to replenish food and water. Xiao Lin glanced at his bamboo basket, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and a smile appeared on his face.

There are already more than 30 pieces of hematite in the bamboo basket, and the largest one is about the size of a fist. After a rough estimate, the amount of hematite in the bamboo basket should have exceeded 55 catties, at least [-] catties. This month's task is no problem.

There are still three days left, which is the time to hand in the task. In these three days, he should be able to dig at least five or six catties of ore. In this way, he should have about sixty catties of ores, which is far beyond his own. expectations.

But if you pay more, you can only get one percent of the commission. One percent of ten pounds is one or two. Xiao Lin calculated in his heart that although he did not know the value of hematite, one or two was converted into money. It is estimated that there are not many. He originally wanted to put the excess ore in the mine, and wait for the next month if the amount is insufficient, and then take it out to make up the task.

(End of this chapter)