Chapter 4 Mining Tasks

However, according to the current mining volume, it is very unlikely to dig out 50 kilograms of hematite in a month.

Unless he is lucky enough to dig up a piece of black iron ore, as long as there is a piece of black iron ore the size of a bean, he can spend a month smoothly. However, since Bailiantang has such a low requirement for the amount of black iron ore, it must be very rare. It is estimated that digging a piece of black iron ore may not be more reliable than digging 50 kilograms of hematite.

"It seems that I have to think of a way. I can't dig like this." Xiao Lin muttered to himself. He looked at the mine through the dim light of the kerosene lamp. The mine was full of red soil, and the piece of hematite in his bamboo basket was also dug out from this red soil, so there is no doubt that hematite only exists in this red soil.

Xiao Lin stared at the soil in the mine, and he remembered what his father had said to him. If you want to catch fat deer, you must find some places with lush water and grass. Only in places with lush water and grass, the number of deer is not only large, but also fat and big.

In Xiao Lin's opinion, this mine is undoubtedly a hematite vein, but the distribution and density of hematite in this vein must be different. He has been digging for four hours, and only a piece of hematite has come out, which means that the direction he dug is not the direction rich in hematite.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lin stood up again, picked up the pickaxe, and dug another small hole in the wall of the mine according to the previous appearance. After digging a few meters deeper, he expanded the mine, and then found the right direction and continued to dig.

Although the days of mining in the cave were hard, time passed quickly. Ten days passed quickly. Xiao Lin put down the pickaxe in his hand with sweat on his head, shook his sore arms, and turned his head to look at the bamboo basket.

Seven or eight pieces of hematite lay quietly in the bamboo basket. The big one was the size of a walnut, and most of them were the size of a thumb. Xiao Lin's face was full of helplessness.

In the past ten days, he kept changing directions and dug five or six small branch holes. He also carefully studied the soil near the hematite he dug, but he did not find anything substantial.

This made him very distressed. The hematite in the bamboo basket was at most five or six kilograms, far from fifty kilograms. At this rate, at most less than twenty kilograms of ore would be produced in a month. Xiao Lin knew very well what this meant.

He even planned to collect ten days of food and water when it was almost a month, and then sneak away at night. Although the entire mining area was full of Bailiantang's sentinels and hidden cards, even if he was discovered and killed, it was better than being whipped to death.

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

It had been ten days, and his food and water had been used up. He had to go out for a trip to replenish them.

On the way back, it was fine at first, but when it was almost halfway, Xiao Lin always felt as if there was a pair of eyes staring at him. That feeling was very similar to the feeling of being stared at by wild beasts in the forest when hunting. Xiao Lin's right hand was clenched tightly. If someone really attacked him, even if he couldn't beat him, he would fight to the death and make the other party pay a heavy price.

What comforted Xiao Lin was that no one jumped out to attack him along the way. He got out of the mine smoothly. When he got out of the mine, he couldn't help but close his eyes. Living in the mine for a long time made his eyes unable to adapt to the strong 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 had very strict requirements for miners' mining tasks, it was not stingy when it came to eating. As soon as he entered the cafeteria, he saw baskets of steamed buns neatly placed, and on the other side, there were several large wooden barrels filled with green vegetables.

Xiao Lin went to serve himself a plate of green vegetables and three white flour buns, then found a seat and sat down to eat. In the mine, he had been eating buns all the time. It was not easy to come out to eat a meal, so Xiao Lin ate it particularly sweetly.

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

"Ba Jiao, how are you? Can you complete the task this month?" There were three people sitting not far from Xiao Lin. They obviously knew each other. One of them had thin arms and legs but a big head. He said to a very strong miner next to him.

"Don't mention it. This month is hanging. So far, only ten pounds of ore have been produced. I don't know what's going on. I used to dig two or three pounds of ore every day in the mine I dug, but recently it has suddenly decreased. If things go wrong, I will really be whipped this month." The strong miner ate the bun and spoke vaguely. He said a few words, then stared at the big-headed miner opposite.

"Bighead, I heard that you are studying the distribution of mineral veins recently. Have you found any results?"

The big-headed miner looked a little mysterious when he heard this: "Hehe, you know what, I actually have some clues." He paused and scanned the surroundings. There were only a few people in the cafeteria besides them, and the nearest Xiao Lin was five tables away from them.

"I have done some careful research recently and found that the probability of hematite appearing in red soil with relatively more stones is much higher." The big-headed miner lowered his voice, but Xiao Lin, who had long pricked up his ears, could still barely hear it clearly.

His eyebrows moved slightly, and there was no expression on his face. He lowered his head and ate the steamed bun in big mouthfuls.

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

"Bald, you two have always been able to complete the monthly task, and it is not my big head's guidance. The most taboo in mining is to be stubborn and dig a mine until death. You must know that if you dig in the wrong direction, you will definitely get very little." The big-headed miner had a smug expression on his face, and his voice couldn't help but rise a few points.

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

"Me too. "The bald miner also echoed.

"Don't regret it." The big-headed miner said to the strong miner and the bald miner with a serious face.

"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 then." The big-headed miner bit the steamed bun in his hand hard, with a smug expression on his face, as if he had already become an outer disciple of Bailian Hall.

"I heard from Li Hu that the amount of road money will increase from this month, and it is likely to double than before." The strong miner showed a dissatisfied expression on his face and said in a low voice.

"Hush. "The big-headed miner's face changed, and he glared at the strong miner fiercely, made a gesture to silence him, and then lowered his voice again and said a few words.

Although Xiao Lin pricked up his ears and concentrated all his energy, he still couldn't hear what the big-headed miner said clearly, which made him look puzzled. He didn't understand what the strong miner was talking about. Why did the three of them look so cautious when they mentioned these two words, as if they were afraid of being heard by others.

Although he was full of questions, Xiao Lin still felt that the meal was worth it. Whether the big-headed miner was right or not, he was ready to give it a try. For him now, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, he would grab it.

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

On the way, he took a look at the neat hut. He also wanted to go back to his residence and have a good sleep, but considering the amount of ore he had dug now, he couldn't sleep well.

He returned to the branch cave where he mined again. The journey was very peaceful. The feeling of being stared at did not appear again. He held the kerosene lamp and looked carefully in the entire mine. While looking, he used the pickaxe to gently dig a few times. After half an hour, the pickaxe suddenly made a ding sound, as if it had hit something hard.

Xiao Lin showed a happy expression on his face, picked up the pickaxe, and dug towards the position just now.

Half an hour later, Xiao Lin looked at a thumb-sized piece of red iron in his palm. The mine showed an ecstatic expression on his face. It seemed that the method said by the big-headed miner was indeed effective, which made Xiao Lin's heart burn with enthusiasm.

After that, every time Xiao Lin dug five or six meters deep, he would carefully check whether there were stones mixed in the ore veins. As long as there were many stones, he would continue to dig, and stop digging where there were few stones.

In addition, during the mining process, Xiao Lin was pleasantly surprised to find a pattern. In this dark red soil, there was actually a kind of associated crystal ore. Xiao Lin had also seen this ore in the back mountain of his home when he was a child, but the crystal here was a little different. It was translucent and you could see a red halo inside 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 from nearby, which made Xiao Lin very motivated. , except for the three fixed hours of sleeping and eating every day, he spent all his time 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 smiled.

There were already more than 30 pieces of hematite in the bamboo basket, and the largest piece was about the size of a fist. A rough estimate showed that the amount of hematite in the bamboo basket should have exceeded 50 kilograms, at least 55 or 6 kilograms, and there would be no problem with this month's task.

There were three days left, which was the time to hand in the task. In these three days, he should be able to dig at least 5 or 6 kilograms of ore. In this way, he should have about 60 kilograms of ore, which was far beyond his expectations.

But if he handed in more, he could only get a commission of 1%. 1% of 10 kilograms was one tael. Xiao Lin calculated in his mind. Although he didn't know the value of hematite, one tael was converted into money, and it was estimated that there was not much. He wanted to put the extra ore in the mine and take it out to make up the task next month if the quantity was insufficient.