But judging from the current mining volume, the hope of digging out fifty kilograms of hematite in a month is very slim.
Unless he is lucky enough to dig a piece of black iron ore, as long as he has a piece of black iron ore the size of a bean, he can successfully spend a month. But since Bailiantang has such a low requirement for the quantity of black iron ore, it must be It is very rare. It is estimated that if you want to dig a piece of black iron ore, it may not be as reliable as digging fifty pounds of hematite ore.
"It seems we have to think of a way, we can't 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 in the mine. He remembered what his father once said to him. If you want to hunt fat deer, you must find some places with fertile water and grass. Only places with fertile water and grass. , the number of spotted deer is not only large, but also must be fat and big.
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 be different. I had been digging for four hours before I found a piece of hematite, which meant that the direction I was digging in was not a direction rich in hematite.
Thinking of this, Xiao Lin stood up again, picked up the iron pickaxe, and dug another small hole on the wall of the mine according to the previous appearance. After digging a few meters deep, he expanded the mine and then found the right direction to continue digging. got up.
Although the days of mining in the cave were painful, the time passed quickly. The ten days passed quickly. Xiao Lin put down the pickaxe in his hand with sweat on his face and shook his sore arm. , he turned his head and glanced at the bamboo basket.
Seven or eight pieces of hematite lay quietly in the bamboo basket. The big piece was the size of a walnut, and most 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 holes. He also carefully studied the soil near the hematite he dug, but he found nothing substantial. .
This made him very distressed. The hematite in the bamboo basket was only five or six kilograms at most, which was far from fifty kilograms. At this rate, less than twenty kilograms of ore could be produced in a month at most. Xiao Lin knew exactly what this meant.
If he continues like this, he is even planning to collect ten days of food and water as soon as a month is approaching, and then choose a night to sneak away. Although the entire mining area is covered with Bailiantang's outposts and hidden cards, Even if he was discovered and killed, it would still be better than being whipped to death.
Xiao Lin sighed helplessly and walked out of the mine.
It had been ten days, and his food and water had been exhausted, and he had to go out to replenish them.
On the way back, things were okay at first, but towards the second half of the journey, Xiao Lin always felt as if there was a pair of eyes staring at him. It felt like being stared at by a wild beast in the forest while hunting. , Xiao Lin's right hand has been clenched tightly. If someone really attacks him, even if he can't beat him, he will fight to the death and 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 got out of the mine smoothly. The moment he came out of the mine, he couldn't help but close his eyes. The long life in the mine made Xiao Lin feel comforted. 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 fresh air outside, Xiao Lin walked towards the cafeteria.
Although Bailiantang has very strict requirements for miners' mining tasks, they are not stingy when it comes to eating. As soon as they walked into the cafeteria, they saw cages of steamed buns neatly placed, and on the other side, there were several A large wooden barrel filled with vegetables.
Xiao Lin went to serve himself a plate of green vegetables, and took three white flour steamed buns, then found a seat and sat down to eat. In the mine, he had been eating steamed buns, and finally came out to eat. Xiao Lin It tastes extremely sweet.
In addition to Xiao Lin, there were seven or eight miners in the canteen. Like Xiao Lin, they were out for supplies and also took the opportunity to come out for a good meal.
"Bajiao, how are you? Can you complete this month's mission?" There were three people sitting not far from Xiao Lin. They obviously knew each other. One of them had long thin arms and thin legs, but he was carrying a big-headed miner. , said to a very strong miner next to him.
"Forget it, this month has been over, and so far only about ten kilograms of ore have been produced. I don't know what happened. I used to dig out two or three kilograms of ore every day, but recently there was suddenly less. Get up, I might really get whipped this month." The strong miner gnawed on the steamed buns, his words were a little vague, and he said a few words, then glared at the big-headed miner opposite.
"Butou, I heard that you are currently studying the distribution of mineral veins. Are there any results?"
When the big-headed miner heard this, his face showed a bit of mystery: "Hey, don't tell me, I really know something about you." When he said this, he stopped, and then glanced around, the whole canteen except There were only a few of them, and the nearest Xiao Lin was five tables away from them.
"I have done some careful research recently and found that in red soil with relatively many stones, the probability of hematite appearing is much greater." The bulk miner's voice was very low, but Xiao Lin had already perked up his ears. I could barely hear it clearly.
His eyebrows moved slightly, and there was no expression on his face. He lowered his head and took a big bite of the steamed bun.
"Oh? Is your statement reliable? Besides, how do you know which mine has more rocks?" Another miner with a bit of bald hair also approached with interest on his face.
"Bald man, you two have always been able to complete your monthly tasks. It's not because of my big head's guidance. The most taboo thing in mining is to dig a hole until it dies. You must know that if you dig in the wrong direction, you will definitely gain. It's so pitiful." Da Tou had a proud expression on his face, and his voice couldn't help but become a little louder.
A hint of joy appeared on the face of the sturdy miner: "You mean to constantly change the direction of mining and specifically choose places with more rocks to dig?" If it's like what you said, I only need to complete the task this month, and I won't take any extra money. I'll give it all to you. "
"Me too." The bald miner echoed.
"No regrets." The big-headed miner looked solemn and said to the sturdy miner and the bald miner.
"Of course." They both replied in unison.
"Okay, if I can become an outer disciple of Bailian Hall one day, I will definitely take care of you." Big Head Miner took a bite of the steamed bun in his hand, with a proud expression on his face, as if he had become Bailian Hall Same as the outer disciples of the hall.
"I heard from Li Hu that starting from this month, the amount of road money will increase, and it will probably double than before." The sturdy 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 sturdy miner, 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 clearly what the big-headed miner said. This made a puzzled expression appear in his eyes. He was a little confused as to what the robust miner meant by travel money. What is it? Why do the three of them look so cautious when they mention these two words, as if they are afraid of being overheard by others.
Although he was full of doubts, Xiao Lin still felt that the meal was worth it. No matter what the big-headed miner said was true or not, he was ready to give it a try. For him now, as long as there is a glimmer of hope, he would give it a try. catch.
Seeing the three miners whispering a few words and hurriedly collecting food and water and leaving, Xiao Lin also stood up. He still received food and water according to the maximum ten days standard, and then headed straight towards the mine.
On the way, he took a look at the neat huts. He also wanted to go back to his residence and have a good sleep, but considering the amount of ore he had dug now, it would be difficult to sleep soundly.
He returned to the branch cave where he was mining. It was very peaceful along the way. The feeling of being stared at did not appear again. He held a kerosene lamp and looked carefully in the entire mine. While watching, he also While gently digging a few times with the pickaxe, after half an hour, the pickaxe suddenly made a clanking sound, as if it had hit something hard.
Xiao Lin's face showed joy, he picked up the pickaxe and dug towards the previous position.
Half an hour later, Xiao Lin looked at a thumb-sized piece of hematite in his palm, with an ecstatic expression on his face. It seemed that the method the big-headed miner said was indeed effective, which made Xiao Lin's heart feel hot.
After that, every time Xiao Lin dug to a depth of five or six meters, he would carefully check whether there were stones mixed in the veins. As long as there were many stones, he would continue digging, and he would stop digging where there were few stones.
And during the mining process, Xiao Lin was surprised to discover a pattern. This dark red soil was actually mixed with an associated crystal ore. This kind of ore Xiao Lin also found in the mountains behind his home when he was a child. I've seen it before, but the crystal here is a little different. It's translucent. When you put it in front of a kerosene lamp, you can see a red halo inside.
Xiao Lin discovered that as long as he dug this kind of crystal, he would be able to dig a piece of hematite nearby. This made Xiao Lin very motivated. Except for the fixed three hours of sleeping time and eating time every day, he spent all his time On mining.
Another 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 took a look at his bamboo basket, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and smiled on his face.
There are already more than thirty pieces of hematite in the bamboo basket. The largest piece is about the size of a fist. A rough estimate shows that the amount of hematite in the bamboo basket should have exceeded fifty kilograms, at least fifty-five kilograms. Six pounds, this month’s task is no problem.
There are still three days left to hand in the task. In these three days, he should be able to dig at least five or six kilograms of ore. Calculating this, he should have about sixty kilograms of ore, which is far more than he has. expectations.
But if you pay more, you can only get a 1% commission. One percent of ten kilograms is one tael. Xiao Lin calculated in his mind. Although he didn't know the value of hematite, one tael would be converted into money. It was estimated that there wasn't much. He originally wanted to put the extra ore in the mine and wait until next month if the quantity was insufficient, then take it out to complete the task.
