9. Ma Gaoshen
Tunnelling was actually simple: The air was compressed by an air conditioner and sent to the air pickaxe along the rubber pipe. The air was then drilled, filled with explosives, lit with a fuse, and the rocks that were blasted out were transported out.
The workers who dug the tunnel were from Zhejiang Province. There were many migrant workers from Sichuan in Yunnan, and most of the construction sites were done by migrant workers from Sichuan. I thought that the workers who dug the pit would also be from Sichuan, but I didn't expect them to be from Zhejiang. In the image, this Jiangnan water town produced scholars and beauties, and it was difficult to associate it with the business of drilling and shooting. It seemed that no matter where they were, most people were working hard for a living.
The cost of mining was proportional to the size of the hole. The largest hole in the mine was only a little over a meter high, and a person could bend down to walk. The pit we opened was 1.8 meters tall and two meters wide, and it could accommodate two cars without affecting each other. One could run in the cave without worrying about hitting their heads. If the ore was extracted, the output would naturally be incomparable to those small caves.
"This mine designed by the national treasure, Mr. Giant Panda, is really bold. After we see the mine, one of our holes is equivalent to ten of those cat ear holes.”Luo Ruhui said," When the time comes, let them be jealous!”
"Hmph, a local boss told me, why are you guys setting up such a big scam? Is your money toilet paper? I didn't have the time to explain to him. They were not cut out for business. Look at the holes they made. They looked like they were made by rats. When we get out of the mines, they will know what a big company is. When we put money in our big pockets, they will know what a big boss is!”Chen Peng said.
But I'm a little worried. It turned out that digging a hole was extremely expensive. Excluding the explosives, machinery, diesel, and other expenses, the wages alone were not a small sum. For our big hole, digging a meter would cost 500 dollars. If they fired twice a day and dug about three meters, it would cost 1,500 dollars. The four holes were twelve meters long, which was six thousand dollars. Including other expenses, it would cost more than 10,000 yuan a day. This isn't a small amount. The 1.32 million we have in the bank will be gone in just four months.
Every day, we would go to the mine once or twice, holding an extended torchlight or a coal lamp into the mine to look at the surface. Guan Yunwu was holding a small steel clamp. He was picking and picking from the pile of rocks that he had dug out that day. He knocked on them. He held a stone for a long time, as if there was a secret hidden inside. Shen Qiyou held a coal lamp and looked at the cave wall. He looked left and right, up and down, as if there was a golden beauty hidden in the rock.
Most of the time, everyone was watching and studying in front of the support. As the tunnel continued to dig deeper, the rocks on the supporting surface continued to change, each different. Guan Yunwu said that the direction and information of the mineral vein could be captured from the changes in the rocks. Everyone was eager to see the mine and looked at it for a long time.
"Guan Gong, what kind of rock is this white line between the rocks? I think it looks like a horse tooth stone.”Duan Ming said.
"This is the horse tooth stone, the official name is called limestone. It is often symbiotic with lead and silver ores. But now, it was just a fleeting thread. If it became thicker and bigger, there would be hope.”
I used the flashlight to shine on the milky white line that was two to three centimeters thick and fifty centimeters long. It looked like a dead snake crawling on a rock. I hope it will lead us to rich mines and open the door of wealth!
Other than entering the cave, I followed Guan Yunwu and Shen Qiyou around the mine most of the time. The goal was to familiarize himself with the mine and understand the situation of the other tunnels. We will also track the suspicious spots and draw a topographic profile. We will attempt to discover the direction of the mineral vein and capture it in one fell swoop.
Each of us chopped a stick to use as a walking stick. We went through the woods, into the grass, climbed cliffs, crossed streams, and walked everywhere between mountains and valleys.
The Kuangqu was huge, and there were abandoned old caves everywhere. Out of the blue, he would find a dark, old pit in the thistles and weeds. Some of the pits had very smooth ground, and Shen Qi had said that they could not enter. There might be wild beasts living in the holes. Some of the pits had spider webs hanging from them, and there were large spiders with white backgrounds and blue patterns lying on them. Shen Qi had said that spiders were poisonous and should not be provoked. However, Guan Gong did not listen to him. He used a stick to pick up the spider web. After driving away the flower spider, we went into the hole to investigate. There were all kinds of holes, some wide and some narrow, some curved and some straight, sometimes up and sometimes down, sometimes left and sometimes right. Guan Yunwu said that they were walking along the mine. Sometimes, a wide and tall cave hall would suddenly appear. There were still black ore bodies left on the stone walls. It was obvious that they were empty holes after mining. Guan Yunwu said that if we can dig up a pond of ore like this, it will be enough.
Climbing mountains and valleys, they saw many unknown trees. I know that Myanmar is rich in all kinds of precious rainforest broad-leaved trees, such as teak and rosewood, but the three of us don't know them.
I was most interested in those crystal clusters that covered the mountains and plains. The chemical composition of crystals was the same as glass, which was silica. However, the crystal was formed in a natural environment of high temperature and high pressure. It was a hexagonal crystal cylinder with a conical top, which was not comparable to glass or man-made crystals. The skin felt cool when it came into contact with natural crystals, but glass and artificial crystals didn't have this feeling. Crystals were yellow, purple, black, and green, but most of them were white. White crystal clusters could be seen everywhere in the mine. Although white crystals were common, they were highly transparent and had a large diameter. They were also very valuable. White crystals were rare in other places, but they were everywhere here. They were the waste excavated from the mine. The smallest of them was as thin as a finger, and the thickest was as thick as a coin. They gathered into clusters, the small ones were as big as a fist, and the big ones were as big as a millstone. It dazzled people and made them unable to put it down. Shen Qi had said that if he found a large purple or yellow crystal, it would be very valuable. I searched carefully for a long time, but I only found a few transparent white crystals that were two to three centimeters thick. The purple ones were as thin as chopsticks. It was also not very transparent.
The three of us came out in the morning and usually didn't build a bamboo shed at noon. We ate some dry food or wild bananas on the mountain and only returned home in the afternoon. At around four o'clock, we arrived in front of a mine. Suddenly, he saw a thin and tall man in his fifties. "Ah, isn't this Guan Gong?" he shouted from ten meters away. What a coincidence. I was just thinking of visiting you one day, but you came uninvited!”
When he reached us, he stretched out his hand.
" You are…" Guan Yunwu held his hand and smiled.
The man was stunned for a moment before he burst into laughter." Oh, so you don't know me? There's no one who doesn't know me in this day and age. I'm used to it. I thought you'd be the same." As for me, my surname is Ma and my name is Shucai-Ma Shucai, also known as Ma Gaocan.”
" Oh…Okay, okay, okay…" The two shook hands.
Ma Gaocan? What did he mean?
"Since we met today, it saves me the trouble of paying a visit. Please come to my place and have a meal. Brother still has something to ask."
However, Ma Shucai was very kind. Besides, we also wanted to take a look, so we followed him to his place.
The place where he lived surprised us. Green trees surrounded a row of red brick houses. There was a basketball court in front of the house, and about ten Wa soldiers in camouflage uniforms were marching on the court.
A big wolfhound saw us and pounced on us, giving us a fright. It pounced into Ma Shucai's arms and stuck out its tongue to lick his face. Ma Shucai shouted while playing with the wolfdog,""Orderly, pour some tea!"
We sat down in front of a large carved tea table. A soldier brewed tea in a clay pot and poured it into a few small clay cups. The tea was brown and black. After taking a sip, it was bitter and astringent, but then it felt cool and sweet. He took another sip and wanted to drink more.
"What tea is this? The smell is really strong!" Shen Qiyou asked.
"Is it good?" Ma Shucai laughed.
"This…this is really hard to say. However, after drinking the first mouthful, I still want to drink a second mouthful. I have never drunk such tea before!”
Ma Shucai laughed,"Of course you haven't." This was a unique tea tree here. Just the trunk alone was as thick as a hug. We call it drug tea. It's addictive!”
A young woman came out of the house. Her face was fair and delicate. Her figure was obviously not a local. Ma Shucai said to her,"There are five or six people eating tonight." Deep-fry more meat."
"Judging from his accent, Ma Gaocan isn't from Myanmar, right?”Guan Yunwu smiled.
"Of course not." Ma Shucai smiled. I'm from China. But I've been in the Bull's Ear Mine for more than twenty years. Our factory lost money when we came here to mine, and all the staff were withdrawn. I didn't go back, but I grew roots here. Commander Gao thinks highly of me and often looks for me to talk about military and political matters, appointing me as a consultant. Outsiders do not know, mistakenly called Gao Can. In fact, my legitimate occupation is the same as yours, mine owner. I dug a few holes and set up a mineral processing plant. I invited you here today to check my pulse and see how I can dig the mine…"
A faint fragrance wafted over. "Aiya, what's this fragrance?" Shen Qiyou asked. Do you smell it?"
Ma Shucai smiled and said,"These are the orchids I planted in that bamboo shed." Do you want to go and take a look?"
Let's go together. The bamboo shed was beside the red brick house, and there was a field of orchids inside. There were also potted plants. The fragrance in the shed was fragrant and refreshing.
"Ma Gaoshen is really a refined person, planting so many orchids. Plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum. I'm only missing two." Shen Qiyou smiled.
Ma Shucai laughed loudly,"What kind of elegant person is this? I don't do those sour and fake things." I planted these flowers to sell for money!"
"Is that so? How's business?" Guan Yunwu asked.
Ma Shucai smiled and picked up a small pot of orchids."Guess how much this flower is worth?”
This was a small orchid that was about a foot tall. There were a few tender yellow flowers on the thin stem.
"It's hard to say. I know that the price of orchids is a little high! This peanut was handsome. 500 yuan per stalk should be enough here, right?”Shen Qiyou smiled.
"Five hundred? It was more than 5,000. It seems that you don't know much about orchids either. This was called yellow scorpions, a rare breed.”
I was very surprised. Was such a small flower worth so much money?
"Where did these flowers come from?" Guan Yunwu asked.
"Most of the things that I bought, the locals would dig them up and send them to me. I dug some myself. If you come across a strange flower, don't miss it. It's more profitable than digging up a rich mine.”
As he spoke, a burly Wa man came.
"Battalion Commander Gao, what's the good news?" Ma Shucai asked with a smile.”
"Nothing much," Battalion Commander Gao said with a smile,"I came to drink with you. By the way, are you going to hunt wild boars tomorrow?”
"Where are the wild boars?"
"My little horse in the village told me. His land had been dug up by wild boars. We've got enough salted rice to go with wine for several months!”
"Which ones are going?" Ma Shucai asked.
"Just you and me. Just bring two people. You and I use our guns, and they use submachine guns. If we don't kill them, they can use their submachine guns. It's safer this way."
"What guns do you use?" I asked curiously," Can I take a look?”
Ma Shucai took out a rifle from the house. It was an AK47. After looking at it, she asked him to accept it.
I sent out a circle of Red River Smoke. Battalion Commander Gao looked at us and asked,"What are they doing?"”
"He's my friend and also a miner. "This is Guan Gong, and these two are…" Ma Shucai asked.
"This is my classmate, surnamed Shen. This is Da Bao, our shareholder.”Guan Yunwu smiled.
Not long after, another soldier came. Dinner was served. There was a big bowl of boiled radish, a plate of fried peanuts, a plate of spicy fried meat slices, a bowl of spicy tofu, and a large plate of dark dried rice. I guessed that this was the dried meat. I took a piece and put it in my mouth. It was indeed much more fragrant than beef jerky. The orderly took out a big pot and poured each person a big bowl of wine, about one jin. Guan Yunwu was so frightened that she waved her hand and declared that she would not drink. However, Ma Shucai insisted that he drink. He said that he could drink as much as he wanted. If he didn't drink, he would be looking down on others. Guan Yunwu had no choice but to drink, but she only drank a bowl of noodles. Shen Qiyou seemed to like to drink. After drinking half a bowl, his tongue became big when he spoke. Ma Shucai and two soldiers clinked glasses with me. After I drank half a bowl, the wine became sweet. I actually drank the whole bowl of wine. My tongue became big and I forgot my worries. I was very happy and couldn't help but laugh.
Ma Shucai asked the orderly to send us back. Fortunately, this place is not far from our bamboo shed. We returned to the bamboo shed, one foot high and one foot low.
Shen Qiyou was drunk and vomited all over the floor.
I didn't even wash my face and feet before I fell asleep. Before going to bed, he went to Bi Min's room to see her. However, she giggled when she saw Chen Hui gesturing and saying something in the room.
A surge of anger rushed to my head. I really wanted to charge in and punch him, but in the end, I didn't.
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