Chapter 6 Paying Ore
After going to a small river in the bamboo forest in the east, Xiao Lin washed himself inside and out, especially the pickaxe, which he washed three or four times until there was no trace of blood.
When he returned to the hut, the sky had already slightly brightened, but Xiao Lin didn't care and fell asleep on the bed.
He didn't know how long he slept. When Xiao Lin woke up refreshed, he looked at the bright window with a thoughtful expression on his face.
The scene that happened in the mine was still replaying in Xiao Lin's mind. He was thinking about how to deal with Xiang Kun's group if he met him again. At first, he thought about whether to change the mine, but soon he suppressed this idea. After all, in his opinion, changing the mine might not mean that there would be no such thing. Xiang Kun at least only collected the toll. If he met someone who wanted the mine but not his life, his life might be over.
In his opinion, Xiang Kun doubted him for sure, but he also had his own advantages. After all, he was only twelve years old and looked thin and weak. Even if Xiang Kun doubted him, he would not believe that he could kill Wang Ji.
Then he could make up a few lies about Wang Ji being attacked by someone, and maybe he could get away with it. After thinking about it for an hour with a frown on his face, Xiao Lin walked out of the hut with an expressionless face.
These two days are the days for concentrated delivery of ore, so there are more people in the small square, most of them carry bamboo baskets and line up to deliver the ore.
Xiao Lin carried a bamboo basket and silently lined up in the back. His bamboo basket was covered with a piece of rag, so people could not see how much hematite he had dug.
Since the deadline for delivering the ore is tomorrow, most of the people who came to deliver the ore today have completed the task and their faces are full of confidence. After all, completing the task means that they can live well next month. As for what will happen next month, for these miners, they can't think so far ahead.
Soon, there were only three people in front of Xiao Lin. He stretched his neck and watched the people in front of him hand in the ore.
The young man in the front was a young man in his early twenties, with a handsome face and a well-proportioned figure. At first glance, he looked like a scholar and had nothing to do with miners.
The young man came to the disciple of Bailian Hall who was collecting ore and grinned. He opened the linen covering the bamboo basket, revealing half a bamboo basket of hematite ore.
"Put it on the scale." The disciple of Bailian Hall who was collecting ore shouted, and someone behind him immediately poured the hematite in the bamboo basket into a large bamboo basket next to it, while a disciple of Bailian Hall used a large and exaggerated scale to weigh it.
The scale bar was made of a solid piece of wood, dark red, one foot long, and as thick as an arm. In Xiao Lin's eyes, the scale bar alone weighed at least dozens of kilograms, not to mention the huge iron weight and the dozens of kilograms of ore hanging on it.
The arm strength of this Bailiantang disciple was at least over 300 jin, and he lifted it up easily by himself.
He glanced at the scale bar coldly.
"One hundred and seven jin, completed the task, one merit, reward of five liang and seven qian of silver." The Bailiantang disciple said expressionlessly.
The miners behind him took a breath of cold air, and all of them showed envy on their faces.
"Who is this guy? He can actually dig out more than 100 kilograms of ore?"
"You don't know, he is Zhu Chong, the nephew of Zhu Biao in the No. 7 mine."
"Zhu Biao? The most brutal Zhu Biao in the mine?"
"Shh, keep your voice down. If Zhu Biao finds out, you won't even know how you died. Hey, who else could it be except him? Otherwise, do you think his nephew Zhu Chong can dig more than 100 kilograms of ore?"
"I heard that the No. 7 mine is almost a dead place. At least two or three people die in it every month. I think it was Zhu Biao who did it."
"There is no way. Before Zhu Biao came to the mine, he was said to be a bodyguard of an escort agency. He had some skills. Later, I don't know what happened. He ran away from the escort agency and was chased by a group of escorts. He came here when he was desperate."
"It seems that Zhu Biao can become a disciple of Bailiantang at any time, but I don't know why he has always chosen to be a miner in the No. 7 pit?"
"Isn't this simple? , Zhu Biao's current power is not what an ordinary outer disciple can have. To become an outer disciple, he has to look for mineral veins. How can it be as comfortable as being the king here? What's more, he doesn't need to go down the cave to mine now. The part of his subordinates' tribute every month is enough to pay the task. "
"I heard that his nephew is also highly regarded by Zhu Biao. He paid so much ore at a time. It seems that he is preparing to train him to enter Bailian Hall."
"That's for sure. Although Zhu Biao dominates the mines, it's a dream to leave here. If his nephew can enter Bailian Hall as an outer disciple, he can be taught superior martial arts. Then, even if Zhu Biao leaves here and returns to Huai County, he can dominate the area."
Xiao Lin looked at Zhu Chong with a smug expression on his face with surprise. Zhu Chong took the silver and threw it to a disciple of Bailian Hall without caring. The disciple of Bailian Hall took it happily and smiled at Zhu Chong.
Except for Zhu Chong who paid more than 100 kilograms of hematite at once, most of the others paid 50 kilograms, and the good ones paid 3-5 kilograms more, which made Xiao Lin feel relieved. It seemed that these people had indeed hidden the extra ore, otherwise it would not be such a coincidence that most people just dug out 50 kilograms of ore.
However, Xiao Lin saw that the disciples of Bailian Hall obviously did not care about these things, and did not think about searching the mine. After thinking for a while, Xiao Lin understood that the miners here only eat and dig, and they go to and from work almost every day. They have no time to hide the hematite outside. Moreover, for them, hiding the hematite in the mine is even more insignificant. Anyway, if they don’t pay this month, they will pay it next month.
As long as the miners don’t hide the ore outside, these ores will belong to Bailian Hall sooner or later. After thinking this through, Xiao Lin secretly decided that if he dug more than 50 kilograms of ore next month, he would hide it in the mine, in case he couldn’t complete the task in a certain month, so he could use it to make up for it.
In the process of paying the ore, Xiao Lin deliberately looked for Xiang Kun. In the mine, due to the dim light, except for Xiang Kun's appearance, Xiao Lin remembered it clearly, but he didn't care too much about the appearance of several of his subordinates. He was still worried that Xiang Kun would cause trouble for him.
After searching for a while, Xiao Lin finally let go of his worries. It seemed that the overlord of the No. 3 pit had not come out. He should still be in the mine. I wonder if he was looking for the murderer.
Soon, it was Xiao Lin's turn. After weighing, there were a total of 58 kilograms of hematite, which was considered to be overfulfilling the task. He was rewarded with eight coins of silver. Touching the silver in his hand, Xiao Lin was really happy. This was the first time he had earned silver since he was a child.
Although eight coins of silver was not much, it was a considerable fortune for a child in a poor mountain village. He happily walked towards the grocery store with the silver, ready to see if there were any good things to buy.
"Not bad, kid. He actually completed the mining task in excess and got eight coins of silver." Four strong men suddenly surrounded him. Each of them held a shining long knife in his hand, blocking Xiao Lin's way. On the side, a slow voice came out, and a man walked over from the side.
"Zhu Chong?" Seeing this man, Xiao Lin's face turned pale and his heart thumped wildly.
"In this Qingshui Lake Mine, miners don't need silver. Give it to him." Zhu Chong smiled and stretched out a hand. In his opinion, the kid in front of him was not even as high as his chin, so it was not an easy task to deal with.
As he expected, Xiao Lin obediently gave the silver in his hand to Zhu Chong. He looked at Zhu Chong deeply, bit his lips lightly, and said nothing.
"That's right, Wang San, go search and see if this kid has any other good things." Zhu Chong's words made Xiao Lin's face change, but it returned to normal after just a moment.
The big man named Wang San searched Xiao Lin's body from head to toe, but found nothing except a dagger. After whispering a few words to Zhu Chong, they left in dismay.
Seeing Zhu Chong and the others leave, Xiao Lin breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Fortunately, he hid the silver and the extra dagger under the bed last night, otherwise there would be a big problem. Xiao Lin was not worried about the silver, but worried that if Xiang Kun knew about this, he would definitely believe that Wang Ji died in his hands, and that would be a bad ending.
With no silver in hand, Xiao Lin no longer wanted to go to the grocery store. He returned to the house and fell asleep.
After sleeping for a whole day and night, Xiao Lin woke up refreshed. He calculated the time. These two days should be the time when the most people paid the monthly ore task. In order to avoid trouble, he went to the canteen near night, received ten days of food and water, and entered the mine.
Xiao Lin was cautious on the road until he entered the mine tunnel he dug. His tense heart was not relieved until he entered the mine tunnel he dug. What he feared most now was meeting Xiang Kun. Although he had thought of an excuse, not meeting him was obviously the best result.
Soon, a year passed. What surprised Xiao Lin was that he did not meet Xiang Kun again in this year. This made him a little strange. Could it be that Xiang Kun had an accident? Thinking about it, Xiao Lin felt that it was unlikely.
In the end, he did not come up with a result, so Xiao Lin put Xiang Kun behind his mind. Now Xiao Lin has grown a lot taller after a year of miner life. Although he is only thirteen years old, his height is not much different from that of an adult. His skin is slightly pale, his appearance is ordinary, his figure is particularly well-proportioned, and his arms are much stronger. After all, here, although it is hard, he can eat enough.
In the past year or so, he has been able to complete the task every month without any danger through the method of the big-headed miner. Not only that, he also discovered a pattern in the process of mining.