Chapter 7 Carve the world four

(1) From the woods to the east, From the villages to the west, Come from Qinggou in the south, Come from the palapa on the north side. We come from far and wide, We meet in the sun, We met under the moon. Speaking of the family, Do the family thing. ——Yunnan folk songs One day, we will dig out the "fatang" (big mine, rich mine).Gao Shimei thinks so every day.At that time, Boss Zhao will let us drink and eat meat, and give us money so that we can go home for the New Year.But the question now is how to fight hunger?Their two meals a day have changed from eating dry rice to drinking porridge.They were hungry day and night, and never felt that the days passed so slowly and so hard.Because of hunger, they had no strength to work, and many of them fell to the ground as soon as they entered the cave, hungry and thirsty.Although Gao Shimei is not passive and sabotage like ordinary people, there are often some incredible obstacles in his eyes when he is working, sometimes like dust flying, sometimes like water vapor exhaled from his mouth, they block his sight and let him Had to stop what I was doing.He knew that there was no obstacle in front of his eyes, and everything seemed to come from his brain.

Such days cannot last long. Some people have already fled because they did not want to starve to death.And the rest of the people seem to no longer wait for a miracle to appear, but feel that if they leave like this, they won't get a penny of wages, so wouldn't their work be in vain?Besides, without a penny in your pocket, where can everyone escape? At that time, these factory buddies all had a common psychology, that is, they became less and less sympathetic to Boss Zhao.Because when they were drinking porridge, they always saw Boss Zhao hiding in his shack alone, wondering what good food to eat there.In the past, Boss Zhao was not like this. He never started a small kitchen for himself. He ate and lived with his factory buddies every day. The clothes on his body were also tattered, exactly the same as his factory buddies.No one who meets him for the first time thinks he's a boss.

Now, Gao Shimei also thinks that she has misjudged the person. Boss Zhao is not a good person. He has been deceiving us all the time, secretly eating fish and meat, and letting us factory workers suffer from hunger.His heart is really dark enough, who else among us is willing to work for him sincerely?Gao Shimei changed from the most positive person to the most negative person in a very short period of time. She didn't want to say anything or do anything.If this continues, when will I have money to save my father?There is no doubt that I have fallen into a desperate situation. Not only can I not save my father, but I can't even protect myself.With Gao Shimei's depression, more and more people were passive and sabotage in the cave. Not only did they not work, but they also publicly abused Boss Zhao as a pest, which made them desperate and made them worse than beggars.As time went by, the scolding became louder and louder, and everyone vented their pent-up resentment, and some even began to destroy tools.In a sense, everyone seems to be making a final struggle to survive for a few more days.

At this moment, the emotions of the factory buddies stabilized because Gao Shimei discovered and announced a secret of Boss Zhao.The thing is like this, that night, the factory buddies were drinking porridge, and Boss Zhao, as usual, quietly hid in his shack to eat his good food.Gao Shimei suddenly had a strong desire to spy on what Boss Zhao was eating in the shack.He approached Boss Zhao's hut lightly, and saw from the crack of the door that Boss Zhao was not eating the big fish and meat they imagined, but was chewing hard on the unpalatable mountain grass and wild vegetables.Gao Shimei trembled all over, and took a deep breath.Seeing him stunned, several factory walkers also came over curiously to peep.At that time, they saw Boss Zhao grab a handful of leaf-like things from an earthen pot, put them in his mouth one by one, chew them slowly a few times, and then spit the residue on the ground.The factory buddies panicked, almost everyone gasped like him, then quietly retreated to their original positions, put down the bowls and chopsticks, and their churning stomachs calmed down.They all felt as if they had walked into a "nightmare" and now they came out of that "nightmare".How terrible, we misunderstood Boss Zhao, he is the most kind boss in the world!He let the buddies who left the factory see the fact that they couldn't believe it.In the face of this fact, who has any reason to scold him?Is there any reason not to work hard for him?

The next day, Gao Shimei dug and carried desperately in the cave. In just one day, they did the work of the previous few days.They didn't come out of the cave until late in the day, but the fresh air made their noses and throats uncomfortable, and many of them coughed non-stop. Diao Tian Si (2) Even so, Zhao Tianjue still didn't have a smile on his face, and he didn't say a word to Zouchang brother all day long. He walked like his lower body was filled with lead, and every step was heavy. It's the same wherever you go.Especially at night, Boss Zhao tossed and turned on the bed, making the bed board creak.The buddies who left the factory also heard Boss Zhao's hopeless and powerless sighs.Each of them knew that Boss Zhao was at the end of his rope, and it was only a day or two before they broke up, right?At this time, they are very calm, everyone is more united and more harmonious, especially when they are in the cave, they pray and sing with different voices, as if they can knock open a huge "fat pond" with these mysterious voices , so that a more surprising rich mine than they imagined will appear in front of them.

On this day, what the factory buddies scooped up from the big pot was not porridge, but wild vegetables.Gao Shimei was extremely nervous, and her cheeks were hot, which meant that they had completely run out of food.It was also on this day that Gao Shimei discovered that Boss Zhao had left them early in the morning with his sheepskin coat, and did not come back until evening, carrying a few strings of straw sandals in his hand, his clothes seemed more tattered than usual, and his eyes were empty. Her lips trembled when she spoke.At night, maybe everyone fell asleep, and only Gao Shimei was half asleep and half awake.He suddenly heard the sound of copper coins, first clattering, then clanging, the sound was very sparse, and then it seemed to float away, and he couldn't hear anything clearly.He thought he was dreaming again, so he didn't mind the sound of copper coins.

However, immediately Gao Shimei felt someone walked into their thatched hut, there was no sound of footsteps, only an incredible force, and something was being placed by their bedside.The movements are very light and slow, as if some kind of religious ceremony is being performed.He wanted to open his eyes to see, but the eyes seemed to be filled with glue, holding his eyelids firmly.He wanted to shout, but it was as if he had become a mute, his lips kept moving, but no meaningful sound came out.Early the next morning, as soon as Gao Shimei opened her eyes, she saw the things beside her bed. Each of them had a string of copper coins and two pairs of straw sandals.Only then did he recall the scene at night, and it turned out that everything was not a dream.What the hell is going on?Someone asked puzzledly.Gao Shimei said: "Isn't this an obvious fact? Boss Zhao sold his only sheepskin coat yesterday, gave us a bunch of copper coins and two pairs of straw sandals, and told us to go our separate ways, but he had already run away. It’s over.” After listening to Gao Shimei’s words, the buddies who left the factory had a lot of discussion, but everyone was moved and tormented by Boss Zhao’s sincerity and kindness, and they didn’t want to break up or break up.Therefore, Gao Shimei discussed with everyone, "Boss Zhao treats us well on weekdays, and he just gave us his heart to eat. Anyway, let's go to the cave for the last time today to repay Boss Zhao's kindness to everyone. "

After Gao Shimei and everyone entered the cave, after digging for a while, they came across a huge rock.Everyone was stunned by the rock, lost confidence, complained, and retreated one after another.Only Gao Shimei and an 18-year-old boy named Li Bang were left in the cave. Gao Shimei said to Li Bang: "If you want to leave, you can leave, and I will continue to dig alone." Li Bang said, "I don't want to leave, I don't have a home." Gao Shimei said: "Okay, then let's continue digging!" As soon as the word "good" came out of Gao Shimei's mouth, he regretted it.Li Bang said he had no home, how could he use the word "good" to express his mood at that time?However, at that time, because of Li Bang's decision not to leave, Gao Shimei did have some unclear passion in his complicated thoughts and feelings, he no longer felt afraid, and he became more determined because of this.What's more, he had a premonition that they would change their fate on this day.He never believed in his hunches.Having said that, Gao Shimei's mind is not calm, every movement of his has the implication of haste, as if if they slow down a step, they will get lost in the cave.

Gao Shimei took Li Bang to the depths of the cave.How free they are now, they can drill wherever they think, and everything in front of them is so mysterious and novel, and they experience a feeling that they have never had before.In fact, they have left the original mine tunnel and walked towards the golden and silver cave that appeared many times in Gao Shi's dream.When they climbed through the unusually gloomy old dens, exactly as Gao Shimei imagined, huge rocks appeared one after another, black and chaotic.With the help of the red coalstone lamp, he seemed to see black circles above his head.Gao Shimei said to Li Bang: "Look, this is the mark I left behind. It was smoked with a torch. Look carefully, is there any trace of fire?" Li Bang said: "Actually, these rocks are dark blue. It's not noticeable to leave a firework mark on it. But, sure enough, these dark circles are separate, not born from within the stone, and only appear at forks or turns, so for sure, it's you The mark left a few months ago." Gao Shimei carefully looked at a harsh and tense black circle, and said to herself: "If Lamo hadn't been stoned to death last time, we would have dug out 'Fat pond', Boss Zhao will not run away. Alas! Now, everything depends on our luck today." They continued to walk in the direction indicated by those "marks", and the more they walked, the more they felt that everything in front of them was so beautiful. The sight is familiar, and Gao Shimei's blood also boils, rushing in the arteries on the neck and ears.

Diao Tian Si (3) Suddenly, Li Bang exclaimed in surprise: "Brother, come and see, this is a reef, and there are many colored Erba mud beside it. According to common sense, you only need to pass through this kind of reef and Erba mud to find it." It's a pond." Gao Shimei couldn't help trembling, and also shouted, "Li Bang, what do you see on top of our heads?" Li Bang looked up and exclaimed, "Ah! We finally found you, The treasure cave in the dream." There is no doubt that they have entered that natural stone cave, and there are still countless golden "flies" flying above their heads.But it is no longer an illusion, but various mine bosses (high-grade ore) on the stone wall are shining.It's something you can see and touch.Gao Shimei suddenly felt a burst of joy, pain, nostalgia, and dizziness in his heart. He was almost swallowed by the scene in front of him.

In the face of huge rocks, they are going to use the "hot explosion method", that is, to make a fire with wood or chestnut charcoal, burn the rocks red, pour cold water on them suddenly, make them burst suddenly, and then use hammers and iron brazes to break them and pry them open. .In this way, the way forward can be opened up.Li Bang said: "There is still a pile of firewood in the kitchen, I will go and bring them." Gao Shimei said: "You go! Don't get lost." After Li Bang left, his throat tightened for a while, and he remembered He thought of Rameau's pale face and crazy eyes, thought of the little maroon mouse, and thought of his father.After thinking about it, he became timid, and even the shining mine boss above his head seemed to have some kind of threat to him.Fortunately, he could control his imagination and focus all his attention on the bottom of the rock.He took the axe and hammered a small hole under the rock.This small hole acts as a furnace, allowing the fire to spread out from under the rock, or preferably from the inside of the rock, so that the best burst of fire can be obtained.At this time, Li Bang came in with a bundle of firewood. He said, "I almost lost my way. If it weren't for the black circle you left on the rock, I wouldn't be able to get in." Gao Shimei said, "It seems that we It’s still very dangerous. It should be marked again, right?” So Gao Shimei and Li Bang backed out step by step, and at each fork, Gao Shimei cut a big arrow on the rock with an axe.Therefore, when they carried the firewood into the cave again, they found the natural cave easily. They quickly started a fire under the rocks.The flames licked the huge rocks, making a low whirring sound.After a while, there was a crackling sound in the fire.Li Bang tried to touch the stone wall and said it was already hot.Gao Shimei rubbed her hot chest vigorously, as if the fire was burning the rock and at the same time injected him with a new vitality.Li Bang said: "It's too warm." A few minutes later, he said: "It's too hot." Then, he took off his clothes, revealing his broad shoulders and broad back. Under the reflection of the fire, his skin showed a rare golden yellow.He kept adding firewood to the fire, and every movement was very clean and powerful, showing a moving and desperate energy all over his body.Sometimes the flames licked his arms and he didn't care. The heat wave made them temporarily leave the cave.Taking advantage of this opportunity, they found many wooden barrels and jugs, filled them with water, and waited for the thrilling moment.The firewood was burned out, and in the gradually silent cave, there was a faint crackling sound from the inside of the rock.The bottom half of the rock is red, which is a good time to water.Gao Shimei knows that the rock has been tortured by them almost, it is not their opponent, and its death is coming. "Flush water", following Gao Shimei's command, Li Bang raised a bucket of water recklessly and poured it hard on the big rock.Gao Shimei immediately heard a scream from the big rock, and then seemed to jump a few times, a blue light flashed, and the smoke filled them, and they couldn't see anything.There was a violent cracking sound from the big rock, and it seemed to flip a bit, and then slowly swelled and expanded as a whole downwards.As the mist gradually dissipated, Gao Shimei noticed that the entire big rock had been shattered and collapsed.They didn't give up, and continued to pour the remaining water on the gravel, hoping that the gravel would cool down as soon as possible. After the smoke cleared, Gao Shimei and Li Bang impatiently made a small hole in the hot gravel.Li Bang wet his clothes, put them on, and bravely got in.Then, Gao Shimei also gritted her teeth and drilled over.There seemed to be an abyss inside, and they didn't dare to move casually.But in front of their eyes, there really appeared the rich ore they imagined.They were ecstatic. After relaxing their nerves and muscles a little, they expected that Boss Zhao would not escape too far.Therefore, they decided to let Li Bang go down the mountain to chase first, because Li Bang ran faster than Gao Shimei.Gao Shimei stayed in the cave, waiting for Boss Zhao to come back and make decisions. Diao Tian Si (4) Li Bang soon caught up with Zhao Tianjue.This fact was beyond Li Bang's expectation. Although they estimated that Zhao Tianjue would not escape too far, they never thought that Zhao Tianjue was still on Baohua Mountain.According to Zhao Tianjue's later statement, he fled to the vicinity of Baohua Mountain when the sky was dim this morning. At that time, he suddenly saw a big boa constrictor blocking his way.And that was the only way he could escape.There are cliffs on the top, and the abyss below, which cannot be detoured.The boa constrictor lay motionless on the road.When Zhao Tianjue approached it, it raised its head, as if it wanted to swallow him up, and it seemed to salute him.Zhao Tianjue had no choice but to retreat to a safe place, knelt on the ground and said to the boa constrictor: "I know you are here to help those poor factory workers to beg for their wages. But, I really have no choice. Please do me a favor and let me go." Save your life!" The boa constrictor nodded, as if he understood what he said.But still don't give way.Zhao Tianjue had no choice but to sit down and wait for the boa constrictor to retreat.The strange thing is that the boa constrictor looked up at him again after lying there for several hours as if he had fallen asleep.Then, go to bed.Zhao Tianjue expected that after the buddies who left the factory woke up and found the copper coins and straw sandals on the bed, they would chase him together, drag him back angrily, and beg him for wages.Yes, some factory workers have worked hard to help him for several years, but now they have come to such a miserable end, and there is not enough travel expenses to go home. If they spend all the ten copper coins, they can only become beggars.Zhao Tianjue was worried that the factory buddies would catch up soon, so he tried to pass over the cliff.However, when he looked down, he immediately trembled with fear.He thinks this way, unless he is a bird, he can only be buried in the bottom of the valley.Then, he recalled the tragic scene that happened here a few years ago.At that time, he had just arrived at Gejiu to open a mine. One day at noon, he passed by here and saw a horse driver who accidentally fell into a deep valley with his horse and man.The terrifying screams seem to still be echoing here.He couldn't bear the harm of that cry, so he had to retreat to a safe place again, and lay resigned to his fate in the grass.After an unknown amount of time, Zhao Tianjue fell asleep.When he woke up, it was already noon, and the boa constrictor had disappeared without a trace.Just at this time, Li Bang caught up and reported the good news to him out of breath, and asked him to go back to the factory to have a look.Zhao Tianjue couldn't believe Li Bang's words, thinking that everyone sent Li Bang to lure him back so that he could settle the wages with him.Zhao Tianjue begged Li Bang bitterly, "Little brother, my luck is bad, and I have troubled you. I really can't pay back the wages owed to you. I have to pay back in the next life. Little brother, please do me a favor." Let me live!" Li Bang had to kneel on the ground and swear to the sky that we really dug out the "Fat Pond".Zhao Tianjue said: "Impossible, impossible, how can there be such a coincidence in the world? As soon as I leave, you can dig rich ore? I don't believe it, please let me go!" Zhao Tianjue turned around and ran away .Li Bang grabbed him, pushed him to the ground, and repeatedly told him how he discovered the natural cave.Zhao Tianjue lay quietly, his eyes dazed.When Li Bang finished speaking, he struggled again, "Don't say it, don't say it, I don't believe it." Li Bang had to carry Zhao Tianjue on his back and walk back.Zhao Tianjue resisted desperately, slipped off Li Bang, slumped on the ground, and pressed his feet firmly against the stones on the road.Just when they were making a fuss, Gao Shimei came up with a bag on her back, put pieces of shiny rich ore in front of Zhao Tianjue, and said: "Boss Zhao, we are really digging a prosperous mine, look Look, it's true. We were lucky and finally found that natural cave. Li Bang came to chase you first, but he came empty-handed. I'm afraid you won't believe me, so he brought a large piece of rich ore to show you. " Zhao Tianjue's hands were trembling, he hugged the bag, and was so moved that he burst into tears, "God has eyes, let us have a way of life... I, Zhao, will never forget the kindness of the two brothers in this life. Yes You saved me... you saved me!" Zhao Tianjue put down his bag suddenly, stood up and hugged Gao Shimei and Li Bang tightly. Gao Shimei and Li Bang supported Zhao Tianjue back to his "factory tip".Found the slot door (塐门).They cleaned up the old nest road that had been abandoned for many years, and unmistakably found the guiding marks that Gao Shimei had carved on the stone with an axe.They really opened a big hole, which fulfilled the old saying in the old city that "there is no rice to cook in the morning, but to buy horses and rides in the evening".Since then, they have been digging the prosperous mine for several months, accumulating tens of thousands of taels of silver.With the capital, Zhao Tianjue bought mines such as Huangmaoshan, Huazhakou, and Mousechang.They lived a good life, eating meat during the day and drinking wine at night.At this time, more and more factory brothers defected to Zhao Tianjue, and Zhao Tianjue became the largest tin mine owner in the old city. Diao Tian Si (5) Now, Gao Shimei has one hundred and twenty-five taels of silver in her hands.He was lying on the hillside alone, looking at the blue sky, layer after layer of white clouds like veils, changing on the sky.It seemed that they were so far away and yet so close to him, like the past stored in his brain. Gao Shimei played with the silver in his hand like a pebble, he threw them into the air, and let them all return to his hand.After that, he held Yin Zi in his arms.In his consciousness, he suddenly felt like there was a hole in his abdomen, and one hundred and twenty-five taels of silver entered its big mouth.He felt empty for a while.For these silvers, he came here to take risks.Now that he has silver, he can go home.What a joy!He threw himself on the ground, biting his fingers to keep himself from crying. Gao Shimei packed her things and was ready to go home.He didn't want Boss Zhao to know about his father's imprisonment, so when he bid farewell to Boss Zhao, he just said: "I have something to do at home, I want to go back and have a look." Boss Zhao asked: "How long can I go back?" Gao Shimei said : "I won't come back." Hearing what he said, Boss Zhao was taken aback, showing that he wanted to stop him, but after hesitating for a moment, he tried to calm himself down and said, "Go! You have your own I won’t stop you. You can bring more silver back, you will need it later.” Gao Shimei said, “No need, I already have one hundred and twenty-five taels of silver.” At this moment, in Zhao Tianjue's "factory tip", he encountered a "stuffy fire pit".Someone ran to report in panic, saying that the coal stone lamp would go out naturally when it reached the smoldering fire.Everyone was so frightened that they left the cave, and no one dared to go down and have a look? Hearing this news, Gao Shimei's first thought was to decide that she would not go home for the time being, left her luggage, and hurriedly followed Boss Zhao down to see it.In the cave, Gao Shimei felt extremely difficult to breathe, and it would be very dangerous to go in again.He immediately told Boss Zhao to stop, and at the same time, he turned on the flashlight, only to hear a "click", and the light bulb in the flashlight exploded.Gao Shimei was not afraid, he knew it was due to the lack of air.Therefore, Gao Shimei decided to install wooden bellows at the entrance of the cave, and use white canvas bags to blow the wind into the stuffy cave.In the cave, several bellows were also properly installed, one after another, until the outside air was sent into the deep cave. Boss Zhao's good luck came again.The ore of this "stuffy fire pit" is of extremely high grade, and a bag of ore sand contains several liters of tin ore.In order to prevent thieves from robbing their ore, Boss Zhao decided to increase the number of shifts, day and night.In order to encourage the factory buddies to work hard to mine, Zhao Tianjue bought a large amount of foreign tobacco (opium), and asked the factory buddies to take a few puffs when they were resting, so that they could stay in the cave for a longer period of time.As for smoking foreign cigarettes, Gao Shimei and Li Bang enjoyed privileges, not only having their own bongs, but also smoking in bed.Of course, they know that they are not masters, and they have to go down to check frequently, so they burn the foreign cigarettes into bubbles and bring them into the cave. For "shoot coal ash".Although they have this "privilege", they rarely exercise it because they fear addiction. A month later, the "stuffy fire pit" was almost fully excavated, and everything returned to normal.One night, Zhao Tianjue said to Gao Shimei: "After careful consideration, I decided to give you and Li Bang a part of the silver and the mine." Gao Shimei politely declined Boss Zhao's kindness.Boss Zhao was surprised by his words and deeds.He said: "This is a good thing that many brothers in the factory have dreamed of for a lifetime, but you rejected me without hesitation. What are you thinking?" At this time, Gao Shimei had to tell Boss Zhao that the real reason for her "leaving the factory" was to save her father.He also said that my future ideal is to be a carpenter, specializing in carving lattice doors.Zhao Tianjue was very moved and decided to hand over the mine to Li Bang for management.Afterwards, he asked his servant to pack up his things and prepared several boxes of silver, and he wanted to go back to Nilang Town with Gao Shimei.On this day, Gao Shimei made a calculation, and there were only two days before the deadline for him to pay the life money, and it would take at least three days to walk from Gejiu City to Xizong County.Therefore, as soon as they hit the road, they ran as hard as they could.