Chapter 43: The Vein and Standing Alone
Chapter 43: The Vein and Standing Alone
The rain in Yun Di came quickly and left quickly. The night sky cleared, and the stars in the sky sparkled brightly, as if telling something to the world in an ancient and mysterious language.
Li Zian and Yu Meilin arrived at the River Bend on the right side of the mine.
The River Bend was flat, and the river flowed with a gurgling sound, not rushing too fast.
Actually, it was just a medium-sized river. Changing its course wouldn’t be a massive project.
“Zian, is the vein you mentioned here?” Yu Meilin looked around, unable to see anything special about this place.
“Right here.”
Li Zian walked toward the center of the riverbank. As he walked, he looked up at the stars in the night sky. Finally, he stopped at a spot and started digging in the riverbank soil with a shovel he brought from the mine.
Yu Meilin couldn’t help but laugh. “You don’t plan to dig out the vein with that shovel, do you?”
Li Zian shoveled away pebbles and sand as he said, “I’m just digging a hole to test. If I can reach it, great. If not, I’ll have Wang Cheng bring people to dig tomorrow. At least they will have a specific location.”
Yu Meilin walked over too and helped move the larger pebbles.
Li Zian looked at her delicate hands covered in mud and felt a bit sorry for her. “You don’t have to move them. This kind of work isn’t for you. Be careful not to hurt your hands.”
Yu Meilin said, “If you can do it, so can I. You do your work, and I’ll do mine. Don’t worry about me.”
Li Zian gave a bitter smile and continued digging.
The surface of the riverbank was covered with a layer of pebbles and gravel about two feet thick. After shoveling that away, there was a layer of sandy soil mixed with a little dirt. It was very loose and easier to shovel.
The hole grew larger and deeper. After about an hour, Li Zian had dug a hole about one point three or four meters deep. The sand and soil inside now had to be thrown up with the shovel.
“Zian, stop digging. Come up. We’ll have Wang Cheng bring people to dig tomorrow.”
Li Zian wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a laugh, “I’m not tired. I’ll dig a little more.”
Yu Meilin said worriedly, “If this hole collapses, you won’t be able to dodge it. Come up quickly.”
“One last shovel.” Li Zian pushed the shovel into the sandy soil, stepped on it hard with his foot, lifted a full shovel of soil, twisted his waist, swung his arm, and threw the soil up.
He put down the shovel, his gaze falling on the spot at the bottom of the hole where he had just removed the soil. He froze.
In the small pit where the soil had been removed, there were some small copper-green gravels. Under the moonlight, they emitted a faint greenish glow.
That was the unique color of oxidized copper ore.
They had found the vein!
“What are you standing there for? Give me your hand. I’ll pull you up.” Yu Meilin knelt on the sandy soil by the hole, already reaching out her hand to pull Li Zian up.
But Li Zian didn’t move.
“What’s wrong?” Yu Meilin asked worriedly.
Li Zian finally snapped out of it. He looked up at Yu Meilin and suddenly laughed. “Meilin, we found the vein!”
“Ah?” Yu Meilin was stunned.
Li Zian bent down, picked up a handful of the copper-green gravel from the bottom of the hole, and placed it in Yu Meilin’s hand. “Look, this is the Copper Mine!”
Yu Meilin opened her palm, looked at the copper-green gravel in her hand, and froze for a few seconds. Then, two tears unexpectedly rolled from the corners of her eyes.
“Why are you crying?”
“I’m not crying, I’m happy… This really is the Copper Mine. We found it. I…” Yu Meilin smiled, but tears still hung at the corners of her eyes—tears of excitement.
This bet, she had won.
Li Zian picked up the shovel again and dug downward. More copper-green ore sand appeared, and the quality got better the deeper he went.
This time, he only dug one foot deeper before stopping. Any deeper and he wouldn’t be able to climb out. Besides, he wasn’t a miner; he was here to locate the vein, and his goal had been achieved.
“Zian, let’s go back. I’ll have Wang Cheng bring people to dig.” Yu Meilin reached her hand down again.
Li Zian grabbed her hand and used her pull to climb out.
He brushed the sand off his hands and said with a smile, “I didn’t expect you to be so strong.”
Yu Meilin suddenly came closer and wrapped her arms around his waist.
Li Zian immediately stiffened. Her softness and the alluring fragrance she emitted made him react instantly.
A man in his twenties, whose only time touching a woman was on his drunken wedding night, with no memory of it at all. It was easy to imagine how sensitive such a man would be. Yu Meilin’s actions were no different from setting a fire, and he was like a pile of dry wood doused in gasoline—it ignited with just a spark.
He saluted her.
He was ready to take action.
Should he go for a kiss first or use his hands first?
But before he could decide, Yu Meilin let go of him. “Thank you. Let’s go back.”
Li Zian still stood there, frozen. Standing alone.
…
Daybreak came. The morning sun was big and round, and the sky was so blue it made you not want to blink.
Li Zian woke from his dream, pushed aside the blanket, and got out of bed. He glanced at a certain part of his body, and a bitter smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
As usual, standing alone, awakened hard.
Last night, he almost thought Yu Meilin was going to collect his homework, right there on the riverbank. And he was confident he could hand in a perfect outdoor assignment. But it turned out he had thought too much.
His body was still sweaty and had a slight sour smell. The Great Slumber Qi Refining Art meant that sleep was also Cultivation. The Great Sluggish Cauldron was constantly purifying his body. He didn’t know when this process would end.
He wanted to take a shower, but there was no bathroom in this simple Prefabricated Panel House.
Suddenly, noisy sounds came from outside the door.
Li Zian went to the window, lifted the curtain, and looked out. The miners were running toward the main gate with shovels, steel pipes, and the like. A large group of people dressed in Caotian Tribe clothing had gathered at the main gate. The noisy sounds were coming from there.
“That San Jiuxiang really did take Ge Jun’s money and brought people to cause trouble again.” Li Zian quickly put on his clothes. As he was leaving, he suddenly remembered the money transfer. He picked up his Mobile Phone, operated it, and transferred one million to the account Yu Meilin had given him.
Just after he completed the transfer, Yu Meilin called.
“Zian, remember to transfer the money to me.”
“I already did,” Li Zian said.
“There’s another thing. Someone called and told me people are causing trouble again. I sent Wang Cheng to the River Bend to dig for the vein. Can you go check it out?” Yu Meilin got straight to the point.
“I’ll go right now.”
“Be careful, and also…”
“What?”
“Don’t hit anyone.”
Li Zian gave a bitter smile. “Don’t worry. I’m not part of some gang. If others don’t hit me, I usually won’t strike first.”
“That’s a relief. I’m hanging up now.” Yu Meilin ended the call.
Li Zian put away his Mobile Phone and went out, striding toward the main gate. He took in the situation there at a glance.
Most of the miners had gone to the riverbank. Only about a dozen mine employees were at the main gate, while opposite them were over a hundred people from the Caotian Tribe. The scene was hardly balanced.
Just as Li Zian reached the main gate, two off-road vehicles drove up. They were the same two vehicles from yesterday: a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and a Toyota Land Cruiser.
How could such an occasion lack a troublemaker?
Ge Jun had come again.
“Everyone, make way. General Manager Li is here.”
“Now that General Manager Li is here, it’s fine. General Manager Yu and Mine Manager Wang aren’t here, but with you here, we feel secure.”
The mine employees chattered noisily.
Li Zian said, “You guys just guard the door. Leave this to me.”
He opened the iron gate and walked out.
A large group of Caotian Tribe members immediately surrounded him.
“Didn’t you say we’d get paid today? Why is the door shut?”
“Money, I want my money!”
“Listen here, kid, if you don’t pay me my wages today, I’ll mess you up!”
People were shouting all sorts of things, some even threatened him directly.
Li Zian just listened and didn’t argue with anyone. In his view, these people were just paid extras. No matter how fierce they acted, it was all for show. If he actually asked them to fight him, they wouldn’t do it themselves.
Two off-road vehicles stopped at the edge of the crowd. Ge Jun got out of one car, and several men in suits also stepped out. The woman in the red spaghetti strap dress got out this time too, clinging to Ge Jun’s side like a little bird.
Li Zian found it amusing.
Was that guy trying to prove he was a normal man?
He seemed to have chosen the wrong way to do it.
Before Ge Jun could approach, San Jiuxiang appeared in front of Li Zian.
“Where’s that woman?” San Jiuxiang said aggressively. “Tell her to come out!”
Li Zian frowned. “You’d better watch your tone.”
“Oh wow, you talk big. What are you gonna do if I don’t?” San Jiuxiang pushed Li Zian.
Li Zian took a step back but did not fight back.
He took out his mobile phone and made a call.
Ge Jun walked over and sneered. “Weren’t you so tough yesterday? Why are you chickening out today?”
Li Zian ignored him, waiting for the call to connect.
“Where are your people from the mine? Call them out to fight! Didn’t you have lots of men yesterday? Where did they all go?” Ge Jun continued to taunt.
The call connected.
Li Zian said, “Is this Brother Jielong?”
“Mmm!” A woman’s voice suddenly came from the mobile phone.
Li Zian froze on the spot. That voice…
“Mmm, ah, mmm!” A series of rhythmic, rhyming sounds.
Li Zian broke out in a sweat.
Damn, what sin did I commit? Making a call early in the morning and ending up listening to a live show!
“Zian brother, you—you’re calling so early, is there something wrong?” Kaqianda Jielong’s voice finally came through after much delay.
Suppressing the chaotic feelings in his heart, Li Zian got straight to the point. “San Jiuxiang from your village brought people to cause trouble at the mining site. You better come quickly. I’m afraid they might do something illegal.”
“Ah, hnn!” Kaqianda Jielong’s voice, an exclamation with a heavy nasal tone.
Li Zian felt like he’d been electrocuted, his whole body stiffened.
“I’m done—no, no, I’m coming right away.” Kaqianda Jielong hung up.
San Jiuxiang suddenly swatted his hand, knocking Li Zian’s mobile phone to the ground.
Li Zian’s thoughts were pulled back to reality. He looked at San Jiuxiang but still didn’t get angry. He just said, “What do you want?”
San Jiuxiang said in a nasty tone, “What do we want? We came for money! Even if you called the police, it wouldn’t help!”
Li Zian said calmly, “I didn’t call the police. I just called your Village Chief. He’s coming right over.”
“What did you say?”
Li Zian kept his patience. “I said I called your Village Chief. He’s on his way. Did you hear me clearly?”
“Hahaha!” San Jiuxiang laughed. “This fool says he called our Village Chief, hahaha…”
“Who does he think he is? How can he get our Village Chief to come with one call?”
“He just arrived yesterday. How could he possibly know our Village Chief?”
“Shameless idiot, stop pretending to have connections if you don’t! Just give us the money!”
“Pay up!”
Amid the laughter and curses, Ge Jun smiled, very pleased.
You little rascal, look at you now