The Red Era: Living in Seclusion in a Siheyuan as a Boss

Chapter 709 Transporting Ore!!!

Zhang Jin looked up at the darkening sky, a kind smile on his face, and cupped his hands to the mine owner, saying, "It's getting late. Would you be so kind as to arrange a place for us to rest?"

Upon hearing this, the mine owner laughed heartily and responded enthusiastically: "That's no problem at all! We have several guest rooms here specially prepared for visiting merchants to rest temporarily."

Although the conditions are rather simple, I hope you won't find them too inadequate." With that, he gestured for them to follow him.

Zhang Jin quickly thanked him, saying, "You're too kind. Under these conditions, we are already extremely grateful to have a place to shelter from the wind and rain." He turned around and called his companions to follow, and the group followed the mine owner across the gravel path.

The distant shouts of the miners gradually faded into the twilight, leaving only the sound of footsteps echoing in the silent valley.

The guest rooms are several wooden cabins built against the mountainside; although simple, they are clean and tidy.

The owner pushed open the door to one of the rooms, lit an oil lamp, and a warm yellow glow immediately filled the entire room.

"The bedding is all newly changed, and there is hot soup and dry food in the kitchen. Please help yourselves," the owner said, then pointed to a wooden bucket in the corner of the room. "The spring water is freshly drawn and very refreshing."

"Okay, that's already very good. It's a hundred times better than us sleeping in the open and eating in the wind," Zhang Jincheng said with a smile.

The mine owner was probably really troubled by that "hot potato." He was unusually polite to Zhang Jin and the other people who came to transport the raw stones, saying, "You guys take a rest first. I'll find someone to go into the mountains and hunt some wild game."

There's nothing much to offer on this mountain, but hunting a few pheasants won't be a problem.

If you're lucky, you might even catch a wild deer or something.

"You're too kind, boss! Thank you so much!" Zhang Jin hurriedly thanked the mine owner again, feeling that the people in the mountains were very warm and hospitable.

After watching the mine owner leave, Zhang Jin turned to his companions and smiled, "Looks like we've had good luck this time, running into such a kind-hearted guy." He reached out and touched the oil lamp on the wooden table; the wick crackled and cast a flickering shadow on the wall.

There was a rustling sound outside, the sound of the mountain wind rustling through the treetops.

Zhuang Yan pushed open the window, and a crisp mountain breeze carrying the scent of pine wafted in. "The air in these mountains is so fresh," he took a deep breath, "much better than the stench of the old city."

Lei Jun couldn't wait to open his bag and take out some dry food to share with everyone. "Let's fill our stomachs first," he said, taking a bite of the hard bread. "If the boss can really hunt some wild game later, we'll have to have a good taste of this mountain delicacy."

As we were talking, a few barks came from afar, followed by sporadic Q sounds.

Zhang Jin walked to the window and saw torches lit up in the direction of the mine, and could vaguely hear people shouting. "It seems the boss really went hunting," he laughed. "This way of treating guests reminds me of the hunters in the mountains back home."

The cabin was indeed quite simple, just as the owner had said. There was only a large communal sleeping area, a wooden table, and a few stools.

But this is still much better than them sleeping outside.

Lei Jun and A Gui were busy unloading the supplies from the horse and carrying them inside the house.

After unloading the supplies, A-Gui led the horse to graze in the woods.

Zhuang Yan placed the radio on the table, and saw Zhang Jincheng take out a map, spread it out, and was deep in thought as he looked at it. So Zhuang Yan walked over to him and asked, "Are you thinking about how to transport that stone out?"

“Hmm, I’m wondering if there’s any other way out besides the road we came from,” Zhang Jincheng nodded.

Zhuang Yan plopped down on the large communal bed and said, "It's simply impossible to get that raw stone out the way we came in."

The key question now is how to transport such heavy stones.
It's too heavy for people to lift, too heavy for horses to carry, and cars can't get in.

"When I agreed to Michael's offer, I was thinking of taking the opportunity to get some equipment and do some reconnaissance in the old town. I didn't expect it to be such a tricky deal."

"If all else fails, we'll just go back and tell that old guy we can't do it. Anyway, we've already figured out the situation in the old city," Zhuang Yan said nonchalantly.

Zhang Jin shook his head and said, "Although this is simple, it is not conducive to our future actions."

There are no insurmountable difficulties; let's rack our brains and think of another solution.

At this point, he said to Zhang Jin, "Go and bring A-Gui back, and have him take me to see the area around the mine."

Zhuang Yan responded, got up, and pushed the door open to leave.

As dusk approached, mist began to rise in the mountains.

Zhuang Yan walked along the path towards the woods, his feet crunching on the soft fallen leaves.

A moment later, A-Gui emerged from the woods leading his horse, which was leisurely grazing on the grass. "Brother Monkey, what brings you here?" A-Gui asked, somewhat surprised.

“My brother wants you to take him to the mines,” Zhuang Yan said, taking the reins. “Leave this to me, you go and meet him.”

Ah Gui nodded and quickly walked back.

Zhuang Yan tied his horse to a nearby tree trunk and sat down against a large rock.

A night breeze carried the faint rumble of machinery from a distant mine.

A little while later, Ah Gui returned, smiling as he said, "Brother Zhang, you were looking for me?"

"Brother Gui, let's go for a walk outside." As they spoke, the two went outside. Zhang Jincheng pointed to the mountain behind the mine and said to Gui, "How about we climb to the top and take a look?"

"Okay, it's up to you."

"Brother Gui, do you think there's any other way out besides the road we took to get into the mountains?" Zhang Jin asked Gui as they walked.

A-Gui shook his head and said, "No, the mountain village where we stayed was the closest one to here. The other mountain villages are at least tens of kilometers away, or even hundreds of kilometers away, and they are all inaccessible due to the towering mountains."

"Looking at the map, the river in the village is a small tributary of the Salween River, and its upper reaches flow past the mine?"

“Brother Zhang, I understand what you mean. I was thinking about this when I was releasing the horses just now,” A-Gui nodded and said.

"Really? Tell me your thoughts!" Zhang Jin asked excitedly.

"It's simply impossible to get those heavy stones out of the mountain path."

The river you just mentioned is located at the foot of the back of this mountain. We can build a wooden frame, tie that stone to it, and then slide down to the riverbank.

"Build another raft, secure the stones to it, and use ropes to pull the raft. It's slow, but it'll get the stones to the mountain village."

Zhang Jincheng's eyes lit up, and he patted Agui on the shoulder: "Brilliant! We thought of the same thing. However..." He frowned slightly, "It's at least a hundred feet high from the mountaintop to the riverbank. Can the wooden frame support it?"

Ah Gui grinned, revealing his teeth stained yellow from smoking: "Brother Zhang, don't worry, we mountain folks know this best."

Use old cedar wood to make the slide, and then wrap it with rattan for reinforcement to ensure it's stable.

Many people in the mountains transport goods out of the mountains in the same way.

“We have an old saying where I’m from, ‘Great minds think alike,’ hahaha…” Zhang Jincheng said happily, patting A-Gui on the shoulder.

The two had reached the mountaintop while they were talking.

As dusk fell, a silvery river meandered at the foot of the mountain, its surface shimmering in the moonlight.

Zhang Jin squatted down, grabbed a handful of soil and rubbed it: "The soil is hard enough, perfect for making a slide."

The mine owner invited them to dinner not long after, only to find that Zhuang Yan and Lei Jun were there. They waited for a long time before Zhang Jincheng and the other man returned.

When the two of them returned, Zhuang Yan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Where have you been all this time? Everyone was worried about you."

Zhang Jin said happily, "I'm going with A-Gui to find a way out."

"You guys seem so happy, have you found a way out?" Zhuang Yan's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked.

Zhang Jin then briefly explained A-Gui's idea: "Boss, how about this..."

After listening to the plan, Zhuang Yan stroked his chin and said, "This method is feasible, but it's too time-consuming. Just cutting down trees and making rafts will take a lot of effort."

“It’s better than just standing there doing nothing,” Lei Jun chimed in. “I think we can start working first thing tomorrow morning.” He was extremely impatient; he didn’t want to stay in this wretched place for even a day longer.

The mine owner nodded and said, "I think it's fine. Why didn't anyone think of this method before?"

"In five days at most, we can transport this stone to the village ahead."

Hearing the mine owner say this, Zhang Jin felt even more confident. He said happily, "Tomorrow we'll walk along the river at the foot of the back mountain and find out the situation on the road to the village."

If it's feasible, go back and discuss the next steps with Boss Mi.

Zhuang Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Brother, have you considered that although traveling by water is feasible, it is also very easy to be attacked?"

"Because we're coming from the river, the high mountains on both sides are perfect for ambushes," Zhang Jin said confidently. "I've considered this; the chances of being attacked along the way from the mine to the mountain stronghold are slim."

Because it's already difficult for us to transport this raw stone out of the country, how could the robbers possibly transport it out after stealing it?

Therefore, even if there are attacks, they will only carry them out when the roads are clear.

What do you think?

Lei Jun agreed with Zhang Jincheng's statement, saying nonchalantly, "Brother's analysis makes sense."

"We can rest assured on this road out of the mountains. If they steal the transport and send it out, it saves us trouble. We can just take it back once we're outside."

The mine owner had been waiting for a long time. Zhang Jin stood up and said, "No matter what, it's better to be careful. Better safe than sorry. Let's go eat first and discuss it when we get back."

After enjoying a feast of wild game, the group returned to the cabin to discuss their next steps.

Zhuang Yan still had some concerns: "Even so, we still need to be prepared."

I suggest that tomorrow we send two people to scout along the river and get a feel for the terrain.

In addition, some weapons should be kept on the raft, just in case.

Zhang Jin nodded in approval: "You've really thought of everything."

"Alright, tomorrow the three of us will go scout ahead. Monkey, you'll be in charge of organizing the manpower to prepare the rafts and toboggan run beforehand."

The mine owner rubbed his hands together and laughed, "Great! I'll go arrange the manpower and tools right away."

By the way, the cedar forest behind the mountain is perfect for making a toboggan run; the wood is tough and rot-resistant.

As night deepened, everyone began to rest.

Zhang Jincheng, however, tossed and turned, unable to sleep, and got up to go to the window.

The mine was bathed in a silvery glow under the moonlight, and the distant hooting of owls could be heard.

He lit a cigarette, his mind racing—the plan seemed perfect, but he felt there was something missing.

The next morning, before the fog had completely dissipated, everyone went their separate ways to get started.

Zhuang Yan led the miners to the back mountain and skillfully directed the logging work.

The thick fir trees had their branches trimmed, revealing smooth trunks. "We need to leave enough buffer distance," he said, pointing to the hillside. "We drive a stake every ten meters so that we don't lose control when we slide down."

Meanwhile, Zhang Jincheng and Agui Leijun had already walked two miles along the riverbank.

The river was swift, with steep cliffs on both sides. "The current is too strong here," A-Gui said, pointing to a bend ahead. "We need to install a rudder on the raft, otherwise it will easily crash into the rock walls."

Two days later, they returned to the mountain village. Although the river was somewhat turbulent, it was perfectly feasible to use it for transportation.

Transporting ore from the river required a lot of manpower to control the rafts. Zhang Jin told Mi Gao the method of transporting ore via radio, and at the same time asked him to send a squad of soldiers to participate in the transportation.

On the third day, Mi Gao sent a company commander with twelve soldiers to the mountain stronghold to meet with Zhang Jincheng and his men, and then they went into the mountains together.

From the moment Zhang Jincheng and his group arrived at the mountain stronghold, Boss Lang had already received secret protection. He immediately mobilized his troops to intercept Zhang Jincheng and his group.

When Zhang Jincheng returned to the mine with his men, preparing to use the river to transport ore, Boss Lang also obtained Zhang Jincheng's action plan from Li Yuan.

However, at this very moment, news of Lang San's arrest reached the old town.

At this point, Boss Lang no longer cared about intercepting Zhang Jincheng and his group, and handed the matter over to his trusted confidant, Li Wencai.

Li Wencai immediately selected dozens of his men to secretly infiltrate the valley, preparing to intercept Zhang Jincheng's transport convoy there.

Upon arriving at the mine, Zhang Jincheng divided the people he brought with him into two groups.

Lei Jun led a team to clear the path from the mountaintop to the riverbank; they needed to remove all the trees blocking the way.

The remaining people went to build rafts and then equip themselves with ore.

Two days later, everything was ready, and Zhang Jincheng began transporting the ore.

They first placed several hundred kilograms of ore onto a sled-like frame, tied it securely with ropes, attached two cables to the front, and then more than ten people dragged the ore to the hillside together.

Then, two cables were tied to the back of the wooden frame and secured to the large trees on both sides to prevent the ore from being washed down the steep slope.

The two cables at the back of the wooden frame alternated, supported by large trees on the hillside, while several people at the front pulled it, slowly allowing the wooden frame carrying the ore to slide down the hillside.

Then the huge ore was moved onto the raft.

Two cables, each several tens of meters long, were attached to the front and back of the raft to control its movement.

Two people pull the front cable to control the direction of the raft, while the rear cable controls the speed to prevent the raft from being swept away by the strong current.

Zhang Jin divided everyone into three groups. Zhuang Yan and Lei Jun were responsible for scouting ahead and gathering intelligence. The company commander led his men to control the rafts, while he and A Gui covered the rear, taking charge of the entire transport team and guarding the rear.

Once everything was in place, the transport team began to move slowly forward.

The riverbanks were mostly dense forests and steep cliffs, so the journey was very slow; on the first day, we had only covered less than five kilometers.

Unable to proceed due to poor visibility in the river at night, they dragged the raft to the shore and lit a campfire to rest.

At the beginning, Zhang Jin had calculated the journey. It would take at least five days to get from the mine to the village. Time was not a problem for them; the key was how to transport the ore safely.

Zhang Jin said he was worried that if the process took too long, the news would leak out, because many people were eyeing this priceless jadeite rough.

While everyone else was asleep, Zhang Jincheng and his two companions dared not let their guard down. Lei Jun and Zhuang Yan were on guard in the forest on either side of the river, while Zhang Jincheng stood watch beside the raft, keeping a watchful eye on any movement around them.

A-Gui followed behind Zhang Jincheng, doing what he could to help him.

This honest and kind-hearted Kokang veteran was very grateful to Zhang Jincheng, saying that they treated him as a friend.

Human interaction is that simple: as long as you treat people with sincerity, nothing else matters.

Three days later, the journey was more than halfway over, and Zhang Jin said he expected to arrive at the mountain village the next afternoon.

Once they arrive, the ore will be loaded onto trucks, and it will take a maximum of two days to transport it to Mandalay, at which point the mission will be essentially complete.

With victory in sight, everyone was highly motivated and their speed noticeably increased.

In the afternoon, they entered the valley area, where the mountain peaks on both sides began to steepen, but the riverbed at the bottom was relatively flat on both sides.

Because it's not the rainy season in Haha, it's the driest season of the year, and parts of the riverbed are exposed, which is very advantageous for their operations.

Zhuang Yan and Lei Jun were about three or four hundred meters ahead of the group. When the rafts carrying ore reached the middle section, they had already left the valley.

Zhang Jincheng and Agui were at the back of the group, about 40 or 50 meters away. Ten meters away from them were four soldiers holding onto the rope at the back of the raft. Because the river in the valley was relatively gentle, they simply followed the raft.

Many trees grow on the cliffs on both sides of the valley, and the calls of monkeys can be heard from time to time, echoing in the air above the valley.

The scene before him suddenly reminded Zhang Jincheng of Li Bai's ancient poem: "The cries of Yuan on both banks could not be stopped, yet the light boat had already passed ten thousand mountains!"

Suddenly, a crisp "q" sound broke the tranquility of the valley and startled Zhang Jincheng from his reverie.

The company commander, who was directing the raft forward, swayed and collapsed to the ground.

Immediately following, grenades, like dots, were thrown down from the cliff on the right and landed among the advancing soldiers.

Then, a series of loud explosions echoed through the valley. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the soldiers controlling the raft were killed or wounded. Then, a hail of bullets rained down from the cliff, and the soldiers who were not killed were instantly riddled with bullets.

The ambush that attacked Zhang Jin was arranged by Boss Lang.

After receiving a secret message from someone placed by Lang San by Li Yuan's side, Boss Lang prepared to personally lead troops to eliminate Zhang Jincheng and his two companions.

Just as he was preparing to set out, he learned that Lang San had been arrested. This news instantly threw Lang San into disarray, leaving him no choice but to arrange for his trusted men to intercept Zhang Jincheng's transport team.

Lang San had been handling the matter of dealing with Zhang Jincheng, and Li Wencai was unaware of the details.

Upon receiving the order from Boss Lang to lead his troops to ambush the transport team, Li Wencai finally realized the reason.

(End of this chapter)