Who would still be a social slave when they are so rich?

The Maijishan Grottoes are located in Xiaolong Mountain in Maiji District, Tianshui. It is a solitary peak at the northern end of the west side of the Qinling Mountains. It got its name because its shape resembles a farmer's haystack.

Together with the Longmen Grottoes in Luoyang, the Yungang Grottoes in Datong and the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang, they are known as the four major grottoes in China!

The Maijishan Grottoes were first built during the Sixteen Kingdoms period and later Qin dynasty, more than 221 years ago. They have undergone repairs through many dynasties and now have existing caves and more than statues. They are famous for their clay sculpture art and are known as the "Oriental Sculpture Exhibition Hall."

It was already two o'clock in the afternoon when Su Chen and his companions drove to the foot of Maiji Mountain. Although it was the hottest time of the summer, when Su Chen and his companions got off the car, they did not feel any heat. On the contrary... they felt a cool feeling.

Looking up, you can see the towering Maiji Mountain, with lush forests covering the mountain. You can vaguely see caves scattered on the cliff, and tourists climbing up the suspended plank road like ants.

"Oh my god, it's still so far to the Maiji Mountain Grottoes!" Su Yan looked towards Maiji Mountain and estimated that the straight-line distance was at least 500 meters.

If this is converted into the actual route, and if you add the climbing, it will take at least an hour to reach the foot of the Maijishan Grottoes.

"Don't worry, you won't be allowed to walk!" Su Chen said as he pointed towards the gate of the scenic spot.

Following Su Chen's line of sight, Su Yan discovered that there were quite a few sightseeing buses parked behind the ticket office, and he immediately felt relieved.

It's not that he didn't have the physical strength to climb the slope, but he thought that after arriving at the Maijishan Grottoes, he would have to climb a vertical distance of more than 100 meters along the suspended plank road, so he didn't want to waste too much energy.

"Let's go and buy tickets first!" After stopping and observing in the parking lot for a while, Su Chen and his companions walked towards the ticket office.

There are so many people visiting Maiji Mountain that even though it is already past two o'clock in the afternoon, there is still a long queue at the ticket office.

However, the scenic spot was still very efficient, and it didn't take long before it was Su Chen and his friends' turn.

"The ticket is 81 yuan per person, and the sightseeing bus can take you to the foot of the Maijishan Grottoes. The round-trip ticket only costs 30 yuan!"

Su Chen bought four round-trip tickets without thinking, and including the entrance fee, the total cost was only 440 yuan, which was a pretty reasonable price for a popular scenic spot.

After buying the tickets, Su Chen and his group got on the sightseeing bus and drove up along the winding mountain road. The mountain breeze blowing on their faces, carrying the fragrance of grass and trees, made people feel more cheerful.

"Look!" Lin Xiaoyu, who was sitting in front of the window, pointed in the direction of the Maijishan Grottoes and shouted loudly.

Su Chen and his companions followed the sound and looked in the direction of Lin Xiaoyu's finger. They saw that the Maijishan Grottoes were shining golden under the sunlight, as if the Buddhas were present on earth.

There were quite a few tourists on the bus, and they all took out their mobile phones to take pictures, and exclaimed in surprise from time to time.

However, this scene did not last long. As the sightseeing bus moved forward, that perspective quickly disappeared.

After this incident, everyone became curious about the Maijishan Grottoes. Even Su Chen was no exception. He also wanted to see what these grottoes built on the mountain looked like.

After driving for about fifteen minutes, we stopped at the foot of the Maijishan Grottoes.

After getting off the car, the four of them looked up and couldn't help but gasp at the same time - on the steep cliff, the layers of plank roads were like a spider web, connecting caves of all sizes.

This immersive and shocking feeling is completely different from the Maijishan Grottoes I saw in the parking lot before.

"This is so spectacular. I wonder how those craftsmen carved out so many caves on such a steep cliff more than a thousand years ago!" Su Chen couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the scenery in front of him.

Su Yan, who was standing by, swallowed his saliva and asked nervously, "Brother, are we really going to climb the mountain?"

"What else can we do? We are already at the foot of the mountain. What's the point if we don't go up and take a look?" Su Chen turned his head to look at Su Yan with a playful smile on his face. "Xiao Yanzi, are you afraid of heights? You can't embarrass yourself in front of Xiao Yu."

Hearing this, Lin Xiaoyu immediately shifted his gaze from the Maijishan Grottoes to Su Yan, with a half-smile on his face.

Seeing his girlfriend looking at him, how could Su Yan admit that he was a little scared? He stiffened his neck and said, "Who is afraid of heights? I'm just worried that you won't be able to come down after you go up!"

"I hope what you said is true!" Su Chen smiled and patted Su Yan's shoulder, "Let's go, it's getting late!"

Su Chen took the lead and walked towards the entrance of the cave, and Chen Fei hurriedly followed, leaving Su Yan and Lin Xiaoyu alone.

"Xiao Yu, I..." Su Yan was about to say that he was a little afraid of heights, when he felt a delicate hand holding his hand, and the words that were about to come out of his mouth could not come out immediately.

"Okay, I don't know you yet? Don't worry, I'm here!" Lin Xiaoyu said gently, pinching Su Yan's palm with her fingers, "If you are scared, just hold my hand tightly and don't look down!"

Su Yan felt warm in his heart, and he held Lin Xiaoyu's hand tighter with his backhand, and said in high spirits: "Let's go, isn't it just a suspended plank road hundreds of meters high? At worst, I can just climb up along the mountain wall!"

Hearing this, Lin Xiaoyu burst out laughing. She didn't expect Su Yan to be able to talk about fear of heights so righteously!

"Then don't rub the Buddha statues in the grottoes!"

As they chatted and laughed, they quickly caught up with Su Chen and Chen Fei in front of them.

……

After entering the scenic area, a problem occurred before they even entered the plank road.

"Handsome guys and beautiful girls, do you want to ride a camel and take some photos? It's only ten yuan per person!" An old lady with a QR code hanging on her chest stopped Su Chen and the others.

"camel?"

Su Chen and his companions looked in the direction the old lady pointed, and wow, there really was a camel lying on the grass.

As if she had seen through the confusion of Su Chen and the others, the old lady quickly explained: "Our place is also one of the important nodes of the ancient Silk Road. You can ride a camel and experience it, and revisit the feeling of walking on the Silk Road in the past!"

Hearing this, Su Chen's mouth twitched slightly. What the hell is this Silk Road? I want to go on this journey again. Are you still asleep or am I a fool?

Seeing his boss's expression, Fade Chen immediately stepped forward and said, "No need, Auntie. We are not interested in this camel. Go find someone else!"

"Hey, young man, it's only ten dollars. Auntie hasn't opened yet in the afternoon. Just help her out! Besides, I don't think you are short of money!"

How could the aunt let Su Chen and the others leave? She had accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with young people like Su Chen.

The younger they are, the thinner their skin is. As long as she twists Su Chen and the others, some passing tourists will naturally stand up to speak for her.

Sure enough, a tour group of elderly people happened to pass by Su Chen and his group. After hearing what the old lady said, they stopped decisively.

"Young man, it's only ten yuan. You can smoke one less pack of cigarettes. What's more, they don't charge you for nothing. You can also take pictures while riding a camel. You can't lose out!"

As soon as these words were spoken, Su Chen and the other three were immediately shocked!
Is this playing ranked? I was matched with teammates so quickly.

Isn't it a loss? This lady is obviously trying to blackmail people. What's more, they have to ride camels here? They have to pass through Dunhuang on this trip. Is there anything more interesting than riding camels with hundreds of people in the desert of Dunhuang?
Before Su Chen could say anything, Lin Xiaoyu, the only girl among the group, stood up. She was also very angry with the two aunts.

Putting her hands on her waist, she replied calmly but with obvious sarcasm: "Auntie, if you can really experience the feeling of the Silk Road by riding this camel, then ten yuan is too cheap. I suggest you contact the national archaeological team directly, maybe you can apply for intangible cultural heritage!" "By then, why do you need to intercept tourists here? Plenty of tourists will come to you on their own!"

Aunt Camel's face froze. She obviously didn't expect Lin Xiaoyu to respond so directly.

The middle-aged woman in the tour group next to her was a little unhappy and continued to chime in: "Little girl, why are you so unkind? It's not easy for someone to run a business at his age..."

"Not easy? Is it easy for us young people to make money?" Lin Xiaoyu curled her lips. "Since you are so enthusiastic, why don't you ride first? We young people are good at taking pictures. I guarantee that you will be praised for your ability when you post it on your Moments!"

The middle-aged woman from the tour group was also choked and speechless. She waved her hand angrily and prepared to leave.

Seeing this, Lin Xiaoyu quickly looked at Auntie Luotuo and said, "Auntie, if you have this intention, why don't you go ask that auntie and the others? Maybe they have the same idea!"

Aunt Camel also noticed Lin Xiaoyu's talking power. If she really persisted in doing so, her business would be difficult. Thinking of this, she quickly walked to the front of the tour group and stopped the aunt who had spoken before.

Seeing this scene, Su Chen and the other three quickly left. Who knew what would happen if they stayed any longer?

Just as they were walking up the plank road, they heard the voice of the camel lady from before, "Oh, you are already old and can't even take out ten dollars. Why are you still traveling? You might as well stay at home and take care of your son!"

Hearing this, Su Chen and the other three looked at each other and laughed at the same time.

Soon, Su Chen and the others forgot about this episode and focused on admiring the majestic Maijishan Grottoes.

After climbing up four or five stairs, I finally reached the platform. I saw many people leaning on the railings with their mobile phones taking pictures of the three huge Buddha statues.

"Wow, wow, wow, these Buddha statues are still so lifelike even after thousands of years. The skills of the craftsmen at that time were really amazing!" Su Chen said with some emotion as he looked at the Buddha statues in front of him.

At this moment, a somewhat soft voice sounded beside him, "Brothers and sisters, do you need a professional explanation?"

Ok?
Hearing this, Su Chen and his companions looked in the direction of the voice, and saw a little girl about ten years old, wearing a red vest work suit from the Maiji Mountain Scenic Area, looking at Su Chen and his companions timidly, with nervousness and expectation in her eyes.

"Little sister, are you a professional guide of the Maijishan Grottoes?" Lin Xiaoyu took the initiative to step forward and asked while half-kneeling in front of the little girl.

"Yeah!" The little girl nodded heavily, as if she was worried that Su Chen and the others wouldn't believe her, and quickly showed Lin Xiaoyu her work ID hanging on her chest.

"Ji Zizi, junior tour guide!" Lin Xiaoyu looked at the large portrait of the little girl in front of her on her work permit, which was also stamped with the official seal of the Maiji Mountain Scenic Area.

Lin Xiaoyu did not answer immediately, but turned to look at Su Chen and asked for his opinion. Besides, the girl looked so young, no one knew what her level was.

Don't spend your money only to listen to a bunch of unreliable anecdotes.

Su Chen naturally saw what Lin Xiaoyu was thinking, and he squatted down and asked with a smile: "Little friend, how old are you this year? How long have you been a tour guide?"

The little girl straightened her back and answered seriously, "I am twelve years old this year. I just passed the tour guide assessment of the scenic spot last month. My mother used to be a senior tour guide here. I have been memorizing the tour guide script with her since I was seven years old!"

When talking about her mother, Su Chen could clearly sense a trace of sadness in Ji Zizi's eyes.

Su Chen immediately understood in his heart that if her mother were still alive, she would not let this little girl come here to act as a tour guide. Twelve years old is the time to play!
Although he felt sympathy, Su Chen still wanted to test the little girl to see if she had been memorizing the commentary on Mount Maiji since she was a child, as she said.

"Let me ask you a question. If you can satisfy us, I will ask you to be our tour guide!"

Ji Zizi's eyes lit up, "Sure, you can ask me anything about the Maijishan Grottoes!"

Su Chen looked at the little girl's confident face, touched his chin, looked at the Buddha statue beside him, and immediately thought of the problem in his mind.

"Tell me what techniques were used in the creation of these Buddha statues in Maijishan Grottoes?"

Hearing this question, Ji Zizi's face immediately lit up with a confident smile, "I used the technique of thin flesh sculpture, which is a unique technique of Maijishan clay sculpture. I applied a very thin layer of fine sand on the clay and then applied fine carving."

"For example, the Buddha statue in Cave 43 has a gauze thickness of no more than one centimeter, yet it has a three-dimensional and flowing effect!"

Ji Zizi paused and added: "This technique even influenced the colored sculpture art of Mogao Grottoes. If you have the opportunity to go to Mogao Grottoes, you can find out if what I said is true!"

As soon as the words fell, there was loud applause all around. It was unknown when, but Su Chen and his group were surrounded by tourists, many of whom were holding their mobile phones to record the little girl's explanation.

Su Chen smiled and nodded, "Hahaha, little guy, I am very satisfied with your explanation. How is the fee calculated?"

"It's only 80 yuan an hour, and I can take you to visit all the ordinary caves!" The little girl happily took out the QR code.

The entire Maijishan Grottoes are divided into ordinary caves and special caves, but the ones open to the public are generally ordinary caves, which are the Buddha murals we see on the cliff walls.

As for the special caves, they are hidden inside Maiji Mountain and are basically not open to the public. They are only opened under special circumstances.

Su Chen asked whether the QR code belonged to the scenic spot or her own. After confirming that the QR code belonged to the little girl, he directly scanned it and gave her 200 yuan.

The excuse was that the remaining money would be used to buy her water.

The little girl Ji Zizi looked at the receipt notification on her phone, her eyes narrowed with laughter, and she quickly bowed and thanked: "Thank you, brother and sister, I will definitely explain it carefully."

After that, she swiftly took out a small loudspeaker from her bag and hung it around her waist. Her voice instantly became much clearer. "Brothers and sisters, please follow me. We will start our tour from the Northern Wei Grottoes on the west cliff!"

"What we are looking at now is Cave 121 in Maiji Mountain, which is the "Whispering" statue from the Northern Wei Dynasty..."

Although the little girl Ji Zizi is young, she can explain things one after another, occasionally inserting some small stories to make the whole explanation lively.

What’s interesting is that during the trip, some tourists wanted to join the group after hearing Ji Zizi’s professional and interesting explanation, and Su Chen did not refuse.

Just like that, from four people at the beginning, it slowly expanded to six, ten, and fifteen!
In the end, there were just too many people and the suspended plank road was too narrow, so anyone who wanted to join was rejected.

Ji Zizi spoke for nearly two hours, from the West Cave to the East Cave, without any questions raised. At the end, everyone still felt that they had not seen enough.

After getting off the plank road, Ji Zizi, who looked exhausted, forced himself to smile and said, "Thank you brothers and sisters. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have such a harvest today!"

"Hahaha!" Su Chen smiled and rubbed the little guy's head. "This is all due to your own efforts. We just played a starting role. Even without us, there are still others!"

"Zizi, come on, sister believes you are the best!" Lin Xiaoyu walked to her side, took her hand and encouraged her.

"Yeah!" Ji Zizi grinned and nodded!
After chatting with the little guy for a few more sentences, Su Chen and the others said goodbye. After all, it was almost five o'clock and they still had to take the sightseeing bus down. If they were late, they would have to walk to the parking lot!
When saying goodbye, Ji Zizi suddenly took out a hand-painted postcard from her bag and stuffed it into Su Chen's hand, "Brother, this is the Maiji Mountain I drew myself, I'm giving it to you as a souvenir!"

Su Chen took it and looked at it. On the yellowed card, the panoramic view of the cave was outlined in pencil. In the corner, there was a little girl with two ponytails making a gesture!
After carefully putting away the postcard, Su Chen and his group boarded the sightseeing bus back home under the gaze of the little girl! (End of this chapter)