Black Gold 1983

About half an hour later, a noise came from above.

The tattered tarpaulin covering the well was suddenly ripped off, and blinding light poured in from the opening, causing Renye to squint instinctively.

A figure appeared at the cave entrance. His face was obscured by the light, but it was clear that he was carrying a lantern.

"Is the one down there still alive?"

Renye smiled and said, "Thanks to you, I'm still alive, just a little bored."

The man held down the lantern and shone it on himself. He saw Renye sitting against the wall, still in the mood to joke, and then he felt relieved.

"It's good that you're alive." The man turned his head away, said something to the person next to him, and then there was another rustling sound.

Then, something was thrown down from the hole and landed next to Renye; it was a Type 65 military water bottle.

"Drink some water, don't die."

Renye didn't touch the kettle. Instead, he looked up and called out towards the cave entrance, "Hey brother upstairs, can you come down and have a chat for a bit?"

There was a moment of silence at the cave entrance, followed by a low growl: "Talk? Talk about what? You stay down there quietly until we've discussed it."

"You guys discuss your things, I'll talk about mine, it won't delay you." Renye's voice was unhurried, even with a hint of a smile: "I just want to tell you that the place you chose to dig is good, but the digging method is wrong."

The cave entrance fell silent again.

It was quieter for even longer than before.

After a while, the face reappeared, and this time Renye saw it clearly.

He was a man in his late twenties, with a square face, thick eyebrows, high cheekbones, chapped lips, and deep-set eyes with a wary look in them. He looked like a leader.

"What did you say?" The man's voice turned cold.

"I'm telling you, all this digging is a waste of your energy," Renye said, leaning against the wall without saying anything more.

The man at the cave entrance froze, his wariness turning into surprise and suspicion.

"What gang are you from?" he asked.

"Just like you guys, we make our living underground." Renye grinned, the wound on the back of his head throbbing painfully, but he didn't let the pain show on his face. "Back then, there was a collapse in this mining area. Judging from the direction of your tunnels, you're probably trying to sneak into the old mining area that collapsed back then, to dig out the remaining coal, right?"

During the conversation, Renye briefly measured the distance from the person to the bottom of the pit, which was about six or seven zhang, or about twenty meters deep.

Therefore, this shaft was not very deep, barely touching the shallow coal-bearing zone.

It's clear that these mine thieves haven't figured out the real workings down there yet, and they don't know that there's high-quality coking coal hidden just down there.

They assumed that this shallow layer of poor coal was all there was to it, unaware that beneath it lay a thick layer of siderite sandstone, and that the high-value coking coal lay quietly beneath the sandstone.

To actually mine that layer of high-value coking coal, we must continue to dig downwards, forcefully breaking through this layer of hard siderite sandstone, and then widen the shaft along the rock strata; otherwise, we simply cannot reach the rich ore layer hidden below.

The ferruginous sandstone is very hard, and it is labor-intensive, pickaxe-intensive, and manpower-intensive to chisel it. If they really want to speed up the progress, they can only use homemade explosives. These mining rats are not even sure if they can get their hands on explosives. Even if they could, they would not dare to use them because once they set off the blast, the noise would immediately attract the staff of the Hongxing Mine's "Safety Supervision Station".

"How long have you been digging here?" Renye asked again when the other party did not answer.

A murmur came from the cave entrance. The square-faced man shrank back and whispered to the person next to him for a while.

About five or six minutes later, another person emerged from the cave. This time, he had a different face, a pointed chin, and his eyes darted around. He looked like a shrewd character.

"Don't ask questions you shouldn't ask, just mind your own business."

"I guess it won't take more than three months. I estimate they've only managed to get about ten tons, and they haven't even sold them yet."

Upon hearing this, the square-faced man poked his head in again and said in a deep voice, "How did you know?"

Renye smiled but didn't respond: "Even if you find a buyer, you won't get a good price for these dozen or so tons of coal."

The group of people at the cave entrance looked at each other in bewilderment.

The man with the pointed chin couldn't help but interject, "You know nothing! You look so fair and clean, you probably don't even know which way the kiln door faces."

"I've examined the coal you mined. It's jet black and has poor caking properties, which are characteristics of low-grade coal. It can be sold, though; the local people use it for heating in winter, and they value this kind. But you've only mined a dozen tons. Even if you sell it all, after deducting costs and dividing it among several people, how much will each person actually get?"

"Also, I just took a quick look. You're digging a vertical shaft, but illegal mining prefers to dig inclined shafts. Inclined shafts are dug along the direction of the coal seam's inclination, so you don't have to drill as deep vertically. You can just follow the coal seam, which saves effort and is faster."

"Moreover, inclined shafts are more convenient for ventilation and coal transportation than vertical shafts. Even with rudimentary equipment, coal can be transported out with a small cart. However, the downside is that they are more obvious targets than vertical shafts and are easier to detect. This shows that you are very cautious, but doing it this way is really exhausting."

"After working on this for so long with such anxiety, each of you is earning less than a hundred yuan. If you ask me, you might as well go to the county town and work as bricklayers."

Renye's voice echoed in the pit: "But if you do it my way, it won't be long before each of you can earn this amount."

He held up one finger.

"One hundred?" The voice with the pointed chin sounded doubtful.

Renye shook his head.

"one thousand?"

Renye smiled and said, "As long as you work for me, I guarantee that every one of you will become a millionaire within a year."

The cave entrance was completely silent.

It was so quiet that you could hear the dripping of water clearly.

A full half minute passed before the voice with the pointed chin finally rang out: "Stop fucking bragging! I'll bury you in a minute!"

"Whether you're bragging or not, you can put me up here and I'll tell you. If you think I'm talking nonsense after you hear it, then you can throw me down."

The group of people at the cave entrance whispered among themselves for a while.

Finally, the square-faced man muttered, "Bring him up."

A rope was lowered down, with a simple noose already tied to the end. Renye moved into the noose and let the person above tighten the rope, wrapping it around his waist.

Before long, several people worked together to pull the rope and slowly lifted him up from the shaft.

As he emerged from the cave, the sunlight stung his eyes.

Then he was pushed and shoved by several people and led into a well-hidden dugout.

This dugout was carved out down the hillside, with the entrance hidden in the bushes on the back slope, making it impossible to see from the outside.

The dugout wasn't big, only seven or eight square meters. Several dirty quilts were laid on the ground, and some tools were piled up in the corner: pickaxes, shovels, steel hoes, two kerosene lamps, and some candles.

Only now did Renye realize that there were four of them in total.

The square-faced man was probably the leader; his hands were covered in calluses, and his fingernails were embedded with indelible soot.

The one with the pointed chin squatted down beside him, staring intently at Renye with an unfriendly look.

There were two other people, one short and stout, the other taciturn, probably the oldest of the four, who was leaning against the corner smoking a pipe.

Renye, having recovered his strength, cupped his hands in greeting: "Gentlemen, how shall I address you?"

The square-faced man raised his chin, his tone indifferent: "Ma Tiejun."

The short, stout man quickly chimed in, appearing much more lively: "My name is Ma Xiaojun." He then pointed to the pointed chin beside him: "This is my cousin, Ma Maocai."

Finally, he turned to the man smoking a pipe in the corner: "This is my uncle, Ma Dehou."

As Ma Xiaojun spoke, he bent down, picked up the large, grayish rat from behind, and waved it by the tail in front of Ren Ye, grinning, "This is 'Tiger Vanguard,' my pet! We brothers rely on it for scouting and going down the well!"

The mouse was hanging upside down, its four paws kicking wildly, squeaking shrilly.

Renye glanced at the large, plump rat with shiny gray-black fur, and his lips twitched: "...Your introduction is quite comprehensive."

Ma Maocai waved his hand impatiently: "Alright, alright, stop showing off your rat and get down to business."

Ma Xiaojun chuckled, hid Tiger Vanguard behind his back, and squatted back down in his original spot.

Renye's gaze swept over the four people, and a thought flashed through his mind.

All four of them share the surname Ma. I had heard my father, Ren Shouyi, mention that the village secretary of Shigou Village was named Ma Dewang. Since these Ma brothers share the same surname and ancestry, they must be from Shigou Village.

Just when I was wondering how to get in touch with the right people, I stumbled upon the right path by sheer chance.

"Sit down." Ma Tiejun pointed to a stone on the ground, squatted down himself, pulled out a crumpled pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his waist, lit one, took a deep drag, and then looked at Ren Ye through the smoke: "Tell me, who exactly are you? How do you know about the situation down there?"

Renye didn't rush to sit down. He first moved his wrists, which were numb from being tied up. The wound on the back of his head was still bleeding. He wiped it with his hand and rubbed it on his trouser leg before slowly sitting down on the rock.

"My name is Renye, from the Red Star Mine."

Upon hearing this, the expressions on the faces of all four people changed.

Ma Maocai grabbed the hoe beside him and stood up abruptly: "From the mine? You were sent by the mine?"

Renye waved his hand: "Don't be nervous. If I were really sent by the mine, would I be squatting at your cave entrance all by myself? That would be suicide!"

The group exchanged glances, their expressions relaxing slightly, but their vigilance remained.

"Then what are you doing here?"