Chapter 102: Abandoned Building No. 7 32 (Gold Miner)

"Then continue as planned."

The cigar ash fell to the marble floor with a sizzling sound.

The maid waiting nearby immediately came over with a golden rag to deal with it.

The man lowered his eyes to look at the beautiful maid and sneered.

"It's still uncertain who will win."

Butler Zeng lowered his eyes and said nothing, standing quietly beside him.

…

Hey woo! Hey woo!

The iron pickaxe made a crisp sound when it hit the hard rock.

"Xiao Xu, how are you? Can you still bear it?" The dusty foreman asked the young man who was moving nimbly beside him while digging out the rock fragments.

Xu Nuo was wearing a T-shirt, sweat dripping down his fair and tender back covered with scars. "It's okay, I can handle it."

"Hahaha! As long as you can handle it! As long as you can handle it! I thought you young newcomers couldn't handle hardship, but now I see I was too narrow-minded. Young people are great, they work efficiently!"

After finishing the digging, the foreman straightened up, pounding his already aching waist with one hand while wiping the sweat off his face with a dirty cloth beside him. "After this construction period is finished, I can use the money to pay for my daughter's tuition. She has excellent grades and is very cute, just like her mother. If she can get good grades, she won't be looked down upon like me and her mother."

After Xu Nuo finished striking the last blow with the pickaxe, he put it down and rested: "I'm here to look for someone."

"Looking for someone?"

"Yes, my childhood sweetheart came to work here, and I was worried about her, so I came here. I searched for several days but couldn't find her."

Xu Nuo sighed and said, "I don't know how she is doing now."

"We don't accept women in our gold mine. Could it be that your childhood sweetheart is applying to be a maid in the castle on the top of the mountain?"

"Ah? A castle on the top of a mountain? I only knew that she worked on this mountain, but I didn't expect there was a castle there."

"You haven't thought of much. Since your childhood sweetheart can work as a maid there, it means she must be very beautiful. Tsk, you are so lucky."

"Can I see her then?"

"Then forget it, unless she finishes her work. I heard they only need to sign a three-month labor contract and they can get a huge salary. Damn, it's nothing compared to us men who work so hard in the mines. If your childhood sweetheart fights for you, maybe you can even become the mine owner's wife."

The foreman saw Xu Nuo's face turn ugly and quickly changed his words: "Don't think too much, I just said it casually, don't take it to heart. Work hard and make yourself rich, and you can have any woman you want."

Xu Nuo was silent.

He began to think about the possibility that his boss had turned into a woman.

He searched everywhere here, but couldn't find the boss, not even a trace of the boss left behind.

"Foreman, tell me what I should do so I can get in. Do they still hire men in the castle?"

"You're crazy! Why would you go there without thinking?"

The foreman was shocked when he heard this and almost couldn't control his swearing.

"I love her. I can give up my life for her. She is my faith and my hope for living."

Xu Nuo looked at the foreman with genuine affection, his voice choking with sobs, "If she is really chosen, and the two of them are together willingly, I will accept it. But now I don't know her situation, I can't give up, I must fight for a chance for myself. If I can't marry her, I will never marry again."

The foreman was so shocked by Xu Nuo's words that he didn't know what to say. Young people... are indeed a little love-sick.

The foreman hesitated to speak, his expression becoming even uglier, as if he was thinking about something but was also afraid. "Since you want to go, they're still short of a kitchen staff. If you really go in there, don't regret it."

"Well, thank you for telling me this, foreman. When we get married, I will definitely invite you to the wedding!"

"……good."

The foreman looked at him with a look of pity and regret.

Xu Nuo pretended not to see it and started digging the mine more diligently as if he couldn't wait.

The oil lamp above my head was shaking, and some ash fell off, and the air was filled with mineral dust.

“Chichichi!”

Several rats as big as bricks ran over and surrounded the foreman's feet, chirping.

The foreman smiled and took out a few steamed buns from his pocket, broke them into pieces and scattered them at his feet: "Eat, eat, eat well, so that you can help us. If you are alive, we can live, my darlings."

Xu Nuo looked at the big, fat rats with bloodshot eyes, sharp teeth, and gray-black hair all over their bodies. He suppressed the scream that was about to burst out and swallowed it back.

Xu Nuo was not afraid of anything except mice, let alone several of such big ones eating steamed buns next to him.

His scalp was tingling.

"Don't be afraid. These are the protectors of our mine. They're the only way we can live well in this haunted place. Feed them well and they won't eat people. Rats are smart. Once they're well-trained, they'll recognize their owners and know who's kind to them." The foreman said earnestly, handing him a steamed bun. "Feed them so they can recognize you."

"good."

Xu Nuo put down his pickaxe, took the cold steamed buns handed to him, and broke them into pieces like the foreman before feeding them to the crickets. They ate happily, and Xu Nuo remained calm on the surface, but inside he was screaming shrilly.

Rats! Ah! So many rats!

"You're the first person I've ever met who doesn't find these rats dirty. If you're not selected and still work here, you can try raising some. When they give birth, I'll give you a litter." The foreman said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. "These little creatures can save your life in a critical moment."

"Well, thank you for the tip, foreman. I understand." Xu Nuo took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and handed it to him quietly: "Consider it my filial piety to you. Foreman, please don't be polite to me."

The foreman's eyes lit up, and he quickly stuffed the cigarette box into his arms, covering the thing tightly: "You kid, why do you take out everything? Aren't you afraid of being noticed? You can't get these good things here, how did you get them?"

"I have some connections in there. The foreman just told me how to get in and told me so many good things. Of course I have to honor you." Xu Nuo smiled and scratched his head, looking silly.

The foreman felt a pang of conscience, but ultimately couldn't bear it: "You'd better not go to that damn place. To tell you the truth, our mine owner has a daughter who is only four years old, but she's incredibly vicious. If she doesn't work there for long, she'll be exiled to that damn place called the Dark Mine. There's basically no coming back."

"Dark Mine?" Xu Nuo asked in surprise, "What kind of place is that? I've never heard of it."

(End of this chapter)