Chapter 219 Pine Cone

Yang Gong was thinking about the gold mine, so he came at dawn the next day. Lin Yue was urged by him and felt helpless. He persuaded him to have breakfast at home.

Zhang Yuandong still had to train the soldiers, so he called Sun Fangqing to accompany them. Lingling and Wanli pestered Lin Yue, wanting to join in the fun, but Zhang Yuandong forced them to go back to school.

Sun Fangqing was no stranger to Shitouyazi. He had even led a team to conduct climbing training there before. However, there were just more rocks there, and the slope was not too steep, and the difficulty was too low. He led a team there only once and never went there again.

He originally thought that apart from that group of naughty kids, no one else would pay attention to this place, but not long after they arrived, he keenly discovered that someone was following them nearby.

Sun Fangqing made a gesture to Lin Yue and quietly went around behind those people. He found out that they were the wives of soldiers who had gone into the mountains early to pick hazel mushrooms. When they saw them, they were curious and followed them to join in the fun.

Several people were startled by Sun Fangqing who suddenly appeared from behind. They slapped him hard and complained, "You are asking for trouble. You are trying to scare us to death!"

Sun Fangqing also said angrily: "You are really my sisters-in-law, what are you doing sneaking around behind me? I almost thought you were bad guys and arrested you!"

The sisters-in-law were also a little embarrassed. One of them cleared her throat and said sheepishly: "Well, we are just curious. Who is that person? What are you doing here?" As she spoke, she stretched her head to look over there.

Sun Fangqing threatened: "He is a big leader from the city. We are here to carry out a mission. If you don't leave, you will be punished according to military regulations!"

Several military wives were skeptical, "Little Sun, please don't scare us."

The sister-in-law who led the group shouted, "Xiao Lin, what are you doing here? Is that what Xiao Sun said?"

Sun Fangqing coughed twice, and Lin Yue nodded quickly, pointing inconspicuously towards Yang Gong. Seeing this, the sisters-in-law looked at each other, laughed, and left.

This area is not where the soldiers usually train, and there is a high possibility that someone else will come. Sun Fangqing thought of this, gave Lin Yue a few instructions, and left in a hurry. Not long after, he brought back a team of soldiers and blocked off the area nearby.

Although this exposed today's actions, it also effectively blocked the investigative eyes of those who were interested.

Engineer Yang had a lot of tools. No matter how big the scene was, he was not interested. He did not care about what Lin Yue and Sun Fangqing were doing. He was only thinking about this mineral vein. As soon as he arrived at the place, he started taking samples for testing.

The rock layer was too hard. Lin Yue wanted to help, but Yang Gong didn't give her a chance. He first carefully checked in the stream and took something out. Then he bypassed the rock layer and dug deeper on the softer ground. Sun Fangqing wanted to arrange a few warriors to help him dig, but he refused.

Lin Yue looked at him curiously and interrupted him with a few questions from time to time. Perhaps his questions touched the sore spot for him, so he didn't get annoyed and patiently explained things to Lin Yue.

After a whole morning of hard work, Engineer Yang finally put away his tools with satisfaction. Seeing his happy face, Lin Yue thought he had confirmed it, but he saw him carefully put the sample into his arms and said, "I have to take the sample back for testing to confirm whether it is real gold."

Lin Yue had been listening to him talk for the entire morning, so how could she not know that this was just an excuse? She didn't believe a word he said.

Sun Fangqing didn't believe it either, but he didn't argue. He took the man back politely and sent him away after lunch.

Anyway, he just needs to draw the conclusion he wants and report it.

Lin Yue spent the entire morning in the mountains. When he returned home, it was already time for lunch. Zhang Yuandong had not returned yet. He was in the cafeteria eating with Sun Fangqing and Yang Gong. However, he was afraid that Lin Yue would not have time to cook at noon, so he prepared some food and asked Lu Mangang to bring it back.

The person who came to deliver the meal was Zhou Aixiang. She loved gossip and took the initiative to take the job just to come and find out what was going on.

"Who was the person who came to your house last night? I saw you went to the back mountain early in the morning. I heard from Lao Song and the others that you also sealed off the stone cliff. Did you find something?"

Lin Yue said bluntly: "It's a matter within the army, and it's not allowed to be spread outside."

Zhou Aixiang had been with the army for a long time, so she was very sensible about these things. After hearing what Lin Yue said, she stopped talking immediately, laughed and changed the subject, "Oh, by the way, do you remember He Aini and her husband? Her husband was taken away some time ago."

"You mean Captain Chen? Didn't he retire and return to his hometown? Why was he fired?"

Zhou Aixiang said mysteriously, "That's him! I heard that the couple offended someone at work and were reported. It seems that there was something else going on, such as writing a false report or something. Anyway, they committed a crime, lost their job, and were criticized several times."

"Writing a random report?"

"That's right. This couple is still restless even after changing jobs. I don't know who they are going to fool around with now!"

Lin Yue's eyes flickered, he adjusted his expression, and said with a smile: "Sister-in-law, I think you are too well-informed. Their hometown is tens of thousands of miles away from us, and you know this!"

Zhou Aixiang smiled and said, "Hey, I didn't know it at first, but there is a reason behind it. The second-in-command in their county happened to be a retired officer from our army. After Chen Deyuan got into trouble, he came to him for help."

She stopped talking here. Seeing that she was trying to keep the secret again, Lin Yue pushed her away unhappily and said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, are you acquainted with this leader?"

"How could I know him? He has been away for many years and has nothing to do with us. I only know about this because the leader was annoyed by Chen Deyuan's pestering and called our troops. It happened that Lao Lu heard it and told me as a joke!"

Lin Yue was amused. "He was desperate and just went to seek help from others, but why did he end up annoying others?"

"That's right, this couple does things in an unexpected way." She said as she got off the kang, "Okay, I'm going to go home first, you should eat quickly!"

Lin Yue sent her to the door and suddenly asked, "Sister-in-law, has anyone asked you about what happened this morning?"

Zhou Aixiang turned around and said in confusion, "You brought an outsider to the back mountain and even brought soldiers to block off that area. Everyone must be curious! Who would ask me? What would I know? Only Zhang Yulan's sister came to ask."

Lin Yue asked casually: "Oh, is that girl particularly shy? I haven't seen her very often, and I haven't heard you mention her for a long time recently."

Zhou Aixiang smiled, "She is just like that. She has lived here for so long that she is only a little familiar with me. Oh, it seems that she can also talk to Tang Sisi. You may not know that Zhang Yulan is pregnant again. She has been taking care of her at home recently and hardly goes out."

Lin Yue was surprised and asked, "Zhang Yulan is pregnant again? She seems to be in good health recently. Has she been to the hospital?"

Zhou Aixiang walked out the door while saying, "What's there to check? It's just a baby. Why are you so hypocritical? She said she's in good health. There's no need to waste money! Okay, I'm going home."

Lin Yue sent the person out, thinking in his heart that Zhang Yulan was quite interesting. She wanted a child so much, and now that she was pregnant with great difficulty, she refused to even go to the hospital.

She shook her head and went back to the house. She was not curious about Zhang Yulan at all, but about her "sister".

After Yang Gong returned, he never gave a reasonable answer, but the army no longer needed his answer. Shitouyazi was eventually blocked off, and a long period of wrangling with the government began.

At this time, all industries belonged to the country, which meant that the army had the courage and ability to compete with the country. Lin Yue did not continue to pay attention to this matter, but judging from the length of time the saw game between the two sides lasted, the gold content of this mine should not be low, and the blockade area has been expanded by more than ten times, even the area where military personnel often go to pick hazel mushrooms has been included.

Lin Yue thought of something, she went into the space to check, and indeed found some gold-bearing rocks in an area. The material should be the same as the rocks containing gold ore. She had heard from Engineer Yang before that this kind of rock is called schist, which contains not only gold ore, but also a small amount of associated silver. This is Engineer Yang's initial judgment, and the other mineral substances will be known after he returns to test the samples.

However, Lin Yue did not touch the ores. According to Engineer Yang, one ton of gold ore could only produce a few grams of gold, and the process was complicated. After hearing this, Lin Yue immediately gave up the idea of ​​refining gold himself.

News from the mining area was still blocked. Everyone in the army knew that the area from the hazel forest to the stone cliff in the back mountain was completely blocked, but they didn't know why.

However, all the wives of soldiers knew that they should not ask too much about military secrets, so they just avoided that area during their daily activities. Especially recently, it was the season when pine cones were ripe, and everyone was busy picking pine cones, so they didn't have much time to be curious about what was happening here.

The winter here lasts as long as half a year. Although pine nuts cannot be eaten as a meal, they are still a kind of food. In September and October, there is even a phenomenon of everyone picking pine cones.

At this time, the soldiers usually put on their foot boots and swiftly climbed up trees at least 20 meters high to knock down the pine cones from above. The military dependents and school teachers and students below were busy picking them up with cloth bags.

Students also have tasks. Pine nuts can be eaten and the shells can be used to make fire, which is a very important fire material in winter. Every student must pick a certain amount and hand it in to the school.

Lin Yue also joined the army picking pine cones. There were no such tall pine trees or such big pine cones in her hometown. When she thought about the price of pine nuts in the future, she became very excited.

In fact, the place with the most pine cones is at the top of the pine tree, but it is too dangerous there and the soldiers would not climb that high. So Lin Yue took advantage of no one paying attention and secretly collected the pine cones at the highest place into the space.

Tang Sisi, who usually doesn't participate in these activities, also came, but she looked absent-minded the whole time. She didn't seem to be here to pick pine cones, but rather to be a thief.

Sure enough, she disappeared not long after she started, and no one knew where she had secretly gone.

For several days in a row, Tang Sisi was in this state. She didn't work well, but she came to report every day without fail.

She was not popular and no one paid any attention to her at first. It was not until the fourth day when she was escorted back by the soldiers on duty that everyone realized that she had actually run to the blocked mining area.

In response, Tang Sisi explained that she wanted to find a place to relieve herself and accidentally walked too far.

The distance between the two hills was not too far, but not close either. This explanation obviously did not convince everyone, but the little warrior did not make things difficult for her. He just reminded her not to go there anymore and hurried away.

Tang Sisi was stared at by so many people, no matter how thick-skinned she was, she would feel embarrassed. After this happened, Lin Yue thought she would definitely leave, but she hesitated for a while and did not leave. She dragged a large sack and picked up pine cones quietly. When everyone's attention was diverted from herself, she sneaked up to Lin Yue.

As soon as Tang Sisi approached, Lin Yue became alert. At this time, she had Xiao Xixi tied to her chest, and Xiao Mushroom and Sisi were also on her left and right. She picked up a big pine cone with her short hands and put it in his mother's bag.

When the two children saw Tang Sisi approaching, they became alert, especially Sisi, who hid directly behind Lin Yue.

Tang Sisi didn't pay much attention to these children. She touched Little Mushroom's head and then explained her purpose: "I heard that the Second Regiment is in charge of the Stone Cliff. Do you know why it is blocked?"

Lin Yue looked at her warily, frowned and said, "Comrade Tang, you remember the military discipline, don't you?"

Tang Sisi smiled awkwardly, but still insisted, "Lin Yue, don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything else, it's just that I dropped a watch there, and that watch is very important to me, I wanted to go in and find it, but that place was blocked, so I came to ask you."

Lin Yue looked into her eyes inquiringly. "Your watch fell off. Just explain the situation normally. The soldiers on duty should be able to help you find it. I can't answer you anything. Why are you asking me?"

Tang Si wanted to say something else, but Lin Yue didn't give her a chance and turned away. However, she seemed to be particularly careless in front of Lin Yue and soon caught up with him again. This time, she didn't ask about the mining area, but talked about other things and insisted on getting close to Lin Yue.

Lin Yue didn't refuse this time. He picked up pine cones skillfully while chatting with her. After chatting for a while, she suddenly asked, "I heard that you have a good relationship with Zhang Yulan's sister. Why didn't you ask her to come with you?"

Tang Sisi froze for a moment. Her reaction was even more extreme than when she was sent back by the soldier on duty. She said angrily, "When did I have a good relationship with her? Don't talk nonsense!"

"I also heard from other sisters-in-law that they saw you two walking together. If it's not true, then it's not true. I just said that. There's no need to react so strongly!"

Tang Sisi knew that she had overreacted. Her expression froze and she stammered, "She kept pestering me. It has nothing to do with me. I won't pay any attention to her!"

Lin Yue became even more suspicious. She carefully observed Tang Sisi's expression, but said nonchalantly, "Oh, so that's it? I misunderstood!"