On the second day after arriving at the mine, the sky was slightly brightening and a gunshot was suddenly heard outside.
You Tianfu and Lin Lidong suddenly woke up from their sleep and looked around vigilantly. When their eyes adjusted to the light, they found that they were not in a small wooden house, but a long and narrow living room like a corridor.
The width of this kind of house is not large, only about three to five meters, but its length is astonishing, reaching the point where you can't see the end at a glance.
The long room was bare of unnecessary facilities, with an aisle in the middle and wooden planks on either side. The planks were divided into upper and lower sides, similar to the bunk beds in a dormitory, but their simplicity was beyond words.
In such a crowded and narrow corridor-shaped room, people were lying densely. The wooden board was less than one and a half meters wide. It should have been a single bed, but most of the beds were crammed with two or even three people!
More people, like Lin Lidong and You Tianfu, can only find a suitable place to sit on the ground. Because of the limited space, they don’t even have the qualifications to lie down and sleep, let alone a bed.
These are all captured miners, all men, big and small, old and young, with different skin colors, nationalities and languages.
Hearing the gunshots outside, the miners remained calm. They quickly got up, lined up, and walked out the door with sleepy eyes.
The middle-aged man from last night also immediately got up, pushed the two people who were still in a daze, and quickly joined the long line.
After leaving the wooden house, the view suddenly opened up. Outside was neither a city nor a village. Looking around, there were mountains in the four directions of east, west, south and north, one after another, some high and some low, stretching endlessly.
The place where they were located was the largest of the mountains. A deep pit was dug in the middle of the mountain. The walls of the pit were like a honeycomb, densely covered with holes.
There are more than ten connected wooden houses like the one they live in. They are of similar width but of different lengths. The shortest is twenty or thirty meters, and the longest is even over a hundred meters!
The crowd coming out of the wooden house was as orderly as a giant snake. Several teams lined up neatly and came to a flat area beside the mountain.
A long table was set up there, with countless small bowls on it. Further in were seven large pots with a diameter of about five or six meters. The soup in the pots was clear and watery, and some rice grains could be vaguely seen.
The miners first walked to the long table to pick up small bowls, then went to the large pots and had a dedicated person scoop a spoonful of soup for them. They drank as they walked, and after circling the seven large pots and returning to the long table, they put the small bowls back down just as they finished drinking the soup. Then they continued to line up and walked into the deep pit in the mountain...
In addition to these miners, there are nearly a hundred people responsible for management and guarding the entire mountain. These people are all dressed in military uniforms, holding electric batons and whips in their hands, pistols and sabers on their waists, and long guns on their backs, looking like warlords!
As the group slowly moved forward, the middle-aged man introduced himself: "I am also Chinese, from Heilongjiang in Northeast China. My last name is Pang. I won't tell you my name, but everyone is used to calling me Lao Pang.
The gunshot just now was a signal for these beasts to wake us up. If anyone doesn't get up within twenty minutes, they will be severely beaten.
Here, there are only two meals a day, each with a bowl of porridge. The closer you are to the front, the fuller the bowl will be. Don't be disgusted by the taste, because when you are hungry, this is the delicacy of the world!
No matter what you did before, how much money you had, or what your status was, once you come here, everything will be reset to zero.
If you listen to my advice, you will suffer less. Otherwise, whether you can survive is uncertain..."
You Tianfu actually already had a general understanding of the current situation. He heard with his own ears that Phyllis ordered someone to send them to the mine. After the bumpy journey, he also knew that they had arrived at the mine.
However, the situation here, from the scale of the mine to the number of miners, to the level of armament of those warlords, was far beyond his expectations!
Lin Lidong remained silent as well, his eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, particularly the spear on the back of a warlord not far away, a strange light flickering in his eyes...
Under the gun, all beings are equal. You Tianfu and Lin Lidong did not dare to act rashly. They could only follow the large group into the depths of the mine.
Before being brought in, they were searched and found to have no belongings except the clothes they were wearing. Anything valuable was taken away, and anything worthless was thrown away.
At the bottom of the mine, there are many guards who divide the miners into teams of 20 to 30 people. After distributing the mining tools, they are led into the mine to work and mine.
The situation in every mine was the same: there was one guard and dozens of miners. Although the number of miners on both sides was very different, no one dared to cause trouble or resist. More than 30 people were ordered around at will by one guard. If they disobeyed, they would be beaten, kicked, or even hit with electric batons.
After spending so much time here, the miners knew that no matter how ruthless they were, they couldn't outsmart the enemy, and no matter how fast they were, they couldn't outrun a bullet. Not to mention the guards were fully armed, even if they managed to resist, they would still be killed once they left the mine.
Trapped here, no one was willing to do so, yet they were helpless. Although they knew the final outcome might still be death, the most basic desire to survive deep in their hearts still kept them going...
This is a precious metal mine, and the main mining items are gold and silver. If other minerals are found, as long as they are valuable, they will not be left behind!
Manual mining is extremely inefficient, and deep in the mountains, it's difficult to transport machinery, making mining more challenging. Furthermore, the machinery requires refueling and maintenance, further increasing costs.
In comparison, these free miners are much better off. Several people eat one person's food, but one person does the work of several people. If they are sick or disabled, they can be shot and taken away. It is simple and crude, saving time and effort.
Although one person's work is inefficient, if hundreds or even thousands of miners work together, the daily output of minerals is still considerable!
Inside the mine, dust and fog filled the air, and a few oil lamps were placed casually around. The miners were very efficient and quickly got into the state. They found a good position and started to smash the mines.
You Tianfu held the pickaxe with a confused look on his face. It was the first time he had ever seen such a scene, let alone working.
Lao Pang waved his hand gently to signal, and although he reacted immediately, he still couldn't escape the eyes of the guard next to him. He strode forward and swung the whip without saying a word.
These guards have been beating people for years, and they are very adept at wielding a long whip. They can hit You Tianfu's back accurately, making crackling sounds like firecrackers.
You Tianfu only felt his back tighten, first a chill, and then a burning pain swept through his body.
Seeing this, Lin Lidong, who was standing next to him, suddenly had murderous intent in his eyes, and his hands, which were tightly gripping the pickaxe, trembled slightly.
Lao Pang noticed his mood change and quickly pulled the two of them to the side of the mine. He took the lead and started digging with all his might: "Don't stare, get to work! Be patient and everything will be fine. Be aggressive for a moment and you will regret it for the rest of your life!..."
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