"Reporting, Company Commander!" Du Jianshan called out from the doorway.
"Come in!" Chen Jianshan looked up and saw the two of them: "Finished the work? You were pretty efficient."
"Reporting to the company commander, the quota has been completed!" Du Jianshan straightened his back: "Company commander, there's something I'd like to ask you about."
"Speak." Chen Jianshan quite admired this capable young man.
"We want to dig our own dugouts to live in," Du Jianshan said bluntly.
"Let's choose a spot on the sheltered slope behind the company, close to the karez well. That way we won't have to squeeze in with everyone else, and it'll save us from... the hassle."
Before he finished speaking, Chen Jianshan understood what he meant.
It must be about Ma Jinbao.
Chen Jianshan pondered for a moment.
Dungeons are common here; they are warm in winter and cool in summer, which is definitely better than the drafty mud-brick houses in the educated youth settlements.
He nodded: "Hmm, good idea. I've seen that piece of land, it's fine! Self-reliance is the way to go! I've approved it!"
As he spoke, he picked up a pen and quickly wrote a note.
Du Jianshan quickly pulled out an unopened pack of Daqianmen cigarettes from his spatial storage and handed it over with a smile: "Thank you for your support, Company Commander! Please try this; it's from Northeast China."
Chen Jianshan's eyes lit up; this cigarette was good stuff!
His smile widened, and without any hesitation, he took the tools and weighed them in his hand: "Alright! You know how to handle things, kid! Go to the storeroom and get the tools—shovels, pickaxes, whatever you need, just take a few of them and return them when you're done!"
"Alright! Thank you, Company Commander!" Du Jianshan and Wang Tieniu both laughed.
After leaving the company headquarters, the two went straight to the warehouse.
He was given a sturdy large shovel, a pickaxe, and a small shovel to assist Wang Tieniu.
The two men, carrying their tools, excitedly arrived at the shady side of the chosen earthen slope.
The shady side of the loess slope, with its slightly cool breeze, is indeed a good place to dig a hole.
"This is it!" Du Jianshan put down his things and stretched his limbs.
He first took a pickaxe and dug a few times on the ground, drawing out a rectangular outline. He gestured and said, "Tie Niu, let's dig this size, deep enough so we can stand up straight."
"Alright, Brother Shan!" Wang Tieniu rolled up his sleeves, picked up a small shovel, and prepared to get to work.
Dig your own nest, it'll be warm in winter and cool in summer, just thinking about it is wonderful!
Du Jianshan took off his faded work jacket, revealing his strong upper body.
He spat into his palm and gripped the pickaxe handle tightly.
With a muffled roar, the pickaxe slammed into the dry, hardened ground, kicking up a large chunk of hard soil covered with a white alkali crust.
The soil in southern Xinjiang has a surface layer as hard as a slab of stone.
Instead of struggling to shake off the dirt like the others, he slightly turned his body to the side, cleverly turning his back to Wang Tieniu.
With a swing of his arm, the clod of earth traced an arc, seemingly about to be thrown towards the pile of earth to the side.
But the moment he released his hand, the clod of earth vanished into thin air with a "whoosh"!
"Brother Shanzi, your strength is truly amazing!" Wang Tieniu clicked his tongue in amazement as he watched from behind, thinking he had misjudged the landing point.
"That dust was thrown really far!"
Du Jianshan chuckled inwardly, but said aloud, "Save your energy! Don't just stand there, shovel up the loosened soil on this side and pile it over on the other side of the slope to block the wind."
He pointed to a location far from where he was "constructing".
"Alright!" Wang Tieniu, without any suspicion, immediately began shoveling soil and piling it in the designated spot.
Du Jianshan then went all out.
The pickaxe was swung in a wide arc, specifically targeting the toughest parts, and the layer of alkaline crust was peeled away.
When he encountered particularly hard soil, he could even feel the vibrations of the pickaxe making his hands go numb.
Once the hard topsoil was broken down, the soil underneath, though still dry, became much softer. He then switched to a shovel.
"Thud!" The shovel plunged deep into the soil, and with a flick of the wrist, a large clump of yellow earth was lifted up.
He turned his body slightly, and with the force of the turn, the yellow earth "disappeared" once again into the corner of the space.
His movements were fluid and graceful, accompanied by the dust kicked up. With Wang Tieniu facing away from him, shoveling and piling up dirt in the distance, no one could see any flaws in his actions.
"Brother Shanzi, you're digging way too fast!" Wang Tieniu occasionally turned around and looked at the pit at Du Jianshan's feet, which was sinking at an astonishing speed, and couldn't help but sigh.
"Like a groundhog!"
Others take five or six days to see the basic shape of a hole, but with Du Jianshan's skill, the basic shape might be finished today.
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