Chapter 15 An unexpected surprise

Chapter 15 An unexpected surprise

The educated youth became more united with a common secret.

Everyone was anxiously awaiting the result of Xiangbei, and they had to talk about it every morning and evening.

"What do you think happened to Captain Xiang?"

"This kind of stone is everywhere in the bamboo forest. If it is really phosphate rock, how much production would it have?"

"Don't go to the bamboo forest for no reason recently, and don't let the field leaders find out."

"Luckily, Tao Nanfeng reminded me, otherwise Director Luo would have taken all the credit."

Mumbling, mumbling...

On the first day, farmer Fan Wufu, who came to rest and ask for water, came with his youngest daughter Fan Ximei to kowtow to the educated youth and presented them with a basket of red wild fruits. The educated youth were both sad and moved.

The next day, the bamboo fence beside the pond was repaired, leaving only an entrance for washing clothes and vegetables, so there was no need to worry about someone accidentally falling into the water.

On the third day, the educated youth went to the stream halfway up the mountain to pick small fish fry and threw them into the pond to raise them. The pond was officially upgraded to a fish pond.

The fourth day, the fifth day, the sixth day...

The educated youths’ necks were sore from looking forward to it, until the evening of the tenth day, when Xiangbei’s figure finally appeared at the end of the mountain road.

“Here it comes, here it comes!”

"I'm back to the north——"

"How is it? Have you tested it? What took you so long?"

Xiangbei's face was covered in sweat and he looked exhausted. He didn't bother to answer the educated youth's barrage of questions. He hurried into the kitchen and scooped a large bucket of water from the vat and drank it down.

"Gudong, gudong!"

A group of educated youth looked at him drinking water with anxious expressions.

Xiangbei raised his hand to wipe his mouth and took a deep breath: "I asked an expert to identify it. It is phosphate rock."

Chen Zhilu glanced at everyone proudly and said, "How is my vision? I can tell the difference between stones even in the pitch black! Hehe."

Wei Dong asked hurriedly: "Can you tell me in detail? What is this ore like? What is the process for state mining? Should we report it to the higher-ups? Will the leaders of the field office take away our credit?"

He nodded to the north, raised his big palm and lightly pressed down in the air, signaling everyone not to worry. He hurried along the way and didn't even have time to drink water, for fear that the educated youth would get anxious if they waited too long.

Xiao Aiyun attentively dragged a chair over and placed it under the eaves: "Captain Xiang, please sit down first. We are not in a hurry."

Xiangbei sat down as he was told and his eyes met Tao Nanfeng's.

Tao Nanfeng stood behind the crowd, five or six meters away from him, leaning gently against the wall, his eyes calm and focused, obviously also waiting for the news he brought.

Tao Nanfeng stood motionless, as calm as a deep pool or as independent as a solitary orchid.

Shedding his immature, cold and hard outer shell, Tao Nanfeng gradually revealed his unique independence and composure in the process of leading the educated youth to build earthen brick houses.

Xiangbei's heart gradually calmed down.

"It's phosphate ore. Experts say it's a sedimentary metamorphic rock type phosphate rock. The ore has a loose texture and a high mud content. As long as it is scrubbed and desludged, it will be a qualified phosphate concentrate. The production cost is low and the industrial value is great."

After hearing Xiangbei's words, Chen Zhilu said, "Great! Then this phosphate mine can be mined directly and sold to fertilizer plants and chemical plants."

Xiangbei nodded, took out a report from his pocket and handed it over: "This is the analysis and testing report issued by the Provincial Industrial Experiment Institute."

Chen Zhilu took the report, glanced at it, and his eyes widened instantly.

"The phosphate rock grade is 38%, high quality phosphate rock?"

The educated youth all came closer and looked at this precious report card. They were very excited when they saw the big red stamp on the lower right corner.

"Really? It's stamped with the official seal of the Industrial Research Institute."

"No wonder you took so long to come back. You must have been in the provincial capital. You must have worked so hard."

“Is 38% a high grade?”

Hearing the last question, Chen Zhilu snorted, "Of course 38% is high! I heard the technicians at the fertilizer plant say that the standard for grading phosphate ore is the content of phosphorus pentoxide in the ore. The higher the percentage, the higher the grade of the phosphate ore. A phosphate ore with a content of more than 30% is a rare rich ore."

After hearing what he said, everyone understood.

The phosphate mine we discovered is a rich mine! The kind of rich that is so rich that it makes oil dripping from your mouth.

Wei Min slapped his thigh, his eyes sparkling with excitement: "Oh my god, such a good phosphate rock has been discovered in Xiufeng Mountain. Isn't it going to make a fortune?"

Chen Zhilu was so excited that his voice was distorted: "This kind of phosphate rock sells for a high price, about 20 yuan per ton. We are rich!"

Twenty dollars a ton!

Stone has a high density. One ton of stone has a volume of about 0.4 cubic meters, which is smaller than the volume enclosed by a desk. There is a bamboo forest covering half of the hillside to the west of the educated youth site. If it were all made of such stones, the output would be at least one million tons.

With this calculation, this half mountain is worth 20 million!

Everyone was shocked by the huge amount. They stood there with their mouths open, unable to speak for a long time.

After a long while, Wei Min sighed and said, "It is indeed a rich mine! It would be great if we could mine it ourselves and ship it out to sell."

Xiao Aiyun rolled his eyes at him and said, "What a sweet dream. How can we be qualified to mine phosphate? Don't even think about it."

Ye Qin added: "Yes, private mining is illegal."

Xiangbei didn't say anything, but listened carefully to the speeches of every educated youth.

Qiao Yadong thought for a moment and carefully considered his words: "The bamboo forest is the property of Xiufengshan Farm. Once the existence of the phosphate mine is known to the farm leaders, they will definitely report it to their immediate superior, the Agricultural Reclamation Bureau, in the name of the farm. After reporting it up the chain of command, there will be two results.

First, the phosphate mine was taken over by the Ministry of Industry in exchange for promotions or material rewards for the leaders of the field;

Second, the phosphate mine is taken over by the farm, and the mining plan is issued by the Ministry of Industry. All profits will openly go into the farm’s account, but it is hard to say what will happen in private.

No matter which road we take, it has nothing to do with us educated youth, and it is even less likely to bring any benefits to the villagers around the farm. ”

"Yes, yes, yes!" When the educated youth heard this, they all agreed with Qiao Yadong's analysis.

"All the money earned from mining will be embezzled by Director Luo who is in charge of finance. It will not be used for the construction of the site at all. Do you believe it?"

"Yes, they were so perfunctory in building the youth settlement, and they were also harsh on us youth and workers. I don't know how much construction funds were embezzled."

"Do you remember what the weasel said when he went crazy? Director Luo's face turned green when he threw the bills. There is definitely something wrong with the Luo who manages money, accounts, and life."

Everyone became angrier and angrier as they talked, and it felt like a thousand pounds of weight falling on Xiangbei's ears. He raised his eyes and looked at the educated youth in front of him. These high-spirited faces seemed to overlap with those of his former comrades-in-arms.

Such a vibrant life should not be oppressed.

As if a force was injected into his body, Xiangbei slowly stood up, his tall figure cast a long shadow by the setting sun: "You have such a big problem with the field leadership?"

Xiang Bei's facial features were originally deep, and at this moment his face was as dark as water, his scar moved slightly, revealing an indescribable intimidating aura.

Qiao Yadong nodded seriously with a serious expression.

"Yes! When I asked for a work tool, Wang Yungui, deputy chief of the Labor Protection Section, would speak in an official tone; when I asked for monthly salary, Luo Xuan, director of the office, would find fault with me; and when I asked Liu Bin, chief of the Security Section, to intervene, he would always ignore me.

Although Director Jiao is kind, he always protects his subordinates. There was no condolences for those who came from afar, no concern for their daily life, and no reflection on the collapse of the educated youth site. How can such a leader have the slightest attitude of serving the people! ”

Xiangbei pondered in silence. Originally I just wanted to retire on the farm and turn a blind eye to some things, but now...

Tao Nanfeng could see Xiang Bei's inner struggle. Thinking of what she heard in the bamboo forest, she, who had never liked to stand out, raised her eyes and whispered to Xiangbei: "Xiufeng Mountain is too poor. This phosphate mine is everyone's hope."

Ye Qin's eyes flashed with the scene of Ximei and her father kneeling down, and his heart ached. "The land in Xiufeng Mountain is barren, and the harvest is poor. It's hard to fill our stomachs. The villagers rely on the oil tea fruits on the mountain to earn some pocket money to buy oil, salt, sauce and vinegar. With the phosphate mine, the villagers can also join in the mining, calculate work points and get wages. How great."

Li Huilan also said: "Yes, why should those officials be promoted and enriched while the poor people suffer and starve?"

Chen Zhilu's heart burned with excitement when he thought of 20 million. He loves doing business the most. If he could do business in that era, he could buy an entire street with that much money!

The more he thought about it, the better it seemed. Chen Zhilu stared at Xiangbei with a burning gaze and a hint of ruthlessness: "Or, we can just keep this a secret and not tell anyone, and just pretend that we didn't find these phosphate mines. No matter who gets killed, Luo Xuan, that stingy guy, won't get killed."

Wei Min opened his mouth, but Qiao Yadong held his hand and shook his head, motioning him to continue listening.

"Or... we can do it quietly! The mountains here are high and the roads are long, so transportation is inconvenient. As the saying goes, the emperor is far away. So what if we open a mine secretly? No one will know about it. We can make money without anyone knowing. What's there to be afraid of!"

Xiao Aiyun and Ye Qin looked at each other and shouted in unison: "How dare you do something illegal!"

Wei Min grinned and slapped Chen Zhilu on the shoulder: "Good boy, you are thinking the same thing as me. This phosphate mine is an open-pit mine. It can be dug out with a hoe. Two or three stones can make a ton. Twenty yuan is enough. How great!"

The educated youth immediately became excited and talked more and more. They wanted to pick up their hoes and dig some stones from the bamboo forest to sell. With the money they could improve their lives and buy meat.

Tao Nanfeng couldn't bear to listen any longer and couldn't help but remind him, "How are you going to carry a one-ton rock down the mountain?"

“…”

Chen Zhilu and Wei Min looked at each other, and then they realized the problem - Xiufeng Mountain was high and far away, but it also meant that transportation and logistics here were extremely inconvenient, and going down the mountain had to be done on foot, and transporting stones had to be done by manpower.

After the stones were smashed, an educated youth could only carry a maximum of 100 kilograms at a time. It took ten people to carry a ton of stones down the mountain and then send them to the nearest fertilizer factory... Not to mention how tiring it was, the 20 yuan they earned was not even enough for food and hotel accommodation.

When Qiao Yadong first heard Chen Zhilu propose to sell the mine privately, he was shocked and scared. Wei Min's words could be regarded as a joke, but Chen Zhilu often said some unorthodox things, and he dared to do what he said.

The mountains are high and the emperor is far away, no one knows, and as long as you make money, you have nothing to fear - listen, listen! What are you talking about? ! It is completely a liberal ideology, an asset-stage consciousness where everything is about money! If I say this outside, I will probably be reported by the public.

Fortunately, Tao Nanfeng spoke in time and nipped Chen Zhilu's terrible idea in the bud, otherwise... as the squad leader of the educated youth point, he would also be jointly responsible if something happened.

Before Qiao Yadong could catch his breath, Chen Zhilu's eyes turned and he suddenly grabbed Xiang Bei's hand: "Captain Xiang, let me join the road repair team!"

Wei Min also jumped up excitedly: "Yes, I will join in too. Let's work together to repair the road. As long as the road is open to traffic, we can sell phosphate ore and make a fortune!"

The roads are open, the money is flowing, and everything is accessible.

The educated youth who had just been clamoring to dig up stones to sell also started to make a fuss: "Me, me, me, and me! I want to join in too."

Xiangbei grabbed Chen Zhilu with his backhand and said, "Welcome to join the road repair team."

Chen Zhilu's wrist was tightly grasped. He tried to pull it free for a long time but failed. His face gradually became stiff. "Captain Xiang, you are holding it too tightly. Please loosen your grip."

Xiangbei smiled and said, "Chen Zhiqing is very brave, but not very strong."

Xiangbei's words were full of meaning. Chen Zhilu struggled for a long time but still couldn't pull his hand out. He couldn't help blushing and stammering, "The brave will die of overeating, and the timid will die of starvation. How can you accomplish anything if you are timid? Captain Xiang, am I right?"

Xiangbei used one hand to pull Chen Zhilu to his side, then let go.

"If you want to do great things, you must first consider your own weight. If you do things without thinking about anything and just act on impulse, that is not bravery, but recklessness!"

Chen Zhilu was a little unconvinced. He stood beside Xiangbei and didn't dare to leave. He muttered softly, "This is not allowed, and that is not allowed. Are we just going to drool over this pile of phosphate ore?"

Seeing Xiangbei calm Chen Zhilu down, Qiao Yadong heaved a sigh of relief and said, "This is a big deal. Let's take a long-term view and not panic."

Xiangbei's eyes swept across the faces of each educated youth, and he suddenly felt the heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

These twenty educated youth from Jiangcheng were all high school graduates. They were immature, enthusiastic, smart, brave, and thoughtful. Some were impulsive, some were calm, some were lively, and some were quiet. It was not an easy task to unite them into one team and shoulder the heavy responsibility of building the farm.

Wei Min was impatient and was most afraid of people saying "let's take the long view". He stared at Xiang Bei blankly and said, "Captain Xiang, you must have a solution. Please tell us."

Chen Zhilu also reacted, with hope in his eyes: "Captain Xiang, you have been down the mountain for ten days, and you only brought back an appraisal report? Tell us what you think, we will listen to you!"

Xiangbei then slowly took out a document from his arms and put it in Chen Zhilu's hand.

Chen Zhilu looked down and suddenly cried out, "Ah——" with unbelievable joy in his voice, "No way? You can even get this thing! Captain Xiang, you are amazing!"

Chen Zhilu's shout resounded through the sky, frightening Wei Min so much that he stepped forward and covered his mouth with his hand: "Keep your voice down, don't alarm those ghosts in the field office."

Chen Zhilu shook his head left and right, and finally shook Wei Min's hand away. He glared at him fiercely, held up the stamped document high, and deliberately lowered his voice.

"What do you know! Have you seen this official seal? The seal of the Ministry of Industry!"

Ministry of Industry? This shout stunned all the educated youth. How could Xiangbei have such powerful connections that he could get a document stamped by the Ministry of Industry?

Wait, a document from the Ministry of Industry, what document?

Qiao Yadong's heart was burning with excitement. He moved closer to Chen Zhilu, grabbed his hand holding the document, looked closely at the title, and was stunned.

"Mining license? Oh my god!"

Chen Zhilu's voice was distorted with excitement: "Captain Xiang, how did you get the mining license for this phosphate mine? If you don't have a great background, you can't get it. You only went to the provincial capital for a few days, and you got the mining license? You, you, you... who the hell are you!"

"I have my own way." Xiang Bei had no expression on his face. He took the document back from Chen Zhilu and put it away carefully.

Tao Nanfeng looked at Xiangbei seriously with his clear eyes. The man in front of him was full of mystery.

How could a demobilized soldier, the captain of the road construction team at Xiufengshan Farm, get the ability to obtain a mining license that can only be issued by the Ministry of Industry?

Seeing that Xiangbei was unwilling to tell him the details of applying for a mining license, Chen Zhilu did not ask any more questions and smiled brightly: "With a mining license, our mining of phosphate is not illegal, but legal. That's great."

He nodded to the north and raised his hand to signal everyone to gather around.

The educated youth now admired him very much and followed his lead in everything. They immediately surrounded him, looked up at Xiangbei, and waited for him to speak.

"The mining license was issued to Xiufengshan Farm, not to me, Xiangbei alone. So, we have to keep it secret now and don't say anything."

All the educated youth nodded like chicks pecking at rice.

"Yes, yes, yes. If we tell this to others now, Director Luo will definitely have evil thoughts."

"The farm owner is Jiao Liang, not Captain Xiang."

"Now that there is no road, it is useless to have a mining license. You can't ask us to carry the stones down the mountain in baskets on our backs, right?"

Xiangbei said in a deep voice: "I will go and ask for an official position tomorrow." Yang Xianyong was right. How can we protect everyone without power? You will feel at ease only when you have the key rights in your own hands.

All the educated youth cheered in unison: "Become an official! Become an official! Captain Xiang should have been an official long ago. If you were the director, our lives would be much better."

There was a hint of awe in Qiao Yadong's eyes when he looked at Xiang Bei. Who doesn't want the power of power? If Xiang Bei wants to be an official, can he definitely become one?

Thinking of Director Jiao's smiling face, Qiao Yadong felt a little scared for some reason and asked, "Captain Xiang, is it so easy to join the farm leadership team?"

Xiangbei nodded: "It's good to go in, I'll be the deputy director first."

Deputy director? The educated youth did not understand the officialdom and only thought that Xiang Bei was capable enough to get a mining license, so he should have no problem being the deputy director of Xiufengshan Farm.

The educated youths were eager to congratulate him in advance, but Xiangbei remained calm: "Don't panic, wait until I become the new leader."

Qiao Yadong nodded heavily: "Yes! Hope is right before our eyes, everyone must keep it a secret."

Wei Min said: "We should hurry up and repair the road first. After the road is completed, we can sell the phosphate rock."

Chen Zhilu took over his words: "Once the phosphate mine is mined, we will have money in our hands. With the money, we can build the farm, lay wires, and install electric lights."

“Eat braised pork every day!”

"Two meters of cloth coupons are issued every month."

“Build a post office and have the postman go up the mountain to deliver mail.”

"Open a bigger supply and marketing cooperative to sell candy, snacks, and clothes."

“…”

Everyone became more and more excited as they talked, and they wanted to take out a pen to make a list of their dreams. In the end, no one knew who took the lead, but all eyes were focused on Tao Nanfeng's face.

"Tao Nanfeng, take us to build the road."

Everyone thought that since Tao Nanfeng understood construction and could lead everyone to build brick houses, then she could definitely lead everyone to build a road.

"I... will give it a try!" Facing those pairs of expectant eyes, Tao Nanfeng suddenly felt tremendous pressure.

She knows a little about house construction and has read some professional books, but she doesn't know anything about road construction.

At Jiangcheng Architectural University where my father taught, roads and bridges were a major, industrial and civil construction was a major, and architecture was another major. Tao Shouxin is a professor of architecture, focusing on completing architectural design from a practical and aesthetic perspective. There are barriers between different majors, making it difficult for them to communicate and integrate.

At night, Tao Nanfeng had another dream.

It’s still the end of the world, zombies are rampant, food and water sources are polluted, and the living space of humans is drastically reduced. They shrink to a place called “base” to rebuild social order.

The leader of the base teaches everyone how to use the crystal cores in the zombies' brains to practice and improve their superpowers. Everyone in the base must complete tasks in exchange for food, water, and shelter.

This time, Tao Nanfeng was not as frightened as last time.

The extreme hardship brought out the ruthlessness in her bones. She gritted her teeth and endured the nausea to kill zombies, blowing their heads off with a stick and splattering their brains. She walked out of the base with her team members and searched the ruins for edible and usable items.

Although it was difficult, she tried her best to live. Until one day...

The ruins illuminated by the setting sun were filled with an eerie aura. Under the broken walls and rubble lay the corpses of unknown humans. The air was filled with the smell of corruption that enveloped the world, making people despair.

"Wow...wow..." Crows were flying across the sky in the distance.

A chill surged up from Tao Nanfeng's heart, and the ground under his feet began to tremble violently.

Countless huge gray-haired rats rushed out from all directions, their eyes bloodshot, squeaking and biting anyone they caught like crazy.

After killing so many zombies, Tao Nanfeng thought he no longer had anything to fear. But faced with this huge number of mutant rats, the feeling of fear once again swept through his body.

Tao Nanfeng suddenly felt a tearing pain on the instep of his foot. He raised his foot to shake off a mouse and looked at the bloodstain that was gradually spreading, feeling hopeless.

Her mind became clear and she suddenly realized that this was a dream. Tao Nanfeng said silently in his heart: Go back! I want to go back! I never want to come back to this end of the world!

The dream recedes.

Tao Nanfeng suddenly opened his eyes, and what came into view was the blue cloth curtains that had been installed just a few days ago.

A ray of light came into the room and it was daybreak.

There is no apocalypse, no zombies, no ruins, and no mutated rats.

Tao Nanfeng let out a long sigh and calmed his pounding heart. She felt a burning pain in the soles of her feet, and she was startled and sat up quickly.

When he lifted his foot, he saw another black bite mark on the snow-white instep.

Having had the experience of dreaming once before, Tao Nanfeng was not too panicked this time. He sighed lightly and grabbed a pair of nylon socks and put them on. The last time a zombie bit the back of my hand, the black tooth mark gradually faded over time. I guess the bite mark from this rodent will be the same.

After getting up, washing, and sitting on the bed to braid her hair, Tao Nanfeng carefully felt the changes in her body, and found nothing unusual. Without having time to think too much, he walked out with Xiao Aiyun after breakfast, but was stopped by Wei Min.

"We will go together today and tell the team leader that the top priority of the youth cadre station now is to build roads. Everyone who can go will go."

Wei Min, Qiao Yadong, Chen Zhilu, Hu Huanxin... all sixteen male educated youth from Jiangcheng joined the road construction team.

Seeing so many educated youth wanting to join the road construction team, Luo Xuan asked Xiang Bei with a stern face: "What's going on? Is there any organizational discipline? The work arrangements for the educated youth have been decided by the office a long time ago. Even if your road construction team wants someone, you have to ask me first, right?"

Xiangbei took out a document and slapped it in front of Luo Xuan: "Come, take a look at this."

Luo Xuan picked up the document and glanced through it. His pupils shrank as he read: "The provincial government approved... ordering the site office to resolve the position issue of the combat hero Comrade Xiang Bei..."

His hands were shaking as he looked up at Xiangbei: "It's obviously you who didn't want to be the leader, so how come it's our office that won't arrange for you?"

Xiangbei's eyes were firm, sweeping away his previous laziness: "I want to go back to my seat now, is that okay?"

The farm headquarters held an emergency meeting. With a red-headed document paving the way for Xiang Bei, no one dared to stop him, and he was successfully promoted to deputy director of Xiufengshan Farm.

On the other side, the educated youth met up with the road construction team members and began to measure points, dig soil, and chisel stones according to the drawings drawn by Engineer Yang. In the midst of their busy work, they did not forget to discuss the power-grabbing operation to the north.

"As expected of a soldier, he is resolute and decisive."

"I went down the mountain for ten days and got three documents, each one more impressive than the last."

"Isn't it? As soon as the provincial government's official document came out, Director Jiao and Director Luo were so scared that their faces turned pale, haha!"

A higher-ranking official is more intimidating. People like Director Jiao only obey official documents. When he saw the official seal of the Provincial Government Office, he was so scared that he dared not say a word. He immediately changed his attitude and became respectful to Xiang Bei and no longer dared to underestimate him.

The educated youth admired the strong and talked about the power seizure to the north with great relish.

Tao Nanfeng was not interested in these things. Her attention was completely attracted by the half-human-high rock in front of her.

All sounds disappeared, the whole world receded, and only this huge rock remained before her eyes.

Hard, gray-black, with a shell covered with yellow mud.

It was just an ordinary stone, but it attracted her attention inexplicably. It seemed that there was a strange voice chattering in her mind.

Dig a hole, dig a hole.

Tao Nanfeng followed the voice in his heart and did not use tools to break the stone and then push it off the cliff as usual. Instead, he stretched out his fingers and slowly approached it.

The index finger is slender, moving closer to the rock little by little.

As soon as my fingers touched the surface of the stone, a warm current flowed out from my fingertips, and the stone became as soft as tofu, and my fingers sank into it.

Tao Nanfeng almost exclaimed. She suppressed her excitement because when she put her fingers into the stone, many strange lines suddenly appeared in front of her eyes.

The unknown lines had no regular pattern, but they made her fingers move.

Put your index finger, middle finger and ring finger together and follow the guidance of these lines to gradually go deeper.

When it touched a hard stone wall, all the lines disappeared, and the stone that was as soft as tofu just now returned to its original state.

A deep hole with a diameter of seven or eight centimeters appeared before my eyes.

Tao Nanfeng didn't know why this happened. She shook her head and looked up, only to find that there was a group of people around her, staring curiously at the deep hole she had dug.

Xiao Aiyun stretched out a finger and probed into the deep hole, and chuckled: "Oh, this hole is as big as a fist. How come there is suddenly a hole in the stone? It's really interesting."

Wei Min laughed so hard that he couldn't breathe. "Tao Nanfeng, what are you doing? You've been squatting in front of this stone for a long time. Are you actually digging a hole? Is this stone so soft?"

Qiao Yadong walked around the stone, his eyes full of confusion: "Why don't you dig through this hole?"

Tao Nanfeng blurted out: "If it's dug through, how can we hide?"

All the educated youth burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha…Tao Nanfeng can dig a hole!”

"You dug a hole in such a hard stone with your fingers? You are really too strong!"

"Dig a hole to hide? Tao Nanfeng, are you born in the year of the rat?"

The last sentence successfully reminded Tao Nanfeng that he was bitten by a mutant rat in his dream last night. Could it be that he had acquired the abilities of a rat?

——Digging a hole.

I don’t know whether it is good or bad for a girl to have this ability. Tao Nanfeng pursed his lips, lowered his eyes and remained silent.

Mao Peng saw a group of people gathered together and chattering. He frowned and shouted, "Aren't you going to work? What are you doing here?"

The newly joined educated youth were frightened when they heard Mao Peng yelling for the first time, and they ran away in panic.

Xiao Aiyun had long been accustomed to Mao Peng yelling at people in the road construction team, so he was not afraid. He pointed at the stone and shouted, "Report to Deputy Captain Mao, Tao Nanfeng dug a hole here."

Mao Peng walked to Tao Nanfeng, bent down, and got close to the stone to examine it carefully. When he stood up, he looked at Tao Nanfeng with a puzzled look: "Did you dig this?"

"Yeah." Tao Nanfeng nodded.

"What did you use to dig it?"

"Fingers." Tao Nanfeng slowly raised his right hand and moved his fingers.

Xiangbei returned to the road construction team after a meeting at the site and saw Tao Nanfeng standing in front of Mao Peng with her slender fingers slightly raised. Her skin was white, and her fingers were delicate and slender, like green onions. A sentence once said by an old man in the village popped into his mind: a man with pointed fingers is a scholar.

These are the hands of a scholar. They are from a well-educated girl who understands architecture, but she is doing heavy work on the farm, such as building roads and houses.

Xiangbei has always respected intellectuals. For some reason, he suddenly felt a subtle pain in his heart, and his slightly sharp eyebrows softened.

Mao Peng continued to ask: "How did you do it?"

"I don't know either, maybe I was born strong?" Tao Nanfeng's expression was very indifferent. After experiencing countless scenes of killing zombies in dreams, no matter how many strange things happen, I can remain calm.

Strong and able to dig holes? ! Mao Peng didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

It is common for road construction teams to cut through mountains, build bridges over rivers, dig tunnels, and blast rock walls. If it were really possible to dig a hole... Mao Peng looked at the small hole on the stone again and opened his mouth.

Xiangbei strode over and stopped Mao Peng: "Don't worry about this, let's get to work."

Mao Peng originally wanted Tao Nanfeng to show her digging skills again, but he shut up after hearing what Xiang Bei said. Come to think of it, Tao Nanfeng is probably just very strong, so she might be good at carving some flowers, but does anyone really want her to open mountains, build bridges and dig tunnels? That's really crazy.

As soon as Xiangbei came back, the road construction team instantly had a backbone. With the addition of ten educated youth, the road construction progress doubled.

Tao Nanfeng and Xiao Aiyun's daily work was to shovel stones and remove vines. The other educated youth, under the leadership of Xiangbei, first laid out the lines according to the drawings, and then dug, dug, and dug again.

Tao Nanfeng now has a new habit: when he sees something hard, he wants to dig a hole in it.

As soon as the idea of ​​digging a hole came into her mind, heat surged in her hands and those strange lines immediately appeared before her eyes.

She tried again and again, restraining herself at first, but then her movements became more and more skillful, and she no longer concealed it, digging her fingers into the stone -

One drill, one turn, and one arch.

A deep hole appeared.

Xiao Aiyun smiled with her hands covering her mouth: "Tao Nanfeng, are you too strong to vent your strength? It's fun to make a hole with just a poke of your finger?"

Tao Nanfeng raised the corners of his mouth slightly: "It's fun."

It's fun. Perhaps because he was bitten by a mutant rat, he actually developed "rat nature".

Every time I dug a hole in the hard rocks or soil, a strong sense of accomplishment would rise in my heart, and the overflowing joy was like hot tea in a pot, so full that it was about to overflow.

Tao Nanfeng enjoyed the process of digging the hole and gradually mastered some rules of lines.

The line is formed by countless white dots. Drilling forward along the line is invincible, which means that this line is the most suitable route for digging holes. The white dots may be the weak points of the stone or soil.

Countless deep holes can be drilled into a piece of stone. The holes are connected to each other, complex and yet well organized.

She was having fun when she suddenly heard Xiangbei's voice: "There is a cave here. Go and call Engineer Yang and ask him to come and take a look."

Cave! The tooth marks on the instep of his foot felt slightly hot. Just hearing the term, Tao Nanfeng had an inexplicable urge to dig it out himself.

She walked to the front of the cave and explored it carefully.

The cave is located at the extension line of the road. The walls are rocky and the ceiling is overgrown with weeds. Countless green vines hang down, hiding the two-person-high entrance.

As soon as I reached the entrance of the cave, a chill came out from inside, and the wind was chilly and creepy.

Qiao Yadong pulled her back and warned her worriedly, "We don't know what's in there, don't get too close."

Tao Nanfeng took a half step back, pressed one hand on the stone wall at the entrance of the cave, concentrated and held his breath, mobilizing the heat to radiate from his fingertips and spread to the stone wall.

After a few minutes, she let go of his hand dejectedly, her face looking slightly pale.

Her current ability was too limited, and she could only handle a stone weighing several hundred kilograms. The cave was too large, and even if she exhausted all her strength, she would not be able to understand the cave clearly.

Xiao Aiyun noticed that Tao Nanfeng was abnormal, and hurriedly stepped forward to support him, asking with concern: "Your face doesn't look right, did you use too much strength just now and are you tired? Take a rest quickly."

Tao Nanfeng is tired? When the educated youth heard this, they came over to show concern, handing out water and fanning themselves.

Everyone was talking to each other, and every word was about their concern for her health, which made Tao Nanfeng feel warm inside. She raised her eyes and smiled: "Don't worry, I'm fine."

Her smile is like a blooming chrysanthemum, soft and elegant.

Qiao Yadong took out a piece of candy from his pocket and put it in her palm: "Tao Nanfeng, have a piece of candy to replenish your nutrition."

The fruit candy was wrapped in red candy paper and looked indescribably beautiful nestled in Tao Nanfeng's snow-white palm.

The fruit candy has a sweet and sticky aroma with a hint of apple fragrance, which is exciting just by smelling it. Xiao Aiyun's eyes were full of envy as she looked at Tao Nanfeng quietly.

Tao Nanfeng frowned.

The teaching I received since childhood is that you should not take other people’s things. Based on her usual personality, there was no way Qiao Yadong could hold this candy in her hand. I don't know why I couldn't resist such snacks today. I wanted to reach out a hand in my throat, peel off the candy wrapper, and put the crystal clear fruit candy into my mouth.

Rats have always been greedy, this must be the aftereffect of the bite from that mutant rat.

Tao Nanfeng tried hard to restrain the "rat nature" in his body, looked up at Qiao Yadong, returned the fruit candy to him, and said in a cold voice: "Thank you, I don't want it."

Tao Nanfeng's eyes were bright and clear, and the only thing left in Qiao Yadong's mind was a line of poetry he had read before.

——The most touching thing is the gentleness of lowering the head, like a water lotus being shy in the cool breeze.

Qiao Yadong stood there blankly, as if he was flying in the clouds, with no idea where he was.

The educated youth seemed to have noticed Qiao Yadong's feelings and made eyes at him. Xiao Aiyun poked Tao Nanfeng and whispered in her ear: "Squad leader, you look stupid."

Being stared at by the boy made Tao Nanfeng feel a little annoyed. She turned around and left, no longer paying attention to Qiao Yadong.

Engineer Yang got up in a hurry in the distance, and before he arrived, he shouted: "Don't panic, don't panic, we can use this cave."

The team members who were preparing to dig a road around the cave stopped their hoes and waited for further instructions from Engineer Yang.

Engineer Yang looked at the topographic map for a long time, then lit a torch and walked into the cave. When he came out, he looked excited.

"This cave was formed naturally. It is about 300 meters long and 3 meters high. However, it is not wide enough for two lanes. If we widen it and dig through the mountain wall, we can save 5 kilometers based on the original design."

Chen Zhilu jumped up when he heard it: "Then hurry up and dig! It's five kilometers, it will save a lot of time going up and down the mountain."

Xiangbei frowned and said, "Engineer Yang, can we guarantee the safety of cave excavation? If there is a landslide, it will be fatal."

Engineer Yang laughed and said, "It's okay. The walls of the cave are made of solid gray rock, which is hard and has a high bearing capacity. We just need to widen it. There won't be any problem."

Since the experts have spoken, the road construction team will naturally follow their orders.

Wei Min spat into his palm, picked up his hoe and went into the cave: "It's only 300 meters, come on!"

Engineer Yang pulled him back and couldn't help laughing: "Kid, why are you panicking? The cave is full of rocks. You can't dig with a hoe. You need to use a different tool."

Tao Nanfeng followed the crowd and walked into the cave.

The wind was cold and chilly.

The beam of the flashlight cut through the darkness of the cave, illuminating the rugged rocky walls. The rock wall was wet, obviously there was a water seepage layer.

Wherever you look, countless unknown lines will appear. The white dots are the weak points, and the lines are the supporting points. As long as you follow this idea, you can quickly get through it.

Tao Nanfeng gradually gained confidence, with a smile on his face. Thanks to that strange dream, the mutant rat's bite gave it a new skill - digging holes.

Engineer Yang walked in front and everyone followed.

"Here, dig one meter to the left."

"Try to advance in a straight line. Captain of the survey team, come here and mark it here."

"The cave wall is made of solid stone and has a strong bearing capacity. There is no need to use hardwood for support. Send someone to keep an eye on it and report any problems at any time."

Push one meter to the left?

Tao Nanfeng's eyelashes moved slightly, and the white lines in her eyes extended to the right, which meant that it would be more difficult to dig to the left.

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