4: Chapter 4 Farmland Scavengers

Thinking about this, he considered the feasibility of the plan; it was completely workable. He would fill the energy space today, and since tomorrow was the weekend and he didn't have to work, he could head to the city to see if he could sell it.

No sooner said than done. He first collected a long, arched tunnel along the edge of the coal seam to estimate its total reserves. The interconnected coal was sucked into the collection space as if sliced by a sharp blade. However, he soon completed a circuit, finding the enclosed area to be less than a thousand square meters. He then carved a spiral staircase upward around the seam until soil appeared at the top. He estimated the distance to the bottom to be only sixty-odd meters. Based on this, the calculated reserves were over fifty thousand tons. However, the coal seam was irregular, with the upper cross-section less than three hundred square meters and the seam itself being slanted. Thus, after removing impurities like soil and gangue, having fifty thousand tons would be considered a good result.

Even if there were only fifty thousand tons of coal, it could be sold for nearly twenty million yuan, which was an astronomical figure for Cao Xiao. Of course, the prerequisite was being able to sell it smoothly; otherwise, he wouldn't even have a place to store it.

After filling the collection space at the top, he descended to the bottom. He had collected a full 3,500 tons. Checking the remaining energy, he found it was down to only two percent. He had to replenish some energy before selling the coal; otherwise, this thing might suddenly go into hibernation, and there was no telling if it could be restarted then. He glanced back, took his pickaxe, and walked out along the mine tunnel. Cao Xiao used his space to collect earth and block about ten meters of the middle section of this tunnel. This way, no one else could get in. For him, clearing the tunnel was a matter of two minutes; as long as no one discovered the anomaly inside, the extra effort was worth it.

Occasionally, he ran into miners at work, but he didn't see any of his management colleagues; they had presumably left long ago.

Emerging from the mine, he took a deep breath. He needed to hurry and take a shower to clean up. There was too much dust in the mine; a single trip down would leave one's face covered in black ash, with nostrils and ears filled with it. It was even worse for the workers; when they finished work, it was impossible to tell who was who. Moreover, long-term exposure easily led to lung diseases. Front-line coal miners worked very hard, and the health issues alone were severe. Their wages might seem high, but they traded loneliness, depression, health, and even their lives for it.

Sure enough, in the office, colleagues were already chatting in small groups, waiting for the meeting. Cao Xiao went to the restroom to wash up thoroughly and then joined the ranks of those shooting the breeze.

"Xiao Cao, you'd better be careful in a bit. That brat was just asking why you weren't back yet, wondering if you'd been buried down there," a colleague said to Cao Xiao as he came out from washing up.

Hearing this, Cao Xiao was instantly furious. He had nearly lost his life down there today, only to come out and be cursed by that bastard. Did he think I was a pushover? Anyway, he didn't plan on working here much longer. He would give that guy a taste of his own medicine today, and after he got his final paycheck, he would deal with him properly and let him taste what it was like to be buried in manure. So he said, "I'll make sure that brat loses face in a bit. People like him are like a pile of dung—no matter where you put them, they're disgusting."

"Xiao Cao, don't be impulsive. Just endure it and it'll pass. Otherwise, that brat will be like a mad dog, messing with you every day without end. It's not worth it. Besides, it won't be long before we all split up. The inspection results today aren't optimistic; the remaining reserves are even less than expected." At this point, Li Dongping took over the conversation to advise Cao Xiao.

Cao Xiao thought about it and agreed. If he couldn't finish off a mad dog like that in one go, it would only make things more troublesome. He would endure it for today and settle the score all at once later. Cao Xiao said, "I'll listen to you, Brother Li. I'll let it go today. I plan to resign next week. We'll settle all the accounts, new and old, then."

"Why do you want to resign? Even if that brat is disgusting, it shouldn't come to this. Your job is your own. Just endure for another two months, and then you can come with me to Qian Province. Don't do anything stupid on your own. That guy hangs out with the thugs from the county and town; it wouldn't be good if your family got caught up in it. How about this: wait until I'm done with things here, and I'll personally call some people to deal with him. I'll settle your score along with mine. I'm not a local; once I deal with him, I'm gone. Not just him, what could even Wang Yili do to me? If you're really that angry this time, I'll have Old Chen go and deal with him right in front of Wang Yili to give you some closure." Hearing that Cao Xiao wanted to resign, Li Dongping thought he couldn't take it anymore and hurried to persuade him, eventually offering to step in personally and even bring up the mysterious Boss Chen.

"It's not because of that. I have other things to do. Anyway, this place won't last much longer. I might as well go out and find a good job early. These past few years haven't been for nothing. You know my family's situation; with this current salary, I don't know how long it would take to pay back the money. Don't worry about me. I won't be able to go to Qian Province; I still need to look after things at home. Rest assured, I won't do anything reckless." Cao Xiao was very grateful to Li Dongping. Not only did he look after him in work and life, but he hadn't even once asked for the eighty thousand yuan Cao Xiao had borrowed from him two years ago.

"That's good then. Don't worry about paying me back for now. Wait until your family's situation improves." Li Dongping breathed a sigh of relief. He was truly afraid Cao Xiao would do something foolish, the consequences of which Cao Xiao couldn't afford at all.

"Thanks, Brother Li. As soon as things get better, I'll pay you back immediately. By the way, Brother Li, could I borrow your car today? I have some things to take care of tomorrow that require a car." Cao Xiao really didn't know how to thank Li Dongping. Although the pressure of repaying the money was gone now, it wasn't about the money. Li Dongping wasn't a big boss either; eighty thousand yuan was a large sum for him too. This friendship and trust made Cao Xiao wonder how he could ever repay it. Thinking about how he needed to get some stalks today and that there would be no buses when he returned, and that he had to go to the city tomorrow, he changed the subject to borrow the car.

"Here are the keys. Go ahead and take it after the meeting. I'll ride back with the others. Enough talk, the meeting's starting." Li Dongping tossed the car keys to Cao Xiao. Just then, Fang Xuehai entered with other mine managers and leaders.

Everyone stood up to go to the conference room. Cao Xiao didn't go with Li Dongping, instead finding a corner in the back row to sit down. Wang Yili wasn't there today; he wondered if he'd been drowned in the gully. The deputy general manager presided over the meeting. He spouted some high-sounding nonsense and then listened to the colleagues' inspection results. Cao Xiao also reported his findings: three points were completely exhausted, and one old mining point's tunnel had collapsed. Finally, each of those leaders rambled on about some nonsense, and the meeting adjourned before 5:30. Today was unusual; meetings used to last over four hours, but today it ended in an hour and a half. Presumably, no one's heart was in Hengyu anymore.

Cao Xiao first had dinner in the cafeteria, then returned to the office to pack his things. He put everything he wanted to take into his personal space and threw away the rest. He copied useful files from the computer onto a USB drive and wiped all other personal data. Cao Xiao had made up his mind: when he came to work next Monday, he wouldn't care about his job. He would go directly to that underground space to open a passage to the surface. He could enter that coal seam without going down the mine, and then he would completely block the original mine tunnel. That way, he could mine coal openly. Once everything was handled, he would resign. He'd deal with Fang Xuehai later when he had the chance; he didn't want to worry his colleagues. Or, he could wait until the company disbanded and join his colleagues in a public brawl against him. The scene then would probably be quite something. Everyone was putting up with Fang Xuehai not because they feared him, but because they feared it would affect their wages. Once the company disbanded, they would have no qualms. Besides, there was safety in numbers; the police wouldn't make arrests then, and at most, they'd be detained. As long as they could vent the frustration of several years, it would be worth it. Just thinking about it was exciting. Should that kind of scene be called a struggle session?

That idiot was just bragging yesterday, telling him to write a self-criticism tomorrow. Tomorrow was the weekend, after all. But when they "struggled" against him, he would definitely give him a microphone and let him do a proper self-criticism for an hour.

By the time he finished packing, it was almost dark. He locked the office door and drove Li Dongping's Volkswagen out of the coal mine. It had been a long time since he'd driven. The roads near the coal mine were generally difficult to navigate, so Cao Xiao drove very carefully.

Halfway there, he turned off at an intersection instead of heading straight back to the small town. He was taking advantage of the darkness to go to the fields and get some stalks that others didn't want. It was currently the rapeseed harvest season. During the harvest, the seeds were screened right in the field, and the remaining stalks and husks were left there to be moved to some remote corner later. Now the state didn't allow burning stalks because it caused too much environmental pollution, but processing them was too much trouble, mainly because they were bulky and hard to transport. Stalks still had some uses, and in some places, people bought them, but the price was very low. After all, there was too much of the stuff, and no one was willing to sell it as it wasn't even worth the labor cost. So, they could only find a nearby spot out of the way to stack it and wait for it to rot naturally.

Cao Xiao had been to a place before where there were many fields and no houses nearby, which was perfect for him to collect them. However, this wasn't a long-term solution. Once he sold the coal, he would rent a remote place near the town, raise the purchase price for stalks a bit, and buy a farm truck to collect them himself.

He arrived in less than ten minutes. He parked the car and turned off the lights. He had brought his mine lamp with him. By its light, he slowly searched the scattered fields for places where stalks were piled. These spots were easy to find, all in the empty spaces at the boundaries of the fields. Before long, he found three piles. He walked over and used the Detection Function to see if there were any creatures inside, like snakes or rats. If he was lucky, he might even find some wild game. Sure enough, he found two snakes in the first pile. He found a sturdy long wooden stick nearby and held it in his hand. Then, on the interface, he excluded those two snakes and sucked the stalks into the energy space all at once. The two snakes were completely exposed. Before they could react, Cao Xiao killed them and put them into the energy space to contribute.

He found something interesting in the second pile: a snake, several rats, and a rabbit appeared not far from each other, yet none had noticed the others. It was rare to come across wild game; he was in for a treat today. He would catch this wild rabbit first; otherwise, he might not be able to catch it after collecting the stalks.

Fortunately, the rabbit wasn't deep in the pile but near the edge. Using the detection image to pinpoint its position, he slowly reached his hand in without startling it. When his hand was about ten centimeters away, he suddenly reached in and grabbed its large ears, pulling it out. Once the rabbit realized what was happening, its hind legs kept kicking in the air with quite a bit of strength. Cao Xiao could only strike its nose hard with the wooden stick. Immediately, the rabbit stopped kicking. To be safe, Cao Xiao placed it on the ground and struck its head several more times.

Carrying the rabbit in one hand, he began collecting the stalks. Any snakes he encountered were killed, while the rats were left alone since they were hard to hit. It took an hour to collect all the stalk piles near this area. By then, Cao Xiao was carrying two wild rabbits, a pheasant, and a Black-tailed snake weighing about three pounds. He hadn't originally wanted to eat snake, but as luck would have it, he found the pheasant in one of the piles. He had to go home tomorrow and could make a "dragon-phoenix soup" for his parents, so he picked out the largest snake. These wild animals were dripping blood, so it wasn't convenient to put them in his personal space.

He checked the energy space. The stalks only filled more than half of it. Moreover, stalks were fluffy; once compressed, they might only take up a small fraction. In the past hour, the energy space had digested some, but it had only raised the energy to six percent. He estimated that after all these stalks were digested, the energy would reach forty percent at most. It was a long road ahead. He couldn't do this next time, or it would be treated as a supernatural event.