It was dark in the coal kiln, stuffy and hot, and Zhao Yunwu was sweating white.

What is white sweat? Every inch of the skin of the body is covered with sweat, like dew droplets, and it looks like a layer of hoarfrost.

The sweat on his body stuck to the coal face, dust, dirty, rancid, and no longer looked.

The large back basket containing coal can hold about 150 catties. Zhao Yunwu bent his waist and carried a large basket on his back, and crawled out along the alleyway with difficulty. The alleyway was so narrow that it could only fit one person, and there was no light, so you had to hang a kerosene lamp around your neck. Walk forward by the faint light of the kerosene lamp.

Carrying coal is a one-time job, and if you stop in the middle, you won't have the strength to do it anymore. Zhao Yunwu was like an iron King Kong, digging a ton of coal in one go, carrying more than a dozen baskets outside, and sitting on the ground with his butt and never getting up again. After resting for a while, I felt that my limbs were sore, my heart was beating violently, and my whole person was about to collapse.

"Well done! Lad! A white-bearded old man sat beside Zhao Yunwu and said breathlessly.

"How many times have you carried it?" Zhao Yunwu asked.

"Ten trips!" The white-bearded old man grinned and rubbed his thighs, "How many times have you carried it?" ”

"Twelve trips!"

"Haha, it's really a loose ass, why don't you hit! Still the guy has the strength! ”

The old man was bald, with a few sparse hairs, a pair of cloudy eyes, big bags under his eyes, and a messy white beard around his mouth.

"Old man, why are you still going down to the kiln at such an old age?"

"I've been kilning all my life, and I'm not tired if I don't get off the kiln for two days, and I've worked in all the large and small coal kilns in this area. My surname is Gu, and people call me an old weird! ”

"Hehe, old weird, you come out to go down the kiln, are the children willing?"

"Alas......" Old Strange took out a cigarette pouch and a fireworks box from the waistband of his trousers, filled a bag full of cigarettes, lit it and took a puff, "If there are children, who will still be here to survive?" I've been a single all my life, and I've never even been a woman, that's why everyone calls me weird. I've been kilning all my life and digging coal all my life, who wants to marry me, an old coal blackspot......"

The old strange said to himself, staring at the mouth of the kiln, calculating the situation of coal production: "Recently, there are more than 30 kiln workers, who can produce more than ten tons of coal, and each ton of coal beats five oceans, and our average salary per person is more than one piece, and the boss can earn more than 100 oceans in three shifts a day......"

The simple words and arduous experience of this experienced old potter made Zhao Yunwu feel sad for a while......

Seeing that the workers had all come out of the kiln, Li began to weigh them one by one, weigh the catties, and pay the wages. The potters took the money, and one by one they were elated, noisy, and went down the mountain in twos and threes.

Zhao Yunwu went to the scales.

Li looked carefully at the pile of coal that Zhao Yunwu carried out, picked out a few pieces of coal gangue, and drank: "What kind of coal are you carrying here?" If you don't qualify, you have to deduct money! ”

Zhao Yunwu's eyes widened, wanting to reason with him, but he was pulled by the old stranger.

After weighing the catties, Zhao Yunwu received an eight-cent coin.

"This Li has too a black heart, and he has to deduct catties from the coal he worked so hard to carry out!" Zhao Yunwu grumbled.

"Young man, be quiet, if you let Li hear it, he will trouble you every day."

"What a black-hearted ......"

"Don't say it, bear with me! No one in the coal yard dared to offend him! ”

“……”

"Young man, what did you think of the first day of work? Is it enough? ”

"It's a bit of a struggle!"

"You went to the kiln at a young age, and you are also a hard worker!"

"It's okay, I'm young, just hold on for a few days! Old quirky, see you tomorrow. ”

"See you tomorrow, young man."

Zhao Yunwu returned home, and after lunch, he lay down on the kang to rest.

The next day, Zhao Yunwu came to the kiln again. After leaving the kiln, he sat outside the shed and rested, listening to the old strange talk.

The old weird has been crawling in the coal yard all his life, and he knows everything in the coal kiln! He told Zhao Yunwu about his experience in the kiln in his life and the work experience he summed up. Zhao Yunwu was very humble and listened attentively.

Zhao Yunwu and the old eccentric have become old friends, and the hearty laughter of the two of them and the sound of trumpets shouted by the two of them can often be heard in the alleyway.

That was the cry from the bottom of the hearts of the poor people of old China and the pride of taking suffering as joy!

After a few days of training, Zhao Yunwu's coal digging skills have been greatly improved, and his work has become more comfortable.

On this day, Zhao Yunwu and the old strange partner were digging coal and were working hard, and the old strange snatched the hammer in his hand and said, "Yunwu, you go to rest, I'll do it for a while." ”

Zhao Yunwu wiped his sweat, carried a kerosene lamp, and sat down in a corner of the alleyway.

It's already April twenty-three, and my younger brother Zhao Yunlong will get married in a few days, Zhao Yunwu thought in his heart: Erlong's marriage is just in time for me to work the night shift, and I have time during the day, so I have to give my brother a good job.

At this time, I heard a bang, and a cinder fell from the top of my head.

Zhao Yunwu didn't care, and continued to think about his younger brother's marriage.

After a few seconds, another cinder fell with a thud.

Zhao Yunwu suddenly thought of the old strange and said that if the slag falls on the roof, it will be lost. It means that the coal is about to collapse.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yunwu quickly stood up and left that position with a kerosene lamp.

Good guys, it's too dangerous! Zhao Yunwu had just left there, only to hear a bang, and the place where he was resting just now was on the plate. A large lump of coal fell, about two or three tons.

If Zhao Yunwu left a little slower and was suppressed, he would definitely die.

The old stranger ran over and asked, "Are you alright?" ”

Zhao Yunwu broke out in a cold sweat and said, "Thanks to the quick hiding just now, otherwise you would have died."

The old weird smiled and said, "How do you know that you are going to be discontinued?" ”

Zhao Yunwu said: "Didn't you tell me? If you drop cinders, you will be discontinued. ”

The old strange and casual words saved Zhao Yunwu's life.

Zhao Yunwu is a person who knows gratitude, and through this incident, he regards Lao Wei as a life-saver and respects him even more.

……

The coal kiln is three shifts, digging coal around the clock. On the sixth day of Zhao Yunwu's kiln, he worked the night shift. The night shift runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Before going to work, the old strange called Zhao Yunwu aside and said mysteriously: "Yunwu, today is the first night shift. When you're done with your work, you leave the coal yard! ”

Zhao Yunwu asked, "Why?" ”

The old weird said: "You don't care about this, you just remember my words, and leave as soon as you finish your work!" ”

The second monk of Zhao Yunwu was confused, listened to the old strange words, and came early and left early every day.

These days, Zhao Yunwu discovered a strange thing, the coal dug by the workers every day was piled up in the yard, and when they went to work the next day, there was a gap in the coal pile in the yard, which meant that there was less coal. Zhao Yunwu thought to himself: Where did the coal that the workers dug go? Why can't you just do it?

Thinking of the old and strange words, Zhao Yunwu thought to himself: There must be something strange in this coal yard?

The old strange saw Zhao Yunwu's thoughts, and said: "Yunwu, we are getting along well, let me tell you, the matter in this coal yard is deep!" You don't have to ask or ask. Just do your job. One of us is going to the kiln, making money, don't worry about useless. ”

As soon as Zhao Yunwu heard the old strange say this, he didn't ask any more questions.

Boss Du of Nanshan Coal Kiln usually does not come to the coal kiln in person, and hands over the affairs of the coal kiln to Li Jiaotou to manage. On this day, Du Lao

The board himself came down to check the coal output of the coal kiln.

Boss Du is a shrewd man, he recently discovered a problem, the coal kiln has increased manpower, but the output cannot go up. What's going on? Boss Du wants to personally go down to the grassroots level to investigate.

Boss Du observed the work of the workers for a day, and said to Li Jiangtou: "According to this coal production progress, shouldn't it be just the current output?" ”

Li couldn't answer.

Boss Du secretly interrogated a few potters. The potters told him that every morning, they found a gap in the coal pile. It's as if someone stole coal.

Boss Du asked the workers, "Who lives in the coal yard at night?" ”

The worker said: "There are only two people living in the coal yard, Li Jiaotou and Lao Weiwei. ”

Immediately afterwards, Boss Du called the old strange over and asked: "You live in the coal kiln at night, don't you find anything abnormal?" ”

"Nope!" The old quirky replied.

"Say whatever you know, or don't do it with me! Tell me, what the hell is going on? ”

"Boss, I really don't know what's going on"

"Don't you say yes, let me ask you, is someone stealing coal at night?"

"I'm old, I sleep heavily at night, and I can't hear any movement outside?"

"You old guy, go, get out" Boss Du scolded the old weird angrily.

Boss Du quietly suppressed this matter. He wanted to find out what was going on in the coal yard at night.

After scolding the boss, the old monster sat on a big rock outside the shed in a daze. Zhao Yunwu walked over and asked, "Old weird, what's wrong?" ”

"I told you, don't ask about things that have nothing to do with you, ahem......" Old Strange covered his mouth with his rough palms and coughed twice. When I looked down, I coughed up two pools of blood on my palm.

"Old weird, you're coughing up blood?" Zhao Yunwu hurriedly slapped the old strange back lightly with his hand. The old weird was a little more comfortable, and smiled slightly: "It's okay, it's old." I'm old, and my body is no longer bone. I've been digging coal all my life, hehe, I'm afraid I really won't be able to hold on one day......"

"Old and weird......" Zhao Yunwu's eyes turned red.

"Yunwu, listen to me, if the life of the family can go on, don't do this hard work. The work of digging coal is not done by people, and when you get old, all the diseases are found, cough cough ...... Yunwu, I'm afraid I won't be able to last long in my current situation. If I die one day, you will bury me on the hillside of the mountainside, with the grave facing the sun. I've worked in the kiln all my life, and I don't want to die and not see the sun. I have no children and no daughters, so I will entrust you with the aftermath......"

"Don't worry, we know each other, I won't leave you alone."

"Old weird, I'm looking for you everywhere! What kind of cold cucumbers are you selling here? Li walked over with a panicked look on his head and shouted angrily, "Did the boss look for you just now?" Fucking keep my mouth shut, don't talk nonsense. We are grasshoppers tied to a rope, if you dare to talk nonsense, I can't spare you. ”

"Ahem...... cough ......" The old strange looked at Li Jiaotou angrily, and his eyes were very disdainful.

"What's going on behind this Li Boss?" Zhao Yunwu thought secretly in his heart, glared at Li Jiao, and helped the old monster to go to rest in the shed.