The group walked cautiously along the bottom of the cliff, and soon came to a larger pit.

The pit is oval-shaped and almost 10 meters wide at its widest point. The bottom is ravines and overgrown with weeds. In particular, the tufts of artemisia grass grow unusually thick, almost a man tall.

In the place close to the cliff, Wang Manyin also saw a few peach trees with branches soaring into the sky. A large black hole next to the tree, like the mouth of a giant python, leads deep underground.

According to memory, this string of holes is about twenty or thirty meters long. There's nothing special about it except that it's dark and the sun doesn't shine a little scary.

The predecessor came to look for the so-called gold and silver treasures several times.

It was precisely because he knew that there was no danger that he allowed the educated youths to go down to investigate, and he regarded it as having fun after work.

After a long period of flooding, most of the loess at the entrance of the pit collapsed, making it easy for everyone to go down to the bottom.

"Brother Wang, this land is very fertile. If you grow crops, you will definitely have a high yield. Why don't you plant it?" A young man asked curiously.

Wang Manyin could only reply lightly: "I planted it before, but I didn't let it later."

The saying here in Jar Village is "I would rather plant one acre of river than ten acres of slope". Naturally, the common people know that the soil of this kind of Sichuan is fertile, there is no shortage of rain, and the yield of crops is high.

In the early years, some people in the village secretly went into the mountains to look for pits to grow crops, but ...... Well, that's it.

Now there are also people who move their families to the depths of the Loess Plateau, looking for a hidden cliff and ditch to live in, cultivating their own crops and living in isolation.

These people are called black households.

Of course, Wang Manyin will not tell the educated youth in front of him.

What if this group of people has a hot head and finds out about them?

Liu Xiangyang held a wooden stick in his hand and led the way towards the entrance of the string hole.

As soon as he walked some distance in the artemisia grass, he exclaimed in surprise, "Brother Wang, come and see, why are there so many caves here?"

Hearing this, all the educated youths stepped forward one after another.

I saw that in the barren grass next to the peach tree, there were more than ten teacup-sized caves. In terms of shape, it should not be a natural star pavilion.

Wang Manyin glanced at it a few times, and then said, "It should be the hole of the hairy civet, which is the chipmunk, also known as the five eyebrows. It is estimated that because of the environment, they are clustered, and it is rare to see a series of holes outside. It's too cold now, and the raccoons should still be hibernating. When the weather warms up a little later, they will come out and run around along the cliffside......

The hairy civet is a common ground squirrel on the Loess Plateau, much larger than a mouse, with five beautiful patterns on its back and a long tail, so it is also called Wudaomei.

These things were regarded as cute pets by many people in later generations, but now the common people hate them so much that they itch their teeth.

Because the caty cats are more harmful than rats, they can't spoil enough food.

In the spring, when the grain is planted in the field, and before the seedlings have grown, this thing begins to be stolen, and it can waste half of the land in one night.

And they steal until the autumn harvest, wheat, fighting, corn, millet...... What is there in the field and what is stolen.

Therefore, when farmers see a fox hole in the field, they will dig it out to prevent future troubles.

The cave of this thing is very elaborate, not only has a living room, but also a granary and a toilet. A granary can dig up to twenty or thirty catties of grain, which is definitely a big harvest for farmers. ….

This season is very easy to catch, and it should still be hibernating.

Their hibernation posture is a bit hilarious, like a string of beads, with the latter facing the butt of the previous one, motionless. Even if you dig into the cave and lift it up, the guys don't resist in a daze, as if they're drunk.

However, in the countryside, no one catches the civet and raises it, but they all take it back and roast it to eat.

"I'm very interested in this thing, I can catch ......one when the time comes," Wang Licheng said, seeing that there were companions in front of him blocking the way, he subconsciously leaned against the cliff next to him and took a step back.

Crash......

There was a thud, and dust was everywhere.

When everyone looked back, they saw a big hole under their feet, and Wang Licheng had disappeared.

"Licheng, Licheng, are you alright?!"

"It's broken, Licheng fell into the pit immediately, go down and save people!"

The educated youths shouted in panic, and some were even ready to jump directly into the pit.

Wang Manyin's face turned pale at first, and then he reacted: "Everyone retreats to prevent the second collapse!"

Hearing this, everyone retreated farther away.

"Ahem...... I'm fine, I'm just holding my foot!" At this moment, a voice came from below.

Hearing this, Wang Manyin breathed a sigh of relief.

To tell you the truth, just now, he was almost stupid.

It was Wang Manyin who brought the educated youths here to chop wood, and if something really happened, he would definitely not be able to get out of it.

He didn't expect that there would be an underground passage under the string hole.

Hearing the sound in the deep pit, Wang Manyin was busy: "Wait a minute, let's tie the rope, you grab it and come up......

This time, everyone brought ropes.

Afraid that the hemp rope would not be strong, Wang Manyin deliberately tied it into two.

Before he could put the rope down, he heard Wang Licheng's excited voice from below: "Something is wrong, this hole seems to have been dug by someone, you all come down and take a look!"

"We're not really going to find the place where the landlord's old treasure hides gold and silver treasures."

The crowd suddenly became excited, completely forgetting about the danger. The same is true for Wang Manyin.

There has always been a story about a landlord's old wealth hiding gold in the mountains on this side of the Shibi Festival, and it has a nose and eyes. The people of several nearby villages went into the mountains to look for it, but they didn't find anything, so they just took it as a rumor.

If they could really find gold and silver...... Wang Manyin looked at so many people around him, and dispelled his thoughts.

If you only have yourself, you can put East XZ in space.

There were more than ten people at the scene, and they could only report it.

After some discussion, it was decided that the four girls would guard the entrance of the cave, and the rest would go down to the bottom of the cave to find out. For the sake of lighting, they also deliberately cut bundles of artemisia grass and threw them down.

Then Wang Manyin cut off an arm-thick sour jujube branch, inserted it in the burrow of the hairy civet and fixed it, tied a rope at the other end, and took the lead in going down the hole.

After staring at the darkness, Wang Manyin realized that the cave was quite large, and the shape was a bit like a sweet potato cellar. In addition to one main hole, there are four arched side holes on the sides.

Probably due to the flooding, the crater has partially collapsed, rushing out of an irregular passage to the deeper into the ground.

After everyone came down, Liu Xiangyang took out a match and lit the artemisia grass. ….

Suddenly, the entire cave lit up, and the four partial caves were illuminated at a glance. It was empty, and there was no so-called landlord hiding gold at all, which made people happy in vain.

Two educated youths were unwilling to take out their machetes and keep digging in the dirt, in a vain attempt to find something.

"There's nothing, could it be that it's hidden in the depths of the hole, let's go in and take a look?" Liu Xiangyang also opened his mouth unwillingly.

"Forget it, let's go up, what if the pothole collapses again? If you really smash it down, you can't save it." Wang Manyin said that he didn't dare to let them take risks again.

When everyone climbed onto the ground along the rope, they pulled Wang Licheng out together.

The four girls were equally disappointed to learn that there was nothing down there.

Taking advantage of the rest, Wang Manyin looked at Wang Licheng's ankles, which had begun to become red and swollen.

Next, the girls took the lead, and Wang Manyin and Liu Xiangyang helped Wang Licheng to walk up the dirt slope.

Shen Jinqin, who was at the front, had just taken a few steps when he suddenly stopped.

"Shen Jinqin, why don't you leave?" The companion behind urged.

"Mom...... Wolf, wolf!" Shen Jinqin screamed, followed his body, and fell down.

If it weren't for someone behind her catching her in time, she would have rolled straight to the bottom of the ditch.

Immediately, several male intellectuals rushed out of the cave with machetes in hand.

"Where, where are the wolves?"

"Shen Jinqin, you won't be dazzled, will you?"

wait

When everyone returned to the ravine, they saw silence in the barren grass and nothing.

"Yes, I just saw a wolf guarding the entrance of the cave, baring his teeth and grinning, and all the words were flowing down." Afraid that his companions would not believe him, Shen Jinqin hurriedly argued.

Wang Manyin took a few steps forward and carefully looked in the direction the other party was pointing.

Immediately, he stared, pointed to a plum blossom mark and said, "There are a few claw marks here, there were indeed wolves just now!"

Hearing this, everyone became nervous again.

However, they soon relaxed again, and some suggested going deep into the cliff to fight the wolves.

"Brother Wang, what are you afraid of, there are so many of us, can we still be afraid of a wolf? A wolf's skin is worth dozens of dollars."

"What if there's more than one? We're almost done with firewood, so let's go back quickly."

Wang Manyin shook his head again and again, saying that he would not do anything. Don't look at the number of people now, it is estimated that they are useless at critical moments, and it is hard to hold the machete.

If Rhubarb is by his side, he can be reckless.

After receiving flaws one after another, Wang Manyin felt that he could send the educated youths home safely, even if he was thankful, where would he dare to think of fighting wolves.

Waiting for the educated youths to bundle up the firewood, Wang Manyin squatted in front of Wang Licheng and let the other party lie on his back.

"Brother Wang, you go back with me, what should you do with the firewood? Why don't I walk on my feet," the other said, a little embarrassed.

"What's a bundle of firewood, what else can I do if I throw it here first? Come up quickly." Wang Manyin said.

If you really let the other party walk on their feet, it is estimated that they will not be able to go home tomorrow. And after tossing and turning on the road, the feet will definitely get worse.

The only feasible way now is naturally to go back behind the other party's back.

In this way, Wang Manyin carried a living person on his back to open the way in front, and the remaining educated youths followed closely behind with firewood.

However, they no longer have the same high momentum as when they first entered the mountain. As soon as they walked a hundred meters away, someone began to shout that they were tired and wanted to rest.

That's it, stop-and-go.

It took them about half an hour before they had walked two miles and began to cry out that they were hungry again.

Helpless, Wang Manyin had to stop and let everyone eat.

As a result, after eating and resting for half an hour, Shen Jinqin untied the bundled firewood, took half of it and threw it on the side of the road.

"Why did you throw away the firewood?" Wang Manyin asked speechlessly.

"I've carried a little too much, so I need to travel light," the other party replied eloquently.

"I also carry a lot of weight, and I need to lose weight......

Hearing this reason, the educated youths opened the bundles one after another.

Wang Manyin didn't know what to say at all, and he made up his mind that he would never take them to chop wood again.

By the time we returned to the village, almost half of the firewood had been thrown away. Several male intellectuals have seventy or eighty pounds on their backs, and four girls can have a maximum of forty or fifty pounds of firewood.

However, Wang Manyin carried a big living person all the way, which is the most burdensome.

***

Finally finished the third shift before eleven o'clock.

Mountain farmer