"Come, Brother Xu, have a taste. It's not easy to drink new tea in this cold winter. I heard that a woodcutter picked it in a warm valley, and his men saw it and bought it for me as a tribute."
Han Du made tea, poured a cup for Xu Lian first, and then poured one for himself.
Xu Lian picked it up, put it to his lips, took a sip and praised it as "good tea". In fact, he didn't know much about tea, so he just agreed.
The two of them drank and chatted, mostly about the mine.
"This quarry is just a pile of broken stones. We as managers don't have much to do. We just drink tea every day. As long as the quarry is running normally, that's fine. Don't you think so?"
Han Du seemed to say it casually, but Xu Lian knew in his heart that there was a temptation in his words, testing whether Han Du knew the secrets of the mine.
Xu Lian said, "Brother Han is right. Quarrying is just the surface. The ground meat is what the higher-ups value."
Upon hearing this, Han Du knew that Xu Lian had already known the secret of the mine, so he stopped hiding it and said, "Our mine should be about to produce underground meat, so the mine inspector came here to inspect it."
Xu Lian understood why the white fox appeared here, but there was still one thing unclear in his mind, that is, the original owner was killed by falling rocks, and he was also hit by falling rocks. This matter was like a thorn in his side, and he couldn't help but get it out.
He asked, "A blood sacrifice is needed to bring out the Earth Flesh. How do we arrange for the person to perform the blood sacrifice?"
Han Du took out a list from the drawer and handed it to him. "It's very simple. The matter of blood sacrifice is also decided by us as the manager. If Brother Xu has anyone he doesn't like, put a tick on the list and I will send someone to create a little surprise. If there is no one he doesn't like, I will just tick them at random."
black.
What a fucking villain... Xu Lian understood it completely.
The original owner's death was probably just a random choice by Han Du, who died of bad luck;
He was also hit by falling rocks. It was probably because "those dirty workers" under Handu saw that he was not dead and created another accident.
This list is just like a book of life and death, whoever is checked off dies.
Xu Lian wondered, "People keep dying every now and then. Won't the miners be suspicious and panic?"
Han Du smiled faintly, "What's the use of doubts? What's the use of panic? People always need food. As long as the mine provides food, even if people die every now and then, there will be plenty of people willing to come and work to earn food."
Xu Lian was silent. The grain was in the hands of the Yi sect and some wealthy families, and the lower-class civilians were like fish on a chopping board, slaughtered at will.
He looked through the list and saw many names marked with ticks, including Li Jinshui and the original owner's names.
"Why isn't the overseer's name in it?"
He returned the list to Handu and asked seemingly casually.
Handu said, "The supervisor is someone who maintains order in the mine, and of course he will not be on the blood sacrifice list."
Xu Lian suggested, "I think it's good for an overseer to die occasionally... This can dispel the suspicion of the miners and help the operation of the mine."
Han Du sensed the implication and was slightly surprised. "Which supervisor offended you?"
There was nothing to hide, Xu Lian said frankly, "Liang Yan seemed to be kind enough to lend me fifteen taels of silver, but he sent people to rob me halfway, trying to take the silver away and force me to use the women in my family as collateral for the debt."
Han Du was stunned for a moment, then he laughed, "It's common for supervisors to use their power to harm miners and seize beautiful women from miners' families. Liang Yan is so blind that he offended you, so make him disappear."
He handed a thin list to Xu Lian. Xu Lian took it and took a look, realizing that it was a list of more than a dozen supervisors.
Xu Lian was not polite either. He picked up the brush on the table, dipped it in ink, drew a check mark on Liang Yan's name, and returned the list to Handu.
Han Du said, "Brother Xu, please rest assured. I guarantee that Liang Yan will not see the sun tomorrow!"
Xu Lian didn't say anything more. He used the blood sacrifice rules of the mine to get rid of Liang Yan, saving him from having to do it himself.
then.
Han Du talked to him about the salary issue, "My monthly salary is 20 taels per month, and Brother Xu also gets 20 taels, how about that?"
Xu Lian knew that this was a compliment, and hurriedly said, "Brother Han is the manager, and I am only the deputy manager, how can we be the same? This is not good, I think fifteen taels is enough."
Han Du was polite to him again and decided on eighteen taels of silver. Perhaps considering that his family had little surplus food, he advanced him this month's salary of eighteen taels of silver.
Xu Lian stood up and expressed his gratitude.
Han Du pointed out, "As the leaders of the mine, we have the final say over the entire mine. The monthly salary is secondary. The main thing is the filial piety of those under us. Silver, food, and women are all indispensable."
Xu Lian said he understood.
It was almost noon, and the canteen’s kitchen assistant brought meals for the “two big bosses of the mine.”
When Xu Lian saw that there was fish, meat and wine, he felt that the meals he served as a steward were different.
Han Du stopped the kitchen helper and said, "My brother Xu has just been appointed as the deputy manager. I don't have any gifts with me. I will take a few chickens and some fish from the kitchen. When you get off work, let Brother Xu take them home."
The kitchen helper nodded repeatedly and looked at Xu Lian strangely when he left. Obviously, the kitchen helper, like everyone else, was speculating about Xu Lian becoming the deputy steward.
"Thank you, Brother Han."
Xu Lian understood the principle that gifts from elders should not be refused, which means "Don't refuse things given by elders, otherwise it will make the elders embarrassed and feel that they are being rejected."
Han Du invited Xu Lian to drink and eat, and they started eating and drinking.
Outside, the meals the overseers eat are definitely not that good.
Further outside, the miners' food was even worse, with only a bowl of thin porridge and two black steamed buns.
As the saying goes, the further away from the center of power, the worse life becomes...
Han Du and Xu Lian had lunch and then drank tea.
After digesting the food, Han Du took Xu Lian on a tour of the entire mine. Wherever the two of them went, the miners hurriedly buried their heads in their work, only glancing at Xu Lian, the new deputy manager, curiously out of the corner of their eyes.
When they came to inspect the place where Zhang Yuan and Yang Ye were working, Zhang Yuan looked anxious. He wanted to come over and talk to Xu Lian, but he didn't dare to come over because Han Du was next to them.
Xu Lian looked up at the sky, pretending not to see him.
Yang Ye's face was full of joy, he never expected that Xu Lian would give him such a big surprise. He just started working as a stone transporter yesterday, and today he became the high-ranking deputy manager of the mine. As long as Chan'er went back with Xu Lian tonight and could please Xu Lian, his family would have a good life in the future. His daughter would get more than 85 kilograms of grain as a marriage, it would feel like 850 kilograms.
After Xu Lian finished his inspection with Han Du, they returned to the house to drink tea and chat until the evening, when Han Du ordered the work to be over and the warehouses to be opened to release grain.
The kitchen helper brought three big roosters and three fish to Xu Lian. As expected, the miners' eyes turned red.
Xu Lian carried the chicken and fish and placed them on his small black donkey cart, planning to take Chan'er home tonight.