Chapter 48: Buying a Mine Mouth

  "Heizi said with difficulty: 'Old Zhang, I'm telling you the truth, I really want to buy a mine, but these days the money is not in my hands.'"

  The red-faced man with the surname Zhang was a bit disappointed, he threw down his cards and let out a sigh without saying another word.

  It's annoying to listen to them talking while playing cards together, so I urged: "Let's play cards first, it's not clear what you're saying about buying a mine mouth here."

  Everyone started to touch their cards again, Old Zhang touched his cards while looking at Hei Zi, finally gritting his teeth, as if he had made some important decision, and asked: "Hei Zi brother, how much money do you have now? Give me a part of it first, the injured person is in urgent need of money, I really can't take it out, the price of the mine is negotiable."

  "Heizi arranged the cards in his hand and said: 'Old Zhang, I think it's better to give up, one or two thousand won't work.'"

  Wu Mei, who was standing behind Hei Zi, asked: "Old Zhang, how much does your mine cost?"

  Lao Zhang looked at Wu Mei and didn't say a word. He was very annoyed in his heart, as he knew Wu Mei wouldn't buy his mine, so he didn't bother to speak.

  The fifth sister saw that he didn't speak, and continued: "Do you want to sell it to Heizi Mine or not? If you do, let's discuss it."

  Hei Zi didn't know why Wu Mei was so eager to make this happen, but he could tell that she genuinely wanted to help them.

  Lao Zhang listened to Wu Mei's words with sincerity and put down the sign saying, "Why don't a few of us go to my house, let's discuss it thoroughly."

  As soon as they stepped out of the house, it was pitch black in the courtyard. Hei Zi and his friends left behind the noisy sounds of gambling, chatting as they walked towards Old Zhang's home.

  Hei Zi had been running a gambling den in the village for some time, and Lao Zhang thought Hei Zi must have at least 700,000 to 800,000 yuan on him. All along the way, he was grumbling about his own misfortunes, wanting Hei Zi to quickly buy out his mine.

  In the past, Hei Zi had seen people injured at the mine entrance and owed medical expenses. The mine owner would just send them away if they didn't have money, making it difficult for workers to afford medical expenses. Now Lao Zhang is thinking of ways to get money to pay for the medical expenses, it seems that Lao Zhang is not a bad person after all.

  Three people came to Old Zhang's home, and Old Zhang told his wife about Hei Zi and the others wanting to buy a mine mouth. Old Zhang's wife hurriedly poured them tea, and also began to complain like Old Zhang.

  Xiao Fei listened with some impatience and said: "Old Zhang, just say it quickly, how much do you want for the mine?"

  Old Zhang said without hesitation: "My mine is worth at least 2.3 or 4 million, but I urgently need money now, as long as you give me 1.8 million, I will sell it to you."

  Old Zhang's wife was carrying a thermos and came in. As soon as she heard Old Zhang say 180,000, her face fell: "180,000 is not enough, it's too little."

  The fifth sister looked at Hei Zi and Zhu Xiao Fei and said: "Hei Zi, Xiao Fei, let's go."

  Old Zhang saw them about to leave and hastily grabbed Hei Zi, saying: "Hei Zi brother, help me out this one time."

  The fifth sister looked at Old Zhang's wife and Old Zhang turned around to say: "What a loss, now if someone buys our mine it would be good."

  Lao Zhang is a practical and clever person, he knows that if his mine doesn't kill people, it can be sold for 250,000 to 260,000. Now that someone has been killed, selling it for 180,000 would be a good deal.

  Lao Zhang brought water over and put it on the small kang table, saying: "You guys, I have no choice either. Otherwise, who would sell a good mine?"

  Lao Zhang's wife saw Heizi and others were about to leave, she didn't dare speak again. Lao Zhang started negotiating the price with Heizi and others.

  Hei Zi had no money in his hands, he didn't know what Wu Mei meant, and during the discussion, he didn't dare to speak. The whole negotiation process was dominated by Wu Mei. In the end, they agreed on a price of 150,000 yuan, with one-third paid upfront, and the remaining amount would be paid in two installments after the Lunar New Year.

  Hei Zi said outside Lao Zhang's house: "Wu Mei, we really don't have any money now. What can we give him to buy the mine from Lao Zhang?"

  In the darkness, Wu Mei let out a chuckle and said: "Then I won't care about it anymore, buying the mine is your business, not mine."

  Hei Zi is angry because of you, it was your idea to buy the mine, and now look what's happened, it's become our problem.

  Hei Zi stopped and was about to scold Wu Mei a few words, but when he turned his head, he saw Wu Mei leaning on Zhu Xiao Fei's body, holding onto Zhu Xiao Fei's arm. Hei Zi laughed: "Alright, Wu Mei, you're ready to catch a fish, huh?"

  "What fish is being caught?" asked Wu Mei, pretending not to understand.

  "He's hooked a big fish," said Hei Zi, pointing at Zhuo Xiao Fei.

  The fifth sister chuckled and said: "No need for bait, this dead skin fish bites down and won't let go."

  Xiao Fei looked embarrassed and smiled foolishly: "Lao Wu, don't tease Wu Mei anymore. I didn't tell you earlier, blame me, Wu Mei agreed to lend us 700,000 to 800,000 yuan first to pay off the debt, and we'll think of a way to deal with the rest of the money."

  Hei Zi was delighted to see them so loving and wished Xiao Fei all the best in finding his true love.

  Xiao Fei sent Wu Mei back home, and Heizi returned to the farmhouse alone. Lying on the kang, a clear figure appeared in his mind.

  Tan Mei, a elegant and refined girl, speaks concisely and clearly, with meticulous and lucid thinking, having grand ideals and uncommon eloquence.

  Tan Mei likes to smile and often smiles before speaking. She also likes to give orders to Hei Zi, just like a general giving orders to his soldiers.

  Hei Zi likes to lie on his desk during evening self-study and watch Tan Mei study. She studies very seriously, and the way she recites her books is very cute.

  Tan Mei's figure flashed by, and another figure became clear. This was her elder sister, Yue Xiaoqing. The Yue family had a favor to repay to Hei Zi. From the time Hei Zi started at his new school in first grade, Teacher Yue had been very sympathetic towards him, taking care of him all along. Even when Hei Zi got into fights and caused trouble, it was always Teacher Yue who helped him get out of trouble. Teacher Yue treated him with paternal love, just like a father would.

  Yue Xiaoqing is the youngest daughter of Teacher Yue, with a slightly masculine personality, doing things quickly and speaking concisely. She also likes to act as an older sister to Heizi, to the point where Heizi really regards Yue Xiaoqing, who was born several months after him, as his older sister.

  Two girls' silhouettes alternately appeared and disappeared, finally both appearing in Hei Zi's mind at the same time. Both had furrowed brows and glaring eyes, Tan Mei's smile was gone, and Yue Xiaoqing's gentle demeanor was also gone. Yue Xiaoqing glared at him and said: "You're so shameless, yet you still dare to be my junior brother?" Tan Mei looked at him like a venomous witch and said: "You're just a rascal, a hoodlum, always fighting and brawling, no decent behavior at all. Get out of here, the farther the better."

  Hei Zi's mind was a jumbled mess, he wanted to think about what to do after buying the mine, but his mind wasn't clear and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get his thoughts in order, they were like wild horses running amok.

  It was almost dawn when Hei Zi woke up. He didn't know when he fell asleep. When Hei Zi tried to get up, his head hurt and the room felt very cold.

  Xiao Fei didn't come back for a whole night, and when he returned at dawn, he saw Heizi sitting on the cold kang with a red face, wrapped in a quilt. He asked strangely: "Heizi, why is it so cold in the house? Don't you add some fire?"

  Xiao Fei lifted the lid of the stove and saw that the fire had gone out long ago.

  "Hei Zi coughed twice and said: 'I said why it's so cold.'"

  Heizi caught a cold, and after accompanying Xiaofei to get an IV drip, he felt much more comfortable. Now Heizi is worried about two things: one is that after the Lunar New Year, he still needs to haul coal, but the money for hauling coal has already been spent on buying a car, leaving little for New Year's expenses; without money, it will be hard to get the coal back. The other thing is the mine entrance fee - the first payment of 50,000 yuan can be borrowed from his sister Wu Mei, but when the full amount needs to be paid in over a month, where will he find the money? 100,000 yuan is no small sum, and it's hard to earn that much in such a short time.