Chapter 360: The Grain Cellar
And so, Wang An and Wang Dashu searched for a spot in the lead, while the others followed behind, carrying guns and various tools and chatting as they continued forward.
This time, Wang An didn't just use nine steps as a unit; even if a place looked similar, he and Wang Dashu would study it carefully.
After all, searching blindly was not as effective as advancing bit by bit.
As long as the direction was correct, they would find it sooner or later.
Soon, Wang An stopped again at the 90th step.
It was evident that the grass here—or rather, in this large area—was considerably taller than the surrounding grass.
Furthermore, the terrain of this patch of land was significantly higher than the surroundings.
To be honest, Wang An felt a degree of excitement in his heart, because both the growth of the grass and the step count matched.
Crucially, aside from a few very small scrub trees, there wasn't a single tree taller than waist-height in this area.
Wang An felt that this place was very likely where Jiu-ge had buried the items.
Thus, Wang An said with a smile, "Come on, everyone follow my lead as the foreman. Let's get to work."
Truth be told, wandering aimlessly in the mountains was worse than actually working; only when people moved did they feel less cold.
At this moment, Wang Dashu noticed a problem and spoke up
"Let's use the ice chisels to break the snow first, then shovel the snow to the side. After that, use the picks to dig. Once the picks can't go further, use the large shovels."
Among this group, Wang Dashu was the eldest, followed by Lin Dajiang, so everyone respected Wang Dashu deeply.
Following Wang Dashu's arrangement, the group split into teams of three and began to work frantically on the plot of land.
Because Mu Hua couldn't handle heavy labor, he was assigned the lighter task of clearing debris with a square shovel.
It had to be said that Wang Dashu's arrangement was practically perfect; no one was idle, yet no one was overworked.
Well, not exactly "no one was idle"—on the surface, Wang An was quite idle, but no one felt dissatisfied.
However, Wang An took binoculars out of a burlap sack and began observing the surroundings.
Wang An had a constant feeling that besides himself, someone else must know the secret of where Jiu-ge buried the things.
Finally, through everyone's cooperation, a deep pit with a diameter of 40 centimeters and a depth of about 1.5 meters was dug out.
Unfortunately, they didn't find the items, but everyone suddenly cried out in surprise.
"What's going on? Why is there chaff at the bottom?"
"Yeah, this chaff is sorghum husk."
"Sorghum husks have to be buried? Is there some kind of special meaning to this?"
Sorghum husks are the outer shells of sorghum grains; they aren't the husks of polished sorghum rice, they are harder, and are basically useless.
However, the most impressive thing about them is that even in relatively damp places, they are not easily decayed, or rather, they decay very slowly.
While everyone was discussing it, Wang An was also bewildered. They had gone through all the trouble of digging a hole, and it couldn't just be chaff, right?
At this time, Wang Dashu spoke again, sounding somewhat pleasantly surprised
"There's an eighty percent chance we've dug into a grain cellar."
Lin Dajiang was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing. Immediately after, except for Wang An and a few of the younger ones, those who were older all wore expressions of understanding.
Wang Dashu then explained, "The wealthy landlords before the founding of the country loved to cellar grain..."
After Wang Dashu's explanation, Wang An and the other younger generations finally understood what was happening.
Simply put, the purpose of cellaring grain was twofold: first, the landlords had more grain than they could eat and wanted to store it for the long term.
Secondly, it was a fallback plan for the landlords.
Because no matter the era, money might not be omnipotent, but having grain in hand gave one true peace of mind.
It had to be said that those people were truly cunning.
However, Wang An thought further. More than thirty, perhaps forty or fifty years had passed since before the founding of the country.
If you added the years of the War of Resistance, how many years had it been?
Could grain stored for so long still be of any use?
Thus, Wang An subconsciously voiced the question in his mind.
Once Wang An finished speaking, the excited crowd suddenly fell silent. Clearly, Wang An had a point.
After a while, Wang Dashu said uncertainly
"Maybe. I've seen early grain cellars; the middle part might be questionable for humans to eat, but it's still quite good for feeding livestock."
But Wang An had zero interest in grain that had been stored for decades, as he felt the stuff would be toxic.
However, Wang An didn't want to dampen everyone's spirits.
After thinking for a moment, Wang An said, "How about we leave this grain cellar for last? Anyway, it's not going anywhere."
The group of elders looked at one another, seemingly unable to let go of this grain cellar.
This situation was understandable; for people of Wang Dashu's generation, the taste of hunger was etched into their very bones!
Grain was their lifeline.
But Wang An was the organizer of this mountain trip—the foreman—so the elders' gazes eventually fell upon Wang Zh柱.
As Wang An's father, Wang Zh柱 was also conflicted. He looked at Wang An, then at the others.
In the end, Wang Zh柱 chose to listen to his son.
Wang Zh柱 said, "I think Xiao An is right. It'll be our treasure sooner or later; there's no rush."
Wang Zh柱's words were the final decision.
Although the elders were still a bit reluctant to leave the grain cellar, they were also full of anticipation for the next "pit."
The group packed up their tools and continued following Wang An and Wang Dashu forward.
Twenty minutes later, Wang An and Wang Dashu stopped again.
Only this time was different. By a strange coincidence, the 900th step landed exactly on a few large trees clustered together.
Wang An and Wang Dashu had only walked 897 steps.
These large trees were not Korean pines, but ordinary pines, also known as sand pines, which were the most numerous trees in these mountains, without exception.
Looking at these pines, which were less than half a meter apart, Wang An's face was full of worry. How the hell were they supposed to dig here?
Just as Wang An was circling the trees to observe, Wang Dashu suddenly pointed to a patch of grass about ten meters away and said
"Xiao An, look at that patch of grass. Could that be the spot?"
Wang An looked in the direction Wang Dashu pointed, and the more he looked, the more it seemed right.
Thus, Wang An walked toward that patch of grass.
After observing, Wang An became even more delighted. Although the grass here wasn't tall—roughly the same as the surrounding grass—it was obvious that while they were still green, they had been bitten off by some kind of herbivore and had then regrown from the center.
It had to be said that although Wang Dashu was old, his eyes were still very sharp; he wasn't senile at all.
After observing, Wang An said only one word: "Dig."
Wishing everyone a childlike heart, Happy Children's Day!
(End of Chapter)