My Promotion Story Through Time Travel

Chapter 121 Hematite

At this time, people began to push carts and carry baskets out of the passage.

The person who had just been expressionless and had empty eyes seemed to come alive and rushed forward, but somehow, the two of them suddenly started pushing each other.

“They’re trying to steal the stuff from that group of people,” Li Qiongying explained softly. “If you don’t work here, you won’t get any food, but there are only so many people who went in, and only so many tools…”

Seeing this scene, Lin Ziping understood Li Qiongying's meaning: if they didn't want to starve to death, they had no choice but to rob.

"What?"

The commotion inside the cave attracted the attention of those outside. The steward came in with a whip, and upon seeing the chaotic scene, he went up and lashed out twice with the whip.

Those who were whipped cried out in pain, but still clung to the cart, carrying pole, or basket.

"Get to work! If we don't get everything out of the cave today, none of us will eat!" the foreman said fiercely.

Everyone hunched their shoulders, remaining silent as if terrified.

"Pah!" the steward spat, rolling his eyes. "They're all a bunch of cheapskates."

Turning around, he saw Lin Ziping say, "The newcomers are the same; if they don't do anything, they won't get any food."

Although Li Qiongying's face was painted black, she was still "naturally beautiful and hard to hide," a breath of fresh air in the drab cave.

When the manager looked at Lin Ziping, he also noticed her. He rubbed his hands together and stared at Li Qiongying with a sly look.

Lin Ziping endured the pain, stood up, stood in front of Li Qiongying, his eyes filled with warning, and clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Thank you for the reminder, steward. I understand."

The manager sized up Lin Ziping.

Lin Ziping remained in the same position, letting him scrutinize him.

"Ha, you're quite something, kid. Double your workload. No food until you finish it," the foreman said sternly, putting away his whip and turning to leave.

As soon as the manager left, the group of people who had been arguing fell silent.

"Cough cough—" Lin Ziping coughed, covering his mouth, looking sickly.

“You shouldn’t be trying to be brave in your current situation,” Li Qiongying said calmly.

Lin Ziping waved his hand dismissively: "You saved me, I can't just stand by and watch, especially since you are..."

Girls should receive more care!

Seeing that Li Qiongying still disagreed, Lin Zi calmed down and explained, "I clashed with this manager when I first arrived. He's not that great, but his son, Hong Lao Er, is formidable. This place is short, so I don't think he'll bring his son. I can still defeat him if I fight him with all my might. Besides, if I fight him, the people in the cave won't just sit and wait to die."

Li Qiongying discreetly handed over a pill.

Lin Ziping took it, coughed lightly with his fist to his lips, and took the opportunity to put the pill in his mouth and swallow it.

"Aren't you afraid it might be poisoned?" Li Qiongying asked when she saw Lin Ziping eat it directly.

Sigh, didn't she say she ate it while she was unconscious? Why does this young lady have so many questions? She's like the embodiment of a million questions.

Lin Ziping explained in a low voice, "I don't think you have any reason to harm me."

Swallowing the pills dry still made him feel a bit choked, so Lin Ziping swallowed hard.

Li Qiongying looked at Lin Ziping with a complicated expression, and patted his shoulder: "Don't do things you're not sure of next time. This is something I brought from the palace... home. It's good for your injury."

Lin Ziping checked himself and found that the tightness and pain in his chest were indeed gone. The medicine was just as effective as the medicine that Granny Liao had given him before.

Saying thank you too often would sound insincere, so Lin Ziping nodded to Li Qiongying in response.

Just then, someone pushed a wooden cart past. Lin Ziping looked at it by the light and saw that the dark red stone looked somewhat familiar.

Lin Ziping stood up and followed the wooden cart out of the cave. Outside the cave was a flat area, where people came and went, just like those inside the cave, with empty eyes and numb expressions.

Besides the sound of wheels rubbing against the ground, there was also the sound of the supervisor cursing, and people patrolling with weapons from time to time.

After spending a few days at the training ground, Lin Ziping was afraid of being recognized by the patrolmen, so he quickly covered his mouth and nose with a cloth draped over his shoulder. Fortunately, everyone around him was dressed like that, so Lin Ziping's actions did not seem out of place.

Looking at the contents of the cart, Lin Ziping's pupils contracted slightly, but he still couldn't believe it. Just then, a small piece of the contents fell to the ground. Taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking, Lin Ziping stepped on it, pretended to straighten his trousers, and picked it up and held it in his hand. He then continued walking with the wooden cart.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Lin Ziping gripped the stone in his hand tightly, pretending not to hear.

A man holding a wooden stick blocked Lin Ziping's path: "I'm calling you."

Lin Ziping stopped and said tremblingly, "Grandpa, I...I just arrived, just...the foreman just told me...to work with him, but I don't have any tools."

"You can't just wander around here, don't you know that?" the man said angrily.

"M-Grandpa, spare my life!" Lin Ziping pleaded, wiping his eyes.

"Fine, I'll let it go since you just arrived. Without tools, we can only dig and move things by hand inside the cave. We can't get out!"

"Thank you, sir." Lin Ziping bowed and greeted the others, just like everyone else.

Without waiting for his reply, she turned and ran towards the cave.

Inside the cave, Xiao Chunzi returned sometime earlier. Seeing Lin Ziping clutching his chest and looking distressed, she quickly went up to him and asked with concern, "Young Master Ziping, where have you been?"

Lin Ziping took two deep breaths, and after the agitation in his chest subsided, he said, "I just went out."

Returning to where I had been lying, I took out the small stone and examined it closely, comparing it bit by bit to my memory of its appearance.

After a moment, Lin Ziping was startled. This was hematite!

A voice echoed in my mind: Hematite is mainly composed of iron oxide, and its color is usually brownish-red, with various forms.

I recalled the chemical equations for the oxidation-reduction of iron oxide and carbon monoxide to produce iron and carbon dioxide, which my high school chemistry teacher emphasized to me and which were always on the exam; I remembered seeing various rock samples in my university building materials class; I remembered the popular saying online, "Education forms a closed loop at this moment"; my eyes welled up with tears, and I couldn't calm down for a long time.

"Young Master Ziping...Young Master Ziping..."

Lin Ziping came to his senses and heard Xiaochunzi's voice.

"Young Master Ziping, what are you thinking about? I called you just now and you didn't respond."

Lin Ziping opened his hand, revealing the stone in his palm, and asked, "Xiao Chunzi, do you know what this is?"

“There are many more stones at the bottom of this cave,” Xiaochunzi replied. “Does Young Master Ziping know what these are?”

Lin Ziping didn't answer but asked, "Is Gao Chi downstairs? I'll go find him."

Xiao Chunzi didn't understand why Lin Ziping was suddenly so agitated, but she still nodded: "Sixth...Sixth Young Master is inside the cave."

"Okay." Lin Ziping got up and walked towards the passage.

Seeing this, Xiao Chunzi quickly followed and said, "Sixth Young Master asked me to take care of you; your injuries haven't healed yet."

"Thank you, Xiaochunzi. I'm fine now after taking Young Master Li's medicine." Lin Ziping waved his hand. "Besides, you're worried about the two of them down there, aren't you? Let's go check on them."

Xiaochunzi wanted to say something, but after opening her mouth, she bit her lip and said nothing, following closely behind Lin Ziping.