novelraw Chapter 223
Chapter 223
That night, the moon was dark and the wind was high. Niu Fugui led a group of people sneaking up the mountain.
Following the spot where Shen Nanchu had stayed during the day, they started digging down.
The mountain night was bitingly cold. The wind howled and the leaves rustled, sounding like the wailing of ghosts and howling of wolves.
Niu Fugui wrapped his cotton-padded jacket tightly around himself, cursing as he dug, "This wretched place, how come we've been digging for ages and found nothing?"
A villager rubbed his sore arms and complained, "Village Chief, could we have got the wrong place? We've been digging for three hours, and there's nothing but dirt and rocks."
"Cut the crap! Keep digging!" Niu Fugui gritted his teeth. "If that girl Shen Nanchu hadn't found something, would she have come to our village on purpose? Dig another half meter. If there's still nothing, we'll pull out!"
The men braced themselves and continued digging. It wasn't until dawn was approaching that they managed to dig a pit a meter deep and half an acre wide. Apart from a few broken pottery shards, there was nothing.
Niu Fugui looked at the pit, feeling both angry and anxious, but he still refused to give up. "Dig for another ten minutes! Maybe we'll strike it in the next second!"
But before they had dug for a few minutes, they heard Shen Nanchu's teasing voice, "Village Chief Niu, what are you all doing? Digging dirt on the mountain so early in the morning?"
Niu Fugui was startled, his face instantly turning red down to his neck. He hastily hid his hoe behind his back and gave a dry laugh.
"Ah... I... I saw that you were going to dig today, so I thought I'd help loosen the soil for you first to save you the effort. We're all neighbors, it's only right to help each other out."
"Then thank you so much, Village Chief Niu!"
Shen Nanchu smiled so widely her eyes narrowed into crescents. She picked up a hoe from the ground and drew a circle on the dirt.
"Perfect, I was just thinking of asking for your help! Just dig within this area. You don't need to go too deep; stop when you hit something hard."
Niu Fugui's heart skipped a beat. This Shen Nanchu was definitely doing it on purpose! But the words had already been spoken, so he could only bite the bullet and agree.
"Alright! No problem! Many hands make light work, I guarantee we'll dig it up in no time!"
With the help of Niu Fugui and the villagers, the digging went much faster.
Shen Nanchu only needed to stand by and guide them, telling them, "The soil color here is wrong, dig over there," without having to lift a finger herself.
After a short while, there was a clank as a villager's hoe hit something hard.
"We hit something!"
Pei Yunzhou ran over excitedly, crouching down to carefully clear away the dirt.
A bluestone slab was revealed, its edges carved with simple cloud patterns. At first glance, it was clearly an antique.
Niu Fugui also squeezed his way over. What was this thing?
Wasn't it just a stone slab?
Shen Nanchu glanced at Pei Yunzhou and said with a smile, "Yunzhou, it's your time to shine. Go ahead!"
Pei Yunzhou wasn't afraid at all this time.
Having excavated a tomb in Wangjia Village last time, he had long lost his initial timidity.
He took a crowbar, wedged it into the gap of the stone slab, and pried hard. The stone slab creaked open a crack, and a damp, earthy smell drifted out.
He changed angles and pried the stone slab open bit by bit, revealing the tomb below.
He shone a flashlight inside.
The tomb was not large. Inside lay a wooden coffin that had already rotted away, with several bronze vessels scattered around it—a bronze cauldron, two bronze wine vessels, and a string of inscribed copper coins.
Niu Fugui leaned in to take a look. Seeing that they were just some broken bronze wares covered in verdigris, without even a single silver ingot, he immediately lost interest and curled his lip in disgust.
"I thought it was something good, but it turns out it's just some scrap metal. We dug for half the day for nothing."
He thought they would dig up gold bars, but he never expected these worthless trinkets.
"Village Chief Niu, you shouldn't underestimate this."
Shen Nanchu picked up the bronze cauldron and wiped the verdigris off it with a cloth.
"These are early Qing Dynasty bronzes. This is the first time they've been discovered in our Ningan Town. The experts at the Cultural Relics Bureau in the capital will definitely be interested."
"When we send them over, they might even issue a certificate of merit to the village."
Upon hearing about a certificate of merit, Niu Fugui's eyes lit up again.
Even without gold bars, getting a certificate of merit from the top leaders in the capital wasn't bad either!
"Then... then let's quickly pack these things up, don't break them! I'll call a few more people to help you fill the pit!"
Shen Nanchu nodded with a smile.
This Niu Fugui was quite sensible.
After carefully packing the artifacts and filling the pit, everyone finally went down the mountain.
On the way, Niu Fugui kept asking, "Comrade Shen, when will our village get the certificate? If it comes down, I'll definitely go to Wangjia Village and kowtow to you!"
Shen Nanchu smiled and said, "Just wait, it'll be soon."
A certificate of merit in exchange for a group of people helping with the work was well worth it.
For the next stop, Qianjia Village, she would have to use this trick again.
Two days later, Shen Nanchu led her team and drove a tractor to Qianjia Village.
The village chief of Qianjia Village, Qian Mancang, asked as soon as they met,
"Comrade Shen, I heard you dug up treasure in Niujia Village? Are there any antiques in the back mountain of our Qianjia Village? If there are, we can help dig them up too!"
Thanks to Niu Fugui's big mouth!
Now Shen Nanchu didn't even have to waste her breath. Qian Mancang not only followed them up the mountain but also voluntarily called over a dozen villagers to help.
With the help of the Qianjia Village villagers, they hit the stone slab in no time, half an hour faster than in Niujia Village.
Pei Yunzhou and Zheng Tongwei grabbed crowbars and jumped into the pit, prying the stone slab together.
The two worked together perfectly, and soon pried the stone slab open, revealing the tomb below.
This tomb was slightly larger than the one in Niujia Village. Inside lay two wooden coffins. Although the wood had rotted, the original paint color could still be seen.
Pei Yunzhou carefully cleared the dirt from inside the coffins and soon brought out several ceramic vessels—a blue and white porcelain bowl, two celadon plates, and a patterned pottery jar with bright glaze, which was clearly a fine item at first glance.
Qian Mancang leaned over to look. Seeing that they were really just some porcelain bowls and plates without any gold bars, he immediately curled his lip.
"I thought we found gold bars, I didn't expect it to be just some broken dishes."
"Village Chief Qian, you don't understand this." Shen Nanchu picked up the blue and white porcelain bowl and pointed to the signature at the bottom. "Look, this is imperial kiln porcelain, it's even more valuable than the bronzes from Niujia Village! If the capital's Cultural Relics Bureau accepts it, they might send the village a certificate of merit even bigger than Niujia Village's!"
Hearing this, Qian Mancang's eyes instantly lit up.
Having been the eternal runner-up for so long, the thought of beating Niujia Village just once made Qian Mancang incredibly happy.
He quickly said, "Then let's hurry up and pack these dishes! I'll call a few more people to help you fill the pit perfectly flat!"
Shen Nanchu nodded with a smile, telling Pei Yunzhou and Zheng Tongwei to carefully pack the artifacts while she took notes on the side.
After the pit was filled, Qian Mancang kept asking, "Comrade Nanchu, when will this certificate be issued?"
"We have to wait for the capital's Cultural Relics Bureau to appraise the value of the artifacts."
Shen Nanchu said with a smile, "But rest assured, Village Chief Qian, I will mention it to Director Guo and emphasize the contribution of Qianjia Village."
Qian Mancang finally felt relieved and enthusiastically invited them to stay for dinner, which Shen Nanchu politely declined.
On the way back driving the tractor, Pei Yunzhou was very excited.
"Sister-in-law, you are amazing! Both Village Chief Niu and Village Chief Qian helped us work, and we didn't expend any effort at all!"
Zheng Tongwei also nodded,
"Yeah! If we keep up this momentum and hit up a few more villages, we'll definitely unearth even more artifacts!"
Shen Nanchu, however, was quick to burst their bubble.
"Wishful thinking. There were only two tombs in Ning'an Town. We've already excavated them both. There's nothing left."
Pei Yunzhou: ┭┮﹏┭┮
Zheng Tongwei: ┭┮﹏┭┮