Short Hair

Under a somewhat dim sky.

A little girl, about 10 years old, with short gray hair.

She leaned against a low Shitou wall, her hands wrapped around her knees, her large eyes fixed on the ground in front of her.

Although she is only at the age of budding youth, it is clear from her features that she is beautiful, possessing a unique kind of beauty.

She is already outstanding, and given a few more years, she will surely grow into a beauty that makes every man unable to look away once he sees her.

But her face was covered in mud, and her fingernails were filled with black dirt.

Her body was trembling slightly.

Whenever angry shouts came from behind the Shitou wall, her trembling would intensify.

The camera angle is raised.

But behind the low Shitou wall, there was a huge mine pit that was tens of thousands of meters long.

It lies dormant on the ground, like a sore on the earth.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the pit, hundreds of menacing men wielding beam weapons surrounded thousands of laborers.

"It's already stipulated in the contract!"

"Every 72 hours, you must hand over 30 grams of Source Matter Ore!"

"Now 72 days have passed, why is there only this pitiful 4 grams?"

The laborers were not dressed in tattered clothes, but rather wore engineering exoskeletons. Their limbs were connected to metal levers about the thickness of a thumb, and on their backs was a mechanical device that controlled the operation of the levers, thus assisting the laborers in digging through hard soil and rocks.

But at this moment...

This engineering exoskeleton was remotely controlled, forcing the workers to kneel with their arms outstretched, unable to make any other movements.

"This ER4 Source Matter Ore has been mined for 6 years; there simply isn't that much output left!"

"You never told us this information!"

A young laborer, head held high, glared angrily at the burly men.

"You're making it sound like we're thugs exploiting laborers."

From among those burly men, a man in a suit and red-rimmed glasses slowly stepped forward. He shook his head and said, "We are business partners. I have signed a formal business contract. We will pay you, and you need to deliver the goods on time."

As for now?

The man in the suit adjusted his glasses. "My friends, you failed to deliver the Source Matter on time as stipulated in the contract. Let me think... I remember you swore you'd give me a job, saying you'd pay any compensation if you couldn't deliver according to the contract?!"

Immediately.

The man in the suit's glasses gleamed coldly. "I see you don't have anything to offer, so how about... you pay me back with a few lives?"

Bang bang bang!

Several shots rang out as a beam pistol fired, followed by the sound of objects exploding.

The child beneath the Shitou wall stared wide-eyed, his body trembling violently once more.

She could still clearly hear the bespectacled man's low laughter, "Listen up, all of you, this is what happens if you can't deliver on time. Instead of wasting time here cowering and crying, you'd be better off digging up a few more Shitou!"

The next moment.

The sound of the exoskeleton echoed as the laborers were forced to stand up. Their eyes were filled with anger and resentment, but they were powerless to do anything about it. They turned their heads to look at their comrades lying dead in the wilderness, but their bodies were being held captive and they continued to walk deeper into the mine.

The reason this industrial chain came into being is that Source Matter Ore are a very peculiar existence; they cannot be identified by any machinery and can only be discerned by the human eye.

now.

The man with red glasses said with a ferocious expression, "Haven't you found the little girl yet?"

The burly man beside him slowly lowered his head. "No."

"She lives near this mine; she can't leave!"

The bespectacled man's face contorted in rage. "Damn it, just thinking about that Xiao Ya's face and her petite figure makes me incredibly aroused! Search her now, I can't hold back any longer!"

Behind the Shitou wall.

The little girl quickly withdrew her head, which had just been peeking out, her hands trembling wildly.

Her parents were miners here.

But one day two months ago, a natural sinkhole was discovered in the mine. It was a huge pit with a diameter of ten meters, and its depth could not be detected by any equipment.

Her parents were chosen by the boss to explore that deep pit.

He never came back.

But she firmly believes that her parents are equipped with engineered exoskeletons and carry ample water and compressed food.

They will come back.

During the days she waited alone on the edge of the deep pit, the mine owner, nicknamed "Red Glasses," set his sights on her.

Fortunately, she managed to hide under the cover of the other miners.

But she never left the mine.

While hiding, they received help from others and waited for their parents to return.

Just then, the man with the Red Glasses in the mine lifted up an eleven or twelve-year-old boy with one hand and said menacingly, "Don't think I don't know. You're always the one bringing food to that little girl. Tell me... where is she? If you tell me, I'll exempt your parents from their work assignments today!"

The little boy clenched his teeth.

The Red Glasses grew increasingly impatient, tightening his grip on the little boy's neck. The boy's legs kicked in the air, and his face gradually turned pale.

"What to do..."

"What to do..."

The short-haired girl's large eyes were filled with terror. She didn't want to implicate Xiaoguang, and she didn't want Xiaoguang to die at the hands of the man with the Red Glasses, but she was too scared.

She dared not show her face; she dared not imagine what fate awaited her if she fell into the hands of the man with the Red Glasses.

She was just a child, and she was scared.

She staggered to her feet and ran towards the distant wasteland, getting further and further away from the mine.

On the Gobi Desert, waves of heat roll across the ground.

Her vision was already a little blurry, but she could see a figure in a white coat walking on the ground in the distance.

He was an elderly man, probably around 50 years old, with gray hair. His white coat was torn in several places, and the hem of the coat was tattered into strips from being blown around by the strong winds of the Gobi Desert for a long time.

The black leather suitcase he was carrying had worn and cracked edges.

The little girl, as if grasping at a straw, scrambled and crawled to the old man's side.

She wanted to describe everything inside the mine to the old man, hoping he would offer her help.

But the little girl stared with her beautiful eyes and ultimately remained silent.

The old man in her eyes had a kind and gentle face, and seemed to be a kind-hearted person.

But unfortunately...

The old man's lips were cracked and peeling, and his face was covered with wounds caused by wind erosion.

His leather shoes had worn down to the soles, revealing gray socks underneath, from which crimson blood seeped.

The old man simply stood there, looking at the little girl, his body already swaying unsteadily, clearly extremely weak.

Darkness settled in the short-haired girl's heart.

This place is deserted and the nearest city is at least tens of thousands of kilometers away.

Even if he was in a hurry, if he had any ability, he wouldn't have chosen this way of traveling.

Even those Castoffs and came to the mines seeking work, no matter how desperate they were, could at least ride in some dilapidated flying machines.

The old man walked all the way here, so his fate is self-evident.

But then the old man's chapped lips slowly parted, his voice hoarse, "Child, what happened to you?"