Li Long ran over to the rock and examined it carefully before breathing a sigh of relief. The "small" piece split off from it had already separated from the giant boulder at its base; the explosion had simply fallen a little short of blasting it down.
Li Long stepped forward and pushed it. The rock swayed slightly. He began rocking it hard, making it swing farther and farther. When he judged the moment was right, he gave it a fierce shove. The rock broke free of its base and tumbled down onto the river flats, flattening a patch of shrubs against the rock face on its way.
When Ma Xiaoyan poked her head out to look again, she happened to see Li Long push the large rock down. She marveled at his strength, then went back to picking mushrooms.
She might not come tomorrow, so she needed to gather more today.
Seeing that less than half the huge boulder remained, Li Long knew his explosives might not be enough. But most of the obstruction it posed had been removed. Even if he ran short for the rest, he would only need to get some more.
The Supply and Marketing Cooperative had been busy lately, so coming to help was unlikely, but getting some explosives and detonators would still be no problem.
He first examined the remaining rock for places to set the explosives. After looking for quite a while, he chose the side nearest the slope this time. Although he had never studied much physics and knew little about mechanics, he did know that if he blasted from behind the rock, the broken pieces should fly toward the road.
Even if it failed to break apart and only cracked like before, it would be easier for him to push.
He