My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 100 Newly Established Rules

It has been three months since I entered the Gold Rush Valley in late March.

At first, only ten people were panning for gold on the small peninsula. Due to the permafrost, digging was difficult and washing the sluice was troublesome, so the panning progress was slow. Since the number of people increased to twenty, water pumps were set up, and the weather became warmer, the speed has greatly improved.

At this point, a fairly large pit had been dug out on the small peninsula, but it hadn't reached the center of the peninsula yet.

Given the size of the small peninsula, there's no problem at all that mining can continue until the weather gets cold in the fall.

In addition, the amount of gold produced by the small peninsula was impressive, even exceeding Zhou Jingming's expectations, so everyone worked very hard.

No one has trouble with money.

You get at least two grams of cash every day; where else can you find such a good deal?

Perhaps, newcomers to the gold panning field for the first time don't have a very direct understanding of the situation, but among the newly recruited members of the team, there are those who have worked in the gold panning valley in previous years. They have told the newcomers that at the mining sites they used to work at, it was considered good if they could get a gram of gold every two or three days, and it was rare to get a gram of gold every day.

I never even dreamed of a situation like Xiao Peninsula, where you can earn two grams a day, or even three grams occasionally.

Of course, this is largely due to the pumps. With the diesel engine running, all you need to do is keep pumping the gold-bearing mud and sand dug out of the sandpit towards the chute.

Even without pumps, they felt that it wouldn't be a problem for each person to receive three grams of gold every two days by hand alone.

This is not surprising.

Gold mines in the Altay region have been mined since ancient times, and during the Qing Dynasty, a great deal of manpower and resources were invested in them.

Furthermore, the Russians also coveted this gold mine. During the war years, many Russians panned for gold in the Gold Rush Valley, and some even colluded with local officials to engage in large-scale mining for many years.

In fact, gold panning in the Altay region has never stopped, whether through government-run operations or illegal mining, ever since the discovery of gold in the mountains and valleys. Even during those ten years, there were still people involved, though in much smaller numbers.

In many river valleys, you can find numerous ancient mine shafts.

Some riverbeds have been churned up more than once or twice.

The small peninsula that Zhou Jingming chose was well sheltered by a landslide, so it was less likely to be disturbed.

At least, judging from the old trees growing on those hillsides, they haven't been harvested in the last few decades.

One day, while the group was digging, they unearthed a pickaxe that was so rusted it was almost turned into mud and could crumble at the slightest touch. This was enough to show that the area had been excavated long ago.

However, the accumulation and changes in the riverbed silt have turned this place into a gold-rich mining area.

That afternoon, a small problem occurred in the sandpit.

A man from Yuzhou, who was assigned to carry mud and sand using a pole, was having fun. He carried a basket of mud and sand to a small platform halfway up the wall. On the platform, a man from Luoyue was responsible for transferring the mud and sand from the basket to the windlass frame. When the man from Yuzhou emptied the basket of mud and sand, he used the tip of the pole to poke the man from Luoyue's crotch.

It didn't cause any major damage, but it knocked the Luo Yue man forward, causing his palm to slam into the gravel and scrape his skin.

He immediately flew into a rage and blurted out, "Fuck your mother! Do you want to die?"

The man from Yuzhou originally thought that since he had started the trouble, he would just tolerate a few words from him and let it go.

To his surprise, the Luo Yue man got more and more into his insults, and what's more, he used a lot of Luo Yue language. Although he couldn't understand Luo Yue language, he knew it couldn't be anything nice, so he got angry and started cursing back.

Now things got really complicated. The two of them argued more and more fiercely, and the more they argued, the angrier they became. The man from Luoyue got angry, bent down, picked up a stone, and threw it at the man from Yuzhou.

If that Yuzhou man hadn't dodged quickly, he would have had a bruise on his body that would have hurt for many days.

Seeing the Luo Yue man make such a move, he didn't hold back either, picking up a stone and throwing it at him.

The two were in the sandpit, throwing stones back and forth, which disrupted their normal work.

As they fled, others were forced to scatter as well, causing chaos and confusion.

Despite everyone's attempts to persuade them, the two were blinded by anger and refused to listen.

Some people, fearing they might get hurt, dropped what they were doing and climbed out of the sandpit using the specially built mud and sand steps secured with wooden poles. The others followed suit to avoid being affected.

Hearing the commotion, Zhou Jingming, Peng Yuanchao, Wu Yang, and the others also ran to the edge of the sandpit.

Just then, they saw the Luo Yue man jump down to the bottom of the sand pit and wrestle with the Yuzhou man. They rolled around in the pit, which was full of mud and sewage, and fought fiercely.

"Damn it, you two sons of bitches, are you bored and don't want to work anymore?"

Peng Yuanchao cursed, and seeing that the two were really angry, he was afraid that they would actually hurt or cripple them, so he tried to go down into the pit to pull them apart.

Zhou Jingming, however, remained unperturbed: "Brother Peng, what's the rush? Let them fight. When they can't fight back anymore, or when they're killed or crippled and can't fight back, they'll naturally stop. We can just watch the show!"

Wu Yang couldn't help but ask, "Brother Zhou, isn't this a bit inappropriate?"

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "What's wrong with that? Let them fight it out. It's not you or me who will get hurt. We can even watch a good show. Why not?"

After he finished speaking, he even joined in the commotion: "Hit him, hit him harder! Damn, you can't even hold him down, what a waste of such a strong body, poke his eyes..."

Ouch, you flipped over! You're pretty strong. Bite that son of a bitch, or you can go after his crotch.

Ah yes, yes, yes... stones, pick up stones and smash them, smash them on the head, send him to see the King of Hell in a minute, right?
If you're really too scared to smash someone's head for fear of killing them, then smash their hands or feet. If you break them, they won't be able to fight back. Hey, didn't you see the shovel and pickaxe over there?

He shouted so enthusiastically that the crowd turned to look at him.

The gold-digging novices couldn't understand why this seemingly refined and gentle technician, Zhou, was so interested in fighting, and why his ideas were so damn ruthless.

Several old customers who had frequented the pottery market couldn't help but chuckle as they listened.

They are people who are used to this kind of thing.

Wu Yang found Zhou Jingming's shouts quite amusing, feeling that Zhou Jingming had grasped the essence of the Eighteen Black Dragons.

His antics made the two men, who were rolling around in the mud and sand, feel that the fight was becoming less and less interesting. They felt like monkeys performing acrobatics. After breaking free, they stopped fighting and turned to look at Zhou Jingming with resentment in their eyes.

Zhou Jingming, however, seemed unsatisfied and kept urging, "Hey, hey, why did you stop? Keep playing! Why did you stop?"

The two rolled their eyes. Since they were already covered in mud in the sandpit, they didn't care about anything else and sat down on one side, panting heavily.

"That's enough! We haven't had enough yet!"

Zhou Jingming sighed, stood up, coughed, and cleared his throat: "Since we're not fighting anymore, I have a few words I'd like to say. Please listen."

I know it's tough in the Gold Rush Valley, and everyone's hot-tempered. We're all young, so it's normal to have a temper. It's understandable that we might even end up fighting.

But let me be clear: this camp doesn't tolerate idlers. I don't care what your reasons are, if you're too injured to work, then get the hell out of here.

Alternatively, they could be kept in the camp. However, those who were beaten and unable to work would have to be cared for by another person at a cost. The cost would not be much; they would have to pay the foreman one gram of gold per day, and the amount would be the same for the number of days they were cared for. This would be considered their food expenses.

If both sides in a fight need to recover from their injuries but still want to stay in the camp, they should pay for the gold themselves and not accept free food and drink.

Of course, since they couldn't work anymore, they naturally didn't participate in distributing the gold every day.

I think you're all rich people who don't care about such trivial matters.

But the rest of us who came to pan for gold are poor, and we also want to eat something good every day... Remember, this is the new rule for today.

The reason is simple: you guys are affecting our ability to make money.

Hearing this, Peng Yuanchao grinned and said, "Brother, you've set a good rule!"

Zhou Jingming chuckled: "Of course. Sigh... there's no show to watch, so stop standing around like idiots and get to work!"

After he finished speaking, he lit a cigarette, swayed back to the riverbank, and continued to shake his golden bucket.

The crowd that had been watching from the edge of the sandpit returned to their positions, picked up their tools, and continued working.

Peng Yuanchao looked at the two men fighting and said, "Can you still work? If you can, get up and work for me. If you can't, either hand over the gold and go back to be supported, or get out of here!"

The two exchanged a glance, but neither spoke. They simply limped back to their respective positions and went about their business.

The minor conflict was thus resolved.

With this rule in place, fighting means fighting for money. In addition, they don't want to leave this blessed land of the small peninsula, so even if their bodies can't take it, they have to force themselves to endure it.

As evening fell, after distributing the gold and having dinner, Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang went out for training, while the rest of the group rested on the grass by the tents. They talked about the fight that had taken place during the day, with Peng Yuanchao scolding both sides. The group then tried to mediate, and the two men glared angrily at each other when they met, which gradually calmed things down.

The next morning, while everyone was working on the small peninsula, Jinwang, who was guarding the tent, suddenly started barking wildly.

Zhou Jingming, shaking his golden bucket, stood up in the shallow water and looked towards the camp for a while. He saw two people carrying large and small bags coming up from the riverbank below. When they got closer, he could see that they were Li Guozhu and his nephew.

Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao dropped what they were doing and went to greet Jin Wang, calling him to a stop.

Upon meeting, Li Guozhu immediately placed the items he had brought on the table in the middle tent: a pot of wine and some smoked horse sausage.

After putting his things away, he handed a cigarette to Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao, who had followed him in: "I told you I would come to visit, but there were a lot of things to do at the camp, and it took so long. I'm a little embarrassed."

I brought my nephew to the locals who run businesses in the mountains. We bought some wine and meat. It's not much, so please don't mind.

"We can't just stand by and watch someone die; it's a serious matter!"

Zhou Jingming looked at Li Guozhu's nephew and saw that his face, which had been flattened by the shovel, had mostly recovered, but his nose and mouth were crooked, and his appearance was completely ruined. He casually asked, "How is the recovery? Are there any other major problems?"

“Conditions in the mountains are limited, and we have to guard the mine site so we can’t let our guard down. I could only send two people to the hospital in Tiemaike for hospitalization. They just applied some medicine and bandaged him up, gave him two days of anti-inflammatory injections, and then he came back. He didn’t get the bandages off until two days ago… It’s too difficult for him to recover completely. The rest of his body is fine.”

Li Guozhu took a deep breath and slowly exhaled: "This kid was throwing a tantrum at me a few days ago, saying that he would never be able to get a wife in this state."

I told him, "Men shouldn't care so much about their looks. The most important thing is to be rich and capable. If things don't work out, you can always buy one, and even pick out a nice one. Instead of wasting time thinking about that, you should work hard to make money. What can't you do with money?"

Zhou Jingming smiled, not knowing what to say, but only offered a token word of comfort: "Indeed, a man needs to be rich and capable!"

The four chatted briefly and smoked two cigarettes. Li Guozhu didn't want to delay Zhou Jingming and the others, and he also needed to get back to the mine, so he called his nephew and went back.

Before leaving, he bowed to the two of them with his hands clasped in a fist salute and said, "If you need any help, just let me know, and I'll be there whenever you call!"

　The child was naughty, we're late!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)