My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 105 Two Thousand and Thirty-Eight Grams

"Since you all say you'll listen to me, then I'll be frank."

Zhou Jingming took a deep breath: "Gold is not an ordinary thing. The gold we obtained was not mined from a mine. It cannot be divided according to the established rules. This is considered a windfall."

When it comes to dividing gold, even if everyone worked together to get it, and even if it's divided equally, everyone will have their own thoughts, no matter what they say.

After all, there's also the concept of the degree of merit.

This is a very difficult and troublesome matter. No matter how you handle it, there will always be someone who feels they've been cheated, and someone who feels they've taken too much. There's no fixed answer.

Over time, the pent-up thoughts will gradually surface. People will start to envy this person and dislike that person, and then estrangement and conflict will arise.

There are many instances of ruthless people who covet others' gold and resort to murder.

So, you're asking me to divide it, which puts me in the spotlight. I'm a human being too, and I also like gold. If I don't divide it well, won't some people hold a grudge?

At the same time, I'm also worried that one day someone might stab me in the back.

But these things can't just sit there; they have to be divided up eventually. You're asking me to divide them, so I can only do it my way. What if you're not satisfied with the result?
"You tell me yourselves, how am I supposed to divide it?"

His words pointed out many problems and were the truth.

Peng Yuanchao remained silent with his head down, while Wu Yang crossed his arms, seemingly lost in thought.

Zhou Jingming didn't rush them, giving them plenty of time to consider.

After a long while, he spoke again: "Let's all share our thoughts. There will be similar things in the future, so we'd better set a rule to avoid trouble later."

“Brother Zhou, you led me here to seek my fortune. You taught me step by step. Besides knowing a little bit of martial arts, I have no other skills and am not worth mentioning.”

Wu Yang spoke first: "But over the past few days, I've come to realize that you're an expert in this field, someone who's ambitious. I've thought about it carefully and found that I actually quite like this path, and it seems to suit me well. I'd like to work with you in the future."

Setting up a business isn't easy; it requires a lot of money. You're short on cash, but only by setting up a big enough business can I earn more money by following you. I understand that principle.

Therefore, I think you should take the lion's share of the profits according to the established rules.

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly and looked at Peng Yuanchao: "Brother Peng, what's your opinion?"

“I…I agree with Brother Wuyang’s opinion. I also want to make a lot of money with you in the future.”

Peng Yuanchao looked at Wu Yang, then at Zhou Jingming: "I'm sure you've all figured it out. I'm only a half-baked gold miner. I don't know how to find gold seeds, and I'm only good at bluffing people in management. I'm not good at fighting either."

If it weren't for the two of you, the team would have collapsed the time the bearded man came to claim territory, let alone working with Old Tang. I might already be in another team digging sand and transporting materials, earning a meager share of gold every day, and still be a team leader.

As the old saying goes, "You can only carry a bowl as big as your hands can hold, and you can only eat as much rice as your bowl can hold."

I want to make a lot of money, but I also know what kind of person I am.

Besides, you guys got your hands on gold and brought it back to share with me; that's already a huge favor.

I also think you should take the lion's share.

You set the rules, I'll get a smaller share, I just hope you won't mind and will include me next year.

"Brother Peng, you can't say that. At least in my opinion, you're very qualified to be a squad leader. Only lucky people have the opportunity to work under you!"

The two of them sounded very sincere.

Zhou Jingming breathed a sigh of relief: "Since you've all said so, just like Wu Yang said, I want to make a name for myself in the gold mining business. I need to set up a business and expand it to make real money. I am indeed short of money."

I'll be frank: if we make any more windfalls like this in the future, I'll take 50%, Wu Yang 30%, and Brother Peng 20%. If any more capable helpers join us later, we'll make adjustments.

Do you think there's a problem with this division?

"Give me a bigger share!"

"Give me a bigger share!"

Wu Yang and Peng Yuanchao said almost in unison.

Zhou Jingming smiled and immediately made the decision: "No need for further discussion, it's settled then... the division of the gold!"

Peng Yuanchao and Wu Yang thought for a moment and then said nothing more.

Wu Yang remained guarding the tent entrance. Peng Yuanchao began to divide the gold using a small balance scale. While he was still calculating how much to divide it, Zhou Jingming had already told him the answer: "A total of 1,823 grams, divided into ten equal parts, each part is 182.3 grams."

"Brother Peng, weigh out your portion, 365 grams, Wuyang's, 547 grams, and give me the rest!"

He filled in the blanks slightly, giving the two people a whole number.

Peng Yuanchao had no doubts about Zhou Jingming's calculations, but simply smiled and said, "It's good to be educated; you figured it out so quickly."

Zhou Jingming urged, "Hurry up, the three of us have been in the tent for quite a while now."

Peng Yuanchao nodded and quickly divided the gold into three portions as Zhou Jingming had instructed.

He casually put his own portion into his pocket and then handed over Wu Yang's portion.

Zhou Jingming then put his 911 grams of gold into an oil paper bag and stuffed it into his pocket. Next, he took out the money he had confiscated and handed it to Peng Yuanchao: "Keep this money. Use it to buy oil and other supplies in the future."

Don't be silly and keep using your own money to cover costs. Don't forget, you also plan to share some with Xu Youliang.

At this rate, you won't have much left at the end of the year.

At this moment, Wu Yang seemed to remember something. He touched his pocket and took out the gold tooth he had pulled out: "I forgot, this thing isn't included in the calculation!"

Zhou Jingming glanced at him: "You can keep pretending!"

Peng Yuanchao leaned closer and took a closer look: "Golden beans...this doesn't look like it either!"

Wu Yang laughed: "A tooth that was pulled out!"

Upon hearing this, Peng Yuanchao took a step back and shook his head repeatedly: "You keep it yourself... By the way, shouldn't we have a drink to celebrate?"

Before Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang could speak, he ran to get the wine pot and brought three bowls. He busied himself pouring the wine, muttering to himself as he poured, "I still have work to do, so I can't drink too much. Just a little bit, just to show for it."

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang exchanged a glance but did not stop him. After he poured the wine, the two of them went over and saw that there was not much wine in the bowl, about an ounce. They each picked up their bowls, clinked them together, and downed the wine in one gulp.

The wine, like a fiery dragon, burned its way down from the mouth, throat, chest, and abdomen. Although there wasn't much, it still gave a passionate and exhilarating feeling.

Zhou Jingming held his breath until it gradually subsided in his chest and abdomen before letting out a long sigh.

"It's inconvenient to carry so much gold around. After we eat, I'm going to hide it... Wu Yang, you're coming too!"

Zhou Jingming instructed Peng Yuanchao: "Brother Peng, you have less gold. You should hide it later, or stay here and lead everyone in the work."

If they ask, just tell them that because there were robbers who came to steal gold last night, I felt we needed to buy a few more guns, so I said Wu Yang and I went to buy guns.

In any case, the five guns in the tent will eventually be used. We can't just make something out of nothing, nor can we let people speculate wildly.

Also, after working up most of the night, I'm feeling sleepy. Wu Yang and I need to find a place to catch up on some sleep, otherwise I won't be able to keep going. We'll come back to work in the afternoon.

Peng Yuanchao nodded: "That's a good excuse... Alright, I'm going to get to work. I've saved the food I made this morning for you guys, you can just heat it up and eat!"

After he finished speaking, he turned and left the tent.

After resting for a while, Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang went to the tent to light a campfire, brought out the leftover rice, and roasted it by the fire. As for vegetables, the cabbage that Peng Yuanchao had bought from Tiemaike had long been eaten up, and they had been eating potatoes that could be stored for a long time for the past few days. They cooked a pot of potatoes with pickled cabbage.

The two men heated up the food and made do with what they had to eat. They also cooked corn porridge for Jinwang before picking up their hunting rifles, agreeing on a meeting place, and heading off to hide their respective gold.

Zhou Jingming made a point of retrieving the gold he had buried at the base of the tree. Without changing locations, he returned to the small rocky cliff in the ravine behind the mountain. After confirming that no one was around, he took off his shoes, climbed the cliff, and retrieved the jar containing 666 grams of gold.

After putting all the gold they had brought into the jars, they buried them again in the crevices of the cliff face.

At this moment, Zhou Jingming had a total of 2,038 grams of gold in his hand.

Just like last time, after hiding the gold, he went uphill into the pine forest and hid there. After waiting for about half an hour and seeing nothing unusual around him, he led Jin Wang back to the edge of the fir forest behind the dugout to meet up with Wu Yang.

The two of them chose a shady patch of grass at the edge of the woods and lay down.

As for the woods, although they are cooler, they are definitely not a place to sleep.

There was no other reason than that there were many mosquitoes inside.

In my past life, I often heard people say that there were no mosquitoes in the Northwest.

Zhou Jingming wanted to laugh every time he heard such words.

Indeed, in many parts of Northwest China, the lack of rainfall throughout the year, hot summers, and large temperature differences between day and night are unfavorable for mosquito breeding, resulting in fewer mosquitoes. However, these are desert and Gobi areas.

In fact, the mountains of Altay region in northern Xinjiang are a paradise for mosquitoes, so numerous that it's terrifying.

For no other reason than that, many areas in the Altai Mountains are covered with vast forests, and the region is also crisscrossed by ravines, rivers, and lakes, making it an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes.

If you go to sleep in the woods, you'll be lucky if you don't get sucked dry by mosquitoes, let alone sleep soundly.

Now that we've moved out of our dugouts and into tents, we can't stand the mosquitoes without using smoke to drive them away every night, especially the kind with black and white stripes on their feet and bodies.

These mosquitoes bite people in broad daylight, and you don't even know when they bite you. They bite quickly and suck blood quickly as well.

By the time people felt the urge to pat it, it had already sucked up almost all of its juices, and the key point is that it slipped away very quickly.

The places it bites are itchy and uncomfortable.

The two were indeed tired, and fell asleep not long after lying down. Only Jin Wang ran around in the grass and woods, and after a while, he ran to Zhou Jingming's side to sniff him, then climbed down, put his head on his outstretched legs, and closed his eyes to sleep.

Zhou Jingming was woken up by Wu Yang. He sat up and looked at the position of the sun. It was already around three or four in the afternoon.

After a good nap, the two men were refreshed and quickly returned to their tent with their hunting rifles. After putting the guns away, they took over the task of shaking the golden bucket from Xu Youliang and Peng Yuanchao on the small peninsula.

At this moment, Peng Yuanchao spoke up and asked, "Brother, do you think those people who came to rob the gold last night were bandits?"

　Thanks to book friend 20190422075509041 for the reward!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)