My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 107 Flood
Peng Yuanchao started cursing directly, and listening to the thunder and increasingly heavy rain outside, none of them dared to stay in bed any longer and quickly got dressed and got up.

Wu Yang, Xu Youliang, Sun Chenggui and the others were the first to get up when Peng Yuanchao woke them up. Ignoring the others, they followed Zhou Jingming, grabbed flashlights, ropes, wooden poles and other tools, and rushed to the small peninsula as soon as possible.

The group didn't bother with anything else. As soon as they reached the small peninsula, they ran to the diesel engine. Wu Yang used a flashlight to help Zhou Jingming dismantle the water pipes, while Xu Youliang and Sun Chenggui were busy tying the diesel engine with ropes.

The raindrops grew larger and larger, and in just a minute or two, the three of them were soaked to the bone. The cold raindrops stung their faces as they hit them.

The other gold prospectors who came out later were already soaked before they even reached the small peninsula.

But at least Peng Yuanchao chased them away, and they arrived at the small peninsula with flashlights in the rain, busy picking up tools and dismantling the chute.

With more manpower, things can be done faster.

It didn't take long for the important equipment, such as the diesel engine and the chute, to be moved to the open space in front of the tent and covered with tarpaulins.

Soaked to the bone, the group was no longer sleepy. They retreated into their tents, listening to the relentless, pouring rain outside.

"Hurry up and find some clothes to change into, gather around a fire to warm up, don't get sick, or you won't be able to do any work when the weather gets nice."

Peng Yuanchao urged everyone on, then called Xu Youliang and ran out in the rain to carry the firewood they usually kept into the tent.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang also went out to help, moving some things to the middle tent. After they felt that was enough, they busied themselves changing into dry clothes.

The firewood was soaked by the heavy rain, but some of it was already dry. They split the heartwood with an axe, selected the dry pieces, and shredded them into thin strips to start a fire in the tent.

At this moment, Peng Yuanchao crawled into the tent and scanned the outside with a flashlight. He saw that there were already murky streams on the grass outside the tent.

Fortunately, drainage ditches had been dug around the tent during its construction, so it didn't have much of an impact on the inside of the tent.

Jinwang couldn't stay outside either. It was smart enough to run to the middle tent early on and, like the three of them, stood at the tent entrance, head held high, looking outside.

Peng Yuanchao shook his head and sighed: "This rain is fucking heavy!"

Zhou Jingming nodded: "Yes, this is the first time I've seen such heavy rain in the years I've been here. Usually, it's just a few moderate rains or a short period of heavy rain. What's happening tonight can be considered an extremely heavy downpour. I hope it doesn't last too long."

Peng Yuanchao's expression was grave: "Judging from this, it won't stop anytime soon!"

"No matter what, we've moved everything back. Even if the water rises higher, it won't reach us. We can still sleep peacefully."

Zhou Jingming dragged a wooden stump to sit by the fire to warm himself. He gave Wu Yang and Peng Yuanchao each a cigarette. After finishing the cigarettes and his hair was almost dry, he lay down on the bed, wrapped himself in the quilt, and went to sleep.

It was a rare cool day, perfect for sleeping. Even with the noisy raindrops on the tent, he fell asleep soon after.

When I woke up, it was already dawn.

The sound of raindrops on the tent had subsided considerably, but it was still continuing.

Wu Yang was still asleep, but Peng Yuanchao seemed to have been awake all night, sitting by the fire, looking outside.

Hearing Zhou Jingming sit up, he turned around and looked at Zhou Jingming with a face full of despair: "It's over, it's all over?"

Zhou Jingming was somewhat puzzled: "What's over?"

Peng Yuanchao turned to look outside again: "The small peninsula is flooded, the pole has fallen over, and the well pulley is nowhere to be seen."

Zhou Jingming put on his clothes and shoes, went to the tent entrance and took a look. He saw that the small peninsula was mostly submerged, and the river was at least fourteen or fifteen meters wide. The river, which was originally quite gentle, was now turbulent and full of ferocity.

"It's fortunate that we brought back things like diesel engines and water pumps. Otherwise, with this river, these things would either be washed away or buried. Even if we managed to get them out, they would just be a pile of scrap metal."

Zhou Jingming looked at the small peninsula; the pole holder was gone, and so was the windlass holder.

Wu Yang was awakened by the two talking. Wearing only his underwear, he went to the tent entrance, glanced at it, and interjected, "It's a good thing Brother Zhou had the foresight. If we had built the dugout on the small peninsula back then, we probably wouldn't even have a place to stay now."

Peng Yuanchao lamented, "None of that matters. What matters is that the sand pits on the small peninsula will be filled in by the flood, even if they don't collapse. Who knows how long it will take to clear them again if we want to mine the gold-rich layers."

Zhou Jingming patted him on the shoulder: "Brother Peng, don't be so sad. Gold mining depends on timing, location, and people. A lot of the time, it's all about luck. Try to think more positively. I'm more worried about other things..."

Peng Yuanchao was taken aback: "What is it?"

“We’re already considered lucky here. Think about other mining sites. I bet many of them were washed away even more badly. We still have a place to shelter from the wind and rain. Many people probably didn’t even have their dugouts flooded and don’t have anywhere to live.”

Zhou Jingming frowned slightly: "If the water in this little side ditch is so high, the water in the main channel will only be more terrifying."

If the mining site isn't destroyed, it can continue operating after a couple of days when the water level drops. But if the mining site is destroyed, you'll have to find another place.

This Gold Rush Valley is going to be in chaos again for a while.

Upon hearing this, Peng Yuanchao's brows furrowed even more deeply.

Looking at the surging river outside, Zhou Jingming pondered for a long time, then had a different idea, and his brows relaxed.

The rain gradually stopped in the evening.

As he led Jin Wang up the small peninsula to check the situation, Peng Yuanchao, Wu Yang, and Xu Youliang followed. Standing on the riverbank and looking upstream and downstream, they found that several nearby mining sites were almost completely submerged, except for a small section of the riverbank on the small peninsula where Zhang Batou and his group were located.

But their situation isn't much better.

Their dugouts were built on a small peninsula. When the weather got hot, they would build a wooden frame on the peninsula, thatch the top, and live in a shed inside.

The shed is gone now, probably washed away by the water. The dugout, half buried in the ground, is also gone. A large group of people have torn up a tarpaulin and tied the edges of it to a few trees in the woods by the riverbank. They huddled inside, but the ground was so wet that they couldn't even sleep.

At this moment, Zhang, the foreman, also led two people to stand on the riverbank, pointing and gesturing at the surging river.

Several downstream mining sites appear to have been completely destroyed.

Gold prospectors mostly huddled under simple tarpaulin sheds by the woods along the riverbank.

This place is different from the main river channel. The terrain along the main river channel is slightly flatter, with terraces. Those terraces used to be riverbeds. The mining sites were washed away, so they moved to higher places. As long as the gold vein is of good quality, they can continue mining.

This is also why more gold prospectors prefer to gather in the main river channel.

The riverbed of Chagou has steep slopes on both sides. Most of the mining sites are located in these silt deposits along the riverbanks, which are not easy to form terraces. They are often washed away as the river cuts down.

Of course, there are also many places along the main river where the slopes on both sides are steep, and many mining sites have been destroyed.

After this flood, many teams will eventually lose their mining sites. If they can't find suitable sites, they'll have to resort to robbing, which will inevitably lead to another round of fighting.

Although the weather soon cleared up and the sun became scorching again, the floodwaters did not recede, and work could not be done for the time being.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang spent most of their time practicing martial arts over the past two days. When they got tired, they would go back to their tents, eat and drink as usual. The flood seemed to have no effect on them at all.

Peng Yuanchao was feeling quite down, and he would go to the riverbank at least seven or eight times a day.

Seeing his anxiety, Zhou Jingming went to the riverbank to find him.

Zhou Jingming handed him a pack of cigarettes, rolling one while comforting him: "Brother Peng, don't overthink it. You still have me, don't you? If this mine is no longer viable, I'll take you to find a better place. What, don't you trust my skills in finding gold mines?"

Peng Yuanchao shook his head: "Trustworthy... but where are good seedlings so easy to find? It will take a lot of time. It's already July. At most, we can work in the valley until mid-October before we have to leave. Time is running out!"

"Why are you worrying so much? You won't be able to work for very long this year, but at least you've already broken even and are making a profit, right?"

Hearing Zhou Jingming talk about this, he briefly considered his earnings for the year and felt much better: "I earned more than in previous years; it was a year where I truly made money."

"Isn't this progress?"

Zhou Jingming laughed: "Besides, didn't you say you wanted to work with me again next year? Next year I'll be the foreman, I'll cover the initial investment, so you won't have to worry as much as you did this year, and you can earn even more."

Things will work themselves out in the end. Making money takes time and patience. As the old saying goes, "Haste makes waste."

Stop overthinking. Eat, drink, and sleep as usual. It's not like you're here watching and the flooded peninsula will immediately recover and you can start panning for gold.

Aren't you tired?

Peng Yuanchao remained silent for a while, then turned to Zhou Jingming and smiled slightly: "Yeah, why should I think so much?"

Zhou Jingming patted him on the shoulder, lit the rolled-up cigarette, stood up and took a couple of puffs. He looked up and down at the upstream and downstream areas. The mines that were visible were not moving for the time being. They were all waiting for the flood to recede so they could see the situation before making a decision on what to do next.

But the situation doesn't seem optimistic.

The river has receded somewhat in the last two days.

But people discovered that a lot of the silt that had accumulated before had been washed away by the sudden flood.

Deep embankments have been carved out along the riverbank.

Seeing this, Zhou Jingming laughed instead: "This flood, although it will delay us for a few days, may not be a bad thing... Look at the riverbank..."

Peng Yuanchao also stood up, looking around at the riverbank, somewhat puzzled: "Brother, what are you trying to say?"

Zhou Jingming pointed to the riverbank carved out by the river: "Although this flood submerged the small peninsula and refilled the sand pits with the gold-rich bottom layer that had been dug out, the large amount of water also washed away a lot of the surface silt."

In other words, we might save a lot of trouble removing the top layer of silt. Just think, with such a thick layer of silt washed away by the river, how much time will that save us from subsequent dredging? That all requires a lot of physical labor to transport.”

Upon hearing this, Peng Yuanchao was immediately in high spirits: "That's really good news!"

"Alright, while we still have some time, and our mine is running low on oil, take a few men out again and get some more. Once we've taken care of that, we should be able to start work again."

"Okay, I'll go tomorrow!"

Just then, another gust of mountain wind suddenly blew in, blowing the cigarette between Zhou Jingming's fingers. Some of the fiery red smoke particles inside were blown out, some landing on his clothes and some on the back of his hand, burning him so much that he slapped them off repeatedly: "Damn it!"

Mohe cigarettes are strong, refreshing, and inexpensive, but their biggest drawback is that the smoke particles from burning cigarettes tend to spill, often damaging clothes and burning hands.

(End of this chapter)