My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 122 I Have a Way
People were led into the tent and invited to sit down at the table.

Zhou Jingming poured them a bowl of hot tea and handed it to them, then gave each of them a cigarette: "Don't be so nervous, I don't eat people here... Take out your food!"

The leader sighed and nodded to his companion who had just returned.

His companion then pulled out another oil paper bag filled with even more bran and placed it on the table: "That's really all we have!"

Zhou Jingming shone his flashlight on the oil paper bag and looked at the gold in it. He figured it was about enough. He turned to Li Guozhu and said, "Brother Li, let's put the stuff away!"

Li Guozhu was slightly taken aback, but still gathered the three small oil paper bags in front of him as instructed.

Zhou Jingming then looked at the two men again: "Alright, since you've shown your sincerity, I won't make things difficult for you. Let's just let bygones be bygones regarding the matter of seizing Brother Li's mine."

Let me make this clear first: after this matter is over, it would be best if everyone could live in peace. If you have any other intentions, I advise you to think twice.

The two nodded hurriedly, then stood up: "Then...can we go back?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "Of course you can. The tent flap is open, and no one is stopping you."

Upon hearing this, the two felt as if they had been granted a pardon and turned to leave.

Before she even reached the tent entrance, a cool voice came from behind her: "Wait!"

The two of them trembled involuntarily, stopped in their tracks, and turned around in a panic.

But Zhou Jingming pointed to the two bowls of tea: "Drink the tea before you leave, lest word get out that we are not hospitable enough to even have a sip of tea."

The two exchanged a glance, then hurried back to the table, each picked up a bowl of tea, gulped it down, and put the bowls down. They then looked up at Zhou Jingming, and only after he nodded did they turn and crawl out of the tent.

Zhou Jingming followed them out, called out to Jin Wang who was howling fiercely, and watched the two disappear into the woods above the camp before returning to his tent.

The two walked briskly through the woods until they were far away from Zhou Jingming's camp. Only then did they slow down, their rapid breathing gradually calmed down, and their pounding hearts returned to their normal rhythm.

"Now look what's happened. We've worked for nothing for over a month. If you ask me, we shouldn't have come. If we were really worried, we could have just given up the mining site... Damn it, just like that guy surnamed Zhou said, we've become free laborers."

The man who brought the gold was indignant: "Brother, you're too cowardly. When I went back to get the gold, I argued with my men for a long time, but most of them were unwilling to hand it over. In the end, they said that you were being held here to ransom the gold, and only then did they reluctantly hand it over."

"Afraid of trouble? Of course I'm afraid of trouble! I'm afraid you bunch of bastards won't make it out of this valley!"

The leader, who had been holding back his anger, suddenly exploded: "Didn't you hear what that guy surnamed Zhou said? He thinks we haven't found enough gold yet, and we'll only make our move when we've found more."

You didn't see the stuff they brought out, it was packed in two sacks... If they were serious, they wouldn't even need all of us to go, just half of them would be enough to wipe us all out.

They're capable of such things, you know that. How many corpses have floated down this river?

"We can't bear to lose the gold we've panned for over a month now. If they come knocking on our door, not only will we lose all the gold we've accumulated over the past few months, but we might also lose several lives."

The man who delivered the gold fell silent for a moment before asking again, "So, are we still going to pan for it?"

"Why not go for it? The guy surnamed Zhou said that this matter is over. We can still work for another three months. With the gold output of the mine, we can still get a lot of gold. The deeper we go, the richer the gold becomes. We won't lose out."

"Aren't you afraid that those people will come knocking on your door again?"

"Based on their style of doing things, it shouldn't be. From what we've heard, this group of people surnamed Zhou never provoke other teams on their own initiative. They only take action when others provoke them. Since he said that things are over, it should be fine. I can only believe him."

"Hopefully!"

"This is the only way I can do it. We can't make a living on the main river. We've been chased to several places and haven't had a single day of peace. We've spent a lot of money and haven't found much gold. That's why we came to this remote ditch with fewer people and came up with this idea."

Who knew that after spending three days scouting the location, I still ran into a brick wall... What could I do? I had no choice but to compromise.

If I can get back alive this year, I'll stay home and farm next year. I'm never coming back. I don't want to lose my life in there without making any money. I... I swear..."

The two talked as they walked further and further away.

Inside the tent at the small peninsula camp, Li Guozhu pushed the gold in front of him back towards Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming looked at the three oil paper bags: "Brother Li, what do you mean by this? This is their compensation for you during this period. You can handle it yourself."

Li Guozhu shook his head: "If it weren't for you guys, where would we get all this gold? As for me? I'm already very grateful that you helped us get some revenge. It makes me feel much better."

Zhou Jingming glanced at him and pushed the gold back again: "Here's what we're giving you back, why are you being so formal?"

He was just going along with the flow and helping out today, but he was more interested in seeing how Li Guozhu would handle the situation.

Li Guozhu was taken aback for a moment: "That's too formal. We're all family now... Alright, I'll handle it."

He stood up, took out a small balance scale from his bag, and as the foreman, he was prepared with such a commonly used tool.

After placing the balance scale on the table and ensuring it was balanced, Li Guozhu poured the gold from the three oil paper bags into the small balance scale.

His small balance scale has a maximum weighing capacity of 500 grams, meaning that with all the weights added together, it can only weigh 500 grams.

He weighed the gold six times, calculating its total weight: 2,783 grams. At this moment, everyone at the mine gathered in the central tent, standing around the table to watch.

Li Guozhu glanced at everyone and said, "Today, all of you brothers have stood up for me and stood up for me, so of course, the gold should be shared by everyone. Let's just consider this gold as the output of our mine and divide it according to the agreed method."

Upon hearing this, everyone was overjoyed and began to make plans in their minds.

Li Guozhu then found some banknotes, wrote and drew on them, and calculated the result: "Each of you will receive seventy-seven grams... I also hope that everyone can work together and do things well in the future, and I will not let you down."

Upon hearing the amount, everyone was even more delighted. They knew that the gold they could get their hands on, given the current gold production on the small peninsula, would be equivalent to more than ten days of their work.

He first used a small balance to divide the gold into individual pieces. Then, he gave the rest to Peng Yuanchao and Wu Yang, each receiving 231 grams. He kept the rest for himself, and then, without weighing it again, he sent it all to Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming smiled, put the gold into an oil paper bag, and stuffed it into his pocket: "Alright, it's getting late. I have nothing more to say. Go back and get some rest so you'll have the energy to work tomorrow!"

Everyone happily dispersed.

Zhou Jingming didn't linger and went to bed early.

The next morning, work continued as usual on the small peninsula.

Just after lunch, when Zhou Jingming went to rest under the shade of a tree, Peng Yuanchao and Wu Yang came over and leaned against the grass on either side of him.

Seeing the two of them tilting their heads and looking around, he guessed they probably had something to say: "Just say what you have to say, don't keep it to yourself!"

"There are some things to say..."

Peng Yuanchao propped himself up on his elbows and said, "To be honest, I'm not entirely satisfied with Old Li's gold distribution last night. If it weren't for you, where would all this gold come from? And why didn't you give us a bigger share? Brother Wuyang thinks so too."

Zhou Jingming glanced at the two men, then turned to look at the opposite mountain peak: "I don't think there's a big problem. Just like he said, everyone helped him back up yesterday, so everyone should get a share of the gold. There's no problem with that."

On the contrary, I think he's quite good at dealing with people.

Peng Ge, Wu Yang, you should always remember one thing: it's never a bad thing to treat your own people well.

If the leader is only thinking about pocketing the gold, what will the people below think? They will definitely be unhappy and envious, and their hearts will naturally be divided. When trouble comes again, some people will naturally back down.

Because they'll think, "All the benefits are taken by you leaders, what does it have to do with me?"

Moreover, through this incident, the resentment in everyone's hearts disappeared, and Li Guozhu and the others were able to completely integrate into the team.

Furthermore, a good team is one that allows everyone to make money and is willing to contribute.

Once we've panned for all the gold on the small peninsula, we'll move on to another place, and then we'll definitely expand the scale.

Some of the people who followed us this year made money and won't come back next year, but there will definitely be some who, having tasted success, will come back.

What do you two think will happen if they come to Altay again?

Peng Yuanchao frowned: "What will happen?"

"They will think about coming back to us, and by then, they will be our backbone."

Moreover, as they go back one by one, they will definitely bring even more people with them. Believe it or not, next year, we won't even need to spread the word; many people will naturally come looking for us early on.

This is the effect of a good reputation; it naturally has a unifying effect on people's hearts.

Unlike some gang leaders or bosses, who become completely terrified after working for them once, many teams fail because the leaders are too greedy and don't treat their subordinates well. They ruin themselves, even losing their lives, because of the people below them.

As for gold... even if you gave me half of that gold, I wouldn't suddenly become rich.

Besides, when it comes to getting gold, do you think I lack the skills?
I have plenty of connections.

"Since you're so indifferent, what can I say?"

Peng Yuanchao sighed and lay down on the grass: "I've found that I can't talk to you too much. If I do, I'll definitely get a lecture, even though I don't really understand it, but it still makes sense to me."

Wu Yang laughed: "I told you long ago not to worry about it. Brother Zhou always thinks further ahead than you or I do. We'll do whatever he tells us to do..."

"You can't say that!"

Zhou Jingming interrupted him, saying, "I'm not omnipotent. There are always things I haven't thought of. You guys still need to help me think things through."

Wu Yang stretched and lay down on the grass: "I don't know anything. My head is all muscles. It's too much for me to do physical work or think things through."

Peng Yuanchao chimed in from the side, "What if your brain, which is all muscle, suddenly explodes and you come up with an even more outrageous idea?"

Zhou Jingming laughed at his words: "I agree with that!"

He paused for a moment, then continued, "I can get closer to Brother Li now."

(End of this chapter)