My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 128 A Heavy Burden Unloaded

The gaunt young man walked for a while, then suddenly turned back: "I almost forgot, do you sell a lot of things?"

Zhou Jingming knew he asked this question to make it easier for the buyer to prepare: "Something worth several thousand yuan!"

The gaunt young man didn't ask any more questions, turned around and left, his figure quickly disappearing into the shadows of the house.

"Rules...what rules?"

Wu Yang was very curious about this kind of thing.

Zhou Jingming looked in the direction the man left: "What other rules could they be? The rules of the trade, such as the number of people on both sides being the same, not being allowed to bring weapons when meeting, not allowing outsiders to peek... There are many rules, many of which are old things, and it's impossible to list them all in one go."

After a pause, Zhou Jingming continued, "Rules are rules, and whether or not they are followed depends on the person. Therefore, rules cannot be trusted."

In the gold trade, double-crossing often happens, so you have to be careful, flexible, and if you sense something is wrong, retreat if you can, and act if you should... Brother, you're skilled, which gives you a big advantage in this area.

We're not selling much gold this time, and they have a base of operations, they're doing long-term business, and they need a reputation, so there shouldn't be any major problems, but we still can't let our guard down.

Though the process of sifting through sand is arduous, only by blowing away the last grains of sand can gold be found.

Every gram of this gold was hard-won.

As he said this, Zhou Jingming touched the Ma brand pistol hidden at his waist.

Wu Yang nodded slightly.

Right now, the control over this matter is not strict, and transactions are still somewhat regulated. But in a few years, when there is a crackdown on gold smuggling, gold will be harder to obtain, and people will start to resort to any means necessary. That will be the most chaotic time.

The three waited in front of the earthen house for about twenty minutes before the gaunt young man led them there.

The three men stopped four or five meters away and sized up Zhou Jingming and his companions.

Zhou Jingming and his two companions were also sizing each other up. They noticed that the other two were similarly equipped, with two carrying hunting rifles and the young man in the lead, wearing jeans and a jacket, carrying only a bag and nothing else.

"Alright, since you both know the rules, I'll act as the middleman and help you make the connection!"

The gaunt young man opened the door to the mud house. The furnishings inside were very simple: a blanket with a low table on it and an oil lamp on the table. He went in first and lit the oil lamp: "One person from each side can come in. The rest of you wait outside and don't come any closer."

Zhou Jingming reached out to Bai Zhishun: "Shunzi, give me the things!"

Bai Zhishun was superstitious and had a natural sense of trust in Zhou Jingming. Without thinking, he took out the gold from his pocket, which was in a small oil paper bag.

After Zhou Jingming took it, he handed the Eagle Rabbit brand double-barreled shotgun slung over his shoulder to Bai Zhishun, and then went into the earthen house first.

The young man in jeans also carried a bag and followed him inside.

The door to the earthen house was then closed.

The three walked to the table and sat cross-legged on the carpet.

The thin young man lengthened the wick of the oil lamp to make the room brighter: "Take the things out!"

Zhou Jingming placed the small bag of gold he was holding on the table. The young man in jeans opened the oil paper bag and examined it with his fingers: "Seven parts green, eight parts yellow, and nine parts red. This color indicates it's good gold. It's clean, with few impurities. No problem! Buddy, you know, this is the time when gold is being produced in large quantities. There's no shortage of gold, so we can't offer very high prices."

Zhou Jingming nodded: "I understand!"

The young man in jeans gave Zhou Jingming a thumbs-up: "It's so much easier to talk to someone who knows their stuff. I can only offer twenty-nine percent of this gold!"

Zhou Jingming frowned slightly: "Dude, since you know I'm knowledgeable, you should talk to me in a knowledgeable way, otherwise it will make you seem like you're not knowledgeable at all."

In my memory, apart from the purchasing stations, no one else offered such a low price.

It's just that the amount of gold is small, and I'm too lazy to bother with it. Otherwise, I would have gone directly to downstream buyers in Hong Kong and Oyster Bay, and I believe they would have offered a higher price and been more willing to cooperate.

Others may not know the price difference, but I do. Let's not try to fool anyone, and let's not get entangled in this mess—it's pointless.

The young man in jeans paused for a moment, then chuckled awkwardly, "Business is business, there's always room for bargaining. If you think my asking price is too low, why don't you tell me what price you're looking for?"

Zhou Jingming didn't want to linger here: "Thirty-one yuan per gram, you pay the middleman's commission, weigh it if you want, or leave immediately if you don't. I think this price is very reasonable."

The young man in jeans hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded: "We'll do as you say."

"The items are fine, and the price has been agreed upon. Let's weigh them quickly!"

The thin young man urged him on.

Aside from collecting gold in the Gold Rush Valley, gold prospectors and dealers avoid contact with each other when they are out in the open, to prevent their hideouts from being exposed, as they are all worried about being tricked by the other.

Of course, the middleman doesn't work for free; he takes a commission, though it's not much, and it's based on the value of the gold being sold.

The skinny young man will probably only get a little over ten yuan this time.

The young man in jeans took out a small balance scale from his bag and placed it on the table. He then poured gold into the scale pan, shook it clean, and placed weights on the other tray.

Before long, the weight of the gold was measured: "It weighs a total of 231 grams... 7,161 yuan. Let's round it down to 7,160. Do you see if there are any problems?"

"no problem!"

Zhou Jingming was watching the whole time.

Previously, it was estimated that Bai Zhishun had 393 grams of gold, and with the gold from the next ten days, it should be around 420 grams.

However, he had already sold the gold he had panned in the mountains to gold dealers twice before, and had also come with Peng Yuanchao to deposit money twice, so he only had these two hundred grams of gold on hand.

Seeing Zhou Jingming nod, the young man in jeans readily took out stacks of ten-yuan notes from his bag, counted out the corresponding amount, and placed them in front of Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming also carefully counted the money, and seeing that the amount was correct, he stuffed the money into his bag, got up, and left.

He met up with Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun outside, said hello, and quickly left the mud houses. Once they reached a secluded spot and saw that no one was around, Zhou Jingming handed the money from his bag to Bai Zhishun, briefly explained the transaction, and led him to town to deposit the money.

In the gold rush area, it's not uncommon to see large withdrawals and deposits of money.

Zhou Jingming handed the gun to Wu Yang and personally led him into the bank. He told Wu Yang to keep about two hundred yuan in loose change on him for easy spending, and to deposit the rest of the money into a passbook.

As they left the bank, Zhou Jingming specifically instructed, "Shunzai, you must keep this passbook safe. Don't lose it, or it'll be gone forever. With this passbook, anyone can withdraw money."

These days, banks still handle all savings transactions manually, with only two types of deposits: certificates of deposit and passbooks, and the division of labor is very clear.

A passbook is a record of depositors' current account deposits, while a deposit certificate is a record of depositors' time deposits.

Knowing that Bai Zhishun would be busy building a house and would need money at any time after returning home, Zhou Jingming opened a current account for him.

However, current deposit slips and passbooks are not registered under real names; they don't even have ID cards, let alone bank cards or passwords.

In other words, whoever has the passbook or deposit slip can withdraw the money from the bank.

That's why Zhou Jingming specifically instructed him.

Then, Zhou Jingming led him to get in the car.

As it turned out, when they arrived at the station and asked, they found out that the next bus to Altan wouldn't depart for another two days, which made things a bit complicated.

He has a lot on his plate, and so many people are waiting for him.

We can't stay here with Bai Zhishun forever.

"Shunzai, you should know how to get back, right?"

Since he was able to find his way here, and even directly into the Gold Rush Valley, Zhou Jingming believed he knew how to get back, but he was still a little worried.

Bai Zhishun nodded: "We can find our way back!"

"That's good... You can stay here for two days and wait until the shuttle bus leaves before taking it. Don't wander around aimlessly, so as not to cause any trouble."

Just do as I say, take the money back home, live a good life, don't squander it, open a small shop or something on the street where you live, as long as you guard it well, you can make a good living... Don't come back to pan for gold again!"

These days, business is easy to do; the income from a small shop can make a family very well-off.

With the matter almost settled, Zhou Jingming took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.

In his previous life, when Zhou Jingming met Bai Zhishun at Boss Jin's place, he had no money. He could earn about five hundred yuan a month if he worked all his jobs.

Later, he worked for Zhou Jingming, who gave him a monthly salary of 600 yuan. But by the time he died, apart from food and drink expenses, he had only saved a little over 2,000 yuan. Nobody knows where he spent it, but it is certain that he did not use it for anything worthwhile.

Right now, he already has over ten thousand yuan, which is a level he has never reached before.

Zhou Jingming didn't want him to get too much bad influence in the Gold Rush Valley. He just wanted him to live a good life, not to be rich and powerful, but to live an ordinary life without too many disasters.

"I have other things to do... I can't see you off any further!"

Zhou Jingming patted him on the shoulder and smiled slightly at him.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a pang of reluctance at that moment.

But thinking about the future, with more and more people flocking to the Gold Rush Valley, the competition will become increasingly fierce and brutal. So I steeled myself and cleared these emotions from my mind.

Bai Zhishun stared longingly at Zhou Jingming, his lips trembling slightly: "Brother Zhou, I really don't want to leave, I just want to stay with you!"

Tears welled up in his eyes, like a child abandoned by his parents, almost bursting into tears.

Zhou Jingming had a bit of a headache: "Why are you crying, you grown man... Hurry up and go, live a good life."

After he finished speaking, he turned and left, afraid that if he lingered any longer, he would take Bai Zhishun back with him.

Wu Yang patted Bai Zhishun on the shoulder: "Go back. I don't know why, but Brother Zhou is really good to you. In the past few months I've followed him, I've never seen him care about anyone like that. He's really thinking about you... I'm leaving!"

Many times, Wu Yang found it strange that Zhou Jingming would care so much about such an ordinary hunchback; it was quite inexplicable.

He had tried asking Zhou Jingming, who simply told him, "He seems reliable and capable, so I'm just taking care of him."

He certainly wouldn't believe that was the real reason.

Zhou Jingming couldn't tell him that all of this stemmed from the fact that Bai Zhishun had died protecting him from a knife in his previous life.

Bai Zhishun stared blankly as Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang walked away until they were out of sight. Then he lowered his head, wiped his eyes with his sleeve, looked around, found a hotel near the station, and checked in.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang were busy meeting up with Wang Youping. When they arrived at the agreed location, they were slightly taken aback. They saw that the other person sitting in the driver's seat of the tractor with Wang Youping, smoking, was the same tractor driver from yesterday.

It goes without saying that the driver was someone Wang Youping had hired.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang exchanged a glance, both feeling that the world was too small, and that no matter how much they went around in circles, it was always the same few people.

The two approached and greeted the two men. The tractor driver looked at them with a strange expression, clearly not expecting to run into them again so soon.

After introducing themselves, they learned that the tractor driver's surname was Zhao.

Zhou Jingming smiled at him: "Master Zhao, we're old acquaintances with Master Wang, having dealt with him several times before. We'll be doing business with him frequently in the future, so please go easy on us."

Just kidding, three people riding a tractor for dozens of kilometers cost fifteen yuan, that's an exorbitant price. If they had taken a bus, it would have only cost two or three mao.

This is implying that he overcharges his customers.

Master Zhao smiled awkwardly: "No problem, no problem!"

(End of this chapter)