My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 134 Keep Your Own Crotch in Check

In the afternoon, a young Kazakh man herded his sheep across a wooden bridge over the river.

The flock of sheep passed through the poplar grove along the riverbank and quickly spread out onto the pasture behind the mountain valley.

It seems there was too much food for these sheep to eat, so they didn't eat carefully. They would pick a few bites here and there, and soon they had rolled over from the mountainside to the other side.

Accompanying the Kazakh youth was a woman, a tall woman of 1.7 meters, with fair, radiant skin, pale gold eyelashes, and eyes like gray-green gemstones, though her forehead and eyebrows already showed signs of aging.

The two men tied the sheep's horns with a rope, one pulling from the front and the other driving from behind, leading the sheep into a ravine and tying it to a clump of bushes on the hillside.

This commotion had already caused Jinwang to bark wildly, but after Zhou Jingming stopped it, it quickly found a new target and rushed up the hillside, where there was a large black and white dog and a smaller yellow and white dog, which were also barking down.

That sheep left the flock and kept bleating.

Zhou Jingming went up to greet him and exchanged a few pleasantries, learning that the young man's name was Batu.

Many Kazakhs have this name, and Zhou Jingming knows that it means brave and courageous.

The woman's name was Nara, a very common name. She was Batu's sister.

The two were simply expressing their gratitude for the convenience in building the wooden bridge.

Zhou Jingming seized the opportunity to ask, "Batu, when are you moving to the autumn pasture?"

Batu said, "We've only been grazing here for a short time. The weather is still hot, and the grass and water in the mountains are plentiful. We'll have to wait more than a month until the weather gets cooler before moving to the autumn pastures."

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly: "When you leave, let me know that I'd like to buy a few sheep from you."

Batu said, "I'll come find you when it's time to move on to another location!"

They were busy looking after the sheep, so they quickly mounted their horses and rode up the hillside.

There was another reason. Jinwang ran to a spot not far from the two dogs, stood there for a while, and then started to move closer to the yellow and white dog, sniffing its rear end.

Suddenly, a large black and white dog pounced on it, knocking it to the ground. The two dogs immediately began to bite each other, howling and rolling around on the grassy hillside, fighting fiercely.

The large black and white dog was about the same size as Jinwang now. It was probably more experienced and usually suppressed Jinwang, but occasionally Jinwang had the upper hand.

The yellow and white dog didn't participate in the fight; it just watched from the sidelines. Batu said it was a female dog.

Driven by Batu waving his whip, Zhou Jingming also called out to Jin Wang a few times, finally separating the two dogs that were locked in a fierce battle.

Batu seemed to like Jinwang very much. He reined in his horse, looked at Jinwang for a while, and then asked Zhou Jingming below, "Is this dog a wolf?"

Zhou Jingming replied, "It's a wolf, and it hasn't even been a year yet!"

Batu then shouted again, "It's a good dog."

Then, he and Nora rode their horses and led the two dogs to the back of the mountain.

Jin Wang slowly descended the hillside, turning back every few steps.

When it got close, Zhou Jingming went over and saw that there was a gash on its left ear, and blood was gushing out. Blood was also oozing from the right leg that it was holding.

Zhou Jingming cursed, "You're still a minor and you're already thinking about female dogs. If you want to cuckold someone, you need to have the ability. Now you've got a broken ear. You deserve it."

Even so, he still sought out Peng Yuanchao, rummaged through his bag for the medicinal powder he had brought into the mountains to treat injuries, and applied the powder to Jin Wang's ears and legs to stop the bleeding.

He returned to the spot where everyone had dug the pit and heard Sun Chenggui and the others saying that the Kazakh girl was very tall, slender, and beautiful.

Another person laughed in a very lewd way: "Those breasts are really big, and the legs are very firm. They're completely different from the women you've been talking about. They must feel really good to touch. If they were capable, they'd be absolutely amazing."

A group of single men gathered together, making quite a few crude remarks. Zhou Jingming was already used to it in his previous life, but he still warned them: "I understand your desire for women, but I'm warning you, don't mess around. If you cause trouble for the mine, the Kazakhs won't let you off the hook, and neither will I."

Many people think that the Kazakhs are few in number, weak and easy to bully, but most people do not see the fierceness hidden in their bones.

Just kidding. A family of four or five can herd hundreds of livestock in this desolate wilderness, where you might not see a single person for dozens of kilometers around. They live on wind and snow and have to face attacks from all kinds of wild animals. How could such people be simple?
Among them are many skilled hunters and riders.

If you can speak politely, they will treat you warmly; but if you piss them off, they can still fight you to the death.

Zhou Jingming had witnessed the ferocity of the Kazakh people.

Seeing Zhou Jingming's serious expression, Peng Yuanchao said with a smile in an attempt to ease the tense atmosphere: "Brother, we were just joking around, don't take it seriously. Besides, they're a young couple. Even if they paid for a woman, they wouldn't do something like this."

They were too far away to hear what Zhou Jingming and Batu were saying, so they assumed they were a couple.

"They're not a couple, they're brother and sister. The sister is only nineteen, still a young woman!"

"He looks quite mature and older than his age."

"Throughout the year, this shepherdess can only stay in crowded places for less than half a month. The rest of the time is spent in deserts, Gobi, forests and grasslands. Her youth is only accompanied by cattle and sheep. She braves the wind and snow to find sheep and horses... Such a life is very hard, so it is normal for her to look old."

According to Kazakh custom, it is actually very rare for girls to herd sheep. They have a proverb that says, "Girls are guests in the house." They believe that girls are only born and raised in this family, and one day they will marry and become members of another family.

Therefore, most Kazakhs treat their daughters well and give them enough respect, and will only let their daughters participate in herding if there is really no one else to do the work.

They are the treasures of the Kazakh families.

This is a warning again: I don't care what you think, just keep your distance. If you cause trouble, none of us here can afford it.

What Zhou Jingming said was true. At the same time, he also had the idea of ​​befriending Batu. The herdsmen in the mountains know everything about the mountains and are living maps of the place. When needed, they can buy some living supplies from them, and in critical moments, they can also help a lot.

More friends, more paths.

Even if it's just a fleeting encounter, Zhou Jingming doesn't want to provoke them.

The excavation of the dugout took seven days.

This time, Zhou Jingming demanded that the dugouts be made even bigger, and three dug in total.

On the slope, there is a passageway leading to a room, and on either side of the passageway, there is another room, each with an area of ​​nearly forty square meters.

It took another two days to cut down timber, lay purlins in the dugout, cover it with tarpaulin, cover it with a thick layer of thatch, and then paste a layer of mud on top.

The room on the left side of the passage was used to store supplies, and the other two rooms were for living. The room directly opposite the passage was where Zhou Jingming, Wu Yang, Peng Yuanchao, and Li Guozhu lived, while the rest of the people lived in the room on the right.

A considerable amount of mud and sand was transported out, and occasionally one or two gold nuggets could be picked up, but no larger ones that could be called gold nuggets were seen.

Since what was unearthed was gold-containing material, and they were able to see the most tangible things, it was like gold panning in progress, so naturally no one had any objections.

But the group didn't rush to move into the dugouts. They were a bit damp inside and needed to be dried out for a while. They continued to live in tents and cooked on the earthen stoves they had dug out in the ground.

With the matter settled, Zhou Jingming gave everyone a day off. He then slaughtered the Altai sheep that Batu had been tethered and grazed in a different spot each day, as a kind of feast to mark the official start of construction on the new mining site.

This wasn't the first time they'd slaughtered a sheep; everyone pitched in, and it only took a little over an hour to prepare.

As soon as there is a fishy smell, green bottle flies will appear out of nowhere.

Half of the sheep was given to Wang Dong to make his specialty, hand-pulled mutton, while the other half was used to smoke and preserve the meat by having someone find pine branches and leaves from the mountain.

Around noon, the hand-pulled mutton was cooked.

As they were preparing to eat, Peng Yuanchao looked at Zhou Jingming and said, "Brother, aren't you going to lead everyone in paying respects? Ever since I came here, I've stopped considering myself the leader. You're the leader."

This was actually a matter of course all along.

When they were on the small peninsula, Peng Yuanchao was initially in charge, but in the later stages, Zhou Jingming took over the management and decision-making.

In fact, he did do a much better job than Peng Yuanchao. It was because of him that everyone had the opportunity to earn so much gold. They had already tacitly agreed that Zhou Jingming was the person in charge, and when something happened, the first thing they thought of was to discuss it with Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment, then stood up without hesitation: "Then I'll take the lead... Brother Peng, you don't mind?"

Peng Yuanchao shook his head: "What do I have to mind? I've said it before, you should wear the right size pants for your size. No matter how you look at it, you're more suitable than me... When I told you I wanted to follow you, you were already the boss."

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly and instructed Wang Dong, "Get ready, we're going to worship the mountain god."

Wang Dong quickly brought three bowls: one for meat, one for wine, and one for tea. After arranging them, Zhou Jingming looked around and spotted a tall, protruding rock about 40 or 50 meters up the slope. He then led everyone up the rock.

At the foot of that rock, Zhou Jingming selected three stones, placed two on the bottom and one on top, arranging them in a triangular shape to form a mountain god temple, and then led everyone to kneel down.

The auspicious words spoken were nothing more than asking the mountain god to bless them with good health, freedom from illness and disaster, and abundant gold.

After lighting three cigarettes as incense and bowing respectfully three times, they poured wine, tea, and meat onto the grass.

Jin Wang, quick-witted and sharp-tongued, rushed over immediately, swallowed two pieces of meat, and ran off with the largest piece in his hand.

Because Zhou Jingming splashed it out, it thought it was food for it.

This made Zhou Jingming so angry that he wanted to throw two stones at it.

It doesn't matter once the worship is over, but now, before people have even gotten up, they're already taking food from the mountain god's mouth.

But then I thought, those few pieces of meat would most likely end up in its belly anyway, so as long as I've done my part for the mountain god, it doesn't really matter.

Back at the edge of the dugout, everyone sat down on the grass and began to feast.

In the afternoon, I had nothing to do.

Most people chose to sleep, rest, and mend their clothes.

Wu Yang ran to the river to take a bath, and Zhou Jingming followed him to take a quick bath before heading back to the grassy slope to sunbathe.

Around 3 p.m., Jin Wang, who was sleeping next to Zhou Jingming, suddenly turned over halfway, stared at the forest diagonally opposite the poplar grove for a while, then stood up and made a fierce whistling sound.

Zhou Jingming was only half asleep when he heard Jin Wang's voice, so he immediately sat up.

Jinwang rarely barks, but when he does, it's definitely because something's wrong.

He stood up and looked at the forest diagonally opposite, but the trees obscured the view, so he couldn't make out anything. He looked around again and saw Wu Yang lying by the bushes below. He quickly went down and woke him up: "Wu Yang, Jin Wang has made a sound. Come with me to see."

Wu Yang shook his head, said nothing more, and followed Zhou Jingming into the dugout, where they grabbed a hunting rifle and bullets and left.

(End of this chapter)