My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 137 The Blind Migrants Are Not Blind
The person who returned was none other than Bai Zhishun, the hunchback who had been sent by Zhou Jingming to Tiemaike to catch a ride.

Based on the estimated time, if there were no delays on his journey, he should have already returned to his hometown by now.

But of all times, he appeared here...

So, after asking, "Why are you back again?", Zhou Jingming followed up with, "Why are you so disobedient?"

Bai Zhishun hesitated several times, only managing to utter the word "I".

Seeing his swollen eyes, chapped lips, messy hair, dusty clothes, and exhausted appearance, Zhou Jingming guessed that he had endured a lot of hardships along the way, and felt a little sorry for him.

He didn't press for the reason, but instead asked, "Are you still hungry?"

Bai Zhishun nodded heavily.

Zhou Jingming turned to look at everyone and said, "Get him some food and drink, and we'll talk about it after he's full."

Peng Yuanchao hurriedly instructed people to gather the hot food and dishes.

There was still quite a bit of leftover mutton and rice from lunch, so it didn't take much effort. In no time, I heated up the mutton first, and as for the rice, I could just soak it in the mutton broth later.

Bai Zhishun was like a jackal that hadn't eaten for days. Zhou Jingming filled a large bowl with rice for him, piled it with mutton, and handed it to him. He took it, plopped down by the earthen stove, and began to wolf down his food.

The food went into his mouth and was swallowed after being stirred a few times with his tongue. Even though it was soaked in soup, he ate with his neck stretched out and his eyes wide open as he swallowed.

Seeing the way he ate, Li Guozhu couldn't help but ask, "How long has it been since you last ate anything?"

Zhou Jingming glanced at him and shook his head: "Let's talk about it after he's eaten."

Li Guozhu didn't ask any more questions. He simply handed Zhou Jingming a cigarette and then sat down to smoke.

Bai Zhishun ate three large bowls of rice, finally feeling satisfied. He put down his chopsticks with lingering relish, but his eyes were still fixed on the meat in the pot.

"Another bowl?"

"I can't eat anymore!"

"Alright, now tell me properly, why did you come back again? Was your money stolen or robbed?"

Zhou Jingming flicked the cigarette butt away and asked a question.

Bai Zhishun shook his head: "The things weren't stolen..."

To prove he wasn't lying, he took out the bankbook he was carrying and showed it to Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming took it, glanced at it, and seeing that there was no problem, handed it back to him.

But Bai Zhishun continued, "I had already arrived in Altan and boarded a bus to Wucheng, but on the way I encountered people catching vagrants. They made the bus stop and wanted to check my identity. I was taken off the bus and told that I was to be sent to Xinyuan Horse Farm for a three-way study program."

I was afraid my things would be found or lost, so I took advantage of their inattention, threw down my bedding and luggage, and ran away. They chased me for a long time before I finally escaped.

Fearing I would be caught again, I hid in the wilderness for a day, then returned to the highway at night. I hitched a ride back to Altan, and the next day I flagged down another car on the road to return to Timak.

When we passed a fork in the road, the driver got out to eat. I offered to treat him, but the people at the restaurant must have seen the money. After we finished eating, they stopped me, and the driver took the opportunity to slip away.

I saw them trying to rob me, grabbing me and surrounding me, so I pushed one of them aside and ran away. They chased me for a while, and finally, one of them caught up with me, tackled me to the ground, and grabbed my foot. In a panic, I grabbed a rock and smashed it on his head.

I watched as his eyes rolled back and he fell straight down. I didn't know if he was dead or not. I got up and ran. The two people behind me didn't dare to chase after me. Anyway, we got out.

I didn't dare walk on the highway, so I just kept walking across the Gobi Desert, figuring out the general direction. Later, I hitched a ride in a car and got back to Tiemaike.

I want to come back to find you... but I don't know where you are.

I remember you went to look for Wang Youping, searching for him everywhere in Tiemaike. I actually ran into him that very day. After asking around, I learned that you had come to Haxionggou. I asked for directions and then I came looking for you.

Once inside the mountains, there were forests everywhere, and I still didn't know where you had gone. I just wandered around aimlessly, completely disoriented. I spent three days searching in the forest before finally encountering a herdsman. I asked him and learned that you were here, so I came looking for you.

Zhou Jingming grinned upon hearing these words.

He knew Bai Zhishun's character well in his past life; he wouldn't lie, and he believed what he said was true.

In those days, many migrant workers flocked to the Northwest. Those going to other places were largely ignored, but entering and leaving cities like Wucheng were subject to strict management.

The official explanation for "migrant workers" is that they are people who move from rural areas to cities to escape famine, seek refuge, or make a living, and who do not have stable jobs or permanent residences.

This term carries discriminatory connotations and historical baggage.

From 1953 to 1989, a period of more than 30 years, too many surplus agricultural laborers or other people who broke free from the household registration system spontaneously migrated to cities to make a living.

Some went to the Northeast, while many more came to the Northwest.

Because in recent years, the Northwest has been relatively less volatile, and the pressure of nature still dominates. In the most primitive sense, the Northwest may be the earliest "open" place in China.

In Zhou Jingming's view, migrant workers are not blind.

In this era where everyone thinks they have the sharpest eyes, most are actually blind; only the drifters are relatively clear-headed.

They know how to run, how to fight, and where to run.

Although most of them are ordinary, in Zhou Jingming's current view, these migrant workers are the elites—without some ability, they wouldn't dare to venture thousands of miles.

The people at the mine now are all vagrants, including Zhou Jingming himself. He only used his expired work permit to cover his tracks when he came out.

As for being robbed while eating on the road, Zhou Jingming guessed that he must have encountered a shady establishment; there are quite a few people in the Northwest who do this kind of thing.

To Zhou Jingming's surprise, Bai Zhishun actually managed to protect his belongings and escape. But in reality, he suspected that Bai Zhishun simply didn't want to go back.

Bai Zhishun had gone through a lot of trouble and suffering along the way. Based on the fact that he had been struggling alone in the vast mountains and forests for several days, Zhou Jingming had no reason to send him back.

It's better to let nature take its course than to force a cow to drink water.

If something goes wrong, it would be a case of good intentions gone wrong.

Zhou Jingming sighed softly: "Since you've come looking for me, I won't say anything more. Stay!"

Having an obedient and easy-to-manage person is not bad.

Seeing Zhou Jingming nod in agreement, Bai Zhishun was still a little incredulous: "Brother Zhou, are you serious?"

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly: "Really."

Bai Zhishun looked at Zhou Jingming with an almost pleading gaze: "Don't let me leave again!"

Zhou Jingming nodded again: "Stay as long as you want! You probably haven't had a good night's sleep these past few days... Hurry up and get some bedding and go to the dugout for a nap."

Bai Zhishun nodded happily. As he went into the dugout, Xu Youliang followed him in, helped him find a quilt, led him into their dugout, and made the necessary arrangements.

Not long after, Xu Youliang came out: "He was probably exhausted. He went to the dugout, lay down on the earthen bed, and fell asleep without even covering himself with a blanket."

Peng Yuanchao glanced at the dugout: "This kid is really something. I didn't expect him to have such courage. He was caught as a vagrant and managed to run away. He even managed to escape after injuring someone in a shady inn. He even has the guts to go into the forest. Isn't he afraid of running into bears or wolves?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "He's just an honest man... I'll say it again, no one is allowed to bully him."

He didn't say something: A stubborn, honest person is the most ruthless when pushed to the limit.

They usually seem calm and easy to bully, but if you push them too far, no one knows what they might do.

Of course, what he cared about more was: this was someone who would take a knife for him, loyal and reliable.

Most of the red deer meat is sent directly to be smoked, and after removing the skin, offal, and bones, the clean meat weighs at least 200 pounds.

There's too much meat for Wang Dong and Sun Chenggui to smoke.

Zhou Jingming asked the others to help. They set up a frame, divided the meat into small pieces weighing more than ten kilograms each, simply rubbed some salt on them, placed them on the frame, and smoked them with the smoke from burning pine branches.

The entire campsite was filled with smoke and the distinctive scent of burning pine trees.

In the evening, naturally, we had another meal of fresh venison.

During the meal, Zhou Jingming went to check on Bai Zhishun and found him fast asleep and motionless, so he didn't wake him again.

When you're extremely tired, there's no better way to recover than a good night's sleep.

Zhou Jingming has firsthand experience with this.

When Zhou Jingming woke up early the next morning, he went to the newly dug well to fetch water for washing up and saw that Bai Zhishun, who had been sleeping for more than ten hours, had also gotten up.

He was no longer tired from yesterday and became energetic. When he saw Zhou Jingming, he called out "Brother Zhou" and then just grinned.

Zhou Jingming simply patted him on the shoulder and said, "Do a good job!"

Bai Zhishun nodded heavily, his face full of excitement.

It seemed that this small gesture brought him immense satisfaction.

From that day on, the gold panning in the mountain valley officially began.

Since a lot of mud and sand had been dug up in the past few days, Zhou Jingming decided to use a diesel engine to pump water and wash the material first.

He directed a group of people to carry the diesel engine to the riverbank. They leveled a spot on a slightly higher part of the riverbank, laid down some wood, placed the diesel engine on it, and then drove in wooden stakes to secure it, preventing the engine from shifting or sinking during the constant shaking after starting.

Two metal chutes were set up directly, and three people were assigned to manage each chute.

Zhou Jingming, Wu Yang, and Li Guozhu wore waders and sifted through the river to select fine sand, while the other seven were led by Peng Yuanchao to dig up materials from the nearby ground.

The work proceeded rapidly for five days, and all the materials that had been dug up and transported down to the riverbank were finally washed away.

The gold yield was very impressive, totaling 1,814 grams.

The distribution will proceed as before. Bai Zhishun arrived a little later, so it's not appropriate for him to receive the same share as everyone else. After all, he wasn't there when the materials were being transported from the dugouts, so he will only receive the remaining fourteen grams.

The remaining 1,800 grams were divided among the sixteen people. Sun Chenggui and his group each received 75 grams, while Zhou Jingming and the other leaders each received 225 grams.

This is the harvest after half a month in the Haxionggou mountain valley. On average, they only get about five grams a day, which seems to be about the same as when they were on the small peninsula.

But in reality, during this period, I was delayed by many miscellaneous tasks and even had to rest for a day. If we calculate based on the actual number of days, I could earn about seven grams of income per day.

This is exceptionally high among the earnings of many gold prospectors heading to the Altai Mountains, something to be proud of.

Overjoyed, Peng Yuanchao, Li Guozhu, and Wu Yang all said that just because Zhou Jingming provided the mining site, he should get a larger share.

Zhou Jingming naturally wanted a larger share as well.

The rules were set this year and can't be changed this year. After the new year, when the team is reorganized, he will have new arrangements.

(End of this chapter)