My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 162 Frank confession
Zhou Jingming recounted how Wu Fusheng wanted to obtain the exploration team's mining information from him and how he was even targeting his hometown.

After listening, Wu Yang only said one sentence: "It's really damnable. If you're planning to go to Maqin Snow Mountain, call me and I'll go with you."

Zhou Jingming nodded: "I will definitely call you then... but that will be after next spring, once things have stabilized at our mine."

Winter has arrived, and gold prospectors have mostly left both Altay and Xihai. Wu Fusheng certainly won't stay in Xihai, so there's no point in him going there now.

Led by Zhou Jingming, Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun entered Wucheng with ease and found a hotel near the station to stay that night.

As a result, while the three were still washing up, inspectors from the city arrived. Zhou Jingming was alright; he simply pulled out his expired work ID and managed to get away with it.

Neither Wu Yang nor Bai Zhishun had identification, so they simply climbed through the window with their luggage and only returned after seeing the inspectors leave.

These days, ID cards haven't even been officially issued yet; when traveling, you can at most get a travel certificate or a letter of introduction.

When Wu Yang and Bai Zhishun came out, they also obtained travel permits, but those permits had long expired, and if they were presented, they would only be mistaken for vagrants.

The good thing is that these days, you don't need to show your ID to buy train or bus tickets; you can just pay for the ticket and you can ride.

The train offers hard seats and hard sleepers, but a letter of introduction is required for soft sleepers.

On the other hand, if it weren't for this, there wouldn't be so many migrant workers wandering around.

In Zhou Jingming's memory, the earliest implementation of real-name ticket purchase should have been after 2010.

The night passed without incident, and all three slept soundly.

The next morning, they went to queue up to buy tickets, but the three of them got tickets for three days later. They had to stay in Wucheng for three more days. All they did every day was eat and sleep, sleep and eat, trying to minimize their chances of going out to avoid being caught by the inspection again.

The three came from different places, and their way back was through Jincheng. It took them two days to reach Jincheng.

After agreeing to meet in Tymaek on March 1st, they each bought tickets and boarded the trains according to the times on their tickets to embark on their journey home.

After another four days of agonizing train travel, Zhou Jingming finally set foot in Chengdu again.

Upon arriving in Chengdu, Zhou Jingming didn't rush back. He stayed there for a day, mainly to buy some things to take home.

It was nothing more than clothes, shoes, and socks; my parents, sister, and brother-in-law had all prepared them.

Also, I wanted to see if anyone was following me, so as not to let a wolf into my house.

Seeing that there were no problems, Zhou Jingming took the company bus the next morning and headed back to his hometown.

When he arrived at the Huluzui ferry, he saw his old house on the other side of the river, still the same as when he left. He breathed a sigh of relief, cupped his hands to his mouth, and called out that phrase that seemed to have been forgotten for a long time: "Come on, ferry!"

Not long after, he saw his father rush out of the house, then go into the reeds to untie the old boat's mooring ropes, dip his bamboo pole into the water, and propel the boat toward him.

When Zhou Detong saw Zhou Jingming waiting on the shore, he was somewhat surprised. He docked the wooden boat and jumped off, and his first words were: "Why are you back?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "Dad, what are you saying? This is my home. It's not strange for me to come back anytime, okay?"

Zhou Detong looked puzzled: "That's not right. In previous years, you would only come back near the end of the year. There are still three or four months until the New Year. Tell me honestly, is something wrong?"

Zhou Jingming wanted to say "It's nothing" and make up an excuse to get by.

But when I thought about what I was going to do next, I knew I couldn't hide it, so I felt it was better to just bring things out into the open.

He didn't rush to board the boat, but sat down in the thatched pavilion by the river where he could shelter from the rain: "Dad... I've lost my job!"

"What?"

Hearing this, Zhou Detong could hardly believe what he was hearing: "Say it again, I didn't hear you clearly."

Zhou Jingming slowed down his speech and repeated, "I said, I lost my job."

Zhou Detong pressed, "What happened?"

Zhou Jingming said earnestly, "Isn't it popular to go into business these days? I quit my job with the geological team and went to try my luck over there." Zhou Detong immediately became agitated. He grabbed a bamboo pole, seemingly intending to beat Zhou Jingming up. The pole was even raised in the air when, after hesitating for a moment, he put it down again: "That's a secure job! Do you know how hard it is to get into university? Do you know how hard it is to get a job? How can you just quit like that?"

Seeing his father's anxious look, Zhou Jingming took a deep breath: "Let's go home first, and we'll talk about it when we get home, okay?"

He knew what his father was thinking. It was nothing more than that Zhou Jingming had gone to university, gotten a job, and become the pride of the family. But now that he heard that Zhou Jingming had lost his job and his pride was gone, he felt disappointed.

Zhou Detong glared at him coldly: "Explain yourself before you go back!"

Zhou Jingming sighed and patiently explained, "It's not exactly a resignation. To be precise, it's a leave of absence without pay. If you want to go back to work later, you can. Many people with jobs do this."

Hearing Zhou Jingming say that he could go back if he wanted, Zhou Detong's tone softened slightly: "Then what about gold panning?"

"Now that we are reforming and opening up, the country needs gold, a lot of gold. So we lifted the ban on private gold mining, so people can mine for gold and send it to recycling stations to support the country's economic development. It is also supporting the country's construction."

There are many places with gold within the territory. I work in geology, and as I've told you before, I know what I do and I know quite a few places where you can pan for gold, so I've gone there.”

"This is such a big deal, why don't you think it through? What will you do if you lose your job?"

“Dad, there’s really nothing to think about. Think about it, I work in the geological team and only make fifty or sixty yuan a month. But gold panning is different. I can earn more. Do you know how much a gram of gold costs? Sixteen yuan. I think if I pan for gold for a year, I can earn more than I would in several years working in the geological team. Both are in the middle of nowhere, but I think gold panning is more worthwhile. You have to try many things.”

"How much gold can you pan for in a day?"

"It's hard to say, but I can tell you for sure that I made money this year!"

As he spoke, he put down his backpack, opened it, and handed it to Zhou Detong.

Zhou Detong looked through the backpack and was immediately stunned: "So much money."

"That's right. How many years would it take me to earn this much money in the geological team? Dad, you rarely go out, so you don't know how much things have changed. Not to mention other places, just in Chengdu, quite a few people have started setting up stalls to do business, and some have even started factories and made a lot of money. Some families have already become millionaires."

Besides, you said I work in the geological team every day, working in the desolate mountains and wilderness. As soon as I come back, you keep urging me to get married. But in the wilderness, you can't even find a girl. Who do you want me to marry? Don't you want to hold your grandson as soon as possible?

Besides, I'm a grown man, already twenty-five or twenty-six years old. I know my limits. Let me decide these things myself.

Zhou Jingming himself didn't know which sentence had touched his father's sore spot. He saw his father sigh and didn't ask any further questions. He just rolled a cigarette, put it in his pipe, lit it, and started puffing away.

After finishing his pipe, he tapped the tobacco pouch on the sole of his shoe and said, "You're right, you're all grown up now and can make your own decisions. Do whatever you want, we can't control you anymore!"

He sighed deeply, picked up the bamboo pole and jumped onto the boat. Zhou Jingming also got up, picked up his backpack and luggage, untied the rope on the boat, gently pushed the boat into the river, and then jumped on.

Zhou Detong steered the boat slowly toward the opposite bank.

It's the off-season for farming now, and the work in the fields has long been finished. Besides taking care of the two pigs they raise, Shen Fengqin, the mother, also tends to the vegetable garden, watering the vegetables every day.

When Zhou Detong came out of the house to row the boat, she followed him to the door and looked towards the opposite bank. When she saw that it was Zhou Jingming who was returning, she didn't even have time to put down the insoles she was embroidering in her hand, and she also followed him towards the riverbank.

She was also puzzled by Zhou Jingming's early return this year, and immediately asked him about it when he jumped ashore.

Zhou Jingming had no choice but to tell her again what he had done and what he was thinking.

Unlike Zhou Detong's reaction, Shen Fengqin was noticeably calmer, and even seemed pleased to see the money in Zhou Jingming's backpack.

The elderly people in the mountain village lived a hard life. Neither Zhou Detong nor Shen Fengqin had ever seen so much money in their lives, and they both felt it was unreal.

Shen Fengqin, in particular, seemed a bit greedy. She took out a stack of papers in disbelief and looked through them, asking Zhou Detong, "Is it real?"

Zhou Detong responded with a big eye roll.

Shen Fengqin glared at him: "I think the child did nothing wrong. Putting everything else aside, he's so old, he should be thinking about marriage. If he really works in the geological team, he'll probably be a bachelor for life."

Besides, don't you know what kind of person Jingming is? Like a few years ago, when he insisted on going to be a sent-down youth, you couldn't stop him. And besides, Jingming's decision proved to be right in the end. Don't keep looking at you with that sour face. It's not easy for the child to come back; can't you be happy for once?"

(End of this chapter)