My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 163 Raking Ears
When Zhou Jingming returned, his parents' attitudes were completely different; one was happy, and the other was worried.

But the mother was happy, and things became much easier.

The family of three returned to the house. Shen Fengqin busied herself with the boiling water that was always on the earthen stove. She first made a cup of eagle tea for Zhou Jingming. Seeing that Zhou Detong was still silent, she walked over to him and reached out to pull his ear.

Zhou Detong instinctively tried to dodge, but Shen Fengqin's first pull missed, but she could pull again, and finally she was caught by his ear. He cried out in annoyance, "Ouch..."

Seeing this, Zhou Jingming wisely picked up his backpack and went upstairs on the creaking wooden stairs. He heard Shen Fengqin scolding him: "Our son has finally come back, and you're giving me a long face. What do you mean? Do you think your face isn't long enough?"
Your son is capable of great things and making a lot of money. Do you want him to be like you, unambitious, staying at home all day earning pennies, rowing a boat to ferry people across the river but too embarrassed to ask for money, and being a pushover?
Why would I have ever fallen for someone like you? Have you gotten yourself into a daze? I remember someone telling you the other day about that guy from town who went out to do construction work, building houses for people, and made a lot of money. And that guy who set up a stall in Chengdu, he came back once in the middle of the year and built a huge brick house for his family… Are you deaf? Can't you hear all this?

Thinking about getting a stable job every day isn't anything special. Making a good living is better than anything else. Business used to be forbidden, but now so many people are doing it… Don't row your old boat tomorrow, go to town and take a good look. See how many more shops have opened up, how many more stalls there are. You still think it's like a few years ago… Ha! If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up. What's there to be afraid of?”

Zhou Detong said in an almost pleading voice, "Okay, okay, I won't care anymore, alright?"

Shen Fengqin, however, persisted: "You better be happy, give me a smile!"

Hearing Zhou Detong's chuckling laughter coming from downstairs, Zhou Jingming felt amused as well. It wasn't the first time he had seen Zhou Detong being subdued by Shen Fengqin, who was pulling his ear around.

Shen Fengqin yelled again, "Why is your smile uglier than your crying... Go catch a chicken and slaughter it, catch the biggest and strongest one, I want to make my son's favorite spicy chicken, hurry up and get it done..."

Zhou Jingming put his backpack on the bed, turned around and went downstairs. He saw Zhou Detong leave the house and go to the yard to catch a chicken. The chicken was being chased around and completely broke the tranquility of the old house.

"Xianji" is what rural people call a castrated rooster.

Zhou Jingming also went to help. After a while, the chicken ran left and right, and with the father and son intercepting it, it finally tried to fly into the vegetable garden. Unfortunately, it couldn't fly as high as the fence and fell down. It then hurriedly plunged into the gap in the fence and kept trying to squeeze in. It got stuck on a wooden strip and was finally caught by Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Detong looked at Zhou Jingming, panting, but still didn't say anything. It was clear that he was still troubled.

He took the chicken from Zhou Jingming and walked towards the front door. Shen Fengqin had already brought him a knife and a large bowl with a little water and salt at the bottom to catch the chicken blood.

The chicken, whose neck had been slit by Zhou Detong, struggled for a while and bled a shallow bowl of blood. He threw the chicken in front of the house. When Shen Fengqin came out and saw the bowl of chicken blood, she immediately started cursing.

Besides two chicken feathers floating in the bowl of chicken blood, there were also three corn kernels. It goes without saying that when Zhou Detong killed the chicken, he cut the esophagus, and the corn kernels in the crop were squeezed out when the chicken struggled.

This bowl of chicken blood is no longer acceptable.

Just then, someone on the other side called out that they wanted to cross the river. Zhou Detong grasped at this as if it were a lifeline, and hurried along, carrying the gleaming bamboo pole with its brass hoops.

Zhou Jingming watched his retreating figure, a smile spreading across his face. His father, in his entire life, had rarely held his head high in front of Shen Fengqin. It was said that his mother was in charge of small matters and his father made the decisions on big matters, but in reality, his mother often had the final say on both big and small matters. He was a typical henpecked husband.

He lived a simple and honest life, spending every day with the boat. Although it was hard work, he also enjoyed it. Shen Fengqin was not a particularly assertive woman. The old couple's life was plain but peaceful.

Zhou Jingming remembers asking his father when he was little why he was so afraid of his mother.

Zhou Detong replied, "What's the big deal? Back in the day, Liu Bei even knelt down to his wife, Lady Sun. I'm destined to be an emperor, so at least I don't have to worry about that."

Later, Zhou Jingming thought about it carefully. Every little thing in life told him that his father was not entirely useless. He was kind-hearted and gentle. He just wanted to solve problems openly. If you lower your head and I apologize, there would be no big problem. That's how the family maintained harmony.

To outsiders, "henpecked husband" might be a derogatory term, representing a cowardly and incompetent person, but in Sichuan, it carries more of a positive connotation.

He was simply using the pole in his hand to support his family.

It was precisely because of his hard work that Zhou Jingming was able to put aside his family affairs and venture out into the world with peace of mind.

Shen Fengqin was busy scalding the chicken with boiling water in a basin. Zhou Jingming wanted to help, but Shen Fengqin told him to rest aside and not to get involved.

He could only carry a stool to the door, sit down, and drink the eagle tea that had become lukewarm.

Unlike the cold of northern Xinjiang at this time, the sunshine in Sichuan is still warm and comfortable, a rare treat.

The person crossing the river was an uncle surnamed Wang from the village. When he passed by the old house, he saw Zhou Jingming drinking tea in front of the house and greeted him warmly: "Oh, it's Jingming! When did you come back?"

Zhou Jingming smiled at him: "I just got back not long ago... Uncle Wang, where did you come from with all these bags and packages?"

"Me? I just got back too. I worked as a porter in the mountain city, carrying things for people."

"Is business alright?"

"It's alright, I can make five or six yuan a day. It's not like you, who has a stable job and doesn't have to worry about food or drink. We can only work hard to earn a little money."

"Five or six yuan a day, that's more than a hundred a month. Uncle Wang, don't be jealous of me, you earn more than me... Come and have some tea."

"No, I've just gotten back to the village. I need to go home and check things out first. Come visit sometime." "Okay!"

Watching her uncles, surnamed Wang, leave along the dirt path behind the house, Shen Fengqin snorted, "I wonder what they were showing off for..."

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "It doesn't matter!"

He knew about the porters in the mountain city, especially those who guarded the docks and stations. With just a stick and a rope, they made a lot of money from the large flow of passengers. He said that earning only five or six yuan a day was considered somewhat restrained.

Everyone who had seen the river had already left, and Zhou Detong had not yet returned. Zhou Jingming thought for a moment, put down his teacup, and walked along the bluestone path leading to the river. He saw Zhou Detong sitting on the grass next to the reeds, smoking his pipe.

Hearing footsteps, he turned around and saw that it was Zhou Jingming coming down. He then turned back to look at the calm river in front of him.

Zhou Jingming sat down next to him: "Dad, are you still angry with me?"

"It's already like this, why should I get angry? What good will it do to get angry?"

"That's true!"

Zhou Detong felt a lump in his throat, then rolled his eyes at him and sighed, "I actually hope you can have a stable job, a long-term guarantee."

Making money is a good thing, and I know it's good to be rich; who doesn't want a good life? But as you saw a few years ago, the wealthy were the first to be punished. Look at the landlords and rich folks, and then look at those speculators and profiteers—how many of them had a good ending?

Zhou Jingming knew what his father was worried about. He was worried that the things that had happened in previous years would be repeated. Those things left a deep mark on everyone's heart these days. Many people couldn't see or imagine future policy changes, and even if they had thoughts in their hearts, they often chose to keep them to themselves and dared not express them.

Zhou Jingming, having been through it all, knew the future trends. He might have had reservations in his previous life, but not now. However, he couldn't be too certain about some things, so he could only comfort him: "Dad, don't worry. The ban on gold panning has been lifted, so it's allowed."

After a pause, he continued, "Actually, there's a reason why I took a leave of absence without pay. As you know, I'm working alone in the Wucheng Geological Team. Although I'm an exploration technician, I don't really have a foothold. The only way to make a living is to stay in an office."

Even if you're stuck in an office, it's not secure. Whether you can get the job or not is entirely up to those higher-ups.

Besides, so many people are eyeing that position. No matter how capable you are, you can't compete with connections. I'm qualified in terms of seniority, but being qualified doesn't mean you can get the job. I'm stuck there, ostracized for that one position. I'm not happy doing it. And I'm sent to the wilderness every day to explore. I don't get to spend much time in the city throughout the year.

So I thought, since I'm going to be working hard in the middle of nowhere anyway, and I don't expect to climb to a higher position, I might as well go panning for gold and earn more money—that would be more practical.”

Upon hearing this, Zhou Detong paused slightly, then turned to look at Zhou Jingming: "Is that so?"

As he said this, his expression visibly softened.

He was not ignorant of human relationships; on the contrary, he had long since seen through them clearly on that boat that shuttled back and forth across the river every day.

He now knew that his son had encountered difficulties and made another choice, and he felt relieved: "Since he was unhappy with what he was doing, it's good that he came out... But is gold panning really safe? Since ancient times, gold has been government-run. Whoever gets involved will be unlucky. How many people have lost their lives for gold... I'm afraid this kind of thing is not safe."

This is Zhou Detong, who always stands behind Zhou Jingming. Although he doesn't say it outright, his considerations are always more comprehensive than Shen Fengqin's.

Seeing that he had finished smoking his pipe, Zhou Jingming handed him a Tianxiaxiu cigarette that he had bought when he returned to Jinguan City: "Fighting and killing are inevitable, but I make a living by my mining skills. I help Boss Jin find mines and share the gold. These things don't need to be done by me yet. Don't worry, I can still do a good job in the gold mining business with my skills."

When I come back this time, I plan to find some people from the village to go gold panning with. The more people there are, the more they can look out for each other. This is all I know how to do, and it's good for me. People from the same place tend to stick together and it's safer.

Now is a golden time to strike it rich. There are dangers in everything, but for the sake of the future, we should still fight for what we should fight for and not back down when faced with difficulties..."

He used this as an excuse, while also hinting at the dangers, to let Zhou Detong know that gold panning was indeed not easy, but not so much as to cause him excessive worry.

In the Gold Rush Valley, in just six months, more than a dozen people have lost their lives to the hunting rifles in the hands of this gang for seizing mining sites and other miscellaneous matters. They dared not let their parents know about such things.

If they knew how dangerous it was, to the point of being deadly, given their parents' personalities, they would never let him go gold panning again.

"It would indeed be better if more people from the same village could go... You should weigh the pros and cons yourself. I don't understand, and there's no point in meddling, so I won't say any more."

Zhou Detong's doubts were somewhat dispelled: "Life is tough these days. You're out there working hard all by yourself. No matter what, you have to take care of your safety. You're our only son!"

Zhou Jingming nodded: "I also want to rebuild the house before I go back to pan for gold next year. Our house was left by my grandfather's generation. It's been around for many years, some of the wood is rotten, and it's damp inside, especially your room. The floor is never dry. Living there for a long time will make you more susceptible to illness when you get old."

Don't worry, our son can earn money. We'll fix things up a bit, build a brick house, and put cement floors... When I get married, I'll need a decent house, won't I? Our family needs to make a good living."

"Having a nice house is certainly good... but do you have enough money? Don't be too ambitious."

"Don't worry, there's plenty. I'll let you in on a secret: I still have some gold over there that I haven't converted into cash yet."

(End of this chapter)