My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 166 is decided?
Zhao Li came looking for him more than a month later; it was raining that day.

Every winter at this time, the Sichuan region experiences several days of continuous rain and chilly weather.

Zhou Jingming took over Zhou Detong's job of ferrying passengers by boat and told him to go back to his sister's house to rest for two days.

It was raining, so there were few people traveling. Zhou Jingming only spent the morning wearing a raincoat and helping six people cross the river.

The courtyard walls were already completed, and several carpenters were tending to the pine wood that Zhou Jingming had bought, with a fire burning inside.

All you need to do to build a house is to put up the main beams, lay down the purlins, rafters and blue tiles, install the doors and windows, and then paint the walls.

At this point, there's not much left for Zhou Jingming to get involved in.

It's estimated that it will take about another month to complete.

When he had nothing to do, Zhou Jingming would warm himself by the fire in the shack next to the house.

Li Guohua couldn't do much, so he liked to hang out with Zhou Jingming. There was an iron pot on the fire, boiling water, and he was busy preparing the vegetables to be cooked later.

Zhao Li squeezed in just as Li Guohua was slicing the meat, glanced around the shack, and said, "I timed this perfectly..."

He took out a lump of beef from the basket he had put down, estimating it to weigh about seven or eight pounds, and also took out a pot of corn liquor. He said to Li Guohua, "Cook some beef too."

Of course, Li Guohua wouldn't miss such a good thing. He immediately cut off a large piece, threw it into a basin, and rinsed it with some cold water.

Zhou Jingming handed him a cigarette: "Where did you get the beef?"

If he had come from town, he would have taken a boat, but he didn't.

“At my grandma’s house, the cows were let out to graze yesterday, and one of the cows from the village ran away and fought with it. The cow got gored in the neck by the horn and died. I was helping to take care of it yesterday, and when I came back, I brought some beef with me. Since I had nothing else to do, I came here.”

How's work going?

"What can I do? All I got was a message telling me to wait for a notification at home. It seems like it's not going to work out, so I came here specifically to ask if you have any good options."

Zhou Jingming peeked over at the workers and saw that they were warming themselves around the fire and not paying attention to this place. He glanced at Zhao Li and said, "Yes, we do have some, but I'm afraid you won't like them."

Zhao Li smiled and said, "How do you know I don't like it if you don't even say anything?"

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment: "I can tell you, but you absolutely cannot tell anyone."

Zhao Li was slightly taken aback: "It's not something illegal or disorderly, is it?"

"Some do, but many people do it."

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly: "I'll tell you if you can guarantee it."

Seeing Zhou Jingming's serious expression, Zhao Li pondered for a moment, then patted his chest and said, "I promise I will never tell anyone."

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment and said, "You may have heard about this when you were in the snowy area—gold panning!"

Zhao Li nodded repeatedly: "I understand... I have indeed heard some things. There are quite a lot of people panning for gold. Did you make your fortune by panning for gold?"

"You could say that, after all, I work in geological exploration, and that's what I deal with most."

Just like Wu Yang had asked before, Zhao Li lowered his voice and asked, "How much can you earn in a year of gold panning?"

"Several thousand yuan is no problem."

Zhao Li didn't rush to say she would go: "This matter... I need to think about it!"

Zhou Jingming wasn't in a hurry. Zhao Li was just one of his preliminary choices, not someone he absolutely had to bring: "Take your time to think it over. There's still time. Chinese New Year is on February 20th, and I should be leaving on the third day of the new year. Once you decide to go, pack your things and come find me on that day."

Zhao Li asked again, "Who else is coming along?"

Zhou Jingming glanced at Li Guohua: "I'll bring Guohua with me. If you come too, then it will just be the three of us."

Li Guohua had never heard Zhou Jingming mention gold panning before, so when he suddenly heard Zhou Jingming say he would take him gold panning, he was stunned for a moment, and then his eyes lit up.

He was a man with no ties to anyone. Staying in the village, he couldn't do much except tend to his small plot of land. His biggest wish was to see if he could go out with the villagers to work as a porter or something, so he could at least save some money and get married. Otherwise, he would be all alone, and if he continued like this, he would become an old bachelor.

His life had already been full of hardships, so naturally he wanted a chance to change his fate.

When Zhou Jingming left Boss Jin in his previous life to start his own business, the first person he contacted was him, and Zhou Jingming didn't even ask him a single question at the time.

Throughout his life, he never asked any more questions, but the way he cut the meat became much lighter.

Zhao Li didn't ask any more questions about this matter. Since he had heard about gold panning, he must know the dangers involved.

The three chatted, but the topic of gold panning was no longer mentioned. Instead, Zhou Jingming asked Zhao Li more about his time in the army. After the meal was prepared, Zhou Jingming invited the carpenters over to eat with him. Zhao Li didn't stay long and went home early.

The days that followed were quite uneventful, and Zhou Jingming continued to focus on things like preparing materials for building the house.

Before we knew it, it was February 9th. With only ten days left until the Lunar New Year, the construction of the courtyard house was finally completed.

To others, such a house would be considered very sophisticated, but in Zhou Jingming's eyes, it was merely habitable. There was no putty powder, so they could only use lime to whitewash it; there were no tiles, and the cement floor was already the best they could be made of. He didn't expect it to be done very well.

Consider this as securing the land for now; there will be plenty of opportunities to renovate and rebuild when conditions are better in the future.

He busied himself arranging manpower, slaughtered the two pigs in the house, held a banquet, and invited his parents to move in.

But he soon discovered that his parents were also the type who didn't appreciate having a good house. They were the type who would stuff whatever they could find into the house. Worried that the firewood would get wet and make it inconvenient to start a fire, Shen Fengqin would even move all the firewood into the room.

What can be said?
He knew that this was a habit he had developed during his long and arduous life: he wanted to grab anything he could and bring it home, and he wished he could fill every room to the brim.

Zhou Jingming said nothing, letting them do as they pleased.

In the following days, he helped the villagers slaughter pigs for two days, and then began to prepare for the New Year. He prepared some for his own family and sent some to Zhou Xingyao and Li Guohua's families. These were mostly things like candy, pastries, and canned goods.

New Year's Eve is naturally a time for a delicious meal, followed by ancestor worship on the first day of the new year, and shopping on the second. Compared to later generations' Spring Festivals, which are mostly spent watching fireworks and playing cards or mahjong, the streets at this time are much more festive, bustling with people. As Zhou Detong put it, even beggars have three days left until the New Year.

Zhou Jingming also invited Li Guohua to take a stroll in the streets before hurrying home to take the boat pole from Zhou Detong, so that he could also have a chance to walk around and take a look.

Otherwise, during festivals and holidays, when the town is busiest, Zhou Detong has little chance to go out and can only stay and watch over that old boat.

That same evening, after dinner, Zhou Jingming began packing his luggage.

The next morning, Li Guohua arrived early to meet Zhou Jingming. After eating a large bowl of glutinous rice balls at home, Zhou Jingming waited for a while, but Zhao Li didn't come. He figured Zhao Li probably wouldn't come, so he didn't linger. He called Li Guohua, and with Shen Fengqin and Zhou Xingyao watching them reluctantly, he asked Zhou Detong to take them across the river to the town's bus station.

Zhou Jingming had already walked quite a distance when he suddenly remembered that Old Liu had asked him to bring some tobacco leaves. He had no choice but to rush back. On the way, he saw someone hurrying along a small path.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Zhao Li.

Zhao Li also saw Zhou Jingming and slowed her hurried pace: "Oh my... I'm so busy, I thought I wouldn't be able to catch up with you guys."

Zhou Jingming laughed: "Have you decided?"

"Nonsense, if I weren't going, why would I get up so early in the morning when it's so warm and cozy under the covers?"

"What did you tell your family?"

“I told them I was going out to work. If I leave now, there are fewer people taking the train, and it will be easier to buy a ticket. If I wait a few more days, when more people are going out, it will probably take a lot of time to even buy a ticket.”

"Have you thought this through? Things might not be as simple as you think once you get to the valley."

"I've made up my mind, so I'm not afraid. Damn it, instead of waiting for a job that I don't know when I'll be assigned, I might as well go out and make my own way. Earning that fixed salary isn't really that meaningful... Why did you come back again?"

"I forgot something... You guys just wait here!"

Zhou Jingming put down his bag and hurried home.

Getting some tobacco leaves was no problem for Zhou Jingming at all.

Zhou Detong himself smokes leaf tobacco. Every year, he would set aside a piece of land to plant about a hundred leaf tobacco plants. When the leaves started to turn slightly yellow, he would cut them down, weave them into strings with palm rope, take them out to dry during the day, and roll them into bundles at night to store them at home. He took great care of it.

Zhou Jingming took two large bundles, which made Zhou Detong feel a pang of heartache: "You don't even smoke tobacco, what are you going to do with this stuff?"

"I don't smoke, but some people do!"

Zhou Jingming quickly packed the two bundles of cigarettes into a bag, picked it up, and left: "Dad, if you don't have enough, go buy some more."

Since Zhou Jingming was useful, Zhou Detong naturally didn't say anything. He escorted Zhou Jingming across to the other side again and then watched the three of them leave quickly.

After a long and arduous journey, the three of them arrived in Chengdu that same day, stayed there overnight, and went to buy train tickets early the next morning.

Many people like to choose auspicious days like the sixth or eighth day of the lunar month to go out. There were only thirty or forty people scattered in the train station ticket hall. Moreover, Zhou Jingming and his group bought tickets to the northwest, not to the south where migrant workers and business people gather. There were extra tickets, but the price was a little higher.

Zhou Jingming simply bought a hard sleeper ticket and boarded the train that afternoon to begin his long journey.

When traveling by train, lying down is definitely more comfortable than sitting, provided the conditions allow.

In order to acquire all the promising mining sites, even though he couldn't do anything in Altay right now, he had to hurry up and get things done before someone else could get there first, which would inevitably lead to another struggle.

This time, Zhou Jingming intends to monopolize those mining sites, taking every last penny – that's the right way to make money in the Gold Rush Valley.

(End of this chapter)