My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 169 Unconventional Answer

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Zhou Jingming searched the two of them. In addition to a few hundred yuan in loose change and a gold necklace around the woman's neck, he also found a bankbook and some other odds and ends in the man's pocket.

Finding nothing left to search, Zhou Jingming quickly left the place, but he didn't go far.

It was already on the outskirts of the county town, and the surrounding area was much more desolate. He hid among a few poplar trees a hundred meters away, surveying the scene of the incident.

It's not a no-man's-land. Two lives have been lost. It's possible that someone saw the bodies and went to report it. If that's the case, we have to leave overnight. Once we leave the county, the world is vast and we can go anywhere. In this vast territory, it's extremely difficult to track down the perpetrators. In most cases, the matter is simply swept under the rug.

But Zhou Jingming soon saw the situation he hoped for.

Someone came out of that hideout, seemingly heading into the county town, but upon seeing the situation near the poplar tree, they hurriedly turned back.

Before long, seven or eight more people came out, carrying a cart. They loaded the two bodies onto the cart and dragged it away into the wilderness. Some people also used shovels to scoop up some sand and gravel from the ground and took it away, as they were cleaning up the traces.

This is why Zhou Jingming dared to make a move here.

Brothels and gold trading dens are inherently secretive and extremely sensitive places. They are even more reluctant to allow such activities to occur. If an investigation is launched, even if someone pulls strings to maintain order in the business, there will still be a lot of trouble. It's better to just dump them in the wild and be done with it.

These two kidnappers had some inexplicable connection with them.

Watching those people walk away into the wilderness, Zhou Jingming calmly wandered around some of the surrounding villages. He washed the gold chain and the bloodstains on his hands by a small river, examined them with a flashlight he had found, and after finding nothing wrong, he took out the looted items to look at them.

Some of the miscellaneous items were the two people's identification documents and train tickets that they hadn't thrown away along the way.

The object that could prove his identity was lit by Zhou Jingming with a match and burned to ashes.

That gold chain was quite exquisite, clearly made by artisans from the ethnic minorities of this region, and I'd estimate it weighed about ten grams.

Zhou Jingming counted the loose change; it amounted to 183.56 yuan.

He was pleasantly surprised by the money in his savings account; there was 8,600 yuan.

Seeing this number, he couldn't help but think to himself that there must be quite a few girls who had been tricked into coming to this place.

Regardless, in an era where money can be withdrawn without identity verification, this money can be withdrawn and spent.

He stuffed the things into his arms and muttered to himself, "You guys deserve to die. Consider this my gold rush sacrifice."

He strolled back to the hostel at the bus station, and bought some kebabs from a roadside vendor to take back with him.

The story is a long one, but it actually took no more than an hour.

When Zhou Jingming returned to the hotel, he saw Zhao Li squatting at the door of the room, looking out.

When he saw Zhou Jingming return, he got up to greet him: "Why did you take so long?"

"It hasn't been that long. You have no idea how that man threatened me in the yard just now, saying that I couldn't afford to mess with the people behind him and that I shouldn't get involved. They're two kidnappers. I can't just let them take the girls away, can I?"
Having come all this way, and considering this girl is from the same hometown, I can't just stand by and do nothing.

"That kidnapper deserves to die!"

"That's settled then. I have to go and see if they really went to call people to cause me trouble. I have to be careful."

"What happened next?"

"What can they do? They just talk big, but they don't have anyone backing them. I heard from them that they were worried I would report them to the police and have them arrested, so they ran away overnight."

"They got off too easy... If it were me, I would at least cripple them, if not kill them, so they couldn't cause any more harm."

Hearing Zhao Li say this, Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "You can really do it?"

Zhao Li retorted, "Why can't I do it? If this were in the countryside, let alone kidnappers, even a thief caught stealing would definitely get a beating. These kidnappers are even more despicable; killing them would be too lenient."

Zhou Jingming nodded: "Next time something like this happens, I'll let you handle it!"

To be honest, what he was most worried about were people like Zhao Li who had returned from military service, fearing that they would be too rigid and inflexible in their work.

But listening to what he's saying now, he doesn't seem rigid at all.

As long as you're open-minded and don't rigidly adhere to those rules and regulations, that's fine.

After he finished speaking, he quickly went into the room and saw Su Xiulan sitting quietly on the iron bed, while Li Guohua was standing by the window, looking outside.

Upon seeing Zhou Jingming return, the two of them approached him.

"Don't worry, your two relatives have already run away!"

Zhou Jingming returned to his bed and sat down, lit a cigarette, and then looked at Su Xiulan: "I don't know what you went through back in your hometown, but it must have been tough for you, which is why you chose to go out."

I'm only telling you now that the three of us are here to pan for gold. You are currently in Altan, which is 500 kilometers away from Wucheng. Every year, there are hundreds or thousands of gold panning teams that lurk and travel through these ravines. Small teams have three to five people, while large teams have one or two hundred people. Most of them are migrant workers, and some are criminals.

Here, we not only have to face the harsh natural environment of the mountains, but also deal with the clearing operations carried out by the management departments.

The gold-mining teams were often embroiled in fierce battles, fights, murders, and robberies over territory and gold deposits, making it an extremely dangerous place.

I'm telling you all this to ask you: do you want to go back to your hometown, or do you want to stay here?

"I...I don't have any money to go back!"

Su Xiulan lowered her head, twisting the hem of her clothes with her fingers: "Can I not go back?" "Of course you can not go back. I can help you find a farm to work on. I worked here for a few years and can help you find a job and settle down. There are ways."

Su Xiulan looked up at Zhou Jingming: "I...can I come with you?"

This is the option Zhou Jingming wanted to hear: "It's not impossible. Our gold-mining team does need a girl to help with cooking, laundry, and mending. But you have to think it through. As I just told you, the mountains are dangerous, and you'll be with a bunch of rough men. I'm afraid you won't be able to adapt."

"I believe you...you're a good person!"

"Girl, I'm not a good person."

"You are!"

Su Xiulan's tone was stubborn: "As long as you're willing to let me come with you, I dare to go. It's just a change of scenery, a different place to wander."

Zhou Jingming asked with a smile, "I really don't know what you're thinking. We're not that close. Aren't you afraid I'll sell you off?"

Su Xiulan stared at Zhou Jingming, her eyes showing some fear at this moment, but quickly becoming firm: "If you would sell me out, you wouldn't have helped me."

"That's hard to say!"

Zhou Jingming took a drag of his cigarette: "People come here to pan for gold, they're willing to do anything for money."

"Then... let's sell it!"

After hesitating for a while, Su Xiulan gave an unconventional answer that seemed weak, yet somehow made Zhou Jingming feel completely devoted to her.

This is a bit fatal.

Zhou Jingming took the risk of dealing with the two kidnappers, not for fun, but for a reason. Now, it seems he has gotten the result he wanted.

He stopped trying to dismantle Su Xiulan's seemingly fragile yet resilient nerves and handed her the skewers he had bought: "I saw they brought food when they came back... You probably haven't eaten yet, so hurry up and fill your stomach and get some rest."

I reckon we'll have to wait here for another two days.

Having done that kind of thing tonight, Zhou Jingming was very vigilant and kept on guard against any potential trouble.

As a result, there was no movement until dawn.

It was just past nine o'clock in the morning when it was barely light. Once it was fully light, he called the three of them to a restaurant and they ate some fried dough sticks and meatball soup. Then he told Zhao Li and the others to go back to the bus station and inn, while he himself wandered around the county town. He even went out of town to the den of thieves, pretending to inquire about the price of gold. He didn't hear any commotion and acted as if nothing had happened.

He returned to the inn at the bus station with peace of mind and took a nap.

He woke up around six in the afternoon. With nothing to do, he figured the bus from Altan to Urumqi should be arriving soon, so he went to check the bridge outside the bus station.

The river under the bridge flowed swiftly towards the northwest, its color a vibrant emerald green with a gelatinous quality that Zhou Jingming had never noticed.

The sun was slowly sinking below the distant horizon, its afterglow spilling onto the river, turning the water into a golden ribbon fluttering in the wind. Then it gradually dimmed, turning a dark red, and finally a shiny black gold, like a long worm forged from metal slowly twisting its heavy body.

Seeing this strange change, even Zhou Jingming's own mood became serious.

He himself couldn't say for sure what would happen in the Gold Rush Valley in the new year; he only hoped that everything would go smoothly this year.

The sharp horn of the bus pulled him back from his chaotic thoughts of the distant river. He turned his head and saw the bus from Wucheng pass through the city gate and stop at the entrance of the passenger station. After the doors opened, a large group of people carrying large and small bags poured out. Among the crowd, he saw familiar faces.

Zhou Jingming waved at him: "Wu Yang..."

Wu Yang saw him too, and jogged over with his luggage on his back: "Brother Zhou, when did you arrive?"

“I left home on the third day of the Lunar New Year and arrived yesterday. I wanted to get to Tiemaike, but there were no buses or cars running. Since you came from Wucheng, you would have to get off at the bus station anyway, so I decided to wait here.”

Zhou Jingming looked at the dozen or so young men who had followed him and asked, "How many people did you bring this time?"

"I brought twenty-five of them with me. This car couldn't fit them all, so some of them came with me first. The rest, I had a friend from the same village bring them over. They probably won't arrive until tomorrow."

"Great!"

Zhou Jingming gave him a thumbs up.

Wu Yang pressed on, asking, "Brother Zhou, how many did you bring?"

Zhou Jingming smiled awkwardly: "My situation is rather special. On the small peninsula of the Haiertes River tributary, two groups of people tried to kidnap me, as you know. I've also told you that Wu Fusheng even went to Chengdu to swindle me in order to get information about the mining sites from me."

I don't want anyone to coerce me by using my family, and besides, very few people in our area have any contact with gold mining. If this gets out, it will definitely cause a huge uproar and disturb their peace.

So, I only brought two people with me. One was my childhood friend, someone I grew up with, and the other was a soldier who served in the snowy region and returned home after being discharged... and then I picked up a girl.

It's no secret that you and Bai Zhishun are panning for gold in those two places. We're counting on you two to recruit people. If we're short-handed, I'll recruit some more in Altan.”

"That's true!"

Wu Yang nodded slightly: "Hiss... Brother Zhou, you said you picked up a girl? Is she pretty?"

"Don't worry about whether you're pretty or not, just don't overthink it..."

Zhou Jingming smiled at him: "The person is mine!"

(End of this chapter)