My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 170 Earned Money

More than twenty people arrived at once, which a small hotel couldn't accommodate, so the bus station hotel was much bigger.

Zhou Jingming led the group into the bus station, where they queued up to buy "bed" tickets and were then led into the bus station's hostel.

As soon as the staff were settled in, Wu Yang couldn't wait to have Zhou Jingming take him to see the girl he had picked up.

Zhou Jingming smiled and shook his head, but still led him to the room, and also introduced Zhao Li, Li Guohua and Su Xiulan to him.

After a brief greeting, Wu Yang pulled Zhou Jingming outside: "Brother Zhou, you're really good at picking up girls! Such pretty girls, why don't you pick up a few more?"

Zhou Jingming grinned: "You think pretty girls are like cabbages that are everywhere, that you can just pick and choose? In Altay, even if they were cabbages, you wouldn't be able to pick them up... Wake up, stop dreaming."

Wu Yang sighed: "Why doesn't this kind of good thing fall into my lap... How did I manage to get it?"

Zhou Jingming briefly recounted how he met Su Xiulan on the train and how she was abducted to Altan.

"So she was abducted!"

Wu Yang then asked, "Those two kidnappers... are they dealt with?"

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly.

Having been through a lot with Wu Yang, Wu Yang was the one he trusted the most among all the people who came with him to pan for gold last year. He would have to think twice before speaking to anyone else.

Wu Yang had no doubt about Zhou Jingming's methods: "It's good that it's resolved."

Turning his head, he called out to Su Xiulan, "Sister-in-law... do you have any pretty girls over there? Introduce me to one. I'm from Longshan in western Hunan, not too far from your place."

His address of "sister-in-law" not only startled Zhou Jingming but also bewildered Su Xiulan.

After realizing what was happening, Su Xiulan's face flushed red, burning with embarrassment. She secretly glanced at Zhou Jingming, then looked at Wu Yang: "I do know a few!"

Wu Yang's eyes widened: "Really? I'll definitely help you introduce someone, or even help you kidnap one!"

"Kidnap?"

Zhou Jing glanced at him, understanding his meaning: "What are you talking about... It's like you've turned into a lecherous monster after just one trip back home. Nine out of ten sentences you can't stop talking about pretty girls. If you really can't handle it, go outside the county town to cool off?"

"Brother Zhou, you're like a well-fed man who doesn't know the hunger of a starving man. I've been single for over twenty years... Sister-in-law, you must help me..."

"Get out! Get out!"

Zhou Jingming quickly pushed him out of the room and closed the door behind him. When he turned around, he met Su Xiulan's eyes. For some reason, Zhou Jingming, who had seen countless people in his previous life, actually felt a little awkward.

Seeing Su Xiulan blushing and looking down, he chuckled dryly, "Don't take it too seriously, Wu Yang is just used to making a scene."

Su Xiulan looked up at Zhou Jingming and softly replied, "Mm!"

It's clear she's trying to overcome her current discomfort.

Seeing how easily Zhou Jingming interacted with this large group of people, Li Guohua and Zhao Li were surprised and vaguely felt that Zhou Jingming was not as he claimed to be.

At least, it's very stylish.

They also began to look forward to the gold rush that was about to begin.

With Wu Yang's arrival, it was natural to take them to a restaurant for a good meal and drinks.

Su Xiulan didn't go; she stayed at the inn at the bus station. Zhou Jingming brought her food when he came back.

Last night, she shared a room with Zhou Jingming and the other two men. At first, she was a little nervous and didn't dare to sleep. But after one night, the three of them were more well-behaved than she had imagined. She noticed that Zhou Jingming tossed and turned, would get up from time to time to go to the window, lift the curtain and look outside, and would also come to her bedside.

However, Zhou Jingming did not make any extra moves towards her, but simply tucked the blanket in gently.

This small gesture gave her a sense of inexplicable peace of mind, and she finally dared to close her eyes with peace of mind.

And tonight, needless to say.

She slept remarkably soundly.

It wouldn't do for everyone to just wait at the bus station. Most of them were new to the Northwest and found everything around them fascinating. As soon as they got up early in the morning, some of them started wandering around restlessly.

After discussing it with Wu Yang, Zhou Jingming decided to let Wu Yang stay here to wait for the rest of his men and Bai Zhishun, while he planned to go to Tiemaike first.

For him, the sooner he could reach Haxionggou, the better.

Of course, he didn't intend to go empty-handed.

Compared to Timak, it is easier and more convenient to buy supplies in Altan. After all, it is a county town. For one thing, there are no gas stations in Timak. If you need fuel, you have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy it with diesel coupons. However, there is a gas station in Altan.

He first went to the bank and withdrew all the money from the passbook. He then spent 6,300 yuan at the agricultural machinery station to buy a new tractor. After that, he drove to the air gun shooting stall in the center of the county town, found the lazy man watching the stall, and spent money to buy all the diesel vouchers from him.

Around 1980, even with diesel ration coupons, a letter of introduction from one's work unit was required to purchase them. The fact that the diesel ration coupons were so small, sometimes only half a jin (250 grams), showed just how scarce diesel was.

However, Northern Xinjiang is different from the border area. The Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps has reclaimed a lot of farmland here, and the level of mechanization is very high in China. The consumption of oil is large, and the area is vast. Any vehicle traveling here will not feel at ease without carrying two cans of oil. Therefore, it is much easier to obtain diesel than in the border area.

Even so, Zhou Jingming couldn't buy too much diesel at once. He only bought a 200-liter barrel of diesel, and then bought a lot of tools and luggage here. He loaded them onto the vehicle, and there were twelve people in total, including himself, riding the tractor to Tiemaike.

He gave the remaining diesel vouchers to Wu Yang and also asked him to keep an eye on the balloon stalls. If they had any diesel vouchers, he was to buy them immediately and bring as much diesel as possible into the mountains.

With so many people coming, waiting for the shuttle bus could take days, so he simply told Wu Yang to wait until Bai Zhishun was done, then go directly to the fleet to find cars and bring them over in one load. As for Zhou Jingming, he was quite wealthy in his previous life and had driven many nice cars. Back in the Beidahuang production team farm, he had even driven a tractor used for plowing, so driving it was no problem for him at all.

As for driver's licenses... if you're driving a small tractor in a place where you might not see a soul for hundreds of miles, the driver's license is just for show. The traffic management office in the county town can't handle places like that. It's like buying a car; you just pay the price and you can buy it. There are no complicated procedures involved.

Zhou Jingming bought a hand-held tractor, which was also aptly nicknamed the "big grasshopper."

When turning left downhill, use the right clutch; when turning right, use the left clutch. Use the I-beam gear, shift to fast gear, and shift to full gear.

This thing is sturdy and durable. It can go up mountains and down rivers. If it gets stuck in the mud, one person can lift the wheel while another person puts something under it, and then you can accelerate and it will be up again.

This type of tractor is best suited for use in the mountains.

After a short period of adjustment, he was able to drive very smoothly.

Of the twelve people who traveled together, apart from the four of them, the remaining eight were all led by Wu Yang.

After Wu Yang told them that Zhou Jingming was the foreman who paid their wages, the group was relatively obedient.

The Gobi Desert is covered with sand and gravel. Although the winters are harsh and there can be a thick layer of snow when it snows heavily, this snow melts most easily when the weather warms up slightly.

Looking around, there was mostly snow on some slightly higher hilltops and shady areas; the pastoral trails were almost entirely devoid of snow.

The tractor moved briskly along the way, but the cold wind blowing in their faces made everyone shiver.

Fortunately, with a tractor, the journey of over a hundred miles was completed in just over three hours.

In Tiemaike, Zhou Jingming stayed at a hotel for one night.

That day, he bought two more carts and some grain in town.

The next day, he led everyone on their way.

When they reached a place where the tractor could not go, they unloaded all kinds of supplies and used two handcarts to transport them to Haxionggou.

As for the tractor, Zhou Jingming only took the crank handle to start it, leaving the tractor stranded on the road.

They wanted to arrive on the same day, but there wasn't enough time, so they built a big fire in the mountains and spent the night in the wilderness.

It wasn't until noon the next day that we arrived at the hillside diagonally opposite Haxionggou.

Hearing Jinwang's deep bark from afar, Zhou Jingming felt a sense of familiarity. He cupped his hands to his mouth and called out towards the pincer-shaped ravine, "Jinwang..."

Not long after, a golden, agile figure darted out of the poplar grove, ran across the wooden bridge, and headed up the hillside.

In just a few months, Jinwang has grown quite a bit, probably weighing around 120 pounds.

Upon seeing such a large dog, the others were so frightened that they all retreated to the side, but Zhou Jingming went to meet it.

Having not seen its owner for a long time, Jinwang was unusually excited. It rushed into Zhou Jingming's arms with such force that it knocked Zhou Jingming over. It first jumped to the side and barked wildly at Zhou Jingming as if it were scolding him. Then it pounced on him again and licked Zhou Jingming's face until it was covered in saliva.

Zhou Jingming quickly sat up, reached out and scratched its neck, and after a while, it calmed down a little.

Old Liu soon arrived on the hillside with his hunting rifle. When he saw Zhou Jingming, he nodded slightly and said, "You came quite quickly. I thought it would be a while before you arrived."

"It has to be early, otherwise other gold prospectors might take over the mine, and I'm worried you won't be able to handle it alone. Sir... is everything alright at the mine?"

"It's alright, I didn't see a single ghost... Did you bring my cigarettes? You haven't forgotten, have you?"

"How could I forget what you entrusted to me..."

Zhou Jingming took the two bundles of tobacco leaves that Zhou Detong had been heartbroken over from the cart and handed them to Old Man Liu.

Old Liu glanced at it, then eagerly plucked a piece of tobacco, rolled it into a cigarette, stuffed it into his pipe, struck a match, lit it, and took several puffs: "Good tobacco, strong enough!"

"If you think it's good, then that's fine!"

Zhou Jingming then called on everyone to pull the cart down to the riverbank. When they moved the supplies to the dugout, Zhou Jingming was somewhat surprised by what he saw inside.

The three dugouts were almost all filled with meat, all of which had been smoked.

In addition, there were quite a few furs in the house.

Zhou Jingming looked through the items and found wolf skins, bear skins, red deer skins, ibex skins, and two sable skins... There were quite a few valuable items, and he even picked up several pairs of deer antlers that had fallen off during the winter.

These items are worth at least three or four thousand.

"Grandpa, you're really amazing!"

"There aren't many people here, but there's plenty of wild animals, so it's easier to fight here than in the Qinling Mountains."

"This amount of meat alone should be enough to last us quite a while. Once I've gathered enough manpower, I'll assess how much extra money I should give you!"

"I have enough of these furs and bear bile, what do I need your money for? What use would I have for it? If you really think of me as a big shot, then don't bring up money with me."

"Okay, okay, I won't mention it then!"

At this moment, Zhou Jingming felt that he had really made a profit by letting Grandpa Liu watch over the mine.

(End of this chapter)