My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 204 Breaking off friendship and righteousness
"Xu Youliang, you're not even telling me the truth now, are you?"

Peng Yuanchao grabbed Xu Youliang by the collar and wouldn't let go, staring intently at him: "Don't be stubborn until you see the coffin. Tell the truth now, and out of consideration for our past relationship, I might vouch for you and let Brother Zhou spare your life. If you still don't tell the truth..."

"Ha, so you've come here to kill me, Brother Peng? You saved my life, and if you want to take it away, I have nothing to say, but they..."

Xu Youliang glanced at Zhou Jingming, Wu Yang, and the others: "What gives you the right? Why should I admit to things I didn't do? What, I worked with you guys for a whole gold rush season, and now you can't just quit?"

"Hey Zhou, I paid you real money to acquire this mine. You're not trying to find an excuse to take it back, are you?"

Zhou Jingming shook his head with a smile: "Xu Youliang, I'm only talking to you nicely because of Brother Peng. Otherwise, I guarantee you wouldn't even know when you died."

Those who work with me at the mine do so entirely voluntarily. Whether it's you, Brother Peng, Brother Li, or even Wu Yang and the others, if they feel capable of working independently and want to start their own businesses, I have no objection. Everyone wants to make money, and I understand and support that approach.

As for the mining sites, do you think I'm the kind of person who's short of mining sites to pan for gold? Since you're willing to transfer them, let me tell you the truth: it's because I don't care about them. I'm just looking to make a small profit. Keeping them in my possession won't do me much good.

So don't try to confuse the issue with this baseless claim that I want to reclaim the mining site, and incite your followers to anger and come back to cause trouble for me. You don't need to do that.

After a pause, Zhou Jingming continued, "I'll ask you one more time, why did you betray me? As far as I can remember, I've never offended you. Last year during the gold rush season, I didn't shortchange you on your gold... Now, your actions make me feel like we have some deep-seated grudge."

“Hey Zhou, I told you, I never did such a thing.”

Xu Youliang, looking furious, shoved Peng Yuanchao's hand off his collar, pushed Peng Yuanchao away, turned to face Zhou Jingming, and roared at him.

Whose father are you pretending to be?

Wu Yang didn't stand on ceremony with him and kicked Xu Youliang hard in the chest, sending him staggering back two steps and falling to the ground with a thud. Xu Youliang was probably a little out of breath, as his face turned bright red.

Zhao Li stepped forward and kicked him hard in the thigh: "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Wu Yang, Zhao Li, don't rush to make a move!"

Zhou Jingming stopped the two of them and then glanced at the group of people following Xu Youliang.

Their own heads were beaten, so naturally, a group of people couldn't just stand by and watch, especially the men that Xu Youliang had brought from Longnan.

Seeing some of them grabbing tools standing next to the dugout, Wu Yang immediately raised his gun: "Put those things down if you don't want to die..."

Seeing this, the men could only suppress their anger and put down the tools they had picked up. If they really started fighting, they would be walking into the line of fire.

What Wu Yang held was not a double-barreled shotgun, but a more powerful Type 56 semi-automatic rifle that could hold eleven rounds. A few shots could take down several people.

Moreover, Zhou Jingming and his group had three guns like that.

Seeing that the others dared not move, Zhou Jingming looked at Xu Youliang again: "Let me tell you something. Liang Mazi came to my mine again today. He knows everything about my mine, including when I get paid, how much gold I distribute, and how much I get."

To save myself the trouble, I'll just use the gold produced at the mine next month to exchange for the sale of my name.

He told me, "You did it."

Compared to what I can give him, you can give him far too little.

If you can betray me to him, he can certainly betray you to me too. Ultimately, it's all about the gold.

I don't think Liang Mazi would tell me a fake name after receiving so many benefits; nobody's stupid.

That's why I came here.

If I had done things the way I always have, I would have taken care of you long ago. It would have been a one-shot deal. I'm sure you know my marksmanship; it's not an exaggeration.

But out of respect for Brother Peng, I didn't do anything.

If you confess honestly now, I'll spare your life. But if you still refuse to admit it and insist on waiting until Liang Mazi comes to the mine next month, I'll bring him here to confront you. At that time, there will be no room for negotiation.

"I'm sure you've invested so much in this mine and haven't made much money yet, you wouldn't choose to run away, would you?"

Having said all that, Xu Youliang knew he couldn't hide it any longer, so he steeled himself and said, "So what if I did it? You surnamed Zhou, you're coming to me now to plead for leniency, but when I went to you to discuss the mining site, you didn't show any leniency? When I asked you for the mining site transfer fee, you didn't show any leniency either."
Almost all the gold I found in April and May ended up in your pocket.

And what the hell do you think about the past? If it weren't for me and Brother Peng taking you in, you wouldn't be in this mess now.

"I just can't stand it. You're a newcomer, pointing fingers everywhere. Who's the boss, you or Brother Peng? Don't keep bringing up your job as an exploration technician, acting like we can't even find a gold mine without you..."

"So that's what you think."

He wanted to continue, but Zhou Jingming interrupted him, saying, "It seems you've disliked me for a long time; this has been brewing for a long time."

Now I understand why…

Zhou Jingming turned to Peng Yuanchao and said, "Brother Peng, your brother is speaking up for you. In his heart, I am a complete villain, utterly worthless."

What he said wasn't wrong. I reckon many of us who were together last year had the same thought.

Even a petty person is better than a hypocrite.

"Brother Peng, you decide what to do! Because of him, I've lost a lot of gold—enough to buy several of his lives."

After Zhou Jingming finished speaking, he got up and left. Wu Yang glared at Xu Youliang and immediately followed.

Li Guozhu, Zhao Li, and Sun Chenggui did not linger.

Watching the group walk away, Peng Yuanchao looked distressed. He sat down on the wooden stool where Xu Youliang had been selecting gold and lit a cigarette for himself. "Youliang, what am I supposed to do?"

Xu Youliang patted his butt and stood up from the ground: "Easy... Brother Peng, I think you shouldn't go back. You might as well come with me. You can be the leader. It's not like we can't get things done without him, the one surnamed Zhou."

"Right now, we have over twenty people at our mine, water pumps, and guns. We can still make a living. I guarantee you'll earn more here than you would with Zhou Jingming."

Peng Yuanchao shook his head: "Brother, I've said it before, wear your underwear according to your size. I don't have the kind of ability you're talking about."

"How could there not be? Brother Peng, you underestimate yourself. I've been following you for two or three years now, and I know your capabilities. You're loyal and take care of your brothers. In my opinion, you're much better than that guy surnamed Zhou."

Xu Youliang said indignantly, "What kind of person is Zhou? All he knows is how to pocket gold."

Peng Yuanchao sighed: "Brother, have you ever thought about why we didn't make any money in the past two years?"

"I was just unlucky. It was too chaotic in the West Sea, but it's different here. It's much easier to work here."

"Have you ever thought about this? Zhou Jingming joined the team, and we all made money, and a lot of money, more than other gold miners make in several years. If it weren't for him, where would you get the money to support this business? We might have already gone bankrupt last year."

My understanding of loyalty and being good to brothers seems to be different from yours... Never mind, when you came to my house and asked me to work for you, I already made it very clear to you. In the end, there's not much point in talking about it.

I'm just curious, how did you get involved with Liang Mazi?

“When the Qingshan team came, I took the initiative to find him. At that time, I gave gold to the man surnamed Zhou. I didn’t have much left, so I gave him my own money, 10,000 yuan.”

He promised not to cause me any more trouble, but he had one request: that I find out about the situation in Haxionggou and regularly report back to him in Tiemaike, especially about Zhou Jingming's two mining sites..."

"So, you tricked me into revealing information. Do you know that by doing so, you betrayed Zhou Jingming, and you also betrayed me?"

"Brother Peng, things are like this now, and from what I hear, you're still speaking up for that Zhou guy. You can't go back now, so why are you still thinking about those things?"

Peng Yuanchao shook his head: "There's no point in talking like this. You're stuck in your own little rut, and I'm stuck in mine. We can't agree on anything... Let's get someone to cook. Tonight, let's have a good drink together."

Upon hearing this, Xu Youliang became happy, thinking that Peng Yuanchao had come to his senses and was prepared to stay at the mine.

He immediately ordered the smoked horse sausages he had bought to be cooked, and also arranged for the fish he had caught from the river to be served.

After more than an hour of fussing, the food was served just before dark.

Xu Youliang poured Peng Yuanchao a small bowl of wine. The two stopped talking about Liang Mazi and spent more time listening to Xu Youliang's plans for his mine and how it would develop in the coming years.

He spoke with such confidence and arrogance, as if he had amassed a fortune with ease.

Gradually, the others had finished eating and drinking and climbed onto the earthen beds to sleep. Under the dim light of the oil lamp, only the two of them were still eating at a leisurely pace.

Seemingly both of them were a little drunk, and their conversation returned to how Peng Yuanchao had saved Xu Youliang, and the various things he had experienced during his two years of wandering in the Western Sea.

Xu Youliang got drunk and slid to the ground like a lump of mud.

At that moment, Peng Yuanchao stood up unsteadily and gulped down the remaining mouthful of wine in the large bowl.

The next second, he grabbed the steel crowbar from behind the door of the dugout and smashed it down on Xu Youliang's right arm.

The blow was extremely forceful; with a cracking sound, Xu Youliang's right arm was deformed and the bone was broken.

Xu Youliang, who was completely drunk, suddenly sobered up under the stimulation of pain and sat up with a scream.

Peng Yuanchao didn't stop swinging the steel chisel; he then struck Xu Youliang's calf.

The group of people who were resting in the dugout never expected that Peng Yuanchao, who seemed to be fine, would suddenly make a move, and they all hurriedly jumped down.

Peng Yuanchao's second strike with the steel chisel was pushed aside, and instead of hitting Xu Youliang's calf, it struck his knee, causing Xu Youliang to scream in pain again. The extent of his injury is unknown.

Peng Yuanchao wanted to pull again, but he was already restrained and couldn't break free. The steel rod in his hand was also taken away.

"You surnamed Peng, are you fucking crazy?"

Amidst his screams, Xu Youliang roared hysterically.

"That shout from the surname Peng was well done!"

Peng Yuanchao forcefully broke free from the men's grasp: "Xu Youliang, do you know why when I became the leader, I specifically wrote in the agreement and rules that anyone who steals or causes trouble would have their legs broken and be kicked out? It's because I'm afraid of ungrateful bastards like you."

That shout from the man surnamed Peng was well done! We're destined to be on different paths. After these two blows from me, our friendship is over, and we'll be strangers in life and death.

After he finished speaking, he tore open the door of the dugout and crawled out.

(End of this chapter)