My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 207 Using this to suppress [the situation]

When Peng Yuanchao woke up, it was already close to noon.

He crawled out of the dugout and found that Zhou Jingming and the others were not there.

At the mine, only Li Guohua was leading people to dig ore, while Bai Zhishun stood guard by the sluice box watching the ore being washed.

And Old Liu was sitting on the grass on the hillside, smoking.

He went down to the riverbank, squatted down, scooped up the cold water, and splashed his face a few times.

Perhaps due to being drunk, his face appeared somewhat swollen.

The cold water jolted Peng Yuanchao awake considerably.

He moved closer to Bai Zhishun: "Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Brother Zhou said you were in a bad mood and drank so much, so he told you to get some more sleep and not to bother you!"

Bai Zhishun smiled at him, but his gaze quickly returned to the chute.

"Where are Brother Zhou and Wu Yang? Where did they go? Why can't we see them?"

"They went to the upstream mining site... Xu Youliang's group's mining site was occupied, and Brother Zhou said he's going to retrieve some things!"

Upon hearing this, Peng Yuanchao paused slightly, then said, "I'll go take a look!"

"Don't go. Zhou and the others have been gone for quite a while. If all goes well, they should be back by now."

"What's going on?"

"Xu Youliang died last night. His gang was scattered today. The few from Longnan came to you this morning, wanting to join. They were taken in by Brother Zhou and placed at the mine led by Brother Li."

"Dead... Ha, what does that have to do with me?"

Peng Yuanchao shook his head: "It's hard to persuade a damned ghost with kind words."

He didn't say anything more and went to the mining site to check on the ore extraction.

At this time, Zhou Jingming, Wu Yang, and Zhao Li, each carrying a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle, were at the mine site that had been transferred to Xu Youliang.

The three of them were at the edge of the mine, facing off against Chen Qinglin and his group from a distance.

Zhou Jingming was shouting at Chen Qinglin and his group: "I have made it very clear that we came here only to retrieve the supplies from the mine, and we have no intention of seizing the mine."

If they really wanted to take it, it wouldn't just be the three of us coming.

Don't make any threats. I bet you guys find yourselves laughing at what you just said.

Let me repeat myself: I was the one who transferred this mine site, and the former foreman worked for me last year. I'm just here to get my supplies back, which is perfectly reasonable.

If you continue to speak to me with this attitude, I will go back right now and bring my men to confront you. I believe you will understand the difference in importance.

Only three people came, simply because they didn't want to cause trouble.

Enough with the nonsense, just give me an answer: is it okay or not?

We can do without the mining site, but we have so many extra people, and we're short on food, tools, and other necessities. In particular, that water pump, even if it's secondhand, can still be very useful. We can take it back to the mining site in the pincer-shaped ravine for use.

And those hunting rifles that Xu Youliang bought shouldn't be let go either... If they keep these things in their hands, they could become a major problem in the future; he himself is a prime example.

As for the excuse, Zhou Jingming felt it was enough.

Of course, he also knew that the reason why Chen Qinglin and his gang chose to seize Xu Youliang's mine was not only because the gold yield was better, but also because they were after the supplies, especially the water pumps.

Just like how he had his eye on Old Tang's water pump back then.

He watched the group of people huddled together, muttering to themselves for a while. Growing impatient, he pressed them again, "What's wrong? Can't you listen to reason? Are you going to resort to violence?"

This time, Chen Qinglin stepped forward: "You can take the things, but I hope you keep your word and don't use this as an excuse to steal from this mine."

It seems that after weighing the pros and cons, they still think the mining site is more important.

Zhou Jingming laughed: "You're a smart man... If you're worried, have your people deliver the goods. Of course, don't even think about tampering with them, especially that water pump. Don't let it become unusable in my hands. If I come looking for it later, things will be much easier to talk about."

If Chen Qinglin really makes a move, he wouldn't mind using this opportunity to suppress this benefactor and rival from his past life, or even break them up completely. He can't let him grow too fast, otherwise, he might become a stumbling block to him again at any time.

Zhou Jingming doesn't really take Chen Qinglin seriously these days.

He has already taken a big step ahead of him, and he believes that he will only surpass him by a large margin in the future.

He believed he had the ability.

Although Chen Qinglin was unwilling, he did not dare to really go against Zhou Jingming and his group. After all, there were only a dozen or so people. Facing ten times their number of men, even if each of them had a gun, Zhou Jingming was not afraid at all.

Besides, he himself had even more guns.

Seeing Chen Qinglin have people bring out the supplies and tools hidden in the dugout and then carry out the water pump, Zhou Jingming told Zhao Li to find Li Guozhu and have him lead people to move the things.

Not long after, Li Guozhu arrived with a large group of people. The supplies that originally belonged to Xu Youliang had all been returned by Chen Qinglin and his men, including the hunting rifles.

Zhou Jingming didn't say anything more, but simply called for his men to move the things back.

The tools and such were left at the mining site where Li Guozhu was leading the work.

The grain and machinery were carried back to the pincer-shaped mountain pass.

By the time the group had moved their belongings, the food at the mine had already been cooked. As Zhou Jingming and the others sat around the table in the tent to eat, those who knew the details of what had happened tacitly refrained from mentioning Xu Youliang to Peng Yuanchao.

Xu Youliang's death passed by so easily and casually.

In the afternoon, behind the pincer-shaped ravine, some people drove several horses down carrying goods.

Hearing Jinwang barking, Zhou Jingming looked up at the grassy hill and immediately smiled.

The visitors were Batu and Nara, who had been herding livestock in Haxionggou last year.

Haxionggou is their summer pasture, a must-pass place during their annual migration, and also the pasture where they stay the longest.

Zhou Jingming went up to them: "Batu, Nara, it's been a long time!"

Batu smiled and nodded at Zhou Jingming: "It's been several months since we last met. How have you been?"

"pretty good!"

Zhou Jingming was more concerned about his flock of sheep: "Now that you're here, we'll have meat to eat... Where are your sheep?"

Nora chimed in, "The sheep are still in the spring pasture. My brother and I will set up the tent first, and then we'll go herd the sheep once we're all ready."

His eyes were clear as he looked at Zhou Jingming.

Batu stood on the hilltop with some concern, scanning the upstream and downstream valleys: "Why are there so many more people all of a sudden?"

“There’s gold in the valley. As soon as word got out, people flocked there. After you moved your farms last year, even more people came to the valley.”

Zhou Jingming knew what he was worried about. It was nothing more than the large influx of gold prospectors into Haxionggou. The vegetation along the river was always the best, but it was also the most severely damaged. In addition, the population was diverse. Whenever herders passed by, someone would be eyeing the sheep, and all sorts of troubles would arise.

The herders had been troubled by this issue for a long time.

But even they couldn't stop such things.

Often, they will choose to give way.

"Sister, it seems we'll have to find another place to camp."

Batu frowned deeply: "This place is too chaotic; it will no longer be our ranch."

Nara glanced at Zhou Jingming, then at Batu, her eyes dimming slightly, and she remained silent.

Zhou Jingming had nothing to say about this.

Last year, when few gold prospectors came to this valley, Nora almost met her end. In the current situation, let alone herding sheep, she might not even be able to guarantee her own safety.

Choosing to leave this place and go somewhere else is the wisest choice.

He simply inquired about Batu's sheep flock and where he planned to locate the pasture so that it would be convenient to buy sheep in the future. Then he watched as Batu and his sister led their horse down the grassy slope, across the wooden bridge, and into the opposite mountain ridge.

According to them, if you continue north and cross three more mountain ridges, there are several decent pastures near the border.

Watching them walk away, Zhou Jingming returned to the riverbank and continued to guard his gold.

Six days later, he saw flocks of sheep wandering leisurely from behind the mountain.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhou Jingming gathered his men and went to Batu to buy sixteen sheep in one go.

Just like last time, Batu's family did not linger in the valley. When the flock of sheep approached Haxiong Gully, the family rode their horses, urged their sheepdogs to gather the flock, drove them across the wooden bridge, and crossed the mountain.

Having finally found a sheepdog, Jinwang, who now weighed a full 140 pounds, naturally couldn't resist picking a fight with Batu's male sheepdog.

Unlike his previous defeat, this time, Jinwang, with his size advantage, firmly held the upper hand and completely suppressed the male dog.

But that's just how these dogs are; they'll fight to the death and never admit defeat. Neither Zhou Jingming nor Batu wanted anything to happen to the dogs, so they hurriedly chased the two dogs apart.

When Batu left, he left a message saying, "This big dog is getting more and more beautiful. I'll bring it back this winter to borrow its blood."

Zhou Jingming readily agreed, to prevent Jin Wang from messing around with the tree trunk now.

Once the sheep he bought were brought to the mine, he immediately ordered his men to slaughter and smoke them.

In the evening, a good meal of wine and meat is indispensable.

Once the situation in the valley stabilized, Zhou Jingming's life returned to what it was before: guarding the chute and burning felt every day.

July arrived quickly, and during that time, Zhou Jingming went to Tiemaike once.

Over the past few months, the money he had kept in his backpack had been used up by his salary, so he had to go to Sun Huai'an to sell two kilograms of gold.

Fortunately, the harvest in June was good. With the addition of manpower and a water pump, the daily gold harvest stabilized at around 700 grams. Including the gold nuggets and gold nuggets collected from mining and washing the ore, a total of 19,342 grams of gold were harvested in June.

After dividing up more than five kilograms of gold, plus the more than two kilograms left over from last month, a total of more than 16,000 grams remained.

Liang Mazi arrived right on time, with the same two people as last time.

Zhou Jingming handed over the fifteen kilograms of gold as promised, leaving him with only a little over one kilogram.

Looking at the pitiful amount of gold, and then at Liang Mazi and the others riding away on their horses, he cursed inwardly.

Liang Mazi did not immediately take the gold back to the county town, but instead went to the Haiertes River Gold Panning Valley.

(End of this chapter)