My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 213 Golden Pavilion

After getting out of bed and quickly washing up, the first thing Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang did was to go to a restaurant in the city and have a good meal.

I wasn't feeling well last night and had no appetite, but now I'm starving.

At times like these, a bowl of small noodles with twenty or thirty skewers of roasted mutton, plus a bowl of sour goat milk, can be incredibly satisfying.

Ga Mian Pian is the most common and unique home-cooked dish among the people of Xihai. These noodles are not rolled out with a rolling pin, but rather pinched off by hand. They are plentiful, have plenty of soup, and taste very good.

The roasted mutton here is different from that in the border region. Here, fresh mutton is sliced ​​into thin pieces, skewered with thin iron skewers, dipped in seasoning, and roasted on a fire until it is crispy and golden brown with a strong aroma.

Wu Yang didn't like the yogurt, but Zhou Jingming gulped it down in a few mouthfuls and immediately felt satisfied.

After we had eaten and drunk our fill, it was already past ten o'clock.

Zhou Jingming specially asked the shopkeeper to get him a pot of highland barley wine to take with him, because it smelled good. After leaving the restaurant, they rested on the steps outside for a while before leading Wu Yang to stroll around the city.

Unlike Zhou Jingming, who walked around looking at people, Wu Yang spent more time looking at the surrounding houses.

Unlike the somewhat dilapidated town of Maqin, many of the houses in Golmud appear grand and upscale.

"Don't let the remote location fool you, the buildings are really well-built!"

Wu Yang sighed and said, "If I had known, I would have done a better job with my house back home and built a Western-style building like this instead of a regular brick house."

Zhou Jingming laughed: "What's there to envy? The climate and environment are different in different places, and the houses built are also different. A house that is suitable for Golmud will look out of place in your hometown in western Hunan."

Besides, houses change every year, but honestly, it's not that interesting.

Having experienced it in his previous life, Zhou Jingming believes that houses are money pits and the most meaningless thing. No matter how well you build them, they are still just places to eat and sleep.

After a pause, he continued, "Many of the fancy buildings you see in Golmud were actually built by gold miners and bosses after they made their money panning for gold. Locally, they are called 'Golden Buildings'."

Actually, the situation is somewhat better in Altay. Here, only the gold miners, the big bosses, and a very small number of gold prospectors make money. Most gold prospectors lose money.

Everyone dreams of striking it rich by panning for gold, but once they arrive, they are often caught in a vortex of conflict. Some find a mine only to be chased around in a chaotic mess, while others find their gold coveted and can't take it with them, losing all the money they've invested over the past few months. It's a losing proposition; things are never that simple.

To be honest, the pay I'm offering at the Haxionggou mine is already the best I can go. As long as you work hard, even if you don't get rich overnight, everyone can earn several thousand yuan after a gold rush season.

Wu Yang nodded slightly: "I believe that... Actually, when the people I led came to Haxionggou, many of them saw gold panning teams in the river and wanted me to lead them out to pan for gold on their own, saying that it would be easy to make a fortune that way. Especially when gold dealers come into the mountains to buy gold, they are even more interested when they know that the market price of one gram of gold can reach forty yuan."

I told them exactly what you just said.

Later, after witnessing several battles in the valley and realizing the dangers, they all suppressed their inner thoughts and honestly worked at the mine.

"The key is for them to figure it out themselves. If they can't, and they always think they're very capable and want to go out and do things on their own, I have no objection and won't stop them."

As Zhou Jingming walked and talked, he suddenly saw a familiar face when he passed the entrance of the Golmud Hexi Mosque.

He immediately went up to him: "Moussa..."

Upon hearing the name, the man paused for a moment, then struggled to recall any memories of Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming pointed out: "Last year, after the gold rush season ended, on the bus back... you don't remember me, but we talked on the bus."

Upon hearing this, Musa suddenly realized, "Yes, yes, it's you! I remember now!"

Zhou Jingming looked Musa up and down, then at the gold panning tools and wooden handles in front of him, which were obviously for sale. He asked with some curiosity, "Why didn't you go panning for gold? Why did you come here to set up a stall?"

Musa gave a wry smile and patted his left foot: "It's crippled!"

Zhou Jingming then noticed that Musa's left trouser leg looked somewhat empty, as if it had dried out compared to his right leg: "What happened?"

Musa shook his head and sighed: "Don't even mention it. I didn't go to the northern border this year. Instead, I went to the Wild Buffalo Gully at the foot of the Qilian Mountains to pan for gold. I was lucky. After only a few days, I found a mine and the gold I found was pretty good. I thought I could make a fortune, but then someone targeted me, and we got into a fight. I was stabbed in the leg and the tendon was severed."

"Since you're injured, why don't you go back to your hometown? What are you doing here?"

“I lost my home... Over the past three years, I've barely made any income from gold mining. I was away from home for long periods. When I returned last year, my wife kept threatening to divorce me. I couldn't live like this anymore, so I divorced her, and left my three-year-old son with her.”

I've come out again this year, and now I've run into this mess again... Sigh!

Hearing him say that, Zhou Jingming was at a loss for words.

After a while, she handed him a cigarette: "How's business?"

"We're just barely making ends meet, not starving!"

Musa gazed into the distance, making no attempt to hide his thoughts: "Once I've saved up some capital, I'm going to go gold panning."

Wu Yang couldn't help but ask, "Your legs aren't very strong anymore, why are you still going?" "Why wouldn't I go?"

Musa countered, “Gold panning is indeed very dangerous; you could lose your life at any moment, but you could also become rich overnight. Like me, I tinker with tools and wooden handles and only earn three to five dollars a day. I’ll never be rich. I’ve only lost one leg; I still have another leg, and my hands are still fine.”

"If I give it my all, I might have a few more years to live. If I don't, I'm afraid I'll freeze to death on the streets of Golmud this winter."

At this point, he suddenly sniffed and looked at the military water bottle Zhou Jingming was carrying: "Is it liquor?"

Zhou Jingming nodded slightly.

"Give me some..."

He picked up the water bottle next to him and waved it at Zhou Jingming.

He only wanted some drinks, so he wasn't reluctant to spend any. He took out his military canteen and poured half a can for Musa.

Musa happily accepted it and took a swig: "Barley wine, this is good stuff... You've come here to pan for gold?"

"Didn't I say this in the car last year? I'm a sworn brother of Mr. Wu Fusheng. I came here specifically to see him."

As a result, we first went to Maqin County, intending to find him at Maqin Snow Mountain. However, after inquiring around, we learned that he had been defeated by another wealthy businessman. For a moment, I didn't know where to look for him.

Zhou Jingming had come over to gather information, and since he had even brought half a pot of barley wine, he naturally wanted to see if he could get any news about Wu Fusheng from him.

After all, judging from his appearance, he had been setting up a stall here for quite some time and must have seen and heard a lot about gold prospectors: "I heard that there are more gold prospectors in Golmud, so I came here to try my luck and see if I could find him here."

"Mr. Wu... I saw him just a few days ago!"

Musa surprised Zhou Jingming as soon as he opened his mouth.

It's really hard to find anything without wearing iron shoes, and it takes no effort to get it.

He pressed on, asking, "Where have I seen you before?"

Musa laughed: "Right in Golmud City, there's one of his gold towers here. He probably lived here when he was panning for gold in Maqin Snow Mountain."

Where is his Golden Pavilion?

Zhou Jingming was even happier. Since Golden Tower was here, Wu Fusheng had no reason to leave easily.

Seeing Musa hesitate, Zhou Jingming immediately knew what he was holding back. He took out two 10-yuan bills from his pocket and handed them to him, saying, "As long as you point out Boss Wu's Golden Building to me, these 20 yuan are yours. Lunch will be a good meal with wine and meat, on my treat."

Musa waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "That's not what I meant."

"Then... what do you mean?"

"Last year on the bus, I heard someone say that he worked under Boss Wu for a while, and that Boss Wu seemed to treat people quite well. What I mean is, if you find Boss Wu, could you put in a good word for me and let me work under him? Even though I've lost a leg, I can still work like a pro... Aren't you two sworn brothers? If you put in a word, he'll definitely want me."

"Little things!"

Zhou Jingming patted his chest and assured him that he knew he was deceiving Musa, but he still forced the twenty yuan into Musa's somewhat tattered pocket.

Seeing Zhou Jingming's prompt response, Musa immediately stood up, handed his stall over to another vendor nearby to watch over, and, leaning on a wooden cane for support, limped forward to lead the way: "Follow me!"

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang quickly got up and followed.

But Musa said as he jumped, "I saw Boss Wu a few days ago at a fur trading shop. It was late at night. I was drunk and fell asleep on the street. When I woke up, I saw him coming back in a car with several sacks of things being unloaded from it. I guess they were antelope pelts that he had hunted in Hoh Xil."

Zhou Jingming was taken aback: "Why not pan for gold instead of hunting for furs?"

Musa chuckled: "You don't know this, do you? Antelope fur is very valuable, several hundred dollars a piece. If you do it well, you can get more than a hundred pieces at once, which is a considerable sum of money."

"You can get over a hundred at a time... and each one is worth several hundred yuan. Isn't that faster than panning for gold?"

"If you do it well, it's definitely no worse than panning for gold."

Wu Yang seemed somewhat surprised. When he looked at Zhou Jingming, his eyes were full of anticipation, clearly showing that he also really wanted to fight.

Zhou Jingming simply shook his head slightly at him.

He didn't say anything more.

After walking for about twenty minutes, Musa led Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang to stop in front of a three-story building near the city center.

Without Musa saying anything, Zhou Jingming already knew that the three-story building belonged to Wu Fusheng, because he saw the woman in the plaid coat in the alley of Jin Guan City leaning on the balcony railing, looking out at the street.

(End of this chapter)