My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 225 Old Liu's Regret
When Zhou Jingming returned to the mine, Bai Zhishun, Peng Yuanchao, Li Guohua, and others who were leading the work there gathered around him, asking about his injuries.

Wu Yang returned to the mine first and had already told everyone about how he almost got blown up in the forest the day before yesterday.

Zhou Jingming gave a brief response, looked around, and seeing that Old Liu was not at the mine, he told everyone that he had a headache and that they would talk about it later before returning to his dugout.

After helping Wu Yang move the money and the guns wrapped in sacks that had been left at the entrance of his dugout into the dugout, he went back to his own dugout to sleep.

Su Xiulan followed Zhou Jingming in, helped him take his medicine, and then helped him wash up before putting him to sleep on the earthen bed. She then gently closed the door of the dugout and went outside to air out the felt blankets.

During the days Zhou Jingming was away, Bai Zhishun guarded the sluice gate, and every day he would hand over the gold beans and felt collected from the sluice gate to Su Xiulan to handle.

In everyone's eyes, this petite girl, whom Zhou Jingming took special care of and who lived with him in every aspect of life, was no different from the boss's wife.

Zhou Jingming saw that the dried but unburnt felt in the dugout took up most of the space, and there was also a shallow jar of gold beans on the wooden shelf on the wall.

It's clear that the mine operated normally during his absence.

He hadn't slept well last night, and at this moment, besides the headache, he was also feeling a bit dizzy. He lay down in the dugout and fell asleep not long after.

During lunch, no one disturbed Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang, and the two slept until evening before being woken up by Su Xiulan.

Perhaps because the two of them had returned, Su Xiulan and Wang Dong specially stewed mutton when they were cooking.

When Zhou Jingming went to the tent to eat, he sat at the same table with Li Guozhu and others. He drank a small amount of wine and asked them in detail about what had happened at the mine and in the valley after he left.

I also briefly described what happened during this trip.

Of course, when he left, he told everyone that he was going to look for mining sites, so he couldn't possibly tell them that he was going to deal with Wu Fusheng.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Zhou Jingming returned to the dugout and specially asked Su Xiulan to invite Old Man Liu to the dugout.

Old Liu went into the dugout, looked at Zhou Jingming and shook his head: "I was wrong again, I was wrong again..."

Zhou Jingming handed him a cigarette and smiled at him, "Grandpa, what's wrong with you?"

“I should have been more ruthless and not thought things through. When I spotted them coming to the woods near the mine for the third time, I should have given them a good thrashing with my gun. That way, they wouldn’t dare sneak up to the mine in the middle of the night.”

This is a mistake.

When we arrived at the mine, I didn't care whether I hit him or not; I should have shot that bastard. If I killed him, he deserved it. If I wounded him and left him there, even if I missed and he escaped, there wouldn't have been that explosion that almost killed Jinwang.

This is another mistake.

I shouldn't have followed them all the way to the mining site across the Haiertes River without taking action. If I had killed them then, you wouldn't have been bombed when you came back the day before yesterday.

This is still wrong…

Old Liu looked full of regret when he said this.

Zhou Jingming smiled slightly and hurriedly took out his lighter to light his cigarette for him: "Grandpa, only people who put their heart into their work will think about things more deeply. Stop dwelling on this matter. Brother Li is right, and you are right too. Many problems will never end unless they are solved at their root. You want to keep them alive and find out what really happened, which is actually a good thing."

Su Xiulan thoughtfully moved a wooden stool for Old Liu to sit on and made him some tea.

After sitting down, Old Liu still couldn't get over the hurdle in his heart: "What a load of bull! If you lose your life this time, it will be too late to say anything."

Zhou Jingming took a deep breath: "Sir, I invited you here because I wanted to ask you about Hou Xiangdong. Didn't you go to their mine site with them? Did you make any other discoveries, such as who you contacted?"

"After the failure that night, Hou Xiangdong and the other one dared not linger in Haxionggou and left the mountain overnight. However, they did not rush back to the mine on the other side of the Haiertes River, but met up with someone at the temporary checkpoint at the Fourth Mine Bridge."

It's hard to see clearly at night, but at a time like this, the only people staying at the temporary checkpoint are the Qingshan team members. I'm sure it was them who ordered him to do it, and within the Qingshan team, only Liang Mazi would dare to do such a thing.

Old Liu carefully recalled the specific situation he saw after following Hou Xiangdong that night: "That person's height and build were similar to Liang Mazi's. I'm sure that the person he met was Liang Mazi."

They talked for a while, and then Hou Xiangdong and the other one went towards the Haiertes River. The next day, I followed them all the way to their mine.

Even though one of them died, the other two acted as if nothing had happened and continued panning for gold at the mine. Seeing that there was no movement, and feeling that I shouldn't alert them, I came back.

However, I also made some inquiries and heard from other gold prospectors at other mining sites that they had seen his wanted poster. Hou Xiangdong and his two accomplices used to be bandits on the streets. They killed someone and were being hunted everywhere, so they hid in the mountains.

That's why there weren't many people at their mine, but no one dared to provoke him, because they were afraid of the fact that he had killed people.

I've also heard that he has a close relationship with Liang Mazi from the Qingshan team.

"For the past few days, Zhao Li and I have been patrolling the surrounding mountains, but we haven't seen anything." Zhou Jingming nodded slightly: "That makes sense. It must have been Liang Mazi who ordered them to do this. When Wu Yang and I returned to Tiemaike, we ran into Liang Mazi and Hou Xiangdong at the restaurant, and we even treated them to a meal. Then, the next morning when we came back, we encountered this in the mountains. One of them was killed by Wu Yang, and now only Hou Xiangdong is left."

Old Liu thought for a moment, "I'll go to the Haiertes River again and see what's going on..."

Zhou Jingming nodded: "That's exactly what I meant. I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you to make the trip."

Old Liu asked again, "If he's still at the mine, should we just kill him?"

Zhou Jingming pondered for a moment: "Don't touch him for now. I still need to figure out what Liang Mazi is up to. You know, Liang Mazi is different from ordinary gold prospectors. After all, he is the captain of the Qingshan team, and he can't be touched casually."

To deal with him, we need to find a perfect opportunity; otherwise, we might easily get ourselves into trouble.

Be careful on your trip. I reckon Hou Xiangdong won't dare stay at the mine anymore; you're unlikely to run into him... We recognized him the time he bombed us.”

The two chatted about the matter for a while before Old Liu went back to his dugout to sleep.

Su Xiulan fetched hot water and soaked Zhou Jingming's feet. She then carefully removed the bandage from Zhou Jingming's head while biting a flashlight in her mouth. She reapplied the medicine powder to the wound where the doctor had shaved his head and carefully bandaged it back up.

After Zhou Jingming got into bed, she washed her face and feet and then crawled into the covers.

Perhaps because he had slept well during the day, Zhou Jingming was now wide awake, his mind filled with all sorts of random thoughts.

It hadn't been long since it got dark, but the shady slope, which had been exposed to the sun for most of the day, still absorbed a lot of heat, making the dugout feel rather hot and dry. Even Zhou Jingming started to feel restless, especially with a soft and sweet girl lying next to him, and he gradually began to feel something.

He turned to the side and thrust his buttocks forward a couple of times.

Su Xiulan's weak voice came through: "Brother...you're injured..."

Zhou Jingming was restless and lowered his voice: "Da Tou is injured, but... he came up by himself. I won't move, you move."

Su Xiulan was no match for him, and her breathing quickly became rapid. She simply burrowed her head into the blanket and straddled him, her head pressed against the blanket.

The next morning, Old Liu set off very early without saying goodbye to anyone, and no one knew when he left.

Su Xiulan got up to make breakfast but didn't see anyone.

After breakfast, the work at the mine proceeded as usual.

Zhou Jingming left the task of guarding the chute to Bai Zhishun, while he himself called Wu Yang and Su Xiulan to move all the felt they had accumulated over the days to the edge of the poplar grove. One by one, they burned the felt, which was full of fine sand hidden in the gaps, in an iron pot.

It took Zhou Jingming about half a month to make the trip to the West Sea. He took out a lot of felt from the chute every day and had to process it as soon as possible, otherwise it would be inconvenient to move around in the dugout.

While the three were burning the felt, Hou Xiangdong went out early from a hotel in Tiemaike and waited on the street.

He was waiting for Liang Mazi.

The second attempt to harm Zhou Jingming also failed.

When he fled, he witnessed Wu Yang's methods.

He was thinking that such a violent explosion should have left him half-dead, if not dead, but he only saw Zhou Jingming fall down and become motionless, while Wu Yang, who was thrown out, was able to stand up directly and meet him with his bare hands.

Even though they both had knives, in just one exchange, he only heard the second brother's scream. First, his hand was broken like a tree branch, deformed, and the knife fell to the ground.

Then he saw that the second brother's knee had been kicked and deformed as well.

Next, Wu Yang grabbed the second brother's head and twisted it...

For the past two days, he had been hiding in the hotel, unable to sleep soundly. It seemed that as soon as he closed his eyes, he could see the second brother's strangely twisted head and his wide, bloodshot eyes staring intently at him.

He escaped, but it was as if he was haunted by a nightmare.

He dared not return to the mine, fearing that Wu Yang would follow him there.

Even though there were about twenty people at the mine, he didn't feel safe.

Now, he had only one thought: to find Liang Tongshu and see if there was any other way.

Because he suddenly realized that he was no longer safe, whether in the mountains or outside.

(End of this chapter)