My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 244 Starscream

The second mine had many branch tunnels and was quite deep. We spent a lot of time inside, and those torches had long since burned out.

Before entering the third mine, Zhou Jingming had to prepare a few more torches.

The third mine exploration revealed only two very small gold-bearing quartz veins and one iron sulfide vein; the rest had been almost completely mined out.

These two quartz veins are smoky gray in color, have a greasy luster, and have a crushed structure. Although no obvious gold was seen, this is a sign of gold mineralization, and Zhou Jingming believes that there must be gold inside.

If the quartz vein is light in color and looks dry and white, it rarely contains gold unless you dig deeper to see if the characteristics of the quartz vein have changed.

With the tools at hand, Zhou Jingming couldn't explore any further. He could only wait until the gold rush season ended and then come back to clean the cave to blast it up and take a look.

What caught Zhou Jingming's attention, however, was the pyrite vein, because he discovered that the pyrite crystals had become very fine, the color was dull, the hardness was reduced, and there were many honeycomb-like structures.

Gold can also seep into pyrite, making pyrite a key material for gold prospecting.

He also brought some of the pyrite out, broke it up with a geological hammer, and examined it with a magnifying glass, where he discovered tiny gold particles inside.

After proving his judgment, Zhou Jingming became delighted.

That pyrite vein is over a meter wide and can be mined manually. Although it only yields a small amount of gold, after grinding it and using the mercury-based gold-mining method, it can still produce a very good amount of gold, making it a very worthwhile vein to mine.

It took Zhou Jingming most of the day to explore just these three mines. When he returned to the riverbank, he was too lazy to move and chose to rest and bask in the sun, as the caves were too cold and damp.

Zhang Xueqin didn't know how to use the golden dipper, so Wu Yang followed her and collected the silt that had accumulated in the simple chutes she had set up on the river. After washing it, they collected about five or six grams of gold dust, which was the result of leaving it on the river for seven or eight days.

She had even found gold nuggets in the cracks of the rocks on the riverbank. She didn't completely believe Zhou Jingming's words. She took the gold nuggets and compared and marked them according to Zhou Jingming's method. Finally, she had to believe that the pyrite she had picked out from the broken ore was not gold. She could only pick out the gold nuggets mixed in and throw the rest away.

Zhou Jingming was not surprised by her actions.

For Zhang Xueqin, the three of them were still strangers she couldn't fully trust, unless she met Peng Yuanchao.

In just over three months, aside from the gold she used to exchange for other things, she had only about thirty grams left.

But there's nothing that can be done about it; she was just imitating others and didn't really understand gold. Even experienced gold prospectors can be fooled when it comes to Fool's Gold.

That evening, Zhang Xueqin went to the dam on the riverbank and brought back more than ten small fish. She then cooked a meal with some wild vegetables and mutton provided by Batu.

After eating, Zhou Jingming and the other two did not enter the tin house, so as not to make Zhang Xueqin uneasy.

The next morning, Zhou Jingming continued to test the sand along the river into the valley and took samples from the weathered colluvial layer on the hillside for further examination. Unfortunately, even the finest sand was scarce, so he had to give up.

While there was still time, he asked Zhang Xueqin to lead the way to see the "highway" she had mentioned.

Even after climbing to a high point on the hillside, the general shape of the path can still be discerned despite being obscured by wild grass and bushes.

Batu rode his horse along this hidden road and returned near dusk. He told Zhou Jingming that he had met the old Kazakh herdsman Zhang Xueqin had mentioned and learned that the road led to Kuerte Township.

The herdsman had only heard about this mine from his elders; it was said to have been mined during the Republic of China era, but he didn't know exactly who was in charge.

Many parts of the road have been washed away, and it looks no different from some gullies.

But with a little repair, tractors and similar vehicles can pass through. The road is no worse than the one to Haxionggou, except that it requires crossing Death Valley.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingming understood.

Kurt Township was a necessary stop on Zhou Jingming's way to hide gold in Death Valley, and he was quite familiar with the place.

I roughly understand why this old mine hasn't been discovered; it's probably related to the terrifying rumors surrounding Death Valley, which is why very few people come here.

This abandoned old mine was probably abandoned because it was deemed to have little mining value after it was gradually depleted.

Compared to the gold they obtained, the cost of moving these machines out was considerable, so they were abandoned in the mountains.

This is the same operation as gold prospectors going to a gold panning field.

When most gold prospectors went into the mountains, they carried all kinds of tools and supplies by hand and on horseback. When the gold rush season ended, most of them would choose to take only the gold and some necessities with them and throw away the rest.

Zhou Jingming didn't plan to linger there. The next morning, after quickly eating his fill, he returned the way he came, led by Batu.

Unexpectedly, problems still arose on the road.

As they passed through a dense forest by a river, Wu Yang, who was following behind, suddenly let out a strange cry.

Zhou Jingming, riding on his horse, looked back and saw him bending over, head down, constantly patting his neck and collar.

On the way back, Zhang Xueqin couldn't very well walk. Wu Yang's thighs were chafed badly, and riding the horse was burning painful, so he gave the horse to Zhang Xueqin and carried the fifth and sixth saddles himself, leading the horse and following Batu and Zhou Jingming. He had to walk with his legs spread wide apart, making it very awkward. Seeing his strange behavior, Zhou Jingming quickly pulled on the reins: "Wu Yang, what's wrong?"

While patting it, Wu Yang said, "Something fell into my neck, and it's itchy and burning."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Jingming dismounted and ran towards Wu Yang. When he reached Wu Yang's side, he was startled to see the object around his neck. Instead of rushing to help him pat it off, he pulled Wu Yang several meters away, saying, "Quick, take off your clothes, you need to shake the thing off..."

Then, he took the reins of the horse Zhang Xueqin was riding, pulled the horse aside, and busied himself breaking off a handful of branches and leaves to help Wu Yang pat it down.

Wu Yang did as instructed, taking off his coat and shirt. Only then did he see that there were dozens of small red spiders crawling all over his clothes.

He picked up his clothes and shook them vigorously a few times, then hurriedly stepped aside.

Batu then ran back from the front, looked at the spiders, and asked first, "What are these things?"

And this is exactly the question Zhou Jingming wanted to ask him.

Seeing that even this herdsman who had lived in the mountains for many years had asked such a question, Zhou Jingming naturally had no more questions to ask.

He helped Wu Yang remove all the red spiders from his body before turning to look at the spot where Wu Yang had been. He saw that the branches of a nearby tree were covered with red spiders crawling everywhere.

"I've seen this kind of spider before, but I didn't know its name!"

Zhou Jingming had only seen this kind of spider once in his previous life. Later, with the development of the internet, he watched a lot of nature documentaries, but he could never find any information about this spider. When he searched online, most of the information showed that it was a spider called a spider mite, which survives by sucking the sap of grass leaves and rarely bites people. Even if it does bite, it is not fatal.

But it is precisely because I have seen them before that I know how terrifying these red spiders are.

Some members of the geological team have even lost their lives after being bitten by this type of spider.

Summer seems to be the breeding season for this spider. The dense swarms of tiny red spiders all cling to the large spider's round belly. If startled, they scatter like a red mist, but once the danger has passed, they climb back onto the large spider's belly.

The sight of them scattering and fleeing was terrifying and gave one goosebumps.

Zhou Jingming had seen a type of grayish-brown spider in his hometown that lived in the cracks of houses. After laying eggs, it would wrap the eggs in silk and carry them under its abdomen until all the baby spiders hatched and crawled on its body.

These grayish-brown spiders are common and don't seem to be poisonous. The only problem is that you either don't kill them or you kill them all. Otherwise, many more of these spiders will appear in the cracks of the house, which is quite annoying.

When Zhou Jingming saw these deadly red spiders, an idea to deal with Liang Mazi popped into his mind. However, after thinking it over, he felt it was not a safe bet. Moreover, collecting them would be troublesome, and more importantly, it would be troublesome if he were bitten by them.

Seeing the skin on Wu Yang's neck quickly becoming red and swollen, he didn't know any effective treatment methods and was worried that Wu Yang might have a serious problem, so he quickly told Wu Yang to ride his horse and hurry back.

Seeing this, Batu gave his horse to Zhou Jingming, and they rode back together on the horse that Zhou Jingming was leading Zhang Xueqin.

It seems that because Wu Yang slapped the spider in time when he was bitten, the bite wasn't severe enough. At first, he was unbearably itchy, but after more than an hour, he didn't feel much anymore.

Zhou Jingming examined the area of ​​his skin; it was red and swollen, about the size of two palms, with some red bumps on it, but there was no sign of it spreading further, so he felt there was no need to worry too much.

They traveled quickly, but because of Zhang Xueqin, they couldn't gallop freely on the flat grasslands, so their pace was actually quite slow.

The four of them spent two nights in the wilderness on the rest of the journey. Wu Yang was indeed fine, and Zhou Jingming was finally able to relax completely.

On the third day, around noon, the four returned to Batu's pasture and saw Nara and her father tending the flock.

When the two saw Zhou Jingming and the others return, they rode over on horseback and exchanged a few words.

Unfortunately, Batu's father did not understand Chinese, and only Zhou Jingming could speak a few simple words of Kazakh, but he spoke haltingly and incoherently, and could only smile awkwardly at each other.

Wu Yang and Nara didn't talk much, but they exchanged glances.

Zhou Jingming couldn't bear to watch any longer, and seeing that Zhang Xueqin seemed a bit anxious, he simply called Wu Yang, left the horses behind, and walked back to the mine.

Batu stayed behind to herd the livestock, returning home with his family in the evening.

On the way, Zhou Jingming teased Wu Yang: "You two are flirting like this, it's making me anxious. Why don't you do this? Anyway, I still have a lot of money in my dungeon. You can take out ten or twenty thousand yuan and go propose marriage. Just give me gold then."

With such a sum of money, Batu's family's life could be changed.

If 20,000 isn't enough, take another 20,000. Wuyang has had that kind of strength for a long time.

With Batu's tacit approval, this matter should be accomplished smoothly.

Wu Yang smiled and nodded.

(End of this chapter)