My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Is Chapter 60 still not too late?
Zhou Jingming had spent most of his life panning for gold; he was not one to be subservient to others. Peng Yuanchao had gathered his forces; how could he be willing to hand over such a precious land to someone else?

Old Tang must have known this too, so the cooperation was only discussed briefly, or perhaps he never really intended to win him over; it was just a little probing that turned into a blatant threat.

Compared to Zhou Jingming's team of ten, Lao Tang's group certainly had the confidence to back up their numbers.

His idea was simple: if he dug down and found a rich mine, there would be plenty to mine. Whether or not he had to deal with Zhou Jingming and his group was irrelevant. He could just consider it as Zhou Jingming and his group helping him guard the small peninsula. Once he had finished mining his own section of the riverbank, he could move on to the small peninsula.

If they can't dig it down, given Zhou Jingming's words, he would certainly be happy to move it to the small peninsula without lifting a finger.

Seeing Zhou Jingming's confident demeanor, Old Tang was still somewhat skeptical. He then instructed the dwarf, "Dwarf, lead the men to dig. Just as Brother Zhou said, dig down two meters, no more, no less!"

As he said this, he looked at the three of them with a half-smile, as if he had them completely under his thumb.

Zhou Jingming was also observing their actions. At least so far, he was certain that no one in Lao Tang's team knew how to find Jin Miao, otherwise they wouldn't have chosen to continue messing around on the riverbank.

Zhang the Dwarf gave a shout and led five or six people out of the tent, distributed tools, and headed towards the sand pit on the riverbank.

Old Tang looked at Zhou Jingming, then at Peng Yuanchao, and further confirmed: "What Brother Zhou said, does it count?"

Peng Yuanchao hesitated for a moment, but finally nodded, choosing to believe Zhou Jingming: "Of course it counts!"

He mainly trusted Zhou Jingming's judgment because he had witnessed Zhou Jingming's ability to find Jin Miao.

"That's good!"

Old Tang laughed as he got up and walked out: "It's already at the bottom, yet it can still produce something? I've never heard of that before... I'd like to see for myself!"

"go!"

Zhou Jingming also called Peng Yuanchao and Wu Yang, and they got up as well.

The group went to the riverbank and stood by the sand pit. They watched as Zhang the Dwarf led a few people to dig down into the sand pit with iron chisels. They dug down about two feet, and the mud on the bottom was gone. What they dug out were pebbles, followed by more mud and sand.

Seeing this, Old Tang couldn't help but turn his head to look at Zhou Jingming, his eyes full of surprise.

He hadn't expected that beneath the muddy bottom lay silt and sand, meaning that there had once been a silted riverbed, and an even older one at that...

He suddenly had a lot of thoughts.

Upon seeing the pebbles and mud, Peng Yuanchao's ashen face gradually relaxed. He knew that he shouldn't have to give up his auspicious little peninsula for the time being.

"This mining site is located on an old riverbed, meaning that this area used to be a place where river sand accumulated. Due to rising water levels or landslides, the river took a turn, and vegetation gradually grew and was covered by a layer of rotten mud. Later, the river flowed over again, and this place became a riverbank with silt and sand accumulation, resulting in stratification."

A riverbed is not static; it undergoes many changes over thousands of years. The mud you see is not necessarily the true bottom.

When I first arrived here, I went down to check it out, Mr. Tang. I can tell you for sure that there's not only gold down there, but it's a rich mine that's just as good as the one on the small peninsula!

Zhou Jingming glanced at Lao Tang: "The mines in Laoheshen have always been good, but they've been dug a bit deeper. It's the same with our little peninsula; no one has touched it for years. The reason is the same; they've already dug down four or five meters deep."

"We'll only know once the gold is found!"

Old Tang still believed in the final result; he wouldn't rest until he saw the gold.

Zhang Aizi and his men continued digging. After about half an hour, they had dug down more than a meter deep. He seemed to see something in the mud and sand piled up by the sandpit. After rummaging around for a while, he had someone bring him a gold bucket, filled it with some mud and sand, and took it to the river to wash it.

Before long, he returned with the gold bucket and approached Old Tang, saying, "Boss, take a look!"

Old Tang leaned over for a look, and his expression changed. Inside the gold container were five or six pieces of bran gold and some gold dust, which were dazzling. Needless to say, it was indeed a rich mine.

He calmly ordered, "Fire some more!"

Zhang the Dwarf had another bucket of mud and sand brought up to the river to be washed, and the result was still as pleasing as ever.

Only then did Old Tang look at Zhou Jingming with a beaming smile: "Brother Zhou, you're a master! What happened before was my fault. I just couldn't find any good mines. So many people depend on me for their livelihood. I've offended you so much!"

"A master..."

With the small peninsula no longer needing to be handed over, Peng Yuanchao finally felt relieved and somewhat triumphant: "My brother here has been an exploration technician in the geological team for many years. He just graduated this year and is a certified professional. His ability to find gold seedlings is unmatched by ordinary people."

"If you don't find the gold at the bottom, you'll just be wasting your time... Hmph, gold panning isn't just about having a lot of people. You should learn something." In valley gold panning, the closer the mining site is to the bottom, the richer the gold. They're sitting on a treasure trove, yet they can't find any gold. They're always scheming to take over other people's land... Peng Yuanchao is mocking them for being unaware of their own wealth.

Zhou Jing glanced at him, understanding his meaning: "Brother Peng, don't show off!"

Old Tang frowned slightly as he listened to Peng Yuanchao's sarcastic remarks. Just as he was about to say something, Zhang the Dwarf called him aside and whispered something to him.

Old Tang hurried back to his tent, and when he returned, he was holding a pack of Da Zhong Jiu cigarettes: "Brother Zhou, I was truly blind to your greatness. I've learned my lesson today. Consider this cigarette my apology... I'll have to rely on you a lot in the future!"

Zhou Jingming smiled and took the cigarette: "No problem!"

He wasn't surprised at all by Lao Tang's change in attitude.

In the Gold Rush Valley, the pursuit of gold often widens the gaps in human relationships, making it easy for people to go from trying to curry favor to turning against each other in the blink of an eye.

"We've finished our business. You can continue your shopping spree. We're heading back now!"

"Okay... I'll treat you to drinks another day!"

"Oh right, the three of us are full, but the dog is still hungry. I'll take those bones back to feed the dog!"

Zhou Jingming was always thinking about Jinwang and wanted it to eat as well as possible so that it could grow bigger and stronger.

“There’s hardly any meat left on those bones… Shorty, go get the offal we didn’t have time to clean up last night, and put all the bones in a bag to feed Brother Zhou’s dog… Also, bring that piece of lamb leg that I’ve been saving for roasting to Brother Zhou!”

"Then I'm not welcome!"

"Brother Zhou has helped me so much, it's only right."

Upon hearing the order, Zhang the Dwarf scurried back to the tent. A short while later, he brought over the offal, lamb leg, and lamb bones. Zhou Jingming accepted them with a smile: "Boss Tang, then we'll be off!"

After exchanging greetings, Zhou Jingming called Peng Yuanchao and Wu Yang to head back, and they quickly disappeared into the woods by the riverbank.

Only after the three figures were no longer visible did Old Tang turn to Zhang the Dwarf beside him and ask, "Dwarf, is what you said true?"

"Brother Tang, you've never done gold panning before, so you don't know. If he really is someone who just came from the geological team, not only is he good at finding gold seeds, but he must also know the location of some gold mines. Many gold bosses would want to win him over... Panning for gold on the riverbank is nothing. If you can find a gold vein, you'll be rich."

Zhang Aizi said thoughtfully, "When I used to hang around here, I heard people say that there was a Boss Jin who would try every year to find out the location of the gold vein from the geological team staff. He didn't even need to say anything; he just had to point to it on the map, and he was willing to give away thousands of dollars."

"hiss……"

Old Tang frowned: "Hearing you say that, it seems I messed things up today. I should have investigated him more thoroughly. Putting everything else aside, I've witnessed his ability to find gold mines. If it weren't for him, we would have missed out on the rich mine on the riverbank."

People like this are worth cultivating relationships with; having someone like that around is like finding an endless goldmine.

He paused for a moment, then asked, "Shorty, do you think it's still not too late?"

Zhang Aizi thought for a moment: "It should be enough time... If they don't know what's good for them, with Brother Tang's methods, it'll be easy for him to handle them."

"Do you think they're easy to manipulate?"

Old Tang pondered for a while, then shook his head: "You're wrong. That guy surnamed Peng is impulsive and can't keep secrets. Dealing with that kind of person is easy."

But those two surnamed Zhou and Wu, despite their youth, did you ever see them panic from beginning to end? Their composure is something that ordinary people don't have. At such a young age, I can't understand where they get their confidence and how they can remain so calm.

I shouldn't have let them go just now; I was wrong again...

Thinking about this now is useless... Now that we've found a rich mine, let's quickly gather people and start panning for gold!

Damn it, I'll just tie him up then. I refuse to believe I can't get what I want from him.

Zhang the Shorty happily called out to everyone to get to work.

Old Tang, meanwhile, was gazing at the small peninsula upstream, lost in thought.

　Please read it!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)