My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 64 Golden Beans

I don't know what triggered it, but Peng Yuanchao's eyes turned red when he talked about these things.

This dark-skinned, burly man harbors a warm pain deep within his heart.

Zhou Jingming listened silently, wondering how much better his own experiences in his previous life could have been.

Wu Yang, however, walked over and patted Peng Yuanchao on the shoulder: "Brother Peng, don't be so pessimistic, everything will be alright."

Peng Yuanchao glanced at Wu Yang, then at Zhou Jingming sitting next to him: "Brothers, it's fate that we've come together. Whether you trust me or not, I'd like to beg you to do your best to protect this small peninsula."

Zhou Jingming knew that Peng Yuanchao regarded this small peninsula rich in gold dust as his hope for turning his life around.

“Brother Peng, this is our territory, is it necessary to use such a formal word as ‘begging’?”

He reached out and took the hunting rifle from Peng Yuanchao's hand: "Speaking of which, if we can't hold on, we should run. Life is precious, you only have one life. Don't forget what I do."

If all else fails, we can just go to another place. Are we afraid we won't find any gold?
You don't even know how to use this gun. In your hands, it's less useful than a fire poker. I think it's more suitable for me to hold it... Also, give me a few bullets!

Peng Yuanchao was somewhat stunned: "Then... what should I use?"

Zhou Jingming pointed to the wooden sticks and tools standing next to the dugout, which were used as handles: "Wooden sticks, shovels, and pickaxes are all fine, but the most useful ones are the stones scattered all over the ground. You can pick them up anywhere and throw them anywhere. Just throw one into a crowd, and it will surely scare a bunch of people into a frenzy!"

Peng Yuanchao thought for a moment and said, "Okay, you can use it if you want!"

Wu Yang watched as Zhou Jingming took the hunting rifle and asked in a low voice, "Brother Zhou, should I do it?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "My marksmanship is actually pretty good. Don't worry, I'll handle it!"

He believed that Wu Yang must be quite skilled in using a gun.

But when things get tough, it's better to have your own gun; it's not wise to place all your hopes on someone else.

Zhou Jingming carried his gun and crawled into the dugout. From the cloth bag hanging on the pillar, he took out the bullets that Peng Yuanchao had bought.

He opened the shotgun and found that it contained two single bullets. After thinking for a moment, he took out the single bullets and replaced them with two buckshot.

Of the three types of bullets, bird bullets consist of multiple small lead pellets and are mainly used for hunting small birds. They have a wide dispersion range, also known as sand-mouth.

Deer pellets, on the other hand, consist of larger lead pellets and are used to shoot soft-skinned animals such as deer, making them much more lethal.

Needless to say, the power of a slug is immense; it can kill pigs and bears, let alone humans.

Compared to other bullets, bird bullets are not powerful enough to hit people at a distance of 20 or 30 meters, and slugs can only hit a single target. Bucket bullets became Zhou Jingming's best choice. They contain about ten lead bullets, which can be fired into a wide area of ​​sand, with a higher hit rate and sufficient lethality.

He has experience in this area.

After loading buckshot into the gun, he put some more buckshot into his pocket, and after a slight hesitation, he also loaded a few slugs, which he could use for long-range shooting.

That afternoon, when he went to work, he took his double-barreled shotgun to the small peninsula and placed it against a pebble by the chute.

Old Tang and his group were in a similar situation to at noon, leisurely strolling on the riverbank, looking like they had nothing to do. However, Old Tang, Zhang Aizi, and three others went downstream and walked very quickly.

Wu Yang leaned closer: "Brother Zhou, this is a good opportunity. They're outnumbered, and only the guy surnamed Tang has a gun!"

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "Going downstream, we should be able to exit this ditch and reach the main river channel. It is indeed an opportunity..."

Wait... Look down at the riverbank. The remaining seventeen or eighteen people aren't wandering around anymore; they've all gone back to their tents. I wonder what they're doing inside. Those guys you mentioned might have hung out with are all there too.

Logically, they should be even more disorganized when the person in charge isn't at the camp, so why are they behaving so well instead...?

I had a feeling something was off, but I kept working.

He dismissed the thought that had risen in his mind.

Having lived a lifetime, although he was still young, his mindset was not as composed as one would expect at his age. He trusted his own judgment more and suspected that it was a diversionary tactic.

Seeing that Zhou Jingming disagreed, Wu Yang didn't say anything more. The work on the small peninsula continued as usual.

Old Tang and the others did not return until it was nearly evening.

As usual, before the meal, Peng Yuanchao picked out the gold, handed the remaining small pinch of fine sand residue to Zhou Jingming, took out a small balance scale, and distributed the gold among everyone.

Today's excavation is of a gold-rich layer near the muddy bottom, with an excellent gold yield.

While digging in a small mud pit, Xu Youliang found a golden bean about the size of a pea, which weighed about two grams.

When Wu Yang was washing the rice, five slightly smaller ones came out.

Including the twelve grams they had saved up in the previous two days, this was the first time in so many days since Sun Chenggui and his group entered the mountains that they had received three grams of gold at once. Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao each received nine grams, and Wu Yang also received six grams.

"So this is what it feels like to divide three grams of gold at once... It's so heavy!"

Cao Qidong looked at the small glass bottle containing gold dust in his hand, beaming with delight: "It must feel even better to get nine grams at once, right?"

"I'm jealous?"

Peng Yuanchao looked at him with a half-smile: "If you want to get that much gold, then work hard and stop thinking about those other things all day. Once you've saved up some money, if you're capable, you can form your own team next year and decide how much you get."

Sun Chenggui also came over: "Brother Peng, can I weigh it?"

Of the six gold beans, five ended up in Peng Yuanchao's hands, the largest gold bean was given to Zhou Jingming, and the rest were given bran gold.

No wonder those people fought so fiercely for this small peninsula in my past life; the amount of gold produced here is truly extraordinary.

Peng Yuanchao didn't mind at all, and handed his small glass bottle containing gold to Sun Chenggui: "Be careful, don't spill it."

"Know!"

Sun Chenggui took the glass bottle, weighed it in his hand, and then shook it near his ear: "It's really heavy, and the sound is really crisp!"

The others also wanted to try it. After obtaining Peng Yuanchao's permission, they passed around the weight of the metal bucket and listened to the crisp sound of it hitting the glass.

When the glass bottle returned to Peng Yuanchao's hands, he carefully put it in his pocket and called everyone to eat: "Work hard, and when Kazakh herders pass by grazing their livestock here, I'll go find them and buy two sheep for a good feast!"

This generosity drew cheers from the crowd.

The birch branches around the dugout have begun to sprout, and grass shoots are also peeking out from among the withered grass in the forest.

I believe it won't be long before the herders move into the mountains.

Zhou Jingming smiled as he looked at the burly Peng Yuanchao. Among the many foremen in the Gold Rush Valley, he was considered to be of good character. Although he was fierce in his words, he was quite kind to these newbies.

While the group was eating steamed buns and drinking soup, Jinwang's fierce howling suddenly came from outside, followed by barking.

Zhou Jingming raised an eyebrow, threw the steamed bun in his hand into the bowl in front of him, and hurriedly got up to grab the double-barreled shotgun.

Wu Yang was even faster, being the first to emerge from the dugout.

Peng Yuanchao had been worried all day and was very sensitive. He followed closely behind Wu Yang out of the dugout and grabbed a shovel that was standing next to the dugout.

The third person to go out was Zhou Jingming, who was carrying a hunting rifle.

When the three went outside, they saw a group of more than ten people coming up quickly from the woods on the riverbank downstream. Each of them was carrying a shovel, a pickaxe, and a wooden stick, and they looked menacing.

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(End of this chapter)