My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 67: Be Like a Pack of Wolves
Zhou Jingming put away the hunting rifle he had been holding to Wu Yang's forehead, went to Wu Yang's side, and took a roll of bandage and a packet of hemostatic powder: "Brother Peng, come on, let me treat your wound."

Peng Yuanchao glanced at Zhou Jingming, his face sullen and resentful.

Zhou Jingming smiled at him, took out the powder and shook it onto the wound on his head, lowering his voice: "Brother Peng, are you blaming me for not firing a gun? Think about it carefully. These people didn't use guns. It's like villagers fighting. They just grab each other and fight. Whoever loses leaves. There won't be any big problems afterward. But once guns are used and someone is killed, that would be a blood feud."

Instead of confronting you head-on, they resort to underhanded tactics, which will only cause more trouble and be more deadly.

We don't even know anything about the other side, yet we open fire? Kill more than ten people? I can't kill that many people at once.

Have you thought about the consequences? Do you still want peace and quiet afterward? What if they're part of some gang and attract even more people? Will we still be able to pan for gold?

No matter where it is, if it is just a simple fight, it is a minor problem. But once guns are used to kill people, and many people are killed, the nature of the matter is completely different.

Guns are, after all, weapons of war, incomparable to tools like shovels and pickaxes. We have to leave some room for maneuver. If they come to our door with guns, you'll see if I don't shoot.”

Peng Yuanchao remained silent.

Zhou Jingming continued, "I mainly wanted to see if our group of people were brave enough to fight. We're all newbies, so we need to get some experience. You know, there will be a lot of things like this in the future... and it didn't disappoint me."

These people came from downstream. The first thing that came to my mind was Old Tang and his group. They went downstream this afternoon. I need to think about some things carefully. I have to be on guard.
I estimate that their group will arrive soon, and by then, everyone will be injured or maimed. Who will deal with them?

Zhou Jingming didn't fire because he didn't know the other party's background, he was wary of Lao Tang and his gang, and he wanted to see what kind of people were in his own team.

Even with a good daily harvest from the rich ore deposits, if more than half of the team hesitated and dared not take the plunge, Zhou Jingming felt it was necessary to leave; such a team was not worth supporting.

As for the shooting and killing to settle scores, the bigger part was Zhou Jingming's convincing words to comfort Peng Yuanchao. In this cannibalistic gold rush valley, every fight could be fatal, let alone when it comes to the mines and the gold they've panned for. Shooting was the best way to deal with it.

In the situation just now, it's very likely that Zhou Jingming could have scared these people away simply by brandishing his gun or firing a shot. But as he said, the new recruits in the team need to be trained, and it's not necessary to use a gun unless absolutely necessary.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that these people, for the sake of mining sites and gold, would be fearless and even unafraid of guns.

Zhou Jingming also had some unspoken thoughts: He had been thinking from the beginning that if these people were instigated by Lao Tang and his gang, Lao Tang's group would definitely come looking for them. He could use this as an excuse to stage a self-inflicted injury to lower their guard and make them easier to deal with.

Peng Yuanchao pondered for a while, then nodded, his expression softening as he cooperated with Zhou Jingming in applying medicine and bandaging him: "Now that we're in this state, if they come again... I'm afraid we'll be in trouble."

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "Don't be so pessimistic, you still have me, don't you?"

Peng Yuanchao turned and glanced at Zhou Jingming: "Are you confident?"

"No……"

Zhou Jingming dared not make any guarantees about this: "But we have to give it a try!"

It didn't take long for the injuries on all of them to be treated. Only Peng Yuanchao and Sun Chenggui were more seriously injured, but the problem wasn't too serious.

After finishing his work, Zhou Jingming looked at the bearded man sitting to the side, clutching his groin and hunched over: "These people with broken legs and arms, bleeding, including yourself, are you expecting me to bandage you up?"

The bearded man no longer dared to have such a hope and shook his head repeatedly.

Zhou Jingming snapped irritably, "Then what the hell are you waiting for? Call the guy down here and get the gold!"

The bearded man struggled to his feet and waved to the people above: "Hurry up, everyone get down..."

Wu Yang's groin and chest shove left him wondering if he'd become a cripple. Even after a while, the bearded man was still hissing in pain as he spoke, trembling all over.

As a leader, he had some influence, and judging from their accents, they were all from Guanzhong, possibly from the same place.

Although somewhat reluctant, they couldn't ignore the fellow villagers who were beaten to the ground, howling in pain and unable to get up. After a moment of hesitation, they all came over.

Zhou Jingming turned to Wu Yang: "Brother, search all the gold on them. Since they've only been here two days and are still looking for gold, without even a place to stay, I'm sure they still have all the gold they found on them and haven't found a place to hide it. Don't leave any of it behind... They're the ones who provoked us. Taking their gold is compensation. We've already been merciful by not killing or maiming them. If they still don't know what's good for them, then whoever doesn't cooperate will be dealt with..."

The second half of the sentence was meant for the bearded man and his gang.

It's easier to just search for them yourself than to make them pay for it themselves.

Sure enough, Wu Yang searched each of them, including the few lying on the ground groaning, and found the small glass bottles they used to store gold, the small wooden tubes plugged with cloth, and other such items.

Although this group only searched for half a month, they seemed to have found a good mining site. The gold found on each of them was of considerable weight, and it was all sent to Peng Yuanchao.

Surprisingly, when Wu Yang was searching the sideburns, he noticed that the man was deliberately pinching the hem of his clothes. Sensing something was amiss, he told him to let go, but the man refused. So Wu Yang simply kicked him again.

The bearded man, in pain, had no choice but to let go. Wu Yang reached out and pinched it, and sure enough, there was something hidden inside. Seeing that it was sewn inside with needle and thread, he directly used a knife to pry open the fabric of the man's clothes and found a thin piece of gold nugget about half the size of a walnut.

In gold mines, any gold particles larger than one centimeter are considered nuggets.

However, this gold nugget is mixed with some quartz impurities and is not very pure.

According to Zhou Jingming, the gold content is estimated to be around 20K, which means it is more than 80% gold.

He didn't think much of it.

Aside from specialized gold-hunting units and geological exploration teams that might be interested in gold nuggets and consider them valuable, banks and smugglers wouldn't take them seriously; they'd weigh them, remove impurities, and then calculate the price.

Unless the gold nugget is large enough, it has real collectible value, but such gold nuggets are extremely rare.

Because of this discovery, Wu Yang went and examined each of the group's clothes again. Sure enough, he found some gold coins hidden in the cotton-padded clothes of three of them.

After looting these people, Zhou Jingming was too lazy to dwell on the matter any longer: "Big Beard, remember your promise. If you dare to mess with us again, next time it won't be as simple as just paying some gold."

"Yes Yes Yes……"

Despite the pain in his body, the bearded man nodded repeatedly.

"Let me tell you, the group of people with rich mines and gold here are on the riverbank down below. There are more than twenty of them. They have just as many men as you, and even more guns. You've been used as pawns, you bunch of idiots!"

Zhou Jingming ignored them and said, "Get lost!"

The uninjured gold prospectors rushed forward and carried or helped the seriously injured men away in a disheveled state.

Regardless, the few of these people who lost limbs, including the one whose thigh was dug out by Sun Chenggui's pickaxe, definitely can't stay in the valley any longer. Just recovering from their injuries will probably take several months.

Those who remain, if they continue to pan for gold, will not easily regain their former prominence. The group may simply disband, or those who stay may join other gold-panning groups.

The reason for stating that they were being used as pawns was simply to shift the blame.

He couldn't say for sure what would happen next, but in any case, being used as a pawn and injured like this would inevitably cause some resentment. If he had any further dealings with Old Tang and his gang, they might cause him trouble.

After watching the bearded man and his gang walk away, Zhou Jingming called his group back to their dugout, as they were still hungry.

Peng Yuanchao placed the confiscated gold on his bedside table: "Eat first, fill your stomachs, and then we'll divide the gold."

Everyone contributed today, so this gold should be divided equally.

Comrades, if you want gold, you have to be like we are today—daring and determined. In this valley, you must be like a pack of wolves—fierce, ruthless, and united. Otherwise, you'll be eaten.

(End of this chapter)