My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 75 I Don't Want to Be a Pure Villain
Wu Yang raised the double-barreled shotgun in his hand, pointed it diagonally at the sleeping Cao Qidong, and then looked at Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming knew he was asking whether he should fight, so he shook his head slightly, took out his flashlight, and flashed it a few times in the direction of Peng Yuanchao.

Perhaps because he had something to hide, Cao Qidong, who was sleeping soundly, was startled by the click of the flashlight switch. He opened his eyes and was shocked to see the two people standing next to him. He immediately got up and prepared to run away.

At that moment, Wu Yang pressed the muzzle of his shotgun against his chest: "Weren't you sleeping soundly? Keep sleeping!"

Cao Qidong dared not make a move.

Upon seeing the flashlight beam, Peng Yuanchao immediately released Jin Wang, who was stubbornly clinging to him and almost biting him, and turned on his own flashlight, running towards Zhou Jingming and the others.

Even when they were still about twenty meters apart, he anxiously called out, "Have you found it yet?"

Zhou Jingming replied, "Found it!"

"Damn it..."

Peng Yuanchao cursed and ran even faster.

He didn't pay much attention to a ditch hidden by the withered grass under his feet, and suddenly he stepped into thin air and fell forward uncontrollably.

The fall was so hard that even the flashlight flew off its back.

Zhou Jingming rushed over and helped him up: "Why did you run so fast? The gun barrel was pointed at his chest, how could he fly... Are you hurt anywhere?"

Peng Yuanchao, panting heavily, grimaced and rubbed his knee: "I'm fine!"

"It's okay!"

Zhou Jingming picked up his flashlight and saw that the glass of the flashlight was broken, but the small light bulb inside was still lit.

The two walked over to Cao Qidong's side. When Peng Yuanchao saw Cao Qidong, who was trembling with fear and not daring to breathe, being pointed at by Wu Yang with a gun, he immediately flew up and kicked Cao Qidong in the head, sending Cao Qidong crashing heavily into the ditch.

Before Cao Qidong could even sit up, Peng Yuanchao was about to stomp on his head again. He had already raised his foot when Zhou Jingming pulled him aside.

Peng Yuanchao stumbled involuntarily, and after finally regaining his balance, he glared angrily at Zhou Jingming: "Why are you stopping me?"

After saying that, he prepared to kick and hit again.

Zhou Jingming stopped him again: "That kick you just gave it might have killed it."

Peng Yuanchao looked puzzled: "That son of a bitch, I'm going to kill him, tear him to pieces. What, you still want to keep him alive? People like him can't be kept alive."

Zhou Jingming pulled him two steps to the side, put his hand on his shoulder, and whispered, "Brother Peng, we signed an agreement and made rules when we went into the mountains. Anyone who dares to steal will have their arms and legs broken, no problem. If they offend the public, it's only right to kill them."

But think about it, there's still a group of people living in that dugout.

Don't you think it's more interesting to let them do it themselves?
Are you sure that the others didn't have any ulterior motives regarding other people's gold?
The confiscated gold was stolen. Everyone was eyeing their share of the gold, and suddenly it was gone. Aren't you angry? And what about those who worked hard these past few days and had their share of the gold stolen? Aren't you furious?
That's good, let them vent their frustrations and learn a lesson from it.

Having personally experienced this, they will surely have a very deep impression of the consequences of breaking the rules.

"Isn't this troublesome?"

Peng Yuanchao was still not satisfied: "Just tell them when we get back that the person has been killed, isn't that enough?"

"That's different!"

Zhou Jingming patted Peng Yuanchao on the shoulder: "It's like a woman. Do you get addicted by watching others get addicted, or do you get addicted yourself? The psychological feeling is definitely different."

Peng Yuanchao thought for a moment and asked in return, "So you mean I should go back and watch them go up?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "You all come at me together, I'll just watch!"

Peng Yuanchao realized what Zhou Jingming meant and, recalling Zhou Jingming's previous jokes, tried to get back at him: "You have this kind of fetish!" Zhou Jingming shook his head: "Honestly, I wouldn't be interested in this kind of person!"

"Uh……"

Peng Yuanchao thought about it for a moment, then caught his breath and said, "You're really hard to figure out."

Zhou Jingming took out cigarettes and handed one to each of Peng Yuanchao and Wu Yang: "What do you mean?"

Peng Yuanchao lit a cigarette: "To be honest, these past few days, I've really looked down on what you've done. You clearly suspected that the Tang group might have ill intentions, yet you still went to help people with feng shui. You were even threatened, and you still told them that the mining site had rich deposits."

When you came back, you kept saying you were eyeing their water pump and shotgun. I thought you would quickly find a way to get revenge, but nothing happened. You even said you wanted to do it legitimately.

The bearded gang came to the door, and you just cowered in the back...

I think you talk a good game, but you're just all talk and no action. You're a spineless coward.

As it turned out, when Zhang Aizi and his gang arrived, you were able to use a gun again, and you took down so many people in one go. Your marksmanship was really good, so ruthless that it startled me.

Do you know what I was thinking at the time?

Zhou Jingming took a drag of his cigarette, slightly opening his mouth to let the smoke he exhaled pass back through his nostrils: "What do you think?"

Peng Yuanchao sighed: "I'm glad I'm with you... Brother, you said you've thought so much about it, what's on your mind?"

Zhou Jingming took a deep breath and felt that after this incident, he could share some of his thoughts with Peng Yuanchao: "Having worked in geological exploration for several years, I actually know of several mineral deposits that are richer than the current small peninsula."

My main purpose in coming here to pan for gold is to earn money to cover my initial investment and, incidentally, to find some reliable people. Do you understand what I mean? I'm not a kind person; kind people are easily bullied. I also don't want to be a purely evil person and alienate others.

Moreover, gold panning isn't something you can do by blindly rushing in. Don't be fooled by the many gold panning teams in the valley; the relationships between many of them are quite delicate, and offending any one of them could easily cause a major disturbance.

The trouble that has ensued is not something that a few of us can easily bear.

This means that many things need to be carefully considered before deciding how to do them.

The bearded group was led by experienced gold prospectors from Ganzhou. There were quite a few gold prospectors from Ganzhou in the Haiertes River Valley. If they shot and killed some people, creating a deadly feud, the future would be uncertain. They had to leave room for maneuver.

Old Tang's group is different; they're from Wu and Yue, thousands of miles away. Fewer people from that region come here, and Tang is definitely a novice, including Zhang the Dwarf, who's only a half-baked amateur. We don't need to hold back against them.

If we're doing things in the right way, there's nothing to worry about.

As I've said before, only with internal and external stability can one truly strike gold. I just want to walk more steadily, all for the sake of gold.

Peng Yuanchao nodded slightly: "I really understand this time... You must take me with you next year, my fortune depends on you."

Zhou Jingming urged, "Alright, hurry up and get the gold back... It's late at night, pretty cold, and I'm starving!"

Peng Yuanchao returned to the earthen trough, grabbed Cao Qidong by the hair, dragged him out of the trough, and thoroughly searched him from head to toe, including his clothes. He found nothing, and his anger flared up again: "Damn it, where's the gold?"

Seeing that any hesitation would mean getting beaten up, Cao Qidong dared not hesitate for a second and pointed to the quilt.

Peng Yuanchao jumped down again, lifted the quilt, and saw a cloth bag wrapped inside. He opened it and found several small vials of penicillin filled with gluten.

After obtaining these items, Cao Qidong obviously merged the gold.

After confirming that nothing had been missed, Peng Yuanchao handed the gold over to Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming is still carrying that canvas bag he got from Lao Tang.

Zhou Jingming took the bag, glanced at it, and casually crumpled it into a ball, stuffing it into his own bag. Only then did he remember that there were some biscuits and other snacks in the bag. He looked at Cao Qidong and asked, "Are you going to walk back by yourself, or do you want to lie here in this ditch forever?"

(End of this chapter)