My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 86 The Starting Point of Scorpion's Rise to Power

Typically, these wealthy gold diggers don't share a dugout with ordinary gold prospectors; they each have their own separate dugout, which is their private space.

The place was furnished with tables, chairs, benches, and other furniture, and the owner often brought a mistress to live there.

Furthermore, to protect the gold they acquire, they will specially install thick door panels for protection.

Mr. Jin, surnamed Yang, also had a mistress. Zhou Jingming heard the sounds of chopping and gunfire mixed with a woman's screams.

Zhou Jingming guessed that the door of this dugout belonging to the Yang family was thick enough that Zhang Debao couldn't split it open despite using so many axes, and the two shots he fired from inside also failed to penetrate the door and injure Zhang Debao.

In the dead of night, such a loud noise immediately startled the gold prospectors in the surrounding dugouts, and figures emerged from their dugouts.

Just then, two more gunshots rang out from the dugout where Zhang Debao was hacking at the door, and the hacking stopped.

Wu Yang frowned and asked, "Was he beaten to death?"

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "No!"

Wu Yang didn't know how Zhou Jingming could be so sure, but he didn't ask any more questions. He just stared at the other side, waiting for the result.

Although the moon was much brighter than the previous two days, it still appeared hazy when viewed from a distance of a few dozen meters at night, and one could only make out a rough outline.

The alarmed crowd, hearing the sounds of chopping and gunfire, emerged from their dugouts but none dared approach, instead watching from a distance.

Only four or five people ran towards that dugout. They must have been the servants who served Boss Jin when the gold was being distributed; they were Boss Jin's confidants.

They were a little late after all, and the two who were in the lead were the first to squeeze into the narrow passage of the dugout.

As soon as the person went in, a gunshot rang out, and only one person came out tumbling and crawling.

But just as they emerged from the passage, another gunshot rang out, sending the man tumbling down the gravel slope, where he disappeared without a trace.

The three people who were running right behind them stopped in their tracks when they saw this.

A figure rushed out of the dugout; it was Zhang Debao. As soon as he came out, he pounced on the three of them, startling them so much that they turned and ran.

The last man in the pack couldn't escape. He was struck by Zhang Debao's axe, whether it hit him or not, and stumbled and fell to the ground. Before he could get up, Zhang Debao arrived and began to smash him with his hunting rifle.

He screamed "Ahhh..." as he fought, looking like a madman.

Looking up again, he saw the two who had run away still watching from a distance. He picked up the axe, grabbed the hunting rifle, and chased after them again.

The two dared not linger any longer and ran recklessly into the distance.

The three ran further and further away, and could vaguely see the hillside behind the dugout, heading towards the other side.

Looking at this scene, Wu Yang exclaimed, "I can't believe it! They're incredibly ruthless!"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "Don't underestimate anyone in this valley. Even the most cowardly person will bite if pushed too far!"

Seeing the lively scene across the way, the two lost their sleepiness. They added some firewood to the fire, wrapped themselves in blankets, and sat by the fire to warm themselves, while occasionally keeping an eye on the activity across the way.

After waiting for about twenty minutes, Zhang Debao returned with an axe and a hunting rifle, went into Boss Jin's dugout, and didn't come out for a while. He sat in front of the dugout with a cigarette in his mouth, without saying a word.

He didn't stand up until he finished his cigarette, and waved the thing in his hand: "From now on, I'm in charge of this mine. Those who want to come with me to pan for gold can stay and we'll split the gold tomorrow. Those who don't want to work with me can get the hell out of here now."

The group huddled together and whispered among themselves, but no one left.

The sound faded, and Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang could no longer hear what they were saying. They only saw Zhang Debao directing several men to drag Boss Jin's body out of the dugout, along with the two bodies outside, to the riverbank, where they were thrown into the water and quickly drifted away with the current.

After the matter was settled, the group gradually dispersed, and Zhang Debao went into the dugout that had been taken care of and belonged exclusively to Boss Jin. Boss Jin's mistress was also dragged into the dugout by his hair.

"Do you think those two people he was chasing were killed?" Wu Yang asked in a low voice.

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "I don't know!"

He was thinking that Zhang Debao must have replaced the gold boss surnamed Yang after this incident, transforming himself from an ordinary gold prospector into the new gold boss, which became the starting point for his rise to power.

If things are handled properly and he doesn't take such a shady path, he might become one of the most prominent figures in the Gold Rush Valley.

However, his insatiable greed in plundering other people's gold and his domineering bullying of the gold prospectors at the mine ultimately led him down the same path as the gold boss he had killed.

Seeing that Zhang Debao's camp had returned to calm and there was nothing to see, Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang added some firewood to the fire, wrapped themselves in blankets in the earthen hut, and lay down again.

Having seen so much in life, Zhou Jingming remained calm and fell asleep quickly.

On the contrary, Wu Yang became more energetic, and no one knew what he was thinking, tossing and turning and unable to sleep.

The next morning, Zhou Jingming woke up and, unusually, saw that Wu Yang was still fast asleep. He did not get up early as usual to call him to train together.

Zhou Jingming didn't disturb him. He simply gathered the still-glowing embers from the ashes of the campfire, added some broken pieces of firewood, and blew on it a few times to reignite the fire. He then went to the side to continue his training for about twenty minutes before returning to the fire to bake bread and brew tea.

By the time the steamed buns were baked and the tea was brewed, it was already broad daylight. Zhou Jingming saw that Wu Yang was still asleep, so he reached out and shook his hand at him a few times.

Wu Yang was startled and sat up abruptly, glancing around: "Ah...it's already so bright?"

Looking at his swollen eyelids and bloodshot eyes, Zhou Jingming asked with a smile, "What's wrong? Didn't you sleep well last night? What were you thinking about?"

He had just fought two battles a few days ago, and he didn't believe that Wu Yang's mental fortitude was so weak that he would be scared.

Wu Yang rubbed his eyes hard and took a deep breath: "I don't know what's wrong with me. I was just thinking about what would have happened to me if I hadn't joined the team with you when I came to pan for gold. The more I thought about it, the more confused I became, and I couldn't sleep. I don't even know when I fell asleep."

Zhou Jingming pulled a golden-brown baked bun from the ashes and handed it to him: "Don't worry, with your skills, you can get by anywhere. At least, very few people can do anything to you."

Wu Yang shook his head: "That's hard to say. Just last night, this person's every move was beyond my expectations. If it's about scheming and ruthlessness, I'm just a novice. Human nature is too complicated! Two fists can't beat four hands, let alone the human heart."

Now I truly understand why you told me to conceal my abilities.

When fighting against the groups of Bearded Man and Old Tang, Wu Yang didn't show much skill; he just seemed to be better at finding opportunities and being ruthless.

"Yes, it's very complicated!"

Zhou Jingming also sighed deeply. Recalling his previous life, when he was about to die, wasn't he also killed by a shot hidden in the dark? Who could have imagined it?

He could only comfort her, "Don't think too much about it. You'll get used to it after you stay in the Gold Rush Valley for a while. Hurry up and eat, then get back to work."

"Ok!"

Wu Yang responded, first picking up the antimony basin, pouring in some salt tea, and then chewing the baked bun with gusto.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the two took their tools and went down to the riverbank.

These past two days, he's been following Zhou Jingming around and has heard him talk a lot about how to determine if a place has gold, most of which are related to the word "siltation".

But the slate that Zhou Jingming had chosen was smooth and he couldn't see any possibility of silt accumulation. After looking at it from all angles, he felt that the gold was probably in the layer of gravel and silt at the base of the slate slope.

He immediately went over and used an antimony basin to collect the mud and sand at the foot of the slope.

But Zhou Jingming spoke up to stop him: "What we're looking for isn't those kinds of things."

Wu Yang asked, somewhat puzzled, "Then what are these?"

Zhou Jingming pointed to the slate on the slope: "See those cracks? These slates are layered."

Wu Yang was a very clever person. After being reminded by Zhou Jingming, he immediately understood what he meant: "Oh... I understand, Brother Zhou. You mean when the river rises and floods, it carries gold-bearing silt and washes over this slate slope. The cracks become the barriers on the sluice. As the water is constantly washed away, some of the gold will remain in the cracks and enter the gaps between the slate slabs."

Zhou Jingming nodded: "That's the idea... Look, there are earthen embankments on this slate slope. The plant roots on these embankments should have been in the soil, but now they are hanging on the stone slabs and protruding through some cracks, which means that this slate slope was eroded by flowing water."

What we need to do is pry open these surface slate layers, clean out the mud and sand from the crevices, and wash them. Judging by the appearance, this place hasn't been touched for a long time, so the gold content inside is probably quite high... Let's get started.”

"okay!"

Wu Yang responded excitedly, picked up his pickaxe and went up the slate slope. He poked the tip of the pickaxe into the crack, and with a flick, a piece of slate the size of a washbasin was pried up. Sure enough, he saw a thin layer of mud and sand in the crack, and with a quick glance, he could even see some tiny bits of slate.

When Zhou Jingming handed him the antimony basin, he carefully scraped off the mud and sand sticking to the slate he had pried up, as well as the mud and sand in the interlayers, and collected them into the antimony basin.

One piece was cleaned up, then another piece was pried off.

When he estimated that he had collected enough for a gold bucket, he poured the mud and sand into Zhou Jingming's waders, who was standing in the shallow water, to wash it.

The first batch of gold extracted consisted of more than ten grains the size of wheat grains. Combined with the bran and gold dust, a small, glittering patch could be seen at the bottom of the gold container, indicating a considerable amount.

However, prying open the stone slabs and cleaning out the mud and sand was quite troublesome. He often had to pry open a rather large stone slab to get enough for Zhou Jingming to collect in one go. In order not to waste too much time, Zhou Jingming also helped pry open the stone slabs and collect the mud and sand containing gold.

Just as the two men were working hard, a shout came from the other side of the river: "Hey... you two gentlemen, how's the harvest?"

The two looked back and saw that standing on the opposite bank of the river was Zhang Debao, the same Zhang who had killed the Mr. Jin surnamed Yang yesterday.

In the morning, he gathered everyone in the shade and distributed the gold. The dozens of gold prospectors started their normal work as if nothing had happened the night before, and the riverbank became lively again.

Zhou Jingming didn't respond to him, but simply said to Wu Yang, "Let's do our own thing and ignore him!"

Zhang Debao called out a few more times, essentially asking the two men if they wanted to work at their mine. Seeing that they didn't respond, he lost interest, turned around, and went back to the mine, wandering around aimlessly.

The two of them spent more than two hours working on this small slate slope, and they had almost finished manipulating it, obtaining more than ten grams of gold.

After washing their tools and belongings in the murky river water, the two men went ashore and continued walking upstream without stopping.

(End of this chapter)