Reborn in the 1980s: Nine Stunning Beauties Get Pregnant Before Marriage

"Don't go too far!" Chen Yongqiang shouted after her retreating figure.

"Got it!" Qin Liping's voice came from the other side of the river bend, her figure already hidden behind the hillside.

Chen Yongqiang picked up a shovel and started working. The sand was free; all it took was some effort. Building five bungalows would save him tens of yuan in expenses for sand.

Chen Yongqiang had just scooped up a small half-cartload of sand when Qin Liping hurriedly ran back from the other side of the river bend.

Holding what looked like something in his hands, he excitedly exclaimed, "Brother Yongqiang, come and see what this is!"

Chen Yongqiang put down the shovel and saw that in Qin Liping's outstretched palm was something the size of a mung bean, which shimmered with a faint golden hue in the sunlight.

He took it and examined it carefully: "This is... gold. Where did you find it?"

Qin Liping turned to the side and pointed in the direction she had just returned: "It's in the crack of the rocks in that river bend over there. You can see it as soon as the water washes over it."

"Come on, take me to see." Chen Yongqiang started to walk away, but then turned back and picked up a shovel and a sieve.

The two quickly arrived at the river bend. Qin Liping squatted down and pointed to a shallow puddle between the rocks:

"Right here, I was trying to slack off when I turned over a rock and saw this small, yellowish particle stuck in the crevice."

Chen Yongqiang also squatted down and looked into the crevices in the rocks at the bottom of the river. The water was crystal clear, but apart from the ordinary sand and stones, there was no obvious golden glint.

He picked up a shovel and scooped up some mud and sand from the bottom of the stream.

Instead of shoveling the mud and sand directly onto the bank, Chen Yongqiang immersed the shovel along with the mud and sand in the flowing river water and gently shook it.

Let the water flow wash away the lighter silt and sand. This is the simplest, traditional method for panning for gold.

Qin Liping, watching from the side, asked curiously, "Is gold really that valuable?"

"Of course it's valuable." Chen Yongqiang didn't stop, continuing to shake the shovel in the water.

How valuable is it?

"I traded my tractor for two small yellow croakers. That little gold nugget you just picked up is worth about twenty yuan," Chen Yongqiang estimated.

"If I find ten, that's two hundred yuan! If I find more, my family can build a house!" Qin Liping excitedly calculated.

Her family still lives in a thatched hut. If they were to build an adobe house, they could build three rooms for just a few hundred yuan.

Chen Yongqiang had finished sifting the first shovelful of mud and sand. He looked at the bottom of the shovel and found no new gold nuggets except for some small black mineral sands.

Undeterred, he moved to a slightly different spot, scooped up another shovelful of mud and sand, and continued to soak and wash it in the water.

"Brother Yongqiang, how's it going? Have you found any more gold?" Qin Liping asked anxiously.

"Not yet, this is just the beginning, it can't be that easy." Chen Yongqiang's hands kept moving.

He continued washing the river with several more shovelfuls until the sun gradually rose higher and the river water became somewhat dazzling.

Apart from a few tiny, dark golden grains smaller than sesame seeds, no other fully formed little golden beans like the ones Qin Liping had picked up were seen.

Chen Yongqiang straightened up and looked upstream. It seemed that even if there was gold sand in this river bend, it was scattered and difficult to collect.

He walked ashore from the water, put the shovel aside, and then took the little golden bean out of his pocket.

He handed it back to Qin Liping: "It seems that only this one seed has been washed down from this area."

Qin Liping didn't reach out to take it: "Brother Yongqiang, you should keep it for me. This thing is so valuable, I don't know where to put it when I get back, let alone how to exchange it for money."

"Alright then, I'll keep it for you for now. You can ask me for it when you need it." Seeing that she was really in a dilemma, Chen Yongqiang put the gold beans away again.

"Let's go back first." He picked up the shovel and sieve, turned around and walked towards the tractor.

Chen Yongqiang drove his tractor back home, carrying half a load of sand.

On the way, he turned to Qin Liping, who was sitting next to him, and instructed her: "When you get back, don't mention to anyone that you found gold by the river."

Qin Liping nodded vigorously: "I know, Brother Yongqiang. If word gets out, it might cause trouble."

Although she was young, she understood the principle of not flaunting wealth, especially something as conspicuous as gold.

Back on the homestead, Chen Yongqiang invited Grandpa Zhao Fugen over to see if the sand could be used directly.

Zhao Fugen walked to the side of the truck bed, grabbed a handful of sand, spread it out in his hand, and looked at it:

"The sand is alright, but there are too many small stones in it. We need to sift it again to remove the coarse ones, then it will be usable."

"Okay, then I'll take some people to fetch a few more truckloads and pile them up here to sift slowly." Chen Yongqiang came back to call a few more people to help.

As soon as he called for help, several young men immediately volunteered, not only for the chance to ride the tractor, but also because they wanted to get closer to Qin Liping.

Unfortunately, their plan failed. After Qin Liping returned, Lin Xiulian called her to the kitchen to help prepare lunch, and she didn't go out with her again.

Chen Yongqiang drove his tractor, but this time he turned it around and headed downstream.

He knew very well that the discovery of gold sand in the upstream river bend must not be leaked out in the slightest.

He planned that once he was done with these busy days, he would find an excuse to go and explore the upstream area again.

If we could actually find the source of the gold mine, we would really become rich.

Chen Yongqiang drove the tractor downstream for two or three miles and stopped at a shallow beach where the river was wide.

Although the sand here is not as fine as that at the upstream estuary, it has fewer impurities and is easier to dredge.

Chen Yongqiang jumped out of the car and said to the young men who had come with him, "This is it. Let's hurry up and get to work. If we make a few more trips today, I'll treat you all to drinks tonight."

Upon hearing that there was wine to drink, the young men became even more energetic and grabbed their tools to go down to the riverbank.

Several people rolled up their sleeves and got to work, shovels flying, sieves shaking, and the riverbank suddenly became lively.

Chen Yongqiang also personally took part in the task, shoveling sand while carefully observing its color.

As time went by, the tractor had already made two round trips that morning.

If we hurry this afternoon, we can probably haul three truckloads back.

Even so, it would take several days to gather enough sand to build the house.

At noon, the two Qin sisters delivered lunch to the construction site: a large bowl of brown rice, a bowl of cabbage stew with vermicelli, and a dish of pickled vegetables.

Chen Yongqiang ate it every day and didn't think much of it, but the young men who helped him ate it with great relish.

He buried his head in his rice, his chopsticks moving so fast that he even mixed the soup with the rice and ate it all up.

"You guys, eat slowly, no one's going to take it from you," Qin Liping said, finding it amusing.

A young man looked up and chuckled, "Liping's cooking smells delicious!" This made the others laugh as well.