My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 102 No Riches Without Unexpected Wealth

Wu, the foreman, came up specifically to take a look, speaking hesitantly. In fact, Zhou Jingming could probably guess what he was thinking.

He simply felt that the robbers might suffer a setback at Zhou Jingming's camp, and if that happened, he wanted to see if there was any chance of getting the stolen gold back.

However, he made a wasted trip. The bandits, seeing that their whereabouts had been discovered early on and that Zhou Jingming's camp was on guard, knew that things were hopeless and chose to give up.

Anyone who does this kind of thing will be prepared; at the very least, they will scout the location beforehand and get a basic understanding of the situation.

Zhou Jingming and his group may not have the largest numbers in this side gully, but their strength is definitely among the best.

Having fought two battles with the groups of Bearded Man and Old Tang, his reputation has certainly spread.

The gold prospectors who frequented the valley were scattered across different mining sites, but some of them already knew each other. When they occasionally met, they would naturally share their experiences, and the news about the gold rush valley would spread like wildfire.

It's impossible that these robbers were completely unaware.

No matter how powerful they are, they will think twice. Let alone when they have already been discovered and are on guard, it would be foolish to try to fight them head-on.

At this moment, the five people walked upstream while looking at the situation in the valley below.

Those who had already been alerted and were on guard did not provoke them again.

The advantage of operating at night is concealment, allowing for stealthy approach and surprise attacks when the target is unprepared. However, there are also drawbacks: their weapons are difficult to use effectively, and if they lose control, they could very well lose their lives.

The purpose of robbing gold is, of course, to make money. If you have the life to rob it but not the life to spend it, then it's meaningless.

As the five of them continued upwards, they saw several mining sites being disturbed one after another, and they felt somewhat annoyed.

Based on the information gathered from the site visits, these mining sites are all highly lucrative opportunities.

Some people blamed Jin Wang: "Damn it, one day I'll kill that dog and eat it. Because of its barking, I'll lose a lot of gold."

At this moment, on the small peninsula, a group of gold prospectors put down their tools, crawled into their tents, lay down on their beds, but their mouths were still busy talking about the brief confrontation they had just had.

"Go to sleep, everyone. We can talk about it during the day. We have work to do tomorrow, so don't be too tired. Stop talking!"

Zhou Jingming shouted something to the group of people. After hearing the noise inside the tent subside, Zhou Jingming turned back to Peng Yuanchao and said, "Brother Peng, you should go to sleep too. Tonight is going to be a bit dangerous. Wu Yang and I will keep watch. You'll have to take care of things tomorrow."

Peng Yuanchao looked at Zhou Jingming with a strange expression: "To be honest, do you have something on your mind?"

Zhou Jing glanced at him, understanding his meaning: "What a load of rubbish!"

Seeing Peng Yuanchao's disbelieving look, he added, "If you don't believe me, you stay here and keep watch. I'm going to sleep!"

He paused for a moment, then lowered his voice: "We need to leave a reliable person at the mine to keep an eye on things. If Wu Yang and I leave, you can still help if something goes wrong. It's not appropriate for all three of us to go. You understand what I mean?"

"Okay, okay... Well then, thank you both for your hard work tonight!"

Peng Yuanchao grinned. He knew that Zhou Jingming's words were meant for others to hear. He lowered his voice as well: "I promise I won't close my eyes and will keep a close watch... You guys be careful and wait for your return."

"Don't worry, if things go well, you'll get a share when we get back. But as you know, there are five of them, and they're all armed. We're just going to follow them and see if there's a chance to make a move. We can't guarantee that things will definitely work out!"

"I know!"

Zhou Jingming went into the tent, found a rope, made a noose, and led Jin Wang to the edge of the dugout and tied him up.

Those men had been scrambling up from various mines along the way, and no one knew how many they had taken.

Judging from their calm demeanor, after robbing the person, they still dared to leisurely move upstream to find the next target, which is enough to show that these people are quite experienced veterans.

One thing is certain: these people definitely have a considerable amount of gold on them.

A horse will not be fat without night grass, and a man will not be rich without windfall.

Zhou Jingming never believed that being law-abiding would lead to a good life in the Gold Rush Valley.

To have a better future, you must seize opportunities and accumulate enough experience in a short period of time.

Honestly panning for gold is too slow!

Those who make a name for themselves in the gold rush world have hands that have been washed clean with blood.

These bandits, who can eat people, can also be eaten by people.

Jinwang cannot be brought along. If things don't go well, and those people find out there's a dog, they'll immediately think of who it is, and if that leads to retaliation, things will become complicated.

As for Wu Yang, he had long been tempted. When he was walking back to the tent from the small peninsula, he had already nudged Zhou Jingming with his shoulder and pointed his chin in the direction the group had left.

After tying Jinwang up, Zhou Jingming reached out and scratched its neck, then picked up the double-barreled hunting rifle and headed upstream into the woods.

Wu Yang quickly followed.

Jinwang also wanted to go, and pulled the rope a few times with all its might, but it couldn't break free. It could only whimper at Zhou Jingming as he left, expressing its dissatisfaction. When Zhou Jingming ignored it, it became anxious and started barking wildly. It even opened its mouth to bite the rope that was tethering it. It stood there for a while, watching Zhou Jingming walk away, before finally lying down.

Upstream of the river, about 600-700 meters away.

The five men traveled through the mountains and forests, stopping briefly at each campsite to observe the activity at the mining sites on the riverbank below.

As soon as they saw a flashlight beam, they stopped and continued walking.

They passed four mining sites and stopped after the fifth. After observing for a while and seeing no movement, the group whispered a few words and then carefully made their way down to the mining site.

It was a small mining site, located in a river bend, with only one underground dwelling.

The group stopped again about 20 or 30 meters away from the mine site. After observing for a while, the leader waved his hand, and the group crouched down and quickly walked to the edge of the dugout.

One of them crawled into the dugout passage, listened carefully, and heard loud snoring inside. He couldn't help but smile slightly, kicked the door a few times, and then came back out.

The others immediately rushed forward, standing on both sides of the passage, aiming their guns into the passage.

There was a soft sound from inside. Someone got up, put on their clothes, opened the door, and peeked out with a flashlight.

He trembled with fear at just one glance.

As he swept the flashlight beam across the room, he saw five dark gun barrels aimed at him.

"If you don't want to die, shut up and wake up all your men... Now!"

The leader of the five robbers spoke softly but with a chilling tone. At the same time, he pressed the muzzle of his gun against the gold prospector's chest and shoved him hard.

The gold prospector was pushed back into his dugout and hurriedly shook the sleeping people in bed awake.

Once they noticed what was happening outside, they all panicked, their eyes blinded by the beams of flashlights shining in from the passageway.

“We’re just making some money along the way, we don’t want to hurt anyone. If you know what’s good for you, hand over the gold… Now, come out one by one and give me all the gold you have on you and that you’ve hidden. If you don’t cooperate, I’ll make sure you all die inside.”

The leader then pointed his flashlight at one of them: "You go first!"

The man hesitated and refused to come out, so someone immediately pointed a gun at him: "One...two..."

Pointing the weapon at him, the man was terrified and had no choice but to step forward. Immediately, someone pulled a rope from their waist and tied his hands. They first searched his body and found the gold he carried with him, which was in a small penicillin bottle. Then, he was given a heavy shove: "Don't waste my time, take me to get the gold!"

The gold prospector dared not act recklessly, so he led the man into the woods behind the house, to where the man had hidden his gold, and pointed out the place where he had hidden his own gold.

The robbers quickly retrieved the buried gold, brought the man back, pushed him into the dugout, and then replaced him with another man.

And so, the dozen or so people in the dugout spent quite a while searching, and all the gold was looted.

After finishing the task, the leader smiled at the group in the dugout and said, "You guys know what's good for you... You need to be sensible, okay? Don't force us to come back and fight again. Then, it won't be just talk anymore!"

After saying that, he waved his hand, and the group slowly retreated into the woods with him, continuing to walk upstream.

"I didn't realize this small mine produced such good gold; it should yield about four ounces!"

The group went into the woods and put all the bran, which had been stored in cigarette boxes or small glass bottles, into an oil paper bag.

The leader took it, weighed it in his hand, and smiled with satisfaction: "Next mining site!"

Inside that dugout, a group of about ten people sat dejectedly, completely wide awake.

"Boss, this can't just be left like this. That's gold I've saved up for over a month..."

"Yeah, they just robbed us like that. All our work for the past month has been for nothing."

"Especially the leader, you're worth twice as much as us!"

"Let's go, let's go and take it back..."

The crowd was filled with indignation.

The leader glanced at everyone, slowly rolled himself a cigarette, and said leisurely, "With just this one hunting rifle we have... the others have five. Are we just going to go and die?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent, with only the cigarettes between their fingers flickering in the darkness.

Meanwhile, in the woods above their mine, Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang crouched behind a clump of bushes, looking at the bandits who continued to walk upstream and then at the mine below.

Wu Yang found it hard to believe: "They just robbed us so easily?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and asked in return, "Then how complicated do you think it should be?"

"These guys are such cowards!"

"This isn't a question of whether they're cowards or not; their circumstances, mindsets, and abilities are all different. Many of those who come to pan for gold are fugitives or have served time in prison. Some of them are willing to risk their lives, but most are just ordinary people from humble backgrounds trying to make a living, with families to support. If the breadwinner is gone, what will happen to those families?"
They're okay at fighting, but there aren't many who'd actually risk their lives.

Moreover, the other side had five guns. Since they dared to do such a thing, they were risking their lives; they would kill without hesitation.

"Is no one going to do anything about these things?"

Hearing Wu Yang ask this question, Zhou Jingming felt that he had become naive again.

He chuckled softly: "Who cares? We've gotten into the valley, and we've run into some trouble. Has anyone come to inquire about it?"

Wu Yang was speechless for a moment.

Zhou Jingming said earnestly, "At least for now, this is a place without order. In other words, you can do whatever you want if you want."

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(End of this chapter)