My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 36 Gouged

The three buckets of snow were carried to the fire and melted by the heat, eventually yielding a shallow bucket of water.

Although there are still quite a few weeds and dead leaves inside, at least the water is permeable and the bottom is visible, which is much better than the muddy water in the river and is more acceptable.

Water was poured into an antimony pot and brought to a boil. Everyone ate naan bread with the hot water to fill their stomachs. Then, they started to pull carts and load them with the largest quantities of rice, flour, cooking oil, tea bricks, and other items.

After the goods were loaded, Peng Yuanchao assigned the cart to the three Yuzhou people and two Luoyue people who had almost come to blows earlier, intending to let them work together more.

As for the steel chisels, pickaxes, felt, plastic sheeting, and other items, the remaining five people carried them on their backs as they set off.

Without the tractor, we realize how difficult it is to travel.

The road beneath our feet could no longer be called a road; on one side was a hillside, and on the other a rushing river. The cart could only move with difficulty across the floodplain.

Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao led the way, while Wu Yang, Xu Youliang, and the Ruan Xiang man named Sun Chenggui followed behind the cart.

The five people in charge of the cart took turns pulling and controlling the direction, while the others pushed from behind. The ground was full of pebbles and mud, and the cart was heavy and strenuous. It moved with each push, and the wheels often got stuck in the mud or small puddles. The people carrying the load had to put the load down and help push.

Before long, it was noon. Everyone was exhausted, and all the random thoughts in their minds had vanished.

As soon as Peng Yuanchao told everyone to take a break, they immediately threw down what they were holding and collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

Once they caught their breath, some people were so thirsty that they didn't care how dirty the river was. They ran straight to the riverbank, lay down, and drank the muddy water—water that even livestock would hesitate to drink from—like cattle.

At this time, no one would complain. Even Zhou Jingming went to the river to scoop up some water and drink some. He felt that it had a fishy smell and was mixed with some mud and sand.

After eating some dry rations, they continued on their way, carrying supplies and inching forward little by little.

They walked and rested intermittently until it was almost dark. Along the way, they saw several gold panning teams, still scrutinizing and wary of each other.

Zhou Jingming was also watching and noticed that there were a few more people in the queue than when he scouted the area, but he still didn't run into any "familiar faces".

"Let's light the fire, boil some water, eat our fill, and then get some sleep!"

After putting down what he was carrying, Peng Yuanchao gave an order and then went up the slope to collect firewood in the pine forest.

The others, including Zhou Jingming, were not idle either; some gathered firewood, while others carried snow to melt it for water.

By the time the fire was lit and the rice was cooked, they ate their fill of the pickled vegetables they had brought from the mountains, drank plenty of warm water, and it was already completely dark.

In the afternoon, the sky turned gray again. The stars and moon were nowhere to be seen. It was pitch black everywhere, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. With the howling north wind in the air, I wondered if it would rain or snow tonight.

But now, all we can do is pray that nothing falls, otherwise we'll suffer even more.

After eating his fill, Zhou Jingming cooked cornmeal porridge and fed it to the dog. He then spread out his bedding by the fire, wrapped himself in it, and went to sleep. Jinwang sniffed at Zhou Jingming and lay down next to him.

Following suit, Wu Yang also wrapped himself in a blanket and lay down next to Zhou Jingming.

The other newbies looked at each other, and one of them asked, "How are we going to sleep in this open, exposed field?"

Peng Yuanchao shook his head and sighed: "Why are you all so fussy? Do I have to teach you how to sleep? Didn't you see how Brother Zhou sleeps? He's an exploration technician, a real intellectual, and he didn't say anything... Why are you all so delicate?"

He found a rock to use as a pillow, pulled out the blanket, wrapped it around himself, leaned to the side, and closed his eyes.

Zhou Jingming poked his head out from under the covers: "The climate in northern Xinjiang is relatively dry, so there are many deserts, Gobi and grassy slopes. Don't be fooled by the fact that there is snow all over the mountains now and the snowmelt is flowing down, but there is actually not much moisture in the soil. You don't need to put down a mattress to sleep, you can just lie on the ground and it won't feel damp."

With a campfire nearby for warmth, you can tuck your head under the covers and rely on your own body heat and breath to stay warm enough for the night in the wilderness.

If you feel it's too uncomfortable, go and get some pine branches or something to put on it.

Even if it rains or snows at night, it's not a big problem. Just spread out the plastic sheet you brought and cover yourself with it.

Also, everyone can sleep close together to keep warm. You've had a long day, so get some sleep.

He paused for a moment, then called out, "Brother Peng..."

"Hey..." Peng Yuanchao responded when he heard Zhou Jingming call him.

“They are all newbies. There are many things they don’t know or are not used to when they come to pan for gold, unlike you and me, who are used to living in the mountains. You are the leader, so don’t always be so critical. Teach them more and be patient. Once everyone gets used to it, it will be fine.”

After Zhou Jingming finished speaking, he buried his head back into the blankets. A few seconds later, he heard Peng Yuanchao reply, "Okay!"

A few novices looked around for a while. Some of them were about to go and collect the branches and leaves of the climbing pine, but when they saw that everyone else was just like Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao, casually clearing away the large pebbles on the ground, wrapping themselves in blankets and lying down, they didn't bother with it.

Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day, and soon they all fell into a deep sleep.

Fortunately, it didn't rain or snow until dawn, but the weather remained gloomy and much colder than yesterday.

After having a quick meal, Peng Yuanchao continued to urge the group on their way.

In a bend upstream of the main river, Zhou Jingming saw Zhang Debao's team and Zhang Debao himself, who was busy carrying wood down the mountain to build a dugout.

Zhou Jingming felt it was good that they weren't in the same boat; out of sight, out of mind.

And so, after trekking for most of the day, in the afternoon, we finally saw the small peninsula we had scouted out last time in the distance.

Seeing that no one was on the small peninsula, Peng Yuanchao grinned. This was his dream spot, and there was nothing more gratifying than seeing that it hadn't been occupied by anyone.

He urged the group to move the supplies to the peninsula, pointing to the small peninsula and drawing a circle: "This is the gold panning spot that Brother Zhou and I chose. We'll be panning for gold here until it snows... Brother Zhou, we should be able to pan until it snows, right?"

Zhou Jingming nodded firmly: "Absolutely."

Peng Yuanchao's smile widened even more.

Several novices looked at the mud and pebbles on the ground. Some ran to examine the pebbles, while others busied themselves digging through the mud.

"You can pan for gold in this sand? I can't see any!" someone asked in disbelief.

Peng Yuanchao was rarely amused: "If you could find gold so easily, you could just pick it up and be done with it. Why would you need to pan for it? If it were that easy, would it even be our turn?"

Zhou Jingming was more concerned about the deep pit where sand was taken during the sand testing. He rolled himself a cigarette, lit it, and got up to walk towards the sand pit.

Upon seeing this, Peng Yuanchao immediately followed.

Some of the mud and sand that had been backfilled into the pit were dug out, and seeing the few frozen feces, they stopped digging.

Instead, they dug a hole not far away and retested the sand. Like the other teams, they probably didn't have enough patience to dig deep enough, so they didn't find any gold and left.

Peng Yuanchao immediately laughed: "It really has been dug up. I wonder what they thought when they dug up these lumps of stuff."

Zhou Jingming laughed too: "They're definitely cursing, saying which son of a bitch pulled this up, it's so damn immoral!"

Peng Yuanchao was stunned for a moment, then glared at Zhou Jingming: "Are you insulting me indirectly?"

"Let me ask you, if you were the one digging up this thing, what would you think?"

"I'm definitely going to swear!"

"That's it!"

"Uh……"

Peng Yuanchao was at a loss for words.

These words made everyone else grin.

Zhou Jingming patted Peng Yuanchao on the shoulder: "Brother Peng, it's time to let them see the gold."

　Thank you to reader Hei A Niu for the generous donation!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)