My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 90 Hunchback
“You told me the same thing as the fortune teller I consulted. He told me to come to the Northwest to make a living in order to avoid disaster. That’s why I boarded the train to the Northwest.”

The hunchback looked at Zhou Jingming with surprise: "As soon as you saw me, you said I came to the right place. We don't even know each other, how could you possibly calculate this!"

Zhou Jingming smiled slightly and moved closer to the hunchback: "Your family situation is very special. Your mother can't have children, right? Over the course of five or six years, she managed to adopt four children and form a family. Some of the children were adopted by distant relatives, while others were abandoned in the streets and alleys of the village."

A family without blood ties didn't have a good ending either; both parents passed away from illness, right?

The hunchback nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, yes!"

Zhou Jingming continued, "You children have been fighting endlessly over the division of the family's land and houses. Just last year, the eldest son drowned in the river while drunk, and the second sister contracted a strange illness and died after half a year."

You and your younger sister only stopped fighting because you were facing the prospect of having no descendants.

"Master!"

The hunchback's expression became extremely excited: "There are quite a few people from our Sanshui Township who come out to pan for gold. I thought I'd come too. If I make money, I'll give all the things at home to my little sister. She doesn't need them!"

"Come with me, I'm hiring!"

Zhou Jingming patted the hunchback on the shoulder: "Actually, I'm not a fortune teller, I don't know how to tell fortunes at all, and I'm not some kind of expert. You might not believe it, but I had a dream a couple of days ago, a very strange dream."

I remember everything clearly when I wake up, but after a while I suddenly forget it all and can't remember anything. Just now I saw you and felt familiar with you, and suddenly I remembered you again.

I was just asking casually to verify if the dream was real, but judging from your expression, it really is the same thing I dreamt about.

"Same as each other, exactly the same!"

The hunchback nodded repeatedly: "What a coincidence... You must be my benefactor, definitely. Anyway, I haven't decided where to go yet. I'll go with you, and I'll do whatever you ask me to do from now on."

"By the way, what's your name?"

“My name is Bai Zhishun. In my hometown, everyone calls me Shunzai. I have a hunchback, so some people also call me Tuozi (hunchback)... At first, I was quite unwilling to be called that, but I couldn't control what people said. After a while, I got used to it.”

"I'll still call you Shunzai, Shun means good luck!"

"it is good!"

"Alright, let's get on the raft quickly, the boatman and the others can't wait any longer!"

Zhou Jingming turned around and walked towards the riverbank.

Without a word, the hunchback quickly followed Zhou Jingming onto the raft. He squatted down and tightened the hemp rope and wood that were binding and securing the tin oil drum. With the ferryman's help, they swayed across the river and jumped ashore.

Wu Yang and a few others went ahead. On the other side, they saw Zhou Jingming leading another hunchback. As the two led the group along the riverbank, Wu Yang glanced at the hunchback at the back of the group and whispered to Zhou Jingming, "Brother Zhou, why did you choose a hunchback?"

Zhou Jingming replied with a smile, "So what if he's a hunchback? As long as he can work, that's fine. We need laborers, not handsome men and beautiful women!"

Wu Yang paused for a moment, then laughed: "That's true!"

What Zhou Jingming told Bai Zhishun was actually what Bai Zhishun himself told Zhou Jingming in their previous life.

Aside from his hunchback, Zhou Jingming saw him as a very down-to-earth and hardworking person. His biggest flaw, however, was his superstition; he believed everything the fortune teller said without question.

Of course, in those days, most people who came to the Gold Rush Valley were not very educated. If they could read a few words and do some arithmetic, they were already considered capable.

In remote and impoverished mountainous areas, many people believe in the words of fortune tellers.

Of course, this is mostly the case for people who are unhappy with their lives. Sometimes, it's just for psychological comfort. Even decades later, in an era of scientific advancement and college students as common as dogs, there will still be quite a few people who believe in this.

On the streets and alleys, you can often see women stretching out their hands for people to read their palms.

Even Zhou Jingming himself has been persuaded to have his fortune told.

He knew Bai Zhishun after he came out of the labor camp and went to the northern Xinjiang to pan for gold. He was recruited by the gold boss and was put in charge of exploration. Bai Zhishun was also at the gold boss's mine.

At that time, Bai Zhishun had been working in the Gold Rush Valley for five years. He had been robbed, assaulted, and cheated. In short, he had been panning for gold every year for five years, but he was broke every year at the end of the year. He had never been back to his hometown until he worked under Boss Jin and finally settled down.

Over time, he became quite familiar with Zhou Jingming.

Despite being a hunchback, he was very strong. He worked as a stone crusher in the mine, and even though he coughed every day from the dust, he never complained.

Seeing that he was honest, Zhou Jingming mentioned it to Boss Jin, who then transferred him to a slightly easier job as a material handler and gave him a raise.

It was such a small matter, but Bai Zhishun specially took time off to catch snakes, remove some gallbladders, and make a bottle of gallbladder wine to send to Zhou Jingming. He said that no one had ever been so kind to him before, and that Zhou Jingming was his benefactor.

Actually, Zhou Jingming just thought he had a kind of honest and stubborn streak and couldn't stand others bullying him, so he casually said something to help.

Later, Zhou Jingming made a fortune working for Boss Jin and started his own business. Bai Zhishun also chose to follow him and was very loyal.

During a fight when others came to take his territory, Bai Zhishun once shielded him from a knife, and it was on that occasion that he was killed.

For Zhou Jingming, the hunchback was his greatest benefactor and the person he especially wanted to find after his rebirth.

The saying "a debt of gratitude from a past life must be repaid in this life" might be just empty words for others, but for Zhou Jingming, it can now become a reality, and regrets can be made up for.

Even if he was a gold prospector who only knew how to do manual labor and wasn't very bright.

In this life, Zhou Jingming hopes to be the true benefactor in his life, so that he can be less humiliated, earn money, live in a big house, get married, have children, and have a comfortable home.

This was a thought that Bai Zhishun had shared with him in his past life. That's why Zhou Jingming, upon unexpectedly seeing him, thought of bringing him to his side, in the way he believed in, which was also the simplest way, even though it was a bit mystical.

Next, we headed towards the small peninsula in the fork in the valley, without any delays along the way.

As evening approached, Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang led the group back to the small peninsula, where they saw Peng Yuanchao leading Xu Youliang and others to set up a chute on the riverbank.

The chutes that were previously made of rough wooden planks were moved to the side of the dugout and left aside. What they replaced them with better-made and more durable iron chutes that they got from Old Tang.

The only one who didn't help was Sun Chenggui, whose thigh had been shoveled open. The wound had scabbed over, but doing heavy work could easily tear it open, so he needed to rest for a few more days.

Seeing Zhou Jingming return with a group of people, Peng Yuanchao dropped his work and excitedly rushed from the small peninsula to greet him at the edge of the dugout: "I was thinking you should come back soon these next couple of days. Everyone's mostly recovered, so I asked them to set up the chute and move the water pump over. We wanted to give it a try, but none of us know how to use a water pump..."

Zhou Jingming surveyed the camp, his gaze finally settling on Peng Yuanchao: "I know how to use a diesel engine... You look radiant, so things should be alright in the camp while Wu Yang and I were away!"

Peng Yuanchao said with a grin, "Don't even mention it. We've been on tenterhooks these past two days, worried that something might happen. We haven't dared to go anywhere. We even have people on watch at night. If we hear any noise, we immediately bring out our three hunting rifles. There really was a group that came in. They saw that we were outnumbered and came to our area to try and take over our territory, but as soon as they saw us bring out our three guns, they ran away!"

Zhou Jingming looked at him with disbelief: "Really? You're not just making this up for me, are you? Where did the team go?"

Peng Yuanchao pointed outside the valley: "They went outwards, but I don't know where they went. You can ask them if you don't believe me!"

Zhou Jingming looked at the others who had followed him, his gaze finally settling on Sun Chenggui, who was sitting on the wooden stump: "Really?"

Sun Chenggui nodded: "Really!"

Zhou Jingming patted Peng Yuanchao on the shoulder: "Well done... So many grown men have come, quickly arrange for some people to have a good meal. I also want to eat, I've been eating baked buns for days, my mouth is getting sour. If you have anything to say, say it at the dinner table."

"it is good!"

Peng Yuanchao turned around and assigned the task to Xu Youliang, instructing him to cook the half-eaten roe deer meat and prepare more rice.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang returned their luggage to the middle tent, then came out and arranged for the newly recruited group of people to be placed in the left tent.

Although the tent was set up, there was nothing inside.

Since we have some time now, let everyone go and chop wood to build their own beds.

Taking advantage of the break, Zhou Jingming called Wu Yang, took the gold dipper, and went to the river. They poured the refined sand they had collected in the canned jars over the past few days into the gold dipper, and then dug in the river again. The two of them then squatted by the river and carefully selected the gold.

Having nothing better to do, Peng Yuanchao leaned over and glanced at it: "How come there's so much gold?"

Zhou Jingming didn't hide it from him: "We went out to check the situation and dredged the river."

Wu Yang smiled at Peng Yuanchao: "This trip with Brother Zhou has really shown me how capable he is. If he were to go gold panning by himself, his daily harvest would be several times that of the camp. He can find those small gold mines that no one else has ever noticed."

Peng Yuanchao said with envy, "Brother Zhou, if you have the chance to go out again next time, please invite me along!"

Zhou Jingming glanced at him: "You'd better just lead your team properly... By the way, lend me the scales and magnet later! You don't need to stay here guarding, you have no share of this gold, go do what you're supposed to do."

Peng Yuanchao pursed his lips, turned around and left.

Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang spent a lot of time picking out the gold from the refined sand. When they couldn't pick it out anymore, Zhou Jingming collected the remaining refined sand and put it into the glucose drip bottle that had previously stored the refined sand.

Afterwards, the two went to the dugout together, lit the fire in the earthen stove to dry the moisture in the gold, and then used a magnet to attract the impurities and blow away the dust. They weighed it with a small balance and it weighed 103 grams.

In addition, Zhou Jingming weighed the bran gold he got from the two Russians; it weighed 224 grams.

Zhou Jingming looked at Wu Yang: "Brother, how do you think it's appropriate to divide this gold?"

He felt that Wu Yang should have thought about this matter and wanted to hear his opinion, so as not to have any misunderstandings when it came time to score points.

Dividing the gold was actually the most difficult thing. Deep down, everyone wanted a bigger share. If what was said didn't satisfy the other party, it was easy to cause conflict. So he simply threw the problem to Wu Yang, which was also a small test.

Wu Yang was also somewhat embarrassed: "Brother Zhou, you decide how to divide it!"

He's essentially throwing the problem back at us.

Zhou Jingming insisted, "You should tell us your thoughts. We'll do it your way this time."

Wu Yang thought for a moment and said, "Brother Zhou, let's give you 70% and me 30%! If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have found so much gold along the way. And those two Russians, if you hadn't reminded them to keep their guns close, given how fiercely they attacked us, we might have been the ones who got hurt. You should get the majority."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony with you!"

Zhou Jingming urgently needed to accumulate gold, so he nodded slightly: "Alright, this gold weighs a total of 327 grams. I'll give you 127 grams, and I'll keep the remaining 200 grams!"

Wu Yang's intention to take a smaller share, allowing Zhou Jingming to take the lion's share, demonstrates his thoughtfulness. However, Zhou Jingming also doesn't want Wu Yang to receive too little.

Wu Yang was slightly taken aback: "Brother Zhou, isn't this too much for me?"

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "If it weren't for you being with me, I wouldn't have taken the risk of guerrilla warfare to pan for gold. Just don't think it's too little. Let's be frank."

Wu Yang nodded slightly: "Then... alright!"

That's it.

　Chapter 3 is here today!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)