My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 13 Banditry

Disappeared?
There's never a reason for nothing.

Since they were talking about gold mining, Zhou Jingming guessed it was related to gold mining.

Seeing Wu Yang take out a cigarette, Zhou Jingming signaled for him to stop in advance, and said in a low voice: "Gold prospectors and locals all smoke Hongxuelian cigarettes or hand-rolled Mohe cigarettes from local tobacco factories. Mohe cigarettes are stronger and more refreshing to smoke. They can also keep mosquitoes away when you're out. Cigarettes brought from the mainland are only smoked when no one is around. It's the same as speaking Mandarin here. You have to act like you're a seasoned pro."

You're skilled, but as the old saying goes, it's easy to dodge a spear in the open but hard to guard against an arrow in the dark. Don't become someone else's target... smoke this..."

Zhou Jingming took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took out a piece of tobacco from the cigarette paper, and handed it to Wu Yang.

Wu Yang stuffed his cigarettes back into his pocket, took the Mohe cigarette that Zhou Jingming handed him, looked at it, and tried to roll one himself, only to find that his hands were incredibly clumsy.

Zhou Jingming noticed this as well and laughed: "First, wrap the cigarette along the narrow edge of the cigarette paper. Hold one end down with your left hand, and use your right thumb, index finger, and middle finger to protect the middle part of the cigarette. Pinch the bottom of the cigarette paper with your left hand and rub it clockwise with your index finger and thumb. The cigarette will then be wrapped tighter and tighter under the restraint of your right hand..."

"You need to be careful to control the thickness of the cigarette. If it's too thick, the paper won't be able to hold the tobacco particles and it will fall apart. If it's too thin, the paper flavor will be too strong. Make sure the cigarette is of uniform thickness and don't roll it into a big cannon shape that's thick at one end and thin at the other..."

As he spoke, he demonstrated, quickly rolling the tobacco into shape in his hand, then licking it with his tongue to stick the tobacco paper to the paper.

"It looks pretty simple!"

Wu Yang also started to try rolling it up, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it right. He was a little embarrassed: "My brain knows how, but my hands don't!"

"Take your time. With time and practice, you'll get the hang of it!"

Zhou Jingming rolled one for him and told him to lick his saliva and stick it on himself.

Wu Yang lit a cigarette, took a puff, and said with delight, "It's really strong... but I'm still not used to the taste."

Zhou Jingming added, "That's not important, the key is that it's cheap!"

Wu Yang nodded and continued the previous topic: "Several people from our area have come out to pan for gold. Some went to the Northeast, some to the Western Sea, and some to the Northern Frontier."

The one I'm talking about who disappeared was someone who came to Altay in northern Xinjiang to pan for gold.

He had been away for three years. For the first two years, he would return to his hometown of Longshan at the end of October and then come back to Altan in May of the following year.

He was very low-key. Seeing him come to northern Xinjiang time and time again, the villagers deduced that he must have made money. However, his food, clothing and daily necessities remained at the same level as before. He would only buy a pig to slaughter when it was close to the New Year. The villagers began to guess that he had only made a little money.

Last August, he suddenly returned. Some people saw him enter the village, but before his relatives and friends could come to greet him, he and his whole family disappeared overnight.

Without any formal farewell, what is the purpose of silently disappearing without a trace?
Then some people said that he made a lot of money in northern Xinjiang and took his family to continue panning for gold. Others said that he found a nugget of gold here and had to move his whole family because he was afraid of being targeted.

Although stories of getting rich quick through gold mining are mostly just rumors, just a few days after the New Year this year, I heard that several people had also started leaving the village to pan for gold. I was currently clueless about business and didn't know anything about running a company, so after thinking it over, I decided to come out and try my luck.

Zhou Jingming smiled slightly. He had experienced something similar in his previous life.

He simply said, "Gold panning is dangerous; you can't bring your family along, at least not right now!"

Wu Yang took a drag of his cigarette, tilted his head to the side, and exhaled a long breath: "I got off the train in Wucheng, and I roughly sensed it along the way."

Zhou Jingming took a deep breath and finally extended an invitation: "As you know, when you come out to pan for gold, it's rare to work alone. You all have to find a team to work with. Since we've met by chance, why don't we join the same team together this time? That way, we can look out for each other. What do you think?"

Wu Yang readily agreed: "Okay, you have experience here, and I don't know anything, so you can teach me!" After a pause, he asked again: "By the way, how much gold can you pan for in a year?"

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment, then held up two fingers to Wu Yang: "Earning two 21-inch color TVs is no problem. If things go well, there might be even more."

Upon hearing this answer, Wu Yang was stunned for a moment, then became delighted: "This has potential!"

These days, the price of color TVs generally ranges from several hundred to several thousand yuan. A 14-inch color TV costs about 700 yuan, while a 21-inch color TV costs more than 2,000 yuan. Not to mention in rural areas, even in big cities, very few households can afford a 21-inch color TV.

Two 21-inch color TVs would cost at least four thousand yuan.

Altay region is located at the very northern tip of the rooster's tail on the map of China.

Frost and snow begin to fall around October each year, and the weather quickly becomes extremely cold, lasting until April or May of the following year. Even in May, there is always the possibility of a few more snowfalls.

Due to the severe weather, the real time to make money is only about half a year, which adds up to about seven or eight hundred yuan per month.

In big cities, workers generally earn only thirty or forty yuan a month.

In reality, workers in many small towns earn only around twenty yuan a month.

What does it mean to earn 700 or 800 a month?
Wu Yang overreacted and said, "No wonder the robbers are so arrogant in this godforsaken place. It's definitely worth the money! If things don't go smoothly and we don't get any money to go home for the New Year... Damn it, robbing isn't a bad business!"

Zhou Jingming was taken aback by his words and doubted his awareness: "How could you have such a thought? Were you really an armed police officer before?"

Wu Yang grinned and said, "I just said it offhand!"

"Actually, it's pretty good. I have a good mindset!"

Zhou Jingming was actually quite pleased about this. If Wu Yang were still as rigid and inflexible as he was when he was a member of the armed police, many things would be difficult to handle.

If someone truly possesses such banditry, then they have the most basic qualifications to survive in these deep mountains and forests.

Otherwise, no matter how skilled he is, he's just a reckless hothead who's too easy to get hurt.

Have you found a place to stay?

"I was lucky. I went to find a hostel as soon as I got off the bus, and I found a four-person room with an empty bed, so I checked in."

“You’re definitely luckier than me. I only found a woodshed… Well, we’ve had enough to eat and drink. Let’s go back and rest. We’ll meet here again early tomorrow morning, and I’ll take you to the air rifle stall to find our team!”

"It's settled then. I'll be waiting for you here first thing tomorrow morning! Let's make it clear first, breakfast tomorrow is on me. We'll have mutton again. I feel like this stuff is addictive."

"Okay!"

The two exchanged a few words, left the restaurant together, and went their separate ways home.

Zhou Jingming did not immediately return to the woodshed where he was staying. Instead, he headed northwest of the county town. He had something very important to do: he had to hide the little notebook.

(End of this chapter)