My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 26 Amazing!

Gold can never be completely panned out. Even if the same mine has been panned several times, gold can still be found.

Melting snow or heavy rain in the mountains can easily cause flooding. As a result, as long as the gold deposits at the source are not completely mined out, there will always be gold dust scattered by the weathering and carried by the rapids, accumulating in the bends or gentle slopes of the river.

Therefore, you can always find gold in the same place, it's just a matter of how much.

Zhou Jingming led Peng Yuanchao along the riverbed, which was overgrown with weeds on both sides, for about ten miles.

Along the way, the winding river divides the edge of the mountains into a series of jagged peninsulas.

Zhou Jingming stopped on an inconspicuous peninsula with a small patch of birch trees. He was very glad that the rich resources hidden beneath this small peninsula in his memory had not yet been discovered.

He pretended to look around for a while, then took the short-handled pickaxe from Peng Yuanchao and tapped it on a few pebbles, making a clanging sound. He turned back to Peng Yuanchao and grinned, "Brother Peng, let's choose this one, it's a rich mine!"

"Bonanza?"

Peng Yuanchao surveyed the small peninsula, where tools had been left behind and there were many pits and bumps, clearly indicating that more than one group of people had examined the sand on this small peninsula.

However, the absence of dugouts on and around the small peninsula suggests that those who arrived there first either did not find gold, or if they did, they were not satisfied with the quality.

This is why Peng Yuanchao became doubtful again: "Brother, are you sure you want to choose this place? Others who have been here probably wouldn't like it."

"That's because they didn't dig deep enough! Do you see the mountain behind? You can clearly see that the place where the trees are growing was a landslide site many years ago, where a large amount of mud and sand buried it."

Zhou Jingming walked around the small peninsula and chose one of the sand pits that had been dug nearly three feet deep: "Dig three feet deeper and you'll see!"

"Okay, it's up to you!"

Peng Yuanchao immediately jumped into the pit, wielding a short-handled pickaxe to dig inside, scooping out the pebbles and mud with his hands and throwing them onto the edge of the pit.

Zhou Jingming calmly chose a smooth pebble by the small pit, sat down, rolled a cigarette, and smoked it by himself.

Dig three feet deeper. Although the ground below is frozen and digging is difficult, the pit is small and it won't take long.

While Zhou Jingming was smoking, Peng Yuanchao had already dug down about a foot deep. He cleared away the larger pebbles and scooped out some mud and sand from the bottom. He was filling a gold bucket with the mud and sand when suddenly voices came from downstream.

Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao stood up and looked downstream.

A group of eight people emerged from the bend in the river on the other side, each carrying large and small bags and pushing a cart full of goods.

Needless to say, people who come to this kind of place are definitely here to pan for gold.

When they saw Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao, they paused for a moment, looked at the two of them for a while, and then continued walking upstream along the riverbank without their heads down, no longer chatting and laughing as before.

In the gold rush, unless you know someone well, you'll be quite wary and won't greet them easily. Sometimes, being too enthusiastic isn't a good thing.

This was Zhou Jingming's first time panning for gold in the valley, and he had never met these people in his previous life. Peng Yuanchao had previously worked in Xihai and knew few people in Altay, so the two of them remained silent.

And just like that, the two sides missed each other.

However, to Zhou Jingming and Peng Yuanchao's surprise, the group stopped on a small peninsula about a hundred meters upstream, put down their luggage, and began to chop firewood, build a stove, and point to their surroundings.

It seems that the small peninsula is the place they chose.

"If I had known, we should have gone to their place!"

Peng Yuanchao said with regret, "They didn't have anyone guarding the spot before, so when we went to reserve it, they couldn't say much."

The purpose of scouting is twofold: first, to find mineral veins, and second, to leave people at the selected locations to guard and secure the positions, preventing newcomers from taking over the territory.

"You're a seasoned gold prospector, don't you think you're overthinking things?"

Zhou Jingming chuckled lightly: "They've already gathered their troops, how could there be no one guarding them? If we get there, it won't be long before someone comes to chase us away!"

Sure enough, not long after, two people quickly came down from the pine forest behind the small peninsula, both carrying hunting rifles, one of them also carrying a wild rabbit.

Upon seeing this, Peng Yuanchao couldn't help but sigh.

Zhou Jingming urged in a low voice, "Don't worry, our place is no worse than theirs... Hurry up and dig!" Peng Yuanchao nodded, poured the mud and sand into the golden bucket outside, and continued to dig down.

After working for about half an hour, they finally dug down to a depth of three feet, just as Zhou Jingming had instructed.

Zhou Jingming kept staring at the mud and sand where Peng Yuanchao had fallen to the side, occasionally shoveling it away, until he saw a tiny grain of gold in the fine sand with a magnifying glass. Only then did he speak up: "The depth is enough!"

Peng Yuanchao let out a long breath, filled a golden bucket with some mud and sand from the bottom of the pit, and then climbed out of the pit himself.

Seeing that Zhou Jingming was about to wash the water, he quickly took the golden bucket from him and said, "Let me do it. The river water is cold, don't get your hands wet!"

Zhou Jingming knew that Peng Yuanchao was eager to know if there was really gold, and that he would feel more at ease if he could pan for it himself, so he agreed to let him.

He carried the golden bucket to the riverbank, squatted down on a rock in the shallow water, submerged the golden bucket in the river and shook it, and the mud inside the golden bucket was washed away by the water.

After rinsing the gravel inside the gold bucket, pulling it out, and shaking it again, only a small clump of black sand remained at the bottom of the gold bucket.

Peng Yuanchao gently brushed away the black sand, turned his head and grinned at Zhou Jingming, full of excitement: "Amazing, brother, you're truly amazing! This time I'm really convinced, completely convinced!"

Inside the gold container, there were two small gold grains, each about half the size of a millet seed, and some gold dust at the bottom.

This is just on the surface; there will only be more as you go deeper.

This place is indeed a veritable goldmine.

Zhou Jingming chuckled: "Calm down, don't act like you've never seen gold before... There are people watching from afar!"

Peng Yuanchao understood and quickly suppressed the smile on his face.

Zhou Jingming then said, "Let me ask you, is it worth it for me to get three grams of gold dust, just like you?"

Peng Yuanchao nodded repeatedly: "Worth it, absolutely worth it!"

Zhou Jingming looked at him calmly: "Since you think it's worth it, I hope that in the future, especially when it comes to dividing the gold, you won't pull any tricks... Let me be frank, Xu Youliang isn't a novice. He used to be with you, right?"

Peng Yuanchao seemed somewhat surprised: "How...how did you figure that out?"

“You always seem to glance at him more than once when you talk and do things, so I noticed that he has calluses on his palms from constantly shaking the water clock…”

Besides, I don't believe you can lead a team all by yourself without anyone to help you.

Even a seasoned customer can't be easily intimidated by a few harsh words. When it comes to money, even a novice can do things you can't imagine or even control.

Each gold-mining team typically consists of two or three experienced individuals leading a group; this ensures sufficient discipline and is the normal practice.

Zhou Jingming put it bluntly: "I hope we can have a good start, a good process, and an ending where everyone benefits, rather than a bunch of infighting and scheming."

Peng Yuanchao raised his head and looked at Zhou Jingming solemnly: "Then can you tell me about Wuyang?"

"He is indeed a gold panning novice. I met him on the road. He is more capable than you think. He can play a big role at crucial moments. Even two grams of gold is worth a fortune."

Wu Yang's exceptional skills are indeed a powerful trump card, but Zhou Jingming doesn't want to reveal them yet, feeling it's better to keep them hidden.

Peng Yuanchao grinned, clearly not too satisfied with Zhou Jingming's words that he had been holding back.

But after thinking for a moment, he sat down next to Zhou Jingming and handed him a Red Lotus cigarette: "When we were in the West Sea, Xu Youliang went to pan for gold for the first time and was in the same team as me. Once, when we went out to pick wild vegetables, we were surrounded by a pack of wolves. I found him and rescued him."

I'm here to build a team, so I asked him to help me. The reason I had him pretend to be a newbie is mainly so that he can blend in with the newbies and keep an eye out for any disloyal members...

Now that we've brought this up, I still hope you can keep it a secret. It will serve some purpose. I won't ask about Wu Yang's affairs.

Like you said, I hope we both have a good outcome.

His words were fairly honest.

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

　　
　
(End of this chapter)