My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 54 contains at least 70% water.
Peng Yuanchao couldn't understand why Zhou Jingming had agreed to Lao Tang's request.

However, he believed that Zhou Jingming had his reasons for doing so.

Over the course of their time together, he discovered that Zhou Jingming was more thoughtful than him in many ways.

Seeing Zhou Jingming nod, Old Tang's face was full of smiles. He busied himself taking out cigarettes from his pocket, handing one to each of the four men, and even took out a lighter to help them light them, appearing very attentive.

Looking at the cigarette packs Old Tang put into his pocket and the cigarettes in his own hand, Zhou Jingming raised an eyebrow: "Old Tang, you're smoking Da Zhong Jiu, you've got money!"

Old Tang waved his hand and said casually, "I bought these as gifts before, and I still have a few left. I thought they would be useful if I brought them over, so I did."

Zhou Jingming smiled and said, "That's true... You just said you wanted to buy some meat to try, so it's not appropriate to sell it to you. We brothers are also short of meat. If you don't mind, you can stay and have a taste!"

Old Tang looked delighted: "Thank you...then I won't be polite!"

Seeing that the rice was almost cooked, Zhou Jingming simply asked Wu Yang to call everyone over, so that they could eat ahead of schedule.

With guests come wine and meat, and everyone enjoyed the meal, even finishing the soup.

Old Tang distributed another round of Da Chong Jiu to everyone before tentatively asking Peng Yuanchao, the foreman, "May I visit your mine and learn something?"

Peng Yuanchao, who was already wary of Lao Tang and his companion's arrival, frowned and said, "This is taboo, isn't it inappropriate?"

He hadn't said much during the meal, but now, hearing Old Tang's increasingly aggressive words, he felt even more uncomfortable, and his expression turned unfriendly.

Upon hearing this, Old Tang smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't know the rules and offended you."

Zhou Jingming lightly flicked the ash from his cigarette and said, "Actually, there's nothing you can't see. If you want to see it, I'll take you!"

Old Tang glanced at Peng Yuanchao, then shook his head repeatedly at Zhou Jingming: "No, no... We've already eaten and drunk, so I won't bother you any longer. Brother, when are you going to come and help me with the feng shui?"

Zhou Jingming thought for a moment: "We don't have enough time today. How about we come early tomorrow morning? That way, we'll have more time!"

"Then tomorrow morning, I'll have someone prepare wine and meat for you!"

"it is good!"

Once the matter was settled, Old Tang called Zhang the Dwarf and crawled out of the dugout. Before they even got out, Jin Wang, who was guarding the dugout, started barking fiercely again, scaring the two of them so much that they dared not go out rashly for fear of being bitten, and they retreated back inside.

Old Tang exclaimed in a panic, "That dog is really vicious!"

"Okay!"

As Zhou Jingming spoke, he crawled out of the dugout and hugged Jin Wang, saying, "You can come out now!"

The two then emerged from the passage.

Even when Zhou Jingming was holding him, Jin Wang only barked fiercely when Lao Tang passed by. But as soon as Zhang Aizi came out, he immediately started to leap up and bark wildly at Zhang Aizi. Zhou Jingming almost lost his grip on him.

Zhou Jingming only released Jinwang after the two had walked far away. Even so, Jinwang chased after them for a while, barking in the direction they had left. It only turned back when it could no longer see them.

It must have been because Zhang the Dwarf scared it when the two of them came over.

Jin Wang is clearly holding a grudge.

Standing at the entrance of the dugout, Peng Yuanchao finally turned to Zhou Jingming and said, "Brother, I have something to tell you!"

After he finished speaking, he turned and walked towards the small peninsula.

Zhou Jingming smiled slightly as he watched Peng Yuanchao's retreating figure. He took the Da Zhong Jiu earring off his ear, put it in his mouth, lit it with a match, bent down and rubbed Jin Wang beside him before following Peng Yuanchao.

Peng Yuanchao walked all the way to the riverbank at the very edge of the small peninsula, sat down on a large pebble, and waited until Zhou Jingming led the dog to the side before asking, "Brother, what do you mean by this?"

Zhou Jingming sat down beside him, looking at Peng Yuanchao with a strange expression: "What do you mean by that?"

Peng Yuanchao glared at him: "Don't play dumb with me? You really trust this guy surnamed Tang so much?"

Zhou Jingming laughed: "You want to know why I agreed to find Jin Miao with Lao Tang, and also why Lao Tang wanted to go up to the small peninsula to check the situation, even though you disagreed. So why did I go against you?"

Peng Yuanchao turned to look at the riverbank where Lao Tang and the others were: "I know you have your reasons for doing things, so I didn't say much. Now, it's not too late to talk to me about it!"

Zhou Jingming nodded.

He handed the half-burnt Da Zhong Jiu cigarette to Peng Yuanchao: "Look at this cigarette!" Peng Yuanchao was a little puzzled: "What's so interesting about this?"

"This is good cigarette... These days, you can't just go to a supply and marketing cooperative or a department store and pick out any cigarette you want; you need a ration coupon!"
In the city, the section on cigarettes was always the most closely watched in every household's grocery ration book.

I once heard a friend say that his father spent half a month trying to get close to a salesperson at the supply and marketing cooperative in order to buy a bag of Da Zhong Jiu cigarettes.

This shows how difficult it is to get your hands on these things, let alone buy them one by one.

What Zhou Jingming said seemed to have nothing to do with what Peng Yuanchao wanted to ask.

Peng Yuanchao thought Zhou Jingming had his eye on the cigarettes: "Want to smoke good cigarettes... that's easy. As long as you find gold and leave the mountains safely, I'll buy you a carton."

Zhou Jingming shook his head: "That's not what I meant!"

Peng Yuanchao was even more puzzled: "Then what do you mean?"

Zhou Jingming, however, continued to evade the question: "Cigarettes are like dialects; each place has its own unique flavor."

Northeasterners are convinced that ginseng cigarettes can replenish qi; business owners in southern Guangdong must have Double Happiness cigarettes, which are indispensable for weddings and funerals; and the unique aroma of charred liquor that wafts through the hutongs of Beijing is always that of Zhongnanhai.

In North China, Daqianmen, Mudan, and Evergrande each dominate the market.
In the southwest region, Hongmei, Shancheng, and Huangguoshu each have their own unique charm;

In East China, Liqun, Nanjing, and Double Happiness form a strong triangle.

What people remember most are the signature dishes from Yunnan.

These days, anyone who can get their hands on a hard pack of Hongtashan cigarettes is definitely a big shot in social circles; smoking one makes you look incredibly cool.

Ashima's cigarette boxes are printed with images of Yi girls, and the wrapping paper is really beautiful.

But all of these pale in comparison to Old Tang's 1982 version of "The Great Chongjiu."

As a heavy smoker in his previous life, Zhou Jingming knew these things like the back of his hand and was extremely familiar with them.

He still remembers that the gold-plated phoenix on Phoenix cigarettes was dazzling, and the simple ink painting of camellias looked high-class.

By 1990, many young people liked to take apart the tin foil packaging from Hongtashan cigarettes and use it as a mirror, tossing their heads to see how flashy their hairstyles were.

In his past life, he once went to a flea market to look for things and saw someone selling well-preserved Ashima cigarette labels. The stall owner asked for 800 yuan. Right there at the stall, he also heard a collector of cigarette labels say that the 1982 version of the Da Zhong Jiu cigarette label could be exchanged for a mobile phone.

On another occasion, when Zhou Jingming was traveling in Beijing, he saw a complete set of cigarette labels from the 1980s while strolling around Panjiayuan. The five zeros following the price tag made him feel incredulous.

I asked the stall owner and learned that in the cigarette label collecting circle, the 1990s Hongtashan white box with the original factory cellophane is even harder to find than Moutai. Those trial version labels are the best items at auctions, and the 1982 Da Zhong Jiu cigarette box in perfect condition can fetch astronomical prices.

Zhou Jingming wasn't interested in collecting cigarette labels and boxes, but various rumors spoke of the extraordinary nature of Da Zhong Jiu.

Peng Yuanchao was getting impatient: "I'm trying to talk to you about something, and you're talking to me about cigarettes. What exactly are you trying to say?"

Zhou Jingming flicked the cigarette butt in his hand into the river: "Old Tang said that the Da Zhong Jiu cigarettes he smoked were leftovers from giving away. Regardless of whether it's true or not, the fact that he could still bring a few packs into the mountains is enough to show that Old Tang is not as poor as he claims."

This isn't a good cigarette that just anyone can afford.

If he were truly as destitute as he claims, and such good cigarettes were not easily obtained by others and could fetch a high price, he probably would have sold them for money long ago.

His ability to establish joint venture factories and avoid imprisonment through connections is truly remarkable.

Furthermore, when it comes to first-time gold panning in the mountains, it's possible to gather more than twenty people and carry diesel engines into the mountains to pump water. People without sufficient funds wouldn't do that.

Such well-funded gold rush leaders are rare in the Gold Rush Valley.

I want to tell you that I know at least 70% of what he said was fabricated, and I also know that whether it was him having Zhang the Dwarf spy behind the dugout or his visit this time, he had ulterior motives.

Peng Yuanchao picked up a pebble and threw it into the river, then suddenly stood up: "Since you knew that, why did you still agree to it?"

His words carried a hint of annoyance.

　I'm eagerly awaiting your reading of the new book...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)