My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 76 You can handle this yourselves.
Cao Qidong clutched the gold and ran twenty miles. He thought he was safe and was excited and joyful that he could have a carefree life tomorrow. But at this moment, all of that excitement was replaced by fear in his heart.

What he had done this time had angered everyone in the team, and he didn't even want to think about what would happen to him when he returned to the dugout.

But before facing that tragic outcome, all we can do is take a breather for as long as possible.

As for escaping, after witnessing Zhou Jingming's marksmanship, he dared not even think about it.

Besides, there are three guns following behind him now.

He didn't think he could outrun them.

"Damn it, they even stole my blanket..."

Wu Yang rolled up the quilt and slung it over his shoulder. He then kicked Cao Qidong hard in the butt, causing him to fall to the ground and get a mouthful of mud.

Cao Qidong grunted, scrambled to his feet, and walked ahead cautiously.

Bored on the way, Zhou Jingming lit a cigarette and casually asked, "You, surnamed Cao, you must have panned for gold before, right?"

Cao Qidong seemed to have wandered off somewhere in his mind and was unresponsive.

Seeing this, Peng Yuanchao kicked him in the butt again: "Are you deaf? Brother Zhou is asking you a question. Have you ever panned for gold before?"

Cao Qidong hesitated for a moment, then said weakly, "I have done it before. I went to Longgang Mountain in Huadian, Northeast China, with someone two years ago and spent half a year there."

Zhou Jingming then asked, "Didn't you go shopping last year?"

"No...no!"

"You must have made a lot of money panning for gold the year before last... You used the same methods to make money, right? I see you're quite good at finding opportunities and very observant. You're very experienced. It's a pity you have such a good brain. In the end, you only managed to cheat the people around you!"

Cao Qidong remained silent.

Zhou Jingming didn't ask any more questions.

Along the way, no one urged them on, because Zhou Jingming and the other two were all quite tired.

It took the three of them almost three hours to cover a distance of about twenty miles.

When they reached the mountainside behind the dugout, Zhou Jingming saw a pile of firewood in front of the dugout, with two people guarding the fire.

Back in familiar territory, Jinwang jogged ahead and arrived at the dugout first.

Upon seeing Jin Wang, the two men by the fire immediately stood up and looked towards the mountains and forests behind them.

When Zhou Jingming and his group came down, everyone was waiting by the dugout.

The people on guard around the campfire were Xu Youliang and a man from Yuzhou who was less seriously injured; both of them had hunting rifles slung over their shoulders.

The moment they saw Cao Qidong, the Luo Yue man and the Yuzhou man whose gold had been stolen immediately pounced on him, one grabbing his collar and the other his hair, demanding to know where the gold was.

Zhou Jingming patted the canvas bag he was carrying: "The gold has been found, and the people are yours to handle. We signed an agreement before entering the mountains, so we'll follow the rules outlined in that agreement."

Brother Peng had already said that the gold confiscated from Beard and his gang would be divided equally among everyone, which meant that we were all robbed.

We left our hometowns and traveled thousands of miles to this place, working ourselves to the bone every day, fighting tooth and nail, all for what?

It's all for gold. To say that gold is blood, sweat, and life itself is no exaggeration. So, you can decide how to handle this yourselves. At the same time, I hope everyone learns from this lesson and that there won't be a second case like this.

After Zhou Jingming finished speaking, he sat down on a wooden stump by the entrance of the dugout and lit a cigarette for himself.

He's been through so much today, it's already past midnight, and he's feeling a bit lethargic.

Wu Yang also sat down next to him, reached out and asked Zhou Jingming for a cigarette, he was too lazy to do it himself.

Peng Yuanchao, who had been holding back his anger, was the first to rush forward, kicking Cao Qidong to the ground and then kicking him harder and harder with each blow.

The two Luo Yue people and the Yuzhou people whose gold had been stolen also rushed forward, followed by the rest of the group. There was one person who didn't join the fray: Sun Chenggui. His legs had been injured in the earlier fight with the bearded men, making it difficult for him to move.

Zhou Jingming watched indifferently as Cao Qidong was beaten by the fire, rolling around in pain as he was punched and kicked.

Perhaps sensing despair, he tried desperately to escape. When he rolled to the fire in front of the dugout, he pulled out a burning piece of firewood, yelled, and waved it wildly, forcing back the crowd that was beating him. Then he ran fiercely towards the river.

Wu Yang jumped to his feet, grabbed his gun, and prepared to help chase after them.

Zhou Jingming didn't move. If a group of people were to fight one person and they were allowed to escape, it would only make them look useless.

Peng Yuanchao grabbed a shovel and chased after him, followed by the others, who stopped him again on the riverbank.

Wu Yang saw Cao Qidong's firewood being knocked away by Peng Yuanchao and then knocked over with a shovel before he sat down to smoke again.

After the two finished their cigarettes, Peng Yuanchao and the others returned from the riverbank where heavy objects had been thrown into the water.

He plopped down beside the fire, panting heavily. Looking at the pile of things next to the dugout, he asked Xu Youliang, "Have you moved everything?"

Xu Youliang nodded: "Everything has been moved. I made several trips, and I didn't miss a single thing."

"It's good that you've finished moving... Have you all eaten?"

"I simply baked a few steamed buns..."

Xu Youliang was quick-witted. Hearing this, he knew that Peng Yuanchao was starving. He hurriedly went into the dugout, took out a few steamed buns that he had specially saved, and put them in the ashes by the fire to bake.

Then he turned around and went back into the dugout, opened a Merlin can, took out the luncheon meat, sliced ​​it, stir-fried it simply, and brought it out, along with a bowl of wine.

Zhou Jingming watched as the steamed buns in the wood ash softened, then pulled one out, brushed off the ash, and started eating it. This attracted Jin Wang, who ran up and squatted down in front of him, his head bobbing up and down as Zhou Jingming stuffed the bun into his mouth.

"Youliang, could you also make some corn porridge?"

Xu Youliang nodded and silently went to cook the porridge.

The three of them sat around the campfire, sharing a steamed bun, a bite of luncheon meat, and a sip of wine to soothe their empty stomachs.

The rest of the people sat around the fire, hardly saying a word.

Zhou Jingming knew what they were waiting for: "It's getting late. Everyone has worked hard today. Take some time to rest. Don't rush to get up early for the next few days. Everyone has suffered some injuries, so take a few days to recuperate."

"The gold has all been recovered, but it's too dark to divide it properly. Let's talk about it tomorrow. Don't worry, Peng and I aren't greedy. You'll get what's rightfully yours."

After hearing his words, everyone looked at each other, and their faces lit up with joy.

Peng Yuanchao added, "Tomorrow, after we've had enough sleep, let's cook the smoked mutton we brought into the mountains, along with some luncheon meat, canned goods, and so on. Let's have a good meal!"

The group grew even happier, and after looking at each other, they crawled into their dugouts, climbed into their own beds, and wrapped themselves in blankets to sleep.

The three of them sat around the campfire to fill their stomachs, and after tidying up a bit, they warmed themselves by the fire for a while longer.

Peng Yuanchao, yawning incessantly, went to sleep first. Only Wu Yang stayed with Zhou Jingming until the corn porridge he had cooked cooled down. After feeding Jin Wang, he said, "Brother Zhou, you should go to sleep. So many things happened today, and so many of Lao Tang's people were scattered. I don't know if anyone is still eyeing our place. We can't let anyone take advantage of us. I'll keep watch tonight!"

In this matter, Zhou Jingming only trusted him, and nodded: "Thank you for your trouble!"

"Don't be so polite with me, I'm good at this, I've done my fair share of night shifts... Besides, I need to rest for a few days, I'll have plenty of time to sleep!"

Zhou Jingming nodded, left the half-pack of Da Zhong Jiu liquor in his pocket to Wu Yang, and crawled into the dugout. Inside, everyone was snoring, and he was too lazy to clean up, so he crawled into the pile of smelly feet.

Before lying down, he began to think that now that there were three more tents, as the weather warmed up and would get hotter, he could finally sleep in the tents.

　Thank you to readers Hei A Niu Ge and ljx73 for their generous donations.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)