My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 88 Improvisation
When the two men got a little closer, Zhou Jingming shone his flashlight on them again and saw that they were carrying large bags and that he didn't see any guns on them, so he was slightly relieved.

Wu Yang, however, looked grave and reached out to touch Zhou Jingming: "Brother Zhou, it's Russians, could they be cross-border spies? They speak such fluent Chinese, with a local accent..."

Indeed, the two men who arrived were tall and robust, with high noses, deep-set eyes, and curly hair—the typical features of Russians.

Zhou Jingming understood Wu Yang's feelings.

Back when he first started working at the Wucheng Geological Team, his first reaction upon seeing the Russians was similar to Wu Yang's—he was full of suspicion.

There's some truth to this thinking.

It should be noted that since the late 1950s, due to various complex reasons, the relationship between the two sides gradually deteriorated and finally broke down completely in the early 1960s, and they have maintained a hostile attitude towards each other ever since.

By the 1980s, this hostile situation had eased somewhat, but it would still be several years before it was completely resolved.

Perhaps the younger generation will think that Wu Yang's idea is silly and ridiculous.

However, one cannot think about anything without considering the context of the time. For example, most boys and girls in this era grow up crawling and rolling in the mud, but in later generations, such children will only be considered dirty.

The living environment is different now.

The Haiertes River originates from the snow-capped mountains on the border, and the gold panning spots are also located in the deep mountain valleys near the border.

The younger generation who grew up in this era know a lot about things: Zhenbao Island, Tielieke, the deployment of a million troops on the Mongolian border, and the frequent news reports and radio broadcasts about the relationship between the two sides. In addition, they have received education from a young age, and there are even folk songs about Zhenbao Island.

It's not surprising that Wu Yang immediately thought of spies when he saw someone who looked like a Russian.

Zhou Jingming asked in a low voice, "Have you ever seen any Russians in Northeast China?"

"I've only seen him once, and only one person. Once, while on a mission, I passed through a fishing village on the banks of the Ussuri River and saw a local Russian fisherman fishing."

"It's not just in Heilongjiang that there are Russians; in the Northwest, in places like Wucheng, Altay, Yili, and Tacheng, there are also Russians living there, and their population should be even larger than that in Heilongjiang."

People from other places travel thousands of miles to pan for gold, and the locals are naturally not going to be unmoved by the gold. Many locals still go into the mountains to pan for gold.

They are more familiar with the mountains and valleys here than outsiders, and they have the advantage of favorable timing, location, and human resources.

Like the gold prospectors who control the upstream zipline, they're actually locals, the local bullies.

"Oh……"

Wu Yang roughly understood what was going on.

Zhou Jingming then asked, "Do you recognize these two people?"

Wu Yang shook his head: "No!"

Zhou Jingming smiled slightly: "I remember seeing them at a mining site. While others were working, they weren't. It must have been the foreman... Never let go of your gun!"

As they traveled upstream into the valley, Wu Yang focused more on digging out the high-gold-content silt when they found the small gold mine, while Zhou Jingming was in charge of sifting and washing the silt, paying more attention to observing the gold panning teams.

There weren't many Russians in the gold rush team, which is why Zhou Jingming was so impressed by them.

Thinking back carefully, it must have been in that section of the river where the bitter willow trees had fallen on the riverbank that the two people walking towards us were from the gold panning team on the other side.

When Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang were panning for gold, someone went to their dugout to inform them of the situation, and they crawled out to take a look from a distance.

Wu Yang understood the meaning behind Zhou Jingming's words.

They came from upstream, and these two people also came from upstream.

The two of them worked like guerrillas, searching for small gold mines on the opposite bank of the river from the gold-digging teams, which was visible to many people.

That means the two of them likely followed them all the way out.

Of course, it's also possible that they were just passing by and saw the firelight, which led them to this location.

Regardless, it's hard to rule out the possibility that they actually stole the gold; what they said from the start was already untrue.

Gold prospectors who operate on a guerrilla-style basis are often outnumbered and vulnerable, making them easy targets for others.

While Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang were talking in hushed tones, the two men had already reached the fire. After exchanging greetings, they sat down by the fire on their own.

Zhou Jingming subtly observed the two men for a few moments, becoming increasingly certain. While remaining vigilant, he casually added some firewood to the fire, stirred it a few times, and then let it blaze brightly.

“We brewed brick tea when we ate dinner tonight, and there’s still a lot of tea left. It’s been sitting for a while and it’s gotten cold. Please wait a moment, I’ll heat it up for you.”

Zhou Jingming moved three stones around the fire and placed the antimony basin for brewing tea over the fire.

Even while doing these things, he held the Eagle Rabbit brand double-barreled shotgun in his arms.

"Thank you!"

The older Russians were quite polite: "We brought a basin to boil water when we went into the mountains, but we didn't tie it properly and it fell into the river when we were crossing it. It was swept away by the water. We haven't been able to drink any hot water for the past two days. The water in this river is also murky, and drinking too much raw water here can easily cause echinococcosis. We can only endure it."

Echinococcosis is a common zoonotic parasitic disease prevalent in pastoral areas, with high incidence rates in northern Xinjiang, Xihai, and Ganzhou. It's so difficult to cure that it's almost like cancer.

In the early stages, there are no symptoms. Once it develops, symptoms such as dull chest pain, stabbing pain, chest tightness, cough, and hemoptysis often occur. The incubation period can be as long as 20 to 30 years, making it a very troublesome disease.

These deep valleys are gold mines for gold prospectors and summer pastures for herders. Wherever you go, there is cow and sheep dung everywhere, and the murky river water is full of parasites. Unless there is no other way, it is best not to drink the raw water.

Zhou Jingming knew they were making things up, but he pretended not to know and just chatted casually: "I see you came down from upstream, have you found a mining site?"

"We found a mining site with decent grades. We are quite familiar with this route, so we traveled overnight to get back as soon as possible and lead the team into the mountains."

"I see... no wonder we're still on the move at this hour."

While waiting for the tea to heat up, the four chatted briefly. Two of them told the others that they were both from Wucheng, brothers, and their wives were Han Chinese, who were also sisters. Their ancestors were White Russians who fled to the Northwest during the October Revolution. Over the decades and generations, they had become true Chinese citizens.

Their Russian names were all very long, so long that even Zhou Jingming couldn't remember them, let alone Wu Yang. The two didn't mind and let Zhou Jingming call them Ivan and Igor.

During their conversation, the two men also inquired about Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang's backgrounds.

Zhou Jingming only said that he was fighting as a guerrilla in the river valley and was constantly on the move.

During this casual chat, everything seemed quite ordinary.

After drinking hot tea, the two picked up their luggage and said they had to continue their journey.

If the two of them just leave like that, then all will be well.

However, when the two got up, Zhou Jingming noticed the exchange of glances between them for a fleeting moment.

Just as the two men took two steps, they suddenly threw the large bags they were carrying at Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang, and then lifted their clothes to reach for their waists.

However, they clearly underestimated Zhou Jingming and Wu Yang's vigilance. When they saw the large bag coming at them, they jumped aside in a flash. The double-barreled shotguns they had been holding spewed fire, and the bangs of gunfire echoed through the valley at night.

Wu Yang was attacking a man who called himself Ivan. He didn't hold back at all; the deer bullets sprayed all over Ivan's right cheek the moment Ivan turned around.

As he fell, the thing he was holding also fell to the ground—a pistol.

Zhou Jingming was shooting at Igor, and he didn't hold back. However, he wasn't as agile as Wu Yang, and he was a little slow when he fired. He only fired when Igor turned around and pointed at him, and the deer bullet blasted Igor's neck into a bloody mess.

Igor stared at Zhou Jingming in disbelief, took two steps back, and then fell backward, still clutching a pistol tightly in his hand. His legs were kicking and thrashing, as if he had injured his trachea, and a gurgling sound came from his throat.

Wu Yang followed closely, stepped on the man's right wrist where he was holding the gun, and then smashed it down with the butt of the gun, instantly silencing him.

"Phew... Brother Zhou, you were right, those two are really no good!"

Wu Yang looked at the two men on the ground and said, "Tell me, why did they have to get so close to each other to do something like this? Wouldn't it be more covert and catch them off guard if they ambushed from a distance?"

Zhou Jingming retorted, "You're a gun enthusiast too, do I need to explain that?"

After a pause, Zhou Jingming continued, "They thought we didn't know them, so they deliberately came closer and told us lies. They were trying to find out what was going on and also to make us lower our guard so they could suddenly attack... It's easy to be spotted during the day, so they can't get close. At night, it's dark, and it's hard to hit them from a distance. Their methods are quite sophisticated, especially considering they were using pistols. If I hadn't remembered seeing them upstream, I might have fallen for their trick."

As he spoke, he picked up Igor's pistol, thinking that it was small and a good thing to carry around.

Wu Yang also picked up Ivan's gun: "Heh... a Marauder's gun!"

Zhou Jingming didn't know much about handguns, but when he heard Wu Yang casually mention the name of a handgun, he smiled and asked, "You know this gun!"

"This gun is quite famous. It's a foreign product. I remember it was said to have some kind of one-handed system, which allows the user to chamber a bullet by pulling the front of the trigger guard connected to the slide with the force of one finger."

Do you know the Type 77 pistol? It's a copy of this gun, and it was the sidearm of high-ranking officials.

However, this single-handed cocking pistol is not practical.

The Type 77 pistol experienced a serious accident during accuracy testing. During firing, before the slide had fully returned to its original position, the firing pin and sear slipped and detonated a cartridge that hadn't fully chambered. The cartridge case exploded outside the chamber, a very dangerous incident.

Wu Yang leaned closer and glanced at the pistol in Zhou Jingming's hand: "This Mauser pistol is not as good as the Type 54 pistol in your hand. That is a simplified version of the Browning, with far greater power than other pistols. It's just that it is not as convenient to use as the Mauser pistol, and it does not have a manual safety, so its safety is relatively poor."

Zhou Jingming didn't understand any of this, but he just thought the Ma Pai pistol that Wu Yang had mentioned looked better, so he immediately took the gun: "I still want this one, you can have this Type 54!"

Wu Yang didn't care. He took the gunman's bag, casually put it in his pocket, and then quickly took the two men's bags. He opened them and found that they actually contained some furs: fox fur, wolf fur, and rabbit fur. In addition, he found an oil paper package in Igor's bag. It was quite heavy. He opened it and found that it contained some gold: "Brother Zhou, look at this!"

At this moment, Zhou Jingming was searching Ivan and Igor. In addition to finding the gun holsters tied around their waists and a few 100-yuan bills, he also found a note: "Trade at the usual place."

Hearing Wu Yang call out, he went over, took the bag of gold, weighed it briefly, and found it to be about four ounces. He handed the note to Wu Yang: "They left the Gold Rush Valley, probably to sell gold. They weren't specifically following us. They probably just saw the fire and decided to do it on a whim."

The person is dead, so the old place written on it is unknown, and even if we knew it, it wouldn't be of any use.

When Wu Yang returned the note, Zhou Jingming casually burned it in the fire, then dragged the body towards the river.

　I'm asking for your monthly votes, let's see if I can get into the top ten of the monthly vote new book chart!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)