My Gold Rush Career Begins in 1984

Chapter 9 Robbers
The sudden braking caught Zhou Jingming off guard, and his head hit the back of the seat in front of him, causing a dull ache. He was no longer sleepy.

He rolled a cigarette and smoked it, rolled down the car window, puffed smoke at the outside, and occasionally glanced at the three people.

It's easy to tell from their tone that they are from inland China. Their clothes are ordinary, and their faces don't show the rough skin that comes from living in northern Xinjiang for a long time and experiencing the harshness of wind, sand, rain, and snow. They probably haven't been in northern Xinjiang for very long.

He guessed that these three were most likely newcomers who had just arrived, perhaps looking for gold or seeking other opportunities.

This is probably why the driver started cursing without any restraint when the car was forced to stop.

However, Zhou Jingming felt that the three of them were somewhat different.

As soon as the three got on the bus, they began to look around and sized up the passengers. The brief exchanges of glances between them made Zhou Jingming feel as if he had seen three hungry wolves.

Yes, it's a hungry wolf.

Those wolves with drooping tails, searching for food at the village entrances and streets, are extremely good at disguising themselves.

From a distance, it looks much like a stray dog ​​on the street, but when it sees people, it immediately lowers its head and runs away or disappears into the bushes, and its scrutinizing gaze is very similar to that of these three people, fierce yet cunning.

It gave Zhou Jingming the feeling that someone might jump out at any moment and try to take a bite out of him; he was wary and felt threatened.

They could also be fugitives or something similar...

One of them looked at Zhou Jingming.

Zhou Jingming glanced at the other person calmly, then casually turned his head to look out the car window. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the person had scanned him several times, as if searching for prey.

The car drove for another twenty minutes or so. The surrounding area was a grassland and Gobi Desert with gentle slopes. Winters in northern Xinjiang are long, and the wild grass had not yet sprouted, so it looked withered and yellow, with more areas covered by ice and snow.

This place is several miles away from the previous Kazakh settlement, and it is a place where there is no sign of human habitation.

Of the three who came up, one of them opened the canvas bag he was carrying and took out something wrapped in brown paper.

Zhou Jingming warily withdrew his gaze and looked at the man, who was leaning against the back of the seat next to him to support his swaying body as he peeled off the brown paper.

Inside were some golden-brown pieces of meat, which were lamb skewers, just not skewered.

The mutton made by people in northern Xinjiang is famous for its delicious taste. It is tender and smooth, without any gamey smell, and it is refreshing to eat without worrying about getting a sore throat or other heatiness.

In his past life, Zhou Jingming often ate this popular snack with beer, and he would also set up a barbecue grill and grill some meat when he had gatherings with friends.

The lean and fatty mutton is cut off, skewered on thin iron skewers, and arranged evenly on the red-hot charcoal. It is constantly turned and grilled, sprinkled with salt, chili powder, and cumin powder. In just a few minutes, it turns golden brown and glossy, and is cooked.

Zhou Jingming was very familiar with this process.

Besides knowing that roasted lamb skewers are delicious, I also know that they smell very fragrant.

Many people in the car were drawn to the roasted lamb, and many looked at the man.

The man picked up a piece with his fingers and stuffed it into his mouth, making loud smacking noises, which made everyone else swallow hard.

Life is tough these days. Not many people can afford to eat meat once every ten days or half a month. Just seeing those roasted lambs that smell so tempting is enough to make anyone crave them.

Seeing the young passenger in the seat in front of him repeatedly turn his head to the side, then look back again, staring at the pieces of meat and swallowing his saliva, the man grinned and handed him the mutton wrapped in brown paper: "Try it!"

The young passenger looked a little embarrassed: "This...isn't this inappropriate?"

The man said nonchalantly, "What's wrong with this... Try it, it's delicious!"

The young passenger hesitated for a moment, then reached out and picked up a piece of roasted mutton with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, stuffing it into his mouth and eating it.

The man then asked, "Is it delicious? Does it smell good?"

The young passenger nodded repeatedly: "Delicious, so fragrant!"

However, to his utter surprise, the man said something completely unexpected: "Eight dollars, pay up!"

The young passenger was dumbfounded: "Didn't you give me this to eat? Why do I have to pay for it now?"

"I said you could try it, not that you could eat it for free. This is good meat from an Altai sheep that's less than a year old. I'm selling it anyway... You think you can get it for free? There's no such thing as a free lunch." The man glared at him coldly: "I'm just asking if you've eaten it or not?"

The young passenger's face flushed red: "I ate it!"

"Since you ate it, it's only right that you pay!"

The man urged, "Hurry up and give me the money!"

Four people immediately stood up around the young passenger. Zhou Jingming had noticed them before; they were the most boisterous group on the journey, and they all spoke with accents from Yuzhou, so they must have been companions who came together.

One of them angrily said, "Aren't you trying to extort money from us? Are you taking advantage of us outsiders?"

"Don't try to extort us. This is a legitimate business. We've come all this way to get this little bit of mutton and bring it to sell to you. It's not easy for us, so it's normal for the price to be a bit higher!"

The man who had pulled out the mutton, along with his two accomplices, approached, pulled out folding knives from their pockets, flicked out the blades, and shouted at the group, "Why are you standing up? Sit down..."

That's right, this is a gang of robbers.

Upon seeing the knife drawn, the four men fell silent, too terrified to utter a sound, and hesitantly sat back down in their seats.

Seeing that things were getting out of hand, the young passenger had no choice but to pay up to settle the matter.

However, just as he took the money out of his pocket and was about to count it, the man holding the mutton snatched it away, saying, "What are you counting...?"

The young passenger hurriedly reached out to snatch it, but saw the knife being offered to him, so he had to pull it back. Still somewhat unwilling, he said with a bitter face, "Give me the mutton!"

"That piece of mutton is only worth that much money. You think it's not enough? Fine... here's another piece!"

The man holding the mutton smiled, stuffed the stolen money into his bag, picked up a piece of meat with his fingers, handed it to the young passenger, and without saying a word, forced it into his mouth. Then he patted the young man's shoulder and said, "Sip it slowly, don't swallow it too fast. You won't get to eat such a delicious meal again!"

Seeing that no one in the car dared to speak up, the three became even more arrogant. The robber holding the mutton then handed it to his companion next to the young passenger, saying with a grin, "You should try some too!"

Knowing full well that they were robbing someone, the person wouldn't touch the mutton anymore, and said somewhat angrily, "Not hungry!"

To everyone's surprise, the man holding the mutton suddenly slapped him across the face: "I didn't make you hungry, I made you eat!"

His accomplice then handed him the knife and brandished it in front of him.

The young passenger's companion dared not show any more displeasure, fearing that a knife might be plunged into his own hands, and could only obediently hand over his money.

He didn't take out all his money; he just reached into his pocket and rummaged around for it. Before he could get the money out, someone grabbed him by the collar, pulled him up, and scooped all the money out of his pocket.

Along with the photo, the robber also took out a picture of a girl. He looked at the photo and said, "Wow, this girl is big and strong... much more robust than you!"

He threw the photo back in disgust.

The robber, holding the roasted meat, picked up a piece with his fingers and stuffed it into his mouth: "You paid the money but didn't get any meat, so that's our fault... Next!"

In this way, each of the young passenger's companions was forcibly fed a piece of meat, and all the money they had was taken from them. Faced with the sharp knife, none of them dared to resist.

The three men were very careful in their actions; they ignored the obvious locals and targeted the outsiders.

Zhou Jingming recalled the glances that had swept over him earlier, and he knew very well that he was also being watched by these three people.

Although he carried a knife, he was no match for the many hands that were at his disposal and was likely to suffer a loss.

Seeing that everyone in the car was huddled up, he quietly pushed open the window next to him little by little, ready to jump out and run away at any moment.

The three robbers had already moved on to their next target and were using the same trick again.

That was a lean young man about the same age as Zhou Jingming, sitting three rows in front of him. With such a commotion on the bus, everyone else was timid and hesitant, but he seemed not to have heard anything. He simply crossed his arms, leaned against the backrest, closed his eyes, and fell asleep, his head swaying back and forth with the bumps of the bus.

Three robbers surrounded him, and the one holding the barbecue leaned close to him: "Is he really asleep or just pretending? Hey... wake up, time for barbecue!"

As he spoke, he reached out and patted the young man's face.

(End of this chapter)