sinovels Chapter 1568 Gold Panning
Chapter 1568 Gold Panning
Chapter 1568 Gold Panning
Under the fluorescent tube, the kang table and kang mat were shining with golden light.
Looking closely, the pile of things is round, square, bulgy, and flat. Some are shaped like half a broad bean, some are like oatmeal, and some are like stones...
"This..." Zhao Youcai picked up something that looked like peanuts and said in surprise, "It's all gold!"
"This...this..." Wang Meilan picked up a small handful of gold from the table with both hands. Looking at the gold, Wang Meilan's big eyes narrowed into slits, and the corners of her mouth almost stretched to her ears.
As soon as the bottle arrived home, Wang Meilan was a little disappointed. Others may not know, but Wang Meilan knew that the golden grapes and golden watermelons in her home could not be contained in this bottle.
But now... this pile of gold weighs at least three or four pounds.
"What's on top of this gold?" Suddenly, Wang Qiang's words ruined Wang Meilan's good mood.
At this time, Wang Qiang was holding a piece of gold between his thumbs and index fingers. The piece of gold was not small, and was shaped like half a broad bean, with a slightly grayish white color in the middle. Wang Qiang tried to pick it with his fingernails, but found that it could not be picked off.
"This is gold sand, it's not pure." Zhao Jun is uneducated, but he was very wealthy in his previous life and made friends with wealthy and powerful people, so he has seen the world.
"Gold alluvial gold?" Zhao Youcai was startled, then asked, "The one you fished out of the river?"
"Dad, do you know what was fished out of the river?" Zhao Jun had no other intentions, he was just surprised because there was no gold sand in Yong'an.
But Zhao Jun had just offended Zhao Youcai, and to Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun's words sounded like Zhao Jun looked down on him.
Zhao Youcai glared at Zhao Jun fiercely, but in front of Wang Meilan, he said nothing and just kept the matter in mind.
Wang Meilan and Wang Qiang, brother and sister, happily collected the gold sand and put it in a cloth bag.
"Sister." While collecting the gold, Wang Qiang asked Wang Meilan, "Why is our family so wealthy?"
Hearing this, Wang Meilan laughed and said, "I've never seen these things before, hahahaha..."
Touching the gold, Wang Meilan couldn't help laughing, and her laughter was very hearty.
"Hey?" Wang Qiang picked up the small golden bean and excitedly asked the three people around him, "Can we fish for gold in this river?"
"We don't have it here." Zhao Youcai said, "It can only be found in the Greater Khingan Range or the Lesser Khingan Range."
After Zhao Youcai said this, not only Zhao Jun, but also Wang Meilan and Wang Qiang stopped picking up the gold. The three of them all stared at Zhao Youcai with straight eyebrows.
Zhao Youcai, who had just put a cigarette in his mouth, was stunned, and the cigarette fell from his mouth onto his crotch.
Zhao Youcai was not a particular person. He looked at the three people while picking up the cigarette and asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Wang Meilan didn't waste time talking to him, and just asked, "Did our father tell us about the gold before he left?"
"No!" Zhao Youcai shook his head and answered firmly, but Zhao Jun and the other two looked at him with suspicion in their eyes.
"I really didn't say that!" Zhao Youcai raised his voice, but was slapped on the back of his hand by Wang Meilan.
"Snap", it hurt quite a bit, and the cigarette was knocked out of Zhao Youcai's hand.
"Stop making noise!" After Wang Meilan finished smoking, she glared at Zhao Youcai and said, "The child is sleeping, how could he not know?"
Zhao Youcai felt that this woman was seeking revenge, but there was nothing he could do so he could only silently pick up the cigarette again.
But Zhao Youcai, who picked up the cigarette, heard Zhao Jun say this: "Go ask my brother Zhang someday if he can deal with this thing. It can't be impure."
"Hmm?" When Zhao Youcai heard Zhao Jun mention Zhang Yuanmin and then thought about the gold sand, a picture suddenly flashed through his mind.
That winter was particularly cold, and Zhao Youcai ran to Zhang Dabo's home in the wind and snow.
Zhang Dabotou looked like a psychopath, but he had a pair of skillful hands that no one in Yong'an could match. He was not only proficient in carpentry and masonry, but also could make many things by himself. He could make simple things like brooms and curtains for the house; he could even make guns with steel pipes and wood for complex things.
Zhao Youcai went to see Zhang Da Nao that day because the hook on the old foreign cannon at home was not working, and he wanted Zhang Da Nao to help make one.
Normally, Zhao Dazhuzi should go over to handle this matter. But Zhao Dazhuzi was digging the pig pen those days and stepped on a foreign nail. He had difficulty walking, so he sent Zhao Youcai over.
I don’t know about it in the city, but here in the countryside and forest area, there is no such thing as politeness between old neighbors.
Just like when they talk, they say "you" instead of "you". Also, they don't knock at anyone's door, but just pull or push it open.
It’s not that they don’t know etiquette. Their etiquette is not about this, it’s just that they don’t have this concept.
That day, Zhao Youcai did the same thing. He went to Zhang Dabo's house and just opened the door and walked in.
Zhang Dabo's family didn't have a dog, and the people in the house didn't know Zhao Youcai was coming. The moment Zhao Youcai entered the house, he heard the words "gold dust".
When he walked into Zhang's outer room and looked into the door of the east room, he saw that there were guests in Zhang Dabo's house.
And that guest was none other than the richest man in Shibadaogangzi - Wang Dabazhang.
Although they were all from the same village, and Wang and Zhang were both among the four greatest masters of the previous generation, Zhao Youcai had never known that Wang Dabazhang and Zhang Danaotou had any personal relationship.
Zhang Da Nao Tou was no ordinary person. In the early years, many villagers in Shibadaogang worked for Wang Daba, but Zhang Da Nao Tou had never been one of them.
But that day, Zhao Youcai saw Wang Daba sitting cross-legged on Zhang's kang, smoking a pipe, while Zhang Da Nao stood under the kang with his hands hanging down.
That scene didn't look like entertaining guests but more like subordinates reporting to their leader.
When Wang Daslap saw Zhao Youcai, he shouted "Little Zhao", and Zhang Da quickly turned his head back as if he had done something sneaky.
That year, Zhao Youcai was only fourteen years old, and Wang Meilan was only ten years old. Zhao Youcai had not yet called Wang Daba Zhang his father-in-law. He was also quite afraid of the rich man at the time, so he said a few words to Zhang Dabo and left in a hurry.
At this moment, Zhao Youcai didn't know why, but he recalled that scene and connected it with the gold sand in front of him. Zhao Youcai felt that there must be a connection between them.
Zhao Youcai came back to his senses with his eyes clicking, only to see three pairs of eyes staring at him.
"What are you thinking about?" Wang Meilan asked. Zhao Youcai laughed and said, "Lan, let me tell you, this is not what our father told me before he left."
Zhao Jun, Wang Meilan, Wang Qiang: "..."
"What's the matter?" Wang Meilan gritted her teeth and squeezed out words, saying, "Hurry up and tell me!"
"We'll just get married and go back to our parents' house after that." Zhao Youcai said, "My mother kept complaining that our gold and silver were left in the firewood pile and were taken away by Hu Zi."
"Ah!" Wang Meilan responded and waited for Zhao Youcai to continue.
Zhao Youcai continued, "After that, Dad and Mom had a few words, and then you dragged Mom to the outer room to cook."
At this point, Zhao Youcai pointed at Wang Qiang and said, "He scratched his eye and it was bleeding, and then he chewed dandelions to make it sticky."
Wang Qiang: "..."
Zhao Jun, Wang Meilan: "..."
Dandelion is a dandelion. People in Northeast China not only dig it up to make pickles, but it can also clear away heat, evil toxins, and reduce inflammation and kill bacteria.
"Brother-in-law, what's wrong with you?" Wang Qiang asked Zhao Youcai angrily, "You can't remember or recall what you should remember. Why do you remember this shit?"
"I... I mean, you weren't there at the time." Zhao Youcai said so, but Wang Meilan said, "Nonsense! We were there, why would we ask you? Hurry up and tell me straight out!"
Zhao Youcai squinted at Wang Meilan and said, "My father didn't tell me anything else except that the gold was washed down from the mountain by water. It's in the ditch. You can use a winnowing hat to sift it out.
They call it panning for gold, saying that in the past, people of all ages tried to make money from it. We don't have it here, they all went to the Greater Khingan Mountains and the Lesser Khingan Mountains.
Before the bald man, no one was allowed to do it randomly, but if you wanted to do it secretly, you had to pay tribute, and that was fine. But after liberation, the control became stricter. "
After listening to Zhao Youcai's words, Wang Meilan waited for a moment. Seeing that Zhao Youcai stopped talking, Wang Meilan urged him, "Go on, what's the end?"
"It's over, it's over." Zhao Youcai said, "That's all my father said."
"Think about it again." Wang Meilan stared at Zhao Youcai and said, "How can this be true?"
"Then...then..." Zhao Youcai frowned and thought again, and finally said helplessly: "That's all he said! I've said it, what else do you have to say?"
Wang Meilan gave Zhao Youcai a fierce look, and then she heard Wang Qiang say, "Sister, do you think this gold dust was brought back by our father?"
"That's for sure!" Wang Meilan sighed and said, "How did this old man accumulate all this wealth?"
Hearing Wang Meilan's words, Zhao Jun thought to himself, "These things must have been cheaply given to others in my previous life."
Zhao Jun was quite angry when he thought about it, but he also remembered what Wang Meilan had said to him, so he said to Wang Meilan: "Mom, I remember what you told me. My great-grandmother used to go out to sell horses in the autumn. Could she have gone out to collect gold the other day?"
"You can't be prepared!" Wang Meilan nodded slightly and said, "By the time I can remember, our place had already been liberated. Your great-grandmother rarely went out. I heard that from your great-uncle. The old man used to stay away from home for several months and would not come back until the Chinese New Year."
In addition to her younger brother Wang Qiang, Wang Meilan also had an older brother named Wang Yong, but when Wang Meilan was seven years old, Wang Yong died of illness.
"Hey?" At this moment, Zhao Youcai stretched out his crossed legs and kicked Zhao Jun's hips with his feet.
When Zhao Jun turned to look at him, he heard Zhao Youcai ask, "Don't you remember? Did your brother Zhang's father go to the Greater and Lesser Khingan Mountains?"
"Ah!" Zhao Jun nodded and said, "My eldest brother used to talk about it all the time, saying that his father traveled all over the country and even went to the Greater Khingan Range to hunt An Dahan."
"Yes!" Zhao Jun finished speaking, and Wang Qiang continued: "The knife on his buttocks has a handle made of the skin of an antelope."
The passing geese leave their voices, and the passing people leave their names.
All this is traceable.
Wudaogou and Laoyeling in Lingnan are the only ways for the Siberian tiger to travel between Luosha Kingdom and Greater Khingan Range of China.
Zhang Dabo had also been there. At first, everyone thought he was begging, but when Zhao Youcai contacted him, Zhao Jun immediately asked Zhao Youcai, "Dad, do you mean that my uncle Zhang...he also went to pan for gold?"
"Come on." Before Zhao Youcai could answer, Wang Qiang waved his hands and said with a smile, "He is still panning for gold? He is a poor guy, and it is hard for him to even wash rice. If he could pan for gold, would Zhang Yuanmin still be wearing pants with crotch drops?"
Zhao Jun and Wang Meilan both agreed with Wang Qiang's words, because Zhang Yuanmin's family was really poor before. In Xiao Lingdang's words, his father and mother never had enough to eat.
"No!" But Zhao Youcai shook his head and told Zhang Da Nao everything he heard and saw at Zhang Da Nao's house that year.
After listening to Zhao Youcai, Zhao Jun, Wang Meilan and Wang Qiang fell into deep thought.
"Did you provide aid to the people that year?" Wang Meilan asked. Zhao Youcai frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "He is about 30 this year... I think his mother was pregnant with him that year."
"It seems to match." Wang Meilan said: "I remember Yuanmin and Feng both mentioned that before Yuanmin was born, his father was not at home. Two years later, the man came back, and his mother thought his father died outside."
"So what did his father do?" Wang Qiang asked, "Gold mining was not allowed at that time, right?"
"No more." Zhao Youcai said, "At that time, it was a collective organization for everyone to collect, and work points were recorded after the collection."
"What about Uncle Zhang?" Zhao Jun muttered, "He didn't find anything either. If he had, his family wouldn't be so poor."
"Yes!" Zhao Youcai said, "That's exactly what I said!"
"What did the aid worker say?" Wang Qiang asked. Zhao Jun said, "He didn't know either. He seemed to say he went out to earn money. And he never got the money back."
"Oh!" Wang Meilan sighed, threw the last piece of gold dust into the bag, and then said to Zhao Jun and the other two, "Okay, it doesn't matter what he does. It's not like we can't make money now, we just won't do things that we are not allowed to do."
After saying this, Wang Meilan twisted the mouth of the bag and said, "Hurry up and pack up and go to bed. Don't you guys have to go again tomorrow, Qiangzi?"
"Yes, sister, I'll go back now." After Wang Qiang responded to Wang Meilan, he got up from the kang and said to Zhao Jun, "Nephew, I'll come over at seven o'clock tomorrow."
"Yes, uncle." Zhao Jun said, "Let's leave early tomorrow. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow."
After hearing what Zhao Jun said, Wang Meilan looked at Zhao Youcai and asked, "Why don't you go with me? Do you really have to go hunting?"
"Well, I have to fight." Zhao Youcai curled his lips slightly and said, "I'll knock that cannon's balls off, and then what... why don't we let Shunzi, Dazhi and my son go."
Seeing that Zhao Youcai insisted on doing so, Wang Meilan looked at him deeply, then grabbed the cloth bag containing the gold sand, got off the kang and ran to the east room.
……
At five o'clock in the morning of the next day, Zhao Youcai and Wang Meilan both got up.
Wang Meilan went to the outer room to light the stove and knead the dough, preparing to make hand-rolled noodles, while Zhao Youcai went outside to light the stove and put in dog and pig food.
When Zhao Youcai came out of the cellar and walked towards the stove with two baskets in his hands, he saw a sack thrown next to the stove with the help of the hanging lantern.
Zhao Youcai put down the food, picked up the sack and took out the things inside. His face changed immediately.
Zhao Youcai entered the house carrying a sack, and pushed the things in his hand in front of Wang Meilan, saying unhappily, "Look at your son, what a spendthrift! Can this piece of cloth start a fire? He is so arrogant!"
Seeing this old man looking for trouble with her son, Wang Meilan pursed her lips helplessly and said, "Then what do you keep this thing for?"
"What are you going to keep it for? Why not tie a strip of it to a tree in the spring?" Zhao Youcai said, "Otherwise, you can just stuff it in your shoes."
When changing seasons, wash the shoes thoroughly. After drying, put something in the shoes to prop them up and prevent them from deforming.
"Okay, okay, just put it there." Frugality is always a virtue. Zhao Youcai occupies the moral high ground, and Wang Meilan can do nothing about him.
But at this moment, as Zhao Youcai stuffed the cloth strips into the sack, Wang Meilan inadvertently saw a line flash across the cloth strips.
"Wait a moment!"
(End of this chapter)