"Good heavens, who told you that? I was just eating a meal and the news has already reached you?" Chen Feng said, quite surprised.
He underestimated the village's intelligence group; the villagers had nothing to do all day, so they just chatted idly.
If you fart at the entrance of the village, as long as someone sees it, it will reach the other end of the village in less than half an hour.
Small shops, in particular, are classic places for exchanging information, though the information is a mix of truth and falsehood, and you have to discern it yourself.
"Is it even possible to find that thing online? I don't think it's very reliable."
"You spend several thousand on equipment. If you can find gold, great. But if you can't, you'll only earn a few hundred dollars a month, working from dawn till dusk. It's not worth it."
"The key is that ever since gold panning became popular in our village, I haven't heard of anyone finding any valuable gold. A group of people might only find two or three grams in half a month, and that's considered good."
"On the contrary, it's exhausting for Old Mrs. Zhang who collects scrap metal, as she has scrap metal to collect every day."
Lu Dahai couldn't help but laugh when he mentioned it. They had really done Old Zhang's wife a favor. Old Zhang's wife could collect iron for a year and not earn as much as they could in half a month.
"Can I give it a try? What if I get lucky? How much is it in total?" Chen Feng asked, picking up the plastic bag.
"Two yuan for water, three yuan for bread, four yuan for ham sausage, two yuan and fifty cents for Sprite, plus one for eight yuan, that's nineteen yuan and fifty cents in total," Lu Dahai said without hesitation.
Rural shops generally have very thin profit margins, so they won't even give you a discount unless you buy something for more than fifty yuan.
"I don't have fifty cents, but here's another dollar for you, and a piece of bread too." Chen Feng took out twenty-one dollars and handed it to him.
"Okay, I'll give you two more pieces of candy. Have some if you get hungry while working tomorrow. I'll try to bring back more."
Lu Dahai accepted the money, took two pieces of sour sauce from the box on the bar, and threw them into the bag along with the bread.
"Thanks, if I make money, the first thing I'll do is come here to spend it," Chen Feng said with a smile, gesturing to him with the bag in his hand.
"Haha, okay, I'll wait for your good news." Lu Dahai was overjoyed to hear Chen Feng's words and stood up to speak.
It was too much trouble for the bartender to go out, so he didn't see Chen Feng off.
Those who had been watching the spectacle began to discuss it after Chen Feng left.
"This kid is actually doing pretty well, even buying some food. I wonder if he can earn back the money for the food."
"Of course. Including food and travel expenses, the cost is over thirty. Can we even earn thirty a day using that broken thing?"
"I don't think he can make that much. Even seasoned gold miners don't earn more than thirty a day on average. How can a complete novice like him earn more than a veteran?"
"That's right, I guess they'll come back empty-handed, just like they went there, haha."
Lu Dahai frowned upon hearing this. Most people in the village were like that; they enjoyed watching others make fools of themselves.
Although he didn't want to hear this, they were all customers, so he couldn't go into too much detail and could only speak from behind the bar.
"What if Fengzi can find it? Besides, Fengzi knows how to work now, which is better than before. At least it's a good thing."
The villagers in the shop didn't comment, but just smiled dismissively. Their stereotype of Chen Feng as a runaway was ingrained in their very being.
They didn't believe Chen Feng could find gold, nor did they believe he could persevere. They estimated he would give up after a few days of fruitless work.
Once the initial enthusiasm fades, they throw the things away and go about their business.
Chen Feng returned home quickly. Liu Ping saw him carrying a bag and couldn't help but ask, "What did you buy?"
"As for food, Brother Zheng said we'll be gone for a whole day, and there's nowhere to eat lunch since it's all in the wilderness. We'll have to bring our own food," Chen Feng said, placing the food on the table.
"It seems like it will take a whole day. I heard from the second son's wife that they have to leave in the morning, right?" Liu Ping recalled.
"We'll set off at six in the morning and head back at six in the evening," Chen Feng said.
“You’re leaving at six o’clock? Then you’ll have to get up at five-thirty. I’ll make you some food tomorrow morning, so you can eat before you leave. Otherwise, you’ll go hungry if you only buy this little bit of food all day,” Liu Ping said worriedly.
"Okay, then make me something." Chen Feng didn't refuse and nodded.
"Okay, then you should go to sleep. You have to get up at five o'clock tomorrow," Liu Ping said, glancing at the time.
"Okay, I'll go to sleep now. You should go to sleep early too." Chen Feng said and went back to his room.
Liu Ping had already finished burning the kang (heated brick bed) and laid out the quilt; Chen Feng reached out and touched it—it was warm.
It's spring now. Although it's not too cold during the day, you still need to light a fire to sleep. The temperature is still low at night, and the kang (heated brick bed) is not as warm as a regular bed.
After taking off his clothes and lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), Chen Feng couldn't sleep because he was thinking about panning for gold the next day. He was excited, but he was also worried about what would happen if he didn't find any gold. That would be the end of him.
He kept checking the system panel to make sure it wasn't a hallucination before he gradually relaxed and fell into a deep sleep.
At 5:20 the next day, Chen Feng's alarm clock rang, and he sat up groggily.
To be honest, he really didn't like getting up early, but he had no choice. He sat up, smoked a cigarette to clear his head, and then got off the kang (a heated brick bed).
Liu Ping had already prepared the meal outside, waiting for him to come and eat.
If Chen Feng doesn't come out soon, Liu Ping will knock on the door, afraid he'll oversleep.
"Come on, wash your face and eat," Liu Ping said.
"Um."
Chen Feng filled a basin with water. The tap water was ice cold when he reached out, so he didn't add hot water. He simply scooped up a handful of water and vigorously rubbed his face with it.
The cold tap water completely revived Chen Feng.
After washing up, Chen Feng sat down at the table. On the table was a bowl of stir-fried shredded potatoes, homemade spicy cabbage, and five boiled eggs.
"I didn't peel the eggs. See how many you can eat. If you can't finish them, take them with you and eat them whenever you're hungry," Liu Ping instructed.
"Okay." Chen Feng nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and began to eat.
He finished his meal in about ten minutes. It was 5:53. Chen Feng started packing up his mess, got his bag ready, and waited for Zheng Ping to call him.
Less than two minutes later, Zheng Ping pushed open the door and walked in.
"Get up, Sister Liu. I've come to call Chen Feng. The car is here."
He greeted Liu Ping and then waved to Chen Feng.
"Okay, then take it easy," Liu Ping said.
"Okay, Mom, I'm leaving." Chen Feng slung his bag over his shoulder, grabbed his things, and went out the door with Chen Feng.
A beat-up minivan that could carry more than a dozen people was parked outside the gate. The driver, Huang Fei, was also from the village.
Chen Feng took his tools and got into the car. Huang Fei was a thin young man, twenty-seven years old.
He didn't like farming, so his family bought him a second-hand minivan to haul people and goods around.
"Chen Feng, I didn't expect you to start panning for gold too. Did you buy all your tools from Old Han's?" Huang Fei turned around and said.
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