Chapter 8

The Earth's gold reserves are estimated to be around 2.2 billion tons, but most of it is hidden in the core. Only about 100 million tons are buried in the Earth's surface, so finding this 100 million tons of gold is a highly sophisticated science.

Exploring for gold mines is a profound science. If you're not a student from a geological college, it's like looking for a needle in a haystack, or a blind cat stumbling upon a dead mouse.

However, Zhao Chen was not blindly searching; he already knew that there was a gold mine below. According to his guess, the gold mine below must have a large reserve.

What he needed to do now was to find the exact gold vein. Without modern gold detectors or steel pipes, he had to use the most primitive methods.

He cut down the strongest bamboo, sharpened one end, and hollowed out the middle. Along the upstream of the underground river, he drove the bamboo into the ground at intervals. Finally, he pulled out the bamboo and dug it open to see the soil distribution below.

Then, he crushed the soil, placed it on a wooden sluice, and washed and screened it with water to determine the gold content.

This method seemed simple, but when it came to the details, it was not an easy task.

During the day, Zhao Chen led people running all over the mountain. Each time a bamboo was driven in, a large amount of data was collected: the depth of the bamboo, the soil distribution, humidity, and soil ratio. These had to be measured in detail with a ruler and recorded.

At night, back in the wooden house, he calculated the ratios, drew diagrams, and the process was quite complicated. Surveying, verifying data, and drawing diagrams—these tasks could only be done by himself.

"Little Master, this is the gold we washed today!" Zhuang Feng walked into Zhao Chen's wooden house with a small wooden bucket. Inside the bucket were the gold they had washed today, each piece in a small cloth bag, marked as Zhao Chen had instructed.

Zhuang Feng was considered the best gold prospector in the Tang Dynasty, and his skills were passed down from his ancestors. When he first arrived, Old Zhuang was quite arrogant, talking about yin and yang, and the five elements.

However, after just two days, seeing Zhao Chen's completely different gold prospecting method, he was completely stunned. Especially as the gold content in the bamboo increased over the past two days, Old Zhuang was thoroughly defeated!

Old Zhuang's survival crisis arrived out of nowhere, leaving him unprepared. To consider the future of his descendants, Old Zhuang had to put aside his pride and follow Zhao Chen like a shadow every day.

"How much more than yesterday?" Zhao Chen put down his pencil and ruler, stood up from his chair, and took the wooden bucket from Old Zhuang, asking.

"Fully three times more, and all of it is of very high quality!" Old Zhuang grinned, holding up three fingers, looking extremely excited.

The amount of gold had been increasing over the past few days, but today it increased by three times. Old Zhuang knew exactly what this meant—it indicated that they were close to the gold vein that Little Master had mentioned.

"Indeed, not bad!" Zhao Chen casually opened one of the cloth bags, poured the gold into his palm, and looked at it under the dim oil lamp, smiling.

Actually, the gold was not pure and contained other metals, such as silver. However, Zhao Chen did not plan to reveal this. After all, Old Zhuang had already said it was of high quality!

So, he decided not to complicate things further. Extracting pure gold was not an easy task and involved chemistry, which Zhao Chen did not have the talent for!

Old Qin walked into Zhao Chen's wooden house, holding a thermos, looking leisurely. He casually picked up the diagram on the table, frowning as he looked at the cross-section of the mountain.

Zhao Chen put down his pen and ruler, blinking at Old Qin, who was pretending to understand. He did not remind Old Qin that he had the diagram upside down, looking quite annoying.

Old Qin couldn't understand the diagram at all. He only saw the structure of the rocks and gravel, ignoring the worm-like symbols.

Bored, he put down the diagram and took a sip of tea. His eyes scanned the diagrams hanging on the wall, then he sniffed and walked out.

'Pah' However, just as he reached the door, Old Qin returned to the wooden house and angrily slapped Zhao Chen on the back of the head. The expression on this kid's face was just too infuriating.

Watching Old Qin leave in anger, Zhao Chen opened his mouth and burst out laughing. Seeing these old veterans, who had fought countless battles, humbled was particularly satisfying.

Feeling good, he decided to reward his own stomach. A few days ago, a thousand people had gone on a hunt, bringing back a lot of game, from wild bulls and wild boars to rabbits and pheasants, all stored in the kitchen.

Zhao Chen went to the kitchen, chopped a large piece of beef tendon, and threw it into a boiling pot. He returned to his wooden house and secretly took some seasonings from the time supermarket, then went back to the kitchen.

He refused the help of the cook, who was just a pig feeder. No matter how good the ingredients, they would all end up in a pot of water with a pinch of salt!

Five-spice braised beef! The best beef tendon was boiled to remove the blood, then drained and placed in a pot of clear water with five-spice seasonings. It was simmered over a low flame until cooked.

The cooked beef tendon was taken out of the pot, cooled, and then sliced and served on a plate—delicious five-spice braised beef!

If paired with a pot of erguotou (a type of Chinese liquor), it would be perfect. A bite of five-spice braised beef and a cup of erguotou, the taste would make anyone drool.

The burly cook watched Zhao Chen curiously. At first, he was indifferent, but when the rich aroma of beef wafted from the pot, he couldn't help but swallow hard.

He sliced the beef into thin pieces, filling a wooden basin with over three pounds of beef. Zhao Chen guessed that Old Qin was probably waiting outside, and he didn't think he could eat alone with a veteran like Old Qin.

He didn't leave any meat for the cook, and the remaining seasonings were left in the kitchen. If he didn't figure out how to make it, he would deserve to be beaten by Old Qin in the future.

Leaving the kitchen, he indeed saw Old Qin lounging in a recliner in front of the wooden house, a tiger skin under his buttocks, a thermos in his arms, and his head tilted back, looking at the night sky with a melancholy expression.

Zhao Chen instinctively looked up at the night sky, seeing it was overcast with no stars visible. He sniffed and slowly walked to Old Qin's side.

Something seemed off. Old Qin's mood seemed low, and the five-spice braised beef in his mouth tasted like wax. He ate five or six slices in silence and then put down his chopsticks, losing interest.

This was not scientific! Zhao Chen thought the beef didn't suit Old Qin's taste and asked, but Old Qin only gave a light snort from his nose.

"It will rain tomorrow!" After sitting silently for a long time, Old Qin suddenly spoke without any context.

Zhao Chen looked up at the dark sky, nodding instinctively. Suddenly, a light flashed in his mind. He carefully approached Old Qin and noticed that his face was pale, with a layer of fine sweat on his nose.

No wonder Old Qin looked so disinterested; he was suffering from pain!

Arthritis! Whenever it was overcast or rainy, the joints would swell and cause unbearable pain, like ten thousand ants gnawing at the bones. Even a veteran like Old Qin couldn't endure it.

He quickly threw down his chopsticks, ran to his wooden house, and brought a bottle of ibuprofen and a bottle of strong liquor back to Old Qin. Ibuprofen is a nerve-numbing drug and is like a miracle drug for those who have never taken Western medicine.

He gave Old Qin a pill, expecting him to ask endless questions, but Old Qin didn't ask anything, just opened his mouth and swallowed it with water as Zhao Chen instructed.

Old veterans are good like that; they never ask endless questions. As long as it seems okay, they won't fuss.

Seeing Old Qin take the medicine, Zhao Chen poured the strong liquor into a copper dish, lit the alcohol, and then lifted Old Qin's shirt. He dipped his hands in the blue flame and rubbed them vigorously on Old Qin's legs.

Whether it was the effect of the medicine or the alcohol, Old Qin, who was lying in the recliner, soon began to snore evenly. The joint pain must have tormented him all day, leaving him exhausted.

Carefully taking the thermos from Old Qin's arms, Zhao Chen called his bodyguards and, together, they carefully carried the recliner into Old Qin's wooden house, gently covering him with a blanket before leaving the room.

He suddenly felt a bit down and didn't even want to eat the five-spice braised beef he had made.

He lit a cigarette, sat on the wooden steps in front of Old Qin's house, and puffed away. After finishing the cigarette, he threw the butt into the fire pit, watched it burn to ashes, and then sighed, returning to his wooden house.

He brightened the oil lamp and buried himself in a pile of diagrams!

The next morning, it indeed rained, drizzling and making the entire valley misty. This kind of drizzle was persistent and wouldn't stop for a few days.

It was now late autumn, and Zhao Chen estimated that this might be the last autumn rain of the year. The next one might be a mix of rain and snow!

The rainy weather was not good. The air always carried a damp, earthy smell, and breathing too much of it would make you sneeze and feel cold.

Old Qin's appetite was a bit better than the night before. He drank a bowl of sticky rice porridge and ate a few slices of beef. Arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis like Old Qin's, would make him feel like dying on such a rainy day.

After eating, Zhao Chen served Old Qin his medicine and continued to rub his legs with alcohol. During this time, Old Qin looked at Zhao Chen with a nostalgic gaze, and Zhao Chen's curiosity immediately flared up.

In such an atmosphere, it was easy to spark a desire to share stories. Zhao Chen kept giving Old Qin encouraging looks, hoping to hear some sensational gossip from him.

Unfortunately, he was disappointed. Old Qin only extorted a bottle of medicine and half a bottle of liquor from Zhao Chen, gave him a slap, and then kicked him out!