Local Stories: A Tale of The Gold Rush of Fellow Villagers

Local Stories: A Tale of The Gold Rush of Fellow Villagers

Text: Ma Xinwu

　　The years were hurried, and Shaohua was white-headed in a flash. What I personally experienced or heard during the period, there are always some people and things that I will never forget. For example, although I did not go to Xinjiang to pan for gold, according to the people who returned from the gold panning, it was a period of unforgettable days.

　　When I think of the gold rush, I feel like I'm back in 1987. At that time, I had not yet started a family, and my desire to earn money was very strong. At the beginning of April, the blue Xuanliang of my street, my name was Uncle, looking for someone to go to Xinjiang to pan for gold, and there were many people who signed up. The reason for this is that my uncle Xuanliang made a lot of money when he came back from the gold panning in Xinjiang last year, and he sold a color TV set before the New Year. In the eighty years of the last century, this was a sensational event in the whole village, and people were very red-eyed. In addition, I chose a good uncle with good character, and only then did there be a situation of competing for registration.

　　My friend Guo wants Min to go, and brother Three of my own yumin brothers will also go. Especially my brother and dad, everywhere propaganda, let the babies go, a baby a year a building. At this time, I couldn't sit still, who had long wanted to make a lot of money, and I went to ask my father for advice. Who knows, my father put my marriage first and did not agree to me going. Helplessly, I had to go to the eldest sister, but the result was still a failure. In this way, I lost the opportunity to meet with Xinjiang.

　　In April 28, under the order of the general leader Lan Boliang, a team of gold panning set off in a mighty way. Looking at their fading backs, a sense of loss sprang up in my heart. What happened then? In less than half a year, most of them came back and listened to them slowly.

　　Guo Yaomin: From Xi'an Railway Station, the three carriages are all people in our village, around our village and in the province. Perhaps, such a scene is rare, everyone talks and laughs, full of joy, peaceful atmosphere. One day, two days, three days... The tiredness and bitterness of the journey replaced the laughter of the people. Out of Jiayuguan, the more west the less populated, the Gobi is vast, the desert is boundless, the endless mountains lie in the sky, the vast and desolate scenery makes my heart wide, and the depressed mood slowly unfolds.

　　If you don't go to Xinjiang, you don't know how big China is. On the afternoon of the fourth day, we finally arrived at the final station, Urumqi. After getting off the train, the gold rush crowd parted. We stopped overnight in Urumqi, got on a coach at dawn the next day, went through several bumps, and arrived three days later in a small county in the middle of the Altai Mountains. The big hotels in the county town were already filled with gold diggers from all directions. We had to find small hotels, one after another, and only had a place to stay when it was dark. In the evening, after dinner, Uncle Xuanliang gave us a good rest for two days, and he went to the north of the Altai Mountains early tomorrow morning to contact the gold mining. Due to the long time in the car, everyone was tired, and one by one they quickly fell asleep, and some people still snored.

　　The northern part of the middle altai mountains is said to have been rich in gold since ancient times. Since the Tang Dynasty, official gathering, people's collection, thousands of years. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China reached its peak. After the peaceful liberation of Xinjiang in 1949, state control was strengthened and the gold panning industry was depressed for a time. It wasn't until 1980 that the state's system of gold placer and artificial mining was gradually abolished, and in the years that followed, gold prospectors across the country, with dreams of getting rich overnight, came back like a frenzy. Knowing this, I was full of curiosity about the Altai Mountains, and I was eager to go into the mountains immediately to see what was going on.

　　Two days have passed, and I have not seen Uncle Xuanliang return, and everyone and I are anxious like ants on a hot pot. On the afternoon of the third day, Uncle Xuanliang finally returned, saying that tomorrow he would go into the mountains, we were happy, we celebrated, and meimei ate a Xinjiang meal in the evening. At dawn the next day, we marched majestically and energetically with Uncle Xuanliang toward the Altai Mountains.

　　There is no regular road to the Altai Mountains, it is all stone and sand. Occasionally, traces of a car run over were found. Walking on the gravel beach, at first I still felt good, for a long time, my feet hurt and my legs were sleepy, and I didn't want to go. However, everyone can stick to it, what reason do I have to fall behind! After a rough six-hour trek, we finally made it to the mountains. The mountain road is curved, and from time to time you can see the boulders and wonders. In particular, the flowing water on the sand and gravel beach rushes into a small river, like green emerald, which is very beautiful! But who knows, the momentum of the river is very large, to pass, you must be careful, otherwise there will be a danger to your life. Listen to Uncle Xuanliang, he once died a few people. The main reason is that the river is very cold, so cold that people's legs cramp and cannot be moved. Nevertheless, we all crossed the creek smoothly. Over the mountain is the valley of the gold panning, and we live in the nest left by the township party gold panning last year. The ground nest is to dig a pit about two meters deep on the ground, dig a slope on the side of the pit to extend out of the ground, as an access channel, the top of the pit is set up with several pieces of wood, covered with some reeds, branches, paved with a piece of plastic sheet, sprinkled with some soil, there is a pot stove inside, and there is a chimney next to the pot stove that is more than 1 meter above the ground. In short, the structure of the whole nest is very simple, the wall is very rough, and it is OK to live, that is, there are many people, and the sweat of the feet is a bit unpleasant. Here the day is 2 hours later than our inland, the temperature difference between day and night is large, the climate is dry, and it is easy to catch fire if you are not used to eating. Therefore, Uncle Xuanliang told everyone to drink more water. The next day, we wore rubber pants or rubber boots and began digging sand and panning for gold in the river valley. Panning for gold is hard, efforts do not necessarily pay off, often depends on luck. Because there are too few golden nests, not as many as we think. At the end of the week, the harvest was too little, and everyone was disappointed. In the evening, everyone gathered around and said everything. Seeing the situation, Uncle Xuanliang hurried to comfort everyone, don't be anxious, wait until you meet the golden nest. It's another week, and the situation hasn't improved, so what to do? Uncle Xuanliang also began to worry, he couldn't earn money, why should he be worthy of the township party? A few days later, he got in touch with Boss Lan to see if he could change places. Who knows, Boss Lan said that there are many gold panning people this year, the situation is not good, let everyone be anxious, everything is difficult at the beginning. In the face of Boss Lan's reply, everyone had no choice but to continue to work. More than a month has passed and the situation has become worse. Looking at the grain reserves, they can last for half a month at most. If you can't dig up a golden nest in recent days, what will you eat in the future? Everyone frowned and sighed.

　　During the period, some people had good luck and panned for a lot of gold, but they were unwilling to share it with everyone, and everyone was helpless. Because, before the gold panning, it is said to work more and get more. But when you go out, it's not easy for everyone. In order to take into account the overall situation, Uncle Xuanliang said that special circumstances should be dealt with specially. In the end, the lucky ones agreed to the collective ownership of gold. In this way, everyone saw the glimmer of hope and summoned up the courage to overcome difficulties. However, no matter how united and hard everyone is, they still haven't found the ideal golden nest. The money exchanged for gold bought grain, and the grain was almost finished. The people take food as the sky, and in the long run, the consequences are unimaginable. As a result, everyone began to panic and breed the idea of going home. Uncle Xuanliang knew everyone's thoughts and began to worry that if he persisted, everyone would be in danger of starvation and suffering. Instead of this, it is better to dig for some more gold for some money, so that everyone can go home as soon as possible. Ten days later, Uncle Xuanliang sent everyone away in batches, and I was the first batch. After turning over the mountain, I and six township parties happened to encounter a long-distance bus and successfully arrived at the Urumqi Railway Station. At the station entrance, I bought a pack of hand-rolled Mohe cigarettes, and then a hard seat ticket for the train. After waiting for about half an hour, I got on the train with the township party and began the journey home.

　　Brother Yumin: I and the four township parties, changmin, zhanmin, and Jianshe, were the third batch to go. We were unlucky enough to cross the mountain and didn't encounter a ride, so we had to walk to the county seat when we arrived. I want to take a car to Urumqi and there is no car, I heard that two long-distance buses have broken down, and I have to wait a few days to take the car, which is really unlucky! Each of us had very little money to travel, didn't dare to wait, and could only continue walking. When will we be able to get to the Urumqi Railway Station, no one knows. We rushed day and night, and in less than three days we had eaten the dry food we had brought with us, and we were hungry and thirsty, and we were very uncomfortable. To get out of trouble, we walked and looked around, hoping to find herders or houses. On the afternoon of the fourth day, we finally found a brick yard with people inside. There are two porcelain jars outside the brick yard, which are specially used to collect leftovers. On top of one of the porcelain jars was a white steamed bun that had eaten less than half of it, and Ichigo Dang had just stretched out his hand when he was shocked by the roar. Everyone followed the prestige, and a middle-aged man in Hanfu came over and said that it was too dirty to eat. Listening to the accent, the man seemed to be from Gansu. When I asked, it was indeed a Gansu person. Han people see Han people and are as affectionate as brothers. The Gansu man took us in, not only to eat and drink, but also to let us rest in the brick yard for two days. Before leaving, the Gansu man prepared us half a pocket of steamed buns and two plastic pots of water. We took it with us, walked step by step to Urumqi, walked to the railway station, bought a station ticket and returned home. That year, if we hadn't met the kind Gansu man, our group's lives might have been lost in Xinjiang.

　　Listen to Wang Rubin, an old friend of Nanzhang Village, say that he, a party in Xinjiang, did not make money panning for gold, and froze off a toe. He took off his shoes to show me, and the shape of it was really unbearable!

　　In addition, some people did not return after a few years, and others never returned.

　　This is the result of the villagers going to Xinjiang in 1987 to pan for gold.

　　I'm glad I didn't go.

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