Gold Rush Starts in the Bering Sea

Chapter 58: Returning to "Old Ground"

Despite the chill, and under the watchful eyes of many shop owners, Jason bought a set of autumn clothes directly from the market.

After changing his clothes in the locker room, Jason hailed a taxi and left.

"Is this a foreigner?"

"Of course! Haven't you noticed their skin is different from ours?"

"When he said he was American, but came from Australia, I never imagined Americans were so rich."

"This foreigner doesn't look very old, but I didn't expect him to speak Chinese so fluently."

"Damn, when I'm rich, I'm going to the US too."

……

In the market, some people marveled at Jason's youth, some praised his excellent Mandarin, and others felt they had seen the deeper meaning and were even more drawn to the United States.

There are always some people who won't shed a tear until they see the coffin.

It's only 2005 now, and the internet age hasn't been widespread yet. Many people aren't as accustomed to foreigners as they are to later generations.

He is over 1.8 meters tall and has a strong build.

Wearing a baseball cap, his exposed blond hair and skin attracted the attention of many people as he walked down the street.

"Well, I've been made a fool of."

People are naturally curious, especially in this era before the internet is fully developed. A foreigner is so eye-catching in a crowd.

Faced with the look of disdain, Jason could only shake his head helplessly. There was nothing he could do; that was just how he looked.

After wandering around for a while, Jason shook his head helplessly. The current China has not yet fully risen, and its infrastructure is far inferior to the powerful China he remembered.

After wandering around for a while, Jason ate some local specialties in a small street and then checked into a nearby hotel.

There were no ride-hailing apps or search engines, so Jason had to go to the airport to book a flight, heading straight to the "coal" province.

The closer I got to home, the more apprehensive I became, and my heart pounded wildly.

I hailed a taxi and gave them a familiar address.

In the back seat, leaning against the car window, the scenery before him became increasingly familiar, and Jason's eyes gradually welled up with tears.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down and thought about how he should face his parents later.

"Driver, just stop at that fork in the road. The road inside is difficult to navigate, and it's hard to turn around and come out once you're in," Jason's words surprised the driver.

As a driver making a living in the city, he could say with certainty that the foreigner who spoke fluent Chinese was definitely a visitor.

Otherwise, given Jason's distinctive features, he would have been widely known among taxi drivers long ago.

This was the first time he had taken a job in the countryside. If Jason hadn't been so generous with the money, he really wouldn't have wanted to drive on such awful roads!

But what puzzled him most was why this foreigner in front of him knew so much.

After parking at the spot Jason specified and paying, Jason walked towards the village, trudging through the muddy road.

The village is not large, with a population of about sixty households, consisting of five rows of houses, with about ten households in each row.

The house faces south, and there is a large pond to the east, where fish occasionally leap out of the water.

There are two small groves of trees, one in front of the village and one in the north and one in the south, and beyond that are farmlands.

There is a road leading into the village on both the east and west sides. However, the east side is a dirt road with few people on it, while the west side is an asphalt road, but it is also full of potholes, making the ride very bumpy.

Walking into the village from the entrance, the road is entirely dirt. After being driven over by tractors, two deep mud ruts are embedded in the dirt road, and you can often see the black marks left by the friction between the tires and the mud, which means that the road has slipped.

The houses in the village have a typical rural structure. They are not tall and are surrounded by courtyard walls, which are covered with broken glass.

Walking along the muddy road, Jason saw many children playing, and he could vaguely imagine what they would look like when they grew up.

Upon seeing a blond, fair-skinned foreigner arrive in the village, many elderly people quickly grabbed their children, fearing that Jason might be a human trafficker.

Everything before my eyes felt both familiar and strange.

As Jason walked to the center of the village, a small courtyard with gourd vines hanging on the wall and the leaves already turning yellow came into view.

"Is this a relative of Old Li's family?"

"What a joke! The Li family has been toiling in the fields for generations, where would we get foreign relatives from?"

"What's that foreigner doing standing in front of Old Li's house?"

"Who knows? You all know the Li family. They don't usually cause any trouble. Who knows what this foreigner is up to?"

"Go and call someone, bring the village secretary over, so this foreigner won't bully us."

……

The group whispered among themselves. Although there weren't many people, they were very united. If an outsider, especially a foreigner, caused trouble, they would definitely make him suffer.

Is anyone there?

Jason's clear and standard Mandarin amazed everyone present.

Jason paid no attention to the people behind him; his eyes were fixed on the entrance through the simple door.

Inside the house, Li Jiefang heard the shout, hunched over, lifted the curtain and came out. When he saw that it was a foreigner, he was stunned, even though he had lived for decades.

"Who are you?"

In a short time, he thought of countless relatives, but he never imagined the purpose of this foreigner's visit.

Jason's hand trembled slightly, and he forced an awkward smile as he asked, "Excuse me, do you know Li Ping'an?"

"I don't know him," Li Jiefang shook his head.

My hope, which I had been holding onto, has completely died.

Jason's heart sank when the familiar scenery and streets before him made his trip seem simple, but the sight of the old man in front of him made his heart sink.

Things are different now. Even if the house is the same, the person is not the same as I remember.

"Can I go in and have a look around?" Jason suppressed his disappointment, but was still unwilling to give up and wanted to confirm.

Li Jiefang looked at the young foreigner and nodded, "Come in."

Every place is familiar, every brick and tile looks so familiar, but the faces in the photo frames are unfamiliar.

Seeing the foreigner trembling slightly, Li Jiefang comforted him, "Young man, I don't know what happened to you, but you're still young, you have to look forward."

It's a very simple sentence.

Taking a deep breath, Jason's eyes reddened, and fighting back tears, he nodded: "I'm sorry to have bothered you."

He pulled his baseball cap down low, walked through the crowd, and headed straight out of the village.

"Hey Li, what's going on? Something's off about this foreigner."

"Exactly, he's a foreigner, Old Li, didn't you say something you shouldn't have?"

"Get lost, don't you all know who I am?"

The village party secretary, who had been called, also rushed over at that moment, leaving him only with Jason's departing figure.

"What's going on?"

……

Jason's head was spinning, filled with a jumble of thoughts that he couldn't quite make sense of.

I flagged down a motorcycle, paid some money, found a hotel in the city, lay on the bed, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

After an unknown amount of time, Jason let out a heavy sigh in the dimly lit room.

"Never mind~"

Whether it's a parallel universe or a rebirth, Jason has let go of everything from his past life at this moment.

Disappointed? Definitely disappointed, but there's nothing I can do about it.

Having experienced what happened today, Jason no longer intends to pursue his past life. Just like the old man said today, he will look forward.

"Buzz buzz buzz~"

As soon as the call connected, before Jason could speak, a series of concerned voices came from the other end.

"Jason, you're in China now, right? Nothing happened, right?"

"Jason, is China very dangerous?"

"Jason, according to Swell, we've almost finished piling up the soil here. We can start washing it in another day or two."

The conversation on the other end of the phone was chaotic and noisy, but it was full of concern.

Jason smiled too, the gloom in his heart dispelled by the words of concern.

"It's okay, I'm fine here. I'll bring you guys here for a trip sometime," Jason replied with a smile, lying on the bed.

Chat for a while, then wash your face, brush your teeth, and go to bed.

The next morning, Jason, having composed himself, strolled around the city, feeling both nostalgic and bidding farewell.