pjbooks Chapter 70: Harvest Time
Chapter 70: Harvest Time
The equipment keeps running!
Everyone worked in an orderly manner, like tightly wound gears, constantly in motion.
As the last rays of the setting sun fell, the machine stopped running.
Everyone was drenched in sweat, and their tense nerves finally relaxed at this moment.
The soil that took a week to excavate was washed in just one day. At this rate, it would take three days to wash it all.
After eating and taking a shower, everyone went straight to sleep.
After a long day of intense work, with their nerves constantly on edge, all they want now is to rest.
Jason also takes care of logistical support.
I definitely can't drink alcohol, since this kind of work requires complete focus.
Jason prepared plenty of caffeinated drinks like coffee and instructed the two chefs, Xing Ronghua, to keep the food readily available for the next two days.
For the next two days, the entire mine operated at full capacity!
What followed was a series of minor problems, such as hydraulic oil leaks, sudden equipment breakdowns, and even water pipes suddenly bursting.
Little Hart became the busiest person in the mine; often, as soon as one small problem was fixed, another would appear.
It wasn't noticeable under normal circumstances, but in the last two days, it has made Little Hart feel unprecedented pressure.
"Jason, you need to hire more people~" Little Hart, covered in grease, plopped down on a stool and said, panting heavily.
Jason handed over a bottle of water and said, "They're already confessing; we should hear back in the next few days."
"Then you'd better hurry, or I'll be exhausted." After saying that, he drank a bottle of mineral water in one gulp and leaned back in his chair.
I'm so tired!
He hasn't been clean for the past two days. He can only wash his hands when he eats and take a shower before going to bed at night. The rest of the time he is dealing with grease and grime.
The operators can rest when the machines break down, but he can't; the entire mine's maintenance work falls on his shoulders.
All he wants to do right now is get a good night's sleep and rest.
Jason was also keeping an eye on everything in the mine, especially the machinery that Nobel had disposed of.
It can definitely be used, but the failure rate is indeed a bit high. Once it has been running for a long time, there will be problems in one place or another.
Once sufficient manpower is available, the machines will keep running even when people are resting. If such mechanical failures occur frequently at that time, it will definitely affect the work progress.
The solutions are simple: either replace it with a new one or increase the availability of maintenance personnel!
Jason ultimately decided to choose the second option. While replacing the old one would solve the problem quickly, the downside was obvious: it would be quite expensive.
Although he doesn't lack money now, compared to the output of the mine, further investment would only result in losses.
Of course, these figures only represent the reserves that have been detected so far.
Moreover, this can quickly hone the skills of maintenance personnel, making the entire team more professional.
This will be more beneficial for future work!
However, Jason also decided to conduct a thorough maintenance and upkeep of all the equipment in the mine after this cleanup.
"Little Hart! Over here!"
Little Hart had barely sat down and hadn't had a chance to rest when a call came through the walkie-talkie.
"Well, I'm busy again," Little Hart said with a wry smile, propping himself up to stand up.
In the distance.
Xing Ronghua and Li Guoming sat under the eaves, drinking tea, eating the food they had prepared, and enjoying their hard-won rest time.
Xing Ronghua sighed, "No industry is easy to work in."
"Isn't this easy to do?" Li Guoming chuckled, unsure of what to say in response to Xing Ronghua's words.
He's been here for several years now, and as a Chinese person, he's faced discrimination all the time. He's done all sorts of dirty and tiring jobs. The only reason he doesn't put up with this treatment is because he can earn more money here.
Although he is a chef, he has been here for so long and has dreamed of getting rich, but unfortunately, no gold rush team is willing to take him on.
Even getting into Jason's gold rush team was thanks to Xing Ronghua's luck. For him, being tired wasn't scary; what was scary was being poor!
"Old Li, how much gold do you think we'll find this time?" Xing Ronghua asked with some anticipation. This was his first time seeing gold panning, and although it had nothing to do with him, he was still quite excited.
Li Guoming looked around, lowered his voice, and said, "I heard that there were more than two hundred ounces of gold last time they were panned, and there weren't many people then. This time there will probably be even more."
"So many," Xing Ronghua murmured.
"That's a lot?!" Li Guoming said mysteriously, "I heard that our boss started out in Alaska, where he panned for thousands of ounces of gold."
As a skilled communicator, although he hadn't been there long, he had already become familiar with Andy and Brent, and obtained most of his information from them.
"Old Xing, what do you think? Should we try panning for gold?"
"Too many people around here have made their fortunes by panning for gold. Just imagine, if we're lucky enough to dig up a huge gold nugget, we'd be set for life!"
Li Guoming's words sparked Xing Ronghua's imagination, but she ultimately shook her head, saying, "Don't overthink it. Just do our job well."
It is important for a person to know their own limitations. Gold is very tempting, but only if you can find it. He was just a cook who had always worked in the kitchen. He had no experience in panning for gold.
"You just don't dare to take a chance," Li Guoming said helplessly, speechless at Xing Ronghua's lack of courage.
Xing Ronghua smiled and did not refute, "It's not that I'm afraid to try, but firstly, I lack experience, and secondly, our whole family depends on us to support ourselves. I'm already very satisfied with our current life."
"Tch~"
The two chatted idly, and after finishing their meal, they got busy again.
The security team was constantly patrolling, especially since these two days were the time for panning for gold, and Dolino and his two companions were on high alert.
They didn't want an accident to happen so soon after they started working, especially since it was their old friend's son's mine.
The three of them took turns resting these past two days. It was fine during the day, but mainly at night, when the area was sparsely populated and some thieves were waiting for that time.
Two days passed in a flash!
Around 2 PM on the third day.
When the last bucket of soil was thrown into the feed inlet by Edda, the washing operation was officially completed.
Everyone gathered around the mining machine. When the water flowing out of the machine became clear, Little Hart pressed the stop button and then let out a heavy sigh of relief.
We managed to get through those three days.
No one made a move; all eyes were on Jason, awaiting his instructions.
"Let's get started, what are you all standing around for?" With Jason's order, everyone gathered around the gold sluice of the mining machine.
Mother Lillian had already prepared the brushes and buckets, and under Swail's direction, everyone had a clear division of labor.
The golden hue immediately catches the eye, with each gold-plating channel filled with dazzling gold, a truly delightful sight!
Although everyone knew from the beginning that the harvest from this panning would be good, they still couldn't help but laugh when the gold was presented to them.
"This time it's definitely over four hundred ounces!" Brent hugged Andy tightly, his voice filled with excitement.
"Let go, let go, you little brat, go easy on me!" Andy struggled with difficulty, his expression twisted with pain and joy, making him exceptionally comical.
"Is there really that much gold in this mine?" The newcomer, Cage, looked at the dense gold in the ore washing machine and was somewhat incredulous.
"That's a lot? That just shows your lack of experience," Raul said with a sneer, though he was being disparaging, a smile played on his lips.
For a seasoned gold prospector, he had seen countless gold transactions, but every time he saw the glittering gold, his heart would pound!
Albert and Old Hart didn't go over to join the fun; they stood a short distance away, each with a cigar in their mouth.
Albert remained calm, exhaled a puff of smoke, and said with a cigar in his hand, "Looks like we've had quite a bit to gain this time."
"Come on, you check the gold prices every day when work stops, how could you not know?" Old Hart drawled out the last part, bluntly exposing Albert's mistake, his tone full of sarcasm.
Albert glanced sideways, said nothing, and simply put his cigar back in his mouth, which made Lillian behind him burst out laughing.
On the other side, Swail had already started operating with everyone.
First, drain the gold-rich slurry from the discharge port. After it is completely drained, gradually clean the gold from the gold slurry tank!
Clean carefully with a brush, making sure not to miss any spot where gold might have been left!