26: Chapter 26 feels so good, it's filled up!

Gold Panning is essentially the same as fishing; when there is a "bite," one always forgets the passage of time, and in the blink of an eye, it's noon.

Although it is only early May and not yet the height of summer, the sun is still quite intense.

The closer it got to noon, the higher the sun climbed, scorching the ground relentlessly, leaving one feeling dizzy and one's body sticky.

After backfilling the large deep pit, Zheng Jing felt a bit tired.

He had woken up at four in the morning today, and after taking a car to the mining area, he had been burying his head in digging for treasure, without taking even a short break the entire morning.

Before, he was sustained entirely by the excitement of digging up treasures, so he didn't notice the fatigue at all, but now that he had put down his hoe, the exhaustion surged up instantly throughout his body.

"I'm still a bit too weak, I need to look into strengthening my physical training."

Zheng Jing lifted his arms and legs, feeling only soreness and weakness.

His waist was stiff, and his stomach was growling with hunger, with waves of emptiness drilling straight into his chest. At that moment, he didn't want to move a muscle; he just wanted to find a cool, shady spot to have a good rest.

Fortunately, not far from him was a dense small grove. The leaves were layered and intertwined, blocking the scorching sun completely. From time to time, mountain breezes blew through the woods, making it cool and airy.

Nearby, there was also a small ditch with water trickling through it.

"Great spot, I'll have lunch right here."

Zheng Jing didn't say a word, walked straight into the small grove, washed his hands, and found a relatively clean and dry spot to sit down.

As the saying goes, it's good to enjoy the shade under a big tree. Leaning against a large tree trunk, feeling the refreshing mountain breeze, most of his exhaustion dissipated.

He couldn't help but groan in comfort.

After recovering a bit, Zheng Jing opened his backpack and took out the self-heating rice and pure milk he had prepared in advance.

This was what everyone had agreed upon: everyone carried their own lunch, and they would eat wherever they were digging, without having to run back to the car and waste time.

He tore open the outer packaging of the self-heating rice, opened the ingredient packets, poured them into the lunch box, added water, and mixed it well. Then, he placed the heating pack into the bottom outer box, poured in cold water, covered it, and let it heat.

Before long, the box started to get hot, and wisps of steam slowly escaped through the gaps.

A rich aroma of meat immediately wafted out.

Having been busy all morning, Zheng Jing was already starving.

Looking at the bubbling potato and beef brisket self-heating rice, his mouth couldn't help but water.

Seeing that the time was about right, Zheng Jing opened the lid.

Inside the box, the sauce was rich and thick, the beef brisket was stewed until soft and flavorful, with a slight soy sauce aroma.

Even the potatoes were soft and sweet, having absorbed the meat juices.

Paired with the fragrant rice, a burst of savory grease mixed with the aroma of rice melted in his mouth, extremely rich!

He was already famished, and this braised beef brisket over rice seemed even more tempting.

Zheng Jing didn't care about his image and began to wolf down the food, his hunger being filled little by little, and his previously empty stomach instantly feeling full.

"Burp..."

Zheng Jing couldn't help but let out a satisfied belch.

"So that's how comfortable it feels to be full~"

"Awesome!"

This braised beef brisket rice was indeed delicious; after all, you get what you pay for!

When he was shopping at the supermarket, Zheng Jing hadn't worried about the price, choosing the more expensive ones that came with plenty of oil and meat.

Because he understood clearly that the whole point of coming out Gold Panning was to make money, and one of the main purposes of making money was to satisfy his own cravings.

You can't save much money just by being frugal.

Not only does being stingy mistreat yourself, but you also can't guarantee your physical strength, and Gold Panning itself requires a lot of energy!

Only by eating and drinking well and resting properly can you build up your energy and have the strength to keep digging.

Otherwise, just relying on brute force to endure won't last long.

It's just like certain other things; you have to have skill and technique, and it's never something you can accomplish just by pounding away with brute force.

After eating and drinking his fill, Zheng Jing made sure to clean up the food packaging and stuff it into his backpack.

People who make a living in the mountains must know how to cherish the forests, because only by protecting the mountains will the mountains, in turn, reward you. And vice versa!

Seeing that the sun outside was very scorching, Zheng Jing decided to close his eyes and nap for a while to recharge, so he would have more energy for his grand treasure-digging plan in the afternoon!

Closing his eyes didn't mean he could fall asleep immediately. With nothing to do, Zheng Jing silently calculated his gains from the morning in his mind. The more he calculated, the more pleased he became, and the corners of his mouth couldn't stop curling upwards.

First, a small piece of silver, which could sell for a hundred yuan; then he dug up a small gold nugget, worth a full thousand yuan or so; plus the tungsten steel drill bit he had accidentally dug up just now—all in all, his net income for the morning directly exceeded three thousand yuan!

This amount of money, back when he was delivering food in the Magic City, would have taken him at least a dozen days of working day and night to earn!

But today, just a small test of his skills in the mountains, and he earned it in half a day!

Zheng Jing felt very satisfied in his heart and couldn't help but shout: "The future is promising, the future is promising!!"

But that is another story. As the saying goes, some are happy, while others are inevitably worried, because human joys and sorrows are not shared.