42: Chapter 42 Even hot pot isn't enough

Watching the black G-Wagon disappear in a flash, Zheng Jing rubbed his chin, curled his lip, and muttered to himself.

"What a thankless act of kindness. How the hell was I supposed to know you were just enjoying the scenery?

From a distance, I thought you were so depressed you were going to jump into the pool!

I gave it my all to jump in and haul you out, purely out of the goodness of my heart. And what do I get? Not a single 'thank you,' and on top of that, you get angry at me. You really don't know what's good for you."

The more Zheng Jing thought about it, the angrier he got. He felt he hadn't done anything wrong at all; as for slapping her, that was just a misunderstanding caused by the chaos.

"Right, exactly. I was just trying to save a life, I'm not a bad guy. This woman has such a temper; whoever marries her in the future is going to have a rough time!"

Zheng Jing consoled himself, and the little bit of guilt he had felt instantly vanished, so he decided to stop dwelling on it.

He looked down at his outfit and couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

Because he was covered in dust and sweat, he had specifically detoured to this secluded pool, just wanting to take a good bath and clean himself up.

Who would have thought that before he could even start bathing, he would run into such a chaotic misunderstanding.

Being naturally kind-hearted, he hadn't hesitated to jump into the water to save her. After struggling in the pool for a long time, he was soaked through again, and now his clothes were clinging tightly to his skin, feeling even more sticky and uncomfortable than before.

Zheng Jing looked around left and right, confirming that the G-Wagon woman was gone and there was no one else around.

He decided not to worry about it anymore and stripped down completely.

He took his dirty clothes to the water's edge, scrubbed them clean, wrung out the excess water with all his might, and laid them flat on the rocks by the pool.

Although it was already past four in the afternoon and the sun wasn't very strong, the large rocks had been baking in the scorching sun for most of the day and still retained a searing residual heat. With the heat from the rocks, it would help absorb quite a bit of moisture from the clothes. Even if they didn't dry completely, they would at least be a little more comfortable to put on later.

After settling his dirty clothes, Zheng Jing leaped into the pool, stretched out his limbs, and thoroughly washed himself from head to toe.

The cool pool water enveloped his whole body, washing away his fatigue and mud. All the sweat was rinsed away, leaving him feeling instantly refreshed and incredibly comfortable.

After swimming enough and getting thoroughly clean, he climbed ashore, waited for his clothes to semi-dry, got dressed, shook his head, and strode toward the camp.

By the time he returned to their lodging, it was getting dark.

Zhao the Second remembered that it was his turn today, so he had returned to the camp early and had already started a fire.

The rest of the group returned one after another, having finished their work.

Everyone had been busy in the mountains all day, all of them exhausted with sore backs and aching limbs, and more or less covered in dust and grass clippings.

By tacit agreement, the first thing everyone did upon returning was to walk to the small stream near the camp to wash their faces and bodies. After tidying up a bit and shaking off the dust of the day, they finally felt relaxed.

Once settled, they each pulled up a rock to sit in a circle, chatting while drinking tea during the gap before dinner was ready.

"How did everyone do today? Let's hear it," Boss Zhao asked first.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone responded one after another, taking turns talking about their harvest for the day.

Guo Jianjun took a sip of tea: "My harvest was average today. I panned a few pieces of silver scraps, which amounts to about eighty yuan or so."

"I'm about the same as you; it's enough for daily expenses," Zhao the Second added.

Guo Kui curled his lip: "Since when did we come Gold Panning just to cover daily expenses?"

Zhao the Second was stunned, then shook his head: "Well, there's no other way, right? It's fine, there will be gold waiting for us tomorrow!"

Guo Jianjun glanced at Guo Kui: "Look at you acting all smug. Did you find gold today?"

"Hehe..." Guo Kui shook his head: "Not really, but I dug up quite a few silver nuggets today. I reckon they're worth about five hundred yuan."

"Oh, not bad. A 'two-hundred-fifty' managed to dig up two 'two-hundred-fifties'," Boss Zhao joked.

"Screw you. Can't help it, it's all about skill. Unlike you guys, who aren't even worth two-hundred-fifty," Guo Kui shrugged and retorted.

Everyone was so annoyed by his teasing that they all wanted to beat him up.

But unfortunately, what he said was the truth; weren't they even less than 'two-hundred-fifties'?

After the few of them finished talking about their respective harvests, their gazes all turned simultaneously toward Zheng Jing, who was sitting to the side and hadn't spoken yet.

"Zheng Jing, it's your turn to report your harvest. Your 'newbie luck buff' from when you first arrived—it's the third day now, is it still effective?"

"Exactly. Ever since you joined our team, your luck has been ridiculously good. What good items did you pan today? Hurry up and take them out so we can broaden our horizons."

Zheng Jing listened to everyone's banter and smiled slightly.

His luck had been explosive today; he had dug up some high-quality gold fragments and silver pieces. The gold was valuable and too eye-catching, so naturally, he had to keep it hidden and couldn't bring it out. So, he slowly reached into his waist, pulled out a small iron can, opened the lid, poured out two thick, high-quality silver pieces, and placed them gently on the ground.

Zheng Jing's expression was calm and composed, as if he were just taking out two insignificant, ordinary trinkets.

Everyone present looked down and saw the two silver pieces on the ground clearly. Instantly, they all widened their eyes in unison, couldn't help but gasp collectively, and their faces were filled with intense shock.

"My God, good grief! These are worth at least seven or eight hundred yuan. Your luck is just too good!"

"Yeah, that's one 'two-hundred-fifty' more than my brother..."

"This newbie protection period has a long duration, huh? Why didn't I have this kind of luck back in the day?"

"Why not? Did you forget, kid?"

For a while, the sounds of banter and laughter in the camp rose and fell, making it incredibly lively.

"With this heaven-defying luck of yours, when we get back to Hezheng, you don't even need to treat us to hot pot; arranging a full Australian lobster feast would be a piece of cake!"

"I want to eat two..."

"What's so good about that stuff? In my opinion, it's not as satisfying as hot pot."

Everyone joked back and forth, full of envy for Zheng Jing's good luck.

Zheng Jing rubbed the back of his head and gave a simple, honest smile, thinking to himself: "This is just the beginning. If I let you guys know I found gold, wouldn't you all go crazy?"

While everyone was chatting and laughing, Zhao the Second's hands and feet never stopped moving.