43: Chapter 43 Today is probably going to be a favorable day.

It wasn't long before the boxes of fluffy, round grains of white rice were fully steamed.

The rich, sweet aroma of rice drifted on the breeze, permeating the entire campsite and making the stomachs of the group, who had been busy all day, growl incessantly.

In the depths of these mountains, living conditions were primitive; there was no way to light a fire for stir-frying, let alone talk about having meat or fish.

Therefore, everyone's dinner was very simple: a box of white rice with sun-dried eggplant and crispy pickled radish cubes, plus a single oil-rich, golden-yolked salted duck egg per person, which was already considered a luxury.

It wasn't that they were being stingy with themselves, but there was truly no other choice.

In such a remote place, even if you had money, there were no vegetables to buy!

If they drove to the nearest town for meals and lodging, the time and fuel costs wasted on the commute would make it not worth it.

So, aside from the meat in the self-heating rice meals, wanting to eat a proper hot meal with meat was hard—very hard.

Only when Zheng Jing accidentally caught a wild snake like yesterday could the group improve their diet for once.

Otherwise, getting a taste of meat was basically a pipe dream.

However, there was an unexpected surprise today; on his way back to camp, Zhao the Second discovered a large patch of thriving bitter greens on a mountain slope, fresh, tender, and incredibly succulent.

He immediately picked a large handful to bring back to camp, cleaned them carefully, and tossed them directly into boiling water for soup. Besides a pinch of fine salt for seasoning, no other condiments were added, preserving the unique, rustic, and refreshing flavor of the bitter greens to the greatest extent possible—the taste was exceptionally authentic.

With the weather getting increasingly hot and muggy, everyone spent their days working under the scorching sun in the mountains, making them prone to feeling agitated and overheated.

A bowl of this cool, refreshing bitter green soup slowly sliding down their throats was not only delicious but also helped relieve heat, quench thirst, and dispel fatigue.

This kind of pure, natural mountain delicacy was something the group might not even trade for a bowl of fragrant braised pork.

The five of them sat in a circle, eating and drinking heartily, without any rules about remaining silent during meals, chatting casually about the various interesting things they encountered while Gold Panning in the mountains during the day.

Zheng Jing joined in the banter, but for some reason, he subconsciously never mentioned the ridiculous rescue mishap that occurred by the pool that afternoon.

Perhaps deep down, he felt that he and the rich woman driving the luxury G-Wagon were parallel lines that would never intersect—just a chance encounter and a misunderstanding, and they would likely never meet again, so there was no need to bring it up for conversation; he simply left it unsaid.

The simple and humble mountain dinner left everyone feeling comfortable and satisfied.

After cleaning up the bowls, chopsticks, and other items, and having some tea and a smoke, they returned to the vehicle to lie down and rest.

The Gold Panning industry was just like that—regardless of whether there was a harvest or not, the workload was immense.

After a full day, everyone was physically and mentally exhausted, and before long, the sound of snoring rose and fell within the iveco.

The night passed peacefully.

The next day, as the horizon glowed with the first light of dawn, the morning forest felt cool and crisp.

Everyone rose early to wash up, had a few bites of dry rations with a cup of old white tea for breakfast, and then picked up their respective tools and lunches to head out separately, starting another day of hard work.

"Heavenly spirits, earth spirits, please bless me with some gold today!"

That guy Guo Kui was walking while pressing his palms together, praying toward the sky.

Zheng Jing continued along the same route as yesterday.

In that area yesterday, whether it was gold or silver, the size and purity were much better than the places they had visited before.

The only downside was that the path here was indeed difficult to walk—not only was it rugged and uneven, but it was also filled with weeds and shrubs.

After walking for about half an hour, the system in his mind reacted.

At the same time, the metal detector also let out a beeping sound.

"Interesting."

Zheng Jing was delighted; the Radar System in his mind displayed a bright cluster of light just a little over ten centimeters underground, not far in front of him.

Zheng Jing aimed at the spot, took one shovel with his small iron spade, and dug the item up.

Brushing away the surface sand, a five or six-gram piece of silver appeared before his eyes.

"How is this any different from picking it up? It took no effort at all!"

Zheng Jing felt wonderful inside.

He tossed the silver piece precisely into the small iron canister hanging at his side; the crisp clinking sound put him in a great mood.

"Digging up a find so easily early in the morning, it looks like today is a smooth run!"

After slightly calming the joy in his heart, Zheng Jing didn't delay, patted the dirt off his hands, and continued moving forward slowly, keeping his eyes fixed on the System Radar in his mind, not missing a single inch of ground.

According to the experience everyone had summarized, where there was a find, there were usually more nearby—it was just like fishing; where there was one, there was a nest.

Sure enough, after walking only a few steps, the System Radar in his mind lit up again.

This cluster of light was even brighter than the previous one, showing it was buried over fifty centimeters deep underground.

Zheng Jing's eyes lit up, and he immediately perked up, squatting down to find the exact center indicated by the system.

This light cluster was buried deeper than the silver piece from just now.

His small shovel wasn't effective enough for the depth, so Zheng Jing switched to a small hoe and began to dig slowly, clearing away the topsoil, gravel, and weed roots bit by bit. His wrists worked non-stop, and fine beads of sweat soon seeped out on his forehead.