77: Chapter 77 What's the point of panning for gold if you don't dig?

Zheng Jing raised his hand to point at a plant on the slope beside him and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Hey, you three, look over here! Guess what good thing I found!"

Scattered several dozen meters away, Guo Jianjun and The Zhao Brothers, who were busy scouring the area, stopped in their tracks upon hearing Zheng Jing's voice.

Guo Jianjun hollered back, "What is it?"

Boss Zhao looked at Guo Jianjun with a look that said, "Are you an idiot?" and replied, "Do you even need to ask? What else good could there be in this abandoned mine pit? It must be that he's found a haul!"

After saying that, he shouted toward Zheng Jing, "Jingzi, did you dig up Grandpa Gold or run into Grandma Silver?"

Zheng Jing waved his hands hurriedly, "No, no, it's neither gold nor silver..."

"Then why are you making such a fuss? I thought you'd found a haul." Boss Zhao, who had a short temper, interrupted before Zheng Jing could finish.

"Hey, don't be so impatient, Old Zhao..." Zheng Jing shook his head helplessly. "Even though it's not gold or silver, it really is a good thing. If you don't believe me, come over and take a look!"

"Tch..." Boss Zhao scoffed and said, "Not coming. It's a waste of my time. Just tell me what it is."

Seeing that Boss Zhao and the others were unwilling to come over, Zheng Jing didn't force them. He chuckled, "I found a milk root here, and it's huge. You can tell just by looking at it that it's got some age to it!"

Milk root, scientifically known as Ficus hirta, is named as such because the plant exudes a milky-white sap when its branches are broken, and the dried roots have a natural, rich milky fragrance. It is a favorite medicinal herb that doubles as food among the common people in Northern Fujian, Eastern Fujian, and the Liangguang regions. I've heard it even has some aphrodisiac effects... Especially when stewing old hen or pig trotter soup, if you add a few pieces of milk root, the taste is simply heavenly!

"Hey? That really is a good thing. How big is it?" Upon hearing it was milk root, Guo Jianjun immediately perked up.

Last year, there was a time he had found gold and had a good harvest. When he went back, Cousin-in-law Li Lanwei stewed an ox penis with milk root for him as a reward... That night, he didn't know if it was the effect of the ox penis or the power of the milk root, but he remembered that Cousin-in-law Li Lanwei had begged for mercy because she couldn't take it anymore. The effect was just... tsk tsk tsk!

Zheng Jing gestured at Guo Jianjun's crotch from a distance and laughed, "I checked, and it's about as big as yours, Brother Jun."

"For real? That's definitely huge!" Guo Jianjun said with a straight face. "Must dig it up, must dig it up! Such a big milk root—the soup made from it will be incredibly nourishing. Can't miss out on this!"

Zheng Jing nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking. I plan to dig it up, dry it, and take it back to Hezheng. We can split it up; everyone will have enough for at least two pots of soup."

Hearing their conversation, Boss Zhao laughed. "Jingzi, if it's really only as big as Old Guo's thing, don't bother digging it up. It won't even register on the scale..."

Zheng Jing and Zhao the Second burst into laughter upon hearing this. Guo Jianjun pouted, "Go on, get out of here. One of mine is worth three of yours."

After the joke, Guo Jianjun shouted toward Zheng Jing, "Are you going to dig it? Or do you need us to come over and help?"

Zheng Jing shook his head. "That's not necessary. I can just dig it out easily."

"Alright, then thanks for the hard work." Guo Jianjun said politely, then suddenly remembering something, he quickly added, "Oh right, Jingzi, Brother Jun is telling you this for your own good. You're still young and unmarried; you can't handle something like milk root. Listen to your brother—give your share to me, and Brother Jun will buy you some Huazi cigarettes to smoke!"

Boss Zhao spat, "You really are shameless. You won't go dig it yourself, yet you want him to give you his share after he digs it up?"

Guo Jianjun's old face turned red. "What do you know?" After saying that, he also felt that Boss Zhao's words made some sense, so he said to Zheng Jing, "How about I come and dig it instead?"

Zheng Jing thought to himself that that wouldn't do. What if you come over to dig the milk root and end up digging up the silver? Who would that belong to? So he hurriedly shook his head. "Really, no need. This won't even take me two strikes. Brother Jun, you guys just stay there and wait."

Guo Jianjun hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, if you get tired, just holler, and I'll come over and take over."

"Alright..." Zheng Jing replied, and using the excuse of digging the milk root, he began to dig up the soil in a legitimate fashion.

The other three did not move; they remained where they were, holding their metal detectors and continuing to slowly search for treasure in the surrounding area.

This milk root was indeed quite old, and the roots underground were tangled and intertwined. It wasn't as easy to handle as Zheng Jing had claimed. After struggling for a long time and breaking into a sweat, he finally managed to dig it out completely, roots and all.

He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead and looked at the thick roots. "Good heavens, there's this much? Then this hard work really wasn't in vain."

Zheng Jing wasn't bragging. Just these milk roots, if laid out at the morning market in Hezheng County, could sell for at least a few dozen yuan! It was no worse than digging up a piece of silver.

But Zheng Jing's real goal wasn't this valuable milk root! It was the silver hidden underneath, right next to the milk root!

While tidying up the milk root, Zheng Jing pretended to lose his grip. The metal detector in his hand swayed slightly and fell straight into the deep hole he had dug.

"Beep, beep, beep!!" The sharp, urgent alarm of the instrument sounded instantly.

Hearing this sound, the three people searching in the distance immediately stopped what they were doing. Guo Jianjun, with a face full of confusion, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Jingzi, aren't you digging for milk root? Why did the metal detector go off?"

Zheng Jing looked confused, scratched his head, and feigned ignorance. "I don't know what's going on either. I just finished tidying up the milk root, and my hand slipped, causing the metal detector to fall into the pit. Before I could even go to pick it up, it started beeping."

On the other side, Zhao the Second thought for a moment and immediately figured out the reason. "Jingzi, I reckon there's something down there, but it's buried too deep. The maximum detection depth of our metal detectors is only fifty centimeters. Before, the soil layer was too thick, and it was in a blind spot, so there was no signal. But when your metal detector fell into the hole you dug for the milk root, the probe was just close enough to reach the object underneath, so it started beeping."

Hearing Zhao the Second's analysis, everyone felt it made a lot of sense. Boss Zhao exclaimed to Zheng Jing, "Jingzi, your luck is truly incredible. You can even find underground treasure while digging up a medicinal herb."

Guo Jianjun shook his head. "Can't be jealous of that."

Relying on the precise hints provided by the system, Zheng Jing knew very well that the silver was not far from the edge of the pit where he had dug out the milk root. As long as he dug another twenty centimeters or so down along the left wall of the pit, he would definitely get it!

But out loud, he still had to pretend. "Whether it's a treasure is hard to say right now. Maybe I'll dig for a long time only to find a rusty piece of iron and waste my effort for nothing."

Guo Jianjun nodded in agreement. "While what you say has some truth to it, since the metal detector has already gone off, you have to dig down and take a look. As the saying goes, 'Good things sink to the bottom.' Maybe, way down deep, it's gold?"

"Of course. If you're not going to dig just because you're worried it might be scrap iron, then what's the point of coming here to pan for gold?" Boss Zhao added.