Luck always favors those who are prepared.

On this day, as soon as it was dawn, Jim crept up and pushed open the wooden door, and the early morning autumn wind made him shiver. It was dark and a faint mist was shrouded outside.

Jim wrapped himself tightly, went to a bucket outside the house, fetched a ladle of water, plunged his head into it and immersed himself for a while, and rubbed his face a few more times.

Jim is not a pure adventurer. In fact, he was a wanderer, and a few months ago, the ruthless lord had stripped him of his last small piece of land, so he had to wander around with his pregnant wife and two children, looking for any chance of survival. When he heard of the presence of gold mines in Toulon, he did not hesitate to sell the last of his possessions and come here in search of the legendary gold.

"Damn the weather! And the hateful profiteers!"

It was a small wooden house near the jungle, which he had built himself, because with the sudden increase in population, the prices of various rentals in the Toulon territory suddenly skyrocketed, and it was not cost-effective to rent a house. In early autumn, it is quite cold near the mountains, and although the frost has not yet fallen, the dew can easily wet your clothes and make you sick.

After a cursory wash, Jim's spirits lifted slightly. He crept into the room, and found two thick black pieces in a bowl on the table, and carried them in his arms, which were his breakfast.

Although the movement was small, it still inevitably alarmed his wife. There was a lot of confusion on the bed, but it was the wife who turned over.

"It's so early, why don't you rest for a while today?"

It wasn't because he was lazy that he didn't want to get up to make breakfast for him, and it wasn't because she was pregnant and physically handicapulated, in fact, she was only three months pregnant, and she was not to the point where she couldn't move around at will. Instead, lying down saves energy. Almost all of the family's food had to be concentrated on themselves, the only laborer who did heavy work, and usually his wife and children always boiled a little gruel to barely coax their stomachs.

"Come over early, hopefully today will get off to a good start!"

Jim tried to soften his expression and speak in a lighter tone, as if there was a lot of gold in the mountains waiting to be dug up. In fact, among the thousands of people who came to pan for gold, there were very few lucky ones, and many of them could not bear the suffering and left early.

The reason why Jim is still holding on is not only because he has no way out, but also because of his strong faith. A few days ago, he saw with his own eyes a lucky fellow digging up gold not far from him!

"Daddy, is there really gold in the mountains?"

His eldest son, Thomson, was also not asleep. He was curled up in a sackcloth, staring at himself curiously with a pair of dark eyes.

"Yes, there must be! Daddy will dig up gold today, and I'll bring you meat to eat!"

Jim touched his son's little head with some pity, and his nose was a little sour. The poor little fellow, who was only eight years old, had been emaciated like a hemp pole for a long time due to malnutrition, but he was also quite sensible in helping his mother with some household chores and taking care of his young sister.

"Really!?"

Meat is an inexplicable temptation for this family. I remember that the last time I ate meat was a few days ago, I occasionally picked up a rabbit that hit a tree for some reason, and the whole family had a delicious meal. When it comes to meat, the little guy's eyes are bright, and he unconsciously smashes his mouth, as if he is reminiscing about the deliciousness of the rabbit.

"Of course it's true! When did Daddy lie to you?"

Jim struggled to turn around, unable to bear to look at his wife and children. In the expectant eyes of his family, he slammed the door open and exhaled a long white breath.

There will be gold, and there will be bread!

The way into the mountains is still a long way off. That's why Jim wakes up early. And in the mist, some gloomy figures could be faintly seen, these were some friends who were as poor as him. True adventurers don't wake up so early, and they like to stay up all night squirting gold coins in the taverns run by the town's elves. It is said that there are enchanting and beautiful elf maids inside, and although they can't move, they can be pleasing to the eye when they look at them, right?

"Hi Jim!

"Good morning!

He said hello casually, and joined the crowd, silently pricking up his ears and listening carefully to everyone's discussions. After all this time, everyone got to know each other very well.

"I really envy Harry's guy! It is said that he has stopped digging for gold, but has bought a large piece of land in the town and become a master!"

Robert is a chatterbox, and he always likes to chatter and tell everyone about what he has seen. Harry was the lucky guy Jim had seen digging up the gold. He really didn't need to dig for gold himself, because the harvest of that day was enough for him to live the rest of his life comfortably.

"Hey, it's really more popular than people. You say, why don't we have this luck?"

As soon as he said it, Robert's eyes made no secret of his envy. In fact, after Harry left, everyone went to his mine to dig in, but unfortunately there were no new discoveries, and it seemed that all the gold had been dug up by Harry alone.

"Man, be patient, everything will be fine! I think there should be a vein here!"

Jim comforted his companions, but he was actually cheering himself up. If there is no harvest, it is estimated that he and his family will starve to death. Because the black bread in their arms was already their last ration.

By the time they reached the mountains, the sun was late. It is a steep slope to the north, sparsely populated with shrubs and weeds. Due to the early arrival, there were no people on the hillside, only a dark deep hole, which was dug by everyone.

Jim didn't sit at the mouth of the cave and finish his breakfast and order a pot of tobacco like everyone else. Instead, he drank some water from the crockpot he carried, tightened his stomach, lit the torch, and chose to go down the cave.

The entrance to the cave is deep and narrow, allowing only one person to crawl over and crawl. At a depth of about a dozen meters, this is Jim's masterpiece for a week. Jim stuck his torch in a floppy wall and began swinging his hoe.

Mining was a heavy physical job, and after about half of the prayers, he felt that he could not bear it. Mainly because it takes too much physical effort, and I haven't eaten anything since last night.

It's time to go out and take stock of the receipts.

Jim filled a frame with excavated dirt, then climbed out with difficulty with two straps on his shoulder. The sunlight outside was a little harsh, and he couldn't help but cover his forehead with his hand, and then he gasped heavily, and the rolling hot sweat washed his swarthy face out of white grooves.

He sat on the ground, took out the black bread, and then thought about it, broke off half of it and stuffed it back into his arms, swallowed it with the water, and then had time to look at his gain.

As usual, it was a basket mixed with stones and mud, as well as other unknown mixtures. Jim took a sieve, poured half of the dirt into the frame, and sifted it carefully, and the fine sand would be filtered through the sieve, and some of the large particles left on it might contain gold.

Jim examined them carefully, rubbing them almost one by one. In fact, it is impossible for the average person to be as careful as he is. As soon as they find anything golden, they carry these sieves to the base of the mountain, where there is a small stream that washes away the mud and sand that has covered the outside, leaving behind something as lovely as a melon seed, which is gold.

And Jim did this because he felt that his piety would surely move the gods and bring him luck, so he groped them one by one as if he were his own children.

After a long time, he sighed dejectedly. As usual, he didn't find anything golden, not even a bit. But just when he touched the last stone and was about to give up.

His heart thumped, and an inexplicable ecstasy suddenly filled his chest.

He had a strong premonition that he must have discovered something great this time! )