Xu Mingxuan half-believingly took the yellow stone from Chen Lan, which indeed had some weight and felt heavy in his hand. It also reflected golden light under the sun, but he couldn't be sure if it was a nugget.
"Lan'er, I don't really know about these things. Could it be a stone containing copper?" he asked.
Chen Lan considered this possibility. "Brother Mingxuan, whether it's gold or copper, it doesn't matter. Let's keep looking. We might even find a copper mine here! If so, we'd be contributing to the country."
Chen Lan took the stone back from Xu Mingxuan and decided to use a simple method. She bit down on it, leaving shallow teeth marks. Her confidence grew, and her mood lifted instantly.
Xu Mingxuan watched her action in surprise. "Lan'er, does biting it confirm it's a gold nugget?"
Chen Lan smiled. "Yes! Gold is softer and heavier than copper. When I bit it, I left shallow teeth marks, so I'm certain this stone is definitely a gold nugget."
She then stored the nugget in her system's warehouse. Turning to Xiang Xi, she said, "Little Watermelon, why don't you wait here for us? Mingxuan Ge and I will search along this gully."
Xiang Xi replied, "No, Little Pouch, I'm fine. More hands make lighter work, so I'll help too. But, Little Pouch, I've heard that gold panning is done in river sand. This mountain gully doesn't even have a drop of water?"
Chen Lan pointed to the stones in the gully. "Little Watermelon, look closely at these stones. Don't they have rounded edges, as if they've been washed by a river? This indicates that before the drought, this was a small stream. Let's follow the flow of this stream to search."
Chen Lan was so certain they might find more stones here because she had seen statistical reports in her past life. These reports stated that none of the known gold nugget sites were in high mountains; most were found in placer deposits. Natural gold deposits often appeared in clusters and streaks. It was later proven that many gold mining areas were often found near numerous natural gold nuggets, sometimes even clusters of them.
The three separated and searched carefully along the direction of the stream's flow, heads down. After searching for a while with no success, they began to feel discouraged.
Xiang Xi grumbled, "Little Pouch, this is like searching for a needle in a haystack! Isn't there a simpler way?"
Hearing Xiang Xi, Xu Mingxuan retorted, "You kid, always dreaming. If there were a simple way to pan for gold, our country wouldn't have poor people. Everyone would just pan for gold."
Xu Mingxuan's words silenced Xiang Xi, but they reminded Chen Lan. "That's right! How could I forget? I still have my treasure-hunting artifact that I haven't used in a while."
With that thought, she immediately opened the system's search function with her mind, scanning for gold ore within a fifty-meter radius. This cheating artifact was truly useful. Two small red dots instantly appeared on the system screen. Chen Lan immediately followed the path indicated by the screen and found a small, thumb-sized gold nugget under a rock, and then a fist-sized gold nugget under a pile of dry grass.
Chen Lan's actions stunned Xu Mingxuan and Xiang Xi. Xiang Xi, ever the sycophant, ran up to Chen Lan with a smile. "Little Pouch, are you tired? Take a break. Tell me where it is, and I'll help you get it."
Chen Lan, holding the fist-sized gold nugget and studying it closely, replied without looking up, "I'm fine! I'm not tired at all. This little task is nothing. You hold this for me, and I'll find more myself."
She handed the gold nugget in her hand to Xiang Xi. Xiang Xi happily took it, caressing it carefully and muttering, "It's true! Little Pouch wasn't wrong. Another pie has fallen from the sky."
Just then, Xu Mingxuan spoke, "Lan'er, Xiang Xi, that's enough. Let's stop here. We can now basically confirm there's a gold mine nearby. You two, give me the two gold nuggets you have."
Xiang Xi immediately asked warily, "Brother Mingxuan, why do you want them? Little Pouch found both of these gold nuggets, so they naturally belong to Little Pouch! Brother Mingxuan, are you trying to snatch Little Pouch's gold nuggets?"
Xu Mingxuan was so amused by Xiang Xi's words that he laughed and scolded, "You kid, what are you always thinking about? You actually thought I'd snatch Lan'er's gold nuggets? Don't you use your brain to think, whatever Lan'er has is also mine! Why would I need to snatch it?"
Xiang Xi stubbornly retorted, "Brother Mingxuan, don't try to argue. That's exactly what you meant."
Seeing that Xiang Xi didn't believe him, Xu Mingxuan became serious. "Little Watermelon, I'm telling you, you're overthinking it, and you still won't admit it. Do you know that the mountains are the country's, the game is the country's, and the mineral deposits underground are also the country's! I need to take these two gold nuggets as proof that we aren't lying. Otherwise, who would believe us without evidence? If we say there's a gold mine in this mountain, we need to hand the evidence over to the country. Only then will the country send professionals to survey here. Once the survey confirms a gold mine, the country will arrange for people to mine it."
Upon hearing Xu Mingxuan's words, Xiang Xi deflated like a pricked balloon and reluctantly handed the gold nugget to Xu Mingxuan, muttering, "What a wasted joy. I knew it! How could a pie fall from the sky? Even if it did, it wouldn't be mine!"
With this small interlude, Chen Lan and Xiang Xi, who were initially overjoyed, became as listless as wilted eggplants.
Er Zhuang pulled them up one by one. Er Zhuang curiously asked, "Brother Xiang Xi, what did you find down there? Why did it take so long?"
Xiang Xi sighed weakly and replied, "Er Zhuang, don't ask. I'm feeling down. It's hard to explain, and better not to say anything. Speaking of it brings tears to my eyes."
Seeing Xiang Xi's dramatic display, Chen Lan's own gloomy mood instantly vanished.