Li Du said in disdain, “What guerilla? It was obviously a rebel army. A group of idiots,
indiscriminately killing innocent people, who deserved to be removed by the government
forces.”
“This is what happens in Congo and Zambia. To live here, you have to be ready for
battle at any time,” said Wang Zhongshi with a wry smile.
Having said this, he raised his shirt and revealed a black holster hanging from his waist.
Li Du shook his head and said, “This place is too dangerous. I don’t know what kind of
life you have spent in Congo during these years. Why are you still here? Wouldn’t it be
nice to go home?”
Wang Zhongshi took a deep breath, shook his head and said, “Congo is dangerous. But
once you get used to life here, you will understand this place is better than home.”
Li Du did not mean to preach, but he was scared, and subconsciously wanted to
persuade Wang Zhongshi to get away from this country.
The scene in the airport was still fresh in his mind. He estimated that about 40 to 50
people were killed or injured in the attack, with deaths making up at least half of that
number.
After he briefly described the situation, Wang Zhongshi said easily, “Oh, the guerrilla
fighters are really weasel rats, one worse than the other.”
Li Du was surprised. “What does that mean?”
Wang Zhongshi laughed. “They did not make much of a mess, only a few dozens were
dead and injured. It is no big deal. It was almost the same when we had a fight in the
mine.”
Li Du was shocked. Is Congo so dangerous?
Li Du asked, “Is the security here that bad? Such chaos? I haven’t seen any news at
home or in the United States, and I thought Africa was safe.”
Wang Zhongshi lit a cigarette, took a puff and said, “You know the Rwandan Genocide
killed millions of people, right?”
Li Du nodded. Wang Zhongshi said, “That was a major event, wasn’t it? Let me ask you,
in the States or our home country, how many people know about this matter?”
Not waiting for Li Du’s answer, he smiled sadly and said, “Not many, huh? No one cares
about Africa. The world has abandoned this place.”
Hearing this, the two young men who came with him could not help but take out their
cigarettes and light them up. Obviously, they felt very miserable about this.
Wang Zhongshi came over and wanted to take Li Du to his mine. The mine was only
about 100 kilometers away from the airport, and they would reach it in half an hour at a
good speed.
After the terrorist attack at the airport, however, Li Du was not in the mood to go
anywhere. He needed a rest in the hotel. Thus, Wang Zhongshi asked the middle-aged
driver to go out to buy wine and food, and they ate in the hotel.
Li Du was a foodie. Before he came to Africa, he studied local specialties and
delicacies.
Although Africa had was terribly unsafe, one thing was well known. There is plenty of
delicious foods here. In some places, the ingredients are in abundance, and people do
not need to work hard to get enough to eat.
It is because of this that some Africans have developed the habit of being lazy and living
a leisurely life.
There were no housing areas around the airport, and the food the driver bought was
nothing extraordinary, like steak, fried fish, fried meat, etc.
However, one of the fried meats was interesting. It was the famous local crocodile meat.
Sophie politely refused to eat the crocodile meat, shook her head and said, “I don’t want
to ruin everyone’s dinner, but crocodiles have a lot of parasites in their bodies. Some
parasite eggs are resistant to high temperatures, so frying them may not kill them.”
Wang Zhongshi said with a laugh, “Local crocodile meat is cooked with experience. It is
soaked in a kind of herbal solution to kill insects, then frozen and fried. It is safe.”
Li Du felt as if he was still looking at all those dead bodies, and had no interest in meat.
He took some fruit instead.
Congo was rich in all kinds of fruits, such as bananas, pineapples, watermelons,
mangoes, oranges. Even in winter, there were still many kinds of fruit for sale.
The driver was very efficient. He bought a lot of food.
When Li Du took the fruit, he chose a pineapple, and the tail of the pineapple was cut
open. When it was opened, he saw a dish similar to pineapple rice, but richer, with
cream and shrimps in it.
Wang Zhongshi asked Li Du why he came. Li Du felt that he should not trust others
easily, and kept a certain guarded attitude. He said, “Winston Group has a lot of
business in South Africa. I came here on their behalf to have a look at some mines.”
Remembering that Wang Zhongshi had been in Congo for many years, he had a
thought and asked, “Brother Wang, do you have diamond mines there? If you have one,
we can cooperate. The price would be good.”
Wang Zhongshi gave a wry smile. “You think highly of me, but we mine copper and iron
ore. We can’t afford to have diamond and gold mines.”
“Copper and iron ore mining are troublesome. The profit would be less, but the local rich
peoples have no interest in it. If those were diamonds and gold, they would kill us and
take over the mine,” said a man eating a crocodile skewer.
That reminded Li Du that he was not in a developed country like Australia. He was in
Africa, where the order was maintained by fists and force.
After two days of emergency repair at the airport, one of the least damaged runways
was repaired, and Li Du and his gang decided to leave despite their rush to South
Africa.
South Africa was not a secure area since black rule began, but it was much better
governed than places like Congo. At the very least, there were no guerrillas or rebels.
Congo was separated from South Africa by two countries, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe was also in a very bad situation at that time. Wang Zhongshi told that he had
been there once. Zimbabwe’s monetary system had collapsed and the economy was
doomed.
As it happened, the country was suffering from a severe drought. Food was scarce and
the country was in chaos. Some poor people even ate patties made of earth to stave off
their hunger.
Wang Zhongshi warned Li Du not to go to Zimbabwe, where locals would try to rob
outsiders by any means they could. For the locals, yellow-skinned people like them
were like walking wallets.
After this series of events, Li Du’s vision of Africa had dissipated and he just wanted to
arrive in South Africa safely.
Fortunately, the violence at the airport had been the end of their bad luck, and the plane
made it all the way to Johannesburg, Africa’s golden city.
Having just experienced the chaos of Congo and the poverty of Zimbabwe, Li Du and
the others felt slightly uncomfortable when they arrived in Johannesburg.
Johannesburg was the largest city and economic capital of South Africa. The whole city
was modern and prosperous. It was as noisy and bustling as a big city in Europe or
America. The buildings had many different features and styles of architecture.
Cole got in touch with the man they were about to meet, Coffey the lion hunter. His
name was actually a long one, followed by a series of other names, but its pronunciation
was so odd that Li Du could not remember it.
The lion hunter, a local tycoon, arranged a Lincoln to pick them up.
As the car entered the city, Li Du and the others looked at Johannesburg, which was
like an American city with tall buildings, heavy traffic with white and black people all
around the streets.
