Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Jade was worth a lot, so it would stand to reason that a jade mine was worth a staggering amount of money. Despite that, Li Du did not mean to open this mining area — and that was the truth. He was just here to find an item. Li Du knew very clearly that even if he did discover a jade mine, he would not be getting much out of it.
The body that really controlled the jade mines was the Myanmar government. If a new mining area were discovered, the government would do everything in its power to take over the rights to it. Even if the Myanmar government did not intervene, Li Du would still have no rights to the mine. Because he was not a citizen of the country, he had no right to open one.
Perhaps he could find a local to stand in for him, but this was a rather unreliable plan. Jade mines involved a long, long chain of interest. The average person was not competent enough to be a spokesperson or control this mining area, but someone who was above average and capable of doing so would not be someone Li Du could control. On top of that, he was already rich enough and had enough gemstone mines in his possession.
Jade mines, in general, were really just chump change to Li Du. True, they could rake in a pretty penny for him, but the money was nothing more than numbers to him. On the other hand, it could actually pose many problems for him which might be difficult for him to tackle.
This mine, on the other hand, had reserves that were not something to scoff at — it was quite a bit of a property. Li Du definitely did not want this mining area to be discovered. This was especially so because the whole of Wooku Town would fear the ruin of their town the moment news of the mine got out. He was not selfish enough to ruin an entire town just to earn some money.
Maung Kyaw Zin did not seem convinced, but he smiled and said, “That’s good, but you’re overthinking. How would you finding jade on the mountain harm our town?”
He thought this over for a bit, and then added, “You’re not deciding to cut down a whole bunch of trees, are you? Without the trees to ground the earth and boulders, landslides could occur during heavy storms. That would harm our town indeed.”
Li Du chuckled. “Why would I do that? That would be illegal.”
Maung Kyaw Zin nodded and replied, “Yeah, I’m just joking. I trust that you’re not someone who would go overboard. However, seriously, Boss Li, there is no jade on the mountain. You’re just wasting your time here.”
Li Du responded, “I understand. Please believe me, mayor, I’m not here to look for a jade mine. I’m here for something else.”
“And what would that be, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Li Du could only laugh in the face of Maung Kyaw Zin’s curiosity. “I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this.”
Maung Kyaw Zin nodded, then said, “You said you needed my help just now? How can I help you?”
Li Du let the man change topics. He handed over the list that Driver had written up earlier. “We need a few things. Could you help us buy them?”
Maung Kyaw Zin skimmed through the list. “Oh, these? No problem. I’ll have them sent over by tomorrow morning at the latest.”
Li Du was thrilled. “Thank you so much.”
Maung Kyaw Zin smiled as he waved him off. He then started strolling about with his hands crossed behind his back. Brother Wolf eyed the man and frowned. “I think the mayor’s acting a little strange today.”
“What do you mean?” Li Du was puzzled. “Why am I not seeing it?”
Brother Wolf said, “He came straight for us because he was looking for us, right?”
“Yeah.”
Brother Wolf went on, “Here’s the thing: how did he know we were here? We’ve been careful to cover our tracks, right?”
Li Du said, “Maybe he asked Du Enhai or something. It’s not like nobody knew we were here.”
Brother Wolf shook his head. “He didn’t ask Du Enhai. Du Enhai took the ten thousand dollars and left for Hpakant. He didn’t linger at the town.”
Li Du countered, “It’s simple: why don’t we just call him and check?”
Brother Wolf did not respond. After quite some time, he repeated, “I think something’s up with the mayor.”
The mechanical arm was non-functioning as long as it was not fixed. Li Du wanted to continue excavating, so he could only rely on tools like pickaxes and hydraulic hammers, which would also cost him a lot of manpower.
The excavators and other large machinery he had set up earlier could not be used either. The pit was just too narrow for cars to drive into. Unless he launched a large-scale excavation like the one he did at Hpakant, there was no way to put these tools to use.
When it was afternoon, Li Du sat on a clean boulder and sipped beer as he munched on fried chicken. The town served tasty meat: local farmers used free-range farming when it came to raising chickens, ducks, fish, and goats. There was no fodder involved so the meat was especially fragrant and delicious. With the advent of industrialized farming and its sweeping across the globe, such flavor had become rare. Li Du felt that food these days lacked flavor altogether.
Chicken was a typical example. Yes, it was thick and solid, but it lacked the fragrance unique to chicken meat, and soup made from it was also tasteless. Another example would be steamed buns from his hometown. There was a high quantity of wheat being farmed these days but it all lacked the flavor of wheat from the past.
Simply put, chicken tasted like chicken and rice smelled like rice here in Wooku Town.
Li Du had been happily munching on his food when the voice of Young Markelov, who was on duty, sounded from the walkie-talkie. “Boss, someone’s here. There’s quite a bunch of people, about twenty, I’d say.”
Li Du put down his chicken and licked his fingers clean. He asked, “Who are they? Do they look like they’re here to cause trouble? Are you sure they’re here for us?”
Young Markelov laughed. “Oh, I’m sure, alright. They’ve already entered the forest. There are elderly, children, and women. They’re dressed kind of weird—”
Almost immediately after that, a bunch of people burst through the forest, the stomping of their footsteps ringing loudly. Li Du looked towards them and understood what Young Markelov meant when he said they were “dressed kind of weird”.
Whether they were men or women, young or old, they were all decked in robes cut from white cloth. On top of that, there was white cloth sewn onto the surface of their shoes and tied around their heads. Their get-up reminded Li Du of the funeral clothes from his hometown.
The people looked for Li Du when they arrived. One of them spoke in Chinese, struggling a little, “Are you the boss of this place?”
Li Du responded, “Yes. And you are?”
The women burst into tears after hearing his response. They were wailing and said something in Burmese through their sobs. Because they were crying, but also because they were speaking too quickly, Li Du could not catch what they were saying and was a little lost for a second. The moment the women burst into tears, the children started crying as well. Some of the old men pointed at Li Du as they cursed him and everything quickly descended into chaos.
The Markelov brothers hurried over. The other bodyguards rushed over to Li Du’s side as well for fear that something might happen. In the end, their arrival caused even more chaos. A few of the women sat on the floor and pounded on the rocks as they wailed even louder; the kids who were already crying were straight-up throwing tantrums and rolling about on the ground.
“What the f*ck is going on here?” Young Markelov was taken aback at the scene that had unfolded.
Li Du hurried over to pull a few of the children up and said, “What’s wrong? What’s the matter? Don’t thrash about here, you could roll off the mountain.”
An old man came up to wrench his hands away from the children and said furiously, “Spare us your crocodile tears, our children don’t need your sympathy, you evil scum!”
Li Du was confused. Was he supposed to cry or laugh? “What did I do? What have I done to make all of you hate me so much?”
The old man pointed to the jade mine and shouted, “Are you planning to start construction here? Yes or no?”
