Two beaten-up pickups turned around, heading northwest.
There were still many trees around. However, the landscape was no longer that of a
primal rainforest, but of smaller tree groups.
Many small forests formed plots of land, one plot after another. They resembled ancient
rainforests and were a sight to touch people’s hearts.
In the car, Li Du asked, “The place where you found diamonds, wasn’t it where Buick
and his people found diamonds as well? That abandoned mine?”
Musa nodded and then shook his head, “There hab also, I got see before, but many, uh,
many no there, is there!”
He pointed in the northwest direction again.
Li Du recalled that time when Buick arranged women for everyone but left Musa out.
Musa had mumbled a few sentences to show his displeasure.
Straining his memory, he remembered Musa saying something about him being angry,
not telling Li Du something, and saying that Li Du had made a mistake.
As Musa’s Mandarin was poor, Li Du had not understood him. Now that he thought of it,
it seemed like Musa had long tried to tell him that the diamond mine was not at the
abandoned mining site.
Li Du nodded to Brother Wolf, “Step it up, drive faster.”
Brother Wolf responded, “The condition of the road is too poor. If we go faster, the car
will break down.”
Even going slow, however, the beaten-up cars were unable to handle the ruggedness of
the forest terrain.
The car stayed on the road that wound around the mountain, one round after the next.
The two cars broke down five times altogether in less than one hour. Fortunately,
Brother Wolf and Big Ivan were experts at repairing cars.
The two men had put their heads together, and finally, the car was able to move on.
Li Du still found it unbelievable and asked Musa, “This place is very far from your tribe,
right? The drive is taking such a long time, so how did you guys find that diamond
mine?”
Musa said, “Climb mountain, walk straight find, walk.”
Lu Du said, “You’re saying that if we step out of the car, we could climb the mountain
faster? Then we wouldn’t have to cope with these roads, right? How long did it take you
to walk there before?”
Musa hugged his arms and stopped talking. Or, at least, he wasn’t talking to Li Du. His
lips were moving but he did not make a sound.
Li Du waited and then asked again, “How long did you guys walk that time? Is there
something you are trying to say?”
Musa said slowly, “Many long, many long, I still think.”
Li Du said in consternation, “How long is that?”
Musa stopped to think again, and in the end, he said, “Many long, many long!”
Li Du understood that further questioning would be useless.
At the end of September, South Africa entered its rainy season, and the weather had
changed.
Less than four days had passed since the last storm, and in the morning, when they
were traveling on the mountain terrain, Li Du saw that the sky had turned red. He said,
“Is it going to rain again?”
In the afternoon, the sky turned gloomy and there was another huge storm. The rain fell,
pit-pat, pit-pat.
Seeing that, Brother Wolf, who had been preparing to start the fire for cooking, jumped
up and yelled, “Hurry, let’s go!”
Li Du, seeing that Brother Wolf’s frantic manner, asked, “Why? Will there be a mudslide
here?”
Brother Wolf shook his head. “No, this area is a stone mountain, not a mud mountain.
There are many trees and rocks. The chances of a mudslide are not high. However, a
flood might easily happen. If water enters the exhaust and engine, we’re finished!”
Although they managed to drive off in time, soon after the cars broke down anyway.
The rain was too heavy, the mountain terrain was too rough, and one of the tires ended
up with a puncture.
Brother Wolf went down and placed a boulder to keep the car in place. When he came
back in, he secured everything tightly and they locked themselves inside.
Outside, there was lightning and thunder, strong wind and rain. Inside the car, it was
better. At least no wind or rain got in.
Li Du said, “It’s lucky that when we were choosing the cars, we bought two with the best
interior. Otherwise, we would run into problems here today.”
Sophie offered no opinion on the extreme weather. She and the little ones squeezed in
the backseat. Resting her chin on both palms, she smiled and said, “What problems
would there be? Admiring the rain from here like this is not something you do every
day.”
The rain in South Africa was heavy and clear. The raindrops fell on the mountains and
forests, washing the rocks and trees. The rocks became cleaner and the trees greener.
The bouts of heavy rain nourished the trees and plants, making them grow green and
flower in the South African winter.
The situation was still manageable this time around. The rain fell for one day and one
night. By noon the next day, there was sunshine again.
Carrying their baggage, the group, together with Musa, continued their journey
northwest.
They would often have to stop during their trek because Musa kept surveying the
surroundings to recall the exact place where he had seen the diamonds.
Li Du was patient and did not hurry Musa. He felt that it was enough of a challenge for
Musa to have recalled the road they were on.
Pygmies were renowned for their sense of direction. They also had great memory and
observation powers. At night, when a moth fluttered before the bonfire, Musa was
instantly able to see the patterns on its wings.
They had been walking for close to three days since leaving the car. By the third
evening, they reached a deserted mountain.
Just as Li Du was about to ask Brother Wolf to et up the camp, Musa suddenly jumped
and cried out in excitement, “Is here! Just is here!”
Seeing his happiness, Li Du understood at once and said, “Was it here that you saw the
diamonds?”
Musa nodded vigorously.
Li Du was just about to let out the little bug when Musa scanned the place. Suddenly, he
sprang two steps towards the slope and picked up something from a corner where
water flowed. He smiled and said, “See!”
In the sunset glow, the object he was holding on his outstretched palm glittered and
shone like crystal.
Li Du let out a low moan, “Dammit, a diamond!”
Yes, it was a diamond!
Sophie and the others ran towards the little stream and began combing the area.
Actually, that was not a stream. Rather, it was water that had collected on the mountain
from the heavy rain a few days ago. The water flowed downwards, forming many small,
temporary rivers.
The water gushed down the mountainside, washing down many sediments from above.
As the water flowed downwards, the tiny streamlets joined and small rivers were
formed.
Not long after, Brother Wolf opened up his palms cheerfully. “Boss, look,” he said.
It was another diamond!
Li Du was so excited that he wanted to yell. Musa had given him an incredible gift!
That was a rare enriched mine. At enriched mines, there would be diamonds on the
surface of the earth. Such sightings would be rare in regular diamond mines.
Half a century ago, there were many places in South Africa with enriched mines. Today
with rapid man-made development, such mines had become a thing of the past.
Soon, others found diamonds as well. By the time the sun had set, almost everyone had
found at least one. Musa, the luckiest of them, found four small unrefined raw
diamonds.
Li Du inhaled and asked Musa, “Who else knows about this place?”
Musa said a few names in his language, but Li Du could not understand him. He asked,
“Those are people are from your tribe? Where are they now?”
