Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was after Li Du gathered all that information that he decided to work with Zhong Da Pao.
He could confirm that Zhong Da Pao was not a scammer. In fact, he was a rather upright and responsible person. After going around his business locally for some time, he had made some connections with others. Hence, he was considered a rather decent businessman to work with.
After seeing the situation at the Chinese Village, Li Du said, “You’re quite like a friend of mine back in America. He was nicknamed ‘Jesus’ by others. I’ve worked with him previously, and it was a great partnership. Hope that ours will be the same.”
Zhong Da Pao instantly broke into a smile and said, “So we can work together now?”
“How will we go about that?” Li Du asked directly.
Zhong Da Pao said, “I know of a few places. Recently, some high-quality goods are being exported. It’s all material that can go public. If we can pick out two of those, it should be enough to feed the village for a while.”
“I will provide the information and take care of your safety when I bring you there. I will process the jade that we get and you can pick the stones. The profit split will be twenty-eighty. We only need twenty!”
Such terms for the partnership was quite favorable. Li Du asked, “Are you sure? Twenty-eighty split?”
“Yes!” The old man replied in high spirits.
Li Du said, “And how about the investment funds?”
The small old man said cheerfully, “I don’t have money! You will invest!”
On account of the eighty percent split in his favor, Li Du was prepared to accept those terms. The key reason was that he was unable to find a better business partner.
He did not want to waste too much time in that place. Hence, after confirming the partnership, they went to check out the stones.
Zhong Da Pao said, “I will give you an introduction to the situation here first. Recently, there have been three markets, Hpakant, Longken, and Xiangdong. Out of them, the Hpakant market is the busiest in the morning. Xiangdong is busy through the day and Longken is a night market.”
“Hence, when the seasoned people around here want to save time, they would go for morning tea in Hpakant, have lunch in Xiangdong and go to Longken at night. This is the general function of the markets. What do you think? Would you like to get the general market experience or go straight for the treasure market experience?”
Each field area would have a general market where ad-hoc transactions took place. There were many stones there. The stones that were sent there were usually those that have been rated by experts as being of low value. This meant that the stones that went to the public market were flawed.
Such stones were still more valuable than those in the dump. Their exterior appearance gave them some value which enabled a certain profit margin. It was just that it would not be high. On the other hand, those at the dumpsters were usually trash, even at a superficial glance.
Additionally, the general markets were all quite complex. The relationship of the field and the surrounding area was as such: The field area was like a county of many villages. The field, on the other hand, was like a single village.
The reality corroborated that. The name of the local field was often the name of a village. The gambling stone industry had a saying, ‘if they don’t see the field, they would not extend their hands’. The meaning was that one could not gamble on a stone without knowing the field where it came from.
The treasure market was inside a field. It was a small market that the field operated privately. That was illegal. However, the potential profit was extremely high as there were many high-quality items produced locally. The businessmen took some chances to open the place, deeming it worth the risk.
The two parties did not understand each other well. There would be some risks to both sides if they went to the treasure markets. Li Du was risking being scammed. Zhong Da Pao, on the other hand, did not have a good understanding of Li Du’s background and capabilities. Both parties took a chance on each other.
Li Du gave it a split second’s thought before saying, “Let’s check out the general markets.”
It was still early in the day. Zhong Da Pao had left his house in the wee hours of the morning. Hence, he took in the shade of the sky and smiled. “Alright, then let me treat you to some morning tea.”
Their first stop was the Hpakant area. It was easy to find as it was just beside the town. Although it looked like a robust and well-to-do living area, it was bordered with barbed wire.
The field area was split into two. One was the mining ground, which occupied a huge space. There were many miners toiling inside and trucks leaving and entering the place. The second was a residential area, where the market was situated.
They were not allowed to bring in weapons or too many people into the field area. The businessmen upheld security while safety was taken care of by the army and the businessmen. If something happened, the businessmen would have a say.
Li Du brought along five of his people, including Brother Wolf, Driver, and Godzilla. Those three were closest to him. He also brought along the Markelov brothers, who could speak good Burmese.
They drove and arrived at the border of the area. For the past two days, Li Du had been chased away once he arrived at that place. This time around, however, Zhong Da Pao was there. After showing himself and giving a nod, a lead security officer with a body full of tattoos opened the door. He even said with a smile, @Master Pao, strike big.”
Zhong Da Pao laughed. “It’s you guys who will strike it big. I’m here to send you guys money.”
“My master has said previously, Master Pao, that if you use a golden basin to wash your hands, your luck will get better,” the officer continued with a fake smile. “That’s the street culture of you Chinese people, right?”
The bald man immediately changed his attitude and pointed at him, saying, “Assank, if you don’t know something, don’t spout nonsense. Damn the golden basin for handwashing…”
Zhong Da Pao stopped him. He smiled and said, “To wash our hands with a gold basin, we need to have one first. How about buying me a one?”
The lead security officer smiled. “If Master Pao wishes for one, our master can send it to you.”
Zhong Da Pao replied, “Alright then, 24k gold. See, I have many brothers. Hence, the basin has got to be big, with a circumference of at least two meters, and two centimeters thick. Is that okay?”
The officer pulled opened the door and said, “Master Pao is a particular client!”
After the sarcastic exchange, they entered the area with official permission.
After they went through the entrance, they saw an open space which was a residential area. Some miners were resting there. They were skinny and their eyes were blank. They looked lifeless.
Big Markelov frowned and asked, “Such a big mine, and it relies entirely on human labor? Why are there no machines? Wouldn’t it be more productive that way?”
Li Du said, “Human labor is cheaper. Who would use machines? Besides, the machines are not as good as humans. What if they accidentally smash the jade? The loss would be great.”
Zhong Da Pao grinned. “That’s right, Brother Li is right. A miner only makes one to two US dollars a day. If they worked for a month, they would only make three to four hundred RMB, while a machine would cost a few million!”
It was the same as the mines in South Africa. There were more miners than machines. However, the salary there was higher. After all, there were stable polices in South Africa, and the miners there had some human rights to speak of.
Wars were commonplace in Hpakant and human lives were not considered valuable.
The living conditions in the area were very poor, not much better than in Chinese Village. Zhong Da Pao, who was familiar with the place, whisked them into a teahouse. The smell of fresh tea and food overpowered the stench from outside.
Li Du gestured for Wolf Brother to enter the teahouse with them. The other four would stay outside. It was too cramped inside and there were not many empty seats.
Zhong Da Pao first went to order food. He did not order too much: Lapei Bean, Mont Hin Khar, Putijue… and a pot of Lapei!
The teahouse was a two-story wooden house. The four sides were ventilated and air circulation was good. The first floor of the house was full of wooden tables and chairs. People were seated there, eating. There were also some jade peddlers.
The peddlers looked like the Shanghai snack hawkers in the 1920s and 1930s. Each of them had a wooden board attached to a rope hanging down from their neck. The jade sat atop the board, and the peddler’s hands were carefully balancing both sides of it.
Most of the jade pieces on the board were small-sized. They were irregular in color and shade. Whoever was interested could go over to discuss the price.
