Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Two and a half million!” The owner laughed.
Li Du laughed too. “You are really good at doing business. Deal.”
That piece of imperial green could perhaps be worth two and a half million!
It was Li Du’s first time coming across imperial green, and a top-quality one at that. The stone was translucent, clear, jade-green, and there was some green silky suspension in it. It was definitely a piece of top-quality jade that would come around once every few years.
Besides that piece of imperial green, the rest of the stones were not too valuable. As he was in good spirits, Li Du got Da Mao to buy two pieces.
His appetite was particularly good and he found the food delicious. Li Du consumed his lunch happily. Of course, it was partly because the taste of the steamed chicken and the grilled lamb was excellent. After all, those animals had been raised on free-range pasture on the farm.
As he was having his meal, Li Du asked the owner where he got the stone. However, the owner did not want to tell him. Even when Li Du offered ten thousand dollars to tempt the owner, he refused to reveal the secret.
Zhong Da Pao said lazily as he smoked the owner’s cigar, “It’s no use, Mr. Li. He will not tell. Even if you offer one hundred thousand, he would not tell us.”
Liu Zi joined in and said, “That’s right. He will definitely not tell. These stones have been picked up from the dump. To them, the dump that gave them the stones is considered a source of treasure. Why would they reveal the source to anyone?”
Not long after he completed his sentence, the owner’s wife asked in Burmese what Li Du had wanted to buy. Hence, Liu Zi translated for her.
The landlady put out her palm and said a few more sentences. After hearing her words, Liu Zi was stunned. Then he turned to Li Du and said, “Mr. Li, she is asking for fifty thousand dollars. If you give her that much, she will tell you where the stone is from.”
Li Du nodded, “Not a problem. Give her fifty thousand dollars.”
When the lady saw the money, she smiled and said the name of a place. The boss, meanwhile, squatted at a corner with a long face. He puffed loudly on his cigarette.
After Liu Zi passed the money to her, he shook his head as he told Li Du, “It’s a waste dump, we’ve just wasted fifty thousand dollars.”
Li Du polished off the last of the chicken soup in his bowl. Smiling, he said, “There are so many waste dumps, how can we look through them all? Now, time is money. We’ve bought information, which hopefully will save us both time and money. Let’s go!”
Godzilla threw the bones of the grilled lamp to the dogs in the backyard. Two dark brown dogs instantly rushed forth to vie for them.
Liu Zi knew where the waste dump was located. They rode their bikes and traveled on a bumpy road once again. Finally, they arrived at the place.
Waste dumps were typically beside the field. It was so that it would be convenient to dispose of the useless stones Nobody knew how many stones were dumped there. There were many women and handicapped people who were roaming around inside.
Li Du said, “Is it so dangerous to mine the jade? There are too many handicaps around here.”
Zhong Da Pao puffed on his cigarette and said, “What do you think?”
When Li Du and others arrived, the cripples suddenly got up and approached them in groups. They said, “Hey, what are you doing?”
Li Du was interested in the imperial green that came from here and was thinking of trying his luck. He had no interest in regular jade.
Previously, he had not visited the waste dumps because he knew that the possibility of finding jade there was very low. He might as well fork out some money at the markets to pick up stones that others had missed.
This time around, the imperial green jade fired up his enthusiasm and that was why he was willing to go to the waste dump.
Zhong Da Pao raised his hand and said, “Brothers and sisters, I’m Zhong Da Pao from the Chinese Village. We are just here for a look, not to compete with you guys.”
A man who had lost his right arm said cautiously, “You guys are not here to pick out the stones?”
Li Du shook his head. “Relax, everyone. This is my first time coming to such a place. I’m just here for a look.”
The handicapped people and women calmed down and slowly walked off.
Laster, someone said to Zhong Da Pao, “Master Pao, we all know you’re a veteran. Hope that you can keep your promise. As you can see, we are a bunch of useless handicaps. We make money from this. You can’t come here to compete with us and deprive us of our livelihood.”
Liu Zu waved his hands impatiently. “Go away! Master Pao means what he says. He said that he’s not here to vie with you guys, so he isn’t. Scram!”
The lady boss had told them about an area in the waste dump. She said that she and her husband typically went in search of stones there.
Li Du walked over. A man who had lost his leg was picking up stones in that area. He looked up and glared at Li Du nervously and angrily.
The little bug combed the place quickly but did not find anything. The stones from the fields would have been disposed of only after been evaluated as useless with a ninety-nine percent probability.
After expending much effort, they did not even manage to find a regular piece of jade of some value, let alone any imperial green jade!
Da Mao was also looking around. He came back, shaking his head dejectedly. “This won’t do Mr. Li. There’s nothing here, sir. Staying here is just wasting time and energy!”
A man who had been looking at them angrily understood Chinese. He asked, “Are you guys looking for something?”
Zhong Da Pao did not answer. However, he pulled out his phone and showed the man his screen. He said, “Do these two people come here often to look for stones? This couple. Do you have any recollection of them?”
The handicapped man looked carefully at the phone. Then, he raised his head and said, “You guys are looking for someone? I’m not familiar with these two people. I haven’t seen them before.”
Zhong Da Pao went to check with a few other people around them. When he returned, he kicked a stone and lashed out, “D*mn, Mister Li, we have definitely been tricked!”
Li Du understood what he meant. “They all said that they have never seen these two people?”
Zhong Da Pao nodded. “That’s right. I know someone here personally. He would not lie to me. This means that that old couple lied, she cheated us of fifty thousand dollars!”
Liu Zi, who was impulsive started to scold angrily, “D*mn it, they are really daring. Let’s go back and deal with her!”
Li Du waved his hands. “Forget it, no meaning in that. Let’s just treat it as paying to learn a lesson.”
After all, they also managed to gain the first piece of imperial green jade from the couple. They were the ones who had fallen into the trap themselves. He should have known that the locals were untrustworthy.
As they did not have any reap from the waste dump, they left to head towards the next field.
Within a day, they had gone around Damakan and checked out more than ten fields of varying scale.
Someone had noticed them. After someone recognized Da Mao, they chased after them, wanting to bring Da Mao away.
There were also some people who followed them closely. They wanted information from Li Du’s group:
“Brother Mao and all the brothers here, please help us. We are all Chinese brothers. Help me verify the value of these few stones, do me a favor.”
“Don’t be so cold towards us. We are all fellow countrymen!”
“Why is he acting so cold? Do they believe they won’t make a blunder? Buy it all, buy it all. I hope that they will buy some fakes sooner or later!”
Li Du heard countless of similar comments directed at them. Initially, Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi had wanted to get into a fight with those people. However, as they heard more, they, too, could not bother to get angry anymore.
