It was before 5 pm.
Dong Xuebing walked to the nearest bank to deposit his 700,000 RMB cheque. After leaving ICBC bank, he went to a random restaurant along the streets to have his dinner. After dinner, he called Qu Yunxuan. “Aunt Xuan, I have a piece of good news to tell you. I made 700,000 RMB from Chicken-Blood Stone gambling. We should have enough money to set up our auction company.”
“......”
“Aunt Xuan?”
“......”
“Xuan Xuan, can you say something?”
“What do you want me to say? I don’t want to talk to you!”
“Haha, I am still waiting for you to praise me.” Dong Xuebing was feeling good with the result. He had used 2 BACKs and still have 10 BACKs left. “We have enough money now. After the money is credited into my account tomorrow, I will transfer it to you. You can start thinking about where you want to register the company and who you want to hire. I will just provide you with the funds.”
“Xiao Bing, tell me honestly. Who did you learn antiques and stone gambling from?”
“Errr...... I worked part-time at the Antique Market in the past. I am a fast learner.”
“But all those experts are not as good as you. Which expert can make so much money like you? Did you rob the bank?! No, even robbing the bank might not even get you so much money! Stone gambling is very risky, and you can make 700,000 RMB easily? You can find real antiques in the past too. It’s been only a few hours since I talk to you about my plans. I feel you are much better than those experts. You seem to have changed. I...... I don’t even know what to say!”
Dong Xuebing laughed. “What’s wrong with me making more money? Are you happy?”
“Of course, I feel happy for you.”
“Aunt Xuan, how about praising me a bit? Can you call me ‘that’ as praise?” Dong Xuebing was asking Qu Yunxuan to call him ‘hubby’ or ‘brother.’
“Go to hell! You want me to hit you?”
“Huh? I had contributed so much to our family. Shouldn’t I get some rewards?”
“Idiot. Who is your family? Haha.” Qu Yunxuan was in a good mood and kept laughing. “Idiot, since you are so capable, why do we still need to set up a company? You can just go stone gambling or go find real antiques in the antique markets. Money just seems to be flowing into your pocket.”
Dong Xuebing was speechless. He can’t be using all his powers to make money. “Errr...... we still need to set up a company. Furthermore, I can’t be so accurate every time. Finding antiques depends on luck.” What he said was true. If his luck was not good today, that top-grade Chick-Blood Stone might not be his. “After our auction company is set up, I will go and look for more antiques to let our company sell.”
“Hmm.” Dong Xuebing could tell Qu Yunxuan was looking forward to the opening of their auction company. “We have enough funds now. I will start researching the location of our company and look for antique experts. It should take at least 2 months. We do not need the money now. You can use the money to look for more antiques or rare stones first. It’s much better than leaving the money in the bank.”
Dong Xuebing thought for a while. “Ok. Let me think about what other ways I can increase our funds.” After chatting for a while, Dong Xuebing said. “Aunt Xuan, I got to go. My branch’s leader will be giving us a briefing for tomorrow’s exchange program.”
“How long will you be in Lin’an?”
“3 days. Why?”
“I will fly there to look for you tomorrow?”
“Oh...... you miss me?”
“I want to hit you! Who misses you?!”
“You don’t miss me? Then why do you want to come here to look for me?” Dong Xuebing knew Qu Yunxuan was shy to admit it, and he laughed. “Haha, I don’t care if you miss me or not. I just know that I miss you badly. Call me when you reach. I will be waiting for you.”
“Ok.”
After keeping his phone, Dong Xuebing took a taxi back to the hotel. Along the way, he was thinking of what he should do with his 2.7 million. Buy a random share? No. what if the stock market collapse? The stock market had not been stable recently. Aunt Xuan had her savings trapped in the stock market. What about buying some financial products from the bank? But the interest for the short term is meager and it’s not worth it. Forget it. It’s only for 1 to 2 months. Just leave it in the bank.
Xiao Gao had returned with lots of shopping bags. He seems to have enjoyed himself.
“Chief Dong, how is your day?”
“It’s fine. Where did you all go today?”
“We went to Tianmu Mountain today.” Xiao Gao suddenly remembered something. “Oh, Chief Dong. The higher-ups said we will be visiting Lin’an State Security tomorrow at 8 am. The leader told us to wake up early, and we are not allowed to be late or take leave. After the visit, we can go wherever we want.”
“Ok. Thanks for telling me.”
Ring, ring, ring. Dong Xuebing’s phone rang. It was Xu Yan.
“Hello, Xiao Dong. Come to my room now.”
Dong Xuebing acknowledged and quickly go out of his room. State Security had booked all the rooms on the same level. Dong Xuebing walked to the end of the corridor and knocked on the door. Xu Yan opened the door to let him in. She did not close the door and left it wide open. This was to prevent others from gossiping even when their age difference was more than 20 years. They were both in the same government agency and got to take note of this.
“Chief Xu, I am here.”
“Have a seat first.”
Dong Xuebing sat down on a chair.
Xu Yan sat on the bed and smiled. “It’s not about work. My son knows that I am in Zhejiang and want me to get him a present. But he did not say what he wants. Haha, I don’t know what to get him. Xiao Dong, you are only a few years older than my son. Can you give me some suggestions?” Xu Yan is a divorcee, and her son is staying with her ex-husband. Her son will only stay with her once or twice a month.
Dong Xuebing nodded. “Your son should be still in school? Do you know what his hobby is or what he likes?”
Xu Yan thought for a while and smiled. “He likes to play PC games and online chatting. Kids nowadays are like this.”
Dong Xuebing suggested: “How about getting him a laptop? The new Apple 11inch laptop is very popular. It is light and thin. The specs might not be the best in the market, but it should be sufficient for him to play normal games on it. If your son plays the latest games, this mac-book air should suit him. The 64g version cost about 10,000 RMB.”
Xu Yan nodded. “He does not have a laptop. Ok. I will get this. But what’s the model again? What mac? 64g?” Xu Yan does not know English or the latest technology products. “Xiao Dong, can you accompany me to buy this laptop after the exchange program tomorrow? You know much more about computers than me.”
Dong Xuebing nodded.
The next morning.
Xu Yan led the team to the Lin’an State Security bureau. Everyone knows this was only a formality and it ended after an hour. After leaving the bureau, Xu Yan announced to the team that they are free to go wherever they want. Then she went to a nearby shopping mall with Dong Xuebing to buy the Apple laptop. There were still available stocks, and Xu Yan paid for it.
It was only 10.30 am.
Xu Yan asked. “Xiao Dong, where are you visiting today? Tianmu Mountain or Daming Mountain?”
“I still have not decided yet.”
Xu Yan laughed. “Want to go to Changhua mines with me? I heard the scenery there is beautiful. I had come here once, but I did not have the time to visit Changhua.”
Dong Xuebing did not want to go. Aunt Xuan should be arriving in the afternoon. If he goes to Changhua, he might not be able to fetch Aunt Xuan. But he also does not want to reject Xu Yan. After all, she had helped him a lot. Dong Xuebing thought for a while and said: “Ok. I will be your bodyguard today. Haha, I also want to see how they mine Chicken-Blood Stones.”
Changhua county.
Guoshi village at the foot of Yuyan mountain was a wealthy village because of Chicken-Blood stones. All the villagers there lived in 4 story houses.
There were a lot of shops along the streets and alleys selling Chicken-Blood stones.
After they reached, Xu Yan and Dong Xuebing visited a few Chicken-Blood stone shops. There were a lot of high-quality stones there, and they were expensive. A Big Red Coat seal cost 1.5 million RMB. There was also a 2 meters wide Chicken-Blood stone artifact. The price of this artifact was 10 million RMB.
“Xiao Dong, let’s go up the mountains.”
“Ok. Please be careful.”
They walked on a trail towards Yuyan mountain. But after walking for a while, they were stopped by two villagers. “Outsiders cannot enter.”
Xu Yan smiled: “We are only going in to look at the mines.”
The older villager shook his head and pointed to a sign. “This place is dangerous.”
Dong Xuebing took out his work pass. “We are working for the government and will not give you all any trouble. We are here for sightseeing.”
The villagers exchanged looks and said. “Fine. I will show you all around.” Civil servants can still be trusted.
Dong Xuebing and Xu Yan walked up towards the mountain on the dirt trail.
After climbing up the stone steps, they reached the mines. It was shocking. The right side of the mountain had been dug away. On the other side, part of the mountain peak was gone. The miners must have used explosives to blast it away. The two villagers said that the empty plot of land in front of the mine used to be a mountain peak. But because they had mined that area and it was on the verge of collapsing. So, they used explosives to blast it away.
Around the mine, there was a metal fence with a blue color signboard. Danger! No entry!
But the villager still brought Dong Xuebing and Xu Yan in. “Our mine is in front.”
Xu Yan asks curiously: “Your mine?”
“Yes. Many of the mines in the mountain were leased by us and the few villages nearby. We pooled our money to lease it. Outsiders are not allowed to own the mines here. Only the locals can rent it from the government. But the locals can sub-let to other people.” No wonder all the villagers in this village are so wealthy.
Suddenly, Boom!!!! Boom!!! Boom!!! There were a few loud noises.
Dong Xuebing opened his eyes wide. “They are blasting the mine?”
“No. This is not the sound of blasting.” The villager looked towards the direction of the sound. “It’s just some kids playing with firecrackers.” He turned to the other villager and said: “Go and chase those kids away. How can they come here to play with firecrackers? It is too dangerous!” It was still considered Lunar New Year, and unlike Beijing, there were no restrictions on firecrackers here.
After a while, the older villager brought Dong Xuebing and Xu Yan to their mine. The entrance was a cave, about the height of a grown man. Standing at the entrance, they could hear lots of knocking sounds. There seems to have lots of people working inside. The air is filled with gasoline smell, and tools were left all over the floor.
The Villager said. “It is dangerous inside. There will be a blasting later. If you want to see how the inside of a mine looks like, you can go there.” He pointed to another entrance, not far away. “Come, I will show you the way.” That entrance was about the same. But the only difference is that mine is only 10 meters deep. They could see the end of the mining tunnel from the entrance.
Xu Yan asked. “This mine is abandoned?”
The villager explained: “Yes. This is the mine rented by Old Ye and some villagers from my village last year. But they had mined for a few months, but not a single Chicken-Blood Stone has been found. They lost a lot of money. This mine is some distance away from the main vein. Even if they dig deeper, they will not find any Chicken-Blood Stones. That’s why they decided to stop digging.”
Dong Xuebing asked. “There are no Chicken-Blood Stones in there?”
The villager replied: “Chicken-Blood Stone is not found everywhere. It still depends on luck. There are a lot of abandoned mines around the mountain. Errr...... These cannot be considered abandon mines. There is still a possibility of finding Chicken-Blood Stones inside. Those villagers who had rented these mines are still looking for people to take over them. If the price is right, they will transfer ownership immediately.”
They entered the mine with a torchlight. Dong Xuebing looked around, and he saw a pile of explosives in a corner. “Why are there explosives here?” The explosives were stacked in the innermost corner. The number of explosives is enough to blast a small hill away. Dong Xuebing immediately step in front of Xu Yan to protect her.
The villager calmly replied. “Don’t worry. These explosives have been modified and cannot be lit with fire. You must use a detonator to set them off. Our explosive storage is quite far from here. That’s why we will store all the explosives needed for the day here. Without the detonator, you will be safe even if you throw a cigarette butt there.”
“Oh, ok.” Dong Xuebing felt better.
Xu Yan was not worried at all. She seems to know about this.
The walls of the abandoned mine were ‘clean,’ and there was not a single strain of red color on it. Dong Xuebing touched the walls and thought to himself. Those villagers should have rented the mines for 1 year, and it cost at least a few million. It’s such a waste. The risk of renting mines is far higher than Chicken-Blood Stone gambling.
After staying in the mine for a while, the villager brought Xu Yan and Dong Xuebing out.
“Haha, I have learned a lot today.” Xu Yan said to the villager. “Thank you for bringing us around.”
The villager smiled. “You are welcome.”
Xu Yan’s curiosity was satisfied: “Xiao Dong, let’s go back.”
“Ok.”
Xu Yan and Dong Xuebing walked towards the footpath leading down from the mountains. That villager also went to his mine.
Suddenly, Dong Xuebing saw those kids lighting a firecracker nearby. Bam! It was a double-explosion firecracker. Those kids had placed the firecracker at an angle, and the firecracker did not fly towards the sky. Instead, it flew into the abandoned mine filled with explosives!
The next moment!
BOOM!!!!
The whole mountain shook!
Dong Xuebing eardrums almost burst. He was shocked. “What happened?”
The people in the other mines were also shocked. “The explosives had gone off! It’s the explosives!”
“What happened? Who set off the detonator?”
“Is anyone hurt?!”
It was chaos on the mountain. Everyone was running towards the sound of explosion with their tools in hand. The villager who brought Dong Xuebing and Xu Yan around was one of them.
Dong Xuebing looked at Xu Yan and asked: “I thought flames will not set those explosives off?”
Xu Yan’s face had also changed. A few minutes ago, they were still inside that mine. It was a close shave. “It’s hard to set off the explosives with fire. But I know firecrackers are similar to a detonator. Although it’s hard, firecrackers should be able to set those explosives off.”
Dong Xuebing almost cursed out loud. They narrowly escaped death! Those brats!
“Let’s go and take a look!” Xu Yan walked back towards that abandoned mine.
There was a crowd outside the mine. But no one dares to enter it as they were afraid there would be a second explosion.
“It’s those kids!”
“Firecrackers can set off explosives? Damn! If I know about this earlier, I would have chased them out of the mountains!”
“Yes. It’s too dangerous. Luckily no one is hurt!”
The kids were in shock. All of them were dumbfounded and sitting on the floor crying.
Dong Xuebing and Xu Yan stood behind the crowd and saw the villager who brought them around, shining his torch into the mine. “There should not be anyone inside. I had left this place with two government people just minutes ago. No one had entered after I left. We...... Huh? Ah...... This is......” The old villager’s voice started shaking. He stood outside the mine in a daze.
“What’s wrong?” The person beside him looked into the mine and was stunned.
Dong Xuebing also looked into the mine. Wow! Wow! Wow!
Blood!
There was blood everywhere!
It was not a human’s blood! It was Chicken-Blood Stone’s blood!!!
There were too many explosives inside, and the explosion was too powerful. Part of the roof of the mine was blasted off. Pieces of rocks were everywhere. This was normal. But what was shocking was all the small pieces of stones were red in color! It’s Chicken-Blood Stones!
The old villager exclaimed: “This is not an abandoned mine! This mine is much better than my mine!”
“Oh! Old Ye’s losses are too big!”
“Such a waste! So many Chicken-Blood Stones are damaged!”
Dong Xuebing had learned how the miners mine Chicken-Blood Stones from the villager earlier. The miners do not use a large number of explosives to blast the mining cave. They must use mining picks to dig out a small hole around the Chicken-Blood Stones and use small amount of explosives to blast them. Chicken-Blood Stones are softer and will break easily. A 5kg Chicken-Blood Stone might worth 100,000 RMB, but 5kg of small Chicken-Blood Stone fragments are worth less than 1,000 RMB.
Everyone felt sorry for Old Ye. If there was no explosion and they carried on mining this mine...... they will be able to get lots of Chicken-Blood Stones!
But now...... everything is gone!
Dong Xuebing felt the blood rushing to his head. Opportunity! This is an opportunity to make money!
BACK! BACK! BACK!
......
The scenes flashed before Dong Xuebing’s eyes! Time had returned to 3 minutes earlier!
“Haha, I have learned a lot today. Thank you for bringing us around.”
“You are welcome.”
“Xiao Dong, let’s go back.”
The moment Dong Xuebing returned back to his senses, he started running forward. Xu Yan and that old villager were stunned. They do not know what Dong Xuebing was doing. 5 steps...... 10 steps...... 15 steps! Dong Xuebing reached that group of kids. One of them was about to light a Double-Explosion firecracker. Dong Xuebing quickly kick the firecracker away. “What are you all doing? Do you all know what this place is? What happens if you all set off the explosives stored here? Ah?”
The group of kids was shocked.
Dong Xuebing stood there with a stern look on his face. “Go home now! Stop playing with firecrackers here!”
The old villager walked over. “Didn’t I tell you all to get away from here? Go home now!” The old villager said, but he did not think that firecrackers can set off the explosives.
The few kids started running down the mountain, and Dong Xuebing was relieved.
“Xiao Dong, let’s go back.” Xu Yan laughed.
Dong Xuebing turned and look at that abandoned mine, before walking down the mountain with Xu Yan. At the foot of the mountain, he told Xu Yan that he will be meeting a friend in a while. Xu Yan smiled and nodded. She told Dong Xuebing to go ahead, and she left in a taxi towards Daming Mountain.
After Xu Yan left, Dong Xuebing immediately call Qu Yunxuan. “Aunt Xuan, where are you now?”
“I just arrived and was about to call you. Where are you meeting me?”
“Come over to Changhua Guoshi Village now. Quick.”
“Why? Are you in a hurry?”
“Of course. Just get over here now. It’s urgent. I will be waiting at the foot of the mountain!”
Noon.
Qu Yunxuan arrived at the foot of Yuyan mountain. Dong Xuebing had not seen Qu Yunxuan for a few days, and she looks prettier. When Qu Yunxuan saw Dong Xuebing, she gave him a slap to the back of his head. “What’s the rush? Is there a need to call me so many times? Don’t you know how far this place is from the airport?”
Dong Xuebing held her hand. “I don’t have much time. Let’s go up the mountain. There is an opportunity to make money!”
Qu Yunxuan looked at him puzzledly. “Tell me the details.”
“I saw a mine, and I need to take over it. I guarantee that we can make money from this mine.”
“How do you know?”
“I can tell. Just trust me.”
“But we still need to set up our company. If you take over this mine, how are we going to set up our company?”
Dong Xuebing thought for a while. “Let’s discuss with the owner first and see if we can rent it for 1 or 2 months. You also need some time to prepare for our company. When we make money from this mine, we can set up a bigger company.” Dong Xuebing does not know whether the deeper part of the mine has Chicken-Blood Stones. He only knows the area near to the explosives has lots of stones. That’s why he decided to rent the mine for 2 months.
West mining area.
Dong Xuebing and Aunt Xuan returned to the abandoned mine, and he showed her around.
Qu Yunxuan looked around the mine. “This is the mine you are talking about? Didn’t they stop mining?”
“Hey, who are you?” A middle-aged man asked as he shines his torch at Dong Xuebing and Qu Yunxuan. “Why are you two in my mine? There are lots of explosives here, and it is dangerous. Get out of here now.” The man was in his 40s, and he should be “Old Ye’, the owner of this mine.
“This is your mine?” Dong Xuebing looked at him. “Can you make the decisions here?”
Old Ye frowned: “What do you want?”
“Let’s talk outside. It’s too dark here.”
After walking out of the mine, Dong Xuebing met that old villager. The old villager asked: “Why did you come back?”
Dong Xuebing replied. “It is about this mine. My friend is interested in renting it.”
The villager was confused. He had told Dong Xuebing that this was a useless mine, and there were no Chicken-Blood Stones. Why did he still ask his friend to rent it? But Old Ye was around, and he did not say much to Dong Xuebing. He just nodded and walk away. A few other villagers heard their conversations and shook their heads. Everyone there knows about this mine. They had tried mining for several months, but there was not a single Chick-Blood Stone.
Old Ye was the happiest. He had tried to look for someone to take over the mine for weeks, and he finally found someone who is interested!
“Young man, Miss, come over and have a seat.” Old Ye took out a few stools. “You all want to rent this mine?”
Dong Xuebing replied. “That’s right. But it still depends on the price. How long have you leased this mine? One year? Two years?”
Old Ye said. “I had leased this mine for a year, and there are still 5 months remaining. If you all are interested in renting it for 2 years, I can go and apply for an extension when my lease is up.”
Qu Yunxuan did not say anything as she did not know what was going on. She also did not know why Xiao Bing wants to rent that mine.
Dong Xuebing said. “We are thinking of renting it for 2 months. What is the price?”
Old Ye frowned. “2 months? It’s too short.” Normally people would rent the mines for years. The shortest he had seen was also 6 months. No one would rent it for 1 to 2 months. “If you all are renting it for 5 months, I can give you a good price. How about 4 million?”
Dong Xuebing shook his head. “We do not have so much money. How about 1.5 million RMB for 2 months?”
“No way. It’s too low.”
“I heard about your mine. There is not a single Chick-Blood Stone found in the past 6 months. 1.5 million is a good price.”
“Even if there are no Chick-Blood Stones, there might still be some deeper inside. Also, you can sell other stones found in there.”
Dong Xuebing replied firmly. “I only want 2 months. If not, the deal is off.”
Old Ye also know that this mine was worthless. He could not even recover his losses if he carries on mining. He thought for a while and said. “Fine. 2 months. But 1.5 million is too low.” It’s not easy to find people to take over this useless mine. “2 million for 2 months. This is the best price I can give you.”
Dong Xuebing frowned. “If this is a better mine, it will be worth 2 million. But this mine is......”
Old Ye interrupted him. “I will charge you lesser for the workers, machinery, and transportation. You all are not locals, and it’s hard for you all to hire workers here. I still have workers working for me. All you need to do is to hire someone to supervise them. I am well known around here, and you can rest assured.”
Dong Xuebing looked at Qu Yunxuan.
Qu Yunxuan smiled. “You can decide. I don’t know anything about this.”
“Ok.” Dong Xuebing said. “2 million RMB for 2 months. When can we sign the contract?”
“I need to speak to the other villagers first. But it should not be a problem. We should be able to sign the contract tonight.”
Dong Xuebing did not need to wait until night. Later in the afternoon, Old Ye and another villager came to look for Dong Xuebing to sign the contract. They seem to be desperate to offload this mine. After signing the contract, they discussed the wages of the workers and rental of the machines, before leaving the mining mountain.
At the foot of the mountain.
Dong Xuebing said. “Aunt Xuan, hire someone to watch over the mine. We still have 700,000 RMB and should be enough for the workers, explosives, and transportation. Hahaha, we will be able to set up a big company after two months!”
Qu Yunxuan was still in doubt. “This is all our money. Are you really going to use it on this mine? That mine seemed to be......”
“You cannot judge the mine from the exterior. You will know after we start mining!” Dong Xuebing had seen lots of Chick-Blood Stones fragments with his eyes!
They will surely hit the jackpot this time!!!