Chapter 1568 New Mine Area

According to the plan, Maung Kyaw Zin would contract Dena Mountain in the name of Wooku Town. Li Du would pay up and pump in some investment. They would purchase seedlings to turn Dena Mountain greener.

Li Du could arrange for people to mine some stones from the mountain. However, a boundary would have to be drawn. In addition, neither he nor anyone else would be allowed to bring the stones down from the mountain. They would not be allowed to bring any stones out of Wooku Town.

Li Du would, in the name of charity, invest in Wooku Town. The town's residential development, education, healthcare, and environment would be slowly improved.

In the future, Li Du would have to help Maung Kyaw Zin to retrieve the jade sculpture.

After some discussion, the detailed agreement was drawn.

After a bit of thinking, Li Du said, "We'll have to change the fourth clause. If you have something to exchange for the jade sculpture, I will help you. What I mean is, you need at least to have enough money or something equivalent to offer in exchange, right?"

Maung Kyaw Zin nodded grudgingly. "Alright, I can accept that. However, I'm still worried. You are really not doing this to mine for jade on the mountain?"

Li Du said, "Let's trust each other. You can rest assured that I will not tell anyone that there's a jade mine. Otherwise, what is there for me? Wait for the government and those big guys from Hpakant to vie for control of the Dena Mountain?"

Maung Kyaw Zin looked at him with suspicion and said, "I have the right to know about that. If you are planning to mine for jade, I will definitely not agree!"

Li Du said, "If you don't agree today what will you do in the future when other people hear about the legend of the jade mine on Dena Mountain and come for it?"

Maung Kyaw Zin became silent. Li Du reached out and patted Maung Kyaw Zin's shoulder. "At least you will get the benefit of being able to build up the town by working with me. Besides, you can keep surveillance on me. If I let out the news or bring the stones out of the town, there are many ways in which you can punish me, right?"

Maung Kyaw Zin did not answer, but asked as he glared at Li Du, "Your motivation is still in the jade mine on the mountain, right?"

Li Du, too, did not answer. He said, "Chief, let's have a happy partnership. Let's anticipate the growth and development of Wooku town!"

Maung Kyaw Zin hesitated for a while. Finally, he offered his hand unwillingly. He said, "If the news about the existence of the jade mine goes out, we will all be doomed!"

Li Du smiled, "I know, Chief. I will not bring a stone out of here. You can keep a close eye on me. I promise you, in the future, when I or my people enter or leave the town, you can check our bags, alright?"

Maung Kyaw Zin said, "Hope that you will keep your promise!"

Li Du had no plans of cheating the man.

He had a sudden change of plans. Initially, he was there to look for a special stone. He had no interest in the jade mine. That was because there were numerous field and field areas in Hpakant. By using the little bugs, he would be able to pick up all the intelligence.

However, after he realized what Maung Kyaw Zin had done to protect the town, he had a change of mind. He had already discovered the mine. Why would he not extract the jade in small batches and then bring it out using the Black Hole?

That way, he would be able to keep the mine a secret and make a huge profit.

According to his plan, he would arrange for his close subordinates to mine. They would not mine carelessly and would follow a plan. In the future, they would come to Wooku Town a few times in a year to bring back the stones that they have mined.

From time to time, he would have to meet Remonin to collect the diamonds from him. When he eventually did so, he could pick up the jade stones on his way there. It would be no trouble.

It would also be easy to get rid of the jade. He was a shareholder of Harry Winston Inc. In the future, he would also start to buy the shares of other luxury companies. Regardless of whether it was diamond, opal or jade, it would be easy to peddle it to the company.

After settling their partnership plans, Li Du gave Maung Kyaw Zin two billion Kyat worth of funds the next day. He let Maung Kyaw Zin be in charge of contracting Dena Mountain. At the same time, he started to understand the processes involved in charities in Myanmar. He was getting ready to donate a school building to the town.

The partnership was considered a win-win. Each of them was able to fulfill their needs.

Li Du did not think that he was a pure, good soul. However, in this matter, he felt that he was more innocent than Maung Kyaw Zin. Maung Kyaw Zin had sacrificed people's lives to achieve his end, whereas Li Du had merely concealed part of the truth.

Besides, he did not lie to Maung Kyaw Zin either. When they finally decided on the agreement, he did not promise not to mine on the mountain. He only promised not to bring the stones out of Dena Mountain.

Maung Kyaw Zin could not guess what was on Li Du's mind. He did not know what Li Du was hiding. From his perspective, and according to his analysis, if Li Du could not take the stones out of the mountain, his motivation was naturally not the jade mine.

The next day, the weird ants that were attracted by the copper pot and grill had vanished. The project staff returned to the mouth of the mine and started working.

They continue to be busy for the next few days. The hole had been expanded to near the place where the mine was hidden. At that point, Li Du got them to stop.

He could not let people whom he did not consider completely trustworthy to learn about the existence of the jade mine. What happened next could not have anything to do with the project staff. Hence, he paid them and told them to leave.

The bug made an extensive check around the place where the mine was hidden. Li Du drew up a plan for the mining and left Godzilla, who was his trusted aide, behind. Godzilla would lead a team consisting of Firecracker, Vampire and a few others. They would stay behind and continue to mine for the stones.

Mid-October, the public auction in Hpakant was about to start. Zhong Da Pao gave Li Du a call to tell him that they had signed up for it. The sign-up fee was one hundred dollars. The net worth standard was 200,000 dollars.

That meant to say, those people with a net worth of less than 200,000$ would not be able to attend that auction.

That auction would be running for the 54th time. From March 1964, the auction has been taking place every year.

In recent years, public auctions had become more frequent. Sometimes, the auction would take place twice a year. That year, because the government had mandated the closure of some of the field areas, there had been fewer stones produced. Hence, they only held one auction that year, like in the past.

The public auction was directly under the jurisdiction of the Burmese Central Government Minerals Department, which was a permanent office.

As Li Du and Maung Kyaw Zin had reached an agreement, Li Du had no reason to stay behind anymore. Hence, he made his return journey earlier than usual to go check out the situation in Hpakant.

It was another bumpy ride. When he finally met Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi, he already felt like throwing up from the motion sickness.

Da Mao's physique was much poorer than his. Along the ride, his legs had turned weak. When he got off the vehicle, he was unstable and almost toppled down in front of Zhong Da Pao.

Zhong Da Pao quickly jumped forth and held him up. Surprised, he asked, "Brother Mao, what's the meaning of this?"

Li Du smiled. "Are you bowing to Master Pao now?"

Liu Zi held his belly and laughed, "Oh, I really thought that I would have to treat Brother Pao like my dad. In that case, you would have to call me Uncle Liu. In the future, don't call me Master Liu or I will get confused."

Da Mao pushed Zhong Da Pao away and rolled his eyes. "Go, go. How's the situation with the King of Hpakant? Did anything crop up while we were away for the past few days?"

Zhong Da Pao looked at him and then at Li Du. "Hey, shouldn't Mr. Li be asking that question? Why, has Da Mao been promoted in rank?"

Da Mao smirked and said, "Don't try and spoil our relationship. I'm just asking for Boss. He must be very concerned about this."