Diamonds

When Hu Qiaobo woke up, he pointed the gun at the gunpoint, almost knocking him unconscious again.

Xie Qiuqi's face was colder than the muzzle of a gun: "I ask, you answer."

Hu Qiaobo didn't catch his breath: "I didn't say anything! I didn't say anything!"

"Bang—" the bullet hit the side of his ear, singeing off a piece of skin on his ear.

People are finally quiet.Xie Qiuqi was very satisfied: "I didn't ask you to talk, so don't talk."

The man nodded tearfully, blowing his nose and wiping his eyes.

"Tell me what you said to the commander first? Don't fool me, I know what you said." Xie Qiuqi asked.

Hu Qiaobo couldn't stop crying when he thought of being tortured: "I just told them that I was fired, and I really didn't say anything other than that. I'm just a handyman, not even a technical worker. What can I know?" ?”

"You don't know? How many diamonds are processed in the factory every day, how many employees, security measures, where are the documents... You don't know all of these? I'll give you another chance to clear your head before talking about it!"

"I can't even recognize words here! Qiu Qi, you know me, I won't lie to you again if I deceive anyone, I'm not that stupid..."

Ola, who was already sitting on the sofa in the corner, couldn't listen anymore, and snatched the gun from Xie Qiuqi's hand: "Don't waste time with him, thank you, who cares if he talks or not, he stayed at Haza's place, this guy You can't believe it anymore. Deal with it as soon as possible."

Hu Qiaobo got up and pulled Xie Qiuqi's trousers: "Qiuqi, please help me, please do me a favor. I'm an animal, I'm a bastard! I'll be your cow and horse, you save me once, I don't want to die here ..."

He cried so badly that he didn't arouse sympathy, which just added to Xie Qiuqi's nausea.

Xie Qiuqi grabbed his hand coldly: "Let me save you? That's fine. If you chop off these two hands to me, you can pay off my prison debt, and I will spare your life. How about it? It's a good deal, right?" , I was sentenced to 15 years in prison.”

Hu Qiaobo trembled: "Qiu Qi, you can't be so unfeeling...I love you...I really only fell in love with you..."

"You love me and you fucking use my ID card to borrow money?"

"I knew I was wrong! I really knew I was wrong! I never thought that it would be so serious later...Qiu Qi, I was delusional at the time, and they tricked me into agreeing to the loan. I was not like this before, you I know, we've known each other for so long..."

"Stop fucking nonsense. Chop your hands, or chop you?"

"Qiu Qi, I can't give up... I'm the only one left in my family... My mother is still waiting for me at home..."

Xie Qiuqi finally lost all patience, turned around and Ola nodded: "He's yours now."

Seeing that he was about to leave, Hu Qiaobo shouted: "Don't kill me! I said! Haza asked me to be a spy for him! He wants to know about the golden diamond!"

Xie Qiuqi paused: "What spy? What golden diamond?"

The man almost cried his tears dry, sobbing: "I don't know much... that commander is what you call Haza, he is very concerned about a golden diamond in the factory. All he asked me The question was all about the diamond. He said it was a golden diamond that was rare in a hundred years, and it was huge, as big as the one on the crown of the Queen of England. To be honest, I also saw a few big diamonds in the factory, But I've never seen one that big. So I really don't know anything..."

Xie Qiuqi and Ola looked at each other.Unexpectedly, the commander already knew about the diamond.

"What else does he want to know?" Xie Qiuqi sat down and motioned for him to continue.

Hu Qiaobo simply said: "He wants to know where the golden diamond is, whether Ola intends to sell it, whether it has been sent for finishing... In short... In short, it seems that this diamond is very important to him. I heard later Some of his subordinates chatted privately, saying, "Someone from the United States has come to press, if the diamonds cannot be handed over, the goods will be handed over to others." That's why Haza is stressed and anxious. I don't know what the so-called "goods" are What, they use diamonds to settle transactions anyway. Haza buys things from Americans, and that golden diamond is used to pay the bill. If you can’t get American things, things will be bad for Haza.”

Aura said to Xie Qiuqi in Portuguese: "It's arms. The Americans sold him arms, and he paid with diamonds. This is not a rare thing. They have already done such transactions during the war. That's why Haza The mining area must be controlled, because without diamonds, there are no weapons, not only guns, bullets, and rocket launchers, but also satellite phones, tactical radios, radars... You can trade anything you can think of. At the peak, he once bought an F15. "

It wasn't your average rebel who could afford an Eagle in the 90s.

"It seems that Haza is running out of funds, or his diamond inventory is low, so he urgently needs the golden diamond."

"In the past few years, because the government has become more and more strict in cracking down on illegal mining, and more and more legal and regular mining companies have entered Lunda, Haza's living space has been severely squeezed. Even he has no choice but to Not acknowledging that the situation is changing."

"He bought arms from the Americans, does he still want to start a war?"

"He may also hope that UNITA* can win the government army, so that he can make him a minister. Those arms dealers are happy to take advantage of his ambition. He usually needs weapons to raise mercenaries, suppress slaves, and maintain authority. Otherwise, how can the overlord Didn't it become a vase that is not useful?"

"How do they trade? How do these arms get in?"

"Just like smuggling diamonds, they will transport weapons from the United States to the Namibian border first, and then send them in from the desert at the border between the two countries. The transaction is usually carried out at the border, and the specific location of each transaction is different. In order to avoid government forces Discovered. There are still some of their own people on the border, and no one can control him over time."

Xie Qiuqi raised Hu Qiaobo's chin: "Haza doesn't know about my relationship with you?"

Hu Qiaobo shook his head.No one would have thought that there was a relationship between him and Xie Qiuqi.

"Tell me about him making you a spy."

"Haza also wanted to understand later that it was difficult for a low-level handyman like me to get access to golden diamonds, so he told me that as long as I could find out news about diamonds for him, he would send me to the United States. I just I can promise him first, but how can I trust someone like him? I know his secret, and he will definitely kill me afterwards, so of course I rely on you!"

"How can he be sure that you won't betray him in turn?"

"It's useless for me to rely on Ola. She won't give me a way out. After using me, she will still kill me. It's a pity that Haza couldn't think of it. I have a relationship with you. With you, I will really There might be a way out."

Obviously this man still had a terrified expression just now, who would have thought that he could see the situation better than anyone else.

Xie Qiuqi almost praised him: "You're not stupid, so I'll give you a chance to have healthy limbs. If it's done, we'll settle the matter. If there's a mistake, I'll make you a pig and throw you into the lake to feed the fish."

Hu Qiaobo nodded desperately: "I will do it, I will do it. As long as you say it, I will do it."

Xie Qiuqi and Ola looked at each other: "Every time Haza contacts you, remember to tell us. I will give you the message you want to convey, and give him word by word according to our meaning. There is a punctuation mark wrong. You know the outcome."

The double agent laughed: "This is simple."

Xie Qiuqi looked at this man with a complicated expression.For many years, Hu Qiaobo was the protagonist in his nightmares.This face is very unforgettable, sometimes thinking about it will cause physical discomfort, like eating chili continuously, burning stomach, heartburn, dryness in the internal organs; like a typhoon is about to land, the whole sky Pressed on the atrium, he was so heavy that he couldn't breathe.

He also thought about the reunion scene, he knew that Hu Qiaobo was not having a good time, maybe they would meet suddenly under the bridge hole, or next to the trash can in the back kitchen of some fast food restaurant, Hu Qiaobo might have forgotten him—after all, Xie Qiuqi Maybe it was just one of the countless innocent little boys he had fooled—he might not even recognize Xie Qiuqi, but just thought he was a passerby, laughingly begging for a cigarette.

"Didn't you ever think about getting revenge on him?" Ola asked.

Xie Qiuqi shook his head.He went to the door of the room to light a cigarette. The room was too stuffy, and fresh air seemed like a luxury here.

Ola followed his footsteps, the sunset was a ripe hawthorn red, the trees were low in the wilderness, and the setting sun was close to people.

"Revenge on him can't bring back the depression of those few years." Xie Qiuqi took a sharp breath, and his brows stretched: "For a while, I hated him so much, I hated him so much that I would think of this face when anything went wrong: 'I wouldn't be in jail without him', 'I wouldn't be choking on my meal without him', 'I wouldn't be stuck in traffic and be late for work without him'...do you understand what I'm saying?"

Ola didn't answer.She wasn't sure if he was talking about himself or if he was talking about her.

Xie Qiuqi said: "Living this kind of life is very simple. You blame your misfortune, your mistakes, and all your troubles on one person. Later, I found it meaningless. Falling in love with him is my own choice. I believe that I chose him myself, he was wrong, there is no doubt about it, and I will not forgive him. But I don’t want to compete with myself.”

Ola took out the cigarette box and lit one for herself: "You are a rare person, thank you."

"To live like me, it's better not to be a rare person." Xie Qiuqi joked.

Ola also laughed: "You know? Many people think that I hate Haza, including my family. They think that Haza has caused me to lose my life, status, money and power as a nobleman. The country woman. Actually, I don’t hate him. I once supported his ideals and believed that we are united for a common ideal. Although, I found out later that our ideas are different and the paths we want to take are completely different. But It doesn't mean I hate him."

"That photo of you next to the radio, when you were young, you looked like a match." Xie Qiuqi said sincerely.

Memories flashed from the woman's face, exuding a sweet golden luster: "I was only 19 years old when I met him. I was admitted to university, and my family wanted to send me to study. The war is like this, and it is always difficult to go out. It’s safer. But I was very radical at the time, hoping to join the front line. It happened that an officer from UNITA came to my father’s house to seek cooperation, but my father refused. He didn’t intend to participate in the war, he just wanted to be a neutral. I was at that time Met Haza, he was 21 and a lieutenant."

Rich daughter meets distressed young officer sounds like a classic American Dream story.

"Although he was not particularly handsome when he was young, he had an aura that I couldn't describe. He was very attractive. Every time I stayed with him, I felt particularly energetic and energetic. How many women did he know at that time? He can't even talk to women, but he plays the harmonica well. We were in the wilderness. He played the piano. I danced. I gave him the blanket I wove. He sent a pistol. That's him on the battlefield Picked it up, with three bullets in it. He taught me how to shoot."

"I understand his ideals. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the government abandoned the socialist line and held a presidential election. But the election itself has many problems, and the president elected by corruption and bribery cannot represent the people. So UNITA wants to oppose, and Many civilians support their rebellion. Haza and I once believed that UNITA is to bring justice to the country and to elect a government that truly belongs to the Angolan people, not a puppet controlled by the Communist Party.”

"But later, I found out that UNITA was supported by the Americans. I think this is wrong. We should not accept American funds. There is a price to pay for this kind of thing. Haza hopes to win this battle first before reconciling with the United States. The Americans negotiated terms. We were both very naive. We couldn’t fight this war on our own without American funds, but negotiating terms with the United States is also a fantasy. In short, we separated because of disagreements.”

Xie Qiuqi asked: "So, it was later that your family fell into decline."

"I had just given birth to Nadia at that time, but I relied on my youth and strong bones to leave even with the child. I didn't know until I got home that he ordered the army to raid our house in order to let me There is no way out. My father once wanted to disown me because I eloped with him. When I took Nadia home, I swore that I would never get involved in any political affairs again. I only hope to restore the family Glory." Ola sighed.

"Is the family okay now?"

"Father is in good health, but mother is getting worse."

"It's not bad that you still have a home to go back to."

"What you said makes sense. People can't always hold on to the past. They should move forward. But you are only you, and I have children, clansmen and responsibilities. If I am just a single man with no , I can just walk away."

Xie Qiuqi understood: "I believe in you, you will win this battle."

Ola shook hands with him: "I will help you rescue Zheng Ke out. You help me win this battle."

She shook hands firmly, and Xie Qiuqi could feel her determination: "It's a happy cooperation."

(*UNITA: National Union for the Complete Independence of Angola, Portuguese Uniao Nacional Para Independencia Total de Angola, referred to as UNITA, the main opposition party in Angola.)

The author says:

Briefly explain what happened to the Angola Civil War: At first, the "Angolan People's Liberation Movement" supported by the Soviet Union and Cuba fought against Portugal in order to liberate Angola from Portugal and achieve national independence. became a legitimate government.Then there are the forces supported by the United States (UNITA is one of them), fighting against the legitimate government supported by the Soviet Union. UNITA wants to seize power. They think it is a corrupt government and wants to overthrow and rebuild it. After reconciliation, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Angola began to implement a multi-party system. As a result, there were problems in the election in the first year, so the two parties started to fight again).In 92, the two parties finally signed a peace agreement and the civil war ended.Haza (as a young man) believed that Angola could establish a truly independent government with the help of the United States, while Ola believed that the American help would not be in vain.The contradiction between the couple is an ideological contradiction.