Diamonds

"Welcome to Africa, you'll love it here."

The blacks are like shepherd dogs driving out the flock of sheep and taking them out of the container: "Come out, come out, follow me, don't fall behind. Follow up, hurry up! There is still a long way to go."

His men carried guns and dressed as soldiers.No one dared not listen to them.Zheng Ke was at the back of the line, and Xie Qiuqihu was in front of him.When they walked to the exit, the shepherd dog stared at Zheng Ke, smiled meaningfully, and asked him to follow the team to the truck ahead.

Zheng Ke was dizzy and could hardly walk.He wants to drink water, and now he is willing to do anything as long as he is given a sip of water.

His legs were numb and weak after sitting for a long time, and he was about to fall after walking a few steps. One hand helped him and pulled him up.

"At two o'clock, the national flag on the lighthouse, can you recognize which country it is?" Xie Qiuqi asked in a low voice.

Zheng Ke twisted his neck ignorantly, a national flag with a red and black background was inserted on the top of the tower, the sickle intersected with half of the gear, and Venus fell into the gear's arms.He was shocked by the answer and wondered if he was sleepwalking.

There was a commotion ahead.

A woman escaped while the soldiers were not looking.She kicked off her shoes in a panic, stepped barefoot on the hot stone floor, and ran desperately towards the big ship in the port.

The collie noticed her, raised his gun and shot twice in the direction of running.The bullet hit the woman's ankle, and she ran around in fright, causing the sheepdog to laugh.

"Left! Hit her to the left! Hahaha, she doesn't know where she is going." The soldier watched the hunting game excitedly.

The range was not enough, so the collie changed to a gun and hit it with one hit.The back of the woman's head exploded, and blood and brains sprayed out at the same time.She lay down on the ground, revealing half of her side face, her face was like wasteland, she could not rest in peace.

The shepherd and the soldier clapped their hands and cheered: "nice shot!"

Zheng Ke wanted to vomit, but his stomach had been emptied long ago, and he couldn't vomit, only full of nausea.

It's very refreshing, he can now be [-]% sure that he is not dreaming.

Xie Qiuqi wanted to appease him, but he shook his head: "By the way, that's the Angolan flag."

It was early October and the southern African continent was still shrouded in brutal heat.The steaming road is rugged and goes deep into the hinterland of the plateau.This is one of the oldest plateaus in geological time, with an average altitude of over 1300 meters, surrounded by water belts, with the Congo River on the left and the Zambezi on the right.There are abundant crystalline rocks under the red soil, and iron ore and manganese ore have become an important source of local economy.

However, the most profitable industry is still the diamond industry.Angola is one of the top five diamond producing countries in the world, with a total diamond reserve of 3.7 million carats and an average annual output value of 800 million carats*.Among them, the Northeast Plateau accounts for the majority of the reserves, and more than 50% of the diamonds here have gem value, including various rare colored diamonds such as blue diamonds, red diamonds, and green diamonds.Due to the pacification of the civil war in the country, the mining industry was not standardized, and a large number of illegal gold diggers were attracted here.

The Angolans named this plateau "Londa", which comes from an independent and strong indigenous people.

The truck passed through the countryside, the loess was dry and grassy, ​​and there was not even a clean, pleasant green, but yellow green, gray green, and brown green. Garbage was thrown on the ground randomly, like old phlegm spots.The stench of animals fermented in the hot air, forming an invisible bomb that would explode at an unknown time. The peasant woman who was doing the laundry let out a wild laugh, and a child drove a group of black cows past, and the hooves of the cows splashed yellow sand into the sky. , Dye the grass, trees, cars, and people into that kind of thick pulp-like, never-fading chicken shit color.

Xie Qiuqi simply closed his eyes and did not look at it, resting on the back of the car.A pristine piece of land where slaves have been traded for three centuries, he should cherish every second of his life.

They walked from daytime to sunset, and finally reached their destination at the end of the moon.

I don't know which air-raid shelter behind the lonely hill, half of it has been blown beyond recognition, and the other half can barely shelter from the wind and rain.The shepherd dogs drove them into the hole, and built a high platform against the wall. There were about twenty beds made of broken cotton wool, which smelled of damp decay. The oil lamp on the wall was covered with bugs. A soldier took it away. Come down to refuel, and kill a handful of bugs.

"Okay, this is your new home, babies," the shepherd said with a false smile, "you can take a break, eat something, drink some water. Okay? But be obedient, don't make noise, don't cry, Better get some sleep. Because we have to get up early tomorrow."

His English with a strong accent should not be understood by many people.But he didn't care, as if he didn't mean to tell anyone.

The woman who delivered the food came in with two buckets, filled with white bread and water that I didn't know was dry.She put down the barrel and left silently, not forgetting to lock the iron door of the room.

Xie Qiuqi slept all the way in the car, he was quite energetic at this time, but he was really hungry.Seeing bread, he reached for the bucket. He was the only one among the No. 20 people who rushed to the front—the other newcomers didn't dare to move, as if the food was poisonous.

Only Zheng Ke cut off the piece of bread: "I don't know if I can eat it yet!"

Xie Qiuqi had already torn off the bread and stuffed it into his mouth: "If you want to kill, you would have shot at the pier. Poisoning food is troublesome and unnecessary. It's okay, it's not bad, you can try it."

He fed it to Zheng Ke's mouth.Zheng Ke subconsciously opened his mouth and took it, and only after he swallowed it did he realize what he had done.

Another daring man had stepped up to them, grabbed two loaves of bread and stuffed them into his mouth.Now everyone embraced.They hadn't eaten for at least thirty hours, and each starved ghost was reincarnated to fight for food.

Drinking water without a container can only be held by hand, and some people even put their mouths on the edge of the bucket to drink.

Xie Qiuqi stepped back first to choose a bed, and sat down near the oil lamp.Zheng Ke followed closely beside him. It was a bit cold in the air-raid shelter. He noticed Xie Qiuqi who was wearing light clothes, and took off his coat and put it on Xie Qiuqi's shoulders.

Xie Qiuqi turned around and smiled at him: "It's okay, you can wear it. Don't catch a cold, young master."

Zheng Ke also smiled: "I don't know if there will be a next time, maybe this coat will be yours tomorrow."

He was implying that if he couldn't survive today, the coat would of course become Xie Qiuqi's.

Xie Qiuqi was taken aback, and suddenly felt that this young master was different: "You will be fine, don't worry."

Zheng Shihua didn't dare to let Zheng Ke die, otherwise he would have blown Zheng Ke's head off with a floral shirt as early as in the office.

Zheng Ke shrugged his shoulders pretending to be relaxed: "Do you know what I think of now? During the summer vacation, my dad asked me to join the field team. A dozen stinky men lived in one room, couldn't take a bath for half a month, and ate chaff. Food, that’s about the same requirement. Don’t think that I’m the young master because I’ve never suffered anything.”

Xie Qiuqi sneered: "The rich are only asking for trouble."

Zheng Ke suddenly withdrew a serious expression: "I'm sorry."

Xie Qiuqi was puzzled.

"Because our family's affairs and mine's affairs involved you, you almost died, and you were sent to this kind of place. Although it was not intentional, it is indeed our family's responsibility." Zheng Ke held his hand hand.

Xie Qiuqi shook his head: "I'm relatively unlucky, so I haven't walked any smooth roads."

Zheng Ke wanted to ask him what happened before, but then he felt that the two of them were not familiar enough to get to the bottom of it, so he had to give up.He felt a sense of loss for no reason, he and Xie Qiuqi had clearly experienced life and death together, yet they sat together but were still separated by the window paper.

"I don't know what this place is. What do you think Zheng Shihua sent us here for?"

"Your second uncle is a pervert. I don't understand the psychology of perverts."

“Our family signed a cooperative mining agreement with Angola’s state-run mining company a few years ago. We provide technical support and they are responsible for mining. I think this may be a cooperative diamond mining site. Zheng Shihua sent me here just to torture me and scare me I, it’s better that I can’t bear the pain and give him the inheritance rights. I don’t know who gave him such a bad idea, or he thought of it himself. He is really talented. Hiding me in an African mountain nest can still be found. It's a miracle." Zheng Ke smiled wryly.

No one thought that "experiencing working life" refers to being sold to the mountains as a miner.

Xie Qiuqi pointed his chin at the other people eating around the iron bucket: "What about them?"

Zheng Ke was not in the mood to care who these people were at all.

"Zheng Shihua sent you to experience life, and I'm fine if I add one more. Are these people also here to experience life?" Xie Qiuqi said: "They seem to be forced to come, and a few of them can tell that they must have done nothing It doesn’t matter whether you can do mining or not. You think, you are the boss, and you have a mining area waiting to start, will you find some experienced engineers or rookies?”

"Are you trying to say that Zheng Shihua is secretly selling labor?"

"Not only people, but does this mining area look legal? From the way the car came in, I couldn't see any mining operation licenses and safety production reminders. It was isolated from the world, the facilities were outdated, there was no ventilation, no lighting, and no freedom. The people who came here were all illegal workers, which looked like a black mine. Your family signed a cooperation agreement with Angola, it shouldn’t be this kind of cooperation law.”

Zheng Ke took a deep breath: "The Angolan military cracks down on illegal mining. Once it is discovered, it will be shot on the spot or demand huge bribes. Zheng Shihua must have bribed the local military to illegally mine behind my father's back and traffic people. If these things get out, the Zheng family's reputation will be ruined by him sooner or later!"

Xie Qiuqi motioned him to lower his voice: "Illegal mining is okay, but human trafficking is a serious crime, and the risk is too great. I'm a little curious, why Zheng Shihua did this."

"If you don't sell labor, how can there be people working in his black mines?"

"Whether these mines belong to him or not. It is impossible for Zheng Shihua to cover all the supply, freight, and sales by himself. Then he will die of exhaustion before he gets the money. He should cooperate with others, and he only needs to be responsible. Just one link in the chain."

Zheng Ke didn't think so much: "You still have the mind to worry about him, so let's think about what we should do first."

Xie Qiuqi was very serious: "Only by digging out Zheng Shihua's black industrial chain can you find evidence of Zheng Shihua's illegal activities. Only when you return to Macau can you be sure to take him down in one fell swoop. This is a weapon that is beneficial to you. Africa must go out , but how to go out and what to do before going out should be carefully planned.”

"Are you already planning how to go out?" Zheng Ke had some hope in his heart.

Xie Qiuqi knocked off the mildew on the quilt: "It's not difficult to get out of this air-raid shelter, but it will be difficult if there are many people guarding outside. If you are caught, you may not die, but you have to keep your two legs. It’s okay to cut it off. Anyway, your father’s will only says that you are alive, and it doesn’t matter whether you are alive with healthy limbs or if you are made into a human pig.”

Zheng Ke was very excited at first, but he shrank back after being frightened by him.

Xie Qiuqi sighed, and patted the bed next to him: "Go to sleep. Only when you have recovered your energy can you escape."

Tired from running all the way, Young Master Zheng was exhausted, and immediately started to feel sleepy after eating something.Originally, he thought it was noisy for No. 20 people to share a room, but he fell asleep faster than anyone else.Before anyone else went to bed, he had already started snoring.

Xie Qiuqi couldn't sleep.Insomnia is a long-standing problem. I used to take some medicine, but it didn't work anymore, so I didn't even take the medicine.In fact, he was very tired, and his body's ability to bear it had reached its limit, but his mind was sober and he couldn't fall asleep.

After everyone fell asleep, he got up quietly and walked to the door without making a sound.

The two large iron doors were tied with iron cables, and a huge lock was tied underneath.As soon as he pushed the door open, moonlight came in quietly through the gap, and two guarding soldiers outside sat with their guns on the open space in front of them, playing cards and drinking, with chopped white powder on the chairs.

The kerosene lamps were so weak that they had to hold the cards very close to their eyes.After a while, the winners cheered, and the losers took a tooth out of their mouths and poured something into the pot.In addition to these two people, patrolling soldiers passed by from time to time.

Xie Qiuqi got sleepy from watching, so he crawled back to bed.The wind leaks from the brick wall, like the melodious whining of a flute on a spring night.

He finally fell asleep in this mourning.

(*The data comes from the 2013 data of the Ministry of Commerce of China. The background of this article is set in 2011. Because no old data can be found, the data of 2013 is temporarily used.)

The author says:

I saw a lot of comments, thank you everyone~ If there is no unexpected situation, I usually update every other day, and if I can’t update on time, I will ask for leave in advance~ Young Master Zheng still has a little milk at this time, and needs to be raised.