The next day, the 15th, when the sun first rose, the streets of Pagang became hot. Individual merchants who set up stalls in the morning and closed their stalls after noon were open for business. Miners selling jadeite rough went to the streets to set up stalls. There are fruit sellers and vegetable sellers, and the market town really looks like a city.
Myanmar is a tropical rainforest country with distinct rainy and dry seasons. During the rainy season every year, due to too much rain, landslides or mudslides are prone to occur. It is too dangerous to dig jade, and the jade producing areas have also stopped working for rest. Only some parts are extremely safe. Construction of small high-rise sites is occasionally open.
Jade mines cannot be dug in the rainy season, so the miners who make a living by mining are idle. Some people will find other ways to make a living, some grow crops, and some people have nothing to do.
There are also many miners making a living on the streets of Pagang. If they can’t find anything to do, they will gather at the end of the street to play cards and bet. If you walk around the street, you can see people wearing cages and flip-flops everywhere. men and women.
Yesterday, some shops were closed in the evening, so Le Yun did not go around all of them. After breakfast, she went shopping for materials, and bought those that were not top-notch and cheap.
After wandering for more than an hour, it started to rain again. People on the streets of the market town could not be more calm. Those setting up stalls and walking on the street were all prepared. Some held umbrellas and some wore clothes. There are raincloths, and some idle people stand under the eaves of other people's houses or under big umbrellas to take shelter from the rain.
Standing under a big umbrella outside a store to take shelter from the rain, Le Yun listened to others chatting and continued shopping after the shower. She stopped shopping around noon and moved the jade stones she found back to the van.
Before lunch, Driver Atu was entrusted by his employer to hire a local miner to serve as an informant to lead the way to find materials. He was very happy to help his employer run errands, and he would get a hundred hard bucks for finding a guide. fee.
Miners have their own news channels, and they spread news quickly. Which miners have dug up good materials and which mines have stones are almost all heard by miners. There are some old miners who compare with each other. Mine owners or jade dealers are more knowledgeable and know how to judge the quality of jadeite by looking at its shell.
The miner hired by Atu’s driver is in his forties and less than fifty. He is the right age group, has plenty of experience, can play with mobile phones, and has fast information flow.
The employed miners had dinner with their employers, and in the afternoon they dutifully took their employers to wander around the miners' settlements. Driver Atu cleverly helped his employer drag his luggage and followed him to learn more.
The sellers recommended by the middle-aged miners all have goods in hand. Some have pieces, some have more than ten pieces, and two of them are small business owners who buy and wholesale rough stones to earn the price difference.
The place where the miners live is very simple. Most of the houses are simple iron houses. Some of them have a few tree stumps to support the roof and a fence around the outside. They sit outside when negotiating deals. The owner shows others stones and talks about the business. If it doesn’t work, take the stone back.
Most of the rough jade stones in the jade field area are in the hands of the field owners or jade companies. Most of the jade stones with good quality and relatively large size are sent to Wa City or to the capital to prepare for the public sale in August. , mostly small woolen materials stayed in the field area.
The stones dug by miners are usually sold to the market at low prices.Master, most of the miners who have stones in their hands are middle- or upper-level miners who can afford the economy and are not in a hurry to spend money, so they temporarily accumulate stones and wait to sell them at a high price at the right time; some miners live The pressure is on. If you dig up rocks, you will sell them at a low price to make money for living.
Middle-aged miners take their employers to look for materials, and sometimes contact their colleagues to exchange news and select better sources of goods.
Leyun is very discerning and very picky, so she can’t negotiate business with seven or eight out of ten companies. The first few companies she approached didn’t like the stone, until she made an acquisition in one company and then resold it to earn the difference The miner's family only bought three pieces of materials from him, and he kept his word and gave the middle-aged miner an additional reward of fifty yuan to show that he was satisfied with the source of goods he recommended.
I don’t know if it was because of the extra rewards, but the grade of supplies recommended by the middle-aged miners was obviously better, and Le Xiao’s classmate also bought a few small pieces one after another.
After arriving in the middle of the afternoon, the middle-aged cargo owner finally recommended a source of goods that he packed at the bottom of the box. A jewelry company specializing in jadeite rough stones has a stock point in Pagang, although most of the goods have been sent away. , the inventory is generally more than other places.
The place where the inventory is kept is a private house. The place where the jade is kept is surrounded by a wall and covered with asbestos tiles as a roof. Don’t think that it is simple and easy to steal. The manager has a gun in his hand, and it is still legal and fair. Anyone with a gun who dares to steal and be beaten to death will die in vain.
A businessman came to see the goods, but the owner of the house who was responsible for the management did not push back. He opened the door readily, turned on the light, and showed the people openly.
The inventory is not very large. They are all medium and small-sized woolen materials. There are many small-sized woolen materials, stacked in piles like stones by the river, at least more than a ton; medium-sized woolen materials are relatively small, with ten Those weighing a few to dozens of kilograms cost several hundred yuan, while those weighing hundreds of kilograms cost less than ten yuan.
The lights were dim and the room felt a bit cramped.
Before entering the residential building, Le Yun observed the situation. There was someone watching on the second floor of the residential building, the one with a gun. The person was watching the place where the wool was kept downstairs from the window. It could also be said that the person was Look at the goods under the gunpoint of others.
The light was not bright enough, so she took out the flashlight and walked towards the pile of wool. She studied and admired it in a corner of the small material area for ten minutes. She selected two pieces of wool as big as a palm and looked at them here and there. A total of eleven small pieces of material were picked out, placed in a corner, and then looked at the medium-sized woolen material.
The prices vary depending on where the wool is stored. Some are sold by pieces, while others are sold by kilograms.
Le Yun, who is already familiar with the stone gambling method, is very experienced. He removed the selected materials and then picked other ones. It took him nearly forty minutes to pick out a dozen medium-sized pieces. The largest piece weighs 160 kilograms.
The middle-aged miner who was the informant looked shocked. He was a big customer.
The manager is holding the computer, waiting for the businesswoman to finish selecting the materials, and negotiating the price. Two medium-sized stones cost 3,000 yuan a piece, and four medium-large stones cost 300 yuan a piece. A catty is worth five to four hundred yuan per catty; small ingredients are worth fifty yuan a piece.
Based on the principle of saving money, Le Yun bargained in a friendly manner and negotiated the price of the two kinds of stones to 250 yuan per catty. The two parties reached an agreement, and the total of all the wool materials was 221,100 yuan. In the end, One hundred and ten heads were also chopped off, which amounted to 220,000 yuan.
After the sale was concluded, the owner of the house who was responsible for the management also helped pack the stones. The large and small stones were packed in woven bags respectively, and then the goods were taken out of the warehouse and traded at the door of the house.
Transactions in the Jade Market are all cash transactions. Unless it is a large-scale transaction between companies, checks or transfers are accepted. For small transactions, all transactions are delivered in one hand and the money is paid in one hand. After the money is paid, everyone will clear it.
The bag containing the rough stones is tied to the luggage trailer, which weighs several hundred kilograms. Le Yun twists the backpack containing nearly one hundred kilograms of small stones with one hand and tows it with the other hand. It is easy and stress-free.
The long-haired businesswoman was short in stature but surprisingly strong. The middle-aged miner and driver A Tu were stunned and at the same time fearful. They roughly understood why she dared to go deep into the jade field alone. Come for food.
There were a lot of stones and it was inconvenient to go down the alley. Xiao Le went back to the parking place and loaded the stones into the car, leaving the driver to guard the car while she and the middle-aged miner went shopping for goods.
Because he was afraid of the businesswoman, the middle-aged miner did not dare to have any restless thoughts. He conscientiously recommended the sources of goods he knew and took the businesswoman around the miner's residential area.
Even in the jade field area, good materials are limited. Le Yun set out for the second time and only found seven pieces of the materials she liked. She finished the work at sunset, returned to the van, and put the stones on the van. Lock the car and the three of them go to eat.
We had previously agreed to hire an informant as a salary of 200 yuan, and paid 100 yuan in advance. After the meal, Mr. Le Xiao paid the other half to the middle-aged miner, and also gave him another 500 yuan as hard work fee.
The middle-aged miner earned more in one day than in a normal month, and even had two free meals. He went home happily with his salary. When he left, he made a special note to tell him if he needed to go shopping tomorrow. Goods, look for him anywhere.
When the middle-aged miner left, Xiao Le gave the driver A Tu three pink Mao Zedong cards. He had found a good informant, guarded the car, and gave him some hard-earned money to avoid letting him go. Chilling.
The driver Atu earned an extra 400 yuan a day. He grinned excitedly. When his employer went to take a shower, he willingly drove the caboose and then went to a hotel to rest.
After a day and a half, several hundred kilograms of stones were accumulated. Considering the limited carrying capacity of the van, Leyun waited until midnight to transfer all the stones into the space.
The next day, when he was about to leave after breakfast, Ah Tu climbed into the car. He felt something was wrong but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. After driving for a while, he finally noticed something. He turned around and looked behind, only to find that everything was empty. He was frightened. He had to step on the brakes, and the car came to a sudden stop. His forehead was covered with sweat, "Nama, all your stones are gone."
He didn't know the full name of his employer, only that he had According to the local custom, it is called Nama.
Le Yun, who was almost hit by the glass when she braked suddenly, just sat upright and wanted to ask what happened.When I heard the driver scream, he stretched out his hand to press his temples, "Wu Shan, I forgot to tell you that my family sent someone to follow me. Because there were too many jadeite stones, it was inconvenient to carry them. I informed my family members to come and take them away last night." ”
The translation of the name of driver Atu in Chinese is Tushan. He can be called Atu or Ashan, and Wu is not his surname. Myanmar people do not have surnames. Wu is an honorific title, which is equivalent to "Mr." , applies to men, the honorific title for ladies is "Du", and "Ma" is the honorific title for young women, meaning "sister", which is almost the meaning of girl in Chinese.
"Took it away" Ah Tu murmured before he could recover from the shock.
"Yes, because it is inconvenient for my family to show up, that's why I came to bet on the stone. They didn't want people to see their faces, so they wouldn't show up with me. They didn't come to get it until midnight last night. Good thing, this situation will probably happen more often in the future. I hope it won’t bother Wu Shan. If Wu Shan feels bothered, I’ll pay you the fare and rent another car.”
“Ah ah. Ah, no, I’m not worried, it’s nothing. I just thought your stone was stolen while we were eating, and I was shocked.” Hearing that young Nama wanted to rent another car, Ah Tu came to his senses with a jolt. The employer was very generous. The chartered car also included food, accommodation, and tips. He was a hundred times more talkative than the previous employer who chartered the car. He didn't want to lose such a good opportunity to make money.
"I generally can't throw away my things. Whoever steals my things will not end well. My family will not pursue it."
"Oh, no. It's okay if it's stolen, Nama, let's keep going." A cold sweat broke out on Ah Tu's back, and he hurriedly started the car and continued to the next venue.
In the rainy season, sometimes it rains several times a day, and sometimes there is no rain at all. The weather is fine in the morning, but then it rains heavily after nine o'clock, and it still rains and the sun shines at the same time.
Originally, based on the distance, it would take driver Atu’s van more than an hour to reach the miners’ settlement at another site. Due to the rain, there was a place on the road that was washed out by mountains and rivers, and people were looking for rocks. The block had to be filled before we could cross it, which took some time. It took more than two hours to get there.
Not every farm entrance forms a town like Pagang. The miners’ residential areas at some farm entrances are very scattered, like small villages, and are not lively.
The second Changkou area that Mr. Le Xiao went to was quite large, like a larger natural village.
After arriving at the field, Driver Atu showed his cleverness and ran to find a clever miner to be an informant to lead the way to find goods. He also stayed at the miner's house that night, just like staying in a hotel, staying for six nights. Ten dollars a person.
Stayed one night at Changkou, and the next day set off to another famous Changkou to shop for goods. She didn’t ask for more, just good quality, so she had a first-hand experience at Jade Changkou. Not many goods were found in the market. The total goods at the two market entrances were not as much as those in Pagang alone.
The goods are small and not moved. They are all stored in the car.
Le Xiao’s classmates are Taobaoing from market to market. In fact, the jade producing areas are not everywhere with jade, nor are they everywhere.It only takes a few digs to find jadeite, which is hidden in rocks and soil.
There are advantages and disadvantages. The local area is rich in jade, which promotes related economic development and earns countless tax revenue for the country. However, the places where jade is produced have been dug bare, causing great damage to the environment. The rivers are also turbid.
Because I don’t have much time to spend, I don’t have time to go to the site to see what the production site looks like. There is no mining during the rainy season, and there are military guards at the site to prevent people from stealing. .
The driver is happy to make money when the employer travels around. He takes the employer from here to there. It usually takes one day to visit the famous market. Some of them only stay for most of the day. When they leave Pagang, they visit the fourth market. The venue is also on June 19th.
On the 20th, Le left the old field and went straight to the small field. On the way, he passed the new field and took a trip to the two fields.
The small field area, also called the Nanchang area, is far away from the old field area. It covers an area three times the size of the Houjiang field area, but there are not many field entrances.
The small field area is to the south of the old field area, with a long distance in between. Leave the old field area, follow the road out of the mountains, and then go to the highway before turning to the small field area.
The van left the old field area and stayed in a city for one night. Le Xiao’s classmate only set out for the small field area on the morning of the 21st and arrived at the small field area before noon.
The jadeite mine in Xiaochang District is a primary mineral deposit and is an indispensable part of Myanmar’s jadeite mining area.
The driver A Tu took his employer to the famous Nanqi market for a long time, and the next day he went to the most famous market called "Moliu".