As he had managed to gain the upper hand in the conflict with Tulsi and the King of Hpakant, Zhong Da Pao was in high spirits. Hence, he said cheerfully, “What suggestion? Tell me about it.”

Tulsi started to show his trademark smile and said, “Very simple, let’s work together. We will split fifty-fifty.”

Hearing that, Zhong Da Pao’s mood immediately dampened. He laughed coldly. “Oh, you are really…”

“… daring,” Li Du continued. “Mr. Tulsi, isn’t this suggestion too daring? Everyone knows about Master Pao’s abilities in stone gambling. Knowing that, you still dare to ask to work with us?”

Zhong Da Pao caught on and laughed. “Work together, so be it. No problem.”

Tulsi was no fool. He instantly spoke up. “Master Pao, it’s not that we want to work with you. We want to work with your group. To be exact, we want to work together with Mr. Mao here. He will be the one choosing the stones, we will share the cost of the investment and split the profits equally.”

Zhong Da Pao was compliant. “Sure, not a problem. However, let’s put it upfront. Everyone knows how stone gambling can end up. A cut can turn you poor or rich.”

Tulsi jumped in and said, “That’s right, let’s be upfront about it. Let’s go to Huika together. Let’s fork out the money together. We need to split at least one hundred million from the profits, otherwise, it won’t do.”

Zhong Da Pao’s expression changed. “One hundred million? Are you talking in Myanmar Kyat?”

“Nope, in US dollars,” Tulsi licked his lips and greed shone in his eyes.

Even Li Du took a deep breath. “D*mn idiot!”

That dude was too greedy, and crazy besides. Of course, perhaps the idea came from the King of Hpakant, was who the mastermind. However, regardless of whose idea it was, that was a very crazy and stupid idea!

Zhong Da Pao pointed at him and said, “D*mn, how about you go and rob a bank? Go to Naypyitaw, there’s a huge Standard Chartered Bank there. One hundred million US dollars is small potatoes. It’s not a problem even if you wanted to rob them of ten billion!”

Tulsi grinned and said, “Master Pao, you must be cracking a joke. Perhaps one hundred million US dollars is too much. How about lowering it a little? One hundred million RMB?”

Zhong Da Pao turned around and said, “Let’s go home, I don’t fancy going to Huika anymore. We are not done with the other field areas anyway. We haven’t checked out the private fields. There are still some places we can search for.”

Tulsi said slowly, “Master Pao, there must be a reason why you are going to Huika at this timing, right? Huika will be holding its annual market. Mr. Mao is so capable. Don’t you want to go and make a huge profit?”

The big stone sale, that was indeed Li Du’s motivation in going to Huika.

Those who understood stone gambling would know that there was such an event like a public auction. It happened when the ore sellers entered the jade that was ready to trade into a fixed market for public auction. The industry or the market would give an evaluation of the fetching price of the jade based on the texture of the material, and mark it as the reserve price.

Then, the buyer would bid based on their knowledge of the reserved price in both explicit and implicit bidding. The highest bidder would win. It was an annual event of the stone gambling industry.

The big stone sale was the prelude to the public auction. The owners of the field areas and the bosses of each field had put out the high-quality stones that they had been keeping. They had put out the prices blatantly, to test out the purchasing power of the merchants this year.

The scale of the two events was huge. The difference was that the public auction was more about gambling. There were more stones, and it was more interesting and stimulating. As for the big stone sale, the prices were already fixed, so it was less exciting and more predictable.

Zhong Da Pao clenched his fist with a dark expression. Tulsi looked as though he was definitely going to emerge victorious and continued, “The stone sale only takes place once a year. If you miss this one, especially because the government is regulating the mining of the stones, perhaps next year you won’t have the chance to attend another one.”

Liu Zi pointed at him and said, “Don’t be too cocky. Do you think that we will be unable to pass without your help?”

Li Du patted Zhong Da Pao’s shoulder and said, “You go over yourself. Can you take care of Da Mao?”

Hearing that, the bunch of them understood his intentions.

Previously, the military officers had said that Zhong Da Pao and Liu Zi were locals and could pass through. So could Dao Mao. It was just Li Du and his bunch of bodyguards who were forbidden to pass through.

Tulsi said immediately, “Without us agreeing, Mr. Mao cannot go over either!”

Not only Liu Zi, but Zhong Da Pao could not stand it anymore either. He pointed at Tulsi and said, “You guys are really fierce, even fiercer than the military!”

Tulsi felt that he had the upper hand now. Hence, he stayed at a corner, smiling without a word. He looked confident and sure of himself.

Liu Zi’s face darkened and he said, “I hate that stupid little grin of this bastard! I want to kill him!”

Li Du stopped him and said, “Calm down. There’s nothing we can gain from having a conflict now. It would only make things more difficult.”

Liu Zi had a positive attribute. Although he was rash, he listened to sound advice. As long as it was reasonable, he would take it.

Li Du thought for a bit and said, “Let’s work together.”

“What?” Liu Zi thought he heard wrong. “Work together?”

Li Du nodded. “Yup, let’s work together. Listen to my arrangement, and you’ll see there’s not a huge problem. I know what I’m doing.”

Liu Zi wanted to say more, but Zhong Da Pao stopped him and said, “Listen to Mr. Li. Are you more capable than he is? If not for him, we wouldn’t even have food to eat now. Listen to him!”

Zhong Da Pao then said to Tulsi, “Alright, a stake of one hundred million RMB, let’s work together.”

Hearing that, Tulsi smiled happily. He said, “That should be the way. This is an era of collaboration. Isn’t everyone talking about win-win situations these days? If we work together, it will be a win-win!”

“Besides, how much is one hundred million RMB? Just a few million dollars. As you know, you can get that amount with a single piece of imperial green!”

Liu Zi said coldly, “Oh, imperial green. There’s a higher chance of your entire family winning the lottery than us coming across imperial green!”

Tulsi ignored his sarcasm and said to Zhong Da Pao, “Master Pao, I know that you are a straightforward person and mean what you say. Therefore, we won’t need to sign any contract. Let’s go with gentlemen’s agreement, okay?”

Zhong Da Pao hummed. “Of course.”

“So, let’s work together. We will fork out fifty-fifty and split the earnings equally. You guys can make sure that both sides will be able to make a profit of more than one hundred million RMB, right?” Tulsi laughed.

Zhong Da Pao was angry. “Each party to make an earning of one hundred million? Go to hell, it would be good enough if both parties make that much altogether. What do you take us for? Gods of Gambling?”

Tulsi grinned. “That’s right. Don’t you have the God of Stone Gambling with you there? Wouldn’t it be a piece of cake to make two billion from the big stone sale?”

Zhong Da Pao stayed silent and solemn. Only after some time, he forced out what he wanted to say. “Crazy!”

Li Du agreed to those terms. Tulsi said, “Then come with me, I will take you guys over.”

They had a very strong relationship with the people at the customs. All they had to do was nod. The military officers did not even search their luggage or car and allowed them to proceed just like that.

Li Du smiled at the military officers. The officers did not understand his meaning. They thought that he was trying to gain their favor. Hence, the officers on an arrogant expression, showing off their status and powers.

Seeing that, Li Du kept his smile on. He wondered whether two days later, those men would still be enjoying their status.