Everyone had something they were good at, but as a leader, you had to be good at everything.
Brother Wolf and Godzilla were silent and capable of execution, so Li Du often arranged for them to follow him to do more private physical work.
Lu Guan was good at spreading news. After Li Du told him the plan, in just one day, a number of bars in town began to spread a rumor:
The foreigner, Li Du, who bought the number 115 mine, had been duped by Blanchette. Blanchette had been digging on number 115 for five years without finding anything, but the foreigner successfully dug out black opal!
News of Li Du being swindled had been circulating in town for days, but the miners were not paying much attention to it because there was so much of that sort of thing all year round.
However, after Li Du had been cheated, he managed to dig out black opal. That news attracted the attention of large numbers of miners and ranchers.
Most of them knew that Blanchette had taken over the mine five years ago. Historically, no gems had been found there. That kind of mine has a name, "dog sh*t mine." It means the mine was as worthless as dog shi*t.
The useless mine was about to just fall to Blanchette, but he was lucky enough to find Li Du and sell it for a good price.
Five hundred and fifty thousand dollars was not a lot of money for a big mine, but it was a great price for a dog sh*t mine.
As the news got out, a lot of people were paying attention, but they didn't believe it.
In the evening, Li Du drove up to Blanchette's house with Brother Wolf.
The one who opened the door was still the old woman with the baby. She shook her head. "Sorry, sir. Blanchette is not at home."
"It doesn't matter, madam. I have come to thank him," said Li Du.
The old lady had a lot of experience dealing with people like Li Du, probably because Blanchett had deceived too many people, so too many people came to find him. The more the old lady dealt with them, the more experience she had.
She figured she couldn't accept the "gift" because someone had probably put a homemade time bomb inside.
It was Blanchette's scam to get a gem from a miner, who would then be so angry, he would make a time bomb with mining explosives.
Consequently, the old woman firmly refused. "I am sorry, sir, but I cannot accept your gift. Wait until my son comes back, and let him accept your gift."
Li Du snapped his fingers. Brother Wolf opened the gift box. Inside were two big black gold abalones preserved in ice.
"That would be a pity. This is rare seafood that I've just sent by boat from King Island to thank Mr. Blanchette for helping me."
Bob had said that Blanchette was a greedy and cheap man. The two black gold abalones were large, weighty, fresh, and valuable, and were hard to find in central Australia.
The two black gold abalones were like bait, which finally caught the big fish named Blanchette.
When he saw the two black gold abalones that Li Du had brought with him, he couldn't resist. He came down from upstairs, slipped into the backyard, pushed the door from behind, and walked in, pretending he had just come home.
Opening the door and entering the room, he looked at Li Du with a surprised expression. He opened his hand in an exaggerated manner and said, "Ha, Li, what are you doing here? Come on in. I've been to Burke recently, but it's rude of me not to contact you."
If Li Du wanted to make trouble, he was not afraid. He had called the police station before he had gone downstairs. He had relatives working at the police station. His relatives would immediately rush over if he called them, so if Li Du made trouble, the police could arrest him. Blanchette wanted very much to see that happen.
Li Du laughed and passed the box with the black gold abalones to Blanchette after he came in. "I've been here before, but you weren't home at that time. I'm here to thank you."
Blanchette paused and said, "Thank me?"
Li Du snapped his fingers again. Brother Wolf took out some photos and handed them to him.
"Yes, thank you for selling me the mine," he said. "I found this in the mine, according to the information in Bob's diary."
In the photo there was a neat array of minerals, most of which had been polished to reveal the encrusted gems.
"God, what's this?" he gasped.
Li Du handed him the photo and said, "There are precious stones in it. My guys and I worked day and night. After a week, we finally dug up these things."
Looking at the picture, Blanchette said without thinking, "How is that possible? Oh, I mean, how could you find so many gems so quickly?"
Li Du laughed. "Bob left some information in his diary about his investigation. There are gems in the 114 and 115 mines. I followed his dairy and found the gems in the 115 mine area."
He added, "After I took over the mine a week ago, I went straight to the gemstones and confirmed the authenticity of the information in my diary. I wanted to thank you, but you weren't home."
"Congratulations, mate. You're lucky. You're lucky," Blanchette said. His mouth was twitching.
Li Du spread out his hands and laughed. "Actually, I bought the mine with a purpose. Do you own mine 114? You're in luck, too. There are precious stones in that mine."
He hoped that Blanchette would believe him, and then go on digging the mine. He knew anyway from the little bug that only the southeast area of the 114 mine area had gems, and they had all been dug out.
At this, Blanchette's eyes became eager. He invited Li Du and the others to come in and asked his mother to make his prized coffee for them.
Then, looking forward, he asked, "Where are the stones in mine 114? Can you help me locate them?"
Li Du laughed. "I can't assume exactly, but there must be gems in it. I went and looked at it before, and there are some signs of gems, but you must look for them carefully."
Brother Wolf looked at the sky and said, "Boss, it's time for us to go back for dinner."
Blanchette waved his hand and said, "Yes, it's time for dinner, but you don't have to go back. Just eat here, haha. We've known each other for so long, and I haven't invited you to dinner."
That night, word around town began to change:
The rumors were false. Instead of using deception to sell the number 115 mine to Li Du, Li Du bought it on purpose because it contained gems.