Chapter 789: Ebb Tide
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Through Bob Bryan, Li Du had some knowledge of the search for black opal in Australia, but he didn"t know enough.
It was different from picking up gems in America"s national parks. Gem hunters, or gem miners, as they were called, dug for them on Lightning Ridge.
There were more rules and tricks that could not be explained in just a few words.
Bob thanked them for saving his son and asked Li Du to leave an address. He called a friend and asked him to send him a work note he had left at home.
Li Du was rather embarra.s.sed and said, "That must be years of experience you have acc.u.mulated. How can I take it away?"
Bob replied, "I"m giving it to you, Li. I am not going to work in this field anymore. You might not know, but I lost my child because of the job."
"What happened?" someone asked.
Bob grinned bitterly. "Digging black opal requires working in an underground mine. Sometimes I let my son play in the mine while I worked. I"d enter the mine when I worked and leave my child outside playing by himself.
"I didn"t think about the consequences until a month ago. When I went into the mine and came out again, I couldn"t find my son.
"After that, I did not dare to go down to the mine again. I swore to G.o.d that if my dear baby came back, I would give up the job and spend every day above ground with him."
"Your son is back," said Hans.
Bob nodded gravely. "Yes, he"s back. I think G.o.d sent him back with your hands, so I"ll have to keep my promise, and get another job and spend more time with the kids."
"I will pay more attention to my family and children in the future, too," a father named Burton agreed.
Now that Li Du was no longer objecting, he was happy to accept the gift.
The case was over. They could leave.
When Li Du returned to the hotel, he saw many missed calls on his cell phone, most of them from his friend Cruz, whom he knew from King Island.
He called back and was quickly connected. Cruz said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, look who this is! Our hero called me?"
Listening to his voice, Li Du said with a wry smile, "Speak up, or the hero will hang up."
"It"s your loss to hang up," Cruz said. "Let me give you some good news."
"What news?" asked Li Du curiously.
"You haven"t been on King Island? Come back at once. At the end of the month, there will be a great ebb tide on the island, and this is the best time to harvest black gold abalone," Cruz said.
Hearing this, Li Du was inspired. "It would be an ebb tide? That would be great."
He immediately sensed an opportunity. When the tide subsided, the bottom of the shallow sea would be exposed, so he would not have to dive anymore. He could go straight to pick up big black gold abalone.
If they were going to dive, some of the previous deep water areas became shallow water areas once the tides receded. Their diving ability could come in handy.
Li Du had drawn a map of the black gold abalone habitat area around the island, and that map was now useful.
As for the black gold abalone around Seagull Island? There was no need to worry.
They could go harvesting year round. The resources there were theirs.
Li Du and the local police left, and the group returned to the island via yacht.
Once they docked at a pier on King Island, black gold abalone fishermen immediately surrounded them.
Brooks, the fat man, was the first one who spoke. "Hey, aren"t these the heroes who destroyed the kidnapping syndicate?"
Li Du looked at him and said, "It"s me. What"s wrong? From what you say, it seems like you"re angry on the behalf of the syndicate, is it so?"
Brooks was not impressed by Li Du and the others, and even if they had saved their children and become heroes, he hated them.
However, he did not dare to accept what Li Du said. Now the whole of Australia was fighting against human trafficking groups, hoping to resume the death penalty.
Who was going to say good things about the human peddlers? Everyone would be angry with him!
Brooks glared angrily at Li Du and said, "I hate the gang of human traffickers, but you don"t have to be so heroic. Who knows if you colluded with them?"
At this point, he looked around and said, "What about the $1.8 million prize, folks? Isn"t it possible that someone set up the show themselves?"
Hearing this, Li Du and the others were in a rage.
Even Sophie, who was the sweetest and calmest, was disgusted and said, "You are sc.u.m!"
Some of the fishermen around said, "Brooks, keep your bad mouth shut, and don"t maliciously doubt good people!"
"That"s right, this b.a.s.t.a.r.d is so lame. They just provided a clue. You can be so skeptical, but the police found the perpetrator!"
"They didn"t find the perpetrator. The police caught them. It is possible that they just wanted to provide a clue, but they almost exposed themselves, and the police managed to arrest their partners?" Brooks quipped.
Australia rewarded people who provided clues that helped catch criminals. The person with the clue was given a part of the reward, while a finder was given half the reward. There was a full reward if a criminal was caught.
They found the missing children, but it was the police who caught the criminal.
However, the police believed the credit for catching the criminal this time belonged to Li Du and the others, because they found the missing children in time, and the criminals were nearby.
It was for this reason that they were given a full bonus. Otherwise, they would only have gotten part of it.
This rule was to prevent people from acting on their own, abducting their children for a period of time and then pretending to rescue them to get the money.
This had happened in Australia, which was why Brooks made such a malicious guess.
Fortunately, most people were not as dark as he was, and when he made his comments, people around him became angry with him.
Brooks was very stubborn. He was only taunting Li Du and the others. The public"s reb.u.t.tal made him rebellious, firmly questioning Li Du.
His j.a.panese wife could not bear to see him doing this anymore. She took him by the arm and said, "Stop, we shouldn"t question Mr. Li like that. They are good people."
What she said was true, but Brooks was immediately enraged.
He slapped his wife in the face and yelled, "You b*tch! What the h*ll are you saying? Are you questioning me?"
The j.a.panese sea woman stood by with her face in her hands. She looked down, but Brooks did not let her go. He went forward, pushed his wife, and shouted, "You stupid fool, you do stupid things, you know?"
At this point, Hans could not take this going on anymore.