Chapter 1490: 1490. Resource Curse (4/5)

Chapter 1490 1490. Resource Curse (45)

There were too many people, and the mother and daughter got busy.

There are big rivers here, and the best sellers are naturally river fish and shrimp.

A few big white fish were simmering in the pot, and there was grilled river fish on the oven. This kind of fish was about the length of a palm, and was not big in size, but the meat was very fat, and the skin of the fish soon became burnt yellow.

Li Du was sitting by the river, and he could see the river in his eyes.

The still clear river was rolling and rolling, and some large and small flat-bottomed boats were undulating on the river with the waves. It was already lunch time, and some boats were docked at the pier.

There are many simple work sheds on both sides of the river. Several logs propped up a black net to shade the sun. Below are dark-skinned locals talking and laughing with tea mugs.

Li Du came to Hongshawadi for the first time, and he was curious about everything, so he couldn't help but look around.

Seeing this, the locals in a shed next to him became pale, and several young people pointed at him and yelled.

Ge Danwei quickly stood up and smiled kindly at the young people, not knowing what to say.

Big Mark Love said: "Those guys asked you what to see, and the tour guide told them that we are foreigners, and it's our first time here. There is no other meaning, just to see the scenery."

Li Du didn't want to make trouble, so he looked away after hearing what he said, and then smiled disdainfully and said, "The local people are quite domineering."

Little Marklove spat and said, "I don't think they are afraid of death!"

Big Mark Love glared at him immediately: "Don't mess around here, idiot, we are on the front line now, there is no logistics, no supplies, no support, nothing, be honest."

Ge Danwei sat down after appeasing the people opposite, and said: "They are local gold diggers, and they all carry gold on them, so they don't like people watching them the most, and they will misunderstand them."

Li Du suddenly realized that it turned out that there was sand in the river.

The grilled fish is prepared first. These fish are skewered with bamboo sticks. When eating, they are like eating meat bones. Hold one end of the bamboo sticks with each hand and chew the meat from the middle.

The fish is tender and delicious, without the earthy smell of freshwater fish, but it has a sweet taste. With seasonings such as cumin and chili powder, the group eats it with relish.

Consumption in these places is very low. A group of people spent less than 200,000 Hong Yuan. According to the currency exchange ratio, one RMB can be exchanged for 200 Hong Yuan, which means that the average cost per person is only 50 Hong Yuan.

You must know that they are all burly men, and each of them has a terrible appetite. If such a meal was left in the United States, Li Du estimated that each person would spend more than fifty dollars.

Before leaving, Li Du gave the proprietress some consumption, directly giving her one hundred dollars.

The proprietress laughed when she saw this piece of money. Some people here occasionally trade in dollars for gold mining, so they know the value of dollars.

This dollar was worth hundreds of thousands of Hong Yuan, so the proprietress kept it close to her, and went to get some grilled fish, wrapped it in oil paper and stuffed it for Li Du, signaling them to eat on the way.

The road was bumpy, and finally, the road became better, and the green mountains and green waters on the roadside were gone, replaced by mines and excavated hills.

The Hpakant region has arrived!

Li Du looked out, and couldn't help marveling at the powerful destructive power of human beings. A rock mountain was half mined, as if some giant god was angry here, and stretched out his hand to tear a mountain in half.

Seeing his amazed expression, Ge Danwei pointed to the pitted surface in the distance and said: "There used to be a mountain there, no, there used to be many mountains over there, but you see, sir, they are all gone now, they have all been dug up. !"

The car continued to move forward, and Li Du saw some convoys starting to appear on the ground.

The road conditions here are relatively good, because many heavy trucks drive on it, and some heavy machinery such as excavators pass by. If the road conditions are not good enough, the ore cannot be dug or transported at all.

The trucks coming out of the mine are all heavy trucks with a load capacity of tens of tons. These trucks are full of ore, and they are seriously overloaded at a glance.

The driver estimated it, then turned around and said, "There must be hundreds of tons of things."

The more we walked forward, the more lively it became, and villages and pedestrians appeared on the side of the road.

The villages here are small and dilapidated, just some thatched houses and mud houses that only existed in China in the 1950s and 1960s. It was rainy in Hongshawadi, and Li Du felt that a heavy rain could wash away these houses.

The people in the village are also very poor, and the weather is still hot. Many people wear a pair of shorts without a shirt. The children run around with bare feet and buttocks. A tattered football is enough for more than a dozen children to compete for.

Some people enjoy the shade under the trees. Except for the elderly and children, the people under the trees are all disabled, lacking legs and arms, which is unbearable to see.

Li Du was surprised: "What's going on? Isn't Pagan a very rich place?"

Ge Danwei showed a mocking smile on his face, and said: "Yes, we are very rich. Take our car as an example. Boss, you probably have ten million dollars in money, right? Then the two of us have an average of five million dollars. We are all rich!"

Li Du frowned and said, "I understand what you mean. I know there are many rich businessmen and rich mine owners here, but don't the miners have money? The salaries of the miners are not low, right?"

Ge Danwei still laughed mockingly, and he said: "Not low? It is indeed not low in the propaganda, but in fact there is not much money. Moreover, these bosses will always find a way to earn your money back. They eat, drink, prostitute and gamble here, and spend too much La!"

After hearing this, Li Du shook his head. Ge Danwei was very clever, and he guessed what he was thinking from his expression.

He said: "Boss, you must think that the people here are not up to date, right?"

Without waiting for Li Du to answer, he sneered and said: "The people here have not received your education, and their self-control is not as good as yours. The local environment is like this, and there are many temptations. When you leave the mine exhausted every day , when you don’t know whether you will be destroyed by a mine disaster tomorrow, don’t you want to spend money?”

"In short, hell is empty, and the devil walks in the world!"

Li Du said: "You are right, it seems that the theory of resource curse is also applicable in the Pagan area."

This time it was Ge Danwei's turn to not understand. He blinked in confusion and said, "What curse? Who cursed this place?"

Li Du said with a smile: "It's not who cursed this place, but the 'resource curse theory', which means that countries and regions with certain scarce resources are likely to be poorer."

The situation in the Pagan area is the same as in the diamond-rich areas in Africa. The indigenous people in these areas have not become rich because of the resources. On the contrary, they have suffered and become poorer because of these resources.

As the car drove between the villages, Li Du saw more and more things, and became more and more frightened.

Just like the Los Angeles metropolitan area, a large living area has been established around the small place of Pagan, and the closer you go to the center, the more traffic will be busy.