Nugget gold was the name given by the Chinese to some naturally occurring, impure nuggets of gold. It was usually composed of natural gold, quartz, and other minerals.
It was said that the original gold was shaped like a dog's head, hence the name. However, it was more commonly known abroad as horseshoe gold because foreigners thought it looked like a horse's hoof in its original state.
Regardless of the name, this kind of natural rich gold was extremely rare. No matter the era, no matter the country, it was a treasure.
Li Du stopped the motorcycle and walked to the puddle to think about how to dig it out. There was water in the puddle, but of course, the water had turned into ice and had not melted yet.
Coincidentally, this nugget gold was right under the pool. To dig it out, he had to break the ice.
Li Du took out the pistol he carried with him and tried it. He tapped the ice with the gun handle, and the ice made a muffled sound. It was obviously solid ice, and it was not easy to break it.
Taking out the nugget gold was a problem. He could not ask for help, or else he would not be able to explain how he had found it hidden underground.
As he was worrying, Ah Ow and the others ran over.
The three little ones sat in a row beside him and imitated him, looking at the ice in the puddle.
After a while, Ah Meng caught up, panting. The poor honey badger was not good at long-distance running. Although the motorcycle was not fast, it was still very difficult for it to catch up.
Li Du thought it had returned to the camp, but he did not expect it to keep chasing. Only a fool like the honey badger could have such tenacity.
Ah Meng ran to the puddle and lay down, then heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Ah, I'm so tired. I can finally rest.
Li Du looked at it and smiled.
Ah Meng looked up and saw the smile. It suddenly shivered. It had a bad feeling. Every time its father smiled like that, it was definitely not a good thing.
Li Du reached out and touched its small head. He smiled and said, "Are you tired? Ah Meng, are you tired from chasing me all the way? "
Ah Meng did not know what he was mumbling about. It rolled its small black eyes and felt nervous.
Li Du said to himself, "Rest first, don't worry. After resting, do some work and dig something for Dad."
This was his plan. He wanted to dig in a roundabout way. He wanted Ah Meng to dig from the ground beside the puddle and dig all the way to the bottom to dig out the nugget gold.
After resting for a while, Ah Meng finally managed to catch its breath. Li Du dragged it up and began to teach it how to dig according to the route that he had pointed out.
The puddle was not big, about three to four meters in diameter. Li Du found the closest route to the gold nugget. Ah Meng only needed to dig two to three meters.
He found a good position. Ah Meng's two front paws flipped, and it had no choice but to do it.
The ground here had gradually thawed. Although the soil was firm, it was not impossible to dig holes. Honey badgers, with their sharp claws and teeth, were especially good at digging big holes.
Li Du looked at Ah Meow and Ah Ow and said, "What are you looking at? Let's work together and expand the hole. "
Except for Ali, who was not good at digging and was able to escape the oppression, the other three had to start working.
As the three little ones worked, Li Du began to wonder where this gold nugget came from.
There were generally two theories about the source of this precious metal resource. One was that this gold nugget with impurities was formed from the fall of a gold-rich meteor. It was a gold-rich ore formed during the geological period of the gold rain.
The second theory was that the first theory was nonsense, because gold nuggets were mostly found near gold mines. If gold nuggets came from meteors, why would they appear near gold mines? Could it be that gold-containing meteors knew to land near gold mines?
According to this theory, nugget gold was formed by the enrichment of underground water and organisms under suitable conditions.
Gold nuggets contained stones and impurities, and the surface was full of potholes. Research believed that it was because they were mostly produced in the sand rich in groundwater. The potholes on the surface were also due to the inlay of sand and stones. When the sand and stones fell later, they left holes in the shape of sand and stones on the surface.
The gold nugget that Li Du found could not be linked to these two reasons. There should be no gold mines around, and the potholes on the surface of the gold nugget were very similar to the melting pits on the surface of meteorites. It did look like it came from a meteor.
In addition, he had just learned that the rangers would occasionally find gold sand, small gold nuggets, or silver ores in the wilderness. These things were scattered over a wide area, as if they were made from meteorites.
After more than forty minutes of hard work, Ah Meng finally found the gold nugget.
Li Du used the stick to point the way. If Ah Meng dug in a wrong direction, he would stick the stick into the hole to point Ah Meng and let it dig in the direction of the stick.
Finally, Ah Meng found the gold nugget and dragged it out.
Li Du swept the dirt off Ah Meng's body and rewarded it with a ball of honey. Then he picked up the gold nugget.
The gold nugget was not very big, but because of the high density of gold, it was not small. Li Du felt that it was heavy in his hand. It was at least twenty kilograms!
At this weight and volume, the value of the gold nugget was far higher than that of gold of the same weight. It was considered to be the work of nature and had a natural value as a collector's item.
Li Du estimated that twenty kilograms of gold was about eight million dollars, so this gold nugget was worth at least ten million dollars.
He happily put the gold nugget into the black hole. This trip to the wilderness was a fruitful one.
The space-time bugs searched carefully around the area. He wanted to see if there were any gold nuggets or meteorites.
Unfortunately, his luck had run out. Other than this gold nugget, there was nothing else around.
With the encouragement of the gold nugget, Li Du was motivated. At noon, he ate more than usual when he went back.
In the afternoon, he was ready to set off. Ah Bai climbed onto the motorcycle ahead of him and swung on it. Ah Meow went to scratch him, but he dodged on the motorcycle and Ah Meow could not get him off.
Li Du carried Ah Bai down and said, "You don't go, okay? You stay at home with Sophie's mother. "
Ah Bai was not happy and grabbed his clothes, making squeaking sounds.
Ah Ow was lazily basking in the sun and scratching her neck with her hind paws. Seeing this, Ah Bai's eyes turned and suddenly ran over to scratch Ah Ow.
At first, this scared Ah Ow and she stared at Ah Bai with vigilant eyes. But slowly, she felt comfortable and closed her eyes to enjoy it.
Monkeys were good at scratching, catching fleas and grooming their hair. For them, this was a way to communicate with their own kind and also a way to please the strong in the group.
Ah Bai scratched for a while and Ah Ow felt that it was enough. She stood up and shook her body, then stretched. She was so comfortable that she almost moaned.
Seeing this, Ah Bai suddenly jumped on Ah Ow's back.
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