Crispy Noodles dug open the stone, found some preserved fruit, and stuffed it into his mouth. Li Du took out the fire opal from the ground, held it up, and laughed. "Hey, we got something again!"
Seeing that he had found a fire opal so quickly, two gem hunters who had just left stopped in their tracks and exclaimed in surprise, "You guys found opal the moment you arrived?!"
"When did opal become so easy to find? This is a precious gemstone! "
The production of opals was very low, especially fire opals, which were produced only four to five thousand pounds per year.
Four to five thousand pounds added up to four to five tons. Many people felt that this was a lot, but after a comparison, they knew how rare it was.
According to the International Gem Association's statistics, the global production of diamonds was about 100 million carats per year, which was 20,000 pounds, or 20 tons!
This was a very rare gemstone. Of course, the status of opals and diamonds could not be compared. Diamonds were recognized by people all over the world, regardless of whether they were poor or poor, while opals were targeted.
According to Li Du's understanding, the people who liked opals the most were Europeans, Americans, and people from Hong Kong.
Opals had many meanings. In addition to the October Stone, they were also good luck charms in ancient Roman times. At that time, people believed that opals symbolized the rainbow and would bring the owner a bright future.
In addition, because of its extremely clear surface, it could be used as a metaphor for pure love. It was also known as the "Cupid's Stone." This was the reason Li Du had given Sophie the stone previously.
It was for these reasons that Europeans liked opals. For Americans, opals had a different meaning and were considered to be stones of freedom.
Americans were founded on the spirit of freedom, so it was easy to imagine why they liked opals.
Also, no matter where people came from, they liked opals because they were especially beautiful.
Li Du handed the gemstone to Sophie and asked her to clean it. Sophie cleaned it with a chemical solution, rinsed it with clean water, and carefully stored it.
After the gem hunters walked over to take a look at the stone and confirmed its authenticity, they were shocked. They asked Li Du, "Your raccoon can find fire opals?"
Li Du did not want to be nosy, so he smiled vaguely. "Who knows? Maybe, this is a very good kid. It is very talented in searching for things. "
"But it is good at searching for hidden food." Sophie covered for him, thinking that they could not expose Crispy Noodles's ability. This kind of thing had to be low-key.
In the end, she didn't know that she had spoken the truth. Crispy Noodles was good at finding hidden food.
The hunters sensed that the two of them were trying to cover up the matter. They thought that they had discovered the truth, so they left while discussing in low voices.
As they left, they looked back.
Godzilla spat and said, "Be careful."
Li Du also saw the greed in their eyes and said, "Everyone will take turns to be on duty at night. The security in the park will not be very good. We have to be careful."
However, he was not very worried. Firstly, he had brought two crossbows with him. Secondly, Ah Meow and Ah Ow had very good hearing. If someone were to sneak up on them, they would definitely be discovered.
Not only did Ah Ow have good hearing, but she was also very territorial and was running around to pee.
Li Du released the little bug to search carefully on the gravel beach. This was not a technical task; it only needed to search mechanically.
After everyone accepted that Crispy Noodles had the ability to search for opals, digging became a simple task.
He found an opal and placed a piece of preserved fruit there. Crispy Noodles ran around looking for the food. After smelling the fragrance of the preserved fruit, he would run over to dig up the stone and take out the preserved fruit to eat.
Li Du paid attention to him. After seeing him dig up the stone, he would bring Big Quinn and Godzilla over to dig.
However, he had to time it well so that the two of them would not discover that Crispy Noodles had found the preserved fruit under the stone.
In addition, he could not allow Crispy Noodles to have a 100% success rate in digging. He would also bury the preserved fruit in places where there were no opals.
Big Quinn and Godzilla were sweating profusely in their singlets. Whenever Crispy Noodles dug up a place, they would immediately rush over with their tools and continue digging.
Sometimes they could dig up opals, and sometimes they could not because there might not be any opals there.
However, the two of them did not know that they would continue digging. Li Du was in charge of supervising them. Usually, when they dug more than a meter deep, he would ask the two of them to stop.
It was dangerous to continue digging. The gravel was not stable and could collapse.
Digging was not easy and took up a lot of time. According to the rules of the national park, gem hunters could dig holes, but they had to fill in the holes before leaving so that no abnormalities could be seen.
The local government was very concerned about the protection of the national park. If it was purely for short-term profits, then the government would have sent engineering teams to dig up opals based on the value of the opals.
That was what the African government did. Wherever they found a diamond mine, they would directly drive in large machines and destroy the local ecological environment, using the power of machinery to search for gemstones.
The American government did not dare to do so because the local residents would not agree. Even if they were given a bonus, they would not be willing to destroy their own homes to earn money.
That was why it was interesting to say that the United States, a capitalist country, was very respectful of the opinions of the people. However, some of the smaller countries in Africa, which claimed to be "democratic countries," were ruled by warlords and dictatorships.
When evening fell, Li Du put down his work and took Sophie to watch the sunset. He found a small hill and sat on it with Sophie.
Li Du hugged Ah Meow, Sophie hugged Ah Ow, and Crispy Noodles squeezed in between them. They looked at the sunset in the west and quietly watched the sunset.
A large flock of returning birds flew slowly in the sky. A beautiful bird with red, green, and white feathers landed not far from them. The bird tilted its head and looked at them, its eyes sparkling.
Ah Meow was immediately excited and wanted to catch it.
Li Du held him down and gave him a stern look. Ah Meow made two grunting sounds in his throat and could only stay there obediently.
The gentle sunlight shone down, and the barren land gave off a colorful glow. These were all ores of different qualities, and some of the beautiful ones could be sold for money.
Of course, the price was worlds apart from that of opals, just like the price difference between cod and tuna, which were both fish in the sea.
There were also cacti growing on the barren land, which was the most common vegetation in Arizona. Throughout the year, the cacti grew lush and green.
When the last ray of sunlight fell, the barren land turned grayish-blue. The moon was gone, and the starry sky was bright.
Li Du let out a long sigh and said, "Another sunset, so beautiful."
Sophie raised her camera and said, "I'm keeping it today. When I get back, I'm going to upload it to my Face Book. I bet that many people will be envious of us."
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