Arrival

Xu Youhai's family estate was still north of Pankan City, and they had to pass through the urban district to get there. Thus, Chu Chen, who was still fairly alert, planned to admire through the car window this city where jade had first been mined in Myanmar.

It was said that the Pankan region now had more than four hundred mines of various sizes. After years of mining, some hills had already been dug flat, while some mine shafts had reached four or five hundred meters underground. If one took a walk around the mining area, one might step on discarded, low-grade jade at any moment.

Those exhausted jade-mining areas had gradually turned into places resembling marketplaces at the centers of the mining districts. But when Chu Chen saw the scenery outside the window, his mouth slowly fell open, because the place looked far too dilapidated.

In the past, Chu Chen had seen some slums while traveling around to collect antiques. But compared with this sprawling area of chaotic, utterly ramshackle thatched huts, even those slums he had seen could already be called a city.

Besides, calling them thatched huts was already being generous. Looking out over the places the car passed, most of the houses were merely a few thick branches supporting some worn-out grass vines. They looked as though a light push would be enough to knock them down.

Yet some elderly people and children actually lived in these houses, which were practically uninhabited in China. Most of them had dark skin. When Chu Chen and the others' cars passed by, some people looked at them curiously before returning to whatever they had been doing.

Perhaps seeing the astonishment on Chu Chen's face, Xu Youhai, who was still fairly energetic, said, "Achen, it is indeed rather harsh here.