Two poor men from a small Chinese village went to Canada to work as gold miners.
They mined from sun up to sundown and made very little money. They sent this money to their families back in the village.
They knew that mining gold was making the owner of the mine rich, but they did not mind. They worked hard, every day, and were grateful to have jobs.
One day, one of the men named Li was mining as usual until he saw a green glow.
He focused his attention on the glow, then started mining. Sure enough, it was what he thought it was.
He has found jade, the most precious of minerals in Chinese culture.
He called his friend, Shang, over to see what he had found. Shang was joyous and yelled ‘We’re gonna be rich!’ in Chinese.
The supervisor, a white man named Smith, came over to see what the fuss was about.
“What are you men doing?” yelled Smith. “You should be mining gold, not hootin’ and hollerin’!”
“Sorry Mr. Smith,” said Li, “but we were just happy to be working our jobs.”
“Okay,” said an incredulous Mr. Smith, “carry on then.”
“What do we do, Li?” asked Shang, switching back to Chinese. “He was right here, he saw the green glow of the jade. How could he not notice? The owners could be rich if they knew what we found!”
“I think we should tell him” said Li. “The owners would want to know.”
“But he does not care. It could be ours! Let’s just take it” said Shang.
“No. What’s right is right. We will tell him.” replied Li.
Resigned, Shang agreed. Li went over to Smith to let him know what they found.
“Mr. Smith, sir,” said Li, “we feel we must show you what we have found.”
Smith, somewhat excited because maybe they found a big gold vein, yelled “Well don’t just stand there, show me!”
Li takes Smith to the mine where the jade glows an effervescent green.
“What? I don’t want jade. You’re supposed to be mining for gold! Mine for gold!” yelled Smith.
“But sir,” said Shang, “this will make the owners very wealthy.”
“Listen here, boy,” said Smith. “Canadians don’t want jade. Americans don’t want jade. The Brits, the French, the Spanish don’t want jade. If they don’t want jade, then we won’t sell it. Don’t you know anything about economics? Get back to work!”
Shang yelled out “If some falls, can we keep it?”
With a sigh, Smith resigned. “Fine. If it falls, you can have it. But I don’t want you two wasting any time on jade, and if I catch you mining it, you’re both fired and back on the boat to China.”
The two bowed prostrate and said “Thank you, Mr. Smith! We will work hard!”
After Smith walked away, Li and Shang had big smiles on their faces.
“We’re gonna be rich!” they quietly whispered in unison.
While mining for gold, they often found jade. They took home whatever jade they got and saved it up. Day in and day out, they mined from sun up to sundown and became the hardest workers in the mine.
Smith knew that Li and Shang were working hard because they wanted jade, but was never able to understand why.
Eventually, they had enough to start a jade store. Both men quit their gold mining jobs, went back to China, and became the richest men in the province.
They mined from sun up to sundown and made very little money. They sent this money to their families back in the village.
They knew that mining gold was making the owner of the mine rich, but they did not mind. They worked hard, every day, and were grateful to have jobs.
One day, one of the men named Li was mining as usual until he saw a green glow.
He focused his attention on the glow, then started mining. Sure enough, it was what he thought it was.
He has found jade, the most precious of minerals in Chinese culture.
He called his friend, Shang, over to see what he had found. Shang was joyous and yelled ‘We’re gonna be rich!’ in Chinese.
The supervisor, a white man named Smith, came over to see what the fuss was about.
“What are you men doing?” yelled Smith. “You should be mining gold, not hootin’ and hollerin’!”
“Sorry Mr. Smith,” said Li, “but we were just happy to be working our jobs.”
“Okay,” said an incredulous Mr. Smith, “carry on then.”
“What do we do, Li?” asked Shang, switching back to Chinese. “He was right here, he saw the green glow of the jade. How could he not notice? The owners could be rich if they knew what we found!”
“I think we should tell him” said Li. “The owners would want to know.”
“But he does not care. It could be ours! Let’s just take it” said Shang.
“No. What’s right is right. We will tell him.” replied Li.
Resigned, Shang agreed. Li went over to Smith to let him know what they found.
“Mr. Smith, sir,” said Li, “we feel we must show you what we have found.”
Smith, somewhat excited because maybe they found a big gold vein, yelled “Well don’t just stand there, show me!”
Li takes Smith to the mine where the jade glows an effervescent green.
“What? I don’t want jade. You’re supposed to be mining for gold! Mine for gold!” yelled Smith.
“But sir,” said Shang, “this will make the owners very wealthy.”
“Listen here, boy,” said Smith. “Canadians don’t want jade. Americans don’t want jade. The Brits, the French, the Spanish don’t want jade. If they don’t want jade, then we won’t sell it. Don’t you know anything about economics? Get back to work!”
Shang yelled out “If some falls, can we keep it?”
With a sigh, Smith resigned. “Fine. If it falls, you can have it. But I don’t want you two wasting any time on jade, and if I catch you mining it, you’re both fired and back on the boat to China.”
The two bowed prostrate and said “Thank you, Mr. Smith! We will work hard!”
After Smith walked away, Li and Shang had big smiles on their faces.
“We’re gonna be rich!” they quietly whispered in unison.
While mining for gold, they often found jade. They took home whatever jade they got and saved it up. Day in and day out, they mined from sun up to sundown and became the hardest workers in the mine.
Smith knew that Li and Shang were working hard because they wanted jade, but was never able to understand why.
Eventually, they had enough to start a jade store. Both men quit their gold mining jobs, went back to China, and became the richest men in the province.
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