Don't be deceived by these people sweeping the streets with brushes, they are not dedicated sanitation workers, this is a humble slum, and they are India's unique city alchemists.
Late at night, they wander the streets, using a small brush to find the golden millionaire's dream.
The slums of Calcutta, India, where many city alchemists converge. One of them is Gare, a 23-year-old boy who lives in a dilapidated rental house crammed into a cramped space of nearly twenty adults
There was no furniture in the house, the floor was the common bed, and although the living conditions were very simple, there was no sorrow of the poor on their faces, because each of them dreamed of becoming a millionaire one day.
Not far from them, pieces of luxuriously streamered gold jewelry sit behind glass counters, the city's gold and jewelry hub, home to more than 800 jewelry workshops, large and small. Indians have a special paranoia about gold jewelry because it can not only be used to decorate their own representative identity, but also a good thing for emergency cash. If you add up the gold jewelry of Indian folk, it can account for about eleven percent of the world's gold, which is more than the reserves of several developed countries in the world today combined.
At three o'clock in the morning, Galle and his brother woke up from the ground. When everyone was asleep, the city alchemists began their work. Gale told reporters that the street was washed by goldsmiths every day, and the gold powder that fell from them was hidden in the inconspicuous dust.
Gale picked up the brush and began to clean the ground inch by inch, and he was very proud of what he had done. He thinks that the people on the street can only see the garbage on the street, but they can't see the wealth hidden under their feet, and as the boss, Gale assigns the task to his younger brother, and everyone acts separately to seize all the time. Gale excitedly showed the reporter the gold he had found, although there was only a small grain, but the Indian boy holding the brush was very confident, and even made a bold statement to the camera.
Early the next morning, Galle and his team began to extract gold from the roof. First, the borax powder is mixed in the black ash, then a small amount of nitric acid is added, and then boiled on the fire for a few seconds. The most critical step is to add mercury, which uses the characteristics of mercury to wrap the gold powder out of it, and this step usually has certain harm to the human body.
But their solution is also very simple and rude, rubbing on the wall twice and then washing it with water, all of which is to remove the dead skin from the hand. Finally, the mercury is boiled over a high heat, and when the mercury is melted, the gold of higher purity is obtained. Gale told reporters that some people have become millionaires with this technology before, and although he is now very poor, he believes that he can fly up the branches one day.
Gale's landlord, who had been a member of the industry, now taught the young men the techniques of alchemy free of charge and offered them cheap rental houses, but he had a mandatory requirement that all alchemists who lived in his house must sell him the refined gold at a low price.
And he was very strict with his tenants, always pointing fingers at them, as if these people were born to owe him money. The tenants complained bitterly, but the people had to bow their heads under the eaves, but the young Gale did not want to endure any longer, and he had been quietly accumulating savings, hoping to one day escape the blood-sucking landlord.
This night, Gale got up earlier than ever, and he decided to do a big vote, bypassing the exploitation of his landlord and panning for gold in another way. Gale led the team to the sewer on the side of the street, which is the final destination of all the garbage, and the gold powder and other garbage will flow in through the sewage, and the gold content inside can be imagined over the years.
Without hesitation, Gale jumped in, and the soft touch of the indistinguishable sludge made half of his body instantly sink into it. In his spare time, Gale looked up to reporters and said that there are thousands of ways to make money in this world, but I am proud that I did not choose to steal and grab. The temptation to make money seemed to completely shield Gale's nose, and he kept lifting buckets of sludge upwards, filling six large bags in just 20 minutes.
He then went into three other sewers and dug up more sludge, which was not something that Gala could refine and had to be disposed of by a professional alchemy factory, but gare's contact buyer was delayed, which made him a little nervous.
He knew that this was the manufacturer's next move, and when they arrived, they would definitely push the price fiercely, and Gale did not know how to deal with the upcoming negotiations. The head of the alchemy factory is called Javi, a seemingly thick but sophisticated businessman. As soon as he opened his mouth, he cut the original price in half while inspecting the goods while looking for shortcomings inside.
The two sides negotiated for a long time, and Jia Le finally failed to take any advantage of Boss Jia's hands, and the sludge that was bought for 5,000 rupees (440 yuan) was slightly refined in Boss Jia's simple workshop, and the small gold cakes collected could be sold for 55,000 rubles (4,800 yuan), which was ten times that of Jia Le.
Jia Le came to Boss Jia's workshop again, and this time he felt that he was ready to negotiate, and he must persuade Boss Jia to raise some more prices. But he is still too naïve, in front of Boss Jia, his toughness looks so weak, Boss Jia even offered a lower price to scare Jia Le, after Jia Le left disappointed, Boss Jia triumphantly told the camera that he did not know how many times he had experienced such a verbal dispute, and most of the time he won.
Gale is still toiling in the sewers, but today is different, he found himself a new seller, in order not to delay the time of the big patron, to make a good impression on the other party, Gala specially hired a taxi, the goods rushed over.
At the place of the transaction, Gale quoted the price of 10,000 rupees, but the seller was only willing to pay 5,000, Gala spent a lot of effort to lobby him, one moment boasted about his own goods, the next moment he pestered the boss to sell miserably, it was difficult to talk about the price to 7,000 rupees, and the more than 3,000 had made Gala feel satisfied, and the money was enough for him to get rid of his landlord.
With money in his arms, Gale began to look for a house, and the landlord took him on a brief tour, a rotten bathroom, an old plank bed. Gale seemed to have a soft spot for the airy window, and after cutting the price, Gale smiled at the camera and spread his arms like a bird fluttering in a cage in the small room.
He told the reporter loudly that now that he was free, he would bring his brothers together to fulfill their common dream!