Chapter 98: East District and West District
Li Tang knew full well that Chen Jinhe was pretending not to know, so he decided to lay everything out. Otherwise, this unresolved ambiguity would eventually create friction in their cooperation.
"President Chen, you might not know this, but the Qinglong Copper Mine area in Tibet is vast. While compiling the feasibility report, I divided it into two parts: the West District and the East District."
He pointed to the report in Chen Jinhe's hands.
"The copy you're holding is just the report for the West District."
"I see."
Chen Jinhe nodded thoughtfully.
"So, based on what you're saying, Zise Mining is only working on half the project?"
"Not quite."
Li Tang gave a slightly apologetic smile.
"The reason for this division is that we were pressed for time. Once I finished writing the West District report, I immediately mailed it to you. The East District report is still with me—I haven't had a chance to show it to you yet."
"Oh—"
Chen nodded again.
"So if we're only exploring the West District, does that mean the exploration target is half of 15 million tons of copper? Around 7.5 million tons?"
"No, no."
Li Tang shook his head.
"To be precise, the West and East Districts can each be considered separate projects. The report you have is a complete, independent project plan."
"So the target for the West District alone is 15 million tons of copper?"
Chen confirmed.
"That's right."
"And what about the East District—what are your plans for it?"
"Of course, I'm planning to give that one to you as well, President Chen."
Li Tang chuckled with a look of sincere innocence.
"Technically speaking, they're part of the same geological project. Their mineralization patterns and genesis are nearly identical. The only reason I split them is because of the distance between them—they aren't physically connected, so I separated the documentation."
Then he gave a slightly troubled expression.
"But assigning both districts to Zise Mining would mean a total investment far beyond 35 million yuan. I'm afraid that might put you in a difficult position."
"What's difficult about that? If we find ore, any amount of money is worth it!"
Chen Jinhe's mood brightened instantly.
A moment ago, he had worried that Li Tang was trying to trap them with clever wording in the report.
Now, it all seemed straightforward.
But was it really?
Looking at Li Tang's youthful face—it seemed so genuine and simple. Yet someone capable of independently pushing forward massive projects like Qu Long and Qinglong… how could he be simple?
Li Tang was no ordinary young man.
At that moment, Li Tang casually reached into his backpack and pulled out another feasibility report.
"This is the East District report. The project area and geological conditions are a bit different from the West District."
"That's excellent news!"
Chen Jinhe took the report and immediately began flipping through it.
It resembled the first report in format but outlined a distinct project.
The difference was that the projected investment for the East District was 25 million yuan, with a target discovery of 7 million tons of copper metal.
In other words, if the East and West Districts were combined, the total investment would hit 60 million yuan, and the combined exploration target would reach 22 million tons of copper metal.
These figures were staggering.
After reading, Chen Jinhe's expression grew serious.
"Looks like we'll need to call another board meeting."
That was an internal company matter now.
Li Tang sat leisurely in his chair, looking relaxed.
Chen passed the report to his assistant. From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Li Tang—whose expression had grown inscrutable.
If he hadn't personally come to Guizhou…
If he hadn't offered the exploration contract to the 101 Geological Team…
Would this young man have given the East District project to someone else?
Most likely, yes.
Despite Li Tang's youthful appearance and warm demeanor, it was clear he had a mind of his own.
Sensing Chen's cautious gaze, Li Tang gave him a nod but didn't explain anything.
He knew this arrangement would raise questions.
But so what?
Had Chen Jinhe not come to Guizhou, Li Tang would've had no hesitation assigning the East District of the Qinglong Copper Mine to Xiao Yongyue.
After all, Xiao had already shown strong interest in investing. And if they struck ore, knowing Xiao's bold and generous nature, Li Tang would earn a fortune.
Moreover, the original Qinglong Copper Mine had indeed been split into two zones, with four main ore bodies. In the original timeline, the mining rights were divided between Hua Aluminum Company and the Hongda Group.
Right now, no one had applied for those mining rights yet. That meant Li Tang held full authority to allocate them.
Of course, he couldn't claim the mining rights for himself—he didn't have the money for exploration, and even if he did, obtaining the actual extraction license would be nearly impossible.
By giving both zones to Zise Mining, he was, in a way, compensating for the fact that they'd missed out on Qu Long earlier.
Ever since he had begun tampering with history's timeline, the butterfly effect had continued to ripple outward.
How would fate change next?
Hua Aluminum Company, which in the future would become the globally renowned Hua Aluminum Group, hadn't even been founded yet.
Hongda Group, meanwhile, had already become a powerful corporation in Yizhou Province and was aggressively acquiring high-quality mines across the country—intent on becoming a giant in the mining industry.
Their chairman, Liu Shanlong, had a background similar to Xiao Yongyue's—rising from humble beginnings through the fertilizer and chemical trade. His rags-to-riches story was also full of drama.
Now that Qinglong Copper Mine had been redirected, one had to wonder: what new threads of destiny had been pulled?
Everyone sat quietly, lost in their own thoughts.
"It's getting late. Let's have lunch,"
Li Zaiqiang suggested. They'd waited until noon and still hadn't found Zhou Zhenxing.
He originally wanted to treat Chen Jinhe to a proper restaurant, but Chen waved him off.
"I saw your cafeteria earlier. I even smelled the food—it brought back memories. I used to love cafeteria meals when I worked in the field. I still miss them."
So they all went to the cafeteria instead. The food was simple, but they ate heartily and enjoyed the conversation.
…
"Director Han, you wanted to see me?"
Zhou Zhenxing arrived at the Bureau Director's office early in the day and had been waiting ever since Han Dexun's meeting started.
"Just wrapped up a personnel meeting—sorry to keep you waiting."
Han invited him to sit and got to the point.
"Yesterday, Liu Yifeng came to see me. He said he wants to return to his old job and position."
Zhou had just sat down but shot back up at the mention of that name.
"The disciplinary office already investigated him thoroughly. They questioned everyone at our geological team. People said more than they should've! If you let him come back, the staff will revolt!"
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