Chapter 153: A Massive Treasure!
They immediately set up a company in Tubo's provincial capital—Gongcun Gold Company—with a single objective: to secure the mining rights for the Gongcun Copper-Gold Mine.
Once the company was in order, Li Tang accompanied Xiao Yongyue to the Land Bureau to pay a courtesy visit to Nobu, and then headed to the Geological Bureau.
When Dawa saw Li Tang and Xiao walking in together, he was clearly surprised.
"Director Dawa!" Xiao greeted him warmly, shaking hands. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, he went straight to the point: "I'm here with Li Tang today because we want to collaborate with your bureau on mineral exploration."
He pointed to Li Tang. "Let me introduce you. This is the youngest and most renowned mineral exploration expert in China…"
"I know him," Dawa replied, full of suspicion, shaking Li Tang's hand. "I didn't expect you two to know each other—much less that you'd be working so closely together."
"I'm a simple man," Xiao grinned. "I just like making friends."
He turned to Dawa, his tone suddenly serious. "To be frank, I've also taken an interest in your bureau's Gongcun Copper-Gold Mine. Director Dawa, I guarantee on my name—we won't just work hard on the Gongcun project; we'll make it a success."
Dawa had already guessed that Li Tang's return was aimed at Gongcun. But what he hadn't expected was that Li Tang could bring someone like Xiao Yongyue to the table.
"You're late," Dawa sighed. "The mining rights have already been promised to a foreign company. We can't go back on our word. Don't you agree, Boss Xiao?"
"You're talking about integrity with those foreign bandits?" Xiao scoffed openly. "Dawa, I've known you for years. You're a man of principle. We shouldn't bow down to foreigners! What makes them so special? This is China. If they misbehave, we'll deal with them accordingly."
"No, no—it's all business. We already finalized the terms."
"Then let's talk business now. That's exactly why I'm here!" Xiao waved everyone else out of the office, then leaned in close to Li Tang and whispered, "Let me have a few words with Dawa in private. You wait outside for a bit."
Li Tang had a good sense of what Xiao was planning and silently stepped out, closing the door behind him. He walked out to the balcony, letting the conversations inside fade into silence.
Half an hour passed.
The door to the director's office finally swung open, and from inside came the sound of hearty laughter between Dawa and Xiao—it was clear things had gone well.
"Li Tang!" Xiao called out cheerfully.
Li Tang returned to the office.
"Director Dawa deeply admires our patriotic spirit and fully supports our Gongcun Gold Company's participation in the Gongcun Copper-Gold Mine project," Xiao announced.
Whatever Xiao had said in that half-hour meeting had completely won Dawa over.
Dawa now grasped Li Tang's hand with enthusiasm. "Welcome to Tubo Province to invest in mineral exploration. Our Geological Bureau will give you full technical support for your work!"
Li Tang had no desire to ask what Xiao and Dawa had discussed—after all, inviting Xiao to join the project was precisely so he could do this kind of work.
That very same day, they drove together to Duide County and sat down with Geological Team No. 6's captain, Damba, to go over the details of the cooperation.
When Damba saw Director Dawa and Li Tang again—and now with a full convoy led by Xiao—he realized this situation was no longer under his control.
After some deeper conversations with Dawa, he had no choice but to accept the new arrangement.
Damba was a sincere man, and after agreeing to hand over the exploration rights for Gongcun to Li Tang and Xiao Yongyue, a profound sense of guilt filled him.
Foreign friends from faraway lands had worked and lived beside them—climbing mountains, getting drenched in the rain, chewing on dry rations together…
Damba had never seen anything in those foreign friends that made them different from himself. If anything, they were more similar than not.
The only difference was the skin they wore.
They were friends. They were partners.
But now, he felt like a traitor to those friends. And the guilt was unbearable.
He didn't even participate in the official handover of the exploration rights or the signing of the commissioned exploration contract. He left it all to Dawa.
After much reflection, Damba picked up the phone and dialed an international number.
"Lucas, I'm sorry," he said, struggling to find the words.
Thousands of miles away, in the Maple Leaf Country.
Lucas was surprised—and delighted—to receive a call from Damba. "My friend! You called me! My God, what a surprise! But, old friend, I have to apologize. I'm in the middle of a very important meeting—something that could determine the future of our entire venture!"
"Lucas…"
"Wait for good news, my friend!" Lucas quickly hung up the phone, then straightened his tie, grabbed his briefcase, and walked into the office of a fund management company.
"Lucas! My old friend—you've been gone a long time!" A plump middle-aged man stood up to give Lucas a big hug.
"Manager Andrew, you know I've been in China lately," Lucas replied, setting his briefcase on the table.
"China? You actually went to China?" Andrew's exaggerated expression showed astonishment. "Isn't it poor over there? Full of robbers? Are they still at war?"
"No, not at all. It's actually quite safe."
"Incredible—you really went to China!"
"It's an amazing place—completely different from our country."
Lucas hadn't planned to go to China originally. But after Land Mining Company's exploration project failed in his home country and funds were exhausted, he had fled there to escape pressure from shareholders.
Now it seemed like divine intervention.
"I'm glad you made it back safely," Andrew said sincerely. "Thank God you're healthy."
Under normal circumstances, Lucas could chat all day. But today he had urgent business.
He pulled some documents out of his bag. "Andrew, you'll never guess what I found in China!"
"What fun little treasure did you find?" Andrew leaned in, curious.
"I found a gold mine!"
Not only had Lucas brought documents, but also ore samples. "You wouldn't believe it—they discovered the area's gold reserves ten years ago but never invested! It's insane."
That caught Andrew's full attention. "Is the grade high?"
"Not particularly. But the thickness is incredible—it's a huge deposit!"
Because the documents were in Chinese, Lucas had to explain each part. "Look here—ten years ago they found abnormal levels of gold, silver, copper, and lead in water samples. This whole area is an anomaly! The local geologists knew there was likely gold and copper underground—but they just didn't have the funds to drill."
"These concentrations are quite high," Andrew noted. While he couldn't read the language, he could read the chemical data.
"We drilled a hole ourselves!" Lucas showed him the borehole data. "We discovered a gold-bearing layer with a true thickness over 100 meters! I couldn't sleep the entire night after seeing that!"
"Not high-grade, but over 100 meters thick?" Andrew was getting excited too.
"Most gold layers are 3 to 5 meters. This one is over 100! I swear—it's a massive gold deposit!"
"Can we secure the mining rights?" Andrew asked.
"These borehole results—I haven't even shown them to the local geologists. They suspect there's gold, but they have no idea it's a massive treasure!"
"Well done! Very well done!" Andrew was pacing, thrilled.
"I've gained the trust of the locals. They're honest and believe in me," Lucas said proudly.
"We have to get those rights!" Andrew said urgently. "If we go public with this data, it'll make headlines. Your company's stock will skyrocket!"
"Trust me, if we expose this, our stock will jump tenfold—no, a hundredfold!" Lucas was fired up.
"Thank you, Lucas. You came to me first," Andrew said gratefully. "Tell me what you need."
"We need funding—at least 20 million Garan dollars!"
"No problem. I'm ready to keep investing in Land Mining Company!"
Andrew's fund was already the company's top shareholder when it first went public.
"I knew you'd help me!" Lucas beamed.
"Of course I would, my brother!" Andrew pulled him into another hug.
The two were actually cousins. In Garan, over 2,000 junior exploration companies operated, each relying heavily on capital.
Few succeeded.
Most junior exploration firms lost money—and their investors lost everything.
Raising money in this field was nearly impossible without solid assets.
Especially after the B-X Mining scandal, investors were wary. Most people no longer dared to risk money on mineral exploration.
The only real support came from family and friends.
Lucas was lucky his cousin was also a fund manager.
Now that the funding was secured, Lucas couldn't help but do a silly little dance on the way back to the office.
He plopped onto the sofa, kicked his feet up on the table, and tore off his tie with satisfaction.
Suddenly, he remembered the call from China.
He immediately dialed the number.
It rang once and connected.
"I'm so sorry, my friend!" he said, full of emotion. "But I have incredible news—I've secured the full funding for our gold project. Twenty million Garan dollars! I'm just so happy. Today is a day to celebrate!"
"Lucas…" Damba's voice sounded weary.
Lucas noticed. "Oh, I forgot—it's the middle of the night there. You stayed up waiting for my call?"
He knew there was only one landline phone at Geological Team No. 6. Damba had probably waited the whole time while Lucas was out talking to Andrew.
"A loyal friend indeed," Lucas thought.
"I've been waiting for your call," Damba said.
"You must be expecting good news, right?"
"Lucas, I have to tell you something. It's not good. I won't sleep tonight if I don't say it."
"A bad news?"
"The exploration rights to Gongcun—we can't give them to you."
"What?!"
"We've already signed a transfer contract with a Chinese company."
"Damn it! Damn it! Damba, how could you do this to me!"
"I'm sorry. I feel terrible. But this wasn't my decision."
"You Chinese have no integrity! This is outrageous! You have no sense of honor—you're all despicable…"
"I'm sorry, Lucas. If you need, we'll ship your equipment back. But I can't guarantee when it will arrive in your country."
"No! I won't give up! We had a dream—to build something together, to find gold! But you betrayed me!"
"Ah… Lucas, I'm so sorry. There's nothing I can do…"
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