Rebirth of the Mining Tycoon

Chapter 45: Five Hundred Thousand

After drinking some beer and enjoying a few skewers, Qin Jianshe bid farewell and left.

The company car carried Zhao Hepu, Li Tang, and He Runqi straight to the company headquarters building.

The lights were blazing in the Legal Affairs Office of the Mining & Metallurgy Company. All the staff had been dragged out of bed and now sat in the office, one by one, bleary-eyed and confused.

Zhao Hepu's arrival quickly clarified things for them.

A technology licensing contract was swiftly drafted.

"This is urgent—we can't afford to delay."

Without hesitation, Zhao Hepu signed the contract and pressed the company's official seal on it with great formality. "The licensing fee is 500,000 yuan. Finance will process it first thing in the morning and transfer it to your payroll account. As for your technical materials—though I haven't seen the full set, I trust you. Tomorrow, just burn the full version onto a disc and hand it to our technical department. That's settled!"

Seeing the pen handed to him, Li Tang didn't hesitate either. He picked it up and signed his name in bold, fluid strokes at the appropriate spot on the contract.

Although the company was close to the dormitory, Zhao Hepu still asked the driver to take Li Tang and He Runqi all the way to the dorm entrance.

By now, it was already deep into the night.

The two of them walked through the quiet corridor, their footsteps echoing.

He Runqi was a bit tipsy but not drunk. Still, everything that had happened tonight felt like a dream.

"Li Tang, you've struck it rich!"

His face was filled with both envy and jealousy. "That much money... you basically don't need to work anymore! That's enough to live off for the rest of your life! My fifty years' worth of salary wouldn't add up to 500,000!"

Tonight's events had left a massive impact on his young and impressionable heart.

Li Tang hadn't expected to be summoned by Zhao Hepu late at night to discuss a collaboration—and especially not to sign a contract on the spot. They were really afraid he'd slip away.

"Tomorrow I'll treat you to a meal, alright?"

"You rich guy, you'd better treat me to a feast!"

"Sure!"

"Li Tang, I think you should've asked for cash. I've never even seen that much money before. How much is 500,000 in cash, anyway?!"

…

The next morning, Zhao Hepu personally went to Qin Jianshe's office. When Li Tang arrived, he called out, "Finance has already transferred the money to your bank account. Check it when you have a moment."

Li Tang didn't delay. He handed over a disc containing a copy of the bioleaching technical documentation. "This is the full set of materials, including detailed technical explanations for the three main segments: bioleaching, extraction, and electrolysis. The overall theoretical framework is quite complete, but there may be some small discrepancies in the finer details that a professional team will need to polish."

Zhao Hepu accepted the disc with both hands, his plump face beaming with joy. "At last, we have a solution to the problem at Demen Copper Mine! You have no idea how much I've agonized over this for the past two or three years—as mine manager and then acting general manager, I've been stressed out every single day! Li Tang, if only you had joined Wukuang Group sooner, you would've saved me so much trouble!"

"You should count your blessings—Li Tang's here to solve your problems!"

Qin Jianshe teased him, then added with a sarcastic tone, "You were quick enough to pay Li Tang his 500,000. But what about the 1 million yuan bonus you promised our company? When's that coming in?"

"Don't worry, you're not missing out. We've had that million yuan reward earmarked for a while now—it's a designated fund set aside for good ideas. We're not backing out on it!"

"You've got all that cash lying around—so hurry up and pay up!"

"I'll give you 100,000 for now. I'll talk to Finance later, get the process started, and release the reward."

"500,000!"

"200,000!"

"300,000—no less!" Qin Jianshe gritted his teeth.

Although the Exploration Company and the Mining & Metallurgy Company were on equal footing within the Wukuang Group, the internal dynamics were completely different.

The Mining & Metallurgy Company had several mines and smelting plants under its umbrella, with annual revenues exceeding a billion yuan—something the Exploration Company couldn't compete with.

"Fine."

Zhao Hepu took the disc and got up to leave, not forgetting to remind Li Tang, "When Chen Jinhe comes, you'd better attend the meeting. He specifically asked to see you."

"Sure, no problem."

Li Tang had been paid—it was only right to do the follow-up work well.

Qin Jianshe sat on the sofa with one leg crossed over the other, studying Li Tang's calm face. "You're twenty?"

"Twenty-one in nominal age."

"So young," Qin Jianshe couldn't help but sigh. "But at your age, making 500,000 in one go—that's a huge amount of money. Yet you don't seem all that excited?"

"I'm very excited inside," Li Tang replied with a serious face.

In these times, 500,000 yuan was a fortune—enough to buy a home outright in Yanjing.

But for Li Tang, it wasn't a figure that would make him lose his composure. He had seen even larger sums before.

"Be sure to call your family—talk to your parents about how to use the money wisely. Don't get reckless just because you've got cash. Don't draw too much attention, and be careful of others." Qin Jianshe offered sincere advice from a senior's perspective.

"Alright." Li Tang readily agreed.

In the afternoon, Chen Jinhe arrived at the Mining & Metallurgy Company.

He was an unremarkable-looking middle-aged man.

His skin was dark, and he was of average height. At a glance, he looked like a humble farmer who worked the land.

He had a background in geology and started his career on a geological survey team in Jian'an Province. As the head of a prospecting project, he was the one who discovered the Purple Copper-Gold Mine.

Later, he left the geological team and took over as general manager of Purple Mining, beginning commercial extraction of the mine in 1993.

Today, the once small, county-level mining company had become one of the most well-known mining enterprises in the entire Jian'an Province.

To grow from among thousands of county-level mining firms into a provincial-level flagship company was already a monumental achievement.

Yet this was not the pinnacle of the company's journey.

The next twenty years would mark the true rise of Purple Mining.

And its helmsman was this very unassuming-looking man standing before them.

"Hello, I'm Chen Jinhe." His introduction was brief and humble.

"I'm Zhao Hepu."

"I'd like to confirm something first—do you have a complete theoretical framework for bioleaching copper extraction?" Chen Jinhe cut straight to the point.

"We do!" Zhao replied equally directly.

"At Purple Mining, we've already invested over ten million yuan into metallurgical technology research. Especially for low-grade ore smelting, we've spared no effort. I believe our companies share the same goal: to develop low-grade resources, cut costs, and improve efficiency!"

Though they had just met, Chen Jinhe already seemed to have made up his mind. "I believe we can cooperate."

"I agree with you."

"The technology you hold is undoubtedly world-leading. Here's the deal—you provide the full technology, and all R&D expenses for this project will be covered by us at Purple Mining." Chen Jinhe was going all in to make the deal happen. "President Zhao, what do you think?"

"I accept that arrangement!" Zhao Hepu laughed. "But we do have a few conditions. We want the R&D team to set up an experimental plant at our Demen Copper Mine. Once we've mastered all the technical processes, the first smelting plant must also be built at Demen. Our initial plan is a trial smelting plant with an annual production of 10,000 tons of cathode copper. And once the technology matures, we'll expand further. During all of this, we hope the R&D team will continue providing technical support."

In short, he was tying the R&D team to Demen Copper Mine and planning to milk this for several years!

It was a classic case of trying to get something for nothing—a move that was quite greedy.

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