As Chu Xiaobai listened to Zeng Shilu's introduction, his heart sank lower and lower. Was this really the golden goose Chen Yang had described? All he heard was a mess, and seemingly a bottomless pit at that?
The Hongqi Pyrite Mine was established in the early days of the People's Republic of China, so its name clearly bore the mark of that era. Back then, it was a large mine directly under the regional government, at the county or regimental level, with a peak annual output of 130,000 tons—a truly glorious achievement.
However, its situation in recent years has been far less favorable. Under the impact of marketization, the pyrite mine has declined rapidly. Without the contracted ownership system of the planned economy, and with its inconvenient transportation, the price of its products is still significantly higher than elsewhere, naturally leading to poor sales. Moreover, the machinery and equipment are outdated and haven't been updated in two or three decades, resulting in substandard product quality. It can be said that it has reached a dead end.
Even more serious is the fact that the pyrite mine has over five hundred employees, all with secure government jobs. Their salaries alone are a heavy burden. The pyrite mine is now like an old man in his twilight years, its heavy body riddled with problems, beyond any possibility of revival.
The county government recognized the severity of the pyrite mine's problems and decided to introduce investment for restructuring. However, after the announcement, few people showed any interest.
Chu Xiaobai couldn't help but glance at Chen Yang, who was still listening attentively to Zeng Shilu's introduction with a slight smile. Chu Xiaobai could only sigh inwardly and patiently continue listening.
Zeng Shilu's introduction was relatively brief, lasting about half an hour. He closed his notebook and turned his gaze to Su Weimin.
Su Weimin knew a little about the pyrite mine, but after listening to Zeng Shilu's report, he realized the seriousness of the problem and began to waver in his belief in Chen Yang's decision. He looked at Chu Xiaobai and Chen Yang and asked,
"President Chu, President Fang, what do you think..."
Chen Yang smiled noncommittally and said,
"Let's go see for ourselves! Seeing is believing!"
"Okay!" Su Weimin nodded in agreement.
Zeng Shilu got up and led the way, and the group filed out of the conference room. The leaders from Xingwang Town had no objections; their role today was simply to entertain the guests, and their job was to keep them entertained.
"This is the mine's staff living quarters..." Zeng Shilu said, pointing to a row of old, dilapidated tenement buildings.
These buildings didn't even have basic exterior plaster; the red bricks were exposed. Such tenement buildings had long since disappeared in many places; it was unexpected that there were still so many at the pyrite mine, and that they were still in use. "This is the processing workshop, and the mining area is just ahead..." Zeng Shilu explained as they walked.
The mining area was chaotic. Zeng Shilu meant they could just stand here and look around, but Chen Yang showed no sign of stopping, continuing to walk forward at a leisurely pace.
The group of leaders had no choice but to follow; after all, he was the investor!
Entering the mining area, a pungent sulfurous smell was immediately noticeable in the air. The road became uneven, riddled with puddles left by large trucks, the water in which was slightly yellowish and covered with a layer of oil.
Even the pampered leaders couldn't help but frown, some even covering their mouths and noses. Zeng Shilu and the other leaders of the pyrite mine, however, remained calm; they were used to this environment every day.
Two narrow railway tracks ran alongside the road, and small trains loaded with ore occasionally emerged from the depths of the mining area, heading towards the factory.
Although they were losing money every day, production couldn't stop, or they'd go bankrupt even faster. This was the current state of the pyrite mine.
Chen Yang walked slowly, intrigued, occasionally stopping to ask a question or two. Zeng Shilu noticed that Chen Yang seemed to be the one in charge among them, so he stayed close by, answering his questions.
Chen Yang reached a small embankment and gazed into the distance. He casually turned and asked,
"Manager Zeng, is that hillside ahead outside the mining area?"
Pyrite mining pollutes the environment, so there's almost no vegetation in the mining area. The hillside Chen Yang pointed to, however, was lush with green grass, a stark contrast to the surrounding area.
Zeng Shilu also looked up. Having worked at the pyrite mine for decades, he was naturally quite familiar with its conditions. Therefore, after only a glance, he immediately replied:
"That area is still within our pyrite mine's boundaries. About a kilometer north is the border, beyond which lies the Xingwang Town area. However, that area was surveyed in the early days after liberation; pyrite was found, but the content was relatively low, not a rich deposit, so it hasn't been mined for many years."
Several leaders from Xingwang Town nodded in confirmation of Zeng Shilu's words.
Chen Yang, having received the answer he wanted, felt slightly relieved and nodded, saying:
"Director Zeng, thank you for accompanying us for so long. We have a general understanding of the pyrite mine's situation. We will discuss it as soon as we get back. If there are any investment intentions, we will contact the county in a timely manner!"
"Okay, okay! Thank you, Mr. Fang!" Zeng Shilu said politely.
Although his words were polite, he didn't hold much hope. Firstly, Chen Yang and the others weren't in this industry at all, and secondly, they were all too young. Secondly, after the news of the proposed restructuring of the pyrite mine was released, it wasn't that no one came to investigate. Initially, several companies showed interest, but after visiting, without exception, none of them followed up.
The main reason was the heavy burden. The county stipulated that after taking over the pyrite mine, the cadres could be reassigned to other units, but the employees would have to be taken over by the investors. The machinery and equipment were also very old; taking over would require a huge investment to purchase new machinery. In addition, the pyrite mine was extremely difficult to access, with only one county road connecting it to the outside world, making product transportation a major problem.
Therefore, without exception, the several groups of people who came gave up.
In Zeng Shilu's view, Chen Yang and his group's inspection would undoubtedly yield the same result.
At this moment, Lin Xinggui, the Party Secretary of Xingwang Town, stepped forward and said:
"Director Su, General Manager Chu, General Manager Fang, it's getting late. Why don't you all have a simple meal together in town? I've already made a reservation."
Su Weimin knew Chen Yang and the others' plans for the evening and naturally couldn't stay in Xingwang Town for dinner. He immediately smiled and said:
"Thank you for your kind invitation, Secretary Lin. However, Secretary Han has instructed that General Manager Chu and General Manager Fang must be brought back to the county town before dinner, so..."
After speaking, Su Weimin showed a slightly apologetic expression, an expression that was just right, making Lin Xinggui feel that he was sincere, yet neither servile nor arrogant.
Lin Xinggui immediately understood and couldn't help but glance at the young men beside Su Weimin a few more times. No wonder Director Su personally accompanied them down; it turned out these young men had a close relationship with Secretary Han! And considering that Chu Xiaobai was from Beijing, and Secretary Han's home was in Beijing... Moreover, they were from renowned and prestigious families; these individuals, valued so highly by Secretary Han, must have considerable influence.
Thinking of this, Lin Xinggui's eyes gleamed with eagerness, hoping to chat with Chen Yang and the others for a while, even just to establish a connection! However, Su Weimin checked the time; it would be almost dinnertime by the time they returned to the county town, so he smiled and said:
"Director Zeng, Secretary Lin, and other leaders, thank you so much for your help today! General Manager Chu and the others have other matters to attend to tonight, so we'll take our leave now!"
After speaking, Su Weimin shook hands with Zeng Shilu, Lin Xinggui, and the other township and mine leaders one by one. Chen Yang and the others also politely bid farewell to the leaders and then walked towards their cars parked in front of the mine headquarters building.
Chu Xiaobai smiled and said,
"Chen Yang, I'll ride in your car!"
Su He immediately realized that Chu Xiaobai probably had something to say to Chen Yang, and softly said to Chen Yang,
"Chen Yang, you two talk, I'll ride with your uncle!"
Chen Yang guessed what Chu Xiaobai wanted to say, smiled and nodded to Su He, and then everyone got into their respective cars.
The leaders from the mine and the town naturally lined up in two rows, waving goodbye to Chen Yang and the others. As soon as the car pulled out of the pyrite mine gates, Chu Xiaobai couldn't contain himself and asked, "Chen Yang, are you sure we didn't come to the wrong place today? Is this the project you promised would guarantee big profits?"
Chen Yang calmly drove on, offering Chu Xiaobai a cigarette, then lighting one for himself. After taking a deep drag, he smiled and said, "What's wrong? Brother Xiaobai, you're not confident in what I said?"
Chu Xiaobai was a little embarrassed, but quickly replied, "The reality is right in front of us! I don't believe you can't see with your eye that this pyrite mine is a complete mess, it's utterly doomed!"
Chen Yang still didn't believe him. "Brother Xiaobai, you can't be so absolute," he said hastily.
"Hongqi pyrite deposits are abundant, and the ore quality is very high. If we take over and process some upstream products, the profits will be considerable..."
Chu Xiaobai couldn't help but shake his head, looking at Chen Yang with a strange expression, and said:
"Chen Yang, what you say is true, but that means all the existing equipment will become a pile of scrap metal. We need to invest heavily in purchasing more advanced processing equipment, which is a considerable investment!"
"Higher investment means higher output, that's not a problem. Besides, if we increase our investment, can't we ask the county government for more preferential policies?" Chen Yang said with a smile.
"What about the transportation problem? With this broken road, just transporting the products out will accumulate to an astronomical cost!" Seeing that Chen Yang was really getting stuck on this issue, Chu Xiaobai couldn't help but raise another sharp, practical question. Chen Yang turned to look at Chu Xiaobai, and said meaningfully:
"If the road is bad, then build a road! It's just a dozen kilometers of dirt road; once you get down the mountain, it connects to the highway, basically flat as a pancake. As for the cost of building the road, Xingwang Town and Nanpu County can't raise money from above, so surely you, Brother Xiaobai, can't raise it too?"
"Then there's the issue of resettling over three hundred workers!" Chu Xiaobai was practically going crazy, saying dejectedly, "Even if we can absorb these workers, the initial investment actually yields a very low return!"
Seeing Chu Xiaobai's helpless expression, Chen Yang couldn't help but laugh, deciding not to tease him anymore, and said calmly:
"Brother Xiaobai, there's definitely a great opportunity here at the pyrite mine, but not in the mess they're in now."
"Oh? Is there some hidden secret here?" Chu Xiaobai immediately became interested. While driving attentively, Chen Yang said,
"I suspect there's a high-quality marble deposit within the pyrite mine! This isn't just speculation; several marble deposits have been discovered in Nanpu County in recent years, especially around Xingwang Town. I've carefully analyzed the distribution of these deposits and found they're basically all on a single vein, and the main vein is very likely located beneath that hillside we're looking at today!"
This was just Chen Yang making things up; it was true that the hillside contained abundant high-quality marble, but this was something Chen Yang knew from his past life's memories. Chu Xiaobai's mouth gaped open, and he couldn't help but reach out and touch Chen Yang's forehead, asking,
"Chen Yang, are you sure you don't have a fever?"
Chen Yang knew this was somewhat absurd and didn't expect Chu Xiaobai to believe him, so he simply smiled calmly and said,
"Brother Xiaobai, don't forget I'm from Nanpu. I grew up on this land, and I know everything about this place very well."
Chen Yang paused, then continued,
"Besides, we won't act without seeing the benefits, so we won't suffer any losses. Brother Xiaobai has extensive connections in Beijing; contacting a few experts at the Mining and Metallurgy Research Institute shouldn't be difficult, right? We can just have them come and investigate on-site, and then we'll know everything, right?"
This "There's no need to hide it from the local government. We're interested in investing in the pyrite mine, so having a few experts assess its reserves is perfectly normal. If the final result proves my guess wrong, then we can just consider this trip to Nanpu a tourist opportunity! But if I'm right, then this dilapidated pyrite mine is our cash cow!"
Chen Yang's words completely swayed Chu Xiaobai. He had to admit that Chen Yang's words made a lot of sense. If this was a gamble, then they were in an invincible position. They held the initiative in their own hands. Once a rich marble deposit was discovered, they could buy it at the price of a dilapidated pyrite mine and make a fortune.
Of course, this was all predicated on no one getting there first. But as long as Han Wenhai was in office in Nanpu, who could possibly get there first?
"Alright! You've convinced me!" Chu Xiaobai said after a moment's thought. "I'll contact the experts in Beijing as soon as I get back to the hotel!"
Chen Yang said confidently:
"Don't worry! I have a feeling this trip won't be in vain!"
Then Chen Yang added:
"By the way, don't talk to Zheng Yi and the others yet. Once everything's confirmed and we're ready to invest, we'll definitely leave them some shares!"
Chu Xiaobai nodded emphatically and said:
"Agreed!"