Chapter 125: The Outlier
Li Tang stood with his hands behind his back, holding a black plastic bag in one hand, gazing out the window at the scenery outside.
When he heard He Runqi's voice, he turned around and nodded. "After lunch, we'll head back to Yanjing. The Yunshang Bauxite project is wrapped up for now."
"We've been out for over half a year. Who knows how many new people the company's hired—no one's going to recognize us when we get back."
"Yeah, that's how it is with our line of work—eating in the wind, sleeping under the sky, the earth as our bed, the heavens as our quilt."
Understanding the hardships of the job, Li Tang handed over the heavy plastic bag. "The project's over. This is for you."
"What's this?" He Runqi casually accepted the bag and opened it. His eyes widened when he saw stacks upon stacks of thick 100-yuan bills.
"Holy sh*t!"
He yelled out and rushed over to shut the door, his slippers slapping against the floor loudly.
Returning to the bed, he quickly pulled the curtains shut, plunging the room into darkness.
He reopened the plastic bag and carefully counted the money, whispering in disbelief, "Li Tang, are you nuts? This is 100,000 yuan!"
"Do you have to be so dramatic? It's broad daylight—who's going to rob you?" Li Tang said, exasperated.
"Did you sneak into Huazhou Aluminum's finance office last night and steal all their cash?" He Runqi asked, half-joking.
"Did you forget?"
Li Tang couldn't help laughing at his friend's over-the-top, guilty-looking antics. "We had a bonus agreement with Huazhou Aluminum. They gave us this as a reward—2.9 million yuan total. After taxes, I got about 1.8 million. You get 100,000."
He Runqi had been present when the contract was signed and knew the background.
"So much money—and they didn't back out?" He had thought they'd never see that money, or at the very least, it would be heavily slashed.
"Huazhou Aluminum is a major national company. They don't play petty games."
"You mean this money's all mine?" He Runqi's eyes sparkled with disbelief.
"You think it's too little? Or feel like I didn't split it fairly?" Li Tang asked casually, though deep down he was a little nervous. He didn't want to hear a response that would put him in a tough spot.
"Too little? 100,000?"
He Runqi looked as goofy as ever, but his heart was clear. "There are loads of people in the company who'd kill to work with you and make some money. You didn't bring anyone else—just me. I knew following you would pay off. Even if you gave me just a few thousand, I'd be happy. It's still more than I'd earn tagging along with anyone else on a project.
Besides, working with you gives me peace of mind and motivation."
Hearing that, Li Tang grinned. "With that kind of attitude, I'll take you on to make some real money next time."
"Heh heh heh…"
He Runqi hugged the bulging plastic bag tightly. Only then did he realize his pants were still around his ankles. As he pulled them up, he hummed, "Sister rows the boat, brother walks the shore…"
"What are you going to do with the money?" Li Tang asked.
"Send it home, let my parents keep it safe."
"Take my advice—get a mortgage and buy an apartment in Yanjing." Li Tang offered the suggestion sincerely. "Once we're back, let's look around together. If I find something good, I'll buy one too."
"Buying an apartment is expensive—I don't think I can afford it," He Runqi said, clearly uninterested.
"Get a mortgage! That 100,000 is enough for a down payment. If it's not, I'll help you out."
"We'll see."
After lunch, they said their goodbyes to Lai Xiangrong and Luo Qinzhong. Huazhou Aluminum even held a small farewell ceremony and arranged a car to take them back to Yanjing.
Back at the company, Li Tang first checked in with Zhou Tianqi and Yang Xueping, then went to catch up with Qin Jianshe and briefly talked about his recent work.
That same day, he followed Qin Jianshe to the International Investment Company and met with the acquisition team. They didn't go into the details of the acquisition project—just collected personal documents to begin visa processing for their trip abroad.
During the downtime, Li Tang dragged He Runqi along to visit several residential developments nearby.
They noticed that many sales offices were deserted. Few people seemed interested in buying property. Whenever a potential buyer came in, the sales staff would perk up and greet them with intense enthusiasm.
After two days of looking around, Li Tang finally decided to buy a 180-square-meter ready-to-move-in apartment next to the commercial building where he already owned office space. It came with a large balcony, bringing the total usable space to over 200 square meters.
Compared to last year, the price per square meter in that complex had risen by 200 yuan.
He paid 3,700 yuan per square meter, making the total cost 666,000 yuan.
Because he had already taken out a mortgage once before, getting another one would've been complicated. Since he had cash on hand, he paid in full.
He also hired a reputable renovation company and signed a 500,000-yuan contract to renovate both the new apartment and his existing office space.
He Runqi had been with him throughout the apartment-hunting process. After much hesitation, and under Li Tang's constant urging, he finally bought a 120-square-meter three-bedroom unit in the same building.
Since he didn't have enough for the down payment, he borrowed 50,000 yuan from Li Tang.
Every time he woke up and remembered he had to pay 2,500 yuan a month for his mortgage, he felt a heavy weight in his chest—like a demon gnawing at his soul.
While waiting for the overseas trip, the acquisition team didn't come to him for anything. Li Tang enjoyed the peace and quiet, going to the office every day on time.
Each time he entered the busy main office of the Resources Evaluation Department, the bustling chatter would fall silent as soon as he appeared.
All eyes would inevitably turn to him—this "outlier."
Inside the company, there were too many rumors and stories about him.
New hires and veterans alike seemed to believe that Li Tang existed on a different plane—like a legend living among mortals.
He never made any effort to explain himself or fit in.
When met with everyone's curious glances, he simply nodded, picked up the materials from his desk, and walked straight to the computer room.
At Professor Chen Jinan's request, he had hand-written a massive amount of research material during those three months in Gaizhe County, Ali Prefecture. Now that he had some time, he began digitizing it.
Because he had prepared well, it only took him about a week to finish writing two papers:
Magmatic Activity and Ore Genesis of Porphyry-Type Deposits at Qinglong Copper Mine, Tibet ProvincePractical Study of Ancient Land Weathering Metallogenesis at Yunshang Bauxite, Huazhou Province
He printed and mailed them, and quickly received notifications that they had passed peer review for core domestic journals.
With these two publications, his path toward a senior geological engineering title had become much smoother.
With two core journal articles under his belt, qualifying for high-level certifications in the field would be more than feasible.
But that wasn't really Li Tang's motivation.
The real reason he wrote the papers was because of the enthusiasm of mentors like Chen Jinan, Ding Shaoying, and the other senior geologists who had inspired him.
Once he finished everything, and with the company having nothing urgent on his plate, he stopped by the office in the morning, then headed over to the nearby commercial building to check on the progress of his apartment renovations.
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